In which Clair behaves like a toddler.

They stayed up past their bedtimes again, but it was worth it. Swinub managed to evolve, at which point they all agreed to sleep in as late as possible and try again. Kris's Golbat stayed a Golbat, but it wasn't entirely necessary for her to evolve. Not when Ethan had Granbull around.

So, Ethan found himself facing Clair again, still not sure if he was ready or not. But, as Clair sent out her Gyarados once again, he realized that he didn't have much of a choice.

"Chomper, start the battle!" Ethan called, and didn't hesitate at all when he ordered a Crunch to open the match.

The fight raged on for what felt like a century. It was probably only a few hours, but it was much, much longer than even the fight against Falkner. But, when the demon Kingdra finally fell to Pidgeot's Twister attack, it looked like it was all perfect and ready to go.

And then Clair made the announcement: "You can't have the Rising Badge."

Ethan's mouth fell open, and his expectant hand dropped to his side. "What?" It was the only thing he could say.

Clair refused to budge. "You beat me," she admitted, "but you won't stand a chance against the Elite Four, much less the Champion. I cannot, in good conscience, let an inexperienced child try to beat the best trainers in all of Johto. All of Kanto, too, by the way, excluding two in particular."

"But that's not fair!" Lyra whined. "After all the trouble it took him to train for the first match, and his loss -"

"That loss proves my point!" Clair snapped, sounding very much like an angry little girl getting mad at her parents over bedtime. "He has earned the Rising Badge, but he will not receive it yet. I'll make a note and mail it to him in a few years."

"But I only have one journey!" Ethan complained. "Come on, Clair, isn't there something I can do to get the badge early?"

Clair thought it over. And then, finally, she gave a great, somewhat disappointed sigh and looked him in the eyes.

"All right," she finally said. "Behind the Gym, there's a cave called the Dragon's Den. Go in there and find me a Dragon Fang. If you succeed, you get the badge immediately."

"And if I fail?" Ethan asked, and Clair smirked.

"If you fail," she said quietly, "then you will have to challenge me all over again."


"This is a bad idea."

The three had left the Gym some time ago, and were in a small canoe, paddling their way through the Dragon's Den. So far, steering the boat was the most difficult part of the challenge. Sure, there had been a minor whirlpool, but a Dragonair had cleared that right up and allowed them to continue.

Ethan wasn't going to let Kris bring him down. "Hey, it was this or wait forever for my Rising Badge," he reminded her. "Which would you rather do? Finish the journey as soon as possible, or wait two years and hope Professor Elm and your parents will let you be a junior researcher in Johto again?"

Kris opened her mouth to retaliate, but closed it before whatever smart remark she had in mind could cross her brain-to-mouth filter. Or, more accurately, she turned her brain-to-mouth filter on, but word choice doesn't matter. "It's not worth the effort," she told herself, and put a bit too much force into her next row.

Lyra wasn't thinking about the Rising Badge at all, but rather what came afterward. "Do you really think you can take on the Elite Four, Ethan?" she asked nervously, gripping the handles of her paddles more tightly than before. "Clair wasn't wrong, you are a kid."

"I'm not any younger than Red and Blue were when they beat the League," Ethan said, not defensive at all. "I'd be more worried for the Champion trying to stop me."

"Assuming you can get to the Champion in the first place," Kris said, ignoring the dirty looks she got from her friends. "The top five trainers like to keep their identities secret, but I know the types the first four use. Psychic, Poison, Fighting and Dark."

Ethan thought about it, playing a mental chess game, and when he got a checkmate, he looked proud of himself. "Chomper, Slowking, Pidgeot, and Avery," he said happily. "That was easy."

"And if I refuse to lend you my Feraligatr?"

"Then I'll use Togetic instead."

Lyra suddenly moved to the front of the boat, pointing straight ahead. "Hey, I think we're doing it right!" she cheered, changing the subject at just the right time. "There's the hut, just like Clair said!"

"Wonderful," Kris snapped. "Get back to rowing so we can keep doing it right, ok?"


The Dragon Master in the hut was waiting for them, but it seemed like he was preparing to give Ethan a test instead of a Dragon Fang. The boy clearly didn't want a test, but he had no choice.

"I don't care if a Pokémon's strong or weak!" he was saying right now. "I picked the Grass-type in Johto, I think that's proof right there." Avery made an indignant noise. "You know what I mean. What kind of test is this, anyway?"

The Dragon Master held out a hand to stop the offended Meganium, and, surprising everybody, she eyed the hand as if she wanted to bite it but restrained herself.

"It is a test of worthiness, Ethan," he said simply. "A test of strength. A test of -"

"I'm bored," Ethan interrupted. "Give me the Dragon Fang if I passed."

The Dragon Master looked offended. "Well, then. Until that outburst, you had passed, and so earned the prize. Now, I'm starting to wonder if it's really a good idea to hand it over."

"So the test was already done?" At the elder's uncertain confirmation, the boy laughed triumphantly. "Which means, I already earned the prize! Can I have that Dragon Fang now?"

The elder gave in, somewhat reluctantly. "The Dragon Fang was not the only prize, but I see no chance of escape. Tell me, how many Pokémon do you have with you?"

"Four," Ethan answered, wondering if this was part of the test. "What about it?"

The Dragon Master chuckled and reached for a small box. Inside the box was a red and white Pokeball. "Then this is yours. You have earned the right to be her trainer."

"Her?"

As if on cue, the ball opened on its own, and a blue and white snake emerged. She looked up at Ethan, Kris, Lyra and Avery, and then retreated to hide behind the Dragon Master.

He stepped aside to introduce them. "This Dratini has Extremespeed, a move that the species can't normally learn," he explained. "I thought that if anyone could protect her from Team Rocket, who are known for selling rare Pokémon on the black market, it would be a trainer of good heart and impressive skill. Team Rocket is gone now, but she's far too shy for her own good. I think making new friends is just what she needs to improve her confidence."

Ethan looked down at the shy Dratini, and got on his knees. "So," he said, and she leaned away from him. "Do you want to come along?"

The Dratini looked up at the Dragon Master, who smiled in return. Then, still wary, she moved the tip of her tail into Ethan's hand, allowing him to shake it.

The joy of receiving a new Pokémon faded quickly, however, when Ethan heard a woman's voice behind him, saying, "What's all this?"


Clair hadn't reacted well to finding out that the Dragon Master had chosen Ethan over her to be this rare Dratini's trainer. In fact, she looked ready for a Whitney-style tantrum, but fortunately, the Master intervened.

"I have not forgotten your Dragon Fang, Clair," he reminded her. "And I doubt Ethan has. He has earned it."

"Then why did you give me the Dratini?" Ethan objected, and the Dragon Master indicated the terrified dragon-snake.

"Well, she had to go with somebody, didn't she?" Sensing no further protests, he handed the Dragon Fang over to Clair.

She turned it over in her hands, considering, and then handed it to Ethan. "I gave you this quest as a test of my own," she admitted. "I hate to say it, but you passed. And now that you have a dragon, you need this as much as I do."

"Um..." Ethan looked back at Kris and Lyra, neither of whom seemed to have any idea what was going on, either. "Thanks?"

"There's also something else you need," Clair said, reaching into a hidden pocket in her cape. Lyra didn't know that could happen, she'd have to ask her grandmother about it. "The Rising Badge allows you to go on to the Elite Four, and possibly the Champion. Just don't go blaming me if you lose."

Ethan put the Rising Badge in his badge case. "I won't, Clair," he promised. He looked to his companions, and smiled widely. "I have eight badges. You know what that means?"

"The journey's almost over!" the girls cried in synchronization, and Ethan gave them both a fist-bump, because that was exactly what he'd been thinking, too.


They stepped outside the Dragon's Den, into the warm sunlight, and all promised to stay in touch once their journey ended. And then, just as they'd finished making promises, Kris's phone started ringing.

Professor Elm was on the other line, and he said that he'd heard of their attempts to stop the new Team Rocket. At his niece's assurance that all three were still alive and completely unhurt, he went on to say that he wanted them all back in New Bark Town as soon as possible.

"That's where we were heading, anyway," Kris said, after passing on the message to her friends. "It's the closest we can get to where we need to be in Kanto."

"I hope you don't go to Kanto just yet," Professor Elm said cryptically. "I can't explain it all at once, mostly because I don't have many answers to the questions I know you'll be asking, but the Kimono Girls were apparently interested in Ethan."

"He can't marry all of them," Kris said, and Ethan snatched the phone from her hand.

"You want us back in New Bark Town?" he asked, and when the professor said yes, the boy prepared to turn off the phone. "Then we'll talk when we get there."

And he clicked it off, tossing it back at its owner.

"I was just kidding," Kris protested as Ethan stormed off. "Really! I know your type, and the Kimono Girls aren't even close to Jasmine."

The mention of the Steel-type user almost made him go red, but he managed to fight it. "I'm over it," he insisted, his hand sneaking into his pocket and betraying the lie by finding the rock she had given him. "Now come on, the professor wants us. And I think New Bark Town would be a good place to start training my Dratini for the Elite Four."

Dratini made a startled noise and jumped back into her ball. This wasn't looking at all like she'd hoped.