Remember that it was your adventure. No matter what people believe, only you know what happened. They may say you changed, but you are still the same person who stood up and made a difference.

Chapter 30 The Second Gym Leader

Walking into the Gym, Alex actually lets out a small huff. His sister nods in agreement. When they had first entered through the gaping hole on the mountain side, this is not what they expected. The Gym stretches up, and up… and up… and up. It is like someone has excavated a giant circle inside the cave, leaving one large rock in the middle. Gates circle the main floor, stopping anyone from falling into the lower section of the Gym where the soft sound of moving water comes from. Past the entrance stones of the Gym, neither sibling can see what lies at the top of the large rock. On their left is the end of a slide of dirt from a few levels above. On their right is a climbing wall with lots of small holds that they realize they have to use to get up to the next level.

Simultaneously, the siblings gulp.

They stand there for a few more seconds before Alex gives a shaky laugh. He pushes his sister towards the wall, saying, "Well, no use standing around. You go first."

Her sarcastic look tells him she is so impressed at that suggestion. Still, she puts on a brave face but points and clicks on the man standing next to the climbing wall.

The man with lots of hair gel and tight suspenders gives them a creepy blank smile. Alex shivers and backs to the entrance stones as the man starts talking in his blank voice. "Hey, hey, it's the future Champs! What's goin' down?" A button. "This is the Rock-type Pokémon Gym, but you already figured that out, am I right?" Nobody answers. Sienna quickly presses A. "Rock types are great, aren't they? Weak to Steel, Water, and all kinds of things!" A button. "Now check out that wall. You can climb it if you start from one of those blue spots." A button. "Left, right, up, down – you'll need to climb every which way to reach the Gym Leader!" A button. The creepy man raises his head and looks over to the empty, black entrance.

Alex looks away from the man to read the inscription on the entrance stones. He immediately brightens with a smile and motions over to his sister. "Hey, sis! There aren't any names on here. I don't think Serena and Calem have come here yet."

"Oh," Sienna doesn't sound as excited, but Alex doesn't let it faze him. "Well, that's good, eh?"

"Yah." Alex walks over to her and starts nudging her at the rock wall again. "I wasn't kidding about you going first, by the way."

Sienna tenses and throws him another glare. Alex stands back, watching as she takes a step onto a blue mat with an arrow design pointing at the climbing wall. The brunette takes a few deep breaths, relaxing. She then grabs a blue foothold and then a green foothold. Quite easily she pulls herself up. The part Sienna struggles on is moving to the right.

Alex goes up and grabs the larger, blue holds. He leans back to reach higher and his back hits a wall. The boy blinks in surprise and turns. His elbow comes back, tapping the invisible wall. He smiles and goes back to climbing up. "Thank goodness there's a wall."

His sister grunts. Alex follows diagonally, making sure to keep using the larger stone holds. He looks over as Sienna sighs in relief. She lightly steps down onto the blue mat on the second level, placing a hand over her heart.

"It's not that bad," Alex calls, smiling. His grin stretches when he sees he's annoyed her. His fingers feel raw when he steps down beside her. He keeps smiling, rubbing the feeling back in the digits. "I'm just glad we don't have to climb or swing from any vines. That would be awful."

"Don't jink it," Sienna mutters. They walk around the corner of the second level, stopping before they go in front of the first Gym Trainer. "Are you going first?"

Alex smirks before pushing her forwards, making sure to keep a hold of her shirt. The black boy looks at both of them, saying in a monotone voice, "I need a break after all of this climbing!"

;;;

"Left or right," Alex says out loud. He slowly looks between the climbing wall options. "Left… or right…?"

"Alex," Sienna sighs.

"We could always split up," Alex suggests. He then shakes his head, cutting off her reply. "But one of us would probably make it to the top first.

"We could always do both," the blue eyed girl suggest.

"Are you volunteering?"

"No."

"Then that's out." Alex puts a hand on his head, thinking. "Rock, paper, scissors then? I win, we go left. You win, we go right?"

"Sure." Sienna sticks out a hand.

Alex follows suit. Together, they chant, "Rock, paper, scissors."

Alex sticks out two fingers.

Sienna holds her hand out flat.

"Scissors cuts paper," Alex cheers. "Left it is."

Alex climbs the wall first this time. It's a bit harder than the first one, steeper. He quickly makes his way up and peeks around the large rock while waiting for his sister. There is another climbing wall, this time for them to go down.

"Sis," Alex starts, pausing to wait for her to set her feet down. "The next part goes down and I think it leads to that slide thing."

"Well," Sienna puffs. She casts a nervous glance down. "Are you going to go?"

"No," Alex says sarcastically. "I was hoping you'd go first."

Sienna levels him a stern look. "Please, just climb."

Alex snickers and makes his way over to the blue mat. "Gosh, sis, you need to loosen up. We're at the second Gym. It's about time, too."

Alex makes easy work of the climb down and walks purposefully ahead. He nods to himself; the dirt slide does start there, with another one ending above it. His excitement grows. To the blue eyed boy, the slide means they are halfway there. The moment he has been training for - creaming the Gym Leader - is coming soon. Climbing walls is also building his excitement, a great way to challenge his strengths. The walls challenge how much he wants the badge, and he wants it badly. At this point, nothing can stand in his way. He will be the first one to challenge the Gym Leader, the first one to have his named engraved on the stones on the front. He only wishes that the Gym Leader puts up a bit of a challenge.

He also wishes that his sister would hurry it up.

Alex looks right, around the next corner. He can just make out the hat of a Gym Trainer past the climbing wall. There seems to be another climbing wall behind the Trainer, but Alex snorts and shakes his head.

"Another trainer past the wall," Alex calls back to his sister. He rolls his eyes and she finally releases from the wall. There looks like a route beside him, but why would there be a trainer if it doesn't lead to the Gym Leader?"

Sienna looks at what he sees and fidgets a bit. She hesitantly says, "I don't know, Alex. There doesn't look like there is a way around his except this side path."

"We'll, were taking it," Alex firmly says. He grabs onto the wall and starts climbing. "Come on, this wall has got to lead to the Gym Leader."

;;;

It doesn't lead to the Gym Leader.

As soon as Alex stepped off the blue mat, the Hiker walked up to them and challenged them to a battle. With no way around they had to backtrack – Sienna slowly leading - to where they are now.

Back from battling Rising Star Manon, Alex follows his sister's gaze to the large water fall behind them. The redhead snorts and walks over to the climbing wall beside his sister. "I bet Niagara Falls has better waterfalls."

"I don't doubt it," Sienna says softly. "But it's still pretty. It also takes my mind off of that."

She jerks a thumb at the climbing wall. Alex looks up, and up. He nods and then grabs hold of the large holds. A part of him weeps the longer he stares up. Making sure his voice doesn't waver, he says, "Well, nothing's going to happen if we just stand here."

For as tall and looming as the wall is, it doesn't take long to shimmy up it. Alex steps down on the next level and there is still half a wall that could be climbed. He looks down at his sister, pressing as close to the wall as she can, and shakes his head at her progress. He looks around the corner, spots another climbing wall, and then leans against the rock to look at the waterfall. His hand taps the wall impatiently.

"Do you think we're almost there?" Sienna huffs, landing beside him.

"Another wall," Alex tells her. He laughs as she softly groans. "The faster we go, the quicker we reach him. Come on."

Alex waits for her again at the top of the rock's next level. Once she gets up, he grabs her hand and walks in front of another Hiker.

;;;

"This might be it," Alex tells his sister. They stare up at the strip of climbing wall that only allows one person up at a time.

"You might be right," Sienna agrees.

There is a silence before Alex rushes forwards, "Dibs!"

"What happened to me going first?" Sienna asks, rubbing an ear.

Alex smiles at her half-hearted tone. "Don't pretend that I'd let you hold me up. I'm going to the top first."

"Go on then," Sienna chuckles. "Just don't start without me, alright?"

"Yes," Alex hisses, smiling brightly. He scampers up the wall faster then he's done the entire way up. He jumps off at the next level. As he goes to step aside, he laughs. Calling down to his sister, he shouts, "My old enemy, stairs!"

"Please move," Sienna calls back. "Trying to get to the ledge."

Alex steps back and looks around. He spots a couple primary coloured rocks up a bit. When his sister finally makes it to the top, Alex is hopping in anticipation. "I think we're at the top."

"Why's that?" Sienna asks, not having time to catch her breath as she scrambles up the stairs after him. When he steps aside, she can see the Gym Leader at the top. "Oh, that's why."

"I'm going first!" Alex shouts, his voice echoing slightly now that they're at the top.

Sienna quietly coughs, "Um, we could go together."

"No," Alex says, eyes wide. At her flinch he quickly says, "No offense, but I really want to beat him one-on-one. Please, sis." His eyes widen for a puppy dog eyes effect.

Sienna shifts her gaze. Alex can already see her giving in to his request. "Sure, go for it."

"Yes," the blue eyed boy cheers. "Thanks sis! You rock, uh, no pun intended." Alex turns to the Gym Leader, lifts his arm and presses A.

The man blinks a few times and the raises his right hand for an air flick. In a calm, monotone voice, he says, "I've been waiting in eager anticipation! What have I been waiting for?" A button. "For a worth challenger to appear!" A button. The Gym Leader gives a slight nod of his head. "It's quite an achievement to have climbed all the way up here. Very impressive, actually!" A button. "I have a feeling that our battle will turn out to be worth the wait!" A button. "I hope you'll show me that your skill as a Trainer surpasses even mine." A button. The Gym Leader puts a hand on his shoulder. He rolls the shoulder a few times and tilts his head. A large crack sounds and the Gym Leader places both hands on his hips just in time for everything to go black.

;;;

Alex reads his watch as it bleeps: 'You are challenged by Leader Grant!' A new message comes up at the world fades into the battle area: 'Leader Grant sent out Amaura!'

Alex looks up as a light blue, long necked dinosaur appears on Grant's side of the field. The boy takes notice that the place they are battling is the top of the large rock in the Gym. The waterfall is behind Grant's side. Spotlights have lit up the field and shrouded the rest of the Gym in darkness. The dirt of the Gym floor is shaped with a bit of a rise in the middle, making a diamond shaped Poké Ball.

"Go, Chestnut!" Alex shouts, throwing out his Poké Ball.

The green Pokémon spreads his feet out and shouts, "Quilladin!"

Alex smirks at the level difference. Chestnut is at level thirty-four, Grant's Amaura at twenty-five.

"Bite!" Alex commands.

Chestnut runs at the opponent. He opens his mouth wide and bites down hard on Amaura's shoulder.

As soon as Chestnut has returned to his side, he is encased in a yellow dome. It fades away, but Alex can see yellow lines running up and down his Pokémon.

"Ouch," Sienna says from a ways behind. When Alex turns around she smiles and holds up two thumbs. "I believe in you two. Try to work around the paralysis."

"I've got this," Alex tells her. He turns back to the field, "Use Needle Arm!"

Chestnut tries to raise an arm, but a sudden shock runs through him. The yellow lines pulse brighter and the grass type freezes in place.

Alex finally listens to his watch and reads what it bleeps: 'Chestnut is paralyzed! It can't move!'

The next message: 'The foe's Amaura used Aurora Beam.'

"Shoot!" Alex shouts.

Amaura shoots out a blue, crystal beam. Chestnut cries as the cold bites at him. The green Pokémon can't defend himself. Alex grits his teeth until the beam fades. Soon after, the yellow lines going along his Pokémon fade as well. With a nine level difference, the super effective move didn't hurt enough to bring the HP bar down to half. Still, Alex's anger burns because such a move hit his Pokémon. He's going to make sure that doesn't happen again.

"Alex," Sienna calls softly. He glances back and she her passive gaze from Chestnut to his. "Calm down and look closely at your Pokémon before you decide to attack."

He resists snapping back and follows her latter instructions; just taking a moment to breathe is already calming him. Chestnut looks fine. The green Pokémon is no longer panting. He looks ready to fight as he bounces on his feet, only stopping when a flicker of yellow-

Alex's eyes widen in realization. That's what his sister is talking about. The paralysation flickers bright yellow at its strongest. So he has to use a move when it fades.

"Needle Arm, Chestnut!" Alex calls when the yellow sparks fade.

The Quilladin cries out and rushes forwards. His arm grows small spikes and he slams a punch into Amaura. The light blue Pokémon flies back a few steps, giving Chestnut time to return to his side and raise both hands in front of his face to brace for an attack. The spikes are now gone.

A blue light shoots from Amaura and Chestnut grunts. He takes the ice attack - still as effective as before – with his block. When it dissipates, the yellow light brightens and then fades around Chestnut. He lowers his arms, a smirk plastered on his face.

Alex pauses, sees the light brightens, and then smirks. "Here we go, another Needle Arm!"

Chestnut rushes forwards. Small spikes grow on his arm as he goes. He slams his fist hard into Amaura's front. The rock and ice type Pokémon slides backwards and then falls over, fainted.

"Yes!" Alex cheers. "Great job, Chestnut!"

"Quill!" Chestnut cheers back, hopping. A quick pause and then he hops again.

Alex watches as his watch bleeps which Pokémon is coming next. A Tyrunt; the type of Pokémon he got from the fossil. The boy looks from his watch and then back to Chestnut just as the paralysis hits. When the option comes, Alex pulls off Chestnut's Poké Ball and hits the middle button, "Chestnut, return." He switches for his other grass type. "Go Vince!"

"Saur!" Vince calls as he lands on the field. The level twenty-eight Ivysaur stomps a foot impatiently on the ground.

A brown T-Rex like Pokémon appears opposite to him. Grant's Tyrunt is level twenty-five and – according to Alex's thoughts – going down hard.

"Vine Whip!" Alex commands.

"Ivy," Vince hisses, sprouting vines from under the flower on his back. With a shout he shoots them at Tyrunt. "Saur!"

Tyrunt flinches back as both vines slap him. He then runs forwards and bites a vine in retaliation.

"Sav," Vince hisses in pain. He jerks his vine out from under Tyrunt's bite. He stamps his feet angrily as the vines disappear under the bulb.

Alex also hisses at the damage caused. A couple more Vine Whips would do it, but he doesn't want to risk Vince getting in close again. The boy's hands clench into fists and he raises them, as if ready to throw a punch himself. "Vince! Razor Leaf!"

Vince grows a wide grin. He shoots leaves over his head and directly at the rock and dragon type Pokémon. Tyrunt flinches back again. The brown Pokémon then lowers its head and runs forwards. Vince ducks his head to brace for an attack, and doesn't see Tyrunt jump up high.

Alex's eyes grow wide, "He's above you!"

It's too late. Tyrunt slams his foot down on Vince's head. The Ivysaur has to shake his head a few times to clear his vision. In that time, Tyrunt's safety made it back to his side of the field.

"You alright?" Alex asks. Vince grunts positive and stands aggressively. "Alright, Razor Leaf again!"

Vince grinds his teeth and sends out a flurry of leaves, but they are off kilter. Tyrunt doesn't even move as the leaves slam into his large head. Instead, Tyrunt waits until the attack peters off until he rushes forwards again. Vince watches carefully. When Tyrunt jumps up, Vince shifts his body weight to one side. When the brown Pokémon starts to fall, Vince jumps to the side. Tyrunt still catches the small of his toe, but the attack's force hits the ground. Vince calls out some nasty sounding sounds as Tyrunt hurries back to his side.

"One more round of Razor Leaf," Alex tells Vince.

The Ivysaur nods and sends a burst of leaves at Tyrunt. The brown Pokémon jumps to the side, but some leaves catch his ankle and knock him off his feet. Tyrunt struggles to get to his feet, and instead sends a hard, concentrated look over to Vince.

Vince glares at the Pokémon, his eyes widening as Tyrunt hurls a rock from the ground towards him. The rock seals him from seeing his opponent. Another rock comes from above, clipping his feet as he jerks back. Vince lets loose an angry growl and jumps back just as another rock drops down. By the time they shift back into the ground, Tyrunt is back on his feet.

"Rock Tomb," Alex hears Sienna breathe the words.

"Razor Leaf," Alex tells Vince. "Try and aim for the feet."

Vince casts him a glance and nods. The leaves shoot out the sides of his bulb now. Tyrunt leaps to one side, but that causes his feet to be barraged with one set of leaves. The rock and dragon type falls to the ground, fainted.

"Yes!" Alex cheers. He pulls the empty Poké Ball off his belt, sharing grins with his Pokémon. "Thanks, Vince. Return."

Grant appears on the other side of the field, shrugging. "You have proven to be a wall that I am unable to surmount!"

"Great job, Alex," Sienna tells him. He goes to turn, but the world fades black before he can.

;;;

Grant stands smiling in front of Alex. His voice is calm and monotone as he delievers his ending speech to the boy. "There are some things that seem out of reach no matter how hard you try." A button. "However, it's important that you never give up – no matter the opponents or the odds." A button. "I could tell from our battle that you and your Pokémon understand that." A button. "To commemorate such an impressive show of teamwork, please accept the Cliff Badge!"

"Thanks," Alex says to Grant. He takes the rock-like badge and flips open his badge container to put it in. "See sis, isn't it cool."

Grant continues, "With the Cliff Badge in your grasp, you should have no issues working together with Pokémon up to level 40." A button. "This even applies to Pokémon you've received from other people in trade. And that's not all. You also get… this!"

Alex takes the round disk he offers. He reads what it is off of his watch as he puts it in his TM/HM pouch: 'TM 39 Rock Tomb'

"It's Rock Tomb," Grant explains. "With this move, a Pokémon can hurl rocks at its target, not only inflicting damage but also lowering the target's Speed and preventing it from moving." A button. "Now that you've become a master wall climber and conquered this Gym, it's time you thought about how to apply your skills in other areas!" A button. Now, Alex gives him all of his attention. "Think about how you can improve yourself, as well as the Pokémon that are always by your side." A button. "When you find the answer, that's when you'll truly be able to smile!"

Alex sweat-drops, "And he was giving such an inspirational speech." The redhead turns to his sister. "Now, it's your turn. Go on."

Alex all but shoves his sister in front of him. Sienna stumbles and looks slightly nervous about facing Grant. She takes a deep breath, and then raises her arm.

;;;

Xena is feeling freaked out.

The feeling starts when Grant actually appears on the other side of the field. Not too odd, a couple Team Flare Grunts did this as well. Then he starts shouting out orders around the time she clicks them. Of course, her higher level Greninja is much faster than his Amaura so that isn't much of a problem. The major thing that has her freaking out is that the battle against his Tyunt has turned into a full on battle. Like the anime. Like as-seen-on-TV. Like, there was no real waiting before pressing buttons on her watch, unless both Pokémon decided to catch their breath at the same time. Everything has just become one large string of moves after another. It is a good thing they practiced something like this before coming here. Internally, Xena is freaking out.

Alexander is just whining that it wasn't like this for his battle.

Xena's gaze rarely leaves the battle ground. Her watch is positioned high enough that she can flick down and see everything that's bleeped at her. Her pen is in her right hand, only once swapped when she considered switching Pokémon. The pen clicks one of the four moves she wants Greninja to use next only when she sees the opportunity. She is as fast and as silent in her choices as the water type is in his movement. They are good at this, this change in battle style, this flurry of continuous activity.

Xena looks calm and collected, like every move she makes is planned five steps ahead of time. She's still freaking out.

But she's good at this. Greninja realizes this as he glides around the field. He realizes how she takes in every angle on the field, every opening Tyrunt makes. She lets him know when to stay back and she can see what move Grant is going to decide to make. Or at least that's how she appears. This is when he realizes that his blue eyed Trainer is more than just a battler. She is a battler. She can strategize and make use of everything on the field. She's stays calm even when he gets hit. She embodies what could make a Champion. And she doesn't even realize it.

She doesn't make patterns, either. One time, Greninja receives orders to go in for a Night Slash when he is on the other side of the field. Next, he is using Water Pulse at close range. In the scheme of things, it all makes sense. By the time the opponent registered him there, the Night Slash was being delivered or throwing water in their face when they are going to use Bite; even using Shadow Sneak to dodge the Rock Tomb. By the time Sienna reuses a move for the same purpose, it can't be considered a pattern.

At the end of the intense battle, Greninja can't help but smile at his Trainer. Just before he is returned, he can see the hint of a smile thrown back at him. Her face is ghostly pale though. Odd, Greninja thinks, because he had expected her to have thrived in a battle like that.

;;;

"But yours was so much cooler." Alex whines as they walk away from Grant. Sienna gives the Gym Leader one more 'thank you' and he gives her a nod in response. They take the stair case behind Grant, supposedly the easy way down. "You should battle the next Gym Leader first so I can have a battle like that."

"I don't know if it works like that," Sienna mutters, looking at the ground as Alex leads them down another flight of stairs.

"Then how does it work? And what is it? There has got to be something special in battling someone second. We should try it out on a few Trainers and see if it works on them or just on Gym Leaders."

"What if it's a one-time thing?"

Alex sighs, because of the sight of the climbing wall and because of his sister's words. "Look, something that spectacular can't just be a one-time thing. So, you think if you did anything special and report back to me at the bottom of this climbing wall."

Alex climbs down the one lane wall, annoyed at his sister. He wants a battle like that. One were every move is unknown – even if people are shouting it out – and you don't have to wait until everyone is on their side of the field before choosing a move. Alex knows it isn't her fault that it happened then, but it's hard when he doesn't know what to be angry at for not letting him battle that way. While Grant put up a good challenge for him, the second battle was much more a battle. It was glorious in its own right, even though it was obvious who was going to win. Grant didn't even look like he was trying until he pulled out Tyrunt.

Setting his feet on the ground, Alex turns and almost slides down the sand/dirt slide. He carefully makes his way on to the side of the wall where there is sturdy dirt and waits. His annoyance is fizzling out, but the lingering want for a battle like that hangs. Alex crosses his arms and nods his head determinedly. He will have a battle like that, no matter how hard it could be to trigger it. He will use whatever he can to make it happen again.

For the first time in a long time, Alex misses the internet.

Sienna slowly drops down; rubbing her hands and muttering something like 'why never a wall behind me'. Alex doesn't hear all of it, and ignores her mutterings to ask, "So?"

"I don't know, Alex," Sienna says, turning around to face him. A flash of panic crosses her face as she almost slides down the hill. "Whoa. Oh, um… I don't know what happened up there. Sorry."

"Huh," Alex huffs. "I'll figure it out. Just tell me if you can think of anything."

With that, he jumps and slides down the sand/dirt slide. He stumbles slightly on the next one, but smiles proudly as the wind whips his hair back. This is much easier than climbing those walls.

Alex goes to the stone walls at the entrance straight after reaching the entrance. His sister goes to the man in suspenders beside the first climbing wall. He hears the man talk, "Looks like our Gym Leader wasn't much of an obstacle for you! Good job and all that!" A button. "We've gone and engraved your name on those mysterious statues there!"

Alex reads from the 'mysterious' rock at the front of the Gym. He smiles and gives a whoop. Under the 'Certified Trainers' for the Gym, 'Alexander' appears above 'Xena'. He can't be mad at her any more. He got what he wanted. He became the best at this Gym before her, and by default Serena and Calem.

That leads him to another predicament, though. Does he risk the better version of a battle not happening if he goes second, or does he beat her name going on the plaque in front of the Gym?

;;;

"It's felt like such a weird day," Alex says. He gets his tray to toss it in the garbage. "I mean, we probably could still leave the Pokémon Center to look around. Those street lights shouldn't be just for show."

"I'd rather not," Sienna says. Alex notices how she stifles a yawn and releases a yawn of his own. "See what I mean? I'm so tired; I think I might pass out on my feet."

"I guess that's that then," Alex says, making his way over to the couch. "I wish the Pokémon Center would turn off its lights every now and then."

"It was better when everything was sunny," Sienna agrees, shuffling after him.

"Now, it's like sleeping under LED lights." Alex flops down on the couch perpendicular to the window, his head under it so some darkness comes through. "Well, good night, I guess."

Sienna gives a soft laugh as she lies down on the couch parallel and under the window, "Good night, Alex."

There is a slight pause. Then, Alex whispers, "Sienna?"

"Yes, Alex?"

"I hope we meet up with Serena and Calem soon."

"…"

"I really want to rub Serena's face in the fact I got the badge before all of you."

"Aren't you a good friend," is the sarcastic reply.

"The best."

"…"

"… Hey Sienna?"

"Yes?"

"Good night, and thanks."

"For what?"

"For taking the whole me beating you thing really well."

"Good. Night. Alex."

"Good. Night. Sienna."

Sienna chuckles and buries her face into the couch.

Alex looks around the Pokémon Center one last time before curling up and going to sleep.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: Just thought I'd slip in a disclaimer for that awkwardly placed quote… Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed it. It was a blast to write. Two badges down, an entire region to go! … Well, thanks for reading!

Thank you greatlittleking for your review. I appreciate you reviewing. It really does mean a lot to know I'm doing something right. Glad I'm not the only one who thought that about Grant. Why not give the HM afterwards? Thanks again for your review, hope you enjoyed!

Thank you BlazingSapphire22 for your review. Glad you like it! There is more like a mutual indifference between them right now. They only hangout because Alex and Serena hangout – that sort of thing. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks again for your review!

I'm hoping to release two short crossover chapters this week. Some of you may be excited, and some might not. Either way, I hope you'll like them. Thanks again for reading!

Alex's Dream Release Date: Sometime this week