Last time on Tony's Journey...

Tony met Patrick, an older Kantonian Trainer who has traveled to Unova for his vacation and plans on competing in the Unova League. Naturally, Tony and Patrick decide to have a battle between their teams, both consisting of Kanto and Unova Pokemon!

What will happen? Find out now!

Tony and Patrick squared off in the center of their campsite. Blue eyes met green as the two blondes stared at one another, both breathing slowly and cautiously A Pokemon battle was a serious affair, even between those who were friendly with one another. They had agreed to a two on two battle, no substitutions and no potions or items. The sun was rising into the air as the battle began.

Tony burst forward, shouting "Sunny, you're up!"

"Vrrr!" chirped Sunny, leaping onto her trainer's shoulder and then down to the battlefield, ready to fight off whatever Patrick chose.

"Heh," Patrick chuckled with a smirk, "I figured you'd chose your Fire-type. But that won't matter: go, Coconut!"

"Exeg!" the Exeggutor shouted, stomping forward with six grins on all of his faces. The much larger Grass/Psychic-type stared down at the much smaller Bug/Fire-type. They stared off as their trainers stood at the ready, orders already on their lips as they charged for their foe.

"Sunny, String Shot!" Tony ordered.

"Vrrr!" Sunny opened her mouth wide and spewed a thick rope of webbing at her foe, tying his legs together and sending him crashing to the ground with a grunt.

"Now, Ember!" Tony shouted, clenching his fist.

"Vrrrr!" Red-hot flames spewed from Sunny's mouth, blasting towards her fallen foe.

Patrick was anything but unprepared for this event - it had happened to him before, and he was ready for it. In fact, he had been anticipating it. "Coconuts, Leaf Storm!" he shouted.

"Exeeg!" Coconut said, his heads knocking together as he whipped up his leaves into the air. The leaves hardened to rock-like consistency and shot towards the flames of Sunny's attack. The leaves caught fire, absorbing the entire attack, before swirling around the Larvesta and falling to the ground, creating a ring of fire around the surprised Sunny. Several leaves whirled back behind the fallen Grass/Psychic- type, slicing the webbing that was holding his legs together, allowing Coconuts to stand up again.

"Gotcha!" Patrick said with a grin. "Now, Giga Impact!"

"Exegg!" Coconuts roared, leaping into the air above Sunny, before slamming down with the full force of his body.

"Sunny, dodge it!" Tony shouted.

"Vrrrr!" Lucky chirped, leaping over the fiery wall as Coconut's massive bulk smashed into the spot she had been mere moments before, kicking up a wave of dirt and dousing the flames, reducing them to smoke.

Tony's mind was in a whirl as he struggled to think of a move to use. Patrick had already used Leaf Storm, an attack that takes up a lot of energy and weakens the Pokemon's "Special Attack" as it was often called, so it was unlikely he'd use that again. Giga Impact was a move that took up a lot of energy, and required the user to recharge after the attack. That gave him an opening.

An opening he was wasting at the moment.

"Sunny, Ember, fast!" Tony shouted, desperation ebbing into his voice.

Sunny unleashed a third volley of fireballs, striking the weakened Exeggutor with a powerful burst of flames.

"Got him!" Tony shouted, glad that he had done some damage at least.

"Not bad," Patrick said, "but still not good enough! Coconuts, Psychic!"

A telekinetic force pulled Sunny off of the ground, holding her in the air with mental power. Sunny began wriggling unhappily in the air as she struggled against the mental force, weakened though it may be by the Leaf Storm.

"Sunny, Ember again!" Tony shouted.

"Coconuts, Giga Impact!" Patrick countered.

Sunny opened her mouth to breathe a ball of fire at her foe, only to realize that Coconuts was in the air, the wind whistling as he fell down towards her and landed on her. The Psychic attack ended as Coconuts body-slammed Sunny into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust as they hit. When the dust cleared Coconuts was standing above a stunned and bruised Sunny, lying out-cold on the ground.

"Dang it..." Tony murmured unhappily, returning Sunny to her Pokeball.

"One down, kid," Patrick said, folding his arms. "Come on, you've got one more Gym Badge than I do. You can do better than that."

Tony looked over to his Pokemon. Lucky looked eager to put Coconuts in his place. Tony was about to tell her that she was up, when...

"Karra."

Tony felt someone pull the leg of his jean. Lancelot was staring up at him, an eager look in his eyes. Tony held his breath for a second, and then asked "Do you want to give it a try, Lancelot?"

"Karra!" Lancelot said with a nod.

Tony gave a hopeful grin. "Alright then, you're up!" he declared as Lancelot leaped onto the battlefield, facing down Coconuts.

"Patrick raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said he wouldn't obey you?" he asked.

"Well..." Tony said, rubbing the back of his head, "he had a change of heart I guess! ...Or I hope..."

"Oh, okay then... Coconuts, Giga Impact!" Patrick ordered.

"Exegg!" Coconuts roared, leaping into the air and looming over Lancelot.

"Lancelot, dodge it!" Tony shouted.

"Karra!" Lancelot leaped to the side, the Giga Impact missing him as Coconuts landed in the ground with a grunt.

"Now, use Fury Cutter!" Tony shouted.

"Karra!" Lancelot shouted as he sliced Coconuts across one of his faces, sending the Exeggutor crashing to the ground with a roar of pain.

"Alright!" Tony said, delighted that Lancelot was willing to actually obey him. "Fury Cutter again!" he ordered. Being a Bug-type expert and enthusiast, he knew that Fury Cutter got stronger every time that it hit. Not to mention that it was four times effective against a Grass/Psychic-type like Coconuts.

Lancelot struck Coconuts across the body again, leaving a red mark on his bark-like skin. Coconuts was panting now, breathing heavily as he stumbled back towards his own trainer.

Patrick grinned at Tony, unfazed by his predicament. "Not bad... But it ain't over yet! Wood Hammer, Coconuts!"

"Exegg!" Coconuts roared, raising his massive foot above Karrablast and slamming it towards the Bug-type with amazing speed.

"Dodge it!" Tony shouted. Lancelot was way ahead of him, leaping to the side as the Exeggutor's foot smashed into the ground, leaving a deep imprint in the ground. Coconuts winced in pain as he stepped back: Wood Hammer was an attack that often recoiled on the user, doing a bit of damage to him, too.

"One more Fury Cutter!" Tony ordered, seeing Coconut's guard was down.

"Karra!" Lancelot shouted, eager to finish his foe off. With a powerful swipe of his sharpened horn, he struck Coconuts harshly across one of his fruit-like heads. The Exeggutor stumbled back and fell to the ground with a crash, knocked out.

"Timber!" Tony shouted, happily. "Good job, Lancelot!"

"Karra," Lancelot said, giving his fallen foe a curt nod to show that he had done his best, and that he had the Bug-type's respect for that.

Patrick returned Coconuts to his Pokeball. "Good job, Coconuts," he said, pocketing the ball. "Well, you managed to get out of that," he told Tony, returning his attention to the boy. "Bit like I said: it ain't over yet. Whimsy, you're up!"

"Whimsi!" Whimsy said as she floated onto the field, her woolly hair waving in the autumn wind.

Tony managed to hide his grin, trying not to seem overconfident. Whimsicott weren't the best things to send after a Bug-type, especially considering her lack of any attacking moves that weren't Grass-type. Still, Patrick was older and had been training longer than he had. He could very well have something up his sleeve. Tony decided to test the waters and see what the man was planning, so he gave the order: "Alright, Lancelot, use Fury Cutter!"

Lancelot shook his head and sat on the ground. "Karra!" he declared.

Tony blinked. "Wha-?!" he said, surprised. "Aww... He was doing what I said and everything..."

"Freeeeh!" Lucky chirped, shaking her fist at Lancelot. What are you doing?! Fight already!

"Karra!" Lancelot retorted. I will not hit a woman! No matter what he says!

"Come on, Lancelot," Tony said. "Why did you stop?"

"Karra!"

"You fought Coconuts... why won't you fight Whimsy?" Tony asked.

"Karra!" Lancelot grunted, despite knowing full well that Tony couldn't speak his language.

"Is it because... Whimsy's a girl?" Tony wondered.

Lancelot looked up to his trainer and gave a nod. "Karra."

"Oh..." Tony said, everything coming together. "I get it now... I guess your Trainer trained you to be really polite, huh?"

"Karra."

Tony sighed, looking over to the surprised Patrick. "Looks like you win," he said. "Lancelot won't fight a girl."

Whimsy folded her arms and looked away, making a "Humph!" sound. Obviously, she had been insulted.

Patrick nodded. "Well... at least you know when to give up, and you know not to push your Pokemon too hard. Good job, kid." He gave a boyish grin. "I'm... proud of you."

Tony turned red. "Aw, jeez..." he said, rubbing the back of his head.

Lucky gave Lancelot a harsh glare as he sat there, content that his trainer understood. "Freeeeh..." Idiot...

"Karra." Wench.

Thankfully, Tony returned Lancelot to his Pokeball, ending a potential argument. "Thanks, Lancelot," he said. "You gave it your best." He was unhappy for his loss, but glad that his Karrablast would so something he said. "Guess we're done for now," he told Patrick.

"Well..." Patrick said. "To be frank, if we kept fighting, I think you would've won."

Tony smiled. "Thanks."

"But..." Patrick continued, "the Gym Leader here, Lenora - she's something else, kid. She'll destroy you if you aren't ready." He looked over Tony. "Also, don't be relying on your Karrablast - Lenora's Pokemon are mostly female, so you don't want to have to send him out there where he won't fight."

Tony nodded. "Thanks," he said. "Jeez, that leaves me with Lucky and Sunny. Lucky's a strong girl, but Sunny's pretty young..."

Patrick nodded as he walked over to Tony. "Seems to me that you need to do some training... When did you say your aunt and uncle would arrive?"

"The day after tomorrow, why?" Tony asked.

Patrick grinned. "Perfect. That gives you some time to work on your Pokemon. I'm no Bug-type expert, but I think if you did some training before the big match, it'd do you some good."

Tony grinned and nodded. "Yeah, that's right!" he exclaimed, looking at Lucky. "We were gonna practice learning Bug Buzz together, right?"

"Freeeeh!" Lucky agreed.

"And Sunny can learn Flame Charge, too!" Tony continued. "We'll get to practicing right away!"

"Freeeh!"

"Sounds good!" Patrick said, giving Tony a pat on the back. "Well," he said, looking at the rising sun, "it's getting bright out... I need to get a move on if I want to reach Striaton by night." He walked over to his tent.

"Well... Goodbye," Tony said.

Patrick looked up and smiled. "Hey," he said, "we can meet up again someday for a rematch. How's that sound?"

Tony grinned. "Sounds great!" he said. "It was nice meeting you. I'll see you again!"

"Freeeeh!" Lucky said with a nod.

"Seeya, kid," Patrick said with a nod and a smile. With that, Tony went off to the Pokemon Center, healed up his Pokemon, and began his training. Patrick silently packed his supplies, healed his own Pokemon, and set off to Striaton, never looking back.

Neither of them noticed N watching them as they departed from the clearing, silently observing Tony, and then Patrick as they left. Without a word, N walked off to the Striaton Gym.

Author's Note:

Well, it looks like Tony lost the battle with Patrick, but at least Lancelot will do something he says. Let's hope it stays that way... Here's hoping that Tony's training with his Pokemon bears good results for his Gym Battle!

But what was N up to, and what happened to Mystico? Why did he go to the Nacrene City Museum?

Find out next time!

Reader Question Time! Who is your least favorite Gym Leader to fight in any Pokemon game? Mind are Clair from Pokemon Gold, Silver, Crystal, Heart Gold and Soul Silver, due to her being an annoying fight (if you have an Ice-type or an Ice-type attack, you can't lose. If you don't, it's a pain in the rear) not to mention her refusing to admit defeat and whining like a little pansy brat. She only gives you your badge because that sagely guy threatens to tell on her. Sheesh! In second place, I have Erika from Red, Blue, Yellow and the remakes. I like Erika and all, but I always get angry when the Grass-type Gym poisons me more than the freaking Poison-type Gym does.

Oh well.

Reviews please! I'll update ASAP!

Tony's Party:

1: Lucky, female Butterfree

Ability: Compound Eyes

Move Set: Silver Wind, Confusion, Sleep Powder and Dream Eater.

2: Sunny, female Larvesta

Ability: Flame Body

Move Set: Ember, String Shot, Leech Life and Morning Sun

3: Lancelot, Male Karrablast

Ability: Swarm

Move Set: Fury Cutter, Peck, Endure, and Fury Swipes