Long story short, the battle was a close one. We were both down to our last Pokemon in the three-on-three battle. It was just her Emolga and Delilah, face to face. Delilah and Emolga were both weakened, but Delilah pulled through and helped me win the battle.

Emolga was the only Pokemon that really posed as an issue during the battle. Seattle took down the first two Pokemon, but Emolga took her out no problem. Even Grace didn't stand a chance. But, again, Delilah saved the day.

The weird thing was that she didn't complain at all about battling Emolga. I couldn't quite pinpoint why, though.

"Great job, Cecilia," Elesa congratulated me. "You deserve this Bolt Badge. Take it."

She handed the token: a small badge shaped like a thunder bolt. I politely took it from her and looked at it closely. It was such a stunning object.

"Thank you," I said.

"No problem." She smiled. "Good luck getting the other four badges. You're probably best heading off to Driftveil City, considering that it's home to the gym closest to here. Just keep one thing in mind when you go—Clay's a bit of a short fuse."

"Oh. Sounds...peachy."

"He's a good friend of mine, though. If he doesn't want to give you the time of day, just show him your Bolt Badge and introduce yourself."

"Will do."

I turned around, and a roller coaster car zoomed onto the once-empty track in front of me. Right as I was about to board it, I remembered something. I turned around and called out to Elesa, "Wait!"

I darted over to her. "Before I go, can I have your autograph? My older sister's a huge fan."

She agreed, "Sure. Just give me a second." Elesa ran off to her hidden house for a second and returned with a notepad and a pen with gold ink. "Who am I making this out to?"

"Candice," I told her, "of the Snowpoint City Gym."

"Your sister's a gym leader? How interesting." Elesa began scribbling something on a sheet in the notepad. "Candice," she said aloud as she wrote. "Battle with an open heart, an open mind, and especially a lot of style. Keep rocking the gym leader title, and who knows—maybe we'll get to battle someday. Warm, overseas regards: Elesa."

She tore the piece of paper off and handed it to me. "Thank you so much!" I told her. "My sister's going to be thrilled when she reads this."

"It's nothing," she said modestly. "Good luck on the rest of your journey, Cecilia, and don't let Ghetsis win."

"Got it."

I boarded the car, and it sped out of sight. Before I knew it, I was at the entrance of the gym. The autograph was in one hand, and the Bolt Badge in another. I quickly stored the badge in its place in my case, and I carefully folded up the autograph and hid it behind the case in my bag. I absolutely did not want to lose that piece of memorabilia.

I headed out the sliding doors and headed to the Pokemon Center for a quick rest (for both my Pokemon and myself). After that, it was straight off to Driftveil.

-x-

The trip through Route Five was quick, but interesting. Not too far off of the gate connecting the route and Nimbasa was a space filled with performers. Each performer had a wonderfully unique personality that made watching he or she rather enjoyable. However, the zeal and excitement of the sight reminded me of Pokemon Contests and, therefore, reminded me of home. I decided that the first thing that I was to do in Driftveil was contact my family, as well as Professor Juniper. However, family came first in my mind. Always has, always will.

When I was watching a guitarist play a relaxing, mellow riff on his acoustic guitar, a strange man approached me from behind and asked, "Isn't music wonderful?"

I turned around and looked at the person. He had red hair that was orange at the tips, and it was pulled back into a loose, messy ponytail. He wore a white poncho that was striped with red and orange at the ends. He also wore white pants that were frayed at the edges, as well as black sandals. He had six Pokeballs casually draped over his shoulders. I had no idea who he was, but there was some sort of welcoming vibe to him.

"Yes," I responded. "Music sure is something." I had a semi-confused look to my face. It's not every day that a stranger pops up out of nowhere and sparks a conversation with you. (Then again, that had been happening to me a lot at the time.)

He noticed my facial expression. "Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Alder—Champion of the Unovan Elite Four."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Alder, sir," I said.

"Don't call me mister," he commanded, "or sir. I'd much rather you just called me Alder."

"Well, pleasure to meet you, Alder." We shook hands. "I'm Cecilia. I'm from Sinnoh."

"You are? How interesting. What part?"

"Snowpoint."

"I'll have a feeling that you'll find Icirrus City to be quite pleasant, then. The climates of the two cities are very similar."

"Are they now?" I became homesick for a second.

I must've been making some sort of facial expression or something, because Alder quickly noticed that I was somewhat downcast. "What's a girl from Sinnoh doing all the way in Unova?"

"Professor Juniper wanted me to do some research, although I'm not sure why I'm here anymore, to be completely honest." Based off of everything that happened to me since I arrived in the distant region, that answer could easily be proven valid.

"Why's that?"

"Rather not talk about it." I didn't want the Champion of the Elite Four to get involved in my mess-of-a-life. I had already sucked two gym leaders into the spiraling vortex of whatever was going on. I figured that the Champion would have too much on his hands already, so—

I had thought of something. "Alder," I asked him, "why are you here? I'd figure that a trainer of your stature would be busy battling."

"What," he answered in the form of a question, "the Champion can't take a day-or-two off to explore Unova? Cynthia's always exploring Sinnoh, gathering bits of ancient history for her enjoyment and knowlege. What makes her any different than me?"

He had a good point. "I'm—I'm sorry, Alder."

I was surprised by his response: "Don't be! You don't know how many times I've heard that before. The only people that understand the trials and tribulations of being a Champion are the Champions themselves. However, a good Champion finds time to do what he or she loves. For me, it's travelling. For Cynthia, it's learning. And this doesn't just apply to Champions; it applies to everyone on this planet. That guitarist finds time to express his love for music. Elesa does the same through modeling. Likewise, Burgh does it through creating artwork, and Lenora through archaeology."

"Wow. I'd never thought of it that way before. That's such an interesting way to think of things."

"Indeed." Alder smiled. "I can tell that you have a pure spirit and an open mind. You'll go far in life; I'm sure of it. I like you, kid. If you ever need me, just give me a call." He grabbed my wrist and punched his number into my Cross-transceiver. "I'm afraid I must be off. I have places to see and places to be. Thank you for talking with me, Cecilia."

And before I knew it, Alder was gone.