Theme Song

Let's get this show on the road (Gray, looks out at the main stadium of the Silver Conference from the top of a hill)
Old friends will shoulder the load (Durus, Leviculus, Fidens, Magna, Decorus, and Fortis appear on top of a cliff and jump off at the same time)
It may be tough, but look inside (All of Gray's losses flash across the screen)
And soon you'll be right back in stride! (Gray's twelve Pokemon appear by her side along with Cole and Nikki
, and then they run towards the championship stadium)
Hooray (2x)! We're back in town (Nikki and her Pokemon run from store to store while Gray and her Pokemon sweat drop, and Cole and Slakoth eat all of the food at a buffet)
No way (2x)! We're not going down (The screen splits in half and shows Ferus and another figure with fire in the background)
Move on (2x)! We'll win the crown! (Gray squares off with James, Joey, Silver, and Savannah while standing next to her Pokemon, Nikki, and Cole)
Then and now, we stay the same (Splitscreen shows Owen during his travels with his Pokemon, and Gray during her travels with her Pokemon)
This is life, not a game... (Gray's Pokemon disappear, and six shadowy figures stand by her side)
Pokemon


It's time for Gray's eighth and (hopefully) final Gym Battle! Last chapter, the group visited Dragon's Den in order to determine if Gray was worthy of battling Clair, and then Shelgon wanted to be evaluated by the "Master" to see if he could train there. When he found out he wasn't worthy, Shelgon fought Clair's Dragonite, who kept taunting him and, despite evolving, he lost. Fortis then stopped Dragonite before he could hit Salamence, and it looks like those two will get the chance to duel this chapter. Also, I'm going to be posting anywhere from 7-10 chapters per week, starting today. Now let's get going!

JustinThePokemonMaster: Yes, yes they are. I found Shelgon evolving to be the most interesting of all up to this point in the story considering how quickly it happened, but that won't make him rebellious or anything. Him going crazy was because of how Dragonite was acting and Salamence's desire to prove him wrong. Also, in regards to timelines, don't worry about that, lol. Usually, each chapter is a week after the previous, though that obviously wasn't the case for the last. Basically, what I'm trying to say is I'm no longer going to follow levels for every evolution. Some might happen in a chapter, others might take an entire story, which I think will add some fun to how Gray's future team will shake out

dragonplayer18: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! But I won't be doing a rematch between Salamence and Dragonite, because (realistically) it wouldn't be close. However, Salamence will be involved in... two battles, if I remember correctly. One won't be very long at all, while the other will be roughly equal to last chapter's

Defender31415: Yessir, he is, but Fortis will make him pay, and thankfully I can post this now (it's been done for almost three weeks)

Guest: Really? Huh, never knew that. Thanks for telling me!

ShadowDragon9000: Choo! Choo! Thanks for the compliments. Fortis will drop the hammer without hesitation if/when he gets to battle Dragonite, and his training with Owen won't go unnoticed. As for Salamence, I do feel bad about him getting whooped, but at least he got to evolve, and he could possibly witness Fortis getting some revenge for him

Blaze Falcon: Eh, what are you gonna do (about the Dragon Den)? Given how strong Salamence is going to be, it won't really matter much if he did train there, and it's a good thing he didn't get admitted, because then Nikki would've had to give him up, which wouldn't be good because he'll play a part in a huge battle during the Purity Arc. Fortis' victory hype and egg hype!

jail251: Thanks, and no need to worry. His personality, which will be shown throughout this chapter, will be about the same as it has been. It's kind of like he's a huge kid, which makes sense when you think about how quickly he evolved, and thanks again!

Gray's Team

Fortis, (m), level 71, Dragon Claw, Flamethrower, Dragon Pulse, Earthquake, Draco Meteor*, Boomburst* - (Flygon)
Comis, (m), level 46, Night Slash, Acrobatics, Sky Uppercut, X-Scissor, Quick Attack*, Feint Attack* - (Gliscor)
Acer, (f), level 42, Mach Punch, Headbutt, Bullet Seed, Stun Spore, Leech Seed*, Poison Powder* - (Breloom)
Ferus, (m), level 50, Flamethrower, Feint Attack, Howl, Foul Play, Bite*, Fire Fang* - (Houndoom)
Pertinax, (m), level 45, Vice Grip, Seismic Toss, X-Scissor, Storm Throw, Double Hit*, Brick Break* - (Pinsir)
Agrestis, (f), level 38, Pound, Toxic Spikes, Clear Smog, Sludge Bomb, Take Down*, Dark Pulse* - (Garbodor)
Placidus, (m), level 49, Bite, Iron Defense, Take Down, Ice Fang, Ice Beam*, Rapid Spin* - (Avalugg)
Egg, (N/A): The egg is close to hatching. It's only a matter of time before it hatches!


"I'm not impressed with this place," Cole spat as he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head away from the battlefield, bitter about the way Clair and Dragonair had acted in Dragon's Den.

Standing in one trainer box were Gray, Comis, and Fortis, the latter of whom glared at Clair's Dragonite, who was directly across the room. In the other trainer box were Clair and her aforementioned Dragonite, who snickered at the sight of Fortis' anger.

"What are you talking about? This Gym has the nicest battlefield in all of Johto," Acer countered, making Cole sweat drop while Pertinax, Eevee, Delcatty, Misdreavus, and Slakoth laughed.

"I've seen better," Salamence hissed, his eyes fixated on Dragonite. "Fortis is going to kill that guy."

"You'd better hope."

Turning, Salamence shook his head at Nikki and focused on Gray's Flygon, who looked ready to roll. Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield was the referee, who raised her arms.

"This will be a three versus three battle between the challenger, Gray Plain of Saffron City, and the Gym Leader of Blackthorn City, Clair, where only the challenger may substitute her Pokemon! Furthermore, the battle will be over when all Pokemon on either side are unable to continue! Now, choose your Pokemon!"

"Dragalge, go forth!" Clair shouted, tossing her first Pokeball.

Once the Pokeball opened, a large, shrimp-like creature floated above the ground and let out a ferocious roar, shaking the walls of the Gym. While it glared at Gray, Comis looked over at his trainer and motioned for her to send him out, making the girl giggle before nodding.

"Comis, you're up!" Gray shouted, prompting the ground type to shoot forwards and land on his tail in front of Gray with a fierce look on his face.

"This battle will be between Comis and Dragalge! Begin!"

"Comis, start with Night Slash!"

Within the blink of an eye, Comis' claws began to turn black and he threw both of his arms forwards, firing two crescents of black energy. Both cut through the air at a surprising speed and quickly closed in on Dragalge but the poison type didn't seem the slightest bit fazed.

"Dodge and retaliate with Aqua Tail!" Clair shouted confidently.

Dragalge shot into the air and evaded the dark type attack with ease, shocking both Gray and Comis. Then, Dragalge's tail was encapsulated in water and the dragon sped forwards and began to spin like a wheel. Before either Gray or her Pokemon could react, Dragalge smashed her tail over Comis' head, slamming him against the ground.

"Don't back down, Comis! X-Scissor!" Gray yelled as she watched her starter struggle to push himself off the ground.

Grinning, Comis used his tail as a spring while his claws began to glow light blue. Clair and Dragalge gasped in shock, as did everyone watching the battle, and Comis smacked Dragalge across the face, sending the large Pokemon flipping through the air before hitting into the wall behind Clair. Frustrated by the sight of her struggling Pokemon, Clair stomped on the ground like a child.

"Urgh. Shoot a Dragon Pulse, Dragalge!"

Dragalge suddenly shot a wicked ray of draconic energy, which took the shape of a dragon as it closed in on Comis, who was flying around nonchalantly. As soon as he did see the ray flying towards him, Comis heard Gray's voice ring in his ears.

"Speed around it with Quick Attack!" the teen countered, throwing her right arm out to her side.

A sudden burst of energy allowed Comis to speed through the air as a trail of white light followed his body. Then, when he reached the middle of the battlefield, he tucked both of his arms into his sides as a means of picking up even more speed, thus adding more power.

"Use Smoke Screen to keep Comis away!"

Dragalge opened its mouth and shot a thick cloud of black smoke. Clair smirked as Comis was caught off guard by the move, and he was trapped inside the cloud of disgusting air, though Gray's confidence shook Clair's nerves.

"Get out of there with Feint Attack!"

While the cloud of thick smoke continued to cover Gray's half of the battlefield, Comis suddenly appeared a few feet above Dragalge. Then, as he was surrounded in black aura, Comis zipped downwards and slammed into his mighty foe, who cried out in pain as she was slammed into the ground, causing the battlefield to crack slightly. In shock, Clair was unable to speak as Comis flew back to Gray's side and got rid of the smoke while Dragalge slowly lifted herself back up.

"Dragalge, blast him with Hydro Pump!" Clair commanded, wanting to end the battle right there.

Rearing her head back, Dragalge suddenly whipped her neck forwards and unleashed a high-pressured blast of dark blue water. While the water sped across the battlefield, Fortis anxiously looked at Gray, who didn't seem to be aware of the power behind the attack, nor did Comis. Then, all of a sudden, Gray threw her hand forwards, and Comis coiled up.

"Dodge it and finish this with Acrobatics!"

Surprisingly, Comis shot off the ground and barely dodged the Hydro Pump attack, which struck the ground Comis had been standing on, causing an explosion. Then, Comis reached Dragalge and unleashed a wicked barrage of kicks and punches before ending it with a swing of his tail. As soon as the attack ended, Dragalge was knocked unconscious and fell to the ground limply, leaving Clair and Dragonite in shock.

"Dragalge is unable to continue! Clair, choose your next Pokemon!" the referee shouted as she looked at the Gym Leader.

"Yeah, Comis! You were awesome!" Acer, Pertinax, and Agrestis screamed with bright smiles.

Ferus and Delcatty, meanwhile, smiled at the sight of Comis flexing confidently, but then they turned their attention to the tan egg Gray had entrusted them with. There were several cracks in it, sending signals that it was going to hatch very soon.

"Comis looked really strong during that fight. A lot stronger than he has in the past," Nikki said to Cole and Slakoth, who both nodded while Cole rubbed his chin, trying to think of a reason.

"Yeah, he looks like he could be just as strong as Ferus and Placidus," Slakoth whispered, not wanting to offend Gray's other Pokemon.

"It's because Fortis is back," Cole stated abruptly, catching Slakoth and Nikki by surprise. Misdreavus and Salamence overheard the comment and turned to Cole immediately, intrigued by his hypothesis. "Think about it. Fortis is who he strives to be, and now that he's back, Comis has the chance to show him just how strong he's become since Lumiose City."

Back on the battlefield, Comis turned to Gray and Fortis, smiling at his victory, which made Gray giggle while Fortis grinned and fist bumped the Gliscor.

"Return, Dragalge," Clair spat, infuriated about losing to Comis. "They're not winning this battle. Altaria, go forth!" the woman shouted, hurling her second Pokeball.

After watching the capsule open, Gray saw a strange blue bird covered in what seemed to be a cloud, though it turned out those were its wings. As soon as it landed, the creature squawked at Comis, who spun around and snapped his claws angrily.

"An Altaria, huh?" a voice questioned as someone walked into the Gym near the stands. "I didn't think Clair would have one of those," Savannah said as she sat down next to Cole and Nikki with an intrigued look. "How's Gray doing?"

"Comis just beat Dragalge, so this is the second battle," Misdreavus answered.

"Did Daniel leave already?" Slakoth quizzed.

"Not yet, but he's in Dragon's Den talking with Ren about something. They didn't let me in that shack, so Savannah and I had to wait outside," Wigglytuff answered while rubbing her aching head. "It's definitely because I'm a fairy type."

"Comis, are you able to keep going?" Gray asked her starter.

"Absolutely. I've got this in the bag!" the Gliscor answered arrogantly, causing Gray to sweat drop while Clair, Dragonite, and Altaria glared angrily.

"This battle will be between Comis and Altaria! Begin!"

"Take off with Quick Attack, Comis!" Gray shouted.

Comis wasted no time in shooting forwards, as a ray of white light trailed his body. Clair, however, wasn't fazed by the burst of speed because she had already seen it, allowing her to counter with relative ease.

"Altaria, send Comis flying with Moonblast!" the dragon specialist demanded.

The peaceful looking dragon, who was flying a few feet above the ground, nodded and opened his mouth. A large orb of pink light formed and Altaria locked his sights on Comis before firing the devastating fairy type attack. Shocked by the move, Comis was unable to get away, and he was sent spiraling into the ground after being struck by the pink ray of light.

"Are you okay, Comis?" Gray asked in concern as Comis slowly rose to his feet with the help of his tail. "Good! Now use Acrobatics!"

Comis smirked and shot towards Altaria with the intent to crush the fluffy dragon. Clair, however, wasn't keen on letting that happen.

"Intercept and grab him!" she shouted.

Altaria bolted towards Comis while sticking her wings out to her sides. Then, just as Comis was about to attack, Altaria wrapped her wings around him, preventing the Gliscor from striking.

"What!?" Gray screamed in shock, unaware of Altaria's insane strength.

"That's Clair for you," Savannah muttered, shaking her head at the sight of Comis attempting to break free. "There's no way Comis is going to be able to stay conscious after this."

"Come on, Comis! Get out of there!" Pertinax shrieked, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice louder.

"Freeze his wings with Ice Beam, Altaria!" Clair shouted tactically with a wicked smirk.

Altaria nodded and held Comis out far before freezing the wings on his back. Then, the dragon type dropped him, causing Comis to fall like a sack of bricks. As soon as he hit the ground, a loud thud echoed through the air and everyone flinched, turning away from the sight as Comis rolled around in pain.

"We're not going to give up! Comis, use Sky Uppercut!" Gray screamed, though Comis was still screaming in pain.

"Not happening, Gray! End this with Dragon Pulse!" Clair shouted right back.

Unable to do anything, Comis continued to roll around while Altaria flew right above him and reared his head back. Then, Altaria unleashed a blast of multicolored energy that took the shape of a dragon, and it crashed into Comis, exploding on contact. Once the smoke dissipated, Comis was revealed to be down for the count, prompting the referee to throw her arms up.

"Comis is unable to continue! Gray, choose your next Pokemon!" she ordered, pointing at the challenger.

"Thank you so much, Comis. You were amazing," Gray whispered to the wounded creature laying in front of her. "Now go watch from the stands, buddy. We're going to need you to pump everyone up," Gray told Comis after spraying him with a Full Restore.

"Okay, but you better teach that jerk a lesson," Comis told Fortis while pointing at Dragonite, who snickered at something Altaria had said.

Fortis nodded solemnly in response before watching Comis fly over to the stands, where he landed next to Salamence, who had made his way over to Ferus and Delcatty. As soon as he sat down, Comis took note of the egg, seeing that it was shaking slightly, but he turned his attention back to the battlefield.

"Placidus, I choose you!" Gray roared, hurling her second Pokeball.

In a burst of light, the Avalugg slammed against the ground and let out a menacing roar, which actually lowered the temperature of the room to a chilling level. Clair and Dragonite immediately stopped snickering and looked much more serious about the battle, respecting Placidus' power.

"That's a smart choice. Hopefully Placidus can take Altaria out really quickly," Acer said, looking at hear teammates.

"Destroy him, Placidus! Don't show any mercy!" Comis screamed like a banshee, taking Gray's request a bit too far, causing the girl to deadpan while Fortis laughed at the ridiculous words.

"This battle will be between Placidus and Altaria! Begin!"

"Placidus, power up with Iron Defense!" Gray ordered, wanting to make it as difficult as possible for Clair to defeat the bulky ice type.

Stomping on the ground, Placidus grunted loudly and his body flashed silver for a second before a ring of green energy spun around his battle. Once it faded, Placidus grinned and roared, lowering the temperature once again.

"Raise your defenses all you want, you're not going to win! Altaria, use Ice Beam to build a wall behind Placidus!" Clair screamed.

Altaria nodded in response to his trainer's command, and he flew as high as he could while an orb of light blue energy formed in front of his mouth. Then, firing a zigzagging beam of light blue energy, Altaria intentionally missed Placidus and hit the ground behind him, causing a wall of ice to separate Gray from her Pokemon, which confused the two.

"Stay on your toes, Placidus! Use Rapid Spin to get into the air and try biting Altaria with Ice Fang!" the seventeen year old shouted.

Placidus immediately tucked his limbs in and began to spin like a top furiously. The, he zipped through the air and flew towards Altaria and returned to his normal appearance as two fangs of ice shot out of his mouth.

"Dodge it and use Perish Song!"

Altaria flew back and barely avoided the super effective attack, and then he began to sing a deathly tune when Placidus slammed against the ground. Then, the number three appeared above both Altaria and Placidus, confusing the ice type who began to look around before locking eyes with Gray, who looked just as lost.

"What the hell is that?" Nikki shouted, turning to Cole and Savannah.

"Perish Song's a move that's essentially a sacrifice. If neither Pokemon is substituted after three turns, then they'll both faint," Cole answered grimly, causing Nikki and everyone else, except Savannah and Wigglytuff, gasp.

"Let's end this quickly, Placidus! Ice Beam!" Gray yelled, unaware of the effects of Perish Song.

Placidus nodded before rearing his head back and unleashing the strongest Ice Beam he could. Surprisingly, Altaria was unable to dodge the wicked attack due to its speed, and Clair bit her lower lip as Altaria fell to the ground weakly. Turning her attention to Placidus, Clair bowed at the Pokemon out of respect for his power, making the ice type bow back before preparing to attack. He stopped, however, when a two appeared above his head and Altaria's heads.

"Now hit Placidus with Dragon Pulse, Altaria!"

Opening his wings while squawking loudly, Altaria shot a blast of multicolored energy at Placidus, and it took the shape of a roaring dragon. The dragon move then slammed into Placidus and exploded, pushing the bulky creature up against the ice wall in front of Gray.

"Counter by using Rapid Spin into Take Down!"

Grunting in response, Placidus started to spin like a top as he tucked his limbs in, and he shot into the air while Altaria remained on the ground. Then, once he was directly above the dragon type, Placidus stopped spinning and fell headfirst towards Altaria while he was enveloped in a golden coat of energy as a one appeared over hm and Altaria.

"Send him back with Moonblast!" Clair countered, throwing her hands out to her sides.

Altaria wasted no time in firing a ray of pink light at Placidus. Colliding with the fairy type, Placidus let out a roar of pain, but it then turned into one of determination as he started to push his way through the wicked attack, shocking Clair and everyone else watching, excluding Dragonite.

"You can do it, Placidus!" Comis and the others screamed enthusiastically, drawing a roar from Placidus before he completely overpowered the Moonblast attack, slamming into Altaria and causing an explosion.

Suddenly, Placidus was thrown across the battlefield, but he landed on his feet while Altaria was barely hanging on, panting heavily. Then, all of a sudden, zeros appeared above the combatting Pokemon, and they fell to the ground lifelessly, causing Gray to gasp in horror while Clair let out a sigh of relief, knowing that had she not used Perish Song, Placidus would've surely defeated Altaria.

"Both Pokemon are unable to continue! Choose your final Pokemon!" the ref shouted as she looked at Gray and Clair.

"Nice job, Altaria. Return," Clair said to the downed Pokemon, who nodded as he was zapped inside his Pokeball.

"Fortis, use Flamethrower on the ice," Gray demanded swiftly, leading to Fortis incinerating the wall that had prevented Gray from withdrawing Placidus. "You were amazing, Placidus. Thanks so much for everything you did," Gray said to the ice type as she patted him on the head, spraying him with a Full Restore. "Take a long rest. You deserved it."

"Thanks, Gray," Placidus replied with a smile before walking back to the bleachers, leaving his trainer and Fortis by themselves.

Slowly, the trainers and their dragon types locked eyes at the same time, and everyone went silent. Clearly, the tension between Dragonite and Fortis was at unprecedented levels, but Clair wasn't sure if Gray was going to choose her Flygon. Dragonite, meanwhile, stepped forwards and began to crack his neck with a smirk, motioning for Fortis to approach.

The ground type didn't, and instead turned to Gray, who spoke to him without even turning.

"Fortis, it's all up to you," she stated, making the Flygon nod before turning to glare at Dragonite as he stepped forwards.

Once both dragons stopped, their wings shot open, creating powerful gusts of wind that kept everyone silent, as they anxiously waited to see who the victor of the duel would be. The silence was broken by Salamence, however, as he roared.

"Go, Fortis! Show this guy who the real dragon is!"

Turning to face Salamence, Fortis nodded and then turned back to his opponent with a stone-faced look.

"Oh man, I can't believe we're getting to see this! I'm so pumped!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, bouncing up and down with excitement alongside Comis, who was holding onto the shaking egg. "There's no telling who's going to win!"

"That's not true," Comis interjected, grabbing everyone's attention, except for Savannah, who nodded in agreement. "As strong as Dragonite may be, he doesn't have almost a year's experience of training with the second strongest trainer in the world. He had no chance of winning."

"This battle will be between Fortis and Dragonite! Begin!"

"Dragonite, use Extreme Speed to overwhelm Fortis!" Clair ordered, confident that she could defeat the Flygon with simple tactics.

Sharing the same train of thought as his trainer, Dragonite flapped his wings as hard as he could and shot forwards at a speed no one had seen before, except Fortis, who grinned in response while Gray hurriedly spat out a command, overwhelmed by the speed of her opponent.

"Send Dragonite flying with Boomburst!"

There wasn't a moment of hesitation on Fortis' part as he whipped his wings forwards, shooting a gigantic pair of white crescents forwards. Clair's jaw hit the ground when she saw Dragonite get hit by both crescents of energy and bounce along the battlefield like a ragdoll. Once he got up, Dragonite had a pained look shoot across his face as he gripped his side. Fortis, meanwhile, maintained a stoic expression and flapped his wings lightly as he took to the air.

"Dragonite, get in close and hit Fortis with Ice Punch!" Clair yelled.

"Counter each Ice Punch with Dragon Claw, Fortis!" Gray screamed.

With a flap of his wings, Dragonite sped towards Fortis while his fists were shrouded in light blue, icy energy. Fortis, meanwhile, threw his arms out to his sides and large neon green claws appeared on the ends of his fingers. Both dragon types began swinging at each other while flying around the room, causing several mini explosions whenever the attacks collided. Eventually, Fortis' speed was far too much for Dragonite to handle, and he landed a wicked Dragon Claw that spiked Dragonite into the ground, making Clair and the referee gasp.

Meanwhile, Nikki, Cole, Savannah, and all of the Pokemon let their jaws hit the ground once Fortis landed in front of Gray, who was dumbfounded by her Pokemon's exponential growth in power.

On the other end of the battlefield, Dragonite slowly pushed himself onto his feet and was covered in cuts and bruises, which Clair had never seen before. Not a single one of her challengers had ever done so much damage to Dragonite, but Fortis and Gray... they were different than all of them. Snapping out of her thoughts, Clair threw her right arm forwards, refusing to give in.

"Hang in there and use Outrage!" she commanded, making Dragonite grin while Fortis prepared to counter.

Stomping on the ground while roaring, Dragonite was suddenly encapsulated in a wave of orange energy, and he shot forwards at maximum velocity. Gray was too slow to react to the powerful dragon type move, and Fortis was struck. The force of the attack sent him skidding a few feet, but he didn't appear to take much damage, which sent chills down Clair's spine.

"Are you okay, Fortis?" Gray asked cautiously, unable to see her Pokemon's face. Fortis responded with a simple thumbs up, making Gray smile and nod. "Good. Use Dragon Pulse!"

"Show them the strength of your Dragon Breath, Dragonite!"

The two Pokemon reared their heads back and unleashed different looking attacks, both of which were dragon type moves. A wave of green fire escaped Dragonite's mouth while a pink ray of energy that took the shape of a dragon was shot out of Fortis' mouth, and they collided. Surprisingly, the dragon head from Dragon Pulse opened its mouth and ate the Dragon Breath attack before slamming into Dragonite and exploding on contact, sending the orange beast onto his back.

"Now it's time to end this! You know what to do, Fortis!" Gray yelled to her strongest Pokemon, who nodded in response.

"What's he doing?" Savannah asked Nikki and Cole, both of whom shrugged while staring at the Flygon.

Slowly, Fortis pointed his head towards the roof and began to hum lowly. A bright orange light began to shine through his stomach, and all of the Pokemon and Clair gasped in shock while Fortis continued to hum. Then, he opened his mouth and a ball of orange energy flew towards the roof, only to explode once it reached its apex. Then, several smaller pieces of the ball crashed towards the ground and clobbered Dragonite, who screeched in pain as each bit of energy exploded.

As soon as the attack ceased, the referee ran over to Dragonite's side and raised her arms, signaling the end of the battle.

"Dragonite is unable to battle! That means Gray, Comis, Placidus, and Fortis are the winners!"

"You were so amazing, Fortis!" Gray screamed as she ran over to the Flygon and hugged him as tight as she could, drawing a proud roar from the creature. "I can't believe you got that strong in three and a half months! Owen must've made you work really hard."

"Oh god, yeah. I've never been so exhausted after training," the Flygon replied while remembering the end of each training session with the Kalos champion, which always resulted in him collapsing.

"Gray," Clair called as she walked towards the girl, who motioned for Comis and Placidus to join her, which they did. "I can't believe your Flygon has that kind of strength. I've only seen one Pokemon like it, and that was Lance's Dragonite," Clair commented, making Fortis bow. "As a sign of your victory at the Blackthorn City Gym, I present you with the Rising Badge."

Gray graciously accepted the tiny piece of metal and placed it inside her badge case, which held her seven other badges. Smiling at the sight, Gray put it back in her pocket and bowed to Clair thankfully.

"I wish you the best of luck in the Silver Conference, and I'm sure you'll do very well," the woman complimented, prompting Gray and her three Pokemon to bow.

As they walked out of the Gym with Cole, Nikki, and Savannah, Gray let out a victorious roar and began to jump up and down excitedly, making the three other trainers laugh while all of the Pokemon, except Ferus, who was tending to the egg, joined in, jumping along with Gray.

"Do you know what this means, guys?" Gray asked rhetorically as she looked at her seven Pokemon. "We're going to the Silver Conference!"

"Congratulations, Gray!" Nikki and Cole exclaimed, making the brunette beam.

"This time, we better get to battle," Savannah said, smirking at Gray as she extended a hand. "Wigglytuff's been clamoring for another battle with Durus. And don't even get me started on the rest of the Kanto team. They all want to battle your other Pokemon."

"That would be awesome, Savannah. I hope that can happen," Gray replied, shaking her rival's hand.

"Well, we're gonna start heading for Indigo Plateau. Call me when you guys get there," Savannah told Gray before waving to Nikki, Cole, and all of the Pokemon along with Wigglytuff.

000

"Are you sure you don't want to take a break, guys? I know you've been battling a lot, so that's the least I could do," Gray quizzed as she looked at the six Johto Pokemon standing before her. Fortis, meanwhile, was doing the training regimen Owen had made specifically for him while he was away, and Nikki and her Pokemon were helping him.

"You'd be doing us a favor if we went early," Acer stated, drawing nods from her friends.

"That's right. We worked as hard as we did so we could get to the Silver Conference," Pertinax added.

Gray laughed at the determination her Pokemon were showing and nodded slowly, not wanting to make any sudden movements as she held the egg close to her chest. Often times, the object would shake for a few seconds and a new crack would appear, which had become much more frequent since the group had left Mahogany Town.

"I just want to have all those league perks for as long as I can," Comis joked. "But in all seriousness, I want to do some sightseeing before we have to start battling. We didn't do much of that during the Indigo League," he pointed out.

"I'm up for that. And having a bunch of people ask to get pictures with us would be pretty cool, too," Agrestis opined, picturing everyone begging her to pose with them, which brought a smile to her face.

"Sleeping in a room where there isn't one bed would be pretty awesome," Placidus stated, which made everyone laugh and nod at the same time, showing their displeasure for sleeping on the floor every night at a Pokemon Center, or sleeping on the ground when they were traveling.

"What about you, Ferus? What do you want to do when we get to Indigo Plateau?" Acer inquired as she turned to the fire type, who was sitting quietly.

"Win. That's what I've been working towards since I joined, and I plan on making that happen," Ferus stated solemnly, killing the upbeat mood. Gray sweat dropped at the seriousness of her Pokemon's response, but gasped slightly when the egg shook, making her heart skip a beat while her Pokemon stared at the object intently.

"That thing should be really close to hatching. Haven't you had it for almost nine months?" Pertinax asked, drawing a nod from Gray as she tried to warm the egg by rubbing her hands on it.

"I wonder what's going to be inside it," Agrestis said aloud.

As if that had been a cue to hatch, the egg suddenly turned bright white, making Gray shriek in shock before she placed it carefully in its container on the table. Fortis, Nikki, her Pokemon, Cole and Slakoth ran over to the table as soon as they saw what was happening, and everyone huddled around, fighting for room to watch the phenomenon.

Suddenly, a tiny arm punched through the top of the egg, and then it began shredding the rest of it. As the light faded, the identity of the Pokemon began to grow clearer and clearer, and once the light died, Gray gently took the Pokemon - whose eyes were closed - in her arms and rocked it as if it were a human baby. Nikki then took out her Pokedex and scanned the creature in Gray's arms.

"Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokemon. It burrows and lives underground. If threatened, it curls itself up into a ball for protection. Female, level 5. Moves: Crush Claw, Defense Curl, Poison Sting."

Slowly, the newly hatched Pokemon opened its eyes and stared at Gray, who smiled in response. Then, it began to look around at everyone else and immediately hopped out of Gray's arms, curling up into a ball in the middle of the table.

"I think it feels threatened by all of us," Salamence whispered, drawing a look from Eevee as she rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for the info, Captain Obvious."

"No problem, Sergeant Sarcasm," Salamence retorted, causing Eevee to lunge at him.

The two stopped separated immediately when Sandshrew uncoiled itself and looked around, trembling with fear. Seeing this, everyone except Gray walked away from the table, and Sandshrew stopped trembling. However, she leaped towards Gray, who caught the infant and began laughing as it climbed up to her head and sat down.

"I can't believe that the egg was a Sandshrew! Those are such cool Pokemon!" Cole hollered, making Sandshrew jump off Gray's head and hide behind her neck. "Oh, sorry, Sandshrew. I didn't mean to startle you," Cole apologized.

Sandshrew slowly made her way back to the table Gray was sitting at and looked around at everyone. The large group smiled in unison, and Sandshrew smiled back, leaping off the table and curling into a ball before landing. The ground type then rolled towards all of the Pokemon and stared at their translators, reaching for Placidus' before being stopped by Gray, who picked up the young Pokemon and laughed.

"Here, Sandshrew. I'll give you a translator."

After clipping the device to Sandshrew's neck, Gray smiled and placed her newest Pokemon on the ground, turning the translator on as she did so.

"So, Sandshrew, my name's Gray, and these are my friends, Cole and Nikki," Gray greeted, pointing at the aforementioned trainers as they waved. "And these are your teammates, Comis, Acer, Ferus, Pertinax, Agrestis, Placidus, and Fortis."

Each of the seven Pokemon waved at Sandshrew, who smiled and waved back before looking at Slakoth and Nikki's Pokemon.

"My name's Slakoth, and I'm Cole's Pokemon. Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Eevee, Nikki's starter. These are my friends, Delcatty and Misdreavus," Eevee announced, not listing Salamence.

"Hey, what about me?"

"You're not my friend," Eevee shot back, drawing a threatening growl from Salamence, which terrified Sandshrew. "But that's Salamence. He's really nice, but I don't like him because he's annoying." Salamence sighed, knowing he couldn't respond to Eevee's words without scaring Sandshrew. Knowing that, Nikki acted by scolding the normal type.

"It's nice to meet you all!" Sandshrew shrieked excitedly. "I'm confused, though. Why are all of you calling yourselves different names? You're Gliscor, and you're Flygon," Sandshrew quizzed, tilting her head slightly after going through the names of each creature, which made Gray laugh.

"Gray likes to give us nicknames that capture our personalities," Fortis answered gently, almost as if he were a parent. "It's her way of trying to tell us that we're friends, and not just her Pokemon."

"She's reinforcing that we're equals," Ferus added, making Sandshrew nod. "Without us, she wouldn't be able to battle; and without her, we wouldn't be as strong as we are. That's why she shows us respect, and we give it," the fire type concluded with a smile, which shocked his teammates because he never showed his softer side.

"I want one! What can I be?" Sandshrew asked Gray after rolling over to her.

"Haha, give me a second," Gray replied as she pulled her book of latin words out of her backpack, searching for something that fit Sandshrew's personality, which she didn't know much about.

"You know, I could actually here a lot of the stuff you guys were saying when I was in the egg. You two sure know how to get on each other's nerves," Sandshrew said to Comis and Ferus, who sweat dropped while everyone else laughed at the comment.

"Man, I already love her," Agrestis said as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"I think I found one," Gray announced, causing Sandshrew to curl into a ball and hop onto the table before uncurling herself. "How about Unicus? It means unique, and from what I've seen, that describes you to a T," the brunette opined while looking at her new Pokemon.

"I love it!" Unicus shouted as she hopped off the table and rolled around everyone at a blistering speed before slamming into Placidus, causing her to fall on her back while the ice type chuckled and helped her up.

"Don't you still have to catch her?" Nikki asked, causing Gray to face palm before she grabbed a Pokeball from her bag and motioned for Unicus.

"Unicus, I know we only just met, but I know if we work together, we'll make an awesome team. What do you say?"

Without hesitation, Unicus nodded, prompting Gray to toss the Pokeball upward. Unicus jumped right after and tapped her hand against the Pokeball, which opened and sucked her inside immediately.

1...

2...

3...

Ping!

"Come on out!" Gray shouted, releasing the newly hatched Pokemon.

Once she materialized from the light, Unicus let out an excited roar, which sounded more cute than threatening.

"Welcome to the team, Unicus!"


Yeah! Gray won her final badge, and the egg finally hatched! Next chapter, the group will arrive at Indigo Plateau, where the Silver Conference is being held, and Gray's going to go through the usual process of running into her rivals and attending the rules thingy. Get ready to board the hype train, because there are going to be some awesome battles, and this will much more difficult than the Indigo League, even with the old team returning. Till next time, peace out.

1) Thoughts on Unicus? (She'll be the starter in Unova, just so you know)
2) Predictions for the Silver Conference?
3) Who was your least favorite antagonistic organization in the games? Who was your favorite? Why? (For me, I'd have to say Plasma was the worst because they were so weak, yet somehow managed to take over. My favorite is between Galactic and Rocket, because they were both badass and willing to do anything to accomplish their goals.)


Next Chapter: "Old and New Collide"

Finally arriving at the Silver Conference, Gray calls upon her old Pokemon to help guide her to the championship! How will they get along with the Johto team?


Silver Conference Arc

Chapter 55: Start the Silver Conference
Chapter 56: Duel Over
Chapter 57: Kanto Clash!
Chapter 58: Ferus vs Typhlosion: Rivals Forever!
Chapter 59: ?
Chapter 61: ?
Chapter 62: ?
Chapter 63: ?