A/N: Woot! The big 50! Thanks again for sticking with the story. :D

Gregor's POV

For us trainers that were staying in Mistralton for Sunday, Malcolm made sure that we were going to have a small battle royale as a little distraction from the challenge. He planned out a little match-up for all of us to fight each other in just for the sake of battling.

I myself couldn't be happier with it. I could watch other people battle and add up strategies to best all of them. And if I wanted, I could even ask my Gothorita Raven to make notes on the Pokémon's personality that battled as well, but I would only do that for a serious battle analysis. In short, I was going to have a great time watching and fighting with these guys.

Malcolm had counted us all up and was writing on a whiteboard in the computer lab for the matchup schedule. Ouri, Utopia, and Tim were elsewhere, so the matchup would end up either odd or someone would have to step out. But then again, I don't think anyone would want to stand down.

When Malcolm got to writing up the people's names, he left mine unpaired and automatically going on to the next round. I was a little pleased that I could watch everyone battle first, but wondered why Malcolm chose me to go to the next round without competition. Did he already hear about my battling with Tim? Well, knowing Albertus I wouldn't put it past him. Albert seemed almost like a proud father when he saw me battle. I already had a proud father and it felt weird for a stranger to try to take his place. Honestly, my family life is just fine.

The sailor-looking Archie noticed the match-up as well and said, "Don't you think Gregor should battle someone before going to the next round like the nest of us?"

My not-so-helpful partner interjected, "Nope, he has enough skills to be placed there!"

I shook my head modestly, "Well, I'm a decent battler, but nothing out of the ordinary."

"You and your modesty!" Albert snorted. "The kid's got talent and he can't even accept it."

"Now I want to battle you and see for myself!" the young Dan proclaimed with a clenched fist.

"Hey," Malcolm tapped the whiteboard and said, "I made this chart for a reason! Don't go jumping the ship yet. And you'll all get to watch his battle, so that ought to be good." He pointed at the first match and said, "Well, I have Pavel versus me first, followed by Dan vs. Archie, then Guy vs. Albert. Then it'll be the next round."

We memorized the scribbled chart (I could imagine most everyone were mapping their way to the top) and all went up to the outdoor battle arena. The outside weather was chilly, but not too bad considering what it could be.

The first match started off quickly. Pavel sent out his Swoobat to start with speed while Malcolm sent out his Braviary. There was no doubt to me that Malcolm liked his Braviary. I could say that I observed it but he insisted on talking about his Pokémon all the time, so he was painfully transparent in Pokémon fights. If I ever battled Malcolm, I could disassemble his tactics easily. Pavel on the other hand was a mystery to me, so I devoted more of my attention to the enthusiastic pilot.

"Four-on-four, ok? I've only got four on me." The red-head double-checked with the pilot and the battle began.

I took in the battle, absorbing little details about Pavel and his fighting style. I could already tell that he could win quite handily if the battle was only with bird Pokémon. He certainly knew how to use his flying Pokémon to their greatest.

Braviary didn't stand a chance in the air against Swoobat in speed, but Malcolm could tell that. Instead, Malcolm instructed his Braviary to use its size and weight as an advantage over the smaller bat. Pavel directed his Pokémon to continue to flaunt and annoy his opponents. That must be his tactic. I mentally saved that bit of data.

"Braviary, crush claw the bat!" Malcolm yelled as the bat came in for a close-range attack. The bird obeyed and the Swoobat was instantly overpowered. Malcolm's brute-strength trumped the first of Pavel's annoy tactics, but that would be expected if the brute strength was able to make contact with a taunting foe. Then again, the flaunting Pokémon could then tire out its opponent and strike afterwards if the taunt-er had stamina on its side. These set of tactics to each other could always vary according to trainer and Pokémon.

The next round, Darmanitan vs. Unfezant was completed quickly with Darmanitan's quick movements and hard-hitting attacks. If I wanted to fight Malcolm, then I would have to figure a way around getting smashed by the attacks.

However, momentum fell on Malcolm's side when Conkeldurr was handily defeated by Pavel's Rufflet with a well-aimed aerial ace. The last round, Cottonee vs. Bouffalant, was going to determine a win or a tie. I predicted that either Malcolm would give up for the sake of his fluff-ball Pokémon or would be surprisingly strong. Actually, I couldn't remember seeing Malcolm ever use his Cottonee for anything other than being a pet. But I couldn't be sure; Malcolm had raised all of his Pokémon very well and they were high powered.

The red-head heaved a deep breath and said, "Ok Cottonee… let's try this Bouffalant on for size…" So he was going for it, though he seems hesitant. What could the hesitation mean?

Pavel switched his tactics and ordered his buffalo Pokémon to charge forward with a powerful retaliate attack. Malcolm's Cottonee had no time to avoid the force of the hit, but that wasn't a concern. Actually, the Cottonee disappeared into the afro of the buffalo Pokémon.

Bouffalant didn't feel the little cotton Pokémon inside its afro, so it continued to charge forward straight at the red-headed trainer. Malcolm called out and dove to one side to avoid the power of the attack. Bouffalants are known for the ability to de-rail a train with a simple head-butt, any clear-headed human would dodge.

Pavel didn't understand that Cottonee was inside the afro of his own Pokémon and ordered the buffalo to thrash about to find its hiding place. This only caused us spectators to scatter in fear of meeting up with the thick horns and powerful hooves. We regrouped a little ways off, still eager to see if the famous cousin of Eugene Kwester was worth his talk in battle.

Then Cottonee decided to take advantage of its position. The afro of the Bouffalant started to gain layer upon layer of cotton in a cotton guard attack. The bull started to realize where its opponent was and began to head-butt the ground violently.

I smiled to myself. If Malcolm had planned that, then that would be an impressive strategy. The afro on Bouffalant's head absorbed damage and protected its head. Hiding in the afro would be the best thing for such a small and light-weight Pokémon.

"Uh… that works." Malcolm stammered. "As long as cotton guard holds up… leech seed it then."

My expectations for Malcolm's strategies plummeted. I had given him too much credit.

Pavel tried to direct his Pokémon to get rid of the cotton ball in its hair, but there was nothing he could do. Slowly and surely Cottonee leeched out all of Bouffalant's energy until the tired Pokémon collapsed. Malcolm had won that round (which was to be slightly expected, since he did host the whole event).

The red-head returned his cotton Pokémon and shook hands with the slightly disheveled bird master Pavel.

And that was the first round. Next was the young Dan against the sailor Archie. I had no idea about either of them, so I had pay careful attention to both of them. Malcolm and Pavel went off to the Pokémon center for their Pokémon's health while Guy refereed.

"How many Pokémon do you want to fight in the match?" Archie said with his very slight accent.

Dan pumped his fist and proclaimed, "Let's stick with four-on-four rules, first team knocked out loses, and substitutions are allowed." He pointed dramatically and said, "And no Sinnoh Pokémon, ok, man?"

Archie agreed and pulled out a Pokéball. It opened and a circular bug emerged: a Whirlipede.

"No problem!" Dan called out, showing off blazing confidence. "Zebstrika let's go!" the lightning zebra Pokémon emerged with a threatening cry, an intimidating way to start the match. I knew what Dan was planning: he wanted Archie to keep his Pokémon out to battle because there didn't appear to be any type advantage, but Zebstrikas were known for the move flame charge. Archie might not know this, being a foreigner and all, so Dan was using it to his advantage.

Archie proved to either be confident in Whirlipede's success and didn't care about the possibility of a flame charge, or he simply didn't know about flame charge. "Whirlipede, use poison tail." An offensive fighter? I mused.

The bug rolled forward, gaining momentum as it tail glowed, ready to strike. Zebstrika seemed completely confident about itself that it didn't seem to want to dodge. Whirlipede struck with its glowing tail, knocking the thunderbolt Pokémon to the side.

"Zebstrika, stomp that bug to the dust." So Dan does have a slight strategy? Fool the opponent into worrying about stomp, then strike with a flame charge? I continued to analyze carefully.

The zebra Pokémon neighed and brought its front hooves down with a powerful crack. Whirlipede backpedaled in fear of getting hit by the sharp hooves and was thus saved from the attack.

"You can do it, Whirlipede! Venoshock." Archie cheered his Pokémon on. I couldn't see what this guy was thinking as easily. I had already guessed that he was good with handling Pokémon back in Sinnoh so in theory he should be a good opponent. But had he gotten used to the ways of the Unova Pokémon?

The bug summoned up blobs of poison and hurled them at the Zebstrika. The black and white Pokémon snorted haughtily and charged forward without an order, avoiding the poison onslaught. Fire gathered around the zebra and Whirlipede was too slow to avoid the fiery wrath of flame charge. And sadly, Whirlipede didn't have enough defenses to withstand the super-effective move.

Dan pumped his fist in the air. "Good work Zebstrika!" He cheered. "Hey, are we going for rounds or complete knock-out here? Four on four could end up as a tie in round-style." The youngest trainer in the group asked Archie. Dan is sort of a cocky fighter… I mused. It would make sense with his flaming hate and overreactions that he showed when he was first paired with Pavel. It was almost as if Dan was proud of his heritage and almost flaunted it.

Archie agreed and sent out his next Unova Pokémon to continue the fight against Zebstrika: Golett. I had always thought Golett a strange Pokémon and I wondered how in fact Archie had received this Pokémon. They were only recorded to appear in Dragonspiral Tower. Had he visited that place before? The ground-ghost Pokémon crossed its rocky arms and seemed to leer at the zebra, though it could be also interpreted as a haughty attitude.

"Not even type advantage can win this round!" Dan said with flair. "Zebstrika, use pursuit!" Zebstrika seemed certainly ready for any sort of opponent, with attacks of stomp, flame charge, and now pursuit. I could guess that an electric move was the final move in Zebstrika's arsenal.

The zebra Pokémon charged forward and struck the still Golett with dark energy. The automaton Pokémon took the hit easily and didn't falter. "Golett, use magnitude!" Archie called out, his voice wavering in his confidence. In response, his Pokémon turned its head away and continued to stand passively.

I nodded to myself. The Golett had to be either a strong-spirited one or a traded Pokémon that didn't value its trainer.

"You call that a magnitude, man?" Dan scoffed, "Come on then, Zebstrika. Let's give that ghost another pursuit!"

Even for Archie's prowess in the Sinnoh league, a traded Pokémon didn't want to listen to him? Either that was tragic, or maybe Archie was tricking us all. This guy had gone to the Sinnoh league; he had ample knowledge about Pokémon battles at a younger age than trainers here in Unova. I wouldn't fall for it.

Golett took the hit once more, not budging an inch or listening to the pleas (or show) by its trainer. The match sadly ended with the Golett being stubborn enough to allow itself to be knocked out, which I still didn't see how that could be in Archie's favor. He was down two Pokémon and might not recover to win. Then again, Zebstrika seemed quite tired.

"Lampent, flame burst!" Archie called out right as the lamp Pokémon materialized. Suddenly Zebstrika was on the ground, dazed and knocked out. The lamp Pokémon had fired a fire attack so quickly I had missed it with a blink. This Pokémon was not to be underestimated.

Dan took a second to accept this before returning his Pokémon. "That's fine, I can still totally win! Ducklett, you can use scald!"

The blue duck Pokémon emerged with a quack and spat out a steamy stream of water right at the ghost lamp. Lampet showed more agility than Golett and disappeared to avoid the attack. Ghost Pokémon were notoriously hard to fight, and as long as Lampent didn't get hit by a super-effective water attack, it could easily win the rest of the match. I wondered why this guy had two ghost Pokémon on his team and if there was a reason. Did he like ghost Pokémon? Then again, there were more determinates than just types when a trainer chose a team; maybe the two ghost Pokémon were special to him.

Dan refused to be flustered, though he was showing that he didn't like the new tactic. "Ducket, rain dance! That ought to help us find it!" Hmm, Dan actually had a good idea there. The sky grew dark and a light and steady downpour began. It would end soon, but not before the Lampent would appear from the rain. Commonly some fire-type Pokémon steam or sizzle slightly when hit by water in an attempt to evaporate water to protect its internal flare.

Dan either heard or saw the sizzle of the invisible ghost, and directed his Ducklett to spray an enhanced scald attack. The scald didn't hit anything, except the ground.

I looked up at the sky and smiled to myself as the raindrops hit my glasses and face. I could just imagine Bob's reaction to this attack. Bob was the type of tinkerer that liked to get messy and didn't care all that much about personal appearance, and furthermore he hated rain. I could see in my mind's eye Bob ducking around under a tree or his black umbrella he carried around everywhere he went. He would complain and ask his Dieno to use sunny day, or cuddle with his Cubchoo and pretend to catch a cold.

I missed Bob and Chad and wished that they were either still with me in the finals, or that I had failed a test to join them. I wanted to be a gym leader, but I still missed my friends. In my ideal world, I would employ both Chad and Bob in my own gym. But that's not how the real world works…

I looked back at the battle, which had turned quite drastically in my musings. Lampent was attacking the Ducklett with a fierce nightshade and the water fowl was in a panic. In fact, the Ducklett was so terrified that it fainted from fright. And with the fainting of Ducklett, the small rain storm subsided, leaving the sky to go back to its normal grey.

Now the fighters were even in number of Pokémon. Dan seemed perturbed and sent out his next Pokémon with a scowl. Next up was Garbodor, its stench tagging along. I winced at the smell, but grew accustomed to it quickly. Bob had one of those Pokémon to match with his general messiness and Chad and I had eventually accepted the smell into our group.

Lampent was a very experienced Pokémon and seemed to wage its fight on the mound of living garbage with a passion, scorching it and flying about swiftly to avoid any poison. I half-wondered if Lampent had a sense of smell or not. The Garbodor was too slow and was beaten easily by Lampent, though Lampent had to be tiring by now.

Then I remembered the dangers of having such a Pokémon. How could a person even train a Lampent or Litwick without being in danger of having their life force eaten away? There were many stories about the fatal mistakes of trusting a Lampent and even the Pokédex warned of their misdeeds. I hoped that the Lampent wasn't getting its energy from us onlookers or any other life-force. So in theory, the Lampent could be powered by living things and battle for a much longer time than a normal Pokémon. But if this Pokémon was so strong, why did Archie use it third in his team instead of first and win all the way through?

Dan was getting frustrated by now and called out his last Pokémon for the match, "Sawsbuck, you should be protected from ghost type attacks… You can do it, Sawsbuck!" the young kid cheered. Choosing a grass/normal Pokémon against a fire/ghost Pokémon probably wasn't the best move for typing. But with the grim look Dan held, I could predict that his other Pokémon could be also weak against a fire/ghost Pokémon.

Dan yelled loudly, "Camouflage yourself!" That was clever and useful to have that move. The deer with antlers full of autumn leaves used the attack, kicking up the dirt of the training field until the dirt hung in its fur. Camouflage is an attack that temporarily changes the user's type according to its surroundings. Now Sawsbuck was no longer normal/grass, it was ground type. That could be helpful against a fire Pokémon, but the normal immunity was gone.

"Lampent, Inferno." Archie commanded, staying cool throughout his fight. It was as if he already planned out how to win and put on a show at the same time. He was experienced; I'd give him that credit.

"Dodge and use mega-horn!" Dan yelled excitedly.

The Sawsbuck charged forward, narrowly avoiding the burst of flame, and struck the lamp with its antler. The autumn leaves on its horns smoldered from touching the hot Pokémon and a small flame began to spread around on the buck's head.

Sawsbuck panicked and tried to put out the fire by scratching it out in the ground. Dan didn't know what to instruct his Pokémon, and Lampent charged in for a close-range inferno attack The Sawsbuck began to run in circles, trying desperately to put out the flames on its head. Dan had no choice than to return his burning Pokémon. Archie had a very strange way of fighting, making himself look weak at the beginning and then smashing his opponents down afterwards. Dan simply took things at face value and fell into Archie's trap.

Archie would move on to the next round to fight against Malcolm. Both he and Dan shook hands begrudgingly and went to heal their Pokémon. Next up was Guy versus Albert. Pavel took up the refereeing for Guy.

Just as the battle was going to start, I heard my Xtransceiver ring. I pulled out the device and saw that Bob was calling. I made a quick decision to answer the call instead of watching the battle. That way whoever won would be more of a mystery to me and the fight would be fairer.

I walked away from the crowd and accepted the call. "Hello." I greeted the small face of my greasy friend.

Bob's grin grew wide. "Hey Gregs, glad to see that you are still ok. I thought the challenge would get so hard that you would look worn out an' stuff." He greeted me with an enthusiastic smile. "So, guess what? I called to tell you about someone!"

I could hear a battle starting behind me, but I fought to ignore it. "A special someone?" I asked playfully. "Like how? Is it a girl?"

Bob nodded and his cheeks grew a little redder. "Well, Chad and some other person didn't make it through the first round of the contest in Mistralton, so we said goodbye to Chad then. And then it turned out that the girl that didn't make it headed up to Opelucid City along with Chad. Then I arrived not that long ago and it turned out that she's pretty nice. She even likes the musicals and I gave her a few props she liked…"

"You gave a girl presents? Man, I'm missing a lot over there!" I fake-complained good-naturedly. A group secret of ours was that all three of us guys actually were fans of the Pokémon musical. Chad was very quiet about it since he wanted to keep up his macho and football playing personality, but Bob liked and spoke about the musical the most out of us. Hearing him give away a prop or two was a surprise to me. Was this girl that special to Bob? I smiled widely.

"Well, you're getting closer to your job, so don't quit on us or your dream!" Bob seemed a little quick to ignore the fact that he gave a girl props even though he had mentioned it himself. Maybe it was a sort of puppy-love?

"I know. It's very interesting here, though kind of lonely without you two."

"Is Utopia a friend?" my friend asked, leaning closer to the camera.

"She is terrified of dragons and is allergic to my Purrloin. Other than that, she's a great friend." I replied.

Bob looked a little disappointed. "Oh, then she wouldn't like to see our awesome dragon trio, would she?"

"Well, her teammate is trying to help her out to get over her phobia, but she isn't warming up to dragons anytime soon." I shrugged.

"Wait, what's this about teammates? Who's your teammate?" Bob asked.

"After you guys left we were paired up. I'm partners with Albertus Lahti, the harlequin. Actually, he's fighting in a mini-tournament with all of us Top Ten right now."

"And who's with Utopia? That red-headed famous person? He's friendly."

"Utopia is partnered up with Timothy Feldman, the dark-haired guy."

Bob wrinkled his nose slightly. "That person?"

"No need to be rude, Bob. There are all kinds of people in the world."

My friend shrugged. "Ok, fine."

"He's actually a really good tactician like myself. I would like to battle him."

"Whoa, really?" Bob understood that my wanting to battle someone meant that the person was skilled and had caught my attention.

"Yeah. Anything else happening in Opelucid City other than a pretty girl?" I was ready to end the call and get back to watching the battles. And I didn't like talking about other people all that much to my friends when they could be around listening.

Bob colored again and said, "Well, Chad and I are having fun exploring both halves of the town. It's a really cool place; one side is all ancient and traditional while the other side has all the latest technology. There are musicians on the street corners and the dragon-tamer gym. I bet they would like to see our dragons."

"Interesting." I agreed. "Well I'm glad you two are having fun. I'll call you if anything happens in the challenge."

"Ok, aim high and become a gym leader, Gregor. We believe in you! Allons-y!" Bob waved as the call ended.

I smiled to myself. I liked talking with my friends; it seemed much like I was back home. You never consider that a trainer would become homesick, but sometimes I felt like I simply needed to be home. Traveling with my school friends kind of brought home along with me so I didn't feel that keen sting of missing out on my families lives.

I turned around to continue watching the fight, but I was stopped by the dark-haired partner of Utopia himself. "Oh, hello, Tim. I didn't see you there." I wonder why he's here and if he's angry about what I said about him.

Tim looked down and mumbled quickly, "Look-I-have-something-to-say-and-Luke-won't-listen." He waited a little bit before looking at me through the corner of his eye.

I wanted to ask him what his deal was, but could tell that he had something important to say and needed someone to listen to. He wasn't one to be very open and talk with others very much, so I considered myself to be kind of lucky to be asked to listen. I nodded and said seriously, "What is it?"

Tim sighed lightly as if relieved. "Well, there's this soothsayer…"

However, Tim was interrupted by Malcolm of all people joining us. The red-head jovially addressed both of us, "Hey, you two up for the next match? Hey, Tim! Even though we haven't gotten along very well, would you want to join up in the little battle tournament I set up? I'd really like to see you and Gregor duke it out!" he tried to put on a friendly face but I could tell that he didn't get along with Tim at all, which was odd to me since Malcolm seemed to get along with everyone.

Tim gave Malcolm a death-glare in reply.

I shrugged. "Tim was going to talk to me about something."

"But you can talk after you battle, you've got all day!" Malcolm protested.

"I won't say that I don't want to battle Tim, it's just that we were having a conversation." I replied as peacefully as I could.

Malcolm frowned as if he just remembered that I had sided with Tim and his dragon Pokémon when Utopia was scared out of her wits.

Tim groaned and looked at me. "I would like to battle you too… but…"

"Come on, I want to see the fight! It'd be awesome. When else would you two battle anyways?" The red-head pleaded again, as if begging famous people to better his show.

I was about to decline the invitation for the sake of Tim and his important information, but Tim surprisingly gave in. He gave a dark look to Malcolm and said flatly, "Fine, if you'll stop pestering me I'll fight in your little match."

"Great, you two will be up next!" Malcolm sent a nearly genuine smile back to us and went back to the current fight.

"Why'd you agree?" I asked softly, as not to sounds judgmental.

"To shut him up… and I'd like to fight you… I can wait to talk." He said firmly, as if he was afraid to admit to some hidden fault.

"That's fine then. Will you fight with your baby dragon or not?"

Tim shook his head. "Nessa isn't ready for a fight."

At least he knew the limitations of his own Pokémon and cared for them. I nodded to him and before walking back to the crowd; I couldn't help but try to shake his confidence slightly. I couldn't help being a little more aggressive in a Pokémon battle. "I wouldn't have guessed that you're a natural brunette. Are you going to re-dye soon?" I didn't check to see if that had any effect on him or not, but kept my cool persona going.