A/N: There's a lot of perspective changes from people watching the league in order to sum up preliminary battles. Enjoy!

x-x-x

Episode 54: Preparing for the League!

After crossing straight through town, we recalled our pokemon and ran into the huge building. It was a relief to see the enormous pokemon center lobby and pokemart inside. I smiled, looking all around, and ran straight for the registration desk. There was a pretty long line. It was only a week until the competition though, so that was to be expected. I showed the girl all my badges in my trainer's case, almost bouncing on the counter.

"One moment please." She took my trainer card from it and slid it into a PC.

I turned around to see Kyle and Flint not in line behind me at all. Instead, they were off to the side, chit chatting. I tilted my head, wondering what they could be talking about, when they should both be in line with me.

"Here you are miss." The lady closed my trainer case and slid it over to me. "We have all your data in our PC system now. You're trainer number 159, and here's a key to your room at our pokecenter." She slid the key over as well. "Have a nice stay."

x-x-x

"So, you're really going to go through with this?" Flint asked, pulling Kyle aside.

"Yeah sure." Kyle nodded calmly. "I've had this planned out for a while you know."

"Yeah but…" Flint paused, and shook his head. "Well, it's your choice."

"I know. But I'm making the right decision here. Don't worry." Kyle looked down, shuffling something in his pocket.

Flint grinned widely. "Well, good luck then!" He glanced over to the tall blonde at the registration desk. "Or should I be saying good luck to her?"

Kyle laughed. "You don't need to worry about her either. She'll do great. She beat you, remember?"

"With your help!" Flint yelled, then lowered his voice. "But, I'm not going to go easy on her just because of your little plan. I hope you know that."

"I didn't expect you to." Kyle chuckled. "I'm going through with this regardless of what happens."

"Win or lose huh?" Flint ran his hands through his afro. "Alright then. I'll support you with it. But I hate that…"

"Don't worry." Kyle smirked. "We'll have a rematch sometime."

Flint smirked back. "Looking forward to it." He now adjusted his suspenders up on his shoulders. "Well hey, I gotta get out of here, but just a word of advice, if you see the new champion around here, steer clear of him. He's not a nice dude. Certainly not the role model Cynthia was, and he slinks around the hallways here like he's some kind of ex-con."

"What?" Kyle laughed a little, then looked at him oddly. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. He's a real weirdo. I'll be looking forward to when someone takes his place." Flint turned to walk away. "I need to go. Good luck with everything though."

"Thanks." Kyle turned as well, to the beautiful girl who was walking toward him, looking more agitated by the minute.

x-x-x

I pushed my glasses up with my finger as I approached them. "Hey! Aren't you guys going to register? I was even holding a spot in line for you!"

Flint put one hand behind his head of hair nervously. "Oh uh. I actually already did… online. Yeah. Thanks though. I'm gonna go train now! See ya later!" He ran down the hall like a bullet.

"What was that about?" I asked quietly, turning to my boyfriend. "And how about you? What's your excuse?"

He took a deep breath, then smiled. "I'm not competing."

I waited a minute for him to explain, then stood jaw-dropped. "What?"

"I'm not competing."

"What do you mean you're not competing?" I yelled so loud, that everyone in the lobby turned.

"I've decided not to. I don't want to." He said it so calmly. I was speechless for a solid minute.

"I don't understand." I looked down at my feet. "All those gym badges, and all that time we spent traveling together…"

Kyle lifted my head with his hand to look at him. "And it was all worth it. In the end, I got exactly what I wanted out of it. You."

I tried to turn away in embarrassment, but now he just wrapped his other arm around me, keeping me from doing so. "But your title! You were going to be the 4 region champ!"

"I don't want to be any more famous than I am." He whispered. "Actually, I'd like to make it settle down." He blushed a little and hugged me even tighter.

"Mr. Kyle Gray!" A Nurse Joy yelled from the registration desk. "You have mail!"

"See what I mean?" Kyle laughed, letting go of me. "Even Nurse Joys I haven't met before know me!" He walked to the desk, taking the letter from her.

"Right." I laughed, following him as he walked off to open it. "So let me guess, this is fan mail?"

"If I start getting fan mail…" He ran his finger over the address. "It's from the Sinnoh League."

"Let me see!" I pulled it away and began to read. "Dear Mr. Gray. We have heard of your journey throughout our region and how you've successful beaten all of our gym leaders. We also know of your previous track record of being a tri-regional champion. And unfortunately we have also received word that one of our gym leaders will be leaving us soon." I paused for a minute before reading the rest. "Considering your record and also the recommendation from one of our esteemed league members, we would like to know if you would consider a position as our 8th gym leader, replacing Volkner. You of course would be welcome to change the gym's location, and type theme. If you are interested, please contact us to schedule an interview, and preliminary battle to test your skill. Although, we feel very strongly that you are a good candidate for this job." I folded the paper back up, broadsided by the information I'd just read. "Sincerely, the Sinnoh League."

Kyle had a look of a kid in a candy store. He grabbed me and twirled me around, laughing the whole time. "That's great news!"

"You're gonna be a gym leader?" I was still stunned.

"Sounds that way, if they accept me!" Kyle was smiling from ear to ear. "Wow. I could make it a fire type gym. I already have so many. I could use Charizard, Arcanine, Typhlosion, and…" He sighed. "It's a shame I don't have my other fire type."

"What other?"

"Magcargo." He frowned. "I had a shiny Magcargo that Ricky stole from me. That's the one I never got back."

"That's terrible!" I noticed Kyle's mood had completely changed. "Who knows what that creep's done with it."

"I feel so awful, that I couldn't save it. I have no idea what's happened to it." He looked away.

"I'm sure you tried your hardest though." I said, trying to cheer him up.

"I did." He smiled, trying to lighten up as well. "In the meantime, let's find our room here, then get on the training! I don't want you to fall behind."

"Already?" I complained, following behind him as we headed down the pokecenter halls.

x-x-x

The week of training flew by, and it seemed like we rarely left the practice arena in the pokemon center. The day rolled around for the first tournament of the league. Kyle and I were waiting in the lobby, before Bill finally stepped through the glass doors. He had a laptop in a case at his side. He had wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and wore a blue polo and a tie. He was sort of how I pictured him, though I had imagined him to have glasses like me and Kyle, and was surprised that he didn't. He walked up to us with a smile on his face, that turned to shock when he got close. I looked down at him curiously.

"Kyle," He said, looking back up at me. "You didn't mention your girlfriend was so tall."

Kyle snickered a little. I was about a foot taller than Bill, but I didn't like that that was the first thing he said.

"My apologies." He held out one hand politely. "My name is Bill. It is good to finally meet you Miss Shonna."

"Umm… same here Bill." I shook hands with him. "It's amazing that I get to meet the man who created the PC system."

"Well thank you, but it's nothing really." Bill smiled, patting his laptop case. "I had some business this week here in Hearthome City with Bebe anyway, so it was a pleasure to get to come up here and see you both." Bill gently pulled out his laptop. "Besides, Kyle said you have a request for me."

I turned to him. "I do?"

"Yes Bill. I need you to do some work to her account. Set it up like mine, so she can have more than 6 pokemon on her at one time."

"Not a problem." Bill held his hand out. "May I see your trainer card?"

"Wait hold up." I looked around nervously. "Is that legal?"

"Certainly." Bill looked up from his computer to meet my gaze. "If you meet certain conditions. Kyle tells me you do."

I still didn't really understand, but I handed Bill my trainer card anyway, and we all sat down in the lobby as he typed away.

"This shouldn't take too long." He mumbled.

Kyle wrapped his arm around my shoulder and whispered. "This way Shonna, you can keep Palkia from having to be stored away, and still use six other ones for your battles."

"Oh. That makes sense." I nodded as Bill handed back my card.

"All done. Would you like me to change around your party now while I'm logged in?"

"Uh sure." I got up to go sit beside him, and began working out a good balanced party. As I pointed to certain ones, I noticed in the corner of my eye that Kyle was looking somewhere behind us with a strange look. Then he sort of washed out and his jaw dropped. I watched him turn his head slightly and followed his gaze to the figure who was striding by us. When I saw him, my jaw dropped as well. Someone with long red hair, and a white mask over his face. His cape waved as he walked by swiftly, heading down the halls. "Was that…?"

"It was!" Kyle jumped up, running over to the Nurse Joy behind the desk. "Nurse Joy! You need to call the police. That man that just walked by, he's…"

"The Champion?" Nurse Joy was making googly eyes at the caped figure as he walked out of sight. "That's the Sinnoh Champion. He's super mysterious with that cape and mask, but also… super hot." She sighed.

I ran up to stand beside Kyle, leaning over the desk. "Nurse Joy! That man's a criminal!"

"I assure you he is not!" She huffed. "The league always does a background check on the contestants. He has no criminal record."

"He must have found a way to wipe that he was a team rocket leader then!" Kyle yelled. "Or that he's wanted right now for two counts of kidnapping, harassment, and attempted murder!"

"Are you people crazy?" Nurse Joy eyed us strangely. "If what you say is true, then I'd have to report it to the league, and the whole competition would have to be postponed until they decide if your allegations hold any truth."

"But…" Kyle stared back down the hallway, with a look of hate. "Then…"

"Forget it." I said, relaxing a little. "Forget we said any of this. We were thinking of the wrong person."

"What?" Kyle turned to me. "What are you saying? You know that was…"

"It was someone else." I turned and walked away.

"Shonna!" Kyle followed behind me. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to beat him!" I turned back around and yelled. "If I didn't have any motivation to win before, I sure do now. I'm going to beat Ricky in battle and take away his title!"

Everything was quiet for a minute, and everyone in the lobby was staring at us. Bill suddenly stood up. "Either of you want to tell me what's going on here?"

I walked up to him, lowering my voice. "That guy is Ricky Conner. He's been stalking us since, well I guess halfway through this journey."

"Stalking?" Bill's eyes widened.

"He's bad news." Kyle said. "And I don't want you going anywhere near him Shonna."

"Well I have to." I grinned. "If I'm going to battle him after all."

"Shoot." Kyle looked mad. "If you're set on this, then I'm not letting you out of my sights, you hear? You won't go anywhere without me escorting you."

"I'll try Kyle." I looked down, knowing that was best, but it would be hard to work out, during the fast paced battles.

An intercom buzzed above us, before a woman's voice spoke. "Attention everyone! The league tournament will be starting in just a few minutes. Please find out who you'll be fighting, and make your way to the appropriate stadium. Thank you!"

"This is it." I clinched one hand into a fist, and headed off to find my opponent, with Kyle and Bill close behind.

x-x-x

Jane held her microphone close to her face and sucked in a deep breath as Charlie aimed the camera at her. "This is Jane here, reporting to you from the Sinnoh League. We're here in the pokemon center where they're about to unveil the match ups for the tournament." The camera panned to the large monitor behind her, as it lit up with bunch of pictures, of each trainer, lined up with who they were going to face. Charlie aimed the camera across the whole screen, getting a good view. Jane looked at the board as well, with confusion, before turning back to the camera. "This is Jubilife News. We'll continue broadcasting to you all day, bringing you the latest on this exciting competition." Jane made a motion across her neck for Charlie to cut it off. "Stop filming for a minute. Charlie, I see his little blonde up there, but where's Kyle?"

"We'll now that you mention it, I don't see him on the list." Charlie looked up stupefied.

"That idiot." Jane spat. "He's just letting her win."

"The first battles will begin in 15 minutes." An announcer blared over the intercom.

"Come on Charlie!" Jane pulled him by the arm. "If we find her, Kyle's sure to be nearby."

x-x-x

Donna watched as her daughter appeared on the television. She successfully beat her first battle.

"Yeah!" She stood up and cheered, knocking the delcatty out of her lap.

"Del!" Delcatty rolled over, looking mad.

"Sorry Delcatty, I'm just so excited!" She sat down once more on the couch, staring at the pokeball in her hands. "She makes it look so easy. It almost makes me want to go back to battling a little." She smiled, rubbing her thumb across the red ball. "Maybe we'll give it another try sometime Clefable."

x-x-x

Pluto stared up at the television that was perched in the corner of the prison cafeteria. One of the burly prisoners approached him with his tray of food, and sat down beside him.

"You've been staring at the TV ever since that blonde came on. You know her?" He snickered, in a way that made him sound even more stupid than he looked.

"Not well enough." Pluto smiled, watching her defeat her second opponent.

x-x-x

"Alright!" Cynthia leaned forward by the tiny television, pushing Togekiss gently out of the way. "She did it again Grandma!"

"That's just wonderful." The old woman sat from the table, watching while drinking her tea. "At this rate she'll reach the elite four in no time."

"She will." Cynthia grinned. "And if she wins, she better believe I'm coming back in six months time to reclaim my title."

"You think she can beat that young fellow who defeated you?" Cynthia's grandma asked between sips.

"Possibly." Cynthia turned back to the TV. "But it won't be easy. That guy was full of tricks. Who knows what he has come up with in the past few months." She stared seriously, as Shonna walked off the stage, with Kyle close behind. "I just hope she has some new tricks as well."

x-x-x

"That was her fourth!" Roark called out through the Snowpoint Pokecenter. "She beat another one!"

"Amazing!" Hope snuck away from her team of Chansey to come sit by the TV. "She's really doing well!"

"Sure is." Roark leaned his arm around her, pulling her close.

Hope twisted one of her braids nervously. "Thanks for coming over today to watch this with me."

"No problem." Roark smiled. "Besides, it's my job to keep you informed for when you have to rush off and help pokemon."

"Nurse Hope!" A little boy rushed inside holding his fallen metapod.

"Right." Hope stood up, and leaned down to give Roark a kiss on the forehead. "Thank you." She ran over to the pokemon, placing it on a stretcher.

Roark blushed, holding a hand to his head. "Heh. Try not to come back during the commercials next time!"

x-x-x

Byron sat in his backroom beside the video phone and television. "I didn't expect her to do this well. No wonder she beat both me and Roark."

There was knock at the door.

"Come in!" Byron yelled. He turned around to see Riley and his Lucario, standing in the doorway. "Riley! You haven't come visit in ages! Is everything alright?"

"Certainly." Riley bowed. "But, there is a problem."

Byron stood. "What is it?"

"On the island, it's terrible. Me and Lucario worked for hours to fix it, but…"

Byron's eyebrows raised. "What's wrong?"

Riley laughed. "I fiddled with those rabbit ears for a hour, but I still can't get cable!" Riley pointed to the tv. "Can we watch with you?"

Byron guffawed, heading out. "Let me go get you a chair."

x-x-x

"I'm terribly sorry." Erika bowed. Her kimono draped to the floor. "I'm not accepting any gym battles today. Could you please come back tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" The young trainer girl yelled. "Why tomorrow?"

"Well you see," Erika glanced back behind her. "I'm watching the Sinnoh league today."

"The Sinnoh league?" The girl put her hands on her hips. "What does that have to do with anything? You're a Kanto league gym leader!"

"Yes I know." Erika bowed once more. "Terribly sorry."

"Hmph." The girl spun around and walked away. "Whatever."

Once the girl disappeared, Erika rushed back to her seat by the tv. "She did it!" Erika beamed. "She did it!"

"Odd?" An oddish crawled up into her lap.

Erika tossed the oddish up in the air, making it giggle. "She's beat all the other contestants! She's going to the Elite Four!"

x-x-x

Kyle watched with a smile as Shonna waved to him from the stadium.

"That settles that folks!" The announcer yelled. "Shonna will be going on to challenge the Elite Four, and if she defeats them, the Champion himself! The next battle will begin in ten minutes!"

Bill typed feverishly at his laptop as he sat in the stands beside Kyle. He was researching the Elite Four. "Tell her the first member is a bug type trainer, whose prized pokemon is a beautiful Vespiquen."

"Well that's not good." Kyle stood, watching her walk out of the stadium.

"Why?" Bill asked.

"She's really afraid of bee pokemon. I hope she's ready for this." Kyle started pushing through the crowd. "Save my spot for me Bill!"

"You know I have been!" Bill laughed.

Kyle shoved his way through the rows of people who were still standing and cheering, he was almost to the end of the stands, when a familiar reporter shoved her microphone in his face.

"Kyle Gray! You'd better tell us all right now why you didn't compete in this league! Do you have any idea how excited I was?" Jane screamed at him.

"Get out of my way Jane!" Kyle tried to shove his way past her but couldn't.

"Excuse me!" She shoved him back. "Do you know how long it took me to find you in the crowd? I'm not letting you go that easy."

Kyle peered over her shoulder and saw Shonna standing in the hall, waiting on him. She was looking down at her poketch nervously.

x-x-x

I looked around for Kyle from where I was standing, but couldn't see him anywhere. I only had ten short minutes to run to the pokemon center, heal my pokemon, and switch out some at the PC. And after two more minutes of waiting, I gave up and bolted down the hall.

I was running down the hallways, turning corners, when I slammed into someone. I nearly fell over, but if felt like they didn't budge. "Sorry!" I said, looking up to see who I'd bumped into. Before me, stood none other than the masked champion himself. "Oh great." I crossed my arms. "Never mind, I take it back. I'm not sorry."

He glared down at me, but didn't speak.

"You're him right?" I backed up a little. "You're Ricky. No need to hide behind that ugly mask you know. I can see your red eyes from here."

"I'm not hiding my identity." Ricky's deep voice sent chills up my spine once more. I'd almost forgotten what his voice sounded like. "It's a disguise, true, but the ladies love it."

"You're disgusting." I glanced over to the pokemon center, which was only a few feet away. "I don't have time for your games. Just leave me alone."

Ricky grinned. His mask was cut around his mouth, so I could see his expression. "Don't worry. I won't make any moves during the competition. I don't want to lose any points with these fools at the league." He waited a minute for me to respond. "Tell me. Why is it that your boyfriend isn't on the line-up? I was looking forward to another battle with him."

"He didn't want to compete."

"Too scared?" Ricky waved his red hair around.

"No! I'm sure if he'd known you were in the league, he would have jumped at the chance to take you out. But now it's too late to register, and so the honor falls to me." I smirked. "I'm going to beat you in battle Ricky."

"I highly doubt that." He grinned. "You're not half the trainer that Kyle is."

"Wanna bet? I'm going to beat you. You wait and see."

"We shall. And I'd like to take that bet."

"Fine." I thought for a minute. "Do you still have Kyle's Magcargo you stole?"

"I keep it on me at all times." He pulled back his cape, revealing five ultra balls, and one master ball, sitting next to a switchblade at his side. "Among other things."

"Then if I win, I get it back. And then I'm so busting you for everything you've done."

"You'll turn me in too?" He laughed. "My reward had better be good if I win then."

I already knew I wouldn't give him a thing if he won, but I played along anyway. "What is it you want?"

"Anything, little flower? My, if Kyle could hear you say that." He sneered. "Trust me. If I win, I'll take my reward." He turned on his heels, disappearing down the hallway.

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. I walked slowly over to the Nurse Joy, handing over my pokeballs.

"Five minutes until the next match!" The intercom announced.

"Are you ready?" Nurse Joy asked, handing back my pokemon.

"Not really." I admitted. "But I'll do it anyway." I didn't have time to do any switching, so I prayed my current party would be good enough. I walked back down the hall, spying Kyle fighting with Jane halfway down it. They all stopped to look at me as I walked by, and I stopped just long enough to give Kyle a kiss on the cheek. I giggled, running back onto the field.

"Hey Shonna wait!" Kyle yelled. But I was already taking position on the high podium. They'd switched the field to a grass field. And I could see a young boy with hair as green as the grass below, standing on the other end.

"My name is Aaron! And I'll be your first opponent of the Elite Four, and probably, your last!"