Valen's sitting on a park bench within a different part of Angel City. As the sounds of a splashing fountain, people talking, kids playing, and bird Pokémon chirping surround him, Valen's in the middle of a phone call.

"How's the rebuilding of Orre going, dad?" Valen asks through his cell phone's speaker.

"Surprisingly well, given the circumstances," General Alexander Barsotti replies.

"If only I could've done something beforehand-"

"You're too damn hard on yourself, kiddo" General Barsotti points out. "My own grandpa said that war's been an ugly sight, and war will always be an ugly sight."

"I suppose you're right," Valen replies. He glances upwards, performing a salute in honor of his great-grandpa. "You were born in 1909, and you were present for my eighteenth birthday."

"I'm very proud of you for going out of your way to rescue your comrades, civilians and Pokémon from enemy forces," General Barsotti commends. "Even when wounded in a surprise attack, you still kept fighting."

"I just did what I had to do." Valen faintly smiles. "Thank you, dad."

"Hopefully, I'll see you soon," General Barsotti says. "Kiddo, make sure you actually remember to visit your mother, assuming she's not busy with her Pokémon research."

"I'll visit mom tomorrow. See ya, dad." After the call has ended, Valen lies down on a bench, noting that the area seems to have gotten quieter. He can hear the splashing fountain more so than any chatter.

Valen's nap doesn't last longer than several minutes. Melanie's found him, much to his dismay.

"Hey, lazy boy!" Melanie uses the human version of Hyper Voice on a resting Valen, emitting a bossy aura as she places her hands on her hips. "Get up!"

"Guess I can't hide forever," Valen mutters to himself with his eyes closed, annoyed that Melanie's glaring at him like he forgot to washes the dishes and clean his room.

"I said get up!" Melanie demands.

"Why do you have to shout when you're right next to me?" Valen grumbles as he sits up. "Also, I'm twenty four, not twelve."

"You have no time for a nap," Melanie scolds. "You're coming with me to one of the city's public battle areas."

"Why me?" Valen groans. "Also, how the hell did you find me?"

"Just shut up and come along."

"Whatever," Valen barks, closing his eyes as he lies back down on the bench.

"...I liked it better when you weren't so antisocial."

"That was then, and this is now," Valen retorts. "There's going to be a crowd of challengers for sure once someone notices you."

"You don't think I know that?" Melanie chastises, furrowing her brow. "Get your lazy ass up and give me some backup."

"Hm, well-" Valen begins to speak as he re-opens his eyes.

"Well what?" Melanie piques up. "Come on, say it."

"Since you actually went looking for me, I'll repay the favor and tag along," Valen concedes, much to her delight.

"Let's go!"

"Pain in my ass," Valen grumbles, closing his eyes as he stands up.

Melanie's phone dings, and she takes her phone out to check who texted her.

"Rosa wants me to tell you that she said hi."

Valen's eyes widen, rapidly turning his head towards Melanie. "W-What?!"

"I'm still friends with Rosa, remember?" Melanie asks, sporting a soft smile. "Rosa's not the type to feel down, but she really misses you. I hope you realize that soon."

"She's just being polite. She's mad at me."

Melanie's mouth slightly falls open. "That's not true! She still loves you!"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Valen interrupts, turning away to avoid Melanie seeing him cry. However, his crying can still be heard.

Melanie winces over the anguish plastered on her childhood friend's face. She can tell that he still loves Rosa, but he's had it so rough that he doesn't realize that Rosa still loves him. She doesn't even want to imagine what would've happened if he didn't have Pokémon with him.

"Melanie...no more...it hurts too much...I'm so ashamed." Valen sniffles. "I broke my promise...I can't be the best boyfriend when I grew distant."

"I...I won't bring it up again...sorry."

"You did nothing wrong." Valen wipes away his tears.

Melanie tightens his fist, furrowing her brow. "I'll shatter this shell so my childhood friend returns."

Much to Valen's surprise, Melanie wraps her arms around his neck, sweeping him into a hug.

"I think you really need one of these," Melanie says, sporting a tender smile. "I should've done this yesterday."

The gentle feeling of his childhood friend's arms wrapped about his neck causes Valen's eyes to widen immensely. Outside of his family and his Pokémon, he hasn't felt this level of calm and comfort since he returned to civilian life. In fact, Melanie's the first person outside of his family to embrace him since he was honorably discharged from the military.

Valen decides to embrace Melanie back, placing his left hand on her back. He runs his right hand through her elbow length black hair.

"Warmth...I feel warmth." Valen sheds a few tears.

"You're still as cuddly as ever, big guy."

"Be quiet."

Melanie lets go of Valen and vice-versa, with the former stating, "You won't ditch me that easily, so get used to me being around again."

"Hmph, It's not like I have a choice."

Melanie lets go of Valen, saying, "I'm happy to finally get to hang out with you again."

"Even though I'm not a social person anymore?"

"You act like I won't make you come out of the house more often." Melanie playfully flicks Valen on his forehead.

"I'd like to see you try," Valen jokes, causing Melanie to chuckle.

"This place feels bigger than I remember it being," Valen observes as he looks around the large outdoor arena, having just exited out of the indoor lobby area with Melanie besides him. "They seemed to have added more to the lobby area as well." The arena in question actually has three separate fields open to the public for Pokémon battling. Each has his own entrance, and Valen and Melanie have entered field number one.

"See, crowds aren't so bad," Melanie points out, as there are a lot of people present, both trainers and non-trainers.

Many trainers have their Pokémon out as well, with Valen eyeing a male trainer's Incineroar, Staraptor, and Ariados.

"Hey, don't pretend that I'm not here!" Melanie scolds.

Valen could care less about that, or the fact that Melanie just shot him a disgusted glance. "Hmph, don't get the wrong idea." Valen shifts his attention to the wear and tear on the battle arena. "It looks like the city has been maintaining it well."

"Melanie Olsen, we challenge you!" A male trainer blurts out, catching Melanie's attention. "We never expected to see someone like you here, so let's do this!" Second male trainer blurts out."

While Valen remains disinterested, Melanie looks behind her and sees that ten Pokémon trainers want to face her in battle.

"Just how many do I need to battle?" Melanie slightly sweats.

"Hey, who's that scary looking guy next to her?" A female trainer among the the group of ten asks. "I don't recognize him."

"Hey, this scary looking guy happens to be my friend, so show him some respect!" Melanie furiously claps back, almost evolving into a Primeape over the unneeded remark towards her friend.

Then, Melanie has a twinkle in her eyes as her facial expression turns into one of amusement. "Why don't you face him instead? If you can beat him, you can battle me. If you can beat him, that is," she chuckles.

"Alright big guy, let's see if you're as strong as I remember."

"Whatever, you're lucky that I got time to kill," Valen says half-heartedly. "It'll be a one versus one battle with each of you. In addition, if just one of you can beat me, you all get to battle her."

"We accept!" Another male trainer exclaims.

"You seem suddenly interested in this," Melanie observes.

"It was your idea," Valen points out.

After having defeating nine of the ten trainers with his Golisopod, Valen's battling the last trainer and his Hitmonlee. This is the same trainer who challenged Melanie on behalf of all ten trainers.

"All I have to do is beat you in order to battle her!" The male trainer proclaims, much to Valen's amusement.

"You fool, don't you get it?!" Valen sneers with his arms folded. "None of you ever stood a chance against me, let alone her!"

"Mega Kick!" The trainer commands his Hitmonlee, who charges at Golisopod.

"How pathetic," Valen snickers as he closes his eyes. "Finish off this loser with X-Scissor."

Golisopod lets out a robotic, maniacal cackle as he crosses his armored arms to form a x shape. Golisopod's arms glow light blue, and before Hitmonlee can even get a chance to strike, Golisopod charges at it, brutally slamming into it with his crossed arms.

"No way!" The male trainer exclaims as his Hitmonlee falls to the ground in defeat.

The crowd erupts in chatter over what they've just witnesses.

"Did you see that?!" A female trainer with an Aipom exclaims. "He took down ten trainers with just one Pokémon!"

"Who is this guy?!" A male trainer with a Scyther shouts. "He's strong!"

"Maybe you've gotta be super strong to hang out with Melanie!" A male trainer with a Raichu gushes. "Either way, she's strong and pretty!"

"Hmph, as if I didn't already know that." Melanie runs her left hand though her hair, confidently smiling."

"That should keep you free from challengers for the time being." Valen recalls his Golisopod.

"I'm kinda surprised that you beat all of them with just your Golisopod," Melanie admits.

"Eh, they weren't strong at all," Valen counters with his eyes still closed. "Why can't you attract trainers who could actually pose a challenge?"

"Hey, I don't choose who I attract!" Melanie claps back.

"Perhaps I can be that challenge?" An accented voice calls out to them.

Valen re-opens open his eyes upon hearing these words. Both Melanie and Valen look around, perplexed over who just called out to them. Then, Valen and Melanie are approached by a male trainer around their age. Melanie eyes his trench coat-like suit and pants. Both are finished in a darker shade of brown.

"Hey, aren't you that one guy who's the heir of the Bennington noble family?" Melanie asks. "Arthur, right?"

"Yes, I am Arthur Bennington," Arthur introduces himself as he bows. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"The Bennington family's quite prominent in both Calvana and Galar, so I'm surprised to see you around these parts," Melanie notes. "After all, you're not an ordinary guy of our age group."

"Well, it can be rather hectic," Arthur sheepishly admits, placing his left hand on the front of his short, ashy blonde hair.

Valen notes Arthur's attire. "His clothes and shoes probably costs more than half of Dimitri's entire corporation."

"Pardon me, but is she your girlfriend?" Arthur asks Valen.

"Nah, but she acts like my nagging wife," Valen bemoans, snapping Melanie back into focus. "If you can defeat me in a Pokémon battle, you can take her off my hands for a date if you want."

"Valen, "I'm right here next to you!"

"I can both see and hear that, Melanie," Valen retorts. "You're stronger than me, so if he beats me, he's probably around your level."

"First of all, I'm not interested in a relationship!" Melanie blurts out as her eyes widen in annoyance. "Second of all, stop acting like you're an amateur when you defeated ten trainers with just one Pokémon!"

"You made it through the grueling tournament structure of our region's league, while I haven't," Valen counters, except Melanie already knows that he's blatantly lying.

"Pardon the intrusion, but shall we battle, Valen?" Arthur asks before Melanie can say anything in response.

"This dunce downplayed his successes," Melanie muses. "Why's he putting himself down like that?"

Melanie feels that the opposite's more true, as Valen's far more powerful of a trainer than he's presenting himself to be.

"Sorry, I got a little distracted by my pretend nagging wife," Valen says, pointing back at Melanie. "Let's do this."

"Pretend nagging wife?" Melanie blinks. "Trying to understand him isn't easy."

Valen and Arthur stand at opposite ends of the battlefield. Melanie stands behind Valen, while a crowd's gathered around the field.

"You ready?" Valen asks Arthur, both holding a Poké Ball in their right hands.

"Let this battle commence," Arthur says, eager to see Valen's strength for himself.

"Salamence, you're up." Valen presses the button on his Poké Ball to let his dragon out.

Arthur cocks a brow, murmuring, "He's tamed a Salamence...that means I have to be on guard."

The menacing, three colored dragon lets out a mighty roar that sends shockwaves through the ground and air.

"Looks like I made the right choice," Arthur confidently replies upon seeing the dragon. Arthur presses the button on his Poké Ball to his Pokémon out, which is Grimmsnarl. Salamence and Grimmsnarl eye each other fiercely, as the imp-like Fairy/Dark type lets out an slightly eerie howl.

"A smart choice, but do you really think that having a type advantage means you're guaranteed a victory?" Valen questions.

"Maybe, or maybe not," Arthur admits with a confident smile. "Let us see right now! Use Dazzling Gleam!"

A rainbow aura of light envelops Grimmsnarl, who uses the aura to launch a giant ray beam towards Salamence.

"Counter with Flamethrower," Valen commands.

Salamence launches a reddish orange stream of fire towards the rainbow colored ray. Both attacks collide, causing a small explosion as they cancel each other out.

"Ice Punch!" Grimmsnarl regains his footing, and forms a fist with its left hand.

Grimmsnarl's fist glows icy blue and it strikes Salamence in his face. The flying dragon careens to the ground sideways. Salamence manages to stand back up, but with his eyes closed as he contends with the damage dealt from the Ice-type attack.

"This Pokémon is quite powerful," Valen thinks.

"Use Ice Punch again," Arthur commands.

Once again, Grimmsnarl's fist glows icy blue and it strikes Salamence again, sending it reeling from additional damage alongside the damage dealt by the first Ice Punch.

Despite his Pokémon taking two direct hits from a quadruple effective attack and clearly struggling to pull itself back together, Valen seems unbothered.

"Come on, Salamence," Valen says. "Are you gonna let those Ice Punches incapacitate you just like that, or are you gonna continue to fight?"

Salamence still contends with the major damage, but manages to opens his eyes and glare menacingly at Grimmsnarl, letting out a ground shaking roar.

"That's my boy," Valen commends with an approving smile

"Two Ice Punches in a row and it is still raring to go?!" Arthur asks in disbelief. "This Salamence is more powerful than I had anticipated!"

"Come on, launch another attack!" Valen sneers at Arthur.

"Something's not right here," Melanie muses. "I know he's changed, but both times he's gloated today...is he forcing it?"

"Darkness Lariat!" Grimmsnarl emanates purplish black energy all over its body. Then, Grimmsnarl holds outs it arms and beginning spinning rapidly like a tornado towards Salamence.

"Hold it back," Valen commands.

Salamence hasn't fully shaken off the damage from the pair of Ice Punch attacks. Nevertheless, he stands up on his hind claws and uses his front claws in an attempt to hold of Grimmsnarl's Darkest Lariat attack. Salamence roars as he severely struggles to hold off Darkness Lariat, sweating and moving backwards several feet.

"Interesting," Arthur murmurs, his Grimmsnarl attempting to push Salamence further backwards.

"Will this actually work?" Melanie nervously looks on.

"Don't give in," Valen encourages Salamence.

Just as it looks like the attack is going to hit, Salamence able to avoid taking most of the damage from the attack as eventually, Grimmsnarl stops spinning.

"Use Hydro Pump," Valen commands with a smirk.

"Hydro Pump?!"

Arthur's stunned as Salamence fires off a large and powerful jet stream of water from his mouth. Grimmsnarl gets hits in his face, sending him stumbling backwards as a result.

"...Using an unconventional method of countering an attack, and using a rare move for this species of Pokémon, eh?" Arthur sports a confident smile. "Challenging you was definitely worth it, mate."

Salamence and Grimmsnarl let out a slight roar and a murmuring grunt respectively to let the other that they're battling well.

"You're strong, Arthur," Valen mutters, looking down while chuckling.

"Hm?" Arthur notes Valen's apparent change in behavior.

"Heh heh heh, you're definitely strong."

Salamence looks back at his trainer with a wide smirk, sensing Valen's sudden change in demeanor. Valen looks up with a excited grin on his face, his pulse increasing at a rapid pace. "It's been sometime since I enjoyed a Pokémon battle!"

"You are really getting into it," Arthur observes. "I knew you would be a formidable opponent, and I am pleased that my assumption was correct."

"Let's see if you can defeat me!" Valen exclaims, with Salamence letting out a mighty roar in response.

"Mate, be careful what you wish for," Arthur counters as Grimmsnarl confidently grins. "It might come true."

"Bring it on!" Valen points to himself. "I'm the big bad trainer who beats you down without ever letting up!"

Upon seeing Valen like this, Melanie's eyes widen as she steps back.

"Valen, you-"

Then, Melanie has a vivid mental flashback of her and Valen when they were younger, having a Pokémon battle between Salamence and Dragonite when they were a Shelgon and a Dragonair. Melanie remembers that Valen had the exact same grin when battling all those years ago.

Then, Melanie flashes back to Valen as a teenager, donning his classy Team Skull uniform. He was proud to be Team Skull, and the line he just said suggests that he's still a proud member. Guzma rubbed off on him in more ways than one. She still remember his other Guzma inspired line: "You wanna see what Armageddon looks like? I'm gonna show you! It's Team Skull's Valen!"

Returning her focus to the battle in the present, Melanie silently beams with jubilation. "You dunce, you can't fool me all the time."

"Use Dragon Claw," Valen commands.

"Huh?! Grimmsnarl's part Fairy-type!" Melanie yelps.

Salamence hesitates for a brief moment. Then, both of Salamence's claws glows royal blue and he charges at Grimmsnarl, whom is given no command to counterattack, block, or evade.

"Hm, what's going on?" Arthur questions. "He's certainly no amateur, but did he make a miscalculation by accident?"

Salamence strikes Grimmsnarl with both claws, but it doesn't impact the Pokémon in any way. Grimmsnarl looks bewildered, but both Arthur and Grimmsnarl sense that something's up.

"Playtime's over. Use Iron Tail."

Salamence also grins as his tail glows silver, realizing what his trainer's intent was. He swings his tail to attack Grimmsnarl. Before Grimmsnarl can even strike with Ice Punch, Salamence brutally strikes Grimmsnarl in the upper chest. Grimmsnarl falls to its knees, reeling from the major damage it took.

"Dragon Claw was just a mechanism to launch another attack?!"

"Now, it's time for a second Iron Tail."

As Grimmsnarl still reels from first one, Salamence's tail glows silver again and he swings his tail, striking Grimmsnarl's mid-section.

"Use Flamethrower."

Salamence launches a reddish orange stream of fire at the still reeling Grimmsnarl, scoring another direct hit in Grimmsnarl's face.

"This bloke's powerful!" Arthur exclaims.

"Time to finish this." Valen confidently grins. "Hyper Beam."

Salamence flaps his wings and takes flight again. An orb of orange energy forms inside his mouth.

Then, Salamence's launches a powerful orange beam of energy from up in the air at Grimmsnarl.

Grimmsnarl's unable to avoid the powerful attack, and it falls on the ground, defeated.

"Grimmsnarl!" Arthur shouts. Then, he calms down and smiles. "Ah well, you win some and you lose some."

"I told him he was on my level for a reason," Melanie murmurs to herself while smiling.

"Good job," Valen compliments his smiling Salamence as he recalls the dragon. Valen places Salamence's Poké Ball back inside his black leather jacket.

Arthur recalls his Grimmsnarl. "You fought well, Grimmsnarl." He smiles, placing Grimmsnarl's Poké Ball back inside his trench coat.

"Why don't you tag along with us?" Melanie asks Arthur, sporting an inviting, warm smile. "Valen could use a second friend around."

"No, Valen doesn't need a second friend around." Valen scowls. "Battle and befriending are two different things."

"It would be my pleasure, and thank you for your kind words." Arthur bows.

"Fine, ignore me." Valen rolls his eyes. "At least I'm finally free of Empress Bossy Butt," he jabs, sauntering away with his hands in his pockets.

"Quite the snarky fellow, isn't he?" Arthur asks.

"He wasn't always like this," Melanie laments with her hands on her hips. "He's changed."

"That is a shame," Arthur replies.

"I thought bringing him here might bring at least part of his old self back," Melanie replies, faintly smiling.

"Is that right?"

"His battle with you made me realize that he hasn't completely changed on the inside." Melanie beams with gratitude. "I owe you one."

"This seems deeply important to you, so I am glad I was able to help," Arthur replies. "However, I shall take you up on that offer and request a battle-"

" I don't have all day to wait for you," Valen interjects, glancing behind him towards Melanie. "Come on already, Slakoth."

Melanie's about to scold Valen, but then she notices his smirk. Melanie smiles, commenting, "Maybe I should've challenged you to a battle yesterday."

"Didn't I just say that I don't have all day?"

"You have all day to be a colossal pain in the ass," Melanie teases as she dashes to catch up with Valen.

"I'm not a Pokémon, Detective Ding Dong."

"I said colossal, not Coalossal," Melanie flicks Valen on the forehead as they enter the indoor lobby.

"I said colossal, not Coalossal," Valen teases, performing a hand gesture that implies Melanie talks too much.

"Less sass would be nice." Melanie flicks him again.

"Pot meet kettle."

"Those two are a rather interesting pair," Arthur remarks, chuckling while walking in the same direction.