Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Bryce was up early again, squinting in the cool morning breeze. Just like the previous afternoon, he was in the backyard, perfecting Ralts's Magical Leaf. He knew Ralts already had the move down pat, but he wanted to be absolutely certain. But he was also helping Ralts train up his evasive abilities. With Ralts's consent, he had Bagon fire off Ember attacks at the Feeling Pokemon while he tried to dodge them.

He reached into his bag, pulling out his Badge case and opening it. It was empty, of course, but this helped to motivate Bryce. He vowed to make it so that by the end of today, it wouldn't be empty anymore.

Gloria was here too, preparing for her first Gym battle. The twins had agreed that she'd go first, so that she would have her first Gym battle before Bryce got his second. Unfortunately for her, Feebas was near-useless in its current state. She and Bryce both knew it evolved into the powerful Milotic, but right now it was about on par with a Magikarp, only knowing how to use Splash. She'd have to rely almost entirely on Buneary, but her bond with the Rabbit Pokemon was rocky at best. In addition, the only attacks it knew were Pound and Fake Out, both of which were Normal-type and thus resisted by Roxanne's Pokemon. Needless to say, her chances were rather slim. Bryce didn't want to tell her this, but he was certain she already knew.

He still couldn't quite believe how she had obtained Feebas, even though he'd been there to witness it firsthand. Wallace appearing out of nowhere, to give a seemingly random girl the pre-evolved form of his own signature Pokemon? It certainly wasn't something you saw every day. To be fair, he couldn't quite figure out how he'd manage to find a Bagon in the Petalburg Woods either. He supposed that all four of the Pokemon they had between them had been obtained in somewhat unusual circumstances.

They'd booked a Gym appointment at 9:30 am for Gloria and 10:00 am for Bryce, those being the earliest time slots available. They wanted to beat the crowd, if possible. Their parents were a little grumpy in the morning about it, but they understood.

The time for them to head over to the Gym came quite quickly, and the family set out on foot to the Rustboro streets. As it turned out, Zeke's words had truth to them; Bryce didn't feel nearly as nervous about his Gym battle now that he had tried it before. Almost in reflection of this, the crowd surrounding the Gym when they got there was far smaller than it had been yesterday, though Bryce knew this was simply because it was earlier in the day.

This time, Gloria joined him in registering her Pokemon at the ATM-like machine next to the front door, and in turning left down the hallway to the challenger's waiting room. They'd arrived just minutes before Gloria was scheduled to challenge Roxanne, and as such there was no Trainer waiting in the room when they entered it.

Whoever it was that was challenging Roxanne at the moment, they ended up losing, and soon afterward Gloria was called into the arena. The twins exchanged wishes of good luck, and off she went.

To be fair to Gloria, she didn't fare as poorly as Bryce had feared. She didn't quite manage to take down Geodude, but she came impressively close. Once she was down to just her Feebas, though, Bryce knew it was over. It came as almost a relief when his attention was pulled away from the screen by a Trainer entering the waiting room.

It was a boy, who looked about Bryce's age, maybe a little younger. He wore a Trainer's jacket that at first glance looked black, but upon closer inspection was actually a mixture of black with a very dark shade of violet, in a pattern that was too dark for Bryce to recognize. He wore black hiking pants and a black backpack. His jacket had a hood, but it was down, revealing the boy's jet-black hair, mild freckles, and piercing...violet eyes? It was upon seeing this that Bryce realized who it was.

'You're Justin?' he asked.

'Yep,' said Justin. Bryce figured he was blasé about receiving attention, being the son of an Elite Four member.

'Is this your first Gym you've challenged, or…?'

'Second,' said Justin. 'I got the Dynamo Badge from the Mauville Gym a few days ago.'

The Mauville Gym, eh? Bryce wasn't entirely sure of which Gym he'd challenge next after Rustboro and Dewford, but he supposed Mauville was the next closest after Petalburg, which you couldn't challenge until you had at least four Badges already. So it'd probably be Mauville third, then.

Bryce was called to the arena, which broke him out of his brief musing.

'Uh...good luck, I guess,' said Justin, giving an almost-smile.

'You too,' said Bryce as he left the waiting room and headed out to the arena.

Walking out into the arena was exactly like it had been yesterday, except that the audience wasn't quite as big or as loud, and that Bryce wasn't as nervous in general. Roxanne and the referee were in the same places, and he could see his family in the stands. Gloria was with them; Bryce guesses that she'd headed right to the stands as soon as she'd left the arena. Roxanne beckoned for Bryce to come to the center of the arena, just like she'd done last time.

'Well, here you are again,' said Roxanne. 'Let's see if you do better than last time.'

'I hope I will,' said Bryce.

'Was that your sister I just battled?' asked Roxanne. When Bryce nodded, she continued, 'You didn't tell her what I told you about type advantage yesterday, did you?' Was Roxanne...teasing? He'd never seen anything quite like it.

'Well,' said Bryce, 'you never got to finish what you were saying, did you? You were...interrupted, if I recall correctly.' He smirked, reminiscing about the rather amusing memory of Roxanne trying to give him advice mid-battle, only to suddenly stop when she noticed his 'bad move' had ended up burning her Geodude.

'True, true,' said Roxanne. 'Well, if that's out of the way, then...shall we get started?'

'Sure,' said Bryce. 'I'm ready to go.'

With that, they walked to their respective Trainer's circles, the referee announced the rules just like last time – two Pokemon each, the challenger (Bryce) could switch Pokemon at any time but the Gym Leader (Roxanne) could not, and Bryce was allowed to make the first move – and they each sent out their first Pokemon.

It was here that the first real difference from yesterday's battle came about. Roxanne sent out Geodude, as she always did, but Bryce, who had sent out Bagon first yesterday, now sent out Ralts first instead.

'Let the battle begin!' announced the referee.

'Alright Ralts, use Magical Leaf!' commanded Bryce. Ralts immediately created a large amount of glowing leaves seemingly out of thin air, and immediately they began rocketing towards Geodude. Roxanne made no attempt to have Geodude dodge the attack; she knew as well as Bryce did that Magical Leaf could never miss. The leaves collided with Geodude, doing massive damage, as one would expect a Grass-type move to do against a Rock/Ground-type Pokemon. When the dust settled, Geodude was still up, but barely; it looked as though any attack would knock it out.

'That attack would have knocked Geodude out in a single blow,' said Roxanne, apparently not learning from the last time she tried to give Bryce advice mid-battle, 'were it not for its ability, Sturdy, which prevents exactly that from happening! Geodude, use Rock Tomb!'

Geodude fired rocks from its hands at Ralts, but Ralts was too quick for it. He sidestepped the incoming attack with relative ease.

'Now use Confusion!' Bryce could easily have just used Magical Leaf again, but he figured it would look a little better if he didn't just repeatedly use the same move over and over again for the entire battle. Ralts, as it had done several times before, launched a wave of psychic energy that hit Geodude, swiftly knocking it out.

'Geodude is unable to battle. Ralts wins!' said the referee.

'It seems that you have heeded my advice,' said Roxanne. 'You're using a move that my Pokemon are weak against, and look where it's got you now. But this battle isn't over just yet! Go, Nosepass!' Out came Roxanne's signature Pokemon.

Bryce remembered how quickly Nosepass had defeated Ralts the last time he'd battled Roxanne, with the aid of a lucky critical hit. Hopefully that wouldn't happen again, but all the same, Bryce wanted to end this quickly if possible, so as to avoid that happening again.

'Alright Ralts, use Magical Leaf!' called Bryce. Ralts created the leaves again, and they shot towards Nosepass.

'Nosepass! Destroy the leaves with Rock Tomb!' yelled Roxanne, with more urgency to her voice than Bryce was accustomed to. Nosepass fired the attack at the leaves, but it was no use; the leaves simply went around the rocks and continued on their way towards Nosepass, hitting it for major damage. The rocks, however, continued on their path, straight towards Ralts, who wasn't expecting the attack to be coming straight for him. Unable to react in time, he took the full force of the attack.

'I wasn't sure if that would work, but I had to try something,' said Roxanne. This was most out of character for her; Roxanne had always embraced a strictly by-the-book battling style, never trying anything too out-of-the-box, but here she was, going for something that she wasn't sure would even work, and it ended up not working in the way she'd intended – but it did have an effect that she seemingly didn't plan. Was Bryce bringing out a different side of her?

'Use Double Team!' called Bryce, and Ralts immediately began moving around the arena at a blindingly fast speed – though not quite as fast as it usually could be, owing to the Speed drop it had just sustained from Rock Tomb.

'Use Tackle!' said Roxanne, and Bryce immediately knew she was trying the same tactic she'd used against Ralts's Double Team in their previous battle. Ralts seemed to know it, too, and he didn't make the same mistake he'd made last time. Nosepass once again tried to move 'into' one of Ralts's 'copies', but Ralts responded by simply not moving there.

'Use Magical Leaf!' ordered Bryce, and Ralts immediately stopped moving, appearing only a few feet away from Roxanne, and launched another Magical Leaf attack. Having just used Tackle, Nosepass couldn't just use Rock Tomb right away, and it took the full force of the attack again. Given the state it appeared to be in now, it seemed one more Magical Leaf would end the battle.

'Use Rock Tomb!' yelled Roxanne, and Nosepass launched more rocks from its hands. Ralts was far away enough that he would normally be able to dodge the attack, but alas, the previous Rock Tomb had made him less agile. So the attack found its mark. Ralts, however, withstood the attack, staying on his feet, and Bryce knew the battle was over right then and there.

'Use Magical Leaf again!' shouted Bryce excitedly. Ralts launched his fourth Magical Leaf of the battle, and just like the others, it struck true. Bryce's assumption was proven right; Nosepass fell onto its back, its eyes looking like swirls.

'Nosepass is unable to battle. Ralts wins, and the winner is Bryce!' Roxanne recalled Ralts, while Ralts excitedly ran over to Bryce, at an amusingly slow speed thanks to the Rock Tombs he had sustained.

'Ralts, you did it! That was amazing!' said Bryce.

'Eh, it wasn't much. All I did was use Magical Leaf a bunch,' said Ralts.

'Still though, it worked! And we've got our Badge now! Great work!' said Bryce, recalling Ralts back into his Poke Ball. He went to meet Roxanne in the middle.

'So,' said Roxanne, 'you beat me. It seems I still have much more to learn.'

'What was that earlier? When you tried to use Rock Tomb to shoot down the Magical Leaf?' Bryce was genuinely curious as to what she would say.

'Well, like I said, I had to try something. I didn't want to just lie down and get pummeled by Magical Leaf after Magical Leaf. And it even hit Ralts! I can't say I really intended for that,' she added sheepishly.

'Well, it looked really creative, and it definitely caught me off guard. Maybe you should try thinking outside the box more,' said Bryce cheekily. Roxanne raised her eyebrows at him. He didn't press further.

'I'll consider it,' said Roxanne after a couple of seconds. 'Anyway, the Pokemon League's rules state that Trainers receive this after they defeat a Gym Leader.' She held out her hand; there was something shiny resting on her palm. 'Please accept the official Pokemon League Stone Badge.'

Bryce took it excitedly, pulling out his Badge case from his bag and placing the Stone Badge in its place. He might have done some sort of victory dance, but it would have looked ridiculous and there were still hundreds of people watching him. Thinking of this, he looked up at the audience. His family looked ecstatic, as expected; meanwhile, many younger children were in tears. This was to be expected. Gym Leaders were always popular figures in their cities. Roxanne was no exception, and given her teacher-like image, she was viewed as almost like an idol in the eyes of many of the youth in Rustboro. Still though, it hurt Bryce a little to see so many people so distraught that he had won.

Roxanne spoke up. 'The Stone Badge allows you to use the HM move Cut outside of battle. Also, here, please take this with you, too.' She held out another item, this time a TM. Again, Bryce took it.

'It contains Rock Tomb,' said Roxanne. 'You saw me using it in our battle. It not only inflicts damage, but it also lowers the target's Speed. If you can, please try it out!'

'I'll try to remember it,' said Bryce. 'Thanks, anyway.'

'I'm so proud of you!' Bryce could barely hear these words, since his ears were covered in the smothering hug he was currently receiving from both of his parents. As much as he normally wouldn't enjoy this, he had to realize that this might be the last he'd see of his parents for a while, considering he was about to set off on his journey for real.

Gloria was aware of this as well. When he was finally released from the embrace, she addressed him.

'Well, Bryce,' she said, 'you've got the whole rest of the day to start off your journey. Remember the agreement we made yesterday? You can go on ahead. You don't have to stick around for another day waiting for me to beat this Gym myself. I'll win eventually, don't worry.'

And Bryce did so. After one last look at his house, and one last trip to his room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, and another almost suffocating hug from his parents, which this time even Gloria joined in on, he set off.

Once again, just like he had hundreds of times before, Bryce walked along the streets of Rustboro City. But this time it was somehow different. Yes, the cool morning air from a few hours ago had become quite hot indeed, but it was something else as well. Maybe it was that he was leaving. He wasn't sure when he'd even be coming back. Would it be in just a few days, after he found the stress of journeying alone intolerable? Would it take months, once he'd collected all the Badges? Or would he become so obsessed with traveling that he'd never come back here again? He seriously doubted the latter possibility, but he was swimming in a sea of unknown possibilities right now. He couldn't write anything off as impossible.

One thing was for certain, though: He was finally starting his Pokemon journey. The thing he'd silently been dreading for years. The thing he'd been making an active effort to not think about for just as long.

But now, as he walked the familiar streets of Rustboro, towards his destination, he wasn't dreading it one bit anymore.