"Ow, I think I slept on a rock." Wally groaned, stretching, before rolling up his cot.

"How long did we sleep for?" Brendan asked, looking at his Pokenav. "10 HOURS!"

"Relax, that's not much considering how long of a flight we had, how long did Ash sleep for when he first came to Hoenn?" Wally asked.

"I, I don't think he slept for a few days in Hoenn." Brendan admitted, remembering the bags under Ash's eyes. "He was still pretty broken at that point."

"Well, now he has found a passion, and soon we'll be with him and Flannery again!" Wally said. "Now Pallet Town is south, so we should head through the woods."

"Should be easy enough." Brendan said. "Sorry for how I was yesterday."

"It's alright, water under the bridge." Wally said. "I bet if we hurry, we can make it through with daylight to spare."

"Then what are we waiting here for." Brendan said, rushing towards the gate to the forest.

A while later

"What was that about rushing through?" Brendan groaned. "We've passed this rock seven times already."

"Now we don't know that for certain." Wally said.

"Its a rock in the shape of Pikachu face, do you really think there's more than one of those?" Brendan asked.

"I don't know, maybe." Wally commented.

"I miss Hoenn, at least we knew our general directions there." Brendan said, flopping down.

"I'm starting to think we shouldn't have chose to surprise Ash, and instead let him know we were coming." Wally sighed. "At least then he could have maybe met us at the airport."

"Now I can't help but overhear that the two of you are lost." A woman said, walking forward. She was an older woman who walked with a cane, and wore a purple dress. "Which way are you boys headed?"

"Ghost lady!" Wally exclaimed.

"I'm old, not dead." The woman said.

"Ignore him." Brendan said. "We're trying to visit our friend in Pallet Town, but we keep coming across this stone."

"Oh, that isn't a coincidence. Wherever these stones are looking, a Pikachu nest can be found. It's no wonder you're lost if you thought there was just one." The woman said. "Now keep up, I won't have you two slowing me down."

"Like we'd slow you down." Wally joked, only to get the back of his leg thwacked by the cane as the woman moved past him with ease. "A little help."

"You heard her, keep up. I don't want to get hit." Brendan said.

Outside the forest finally

"Here we are boys, just a bit further and we'll be in Viridian City." The woman said.

"Whoa, it's a lot brighter than I remember." Brendan said.

"It's the forest." The woman said. "The tree cover gives it the illusion of almost always being night time, perfect for all the bugs that live in there. Now I do have to ask, the two of you seem to have come from pretty far, most Kantonian's know to take the side path if they don't know the woods." The woman said.

"Yeah, we're actually from Hoenn." Wally said. "Brendan here won their last Pokemon League even."

"Oh, is that so?" The woman said. "Well then, come with me if you wouldn't mind."

"You just had to share that information." Brendan said behind gritted teeth.

"She's like 80, what is she going to do?" Wally asked.

"Ask the welt on your leg." Brendan reminded, as Wally was still limping.

"Here we are. Home sweet home, at least for now." The woman said.

"The Viridian City gym?" Brendan asked in shock. "You're the gym leader!?"

"Only temporarily." The woman said. "Names Agatha, and I challenge you to a battle."

A ways off

"That Agatha sure does love her tricks." A man said from a jeep. "Seemingly innocent old lady is a master trainer and a fast one at that. Let's see if this kid is really all what Greta said he is."

"Gengar come on out!" Agatha called out.

"Gengar huh?" Brendan asked, pulling out his Pokedex.

'Gengar, the Gas Pokemon, a Ghost and Poison Type. It hides in shadows. It is said that if Gengar is hiding, it cools the area by nearly 10 degrees fahrenheit.' The Pokedex said.

"Ghost and Poison, well then come on out Lairon!" Brendan said.

"Gengar use Shadow Ball!"

"Lairon use Iron Defense!"

"Brendan that won't work! Shadow Ball is a special attack!" Wally called out.

"Oh no." Brendan gulped as the shadow ball pierced through Lairon's defenses with ease.

"Gengar use Double Team!"

"Lairon use Rock Tomb!"

Lairon began launching rock after rock at the swarm of Gengars, doing little to remove the entire problem.

"Gengar use Hypnosis."

"Lairon don't look at its eyes!" Brendan called out.

"Oh child, that does little when you are dealing with a ghost." Agatha said, as the real Gengar disappeared into Lairon's armor.

"Now Gengar end this with Dream Eater." Agatha said.

"Lairon use Metal Claw!"

As Gengar began pouring back out of Lairon's head, the ghost was pinned to the ground, forced the rest of the way out, and in shock.

"What? How!?" Agatha said in shock.

"We're just that good." Brendan said. "Now Lairon use Rock Tomb!"

Lairon slammed the rest of his body onto the ground, pinning rocks onto Gengar, defeating the ghost type.

"Alright Lairon!" Brendan cheered.

"Very impressive, I would have guessed you to be a student of Sammy's if you were from here in Kanto." Agatha said as Gengar effortlessly floated back up. "Mind you, we still had plenty of fight left, but you saw what you wanted to, didn't you Scott."

A man in a blue Hawaiian shirt walked up to Brendan.

"I sure did, my names Scott. I run the Battle Frontier here in Kanto, and I'd like you to enter." Scott said.

"The Battle Frontier, that sounds familiar." Wally said.

"Yeah, we met two people who were a part of it, I fought Greta on Dewford. Then Ash fought Tucker in LaRousse City." Brendan said, remembering the two trainers.

"When news came out that you won the Hoenn league, Greta contacted me about you." Scott said. "I was going to call you, but this works out even better." Scott said with a smile.

"So does it work like gym battles?" Brendan asked.

"In a way yes." Scott said. "The battles are straight forward, and you fight one at a time, but my frontier brains don't all specialize in just one type, and you have to fight them in order."

"In order?" Brendan asked.

"Yep, seven brains total. And you must complete each ones challenges in order to learn where the next one is." Scott said.

"So who and where is the first one?" Brendan asked.

"Brendan, what about Ash and Flannery?" Wally asked.

"Don't worry, Ash was planning on doing contests throughout Kanto anyways, we can pick them up and head for the closest contest or first frontier brain." Brendan assured.

"Well if you're up for the challenge, your first frontier challenge is north of Cerulean City at the Battle Factory." Scott said, handing Brendan a pass. "Keep this on you, it's how we'll know your progress."

"Hey wait, since Brendan beat you, does that mean he gets a badge from here?" Wally asked Agatha.

"Oh, he didn't beat me. I may be the acting gym leader, but my real job is as a member of the Elite Four here in Kanto." Agatha said. "He still isn't ready for me just yet, but maybe after this challenge he could be."

"Thanks for the battle anyways." Brendan said. "I'll be back for a rematch one day."

"Oh I'm sure you will." Agatha said. "Now you boys best hurry, if you leave now, you'll make it to Professor Oak's by sundown. If your friend Ash is from Pallet, he'll likely be there."

"Thanks again!" Brendan said. "And Scott, I'm sure we'll see you again really soon."