Hey sorry about the long wait for a new chapter. I had gotten a job that gave me little free time but now I have a new job that gives me some free time back. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.


While Brendan was out losing his V card all night Grovyle was alone in some alcove on Slateport beach. He had been carving into a huge rock ever since he went off by himself. He just couldn't get over his loss in the last Gym battle. The rock looked like some ancient creature had taken a chunk out of it and Grovyle was exhausted. Laying on the ground in deep thought he was thinking if his refusal to be friendly and listen to Brendan was truly holding him back. Thinking about it he wasn't even sure why he dislikes Brendan so much. Brendan has been nothing but nice to him and he just keeps treating him coldly. He fell asleep as the deep thinking ate up the rest of his energy.

Brendan was the first to wake up from their night of fun. He was laying on his back and looked down to see Lisia lovingly snuggled up and sleeping on his chest. He smiled and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. This caused her to begin stirring too.

"Good morning." Brendan said in a slightly raspy morning voice.

Lisia giggled and crawled up closer to his face.

"Morning handsome." she cooed before kissing him.

The two made out for a minute until Lisia opened her eyes and noticed the time on the clock. She quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the washroom leaving Brendan a little confused.

"Lisia? What's wrong?" he asked, having got up and standing outside the washroom door.

"It's already 1 in the afternoon! I have a performance at 3!" she yelled, already in the shower.

"Oh? Guess I should get ready too so I can come out and watch you. Mind if I join you in the shower?" he asked flirtatiously.

"Absolutely not! If you get in here we're just going to have a fuck ton of shower sex and I'm late as it is! You're a guy, you don't take long to get ready so you can wait!" she said sternly.

He was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to see the hot water and soap trickle down her amazing body but he wasn't going to push. It only took about 10 minutes for him to hear the water stop but she stayed in the bathroom for another 45 minutes. When the door finally opened she was in her usual contest get up. Fluffy clouds around her wrists, ankles and neck, a light blue dressy crop top and white short shorts with a light blue tutu like skirt. She struck a pose, throwing up a peace sign and winking.

"What do you think?" she asked teasingly.

"You sure you don't have time for a quickie?" he asked, slack jawed.

"Hehe. Maybe later. I gotta run and get things ready but if you want to catch me make sure you're at the contest hall for 3!" she told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek before she left.

Brendan washed up and got dressed. Seeing as he had some time to kill he decided to walk around the city. While walking he noticed that Grovyle hadn't come back yet.

"Shit I hope he didn't run away. How the hell am I supposed to find him though?" he asked himself.

He then remembered back to one of the very few times his dad taught him Aura stuff. There's a technique that allows you to link with your Pokémon as long as you have a bond. He had no idea how to do it but he was used to figuring stuff like this out by himself.

"Grovyle doesn't like me but we've been together from the beginning so there has to be at least a small bond." he told himself.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. After a few minutes he felt Grovyle way off on the beach somewhere.

"Crap. He's unconscious. Hang in there man." he said before running for the beach.

Brendan quickly found him. He was relieved to find out he was sleeping and hadn't been knocked out. He was impressed at the damage done to the rock and realized Grovyle came to air out his anger. He smacked Grovyle's face a few times before he woke up in shock. He was surprised to see Brendan there.

"I got worried when you didn't come back so I came looking for you." Brendan smiled at him.

Grovyle wanted to do some rude sarcastic gesture like usual but he couldn't find it in his heart to do so. Brendan had a genuine look of concern and he could feel Brendan's emotions for some reason.

"Looks like you did a good number on this rock here. Is your loss to Brawly's Machop still bothering you?" Brendan asked, already knowing the answer.

Grovyle looked away in an almost ashamed manner.

"You don't have to be ashamed. Defeat is just as much a part of life as victory. It's ok to be frustrated but in losing you learn a lesson which will help you win next time." Brendan tried to console him.

The look on Grovyle's face told him that he already knew that. Grovyle sighed and held his hand out to initiate a handshake. Brendan was confused at first but grinned when he realized the implications.

"Does this mean you've had a change of heart about me? No more huffing at me and we can actually work as a team?" Brendan asked in a teasing tone.

Grovyle looked away with both an annoyed look and an embarrassed one. Brendan happily took Grovyle's hand and shook.

"Here's to a great friendship." Brendan declared.

Grovyle just smirked. The two walked back to the city and were heading to the contest hall when they noticed something going on at the museum. When they entered they weren't greeted by admissions but by two Team Aqua grunts. Both parties stared at each other for a few seconds while they processed what was going on.

"Umm one ticket please." Brendan said, trying to act dumb.

The grunts just looked at each other.

"You do know you just walked into a Team Aqua stick up right? We got the workers as hostages and we're robbing the place…" one grunt explained.

Brendan's dumb looking face instantly turned serious.

"I figured you pirates were up to no good. I just wanted to know exactly what was up. You're pretty stupid to tell me that." Brendan said with a smirk.

"Huh?! Who do you think you are pu…" one grunt tried to say before Brendan swiftly introduced his fist to his face.

The force knocked out a few teeth and sent him flying across the room into a glass case. It was at this point that the other grunt recognized him.

"Wait a minute you're that kid I met in the forest…" the grunt said, shaking.

"Bingo mister pirate. Grovyle if you don't mind?" Brendan said.

Soon Grovyle's foot was on the grunt's face and smashed him into the ground. A bunch of other grunts came up the stairs after hearing the ruckus. Brendan and Grovyle looked at each other then they cracked their knuckles and smiled. It was quite the one sided beatdown as they tore through weak Pokemon and grunts alike. Brendan even let Ralts and Poochyena out to wipe the floor with some Aqua grunts too.

"Wow. You guys call yourselves eco-terrorists but from what I see here you guys couldn't terrify a child. Bring on someone who can actually tangle with me." Brendan taunted.

"Very well here I am." a more grizzled grunt said.

Brendan looked to see Grovyle actually get pushed back from this one's attacks.

"Well it looks like you do have some people worth their salt." Brendan taunted again.

Brendan wanted to focus on this guy but there were still a lot of grunts behind him. If he focused on the strong guy then the rest would jump him.

"Alright Grovyle, you can hold your own the best out of everyone so you and Poochyena take care of the grunts. Me and Ralts should be able to take this guy." Brendan explained his plan.

He expected Grovyle to huff because he wanted to face the stronger guy but no. Grovyle nodded and did what Brendan asked.

"Heh...I guess you really have grown. Now Ralts, let's go!" He said, turning to face the tough guy.

"Ha ha ha! Psychic isn't a very good pick against me." the guy taunted.

Brendan raised an eyebrow at the statement then saw the Pokémon the guy had out. Carvanha. The fish lunged forth and bit down on Ralts. The Aqua member was pretty surprised that it wasn't a one hit kill, in fact it only did normal damage and Carvanha looked like he took some instead.

"Wha...what? What's going on?!" the Aqua member asked in shock.

"And here I thought you were worth a damn. You were banking on dark being super effective against psychic which it is but Ralts is also a fairy type which resists dark so it's back to normal." Brendan explained.

"Then how did Carvanha get hurt?!" he asked again.

"Well Carvanha's ability is rough skin which hurts any Pokémon that makes physical contact and Ralts' ability is trace which copies the opponent's ability. So when Carvanha bit Ralts he bit a Pokémon with rough skin. Now finish this battle already Ralts." Brendan further explained.

Ralts used fairy wind which took out Carvanha thanks to the rough skin damage. The Aqua member began to panic as he sent out his Poochyena which ended the same as Carvanha.

"So you gonna run or are we going to continue this song and dance huh?" Brendan taunted.

The Aqua member grew frustrated as he threw out his Zubat but Ralts being a psychic type took it out instantly. Ralts shot her arms up and yelled in triumph then she started to glow. Once the white light dissipated Ralts was no more. Instead there was now Kirlia. Brendan immediately turned Kirlia's newfound power on the rest of the grunts. Soon most of the grunts had been dealt with.

"Wow, Team Aqua is a joke. Now why don't you all tell me why you're holding up a museum while we wait for the cops?" Brendan asked in a cocky tone.

Suddenly Brendan felt a strong Aura presence. It was nowhere near Steven's but it was still strong. Everything had gone silent and all he could hear was the sound of a single person walking towards him. As the sound got louder Brendan turned around to see the person that was creating it. She was a taller woman with big flashy black hair down to her butt with a few blue streaks in it. Her hair covered her left eye but the one that was visible was a piercing deep blue. She wore a blue skin tight leather crop top with long sleeves and the Team Aqua logo on her above average chest. Her pants were also blue, leather and skin tight and had holes throughout it to expose her beautifully dark skin. She also wore fancy goggles on her head kinda like a tiara.

"Who are…" Brendan tried to ask but was cut off.

This woman snapped her fingers and something rammed into Kirlia, knocking her out. Before Brendan could look back to see what happened the woman jammed her knee into Brendan's stomach, causing him to fall to his knees. Then as he was trying to catch his breath her foot came down, pushing his face into the floor.

"You're the guy giving my men trouble? Well you won't have such an easy time with me." She taunted.

She snapped her fingers again and Poochyena and Grovyle were sent flying too. Brendan's Aura flared up and he began to push his way back up. The woman kept trying to keep him down but he continued rising.

"Don't underestimate me." he muttered.

"What?! You're insane! I'm using all my power but I can't keep you down...just kidding." She played alone.

Her Aura flared up too and she sent his face crashing back to the floor.

"You're quite strong but not strong enough. Perhaps I should introduce myself. Name's Shelly Hulbury. I'm a Team Aqua Admin, in fact I'm the second in command of the whole organization." she introduced herself.

Brendan's Aura completely dissipated causing Shelly to raise an eyebrow.

"Giving up already? Come on. I was Expecting at least a little fight out of you." she said in disappointment.

Brendan then started laughing.

"I should introduce myself too. I'm Brendan Ruby and if there is one thing you should remember about me...it's that I never give up." he said.

Shelly was a little confused at his little speech until she finally sensed it and looked to her side. Grovyle in mid air with the leaf blade on his left arm being massive.

"His Aura didn't run out! He gave it all to his Pokémon!" she panicked in her head.

Grovyle was already too close. There was no way she could get out of this unscathed. Thinking quickly she let out her Carvanha to take the brunt of it. With the slash Carvanha was instantly taken out and Shelly was hit too, sending her crashing against the wall. Her Aura massively softened the blow but her back was now bruised and she had a big but not deep cut across her stomach.

"You little shit...how dare you!" she yelled in anger.

Brendan was back up on his feet and wiped some blood that was on his face off. Grovyle then appeared next to him, overflowing with Brendan's Aura. They both just motioned their hands for her to bring it on. She grinded her teeth a little in frustration then snapped her fingers. The Pokémon that took out Kirlia and Poochyena appeared again. This time however Grovyle was surging with Aura and intercepted pretty easily. It turned out to be a Mightyena. Holding him by the neck, Grovyle unleashed a gatling gun like barrage of bullet seed. He let go during the attack and the force sent Mightyena to the other side of the room. At this point Shelly had gotten back on her feet.

"Ha...checkmate." she said under her breath.

"Huh? What do you mean? I clearly have the upper hand." Brendan said, confused.

"Do you? Take a look around." she instructed.

Brendan looked and realized all the other Aqua grunts were gone.

"That's right. I was just stalling you so that my men could get away." she gloated.

Grovyle's Aura buff had drained out making him vulnerable again. With a snap Mightyena got up and was overflowing with Aura now. In the blink of an eye Grovyle was down and Shelly had closed in on Brendan and kicked him to the ground.

"I will say that you got me good kid. I wasn't expecting to fight someone like you today so I wasn't prepared but next time you stand in Team Aqua's way I'll make sure it's your last." she threatened as she took her leave.

By the time Brendan got up all of Team Aqua was gone. He only had a few scraps and cuts which his Aura helped heal up. He returned all his Pokémon in which Grovyle was the only one left standing and even then just barely. Brendan stayed around to explain what happened to the police then headed to a poke center. Once healed up he left.

"Hope I haven't missed Lisia's thing. I should hurry to the contest hall." He said to himself.

He ran towards the hall and saw a crowd around the door. He hung back and saw Lisia standing in front of the door. There was a camera crew trained on her. He thought he would stand back and watch but Lisia spotted him and lit up instantly. She smiled and pointed at a camera which just started rolling.

"Welcome one and all! Thanks for coming out today for a very special surprise!" She shouted while posing.

Her Altaria posed too and the crowd cheered.

"Today's chapter will be called, heart throbbing opportunity! A new challenger approaches!" She announced and the crowd went wild again.

"Damn she's really in the zone." Brendan commented to himself.

"Now today as a special gift to my fans, one of you in the crowd will be selected to take part in this Pokémon Contest under the tutelage of yours truly!" She explained.

This earned the biggest cheer from the crowd yet. People were yelling and jumping around hoping that she'll pick them.

"Now who oh who will it be? Will it be you? Or maybe you?" She began teasing the crowd.

Brendan was just admiring her beauty when he noticed all eyes were on him. He looked around and found Lisia pointing directly at him. When he made eye contact she gave him a sly wink.

"We have our contestant! Yes I can see it in his eyes. He's got hidden potential. Why don't you come up here and introduce yourself!" Lisia announced.

Brendan walked up to her side not sure what to do.

"What are you playing at babe?" He whispered to her.

"Promotions like this the person is almost always picked out beforehand and I picked you. You were so late I thought I might actually have to pick some random person. Now be a good boy and introduce yourself to the camera." She explained to him.

He looked nervously at the camera and cursed under his breath.

"Umm my name is Brendan Ruby." He greeted nervously.

"Did you say Ruby? Like that new Gym Leader Norman Ruby?!" Lisia played the question up.

"Yeah he's my dad. We moved from Johto not that long ago." He answered.

The crowd ooed and some cheered. This was all very new to Brendan.

"You hear that folks? The son of a bona-fide Gym Leader! He's bound to be a natural at contests!" She cheered, getting the crowd riled up.

"Umm what's a contest?" Brendan asked.

The crowd went silent at his question. They just awkwardly stared at him like he was a criminal or something.

"Well well Lisia, it seems you picked a fine candidate didn't you?" A voice chuckled from behind.

Lisia and Brendan turned to see who it was. A boy about their age dressed up to the nines in a blue suit and meticulously kept blonde hair. Brendan began to sweat a little at the sight of him. He could feel the malicious intent coming off of him.

"Hello Chaz. I wasn't expecting you here." Lisia annoyingly greeted him.

Brendan's blood ran cold. This was Chaz. The man that almost ruined Brawly's life.

"I heard that you were planning on mentoring a fan so I figured I'd come see who you'd choose. Not much of a fan if he doesn't even know what contests are." Chaz explained with a snobby tone.

Some of the crowd began agreeing with Chaz and some boos began.

"Doesn't his lack of knowledge make it all the more exciting though? The Johto Region doesn't have Pokémon Contests so of course he wouldn't know." Lisia said, trying to turn it around.

They started agreeing and Lisia breathed a sigh of relief.

"I guess it would be fun to watch him flop around on stage and embarrass himself." Chaz laughed.

Lisia went to say something but Brendan shot his arm up to stop her.

"Don't play his game." Brendan said with a deadly serious look.

She looked at him confused.

"If this is the man that I've heard of then you do not want to cross paths with him. He will ruin you." Brendan explained.

"But me and Chaz have been rivals for years now...sure he's annoying and can't take the hint that I don't like him but he's never tried to ruin my life. Trust me I know how to deal with him." Lisia said.

Brendan was confused now. From what Brawly told him Chaz tries to ruin everyone in his path so why has Lisia gone all this time without him interfering.

"Alright Chaz, how about a little bet then? I'm going to coach Brendan and enter him in a contest. If he wins you need to go out on live TV and do an embarrassing song and dance about how wrong you are and how great Brendan is." Lisia proposed.

The crowd let out a huge gasp and whispers started.

"Chaz is known for his elitist personality. Admitting he's wrong is like the most humiliating thing he could do." A fan whispered.

Chaz seemed to be all smiles but Brendan was able to notice a small eye twitch from him.

"That's all good of you to say but usually when you make a bet you need to have something on the line too." Chaz said, easily hiding his irritation.

"Figured you'd say that and I know you're not going to agree unless my loss is valuable to you. That's why I've arranged to have a sexy and embarrassing photo shoot done to fill up a whole pinup calendar just for you if I lose." Lisia smugly offered.

Everyone went silent for a solid minute as they processed the information. The crowd erupted in a huge cheer and Brendan and Chaz's jaws almost hit the floor.

"So what will it be Chaz? If I know you then I know you can't resist this offer." Lisia teased.

Chaz was very clearly caught off guard and his face was bright red.

"How do I know you'll even honor that?!" He asked, having lost his composure.

"Because I have the calendar right here. Each month is sexier than the last and this is the only copy in existence. Not even the most dedicated and stalkerish Lisia fans have seen these." Lisia taunted, waving around a tightly wrapped flat present.

The crowd began whispering as they waited for Chaz's response.

"Wow Lisia usually puts him through the ringer but this is something else." One said.

"Yeah. Everyone knows he's head over heels for her so this is a golden opportunity for him." Another said.

"But it's also a big risk because if he loses his pride would be shattered." One more added.

"Very well. If your stranger here can win this contest fair and square then I'll admit defeat." Chaz accepted.

The crowd cheered with the anticipation of these stakes.

"Are you sure about this? I've never competed in my life." Brendan asked.

"Don't worry you have me as a coach. Meet me in the dressing room ok." She said with a wink as she ran off.

As Brendan was walking to the contest hall he felt it. A huge wave of pure malice. He looked and Chaz was right next to him.

"Brendan Ruby. Prodigy son of Norman Ruby, one of the best Gym Leaders in Johto. You're 17 years old, 5 foot 9 inches tall and weight about 150 pounds." Chaz began whispering to him.

Brendan broke out in a cold sweat. How did he get that info when they haven't even met before.

"Scared I see but I'm not done. You currently live in Littleroot Town which you moved to from Goldenrod City and before that you lived in Olivine City. Your best friend in Johto was Morty Specter, the Ecruteak City Gym Leader. You haven't talked to him since you moved. You also babysat and mentored Whitney Rider, the new Goldenrod City Gym Leader. Your mother taught her to make sexual advances to you. I also know that you are not a stranger to Lisia you are in fact her new boyfriend. I found all that out in only an hour." Chaz gloated.

Brendan didn't say a word. He just swallowed hard and glared at Chaz.

"Oh? That look tells me you already know how I operate. I guess I'm not going to be able record any slip ups from you. Oh well just know that I'll make sure you lose this contest." Chaz threatened.

"I have just one question. Why haven't you gone after Lisia? She is completely unaware of how you really are." Brendan asked.

"That's simple. I like her and she will be mine." Chaz said, entering the contest hall.

Brendan swallowed hard again. With just one conversation he was more scared of this man then the terrorist group he just faced.


Poor Brendan getting put on the spot. Not only was he signed up against his will but now he's on Chaz's shit list. We'll see what Chaz has in store for him in the next chapter.