Author's Note: The previous chapter got edited...I, on advice from a well listened to source, decided a certain scene was fairly pointless at this point in the game...do not worry, tear jerker fans, it will be back soon. And now, to satisfy your urge of the cliffhanger.

Lunar Sphinx, if you want an answer to your question, think about a storm...what elements are in it?

NAME: Falkner

AGE: 20

HOME: Violet City

HAIR: Long and dark green

EYES: Serious and dark brown

CLOTHES: Black uniform

FUN FACT: He inherited his Gym from his father after earning the right to be a Gym Leader.

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Krysta's mom sat in the window seat of the relitvely small house. Ever since Krysta had left, the house had been devoid of chatter, fun, and familial company. Now all that Linda, Krysta's mom, had to sustain herself was her hopes for her family and Blissey. The large pink frilly pokemon was sitting in the windowsill with her. Having been a trainer once herself, Linda knew that Krysta was going to be facing a long road ahead of her.

Krysta, meanwhile, was standing in the Challenger's box at the dimly lit Violet City Gym. The echos of her shout were dying away when her challenge was answered.

Surprisingly, It came from above her. Looking up, she saw a young man standing on a platform that resembled a swing the trapeeze artists used in the circus. His dark brown eyes studied her with all the intensity of a hawk. His arms were crossed infront of him and, between the index and middle finger of each hand, was a pokeball. He spoke a single word and released a pokeball.

"Accepted."

A healthy looking Pidgey zoomed out of its ball and flew around the arena. Thinking quickly, Kjrysta pulled Aqua's pokeball off her belt.

"Aqua, use Bubble!"

Falkner urged his Pidgey on. "Pidgey, dodge it, then use Mudslap!"

The Pidgey pulled a barrelroll, completely missed by the dancing bubbles that Aqua had released at it. Swooping groundward, it hefted some dirt off the floor and flung it at Aqua. The little blue pokemon squealed and tried to wash it off.

The Pidgey followed up with a full force tackle. Aqua was sent flying and hit the wall hard. Krysta saw that there was no way that Aqua could win, so she recalled her and sent out Dorcy. The little Spinarak followed the movements of the airborne Pidgey.

"Pidgey, Mudslap-Tackle again!" Falkner yelled with a sickeningly detatched voice.

Krysta's mind raced and she yelled the first thing that came to mind. "Poison Sting!"

As the Pidgey flung mud at Dorcy, the little bug aimed. As the Pidgey set up its flying run at the Spinarak, Dorcy fired its Poison Sting.

Both blows connected, but it was Dorcy who fainted. The reward of hard work, how ever, was Pidgey's wince of pain as the poison took affect.

Krysta was truly getting nervous now. She had three pokemon she could count on and one who didn't stand a chance, though Dorcy hadn't either, she reflected. She chose Hoothoot.

The big-eyed owl pokemon fluttered over to its side of the ring and started preening. Krysta tried to sound confidant as she ordered it to use Growl. The Hoothoot didn't even look at her.

The Pidgey's mode of attack was as predictable as the sunrise, so when Krysta saw the bird pokemon diving for the deck, she warned Hoothoot.

"Duck Hoothoot!" Surprisingly, he obeyed. The mud sailed harmlessly over Hoothoots back and splattered behind him. The Pidgey set up for its tackle run.

Hoothoot's eyes began to glow light blue. A resonating light pulsed around the enemy Pidgey and Hoothoot winked at it. It recognized the type now. Krysta was more than slightly miffed. Hoothoot didn't respect her and had used Foresight to identify the target. Why? Because he didn't trust Krysta.

Krysta scratched her head. She tried again. "Hoothoot, Tackle it!" Her bird pokemon looked at her and shrugged.

He launched himself clumsily into the air and flapped toward the oncoming Pidgey. The other pokemon got a critical hit and down went Hoothoot. As it crowed its victory, it winced in pain as it succumbed to the poison. It too fell to the ground. As the two pokemon were recalled, Falkner's voice echoed from his perch.

"Are you sure you wish to continue? You may forfeit anytime."

Krysta considered for a moment. She still had Echo, Storm, and Quake (as she decided to call Phanpy). She might be able to win. Maybe. She decided to take a chance.

"Falkner, I'm not leaving here until I earned my Badge!"

The reply was eerie. "Then earn it!"

A Pidgeotto screamed down from the darkness at her. Reflexively, she pulled out Echo's pokeball.

The small Zubat answered the larger pird pokemon's scream with his own shrill trill.

Krysta was glad to see that he had pre-empted with Supersonic. The Pidgeotto took it full in the face. However, it tucked its head down by its claws and passed the Bitter Berry it had stored to its beak. The extremely bitter juices of the berry brought the bird out of its Confused state.

"Echo, do a Supersonic-Leech Life combo!"

Echo obeyed and tried to confuse then drain the larger pokemon. The Pidgeotto pulled the same barrelroll manuever that the Pidgey had done and avoided the Supersonic. The Leech Life hit however.

It wasn't as effective as Krysta or Echo had hoped. The Pidgeotto's attack slammed into Echo and knocked him to the ground. The ruthless bird pokemon then dove after Echo and hit him with Mudslap.

Poor Echo couldn't see, so he relied on his insticts. His echolocation helped him note that the Pidgeotto was right above him, so he used Supersonic. When he opened his mouth to deliver the attack, some mud fell into his mouth. He choked and coughed the mud up.

Pidgeotto delivered a Gust that ended the round with Echo.

Krysta was desperate now. Tears swam inher eyes as she recalled her hurt Echo. Anger blossomed in her as she whipped out Storm's pokeball.

"Storm, do it! Use your Sand Attack then Tackle it while its blinded!"

Storm obeyed with the ruthless anger that she always harbored. Soon, the battlefield was occluded from sight. The trainers couldn't see anything that was happening. The harsh cries of the two spirited pokemon could be heard. The dust settled after a few tense moments of loud, violent fighting. What Krysta saw hurt her pride.

Pidgeotto was standing above Storms limp form, but had a swollen eye to remember the smaller bird by.

Krysta thought about Quake. He would stand no chance, so she recalled Storm and said softly "I forfeit."

The Pidgeotto flew into the air and settled on his trainer's shoulder. Falkner looked down at her and delivered the harshest blow of all.

"Trainer, you barged into my Gym and did not even give the courtesy of waiting for the rules to be told or introductions to be made. You followed your silly little pride in here to prove your worth. Well...what is your worth Trainer? Come back when you respect your pokemon more and have actually taken the time to train them."

With that, the lights dimmed and Krysta slumped to the ground. She had lost. An arm slung around her shoulders and she felt herself pulled into a commiserating hug. There was no shame in crying, she told herself.

Zell held her until she tried standing on her own. He helped Krysta to the Pokecenter and waited with her while her pokemon were healed.

Nurse Joy brought her a mug of hot chocolate.

Krysta took the drink with a distant smile of thanks. Inside her mind, thoughts raced around. She would train better. The only problem was where to train. A polite voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Excuse me, young trainer. I have heard of your learning experience at the hands of Falkner. Please excuse me for being so rude as to not introduce myself. My name is Domingo, I am a Sage at the Bellsprout Tower. If you would like, I would like to take you under my wing as an apprentice. When you have learned what I have to teach, you will be ready for Falkner."

Krysta looked up at the man. He was dark skinned and had a kind smile. His clothing was a nondescript uniform from the Tower's order of pokemon trainers. She nodded once and verbally agreed.

"I am Krysta. I would be honored to learn from you, Sage Domingo."

The older mand smiled softly and patted her leg. "Please, Call me Dom."

A bell chimned and Krysta started. Zell came to her carrying her pokeballs. Looking at them closely, he said something odd.

"Aren't you going to mark these? I put my initials on mine incase anyone ever tries to steal my pokemon. I can let you borrow my knife if you wish to engrave your name or symbol on them..."

Krysta felt drained. She took her belt holding her pokemon and looked downcast. What surprised her most was Zell coming up and burying her in a hug.

"Krysta...It's okay. Everybody loses sometimes. At least this was your first Gym, not the last one. Cheer up...at least you can blame this incident on inexperience right?" His words comforted her.

Krysta put her pokebelt on and followed Dom to the tower. She didn't feel like talking a whole lot and she felt like she was an automaton with no reason for being there. Zell was worried about her. She could feel his tenseness whenever he touched her.

Dom walked towards his home and training ground quietly. When they were in the foyer of the temple, Dom turned to Krysta.

"To free the spirits of your pokemon and mold them into a team, you must train extensively with them. Come with me and we shall leave the common corridors to trainers on the Path of Enlightenment." Dom went to a seemingly blank wall and opened a hidden door. Krysta and Zell followed him into the dim, dusty hallway. It led to a large gymnasium like area where Sages and their Bellsprout trained.

"Release your pokemon, both of you." Dom ordered.

Six unhappy pokemon came from Krysta's pokeball. Quake was the only member of her team that didn't place his back at her. Krysta felt more depressed than ever.

Dom noticed the antipathy and decided to try an exercise that would be a bit more fun. "Okay, Krysta, see your Pidgey? I want you to mimic its every move as best as you can."

Krysta stared blankly at Dom. Then she looked at Storm, who was stalking a bug on the floor. Krysta blinked and hunched herself over like she was Storm and tried to match the Pidgey's fierce intensity. Slowly, as Storm raised her right talon, Krysta mimed it with her right foot.

Dom surpressed a chuckle and called out "That's good for a beginner, but try to focus more on Pidgey's posture and the way it holds her wings."

Krysta noted the Sage's advice and tried to better emulate the pokemon. Zell burst out laughing and startled Krysta and Storm. Both jumped and Krysta tried her best to emulate her bird pokemon.

Storm saw Krysta emulating her. "Pidgey?"

Krysta tried imitating Storm's voice and inflection. "Pidgey?"

Poor Storm jumped out of her feathers and cocked an eye at her trainer.

Krysta of course emulated her. Aqua chortled at Storm's surprise.

Dom noted this and told her to mimic Aqua. The little blue pokemon stared at him in surprise. Krysta, of course, followed suit. Aqua shook her tail experimentally.

Krysta tried to copy that motion and set Zell laughing harder than ever. Krysta glared at Zell. "Aqua, Tackle Zell, he's laughing at us."

The little pokemon nodded and slammed into Zell harder than she had ever hit anything before. It left both Aqua and Zell more than a little dizzy.

Dom clapped his hands and smiled broadly. "That is exactly the lesson I was trying to teach you! You must feel your pokemon's actions and let them be a part of you."

He had her emulate each of her pokemon in turn. Her following their every movement put off some of them and others were happy to have attention paid to them. Finally, Dom asked her to stop. He then turned to her team.

"Now, pokemon who have decided to win, I want all of you to mimic your trainer. Follow her every movement, understood?"

"Phan!"

"Pidge!"

"Poli!"

"Spinarrr-Ak!"

"Zuuuu..batzu!"

"Hooo..!"

Krysta decided to make it fun for them. She led them in a Follow the Leader game dancing around the facility. They finally all collapsed together giggling and laughing, hugging each other.

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Author's note: Awwww.how cute! Anyway, please R&R. E-mail me with any questions you have or if you want to start a conversation. Lunar Sphinx, that means you...I like your ideas and would like to talk more often than random reviews.