As the concrete floor turned into wood, Room 151 appeared in front of them.

"This is the room," Ray confirmed. The pokemon league insignia was carved into the wood of the door with green trim on the inside.

Ray hesitated to knock on the door. He didn't know what to expect.

"Ray, what's wrong?" She leaned in next to him as his hand hovered over the door.

"I don't know. It's just that... well, we haven't seen him in a while. Who knows what he's planning?"

"What could it be, though?" Delia asked. "Would they ambush us in such a fancy room or something?"

"No idea," Ray replied. "He's been the one who pitted the whole pokemon world against us, at least the trainers. Be on the alert, and take out your guard dog."

"You mean Charmeleon?"

"Yep."

Delia called out her fire lizard as Ray knocked on the door. The two of them stood in the empty hallway feeling time pass. Ray still had a battle to prepare for.

The door opened up into a suite covered in artworks of pokemon, sculptures of legendary monsters, and at least five men in black suits looking right at them. Pikachu sneered while Charmeleon growled at them.

"Blue is expecting you," the familiar henchman replied amidst the crowd of guards wearing sunglasses.

The two trainers, feeling underdressed in their sweaty shorts and t-shirts, walked through the air-conditioned booth and into the seats overlooking the stadium. They opened the glass door and saw the chosen one, Blue, sitting alone in the stands amidst the fifteen seats. Some music by Jason Paige blared over the speakers in the chaotic stadium.

"Sit down over there, and don't look at me."

The two of them obliged and sat down in the seats at the top, away from him but within the range of hearing.

"First off, I'm sorry... for everything."

Ray and Delia looked at each other with a mix of doubt and confusion.

"Secondly, I spoke with Red before he... Well..."

"What happened to Red?" Delia demanded.

"He's gone," Blue replied. "I told him to get off the island before the League went after him. They had a plan to take away his pokemon after he lost."

"You planned this," Delia fumed and jumped out of her seat. "You're going to try and take us too?!"

Pikachu and Charmeleon felt the energy in the room and got aggressive as well.

"How could I have planned to capture him then tell him the plan? That would be kinda stupid. Besides, you're just his friends. His best friends, actually..."

Blue stared forward as Ray forced Delia into her chair again.

"Where did he go, Blue," Ray asked.

"I don't know," Blue said, leaning forward in his seat. "He didn't say. I suggested going west, to the outskirts of Kanto. He might be safe there."

"We have to go find him!" Delia cried. "He needs our help! You chased him out and he's all alone!"

"I wouldn't do that," Blue warned.

"Why not?" Delia's hair caught the lights in such a way that it looked like it glowed with anger.

"You can still win. You can still change everything if you win the competition and become the next elite member of the pokemon league."

"How?" Ray interjected. "You're using a pokemon no one planned for, and Agatha has been in the league for way longer than us! We started our training just a few months ago!"

"Yet," Blue leaned back. "Here we are. The youngest trainers to get this far. Maybe we'll be able to beat them."

"We?" Delia asked cautiously.

"They prop me up as this sort of champion," Blue said. "Maybe if we can beat everyone and become in charge, we can fix this mess. Once one of us becomes the champion, maybe we can stop Giovanni from going insane, though I doubt it. Agatha wiped the floor with Red. I'm not as good of a trainer as him. I needed help, but he didn't. There is a chance to turn people away from him."

"You think we can stop Giovanni?"

"We do have a chance, though it is slim. They wouldn't just let any kid enter the elite four. Even then, they'll back him more."

"Who's they'?" Ray shifted forward.

Blue sighed. "The rule-makers. The ones who are behind the scenes of the Pokemon League. They believe there's a glitch in the system and that some rules are going to be changed if the status quo is broken. Red is their biggest problem in upsetting the metagame."

"But he lost."

"Yeah, but he'll get stronger. If kids like us can get that far into the league in just a few months of training, who's telling what comes next?"

Delia shrugged. "Maybe the rules are the ones that need to be fixed, not the trainers."

Blue nodded. "Maybe, but he won't listen to a bunch of kids. Professor Blaine and my Grandpa are against Giovanni's decisions, but he's got too much power in the league."

"How did he get that powerful? He's only a gym leader!" Ray wondered aloud.

"I have no idea," Blue admitted. "But he's dangerous, and he's forcing the rule-makers' hands into changing the rules. Rumor has it he wants to curb pokemon levels, reduce the move count, forbid the use of TMs and HMs in battle, and some other crazy things. I told Red I'll think of a plan, but honestly, I just wanted to tell you both that I was sorry. I just don't know what to do."

"There's only one thing we can do," Ray said triumphantly. "We win."

"Maybe," Blue snickered. "But you have to beat Sabrina first."