"Wow, I've never been on an observation tower before. What do you think Eevee?"

"Eevee!" She enjoyed how far over the city and into the ocean she could view, the distance high and vast as they took in the heightened perspective of Hoenn's Rustboro City.

"Hey guys!" His friends turned around and they gasped at how much merchandise he was wearing. "Haha, are the sunglasses too much?" Trace chuckled.

"Dude, everything you're wearing is too much."

"Ash, I love you, but you've got to keep it small." Elaine told him. "Too much merchandise isn't cute." Clefable wagged her finger and gave a smirking shaking of her head.

"Cle cle cle."

"Aw come on guys! Pikachu, what do you think?" Although she kept it inside for as long as she could, she fell off his shoulder laughing, thinking he was a joke. "Gee, thanks." He said in defeated sarcasm. After getting Ash cleaned up from all the merchandise, they were about to leave when Eevee heard a cry for help. She jumped out of Trace's arms and looked around.

"What is it Eevee?" He asked. After a bit of searching, Eevee spotted a Poliwag under a bench. She went to the tadpole like Pokemon and spoke to it. It looked really nervous and timid.

"A Poliwag? What's it doing here?" Elaine wondered.

"Do you think it could be lost?" Ash inquired.

"Come on out, it's okay." Trace stooped down and opened his arms up. Seeing that they weren't any threat, it walked into his arms and he picked it up. "Are you lost little buddy? And what's that band on your tail?" He noticed an accessory on its translucent tail.

"Poliwag! Oh I've been looking all over for you!" A young adult woman approached them, having recognized the Pokemon in his arms. Poliwag was relieved as it jumped into her arms. "I was so worried. Did you guys find it?"

"Eevee heard its distress." Trace answered her, before smiling and stooping again to pet her on the head. "Good girl."

"Eevee!" She appreciated the attention.

"Thank you so much Eevee!" The brown haired female told her. She smiled even more.

"Miss Roxanne, you found Poliwag!" A boy called to her as a group of children came up to her, some of the participants being Pokemon.

"Alright!"

"That's so great! See, everything okay!" A red haired girl told a shy looking boy. But the same boy who addressed Miss Roxanne scolded him.

"Except our class trip is ruined, and poor Poliwag is scared!"

"I'm sorry." The timid boy looked ashamed.

"Do you have to be so mean!" The girl told the aggressive boy off.

"What do you care?!"

"You know Kenny's afraid of touching Pokemon! So leave him alone!" Roxanne came up and told them to stop.

"Alright, that's enough you two." Both children looked at each other angrily and huffed,

"Fine!"

"Now Kenny, have we learned something today?" The young woman asked the little boy.

"Yes." She patted him on the head.

"There's no need to be afraid, and don't be upset either because you tried your hardest! Okay class, it's time to head back to the training academy!"

"Okay!" All the kids said.

"Are you some kind of teacher?" Ash asked her.

"Yes, I teach at the Pokemon training school, right here in town."

"Reminds me when Professor Oak would teach us about Pokemon." Elaine remembered her own training.

"Roxanne?" Trace asked, getting the woman's attention.

"Yes?"

"I hope you being a teacher won't get in the way of a WCS battle some time soon." He showed Roxanne his phone and she realized she had a challenger on her hands.

"I see. Well, I'm busy with school for today so I can make time to battle tomorrow." Roxanne got out her own phone and they scheduled an appointment. "In the meantime, why don't you come and see what school is like? You may not be children, but you can never be too old to learn about Pokemon."

"I'd appreciate that, thank you very much." Trace nodded. At the school, they got to see a whole bunch of classes. One for Pokemon doctors, one for performers who want to participate in Hoenn's Pokemon contests, and one for future Pokemon trainers. They'd even learn that Roxanne became a gym leader due to her outstanding record in the school, having been asked to lead it. Unbenownst to them, Team Rocket were tailing our heroes, listening through the walls. They were especially intrigued about hearing all of the school Pokemon were trained to listen to any Pokemon trainers.

"Oh, did you both hear what I just heard?" Jessie questioned her comrades.

"Pokemon that'll do whatever we want!" James got all giddy from hearing that.

"From the smallest of Ratattas to the most explosive of Typlosions!" Meowth gasped.

"This academy will be honored to be robbed by us." Jessie giggled.

"The biggest Pokeball bust there's ever been!"

"Too bad it ain't a real bank or we'd roll in dough."

"Here's to the team!"

"How we love to scheme!"

"I'm sensing a theme!"

Later in the day, Ash and Trace were asked by Roxanne to present them what a Pokemon battle looks like between official trainers, to which they agreed.

"Alright, let's start the match!" The young woman started the practice battle.

"Here we go Eevee, let's show them how hard we've been working!" Trace told his Eevee as she got onto the field.

"Eevee!"

"We've worked just as hard. Pikachu, go!" Ash let his Mouse Pokemon run onto the field too.

"Pikachu!" Both Pokemon were determined.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaaachuuuu!" Pikachu went fist as she sent a burst of lightning at Eevee.

"Counter with Shadow Ball!" Trace ordered. Eevee formed a ball of black energy before firing it. The attack halted the Thunderbolt in its tracks before both attacks exploded. The kids were amazed.

"Iron Tail!" Both trainers yelled out, which resulted in the two Pokemon clashing in mid-air with their white glowing tails. However, it seemed that Pikachu was just a little bit stronger as she was able to push the Evolution Pokemon back, landing on her feet.

"Electro Ball!"

"Evade with Dig!" Eevee was able to burrow underground to escape the incoming ball which exploded where she stood, but then the alarm went off, shocking everyone. Eevee popped her head out of the ground, wondering what the commotion was about.

"Something terrible has happened!" An older man, presumably the principal, came running and panting. "All of our Pokeballs have been stolen!"

"What?!" Roxanne gasped.

"They're all gone!"

"How could that happen?!" Elaine questioned. They then heard maniacle laughter as a giant machine came into view, a fence being crushed by a mechanical Wurmple.

"Prepare for trouble, we're in a class of our own!"

"Make it double or leave well enough alone!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Team Rocket!" Our heroes called them out.

"That's correct!" Jessie sneered with an evil grin.

"Now answer this, who has all the Pokeballs?!" James asked them with triumph in his voice.

"I'll give yas a hint!" Meowth added, being sarcastic.

"And we'll get them back!" Ash proclaimed. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaachuu!" Pikachu tried to shock them, but the machine protected them from the electrical attack. They resorted to stick their tongues out and mock him, making Ash angry.

"If shocking them won't work, then we'll bash them! Eevee, use Iron Tail!" Trace told his Eevee. Her tail went shining white as she jumped and tried to attack.

"Seviper, use Poison Tail!" Jessie sent out one of her Pokemon to counteract the incoming attack with a Hoenn region snake, whom attacked Eevee's offense with a glowing purple tail.

"But I thought she had Ekans!" Trace recalled her having.

"I have more than my Arbok!" The female criminal told him. "Being beaten by you twerps gave us incentive to up our game!"

"Well don't think having two poison snakes will get you very far!" Elaine countered. "Clefable, use Psychic!" Clefable's eyes glowed as she captured Serviper in a blue outline, and slammed it into the Wurmple machine,

"Carnivine, use Vine Whip!" Sprouting vines from behind its back, it was able to ensnare the Fairy Pokemon, and she yelled as she was thrown into Eevee and Pikachu.

"Poison Tail, again!" Jessie ordered.

"Azumarill, use Aqua Tail!" Elaine sent out another Pokemon to protect their fallen down Pokemon, the Aqua Rabbit's tail swirling with a whirlpool before clashing it against Seviper's Poison Tail.

"Don't count me out yet!" James told them. "Carnivine, use Vine Whip on Azumarill!"

"I don't think so!" Elaine objected. "Clefable, Flamethrower!" Leaping over the water/fairy type, The Fairy Pokemon expelled a plume of fire which burnt the vines and scorched Carnevine, badly damaging it.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaaachuuuu!" Pikachu zapped the two Pokemon, defeating them both as they crumpled.

"Ash!" Roxanne called to him. "Use Thunderbolt on them directly! We have a plan!

"Okay! Pikachu, Thunderbolt on Team Rocket!"

"Pikaaaachuuuu!" She once again tried to attack the criminals directly, but by now Jessie was getting impatient.

"Grrrrr! I've had enough of this! Huh?" She smelled something cooking. She asked James, "Do you smell something burning?"

"Yes, and it seems to be getting hotter." He noted as he wiped his brow.

"Agh, me feets!" Meowth screeched as the metal they were standing on was heating to be red hot, thanks to one of the boys using a Magby to use its fire to raise the temperature of the metal. The humans reacted to it too as it was melting their footwear.

"Pidgey, Wing Attack!" The red hair girl sent her Tiny Bird Pokemon to sever a rope keeping all the Pokeballs in a bag that Team Rocket possessed.

"I'll take it from here." Roxanne told her students and our heroes. "Golem, come on out!" She sent out what was known as the Megaton Pokemon, a sphere shaped Pokemon with limbs and a head along with a body entire composed of rock. "Use Double Edge!" Retracting its outer extremities into itself, the Pokemon rolled like a boulder with speed and power that it smashed through the machine they were in, thus causing it to explode.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The yelled as they blasted into the sky, leaving a twinkle in their wake. All the kids cheered for their teacher. They were even talking about how much fun it was having seen some Pokemon action, no longer bored with the idea of school they've talked about before.

"That's great to hear from them." Roxanne giggled. "I've never seen them this invested in school before. I'm guessing they'll be my next model students."

"That's one powerful Golem you have." Trace told her as it came back.

"Thanks Golem, that was a great attack. And thank you Trace. I'm looking forward to seeing your Eevee's strength for myself with the kind of moves she has."

"Thank you. I'm excited for tomorrow too. Ain't that right Eevee?"

"Eevee!" She agreed wholeheartedly.

Tomorrow has come, and it's an hour just before Trace battles with Roxanne and her rock types. They and everyone were enjoying some lunch, for one can't battle on an empty stomach.

"We've got this down, don't we Eevee?" Trace asked his Evolution Pokemon. "Your Dig and Iron Tail will certainly help with dealing out the damage, and with your eviolite we can take as good as they get, right?"

"Eevee!" She nodded with a smile.

"So Trace, what kind of strategy are you going to employ?" Elaine asked said trainer whom was going to battle.

"Same thing we've done so far, hit and run strategies. We'll be especially good in this case considering Eevee has two moves with a type advantage. Even with their higher natural defenses to physical attacks, they won't be able to handle my Pokemon's greater speed and damage reduction tactics."

"Guess that makes sense." Ash replied, before thinking of something. "Hey guys, what would you do... if you weren't trainers?"

"What do you mean Ash?" Elaine asked her boyfriend.

"All these classes, it made me think alternate paths we could've chosen when we were kids. What if we chose something different than the path of the trainer?" Trace pondered on it for a second or two, before deciding,

"I'd want to be a Pokemon doctor." He took a bite of his food before continuing, "Battles are fun and all, but seeing Pokemon get all scuffed up and hurt, even if they're rarely serious, doesn't sit well with me in my stomach. If becoming the world champion wasn't worth it, healing all those Pokemon up to their healthy, happy selves would give me a fulfilled life job wise."

"That sounds so cool." Elaine praised his choice. "As for me, I'd want to be an actress." She sighed as she imagined herself on the red carpet in a sparkling dress as she and Clefable went to accept their rewards. "I'd go to the Unova region to get myself a contract at Pokestar Studios and perform to my hearts' content."

"Aren't those movies really corny and weird though?" Trace questioned, not really getting it.

"The corny and weird one are the best ones!" She defended with a grin. "Ash, would you perform with me so that we could be movie stars together?" Ash smiled.

"I'd love to."

"Awww Ash!" She giggled as she hugged him closely and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "Thank you so much!"

"Hehe, you're welcome Elaine." Ash chuckled before kissing her back. "Actually that works out great for me since... I can't really think of anything else. The only thing I can think of that's fun without the battling is just traveling and seeing the world like we've been doing."

"Well, what if you were purely a Pokemon researcher?" Elaine suggested. "Researchers can be found anywhere since they're always looking for answers about the Pokemon world. I could totally see you capturing all one of every Pokemon in the world to gather their data. Good thing we're already doing a third of that load for you." She giggled. Ash thought about it.

"A Pokemon researcher." He said in contemplation. While he was doing that, Trace nodded.

"So, we know what to do when two of us fail in our goal." That got his friend's attention.

"Trace?" Elaine asked.

"Let's face it, a fact we haven't considered is that as the numbers go down, we're narrowing down to when someday, we'll have to battle each other for the chance to enter the Master 8. All of the Master 8 are champions, and each of us has maybe 30% at best to get in there by the time of the year's Masters Tournament. I have no doubt we'll be the best of the Ultra Class, but only one of us could be a master, win or lose." Ash and Elaine looked crestfallen. They haven't thought about that for two of them, losing was an absolute certainty, and even the lucky one isn't guaranteed to be the champion of champions. However, Ash simply said this.

"Well, at least we'll know what to do afterwards." His friends looked at him. "Who says that being Pokemon trainers are all we have to be in life? Think about all the jobs our challenges have been on the sides. Photographer, miner, waiters, surfers and a teacher. Just because we lose at entering the Masters 8 doesn't mean we're losers, it just means we then have an opportunity to explore other options. Come on guys, for the future." Ash held out his fist. His best friends grinned as they returned his fist bump.

"For the future."

Upon arriving, and thus getting their rule of three at seeing their third gym with a visual rock theme, they entered to see the rock themed battle field littered with boulders. Sweepers were getting it all cleaned up so that it only had but the most presentable dirt for the upcoming battle.

"Ah, you with the Eevee, you must be Trace, right?" One of the sweepers recognized him.

"Yep." He and the normal type nodded.

"Teacher, your challenger is here!" Roxanne entered the room from one of the hallways, looking the same pretty self in her black dress and red thigh high socks.

"Welcome. I have to say, I'm so very excited to see what you've got."

"Same." Trace nodded.

"Hey Trace, do you mind if we make a video of our battle?"

"I don't mind." Trace shrugged. "You can record our battle."

"Thanks. I like to use the videos for class, that way my students can learn."

"Makes sense." With a handshake, they went to their corners. Reaching their ends of the battlefield, a Rotom Drone appeared as they did so.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome! You have been approved for an official Pokemon World Coronation Series Normal Class battle! The challengers here are Roxanne Miller from the Rustboro City gym vs Trace Keen from Pallet Town! For today's battle, you can choose two Pokemon! When a Pokemon on either side are unable to battle, that side loses! Both challengers bring out your Pokemon!"

"Let's begin! Aron, I choose you!" Roxanne sent out a black and white Pokemon, where the underbelly was black and its armor like skin was white except for some holes and the rings around its blue eyes.

"Let's show her the weaknesses of rock types Eevee." Trace told her partner confidently. She nodded as she sprinted onto the field.

"Battle Begin!"

"Use Dig!"

"Aron, jump up and use Iron Head!" Running up to a boulder to use it as a platform to jump off of, the Iron Armor Pokemon's head glowed bright with metallic power as it rocketed down just as Eevee came up, the two colliding mid-strike with their heads. However, the steel/rock type wasn't strong enough to win the clash as it was pushed aside with a cry of high discomfort. Landing on its side, it struggled to get up. Eevee was able to land on her feet, but Iron Head still hurt given how the normal type shook her head which sported a big bruise.

"Now, use Iron Tail!" Running at full speed, she leapt and tried to attack with her tail, but Roxanne was able to defend first.

"Protect!" Aron was able to create a green force field first before Eevee could land the attack, and thus was repelled. But Trace wouldn't let up.

"Swift!" Her tail glowing white, the Evolution Pokemon used her spinning momentum to swish out golden stars to bombard against Aron. Even with its 4X resistance to normal type attacks, the prior Dig attack did so much damage that even Swift caused it to be pushed back into a boulder, smashing it into pieces. The Iron Armor Pokemon was knocked out as a result. "So, how was that Roxanne?"

"Your battling sense is excellent, well done." She answered, returning her Pokemon. "You know how to start and how to spring back after a setback. But don't think you think you've won yet! Nosepass, I choose you!" She then sent out a rock Pokemon mostly colored blue except for a huge red nose. It somewhat resembled an Eastern Island head with small limbs.

"We'll see about that. Eevee, Iron Tail!"

"Harden!" Roxanne countered.

"Nosepass!" Nosepass gained a white shininess to it as it became more sturdy, and took on Eevee's attack head-on without too much issue. "Bounce it off and use Rock Throw!" Using its nose to push the Evolution Pokemon away, Nosepass jumped before slamming itself into the ground so hard that rocks shot out like debris heading for Trace's normal type.

"Counter with Swift!" He ordered. Spinning, she sent more golden stars to blow up each rock, creating a dust cloud. Eevee landed on the ground, ready for what might come next.

"Rock Tomb!" To their surprise, Eevee got caught up in pillars of stone, keeping her in place. She cried out from how tight of a squeeze it was.

"Eevee!" Trace called out of worry. "Get out with Dig!" Burrowing into the ground, the Evolution Pokemon was able to escape her trap. Roxanne didn't know how to defend against this until it was too late as the rock type was hit with another super effective move. Even if it could tank the attacks, it couldn't do so more than a few times.

"Rock Throw!" Roxanne commanded.

"Nosepass!" Slamming itself into the ground again, the Compass Pokemon sent more stones flying at the normal type.

"Jump across the rocks!" With her speed, Eevee jumped from rock to rock, gaining height over Nosepass as she did.

"Use Thunderwave!" Its nose glowed bright before firing a beam of lightning which Trace tried to counter.

"Block it with Shadow Ball!" Forming a black ball of ghostly energy, Eevee only had time to use it as a shield as it took the brunt of the opposing move. The two moves exploded, launching Eevee high into the air, almost at the verge of fainting from the continuous effort and damage she's been taking. Seeing her head towards a ceiling beam though, he got an idea.

"Jump off the beam then use Iron Tail!" Regaining her focus, the normal type twisted her body to land on the beam and jump off of it, flipping her body forwards with a glowing tail to strike it down.

"Nosepaaaassss!" It groaned as it fell back, the ground cracking under its weight until it crashed onto its back, defeated.

"As a result of today's battle, there has been a change in the WCS rankings effective immediately!" The Rotom Drone announced.

"Whew, that was hard for once." Trace sighed as he fell to his knees, panting from how intense that was. Eevee shared the same sentiment as she fell onto her side, not knocked out but certainly tired and sore.

"Amazing. That might've been the most even one-on-one match I've seen him have." Elaine remarked, impressed by how they hung on there.

"That just made it all the more great to me." Ash laughed.

"Pikachu!" His partner agreed. Trace went to his starter and picked her up, hugging her close.

"Thanks Eevee. You were awesome there. You're the best." He complimented his Pokemon with tired yet proud words as he picked her up.

"Ee...vee." She barely had the strength to reply, before falling asleep in his arms.

"Trace?" He looked up to see Roxanne smiling down at him. "It's been a while since I've seen a partnership between a trainer and their Pokemon with determination like yours. Thanks for a great battle."

"Thank you as well Roxanne. I wasn't expecting you to give me and Eevee such a hard time, especially since I beat Brock and Roark so easily."

"Oh, those two?" She giggled. "Believe me, there's a reason I'm ranked so much higher than them. However, there are rock type gym leaders better than me. Just wait till you meet Grant and Gordy." She sighed with content. "However, I'm happy with where I am. Its that kind of diligence and fighting spirit I get from my challengers that makes where I stand not important. What is important is to impart wisdom and experience with all who I teach."

"You even indirectly taught us something." Elaine walked towards them. "Thanks to your school, we know what to do when we eventually move past being Pokemon trainers. Although your school doesn't teach the art, I want to be an actress in Unova's Pokestar Studios in the future." Roxanne grinned.

"Good luck with your choice when you do so."

"Thank you."

"Alright!" They turned to see Ash was excited as he checked out his phone.

"What is it Ash?"

"It's our next challenger, it's a water type challenge with Nessa Quinones from the Galar region!"

A/N: Wow, Trace was right. I wasn't expecting Roxanne to be as tough as she was. I wasn't sure how tougher each gym leader would be getting from challenge to challenge, like Wulfric was a pushover, but Roxanne really proved she was stronger than Brock or Roark. That makes me excited about this story even more. This is quite a story.