As a special gift to celebrate the new fic, two chapters in one day! I feel accomplished with myself.

"Hurry up!"

Justin walked over to them. "Sorry, just getting a last look at what I'm leaving behind. We'll be back once the conference is over."

The conference was every trainer's dream. Here's where the best of the best trainers gather to prove their strength. If you win the conference, you'd have to face the Elite 4, the ultimate trainers, as well as the Pokemon League Champion.

The Champion, Red (who in the heck names their kid Red?) was a legend. His Charizard was said to have defeated a legend, which Justin found difficult to believe, but hey, anything was possible if your Pokemon was strong and you shared a powerful enough bond.

Justin thought about their next destination. The next town, Champagne Town, had a gym that was said to be a good place for beginners to get started. If he remembered correctly, the gym leader, Darius, used Ghost type Pokemon. He figured crunch would help him, although it wouldn't hurt to make a new friend either.

The ghost types worked in mysterious ways. Ghost type Pokemon drew their strength from another world, where only they could survive. That world was full of ghostly energy that they could draw on at any time they wish. The ghost energy would scramble the minds of Psychic Type Pokemon, who tend to keep their thoughts focused in this world. Ghost type Pokemon themselves were pretty much made of the stuff, and formed from ghost energy in a corporeal form that could be attacked. They could reform from pretty much anything, but the process took time and energy, and as the ghost became weaker it would take more and more time to reform.

He was jerked out of his thoughts as he saw a Pokemon emerge onto the road. He immediately recognized it as a Venipede.

"This one's mine!"

Justin released Charmander, who emerged onto the field with a growl. "Ember!" Charmander quickly complied. Venipede was consumed in a blast of weak flames. It became unconscious, not able to resist the Pokeball he threw at his target quickly. It was an easy catch.

Diana reflected on Justin's performance. He effortlessly took it down and caught it. Diana had known all along that both Justin and Shawn had a crush on her. She knew from Justin's first battle with Shawn that he was the better trainer. She just didn't know how far Justin would go. Justin released Venipede and gave it a revive. The yellow powder in the tablet quickly awoke Venipede from its stupor. As it calmed down with its surroundings, Justin spoke.

"Hey Venipede, I caught you. You know what that means?"

Venipede slowly nodded. "So do you want to be friends? Together we can get really strong and go far!" Charmander cheered on Venipede.

Venipede's eyes widened at the prospect of becoming powerful, fervently nodding at Justin's offer.

Justin pulled out his Pokedex and scanned Venipede.

"Venipede. The Centipede Pokemon. Male. It uses its feelers to detect its prey's location and state. This Venipede knows the moves Defense Curl, Rollout, Poison Sting, Twineedle, Rock Climb, and Take Down. It has an Adamant nature. It prefers Spicy foods over Dry ones. It has the ability Speed Boost, which gradually increases speed in battle."

As they went on their way, they met plenty of other young trainers. They each got in 3 battles that day, with Diana being the only one losing one of them. Still, her Piplup was facing a Pikachu, and Justin figured not everyone could win at a disadvantage. As they set up camp, Diana had something she needed to ask everyone.

"What are your goals as trainers?"

Everyone was knocked out of their silence as Anthony answered. "To win the Conference." Diana wanted to be a top coordinator, the best in history. Shawn was different though. "My goal is to become the champion of the Pokemon League."

"There's a slight problem with that, Shawn," Justin continued once he had everyone's attention, "I'm gonna be champion. But my goals reach far beyond that. I want to be the best trainer there ever was or will be. I can feel it. Me and Charmander will be the best ever. That reminds me!" He released Charmander and Venipede. "Do either of you want names?"

They both nodded. "Ok then, I've got names for both of you."

The newly dubbed Blitz and Nightcrawler happily grunted as they laid down.

"One of you guys be sure to put out the fire before you go to sleep. I don't feel like becoming a burn victim or a criminal for starting a forest fire."

Justin had many nightmares in his life. But this one was different. He was in a room with Blitz and Nightcrawler. His friends were separated from their Pokemon, and he was trying to free them from a cage, but the bars wouldn't budge. Even his Pokemon's most powerful attacks were completely ineffective. The cage dropped into the darkness and...

Justin shot up in his sleeping bag. Whoa, I've got to make sure I don't sleep on my back anymore. He felt extremely hot. He also felt his arm in fading pain. He saw scratch marks on his arm and glared at the culprit. Blitz pointed to the center of the campsite with slight fear for their safety. That's when he realized. The fire was still going! He had to go back and forth between the campsite and the pond to get enough water to put out the fire three times. He knew Blitz would be fine with or even prefer the fire, so it warmed his heart to know Blitz was willingly giving up his own comfort for them. He waited for an hour, reading through Pokedex entries starting from Bulbasaur. He mentally reminded himself he got up to Electabuzz. After everyone got up, Shawn decided to make an attempt to keep his pride. He had seen Justin, and known he was supposed to put out the fire. "See guys, I told you I would put out the fire."

Diana was... less than happy with him, for lack of a better word. "Nice try, but me and Anthony saw you fall asleep. Thanks for putting out the fire, Justin." She hugged his arm as she said this.

"No problem, but you've got Blitz to thank for that. He woke me up in the nick of time. If it wasn't for him, I don't think Smokey the bear would have been proud." He did his best to hide his blush, but it didn't work out too well.

As they kept going, a rock rolled down the hill on their right. As the rock continued to roll down, Anthony began to see arms sprouting from it. Justin recognized it as a Geodude, and Shawn decided that here was his chance to get something that might beat Justin's Pokemon. As he sent out Squirtle, it was his turn to show how much better he was than Justin.

"Bubble!"

Geodude was enclosed in a foamy mess of bubbles. Shawn threw his Pokeball at the helpless Geodude, and he caught it after a few seconds of waiting.

Diana figured he wasn't too bad either, but the schooling Justin had given Venipede was much more impressive. The sign behind them had told them Champagne Town was just two miles away from their current position, so she figured it would take them 45 minutes at most. After Champagne Town, she was both disgusted and infatuated with what would come next. The Grapevine Woods were filled with Bug Type Pokemon, which everyone else knew that she hated. At the same time, she was hoping to catch one of the two cute Pokemon there, Budew or Pikachu. Of course, the gym was also on her mind, and why shouldn't it be? It was still important for your Pokemon to be powerful, even if you prefer contests.

Shawn released Geodude. "I caught you, Geodude. You know what that means right?" Geodude grunted and nodded. "Are you gonna listen to me, or do I have to keep you in your Pokeball?" Geodude seemed to bow his head to Shawn, and it actually looked rather funny. After Shawn was done laughing, he told Geodude "I'm gonna scan you with this. Is that ok?" Geodude nodded.

"Geodude, the rock Pokemon. Male. While resting, it looks like a rock. If it is woken up, it swings its fists around angrily. This Geodude knows the moves Tackle, Defense Curl, Mud Sport, Hammer Arm, Mega Punch, and Rock Climb. It has a Relaxed nature. It prefers Sour Foods over Sweet ones. Its ability is Sand Veil, which makes it harder to identify in a sandstorm."

"Congrats on the catch, Shawn!" Shawn was surprised. He wasn't expecting praise from Justin, but hey it's something.

As they continued, Justin saw a place to set up camp. The tasks were handed out, and everyone got the same jobs. Anthony was to take turns with Justin, who went to get the firewood, Shawn had to set up sleeping bags in an orderly fashion, and Diana refilled their water bottles. Justin decided to be the one to put out the fire tonight, considering he slept the longest of them all the night before. It was only fair, and he didn't trust Shawn enough.

Luckily, nothing went wrong. Eventually, Champagne Town was in sight. They were all thankful for that. They were sweaty, tired, and dirty. Diana seemed to rejoice more than them. Justin supposed it was because girls tended to care more about their hygiene than boys. All of a sudden, it started to rain. This upset the group as they just wanted to get to the Pokemon center. Justin returned Blitz, figuring he wouldn't want to be in the rain. They luckily made it to the Pokemon center without being drenched. After each getting a room, they immediately went to take a shower and get cleaned up. Justin decided to go to sleep early, but was taken out of that fantasy by Diana knocking on his door telling him to get going so they could make it to the gym on time. He knew he wasn't getting out of this one.

As he walked down the street with them, he called dibs on the first battle. No one objected. They were honestly very scared for their first gym battle, and Anthony wondered how Justin could be eager for it. He guessed that Justin was just that different.

In a few minutes, they arrived at the gym. Justin entered with gusto, and the others quickly followed suit. They saw the gym leader almost immediately. Then again, it was hard not to, considering that he was seated on a pedestal across the hall filled with blue flames in Chandeliers. As they walked, Justin realized that the flames came from a Chandelure, and as they walked down the path to the gym leader, the flames grew brighter and darted around the ceiling. He knew that was Will-O-Wisp. He'd probably have to find a way around that. As they got closer, Anthony's mind filled with worry. He had seen the Chandelure, and he knew Turtwig was at a huge disadvantage. He made his decision. "I think I'd rather wait until tomorrow for my battle. I don't have a second Pokemon, and I don't want to be at a disadvantage."

Diana had a lightbulb turn on in her head. "I agree. I don't have a second Pokemon either, and I might need one." She put on the puppy dog face.

Justin just shrugged and nodded. As they went down the hall, Justin made out a clearer image of the gym leader.

He was well built, and wore sunglasses that he could swear were darker than black. The purple cape dangling from his back took away a bit of the tough guy appearance, though.

"Hello!"

Well, there you have it, folks! How will the battles go down? Only time will tell! Until Monday.

-Justin