On time update again! I'm feeling pretty proud of myself, guys. Now that break is over, I hope I don't mess it up. I probably will, though I've been hard at work on the next chapter. But let's focus on this one first! I'm very proud of this one, I worked super hard on it, it's very dramatic, and there's A LOT of information in here that will be useful for the rest of the story! So, sit back and get ready for everything to unfold!

Last time: The group rushes Aiden's egg to the Pokemon Center, where it proceedes to hatch into Riolu! Unfortunately, the egg hatched too early, leaving Riolu to be very weak. While waiting for him to heal, however, the group is confronted by an arrogant young trainer who wants to battle Sabrina. She informs him that she is already busy with Aiden, which displeases the other trainer. Once he hears that Riolu will recover, Aiden feels comfortable with leaving the Center and finishing his battle with Sabrina. Once Aiden wins, he is insulted by the visiting trainer, who came to watch the battle. While Aiden is furious, Michelle becomes curious and follows after the boy, thinking she knows something about him. After confronting Jake in the Center, Michelle presents what she believes is the trainer's true identity: he's Paul's son.

Chapter 22: Ignite the Rival

Jake stopped in his tracks. His back was still to Michelle, but she could tell that he had gone completely rigid.

"What?" He seethed.

"Our Dads were rivals when they were younger," Michelle replied simply. She sounded so much more confident in herself now. So that's why she had felt so strongly about this little…jerk. It would have been utterly humiliating if she'd been wrong, but she wasn't, luckily.

Finally, Jake turned back around and gave Michelle a strange look. For some reason, he didn't seem as angry as he had before. He also didn't appear that he was just going to open up, however.

"You're his daughter?" Jake raised an eyebrow.

"I'm surprised you didn't realize that one before," Michelle deadpanned.

"You never told me your last name," Jake suddenly returned to his hostile look. "How am I supposed to know you're some loser's daughter?"

This set Michelle off. Now she wasn't afraid of some confrontation.

"My Dad is not a loser!" Michelle barked. "Obviously he's not! He's the Pokémon Master! What did your dad ever do, huh?"

"He's a member of the Elite Four, for your information!" Jake snapped back.

"That's still not as good as being Pokémon Master," Michelle huffed.

It was fortunately, at that moment, that Aiden, Brandon, and Sabrina entered the Pokémon Center. They saw Michelle and Jake glaring at one another, and knew something was up. Taking another step forward, Aiden cautiously eyed his sister and asked, "Michelle? What's going on?"

Before she could answer, Jake spun around and set a glare on Aiden. "So…you're the Pokémon Master's son."

"Uh…yeah?"

Narrowing his eyes, Jake drew his shoulders back and continued strongly, "then I guess I have no choice but to battle you. I'll prove that my father is better than yours, despite his lousy title. I don't care if he's the Master. My Dad is a better Pokémon trainer than yours could ever hope to be."

"Oh yeah?" Aiden scoffed. "And just who do you think your father is, huh?"

"Paul, the highest member of the Sinnoh Elite Four," Jake bit.

This definitely threw Aiden off guard. He had heard a lot about his father's old rival. Aiden knew their relationship was strained, at best. Ash had always told his son that Paul was a cold trainer, who only cared about his Pokémon's power and not his friendship with them. Of course, Aiden had never actually seen Paul, so he couldn't have pinpointed the relation between him and Jake. But evidently, Michelle had seen him before.

"Michelle, how did you figure this out before I did?" Aiden breathed.

"Because I've seen Jake before," Michelle replied. "When I was a little girl. I was out with Dad once, and we ran into Paul. Dad tried to hide me from him, though. But I managed to see him. And I remember a little boy being with him. A little boy who looked very timid and afraid. I never forgot that day. And when I first saw Jake, I started to think back to that day. The more I thought about it…that's when I realized he just had to be that boy."

"That explains a lot, at least," Aiden turned his attention back onto Jake. "It explains why you're such a jerk. It's because your dad is a complete jerk, too. Like father, like son!"

"And I see that you're just as pathetic as your own dad," Jake spat.

Sabrina and Brandon had nothing to say on the matter. It was all a little much. Brandon, too, had heard stories of Paul; all from his Uncle Brock. Those stories were all similar to the ones that Aiden knew so well. Paul was cold, and he and Ash were extremely tense rivals. Now, Brandon couldn't imagine the sure fired rivalry between Aiden and Jake being any different.

"That's it," Aiden grabbed a poke ball and held it in his clenched hand. "We're going outside to have a Pokémon battle, and I'll show you who the pathetic one here is!"

"Oh, Aiden!"

The raven haired trainer relaxed as Nurse Joy walked over to him, a sweet smile on her face. She was obviously unaware of the building tension between him and Jake, since she looked as cheerful as could be.

"Hi, Nurse Joy," Aiden managed to smile back. "What's up?"

"I just came to tell you that Riolu is doing much better," Nurse Joy's grin widened. "I can't believe how much better, in fact! He's been playing with some of the other Pokémon, ever since I took him out of the incubator."

"Can I go see him now?" Aiden's eyes were sparkling. His smile had become more genuine.

"Of course!" Nurse Joy giggled. "Just follow me to the back."

Before trailing after the nurse, Aiden sent another glare Jake's way before murmuring, "the battle is still on."

"I expect you outside in no more than fifteen minutes," Jake replied simply. "If I don't see your sorry face, then I'm leaving. I don't have forever to battle a pathetic loser."

Aiden wanted to punch Jake, he really did. But seeing Riolu was more important in the young trainer's mind than jamming a fist into his newest rival's face, so Aiden just swallowed that harsh thought and continued after Nurse Joy. Brandon and Michelle went too, at the urging of Sabrina. She chose to wait outside with Jake; wanting to watch the battle between the two young boys.

In the back of the Center, where the sick and injured Pokémon were kept to heal, Nurse Joy led the three young trainers to where Riolu had been resting. Sitting on a long examination table was Riolu, holding a red rubber ball between his paws and gently bouncing it on the table every now and then.

"Riolu, look!" Nurse Joy coaxed the little fighting type, who looked up curiously. "Your trainer is back! Remember, Aiden? I told you about him!"

"Ri?" Riolu set his big red eyes on Aiden. Laughing, Aiden leaned down so he and Riolu were face to face.

"Hey there, Riolu!" Aiden greeted. "I'm glad to see you doing so much better!"

"Ro…" Riolu held the ball in front of his face.

"Aw, I think he's a little shy!" Michelle giggled.

"Aiden, why don't you see what the pokedex says about Riolu?" Brandon suggested.

"That's a great idea," Aiden nodded, taking out the red device and holding it up in front of the bashful baby Pokémon.

Riolu, the emanation Pokémon. Riolu are playful and loyal companions, who are sensitive to a special type of energy known as aura. They have superhuman strength, stamina, and endurance.

"Wow, so you're gonna' be a really strong Pokémon one day, huh?" Aiden smiled. His gentle voice seemed to relax Riolu. The little Pokémon lowered the ball so it was no longer obscuring his face and stared up at Aiden with curious red eyes. "You sure are cute!"

"Ri!" Riolu shrieked, clearly happy that his trainer thought he was so adorable.

"So, you're feeling better, huh?" Aiden asked.

"Ri-o!" Riolu nodded.

"That's great!" Aiden pumped his fist. "Hey, I know it's probably still not a good idea for you to battle right now, but how would you like to come watch a battle? One day, you're gonna' be a great battler, I just know it! If you watch, I think you might be able to learn a few things."

Wordlessly, Riolu nodded and hopped off the table, right into Aiden's arms. Grinning at the fighting type, Aiden patted his head and cheered, "Come on. It's battle time!"

XXX

There was a battle field located behind the Pokémon Center, which made the anticipated duel between Aiden and Jake an easy one to access.

When Aiden, Brandon, and Michelle made their way out of the back doors, they were met by the sight of Sabrina standing beside Jake, who had already taken up residence in the far left trainer's box. She seemed to be talking to him, while he was examining two poke balls; one held in each hand.

"Hey, Jake!" Aiden yelled, catching the purple haired boy's attention. "I'm all ready to battle!"

Eyeing Riolu with his steel gray eyes, Jake huffed and inquired, "You're not going to battle with me a pathetic little baby Pokémon, are you?"

"Ri!" Riolu yelped, obviously offended by such a statement.

"No, Riolu is here to observe," Aiden smiled at his newest Pokémon, hoping to keep the young one calm. With that out of the way, Aiden handed Riolu off to Brandon and stared his best friend in the eyes. "Watch Riolu for me?"

"Sure, no prob!" Brandon nodded.

Aiden crossed the field and took up the battler's box opposite of Jake's. Sabrina vacated the field and instead chose to approach Brandon and Michelle, calmly asking the two, "would you like to sit in the shade and observe with me?"

"Sure!" Michelle smiled.

"Wait, they need a referee!" Brandon realized. Handing Riolu off to Michelle, the young breeder asked, "Can you watch Riolu instead?"

"Of course!" Michelle nodded. She smiled down at Riolu, who returned the simple action. "Come on, Riolu. Once you're done watching the battle, you can make friends with Pichu!"

"Chu," Pichu squeaked.

Michelle and Sabrina took up the bench that sat against the back wall of the Pokémon Center. Brandon, meanwhile, was now standing beside the battle field, preparing to referee the match.

"What do you guys say?" Brandon called. "A one on one?"

"Sounds good to me," Aiden nodded.

"Fine," Jake huffed.

Smirking, Aiden pulled a poke ball off his belt and tossed it, yelling, "Squirtle, I choose you!"

The water type materialized before his trainer, whipping his tail back and forth as he let out a happy, "squir!"

"Hmph," Jake made a noise of interest before calling on his Pokémon. "Chimchar, fallback!"

Before the purple haired trainer appeared a small fire monkey, who had its big eyes set on Squirtle in a hard glare that was quite reminiscent of Jake's own eyes.

"Wow, a Kanto starter versus a Sinnoh starter, how cool!" Michelle's eyes sparkled before her voice switched to convey a more confused feeling. "Why would Jake send a fire type in against a water type?"

"He's very confident in himself," Sabrina mused.

"That must be Jake's starter from back in Sinnoh," Aiden scanned the creature with his pokedex.

Chimchar, the chimp Pokémon. Chimchar are quite playful but can be brave when they need to be. When they're sick, the flame on Chimchar's rear burns weakly.

"My Dad's Infernape used to belong to your dad, back when he was a Chimchar," Aiden commented as he returned his poke dex to its original location. "He released it because he thought it was weak. Let me guess…you treat your Pokémon the same way."

"Not entirely, but thanks for assuming that," Jake bit. "I work with my Pokémon until they're strong. I give them tough love. I've never once released a Pokémon, and that's a fact."

"Char," Chimchar piped up in confidence.

"Chimchar does appear to be very well taken care of," Brandon noted. "The flame on its body is burning bright! And those eyes are just as lively."

"Fine, I'll take your word for it," Aiden scoffed. "But I don't see why you would put a fire type in against a water type."

"I'm trying to prove that you don't need a type advantage to win a battle," Jake placed his hands on his hips. "Isn't that the big philosophy of the Pokémon Master?"

Aiden growled and planted his feet into the ground. He was going to beat Jake no matter what. And by using a water type against a fire type, Aiden assumed winning the battle shouldn't be much of a problem.

"Alright," Brandon called, "let the battle begin!"

"I'm not wasting any time," Aiden yelled, "Squirtle, use water gun!"

The tiny blue turtle spit out a stream of water, right in the direction of Chimchar. The fire monkey just sat there, not looking at all concerned. From the bench, Michelle gasped and gripped the edge of the wooden plank, her heart hammering away in her chest.

"What are you doing?" Michelle screamed at the boy, much to everyone else's surprise. "Don't you know that if that water gun hits Chimchar, he's gonna' get destroyed?!"

"Shut up, Michelle!" Aiden's eyes were wide. Why is my sister trying to talk sense into him?!

Raising an eyebrow, Jake scoffed and calmly ordered, "Dodge it."

At the last possible second, Chimchar jumped over the water gun; landing skillfully back on his feet once the water attack had died down. Michelle just continued to watch on, her racing heart slowing down as she stared at Jake in shock.

"I know what I'm doing," Jake informed the girl rather simply. Michelle swallowed her reply and leaned back on the bench until she was resting against the side of the building. "Now, Chimchar, fury swipes!"

Chimchar leapt in front of Squirtle and repeatedly slashed the water type across his face with its fingers. Squirtle cried out in pain and tried to back away from Chimchar, but it was no use. The chimp Pokémon managed to stay on the turtle the entire time, continuously swiping the tiny turtle Pokémon.

"Alright, Squirtle, time to get Chimchar off of you by showing off your newest move," Aiden threw his hand out in front of him, "use bite!"

"Bite?" Michelle and Brandon asked at the same time.

While Chimchar was busy scratching Squirtle's face, the turtle managed to open his mouth and sink his teeth into Chimchar's nearby arm. Chimchar shrieked in pain and finally pulled his claws away from Squirtle, landing down on his feet and holding the afflicted spot.

"Wow, so Squirtle learned a new move," Michelle marveled. "All of that training Aiden's been doing has really paid off!"

Jake cast Michelle a sideways glance before turning his attention back onto the battle. "Chimchar, stop focusing on that bite! Hit Squirtle with a flame wheel!"

Chimchar released his arm and allowed his body to become engulfed in flames as he jumped in the air and turned into a somersault, rolling straight towards a stunned Squirtle.

"Don't let that distract you," Aiden called, "bubble!"

Squirtle nodded and spit out a bunch of bubbles, all of which collided with Chimchar and instantly put out the chimp's fire type attack. He whined as he landed on his backside, holding his hand in a mixture of agony and frustration.

"Come on, you're no quitter!" Jake barked. "Get up and use ember!"

Chimchar struggled, but still managed to get back on his feet and fire off small bits of fire in Squirtle's direction. Aiden, of course, wasn't deterred by such a move. He was the one with the water type, after all.

"Squirtle, water gun!"

Squirtle's signature move was enough to not only destroy Chimchar's fire attack, but also send the fire chimp flying backwards until he nearly collided with Jake's legs. Growling, the purple haired trainer looked down at his starter, who was crumpled up on the ground. Both Aiden and Brandon watched Jake with narrowed eyes, waiting for the boy to scream and yell at his Pokémon for being "weak" or "pathetic." But he never did.

"Come on, Chimchar," Jake murmured strongly to the injured Pokémon. "I know you can still battle. Get up. Now."

Pushing his hands against the ground, Chimchar got up to his feet and glared at Squirtle. The flame on his back grew in size, and his body started to glow a bright shade of red; and soon, it became apparent that the glow was actually fire.

"Is that…" Aiden drew back.

"Blaze…" Brandon breathed.

"That's Chimchar's ability," Sabrina leaned forward in interest.

"Ability?" Michelle asked.

"A Pokémon's ability is activated under certain conditions," Sabrina explained to the young coordinator. "In Chimchar's case, blaze is an ability that turns on when Chimchar is very weak and tired. It increases the power of its fire type attacks."

"Whoa," Michelle blinked.

"Blaze, perfect," Jake smirked. "Alright, Chimchar, flame wheel!"

"CHAR!" Chimchar flipped in the air and surrounded himself with fire. The amount of fire that had engulfed the chimp this time was even stronger than before; more powerful and even brighter. Before Squirtle could move out of the way, he was hit by Chimchar's flame wheel, and damaged badly enough where he was now lying on the ground in a similar fashion to his opponent just moments before.

"No, Squirtle!" Aiden cried.

"Blaze increases fire type attacks so much that they become pretty effective even against a water type," Brandon watched Squirtle struggle to get up. "Squirtle is in trouble."

"Squirtle, come on, I know you've still got fight left in you!" Aiden pleaded. "I know that you can get up and beat Chimchar! Please, Squirtle…"

Wincing, Squirtle pulled himself up, and to everyone's shock, his body became surrounded by a blue light. Soon, that glow was showing in the turtle's eyes as well, and Aiden was completely taken off guard.

"Is that another ability?" Michelle looked up at Sabrina.

"Indeed, it is," Sabrina nodded. "Torrent."

"Torrent?"

"It is activated in the same way that blaze is," Sabrina informed, "and it has the same affect, too. But instead, torrent powers up water type attacks."

"So now its ability against ability," Michelle awed.

"Great," Aiden smirked, "torrent! How awesome! Squirtle, aim your water gun right at Chimchar!"

The small turtle fired off his best water attack, and much to Aiden's delight, it was ten times stronger than it normally would be. Jake, however, was not about to let Aiden use Squirtle's newfound ability to his advantage.

"Chimchar, dodge and use ember!"

Screeching, the monkey jumped right over Squirtle's high powered water gun and spat out fire at the turtle. The bits of ember were larger and glowing brighter than they had previously. Sensing the oncoming danger, Squirtle rolled out of the way, causing the embers to collide with the ground and leave behind char marks.

"Bubble!" Aiden yelled.

Squirtle spun around and shot bubbles out at Chimchar. They were larger than the usual bubble attack that Squirtle managed.

"Flame wheel!" Jake combatted.

Chimchar rolled into another somersault and went barreling towards Squirtle. Halfway down, the bubbles hit Chimchar head on and put out his fire. Chimchar cried out in pain, but was still falling through the air. He ended up colliding with Squirtle, knocking the turtle down so that both Pokémon became surrounded by a cloud of smoky dirt.

"Squirtle!" Aiden cried.

"Chimchar!" Jake shouted, much to Michelle's surprise. All her father had ever told her about Paul was that he had never shown any concern for his Pokémon what so ever. Clearly, Jake was different than his father.

When the smoke cleared, it became apparent that the two Pokémon were unconscious. They were only lying inches away from one another, and were equally defeated.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle," Brandon called, "so this battle is a draw!"

Aiden ran over to Squirtle and gathered the injured water type into his arms. Much to the boy's relief, Squirtle was quick to open his eyes and stare up at Aiden with a forlorn look, which Aiden eased with a gentle chuckle.

"Don't be upset, Squirtle, you battled really hard!" Aiden complimented his starter. "I'm proud of you. For now, you just go back into your poke ball and take a long rest."

After returning the turtle to the sanctuary of his ball, Aiden got to his feet and made an attempt to walk over to Jake, in order to compliment the other trainer on a great battle. Much to Aiden's ire, however, he was met with nothing but a quick and cold stare from Jake, and then his back as the purple haired boy turned and walked swiftly back into the Pokémon Center, with Chimchar held firmly in his grasp.

"What is his problem?!" Aiden stormed, turning to face a surprised Brandon. "He won't even speak to me after a battle?! There's something so wrong about that guy!"

"Aiden, calm down, he wasn't doing it to be a jerk," Michelle shot back at her brother.

"Why are you defending him?" Aiden narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not!" Michelle jumped to her feet. "Just be quiet, Aiden. You don't know anything!"

"Oh, and you do?"

"Yes! I'm very sensitive to other people's feelings!"

"That's always your dumb excuse!"

"I could see the look in Jake's eyes as he went inside," Michelle stared at the two doors that Jake had just gone through. "He didn't look angry. He looked upset. Like something was bothering him."

"Yeah maybe because he knew he was on the verge of losing that battle," Aiden scoffed. "We all know I should have won!"

"Why are you acting like he's some kind of monster?" Michelle shook her head. "You barely even know him!"

"Oh, and you do?" Aiden snapped. For this, Michelle had no response. She just stared at her brother with her mouth hanging open. Once he was sure Michelle wasn't going to come back at him, Aiden continued, "you know the history his dad has with ours. They hated one another. And Paul sounds like he was the cruelest Pokémon trainer to ever walk the Earth. Why would his son be any different? He's probably just as abusive. And I don't know about you, Shelly, but I'll never trust a person who has any kind of history with hurting Pokémon."

Michelle closed her mouth and looked down bashfully at her feet.

"Do you?" Aiden asked, his voice becoming gentler.

"No," Michelle mumbled. It was the truth. She would never trust anyone who had ever done something so horrible to a Pokémon. And Paul definitely seemed to fall under that category.

"Good, so we both understand," Aiden moved closer to the building, with the intention of going inside to give Squirtle's poke ball to Nurse Joy. Once he was gone, and the doors had closed, Michelle looked back up and found that both Brandon and Sabrina were still staring at her.

"Well, that was something," Brandon was the first to speak.

"I know Aiden has a point," Michelle sighed, "but…I just don't know. Something seems different about Jake. And I hate not giving people a chance."

"Even if his father was as bad as Aiden makes him out to be?" Sabrina sounded rather curious.

"That's my only concern," Michelle shook her head. "I really can't stand people who mistreat Pokémon. But I haven't seen Jake do anything wrong. Not in that battle, anyway. He seems like a tough trainer, but not an abusive one. And even Brandon said that Chimchar looked to be very healthy. But when you have that kind of past…is it going to creep up on you and take over?"

XXX

Inside the Pokémon Center, in his own rented room, Jake sat before a video phone, listening to the bothersome ringing and waiting for someone on the other end to answer. He normally wasn't so impatient, but this was a different circumstance. In this instance, Jake was confused, and needed some guidance from the one person he trusted the most.

After what felt like an eternity, the video screen came to life with the image of someone that Jake had grown to be very close with. Someone who the boy could go to with any of his problems or concerns. He had dark purple hair, nearly the same color as Jake's, and a skin tone that was just maybe a shade darker. His eyes were darker too; black instead of gray.

"Hi there, Jake!"

Sighing, the young boy rested his head in his hands and replied meekly, "hi, Uncle Reggie."

The Pokémon breeder raised an eyebrow in confusion. Jake certainly wasn't acting like himself. "Hey, you seem a little down there, bud. You want to tell me what's up?"

"It's not a big deal, I guess," Jake puffed so his purple bangs would fly out of his face. "I got into Saffron City early this morning, and I wanted to challenge Sabrina to a battle, so I could win the Marsh Badge. But she already had a trainer in line."

"Is that what you're so upset about?"

"No!" Jake stormed, his anger quickly rising.

"Alright, no need to get so testy now," Reggie made a lowering motion with his hand. "Just breathe, Jake."

The boy took in a heap of air before releasing it and continuing in a staid voice, "no. It was because of who the trainer was, although I didn't find out exactly who he was until later…from his sister."

"And who was it?"

"Aiden Ketchum," Jake scoffed. "The son of the Pokémon Master."

"Oh, Ash's son!" Reggie's eyes lit up.

"You know the Pokémon Master?" Jake slumped.

"I met him once before, he was a really nice kid," Reggie nodded. "I'm assuming his son must have been the same way."

"Sure, if by nice you mean annoying," Jake rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Jake," Reggie clicked his tongue.

"My Dad hates his dad," Jake informed his uncle, as if he was unaware of this fact.

"I know that," Reggie replied, "and it doesn't make much sense. Ash was a great guy. The only reason your Dad didn't like him is because he was such a different trainer. Those differences are things that your Dad just can't live with. He's not exactly the easiest person in the world to appease."

"Yeah, well I think I know that better than anyone," Jake looked away from the screen as he narrowed his eyes.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Reggie comforted the boy. "Your Dad is very proud of you, no matter what you might think. So, did you and Aiden have a chance to talk?"

"I didn't want to talk to him," Jake made a disgusted face. "Talking is for girls and weaklings. I wanted a battle. And I got one."

"Oh? And what happened?"

"It was…a draw."

"That must have been some battle," Reggie leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes up in thought. "I just think back to all the ones between Ash and your Dad…they were incredible! There's nothing like a rivalry to really make a battle something special."

"Well, I guess Aiden's my rival now," Jake huffed. "Not like I want some weak little kid to be my rival."

"Jake, you can't close yourself off to people like this," Reggie frowned. "You're so much better than that! Don't you remember all those things I taught you?"

"What, when I was like five?" Jake retorted. "And my Dad abandoned me with you all the time?"

"I know he left a lot, but I also know for a fact you never felt abandoned with me," Reggie smiled softly at Jake. "You may be my nephew, but really, you're like my son. You know that. Your Aunt Maylene and I have treated you that way ever since you were just a baby."

"I thought that was only because you couldn't have a kid of your own and I was always conveniently dumped on you by my Dad," Jake grumbled.

"You're all the son Maylene and I could ever want," Reggie's smile turned into a sad, sympathetic one for the boy. "Don't talk that way about yourself, Jake. You know that you're an amazing trainer, and that you can do anything you set your mind to."

"I guess," Jake shrugged.

"Now, is Sabrina free for a battle?"

"Yeah."

"Good, then you should go and challenge her again," Reggie gave Jake a determined look. "And I know you'll be just perfect!"

"Thanks," Jake tried to give his Uncle a smile. It only came out as a halfhearted smirk, however.

"I know what will you help you," Reggie tapped his head, "I have a surprise for you! From your Dad."

"From…Dad?" Jake sounded surprised, to say the least.

"Yep, a brand new Pokémon," Reggie held up the poke ball for proof. "Do you have room on your team?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll send this little guy over right away," Reggie beamed. "I bet if you used him in battle, you'd have a great friendship right away!"

"Yeah, maybe," Jake shrugged. "Thanks, Uncle Reggie."

"No problem," Reggie nodded before giving his nephew a small wave. "I'll send the poke ball over now!"

As soon as the connection ended, Jake scoffed and rolled his eyes as he got up from his chair and walked over to the door of his room.

"Yeah, right. Because I'm going to use some new Pokémon against a gym leader. It's probably weak." As Jake laid a hand on the doorknob and went to turn it, however, he stopped and let his Uncle's almost unbelievable words sink it. "But if it's really from Dad…it can't be weak."

And with that on his mind, Jake finally opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

XXX

Back in Veilstone City, located in the Sinnoh region, a somewhat relieved Reggie got up from the video phone and placed the poke ball he had been showing off to Jake in the transporter, pressing a few buttons before the ball disappeared, steadily on its way to the Saffron City Pokémon Center.

As soon as that task was accomplished, the sound of a door opening caught Reggie's attention and brought him over to the foyer of the house. He was pleased to see that it was Maylene, who had just walked in with Lucario at her side.

"Hey there, honey," Reggie greeted the pink haired gym leader sweetly. "How did your gym battle go?"

"It was alright, I lost," Maylene smiled weakly. "But…that's just part of the job!"

"That it is," Reggie nodded. He always got concerned when Maylene would lose gym battles, ever since that incident many years ago when she had lost her battling confidence after losing to Paul…and then being insulted by him. She was much stronger than she had been when she was younger, though, both physically and mentally. Maylene never let losing bother her. Not since she'd met Dawn and Ash, anyway.

"What did you do while I was gone?" Maylene asked.

"Jake called," Reggie replied.

"Really?" Maylene seemed surprised. Jake had left for his journey a while ago, but he seemed to have a real hesitance calling anyone. He hadn't even called Paul once since he'd left.

"I know, I wasn't expecting it," Reggie sighed. "He was all worked up."

"Why? Jake's not the kind of kid to get worked up easily."

"He met up with Ash's children," Reggie smirked.

"Oh! I forgot that Ash had children that were Jake's age!" Maylene's eyes were shining. "How fun!"

"Yeah, try telling that to Jake," Reggie ran a hand through his dark purple hair, which led Maylene to frown. "He wasn't exactly happy to run into Aiden. He's still got that rivalry between Paul and Ash running through his veins."

"You think Paul put all that into his head?" Maylene asked.

"I definitely do believe that," Reggie slowly shook his head. "I love my brother, but I really don't think he's the best father to Jake. I hate seeing Jake act out that way. Quite a few times during our phone conversation, he almost lost his temper. Fortunately, I got him to calm down."

"And what did you just send to him?"

"The Elekid that Paul's Electivire bred under my care. I thought that it'd be a good Pokémon for Jake to train."

"Well, that was sweet of you," Maylene smiled at her husband.

"Yeah, except I might have lied to Jake," Reggie rubbed his palm against his forehead. "Just a little."

"What do you mean you lied to him?" Maylene raised an eyebrow.

"I told him that Elekid was a gift from Paul," Reggie sighed.

"Reggie," Maylene frowned.

"I had to! I just…I don't know. I feel so bad for Jake. He's always trying to win Paul's approval and make his father proud of him. But Paul is a total brick wall, even when it comes to his son. I just want to make Jake feel like he's on Paul's level."

"I just feel bad for him," Maylene crossed her arms and hunched her shoulders forward. "I know how you feel about your brother, but I really wish he had left Jake with us after Hadley left. He wouldn't have to feel that way all the time."

"And I can't say that I don't agree with you," Reggie pulled Maylene into a hug. "I know it's hard. Especially since, well…"

"We can't have children of our own," Maylene supplied glumly when her husband trailed off. "And I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Maylene," Reggie whispered. "You know that I've never once blamed you for that. And trust me, I know how difficult it is when we wanted a child and my brother ends up with one that he didn't even want. But that's why we're able to give Jake so much love. The kind of love that Paul is, in all honesty, incapable of giving."

"I'm just worried about Jake being out there, that's all," Maylene rubbed at her eyes. "I still have a hard time understanding why he would choose to start his journey in Kanto, and not Sinnoh."

"He wanted to get away, from all of us," Reggie frowned. "And truth be told…I can't blame him."

XXX

After receiving the poke ball that his Uncle Reggie had sent him, Jake went to make his way to the back of the Center. He figured he should go back out to the battle field in order to do some training with this new Pokémon before his battle with Sabrina.

On his way, however, the boy just so happened to run into the gym leader, who was with Michelle and Brandon. Jake locked eyes with the red headed girl for a few short moments before he turned his attention onto Sabrina and opened his mouth. Before a word could get out, Sabrina cut him off with a delicate smile.

"You want to battle."

"Uh…yeah," Jake furrowed his brow. "How did you-"

"Psychic," Sabrina smirked. She was clearly amused by this. "I'm ready for another battle, if you'd like to head over to the gym with me now."

"I was going to do some extra training first," Jake bit his lip.

"Not a problem. You just come to me when you're ready. I won't battle another trainer before you."

Jake's eyes widened slightly. He was taken aback by Sabrina's kindness. He had heard that she could be a pretty emotionally numb and distant gym leader, but he hadn't witnessed any of that behavior. And Jake knew emotionless people better than anyone else in the world.

"Thank you," Jake murmured. And with that, he slid past the gym leader in order to get out on the battle field once again.

As soon as Jake disappeared, Aiden popped back up, having left Squirtle with Nurse Joy in order to heal the spunky little turtle.

"Squirtle should be done soon, that's what Nurse Joy said," Aiden smiled at the group.

"That's wonderful," Sabrina gave the boy a small nod. "So, where are you off to next?"

"Well…I'm not sure," Aiden chuckled nervously. "I know I need to go win my fourth gym badge! But Michelle's gotta' get a chance at her third ribbon, too."

"May already told me that the next Contest nearest to here is in Celadon City," Michelle informed her brother. "So I want to go there."

"That's actually perfect," Sabrina broke in once again. "There's a gym located in Celadon City. It's a good one for you to try and earn your fourth badge at, Aiden."

"Celadon City, huh?" Aiden mused before grinning. "Alright! To Celadon City it is! Another double city! Contest and gym battle!"

"It should be fun," Brandon laughed.

"And you and I will both win!" Michelle high fived her excited brother.

Good luck with the Celadon gym leader, Aiden, Sabrina thought to herself as she smiled at the happy young boy standing before her, you're going to need it…and I'm not even talking about her battle skills.

Yes, Jake is Paul's son. But most of you already knew that! You get a nice little look into his life here, though. It definitely isn't a dream, I'll tell you that much. And yes, I do ship Reggie and Maylene. Curtainshipping ftw :P

The drama continues into next chapter! I love this one because it really gets you to thinking about where I'm heading with this story. And once you all read next chapter, you'll DEFINITELY get a feel for the turn that's going to be taken.

Until then, keep on reading! :D