"Wait, so WHERE are we going?" Prim asks again, and Matthew laughs.
"I was able to sweet talk N into letting us go out of region to train, but only to Sinnoh, since it's so close." Matthew explains, and Prim claps.
"Yay! I miss the pokemon there!"
We load onto the jet, all of our pokemon in their balls, and it takes off.
"So, where in the region are we heading?" I ask, and he smiles again.
"I'm not sure. I just asked the pilot to take us somewhere with strong pokemon and/or trainers." He shrugs, laughing.
"Well, this oughta be fun..." Nareen sighs, and we all laugh.
We end up in a place called 'Survival Area', and are escorted to a nearby cafe.
Prim's eyes light up as it comes into view.
"Oh, you guys are in for a treat!" She giggles, hugging Princess close as we head in.
There are a few trainers scattered about, but the cafe itself seems... homely, like its been here a while.
"Primrose? Ma'Cherie?" One of the trainers, a woman with a very thick accent and wearing a beautiful purple ballgown, stands, hugging the girl tight.
"Fantina!" Prim cries, throwing herself into the hug.
"Who's that?" Rayna whispers, and Prim smiles.
"Friends, welcome to the Survival Area Battle Cafe! Here, all of the gym leaders from around the region can meet up for battles, or just to chat! This is Fantina, the ghost type Gym leader from Hearthome City!" Prim explains, and we all bow and shake her hand.
"What brings you back to Sinnoh, mon'amie?" Fantina asks, and Prim smiles.
"We have come to train. We were all chosen for the TeamRace!" Prim bursts excitedly, and Fantina laughs heartily.
"Come, cherie, we must talk, catch up, non?" She whisks Prim away, as a tall man with a shovel walks up.
"Hey everyone! Names Byron, gym leader over in Canalave. N has asked that you all be paired up with a Gym leader to train, so that's what we are going to do."
He takes out a small list, handing it to me.
"Go ahead and call out the names, in order please!" He smiles, leaning against his shovel.
"Rayna... and Candice!" I call out first, and a younger woman, wearing a parka tied around her waist with her hair in two long braids, steps up.
"Snowpoint's Gym leader, at your service!" She curtsies, before Rayna and her head out.
"Matthew and... Crasher!" A tall, bigger built man wearing only pants struts up. He's also wearing a mask.
"Hoho! Come, my boy, let us train!" They head outside.
"Nareen... you go with Gardenia!" A young woman walks up, wearing orange short'shorts and a green crop top, her oreange hair cut in a cute bob.
"Lets go hun!" They hug, then head out.
"And finally, me and... Volkner." I finish, and an older man walks up, his hair an electrifying yellow.
"Nice to meet you. Lets take this outside." We shake hands, before heading out the back door, to where there is a battle ground set up.
"How many pokemon you got?" He shouts across the field.
"Five! You?!"
"Same!"
He releases his first pokemon, a blue dolphin pokemon, with a ball of light hanging on a singular antennae on its forehead.
"Go, Lanturn!"
"Go, Effie!" I release her, and she growls in anticipation.
He gestures for me to go first.
Nodding, I point at the opposing Lanturn.
"Effie, Crunch!"
Effie flies forward, jaws unhinged and ready to crush Lanturn.
"Lanturn, dodge and use Aqua Ring!"
Lanturn swiftly dodges, causing Effie to run straight into a nearby tree, then uses Aqua Ring, summoning a thin ring of water around her to restore health.
"Ice Fang!"
Effie flies forward with unmatched speed.
"Dodge, then use ThunderShock!"
Lanturn goes to dodge, but Effie's faster, slamming her ice-coated fangs into Lanturns fin.
Lanturn screams in pain, but uses her anger as a conduit for her Thunder Shock, striking Effie from point blank range.
"Effie! Finish her with Poison Fang!"
I know that if I don't finish the battle, and soon, Lanturn will just keep healing itself.
"Spark!"
Effie sinks her fangs in deeper, releasing her deadly venom, as Lanturn shocks her again.
Dust is kicked up...
And by the time it settles, both pokemon are unconscious.
"Return!" We both shout at the same time, as we release our next pokemon.
"Go, Raichu!"
"Harriot!"
Raichu and Harriot land gracefully, both bowing in respect to each other, before taking defensive positions.
"Raichu, Extreme Speed!"
"Harriot, Flame Thrower!"
Raichu takes off with blinding speed, straight for Harriot, who jumps back and fires a torrent of white-hot flames at the Raichu.
Raichu is hit head on, but it only slows him momentarily, as he slams head first into Harriot, sending them both to the ground.
Raichu jumps back, but he has a wicked burn across his stomach, and he cringes.
Harriot stands as well, shaking the dust off of herself.
"Thunder!"
"Double Kick!"
Raichu grounds himself, summoning a large black cloud above Harriot, who takes off at a sprint for Raichu.
The huge bolt of lightning strikes just as Harriot slams her hooves into Raichu's burnt stomach.
One of them screams, but I cant tell who, as everything goes a blinding white.
When the daze wears off, I see Raichu first, lying on the ground, unconscious.
Then Harriot... who is still standing, albeit a bit wobbly.
"Harriot!" I laugh, throwing my fist up in the air ass Volkner returns his pokemon.
He sends out a Jolteon next.
"Harriot, Will-O'-Wisp!"
"Agility!"
The Will-O'-Wisp hits Jolteon, effectively burning it as it runs circles around Harriot, slowly getting faster.
"Harriot, use Flamethrower!"
"Keep it up, Jolt!"
Jolteon growls, putting on even more speed, as Harriot stands her ground, putting a Flamethrower around her like a barrier.
Out of nowhere, Harriot expands the flame circle to the perimeter of Jolteons circuit, causing it to burn even worse then it already was.
Gasping, Jolteon trips, flying head-over-heels into the back of the cafe with a terrifying crunch.
He tries to stand again, but Volkner returns him.
"Good job, kid!" He calls, releasing his next pokemon, a black lion-type pokemon, with a yellow star shaped tail and blue hind legs.
I return Harriot, knowing this will be too much for her, and release Apo.
"Okay buddy, this is your chance!" I cheer him on, and he giggles. I pray he wont get hurt.
Across the field, Volkner's cold heart warms at the sight of such a young pokemon, and he vows to let it take his Luxray out before he'll damage it.
"Luxray, use Thunder Shock!"
"Apo, use Scratch!"
Luxray charges a powerful attack, but trips at the last moment, sending it flying into the sky as Apo does minimal damage with his claws.
"Ax! Ax! Ax!" He chants, making barely a dent to Luxray's HP, but trying his hardest.
All of a sudden, Apo charges a purple energy in his mouth, letting it loose on the unsuspecting Luxray.
Luxray is thrown back into the tree from before, as Apo charges another attack.
"Dragon Rage!" Volkner laughs from across the field.
"Keep it up, Apo!" I cheer, and he nods, letting loose another beam, shoving Luxray back against the tree again, and taking massive damage.
"One more Apo, give it all you got!" I shout, and Apo screams as he lets loose a final torrent of horrifying energy, consuming Luxray and rendering him unconscious.
Volkner returns the Luxray, shaking his head in shock.
He sends out his last pokemon, a large yellow beast with two wires flicking around it.
"Electivire, use Ice Punch!" Volkner calls.
It plants a square hit right into Apo's forehead, throwing him into the building.
I go to return him, but there is a deep growling and a bright light from the dust cloud.
"No freaking way..." I scoff, as the new and improved Apophis steps out of the cloud.
"Fraxure!" He growls, dusting himself off.
"Go, Dragon Rage!" But he has other plans.
Dodging an incoming Thunder Bolt, he gets right up close and personal, slamming his fists into Electivire with shocking speed.
The wires protruding from Electivire's back grab Apo by the waist, letting loose a torrent of electricity, finally rendering him unconscious.
With great care, Electivire gently places Apo on the ground.
"Amazing job, buddy!" I return him, sending out Cleo.
"Night Slash!"
"Fire Punch!"
Cleo gets up close, taking Electivire's attack like a pro, and proceeds to give Electivire three huge gashes down it's stomach.
Electivire manages to catch Cleo's back legs with it's wires, throwing her up into the air.
I watch, almost in slow motion, as Cleo starts to fall, and Electivire summons a devastating bolt of electricity from above, slamming her into the ground.
"CLEO!" I scream, but she's already down for the count.
Sighing, I return her, and send out my last pokemon, Belle.
Volkner seems almost surprised, but attacks anyways.
"Ice Punch!"
"Belle, use Signal Beam!"
Belle is able to get her attack in first, summoning a sinister beam of light, and Electivire is finally pushed over the edge, falling to the ground.
Volkner returns him, and walks over.
"That was intense. Good job, kid." He shakes my hand, and we head back in.
After we get our pokemon healed at the nearby PokeCenter, we wait in the cafe for the rest of them.
Nareen and Gardenia get there first, Nareen having lost, but only barely.
"She had Roserade barely able to stand by the end of it!" Gardenia chuckles about her last pokemon.
"Yemming did amazing to! She learned Focus Punch!" Nareen gushes, and I hug her.
We wait a bit longer, and the rest of them finally make their way back.
"So, me and Roark were thinking..." The Veilstone gym leader, Maylene, says once we've all settled down.
"And we thought you guys might like to meet the Elite Four, of Sinnoh, since you still have time here." Roark finishes, and we all go silent.
"Maybe even... battle them?" Byron suggests, and Rayna gasps.
"That would be amazing!" Matthew gasps.
Laughing, Fantina stands.
"Then let us go, children! To the Pokemon League!" She leads us out, and we all pile into the jet, before taking off.