Chapter Nine

Jaxx had laid awake that night as he and both Jakkaru and Dixie had asked Nurse Joy about staying a few nights at the Pokémon Center until Dixie had earned her second badge from Misty. There were thoughts running through his mind that kept him awake and tossing in bed. Sitting up, he threw the covers off himself and got up out of bed. Looking over to the bunks that Dixie and Jakkaru took to sleeping in, Jaxx silently made his way over to the small table that was in the room and had gone over to get the chain that sported his PokéBalls.

Taking them without making so much as a sound as he grabbed them from the table, Jaxx stole a glance at Dixie as he made his way to the door of the room and opened it. He winced slightly as the door had creaked as he widened it enough for himself to be getting out. Frowning, he stepped out into the hallway and then glanced back to the two sleeping girls who both didn't so much as stir as Jaxx closed the door behind him.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Jaxx made his way down the hallway and then passed by a large window that allowed one to be seeing into an operating room. Pausing for a moment, Jaxx looked to the Zubat that was seemed to be happily sleeping on the table. The Zubat that Dixie had caught in attempts to be having it healed up and good as new.

Jaxx frowned as he continued to look at it. Dropping his violet gaze to the ground, a elongated sigh escaped from his lips and he rose a hand and placed it against the cool surface of the glass. Turning his attention back up to the Zubat that was asleep, the dark-haired male furrowed his brow and then turned to walk away with a scoff.

Continuing down along the hallway, Jaxx had passed by a rather tired Nurse Joy and a Chansey that was assisting her. He was going to keep going and just allow her to tend to her business, however, so much was not the case when the red-haired nurse had put a hand on his shoulder. Turning his head to be looking up at the nurse, a small shudder had made its way through his body as his gaze met the stern one that belonged to Nurse Joy.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, young man?" Nurse Joy asked, her voice holding that certain authoritative tone that a child would be expecting to hear from their parents.

Hesitating for a moment as he turned his gaze away from hers, Jaxx allowed for another sigh to escape his persona before replying with, "well... yes. I should be. I've just had a lot of things on my mind. I'm sorry if I'm disrupting anything, but I would like to get some time to myself to mull over a couple of things. I'm sure that after I do I can be getting to sleep a little more quickly."

Joy's stern expression softened a bit at that and she withdrew her hand from his shoulder. "I see then. Well... if that's it, I suppose I won't be stopping you." She turned back to the Chansey that was gingerly holding phials in her hands and walked back to her. Pausing for a moment, Joy glanced back to Jaxx and then added, "and you know... you're quite lucky to have those two girls as your friends. They seemed awfully worried about you this evening until you arrived back after dinner."

"'Worried about me'?" Jaxx repeated, a hollow laugh coming from his lips after he had. Shaking his head, Jaxx scoffed again and murmured to himself, "girls.... Why would they even worry about me? I'm a jerk to the both of them more than half the time I even communicate with either of them. Jakkaru probably hates me with the way she always seems to scold me... and Dixie...." Silence rose as he paused right there.

"Dixie's just an annoying girl with something I don't have that managed to squeeze herself into my life..." Jaxx whispered, his voice nearly inaudible to even his own ears. Walking down the hall at a slower pace than before, Jaxx had hung his head as he took those first few steps into the lobby area of the Pokémon Center. There were other trainers in there... trainers that were fidgeting nervously and looking in the direction of where the ER was located.

Brushing past them and ignoring them for the time being, Jaxx had made his way to the front of the Center and then made his way from the automatic sliding doors. He inhaled deeply as he took in the cool night air and then proceeded to walking along the trail next to the Pokémon Center until he had ended up at the fountain that was part of the Center's very small courtyard. He had walking to it rather quickly and then had taken to sitting on the ledge of it.

Taking the three capsules from the chain that hung at his side, Jaxx held them for a moment and then set them down beside him. He frowned a little more and looked up to the sky. Mulling over his thoughts for a moment, Jaxx then took ball capsules back up in his hand and murmured to himself, "how does she do it? She's not even a Breeder and she's only got one badge. And yet... she's able to go around and make nice with different kinds of Pokémon that we come across. It's not right."

Sighing yet again, Jaxx maximized two of the ball capsules and released the Pokémon within. A Growlithe and a Squirtle were looking up at him as soon as the white light from around them faded. Looking at them for a moment, Jaxx looked to the last PokéBall capsule that held his Spearow. Turning his gaze downward, Jaxx closed his eyes, soon coming to ignore the fact that the fire canine had pressed its nose up against his leg out of worriment.

Placing his hand atop the Growlithe's head, Jaxx patted him for a couple of seconds before looking down at him and offering a small smile. At the sight of the expression, the Growlithe wagged his tail uncertainly and gave a small bark.

Bringing his finger to his lips, Jaxx shushed the canine-like Pokémon and then looked over to Squirtle. Watching as the Tiny Turtle Pokémon made his way over, the dark-haired preteen leaned over and picked up the Squirtle. Placing him on the ledge beside him, Jaxx looked down to him and then gave another small sigh.

"You know..." Jaxx started, looking away from both the Growlithe and Squirtle. He turned his attention towards the other occupied PokéBall that was there and picked it up. Holding it up, Jaxx continued with what he had to say, "I guess... it's a little hard to be accepting the fact that Dixie may just have a better knack for what she does instead of what I try my best at knowing. I just choose the best thing that would benefit myself and those around me.... Heh, it's kind of sad, really. Here I am moping about how Dixie can make friends quickly with Pokémon than a person who practically grew up around Pokémon and learned many different breeder's techniques from his older bothers."

The Growlithe looked up to his trainer rather quizzically and then rose a paw to place against Jaxx's leg. The canine received a scrubbing behind the ears in response. Grinning to his trainer's actions, the Growlithe jumped up on the ledge next to Jaxx that was unoccupied and leaned his head in Jaxx's lap.

Petting the Growlithe for a while longer and feeling the Squirtle snuggle against his side, Jaxx's small smile widened. Shaking his head slightly, Jaxx gave an amused scoff and then said, "jeeze... heh, I must sound pretty bad at the moment. Just... complaining about all of this. Mean... got both of you... and Spearow... and that should be good enough for me...."

"Jaxx...?" a female's voice rang out.

Turning his head, Jaxx came to looking up at a rather tired looking Jakkaru. The slight smile that was upon Jaxx's faded as soon as he came into eye contact with her. As turned his attention away from her, he moved over some on the ledge of the fountain with both his Squirtle and Growlithe to be making room for her to be sitting down as well.

"What are you doing up so late?" Jakkaru asked as she made her way over and took up a seat next to Jaxx.

"I could be asking you the same question..." Jaxx quietly retorted, looking down to the Growlithe that had his head in Jaxx's lap.

"I wanted to get a drink of water... but then I saw that your bunk was empty." Jakkaru turned her gaze downward as she spoke to Jaxx and drew her hands together.

A sigh escaped Jaxx's lips and he scowled lightly. "I came out because I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to wake you guys, so I came out here to think a bit. But..." Jaxx moved the Growlithe and Squirtle, then stood up straight. "It seems that I got everything sorted out and can go back to sleep. Good night."

Finishing up, Jaxx grabbed Spearow's PokéBall capsule, attached it back to his chain and then soon returned both the fire-type canine, and the small blue turtle. Doing the same with their ball capsules, Jaxx headed back for the Pokémon Center without so much as a glance back at Jakkaru as he walked down along the cobbled pathway that led to its doors.


"What do you mean we can't be setting up a shop here!?" Ruth angrily asked, her brow knitted together tightly and her hands clenched tight into fists. She was arguing with Officer Jenny that had told her and Harold to be taking down the shop that they had set up and take it elsewhere for being in an inconvenient location.

"I meant exactly what I had said," Jenny retorted, placing her hands upon her hips and giving the duo a rather unimpressed look. "So I suggest getting your things packed up and moving to a more convenient location before I confiscate everything you're trying to sell."

Ruth grumbled and looked as if she were about to give the Officer Jenny a good amount of retorts. The redhead relaxed some, huffed and then turned back to the stand that she and Harold had set up. With a simple 'fine', Ruth had proceeded to getting a lot of the things that were up in the stand packed away into the boxes that were there. Harold looked from the Jenny to Ruth, shrugged off what was going on and then went to help his partner.

Having been thoroughly annoyed with the two, Officer Jenny folded her arms over her chest and continued to watch the two get their stuff packed and out of the way. As soon as both Harold and Ruth got everything organized into the boxes that were laying around the stand, Jenny distanced herself some and allowed for the two to be getting everything moved out of the way.

Grumbling along the way of getting everything moved and repacked into the boxes from where they came, Ruth stood up straighter and then eyed Officer Jenny with a scowl. For a moment, Ruth's jaw clenched, and she had even considered walking up to the Jenny that was there and smacking her across the face, as the blue-haired woman had merely sighed and rolled her eyes before walking off.

"Those Officer Jennys..." Ruth growled in between clenched teeth. "They think they're all high and mighty just because they're officers. I'd like to give them all a piece of my mind!"

"You should really just calm down and think about our main objective here," Harold said, stacking the boxes on top of one another. "Remember that that girl we're keeping our eye on is challenging the Gyms. If we're correct, her and her friends would have been traveling through Mount Moon to be getting here in Cerulean."

Ruth looked to Harold and took in a deep breath. She turned her gaze away before she folded her arms over her chest and replied with, "right... and since we've been here in Cerulean for easily a good few days, those kids are probably here as well. Soon that little golden Charmander will be in our possession."

"Yeah... and seeing that thing again will be a relief from getting all these passing by Trainers that don't have a single interesting Pokémon on them," Harold commented, turning his attention back to the boxes. His Murkrow flew from its perch on a neighbouring building and then landed on top of the topmost box that was there. It seemed a little flustered as it flapped its wings about and cawed for a good few moments. Before too long, the Murkrow took back into the air and flew onto another perch.

The fowl pointed with its wing out to a pathway in the city that caught both Ruth and Harold's main point of interest and they turned their heads. A sense of panic quickly arose between the two that were there before they darted around their boxes and looked to the three familiar faces that were walking past. There was the same dark-haired girl that sported a happy-go-lucky expression marked clearly upon her face, the same brunette that seemed to have that look of a responsible teen, and the same preteen male that seemed to be unfazed by what went on around him and the others.

"Well, well... what do you know..." Harold mused loud enough for only he and Ruth to be hearing. "Looks like we don't have to be waiting all that long after all."

Ruth's attention was more focused on the PokéBall that the younger and more colourful girl seemed to be babying. A frown creased upon Ruth's lips as she continued to watch and observe – there was no way that whatever was in that PokéBall was just a normal Pokémon, not with the way that the young girl was smiling and acting all vibrant about it.

"Looks like there may be something more of interest with that trio..." Ruth finally said after some time. The duo had watched the three young preteens walking off down the street. Looking past them, Ruth saw that they were headed over to the Cerulean City Gym.

"Harold..." Ruth started, starting to walk in the same direction as the trio. "Leave the stuff here; cover it, or something. We need to be seeing if there's still anything of merit with those brats – and now would be the perfect time, since they're headed towards the Gym."

"O-okay...?" Harold replied, a slightly questioning look making its way upon his face. He turned his gaze over to look at Ruth and then watched as she continued to follow after the three that had just passed on by. Harold was about to call out to her before she disappeared from sight, though quickly held his tongue and did as he was told. He got the boxes put away into a cart that the two of them had borrowed and locked the stuff down tight within before instructing his Murkrow to keep an eye on it.

Cawing its acknowledgment, the Murkrow rose its wing in a salute to Harold and then took to the sky to keep an aerial watch over things.

Trotting along to fall into step besides Ruth, Harold looked around for a moment and then shoved his hands into his pockets as soon as he slowed into a walk. He kept mostly to himself as he saw the rather determined look on his partner's face.

"So say that we eventually do get that Charmander that that girl has..." Harold started, turning his gaze to the Gym as the two of them slowly neared the building. He watched as the trio that they were following opened the doors to the place and then entered. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to looking at Ruth, "what do you think that we'll be getting for it? After all, it's not like we like some organization like... what was it... Team Rocket?"

"That's true, but also keep in mind that Team Rocket has been disbanded for a good six years now... seeing any of them again here in the near future isn't probably going to happen," Ruth replied, still focusing on moving forwards and not what Harold had to be saying.

"That's not really what I was saying..." Harold said, a frown curving onto his lips as he continued to walk alongside her. "I mean, it's not like we're taking Pokémon for our own reasons to be taking control of things...."

Ruth paused and then looked to him.

"What..?" Harold asked, giving Ruth a quizzical look as she stared at him with a small, yet devious smile, growing upon her face.

"Come with me," Ruth suddenly said, turning back and grabbing Harold's arm roughly. With him in tow, she continued to walk back to where they had set up the shop, the smile on her face turning into somewhat of a grin as she thought about what Harold had just said to her.


"Alright Gem! Use Swift! Show that Starmie you're no pushover!" a wavy light blue-haired girl shouted as she kept her eyes on the tiny Staryu that stood on the floating platform before her.

Giving a nod to the command, the Staryu jumped up and angled towards the Starmie before it. The jewel faceted upon the its body lit up a brilliant pink as it fired off several dozen rounds of stars off at its foe.

"Starmie! Dive into the water to try and dodge!" the red-headed female on the opposite side of the field shouted.

The eight-limbed starfish-like Pokémon leaped from its red platform to dive into the water. However, a good few stars from the swift attack pelted its purple body before it actually got to breaking the water's surface for a dive. As the Starmie drifted down into the water, the jewel on its body flashed red a couple of times as it awaited for the commands that were soon to come from its Trainer's mouth.

"Wow! This battle's been going on for quite a while!" Dixie remarked, hugging Zalaras close to her as she and the others sat in the stands of the Cerulean Gym. As she watched the Leader of the Gym do battle with the other female that was there, Dixie couldn't help but to be having an amazed look on her face as she watched the two water-types battle it out.

"Yeah... certainly has..." Jaxx responded, folding his arms over his chest with a slightly disgruntled look upon his face. "At this rate, you're not going to be battling Misty till tomorrow and we'll be on this goofy 'adventure' longer than a want to b– gnn!"

Jaxx had been cut short as an elbow had jabbed him hard in the side. He shot Jakkaru a look, who seemed to be disregarding the fact that she had been the one that elbowed him, and kept her gaze out on the battle at hand.

"Jaxx, are you okay?" Dixie asked, tearing her attention from the battle to be looking at him beside her.

"H-huh? Oh... yeah, I'm fine..." Jaxx responded turning his head to look at her for but a moment before turning his attention back to the battle between Misty and the other girl.

"All right, Starmie! Now that you've gotten that Staryu right where you want it, begin a Rapid Spin to work up a strong Whirlpool attack!" Misty commanded with a determined look upon her face as she watched as a small swirl started in the water. Only a couple of seconds later, that swirl had turned into a violent whirlpool that was dragging the small Staryu toward it.

"Hyaa!" the Staryu gave off, resisting the pull of the whirlpool as much as it could be.

"Nng... Gem! Try using Harden to make it so you don't get dealt a lot of damage!" the challenging female shouted out.

Nearing the edges of the whirlpool, the Staryu had started to glow white in colour as it followed the attack orders. Even though the Staryu had hardened its body in preparation to being attacked, it seemed to have winced as if it were in a great deal of pain as it started to spin in with the whirlpool that Misty's Starmie had created.

"Now's your chance, Starmie! Near your foe and the battle with Water Pulse!" Misty shouted.

Jetting up through the whirlpool's waves, Starmie had quickly come to close the Staryu and a ball of water quickly formed in front of the Starmie's jewel. The Staryu quickly tried to maneuver away, though the Starmie released the pulse of water towards the Staryu and sent it sailing from the pool.

"Oh no! Gem!" the blue-haired female shrieked as she watched the small Pokémon sail back into the blue platform and then back into the pool's wall. It gave a weak cry as the gem on its body started to flash dully. The wavy-haired female ran from the platform that she was situated upon and went over to where the small Staryu sat and then gave a meek smile.

"There's always next time, Gem..." she said to it as she dug in her white purse for the Pokémon's ball capsule. Raising it to return the creature, she continued, "you did your very best out there, and I'm proud of you for it. We'll do some more training and we'll definitely come back when we're both ready to be going at it."

"That battle was amazing!" Misty shouted from across the field as she placed a hand on top of one of Starmie's limbs. There was a wide grin plastered upon her face as she looked out to the girl that had just challenged her. The other girl gave a slight smile and then waved a hand slightly as if brushing it away in a manner that said, 'it really wasn't all that big...'.

"You really have a good grasp on commanding water-type Pokémon! I really do mean it when I say that that battle was amazing!" Misty replied, raising Starmie's own PokéBall and returning it. "Some things could use a little work, but I really like your battle tactics with them! Swing by some time again for just practice rounds with me! I'd love to get a good look at all the water-types that you use!"

At that, the other female's face turned a light shade of red as she grinned in turn and nodded. "That sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks a lot for the offer, Misty! I'll be sure to be back any time you're ready. Though, at the moment..." the girl looked up to the stands where Jaxx, Dixie and Jakkaru sat.

"It seems that you have other people that feel like they want to be battling you today. Don't want to hold them up any more than I have already. I'll be seeing you some time this weekend, then!" With that, the girl happily slung her purse up on her shoulder and made her way to the doors of the Gym with a slight bounce to her step.

Looking after her for a moment, Misty soon turned her attention to the three that were sitting in the stands and called up to them, "so! Which one of you is going to be battling me next?"

Dixie stood up almost immediately, causing Zalaras to slide down some in her hold. Adjusting her hold on Zalaras and making it so that she was more cradling him, she looked Misty square in the eye and gave her response, "I'm going to be your next challenger."

Misty's brow raised as she eyed the Charmander that Dixie held and then gave a slight smirk as she shook her head and walked back to her platform. Giving a slight wave of the have, Misty said to Dixie, "all right, then! Here's the Gym Battle rules for this time around! This match will be a three-on-three singles match. I'll hold no substitutions while you can switch out your Pokémon anytime during battle. Sound fair?"

"Uh... s-sure..." Dixie replied. She descended the rest of the stairs till she was flat on the floor. Placing Zalaras down on the ground, Dixie quickly jobbed over to where the other platform was and took her place there, Zalaras quickly tagging along at her heels. Looking down to the golden Charmander with a fond look, the colourfully-clad girl had to turn her attention back to Misty to see what she would be up against.

"Are you ready?" Misty asked, pulling a PokéBall from one of her holsters and holding it up with a slight smirk.

Dixie gave a nod. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be!"

"All right then! Horsea, go!" Misty called out, throwing the PokéBall out and releasing whatever was inside.

"A... Horsea..?" Dixie wondered aloud, giving a slight quizzical look to Misty's first choice of Pokémon before whipping out her PokéDex. Flipping it open and aiming the device to the small Pokémon that bobbed around in the water a bit, Dixie furrowed her brow as the Dex identified it for her: 'Horsea, the Dragon Pokémon. Horsea eat small insects and moss off of rocks. If the ocean current turns fast, this Pokémon anchors itself by wrapping its tail around rocks or coral to prevent being washed away.'

"... 'Dragon Pokémon'?" Dixie repeated, closing the PokéDex and then going to pocket it. She turned her gaze to the small seahorse-like Pokémon before reaching back and grabbing a PokéBall capsule from her messenger bag. Maximizing the capsule in her hand, Dixie glanced to Misty again and then tossed out the capsule.

"Then I'll take my chances with you, Scout!" Dixie announced.

The small Sentret appeared from the ball and then immediately rose up on its tail as it stood upon the platform. He stole a glance at Dixie before grinning some and then adjusting the small checkered fedora upon his head.

"Interesting choice for your first Pokémon..." Misty mused as she stared at the Sentret. "But don't think that that thing's going to have it easy against my Horsea! Horsea, use Smokescreen!"

Swimming forwards, the small blue seahorse-like Pokémon fired a thick cloud of smoke that wafted throughout the entire field that they were on. Though that was the case, Scout held his ground while trying to look through the smoke for some kind of opening that he could possibly be having on his opponent.

"Scout! Don't allow for the Smokescreen to faze you! You've gone through this kind of training with Zalaras when we were training to go back up against Forrest back in Pewter! Just use Foresight!" Dixie shouted as she had cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Sent!" came Sentret's response as he took in a deep breath and relaxed his senses the best that he could and looked around. He also kept his ears up as he continued to look around the for small Horsea that was somewhere in the waters that surrounded him.

"Smart move..." Misty murmured. "Foresight doesn't only allow for a normal-type Pokémon to be hitting ghost-types when it gets right down to it, but it also helps to allow for the Pokémon to be hitting an evasive foe. This girl's no pushover even though it's clear she's a beginning Trainer that just came from Pallet."

"Sen...!" Scout chirped as he picked up where the Horsea was.

Catching onto the faint sound, Dixie grinned and then gave the next command, "okay, Scout! Once you've found where that Horsea is, go in for a Fury Swipes attack!"

Grinning again to himself, Scout rose up on his tail once more and then leaped forwards to where he found the Horsea was. Raising his little paws, he showed off his little claws before landing in the water on top of the Horsea and flailing his arms wildly on the Horsea to be inflicting damage.

Whining loudly in shock and pain as the Sentret had starting to scratch rapidly across her while also trying to stay afloat, the Horsea thrashed about under Scout. She also closed her eyes as Scout continued to scratch at her small body with the Fury Swipes attack and gave another loud cry to at try and make Misty call out another move for her to be using.

Furrowing her brow as she looked out to the smoke in search for the two Pokémon, Misty clenched a fist and then just called out, "blast it back with Bubblebeam, Horsea!"

"Sea!" it confirmed before looking back up at Scout with her brow furrowed. The small Horsea's cheeks began to swell before a flurry of bubbles escaped her snout with a lot of force behind them. As the bubbles for the attack came into contact with Scout, the small mammal Pokémon was pushed back into the Smokescreen, away from Horsea. As the attack continued, Scout's small fedora had landed into the water, and he had landed against the red platform with a small 'thud'.

Scout pushed himself up to a standing position on the platform and then looked through the smog to see if he could pinpoint the Horsea again since now the Smokescreen was obscuring his vision once more. He rose his hands to adjust his hat though grabbed nothing. Blinking a moment, Scout looked to the left and right of him in search of the small fedora before furrowing his brow and growling loudly.

"Scout! Are you okay?" Dixie called out into the smokescreen as she looked to the cloud that still lingered there above the pool. She looked around the dark smoke and tried to spot the Sentret, but to no avail.

"Sen, sen sentret!" Scout called back, furrowing his brow in annoyance. He continued for a moment to look around the visible waters around him for the familiar brown and white checkered hat while also keeping his eyes out for the Horsea that was still in the arena.

The smog slowly began to clear and Scout looked further out to what he could. Staring out more, he became rigid as soon as he saw the Horsea... with a soaked brown and white checkered fedora sitting upon her head as she stared right back at him. Looking at that hat upon that Horsea's head made Scout clench his little white paws into fists.

"Oh... I know!" Dixie exclaimed as she continued to look to the smog. "Scout! Try a Quick Attack across the platforms to clear the smokescreen!"

Another growl escaped the rodent's mouth as he grit his teeth and then eyed the nearest platform over. Taking the command in mind, Scout quickly ran off the red platform he stood upon and started to jump from floating platform to floating platform. It only seemed that with each step, his movements became quicker, and soon, the smoke from Horsea's attack began to fade off into the air as it thinned with each passing movement from Scout.

"Now, Scout!" Dixie shouted with a small hint of excitement to her voice as she was able to see the field now. "Rush in for the attack!"

"Sentre, sentret!" Scout snarled as he leaped from one of the platforms and angled forwards to slam his plmp little body into the Horsea that was there. Scout made contact with the Horsea and grabbed his small fedora in the process. Making the Horsea move back several feet in the water, Scout had landed on another platform's edge and had to be crawling back up to be on it properly, the fedora tightly clenched between his teeth as he stood up straight.

Shaking her head and gathering her composure, the Horsea looked back to where Scout stood and then furrowed her brow. The gaze was met by the perturbed one that Scout sported upon his face as he chattered loudly and pointed angrily up at his hat before straightening it and pulling it tight onto his head.

"Horsea! Are you okay after that?" Misted asked, giving a worried look to the Pokémon that she had out. She watched it give a small nod and then clenched a fist with a grin. "Good then! Go ahead and give that Sentret your Water Gun attack!"

Maneuvering forwards quickly through the water, the Horsea neared the platform where Scout stood and then aimed its snout for him before firing a strong jet of water for him. A light, shocked gasp could be heard from Dixie as the stream of water hit the Sentret square in the chest and sent him back into the pool.

Scout's little claws dug into the platform's side as he toppled in the the water, and he tried to pull himself back up. Seeing this opportune moment, Misty took it and shouted back out to her Horsea, "gain in on it with Agility, Horsea! Then use Twister!"

Taking her Trainer's commands in stride, Horsea quickly swam towards Scout before he even got the chance to be getting all the way up on the platform and then began to spin her body rapidly in the waters beside him. Perking his ears up in shock to what was going on, Scout looked around with an alarmed expression and then closed his eyes before being brought up into the air and into the Twister attack that Horsea was giving.

"Mnng... he's down for the moment, but he's not unable to battle entirely, I'll save him for later. Scout, return!" Dixie called out, raising the fedora marked capsule and withdrawing the small rodent Pokémon to it. The coloufully-clad girl looked down to the capsule with an sympathetic look and minimized it before putting it back in her back and withdrawing another ball capsule from it.

"Sorry Scout... maybe in a bit you'll be able to come back out and battle again. In the meantime... Riese! Come on out! It's your turn to battle!" Dixie announced, throwing the four-point star marked capsule out. Bursting forth from the capsule, the Butterfree fluttered about and then looked down to the Horsea (who seemed to be panting heavily from the battle it had been having with Scout).

"Riese! Start off the battle and hit it with Gust!" the dark-haired female commanded, furrowing her brow slightly as she continued to get more into the battle that stood at hand.

Hovering higher into the air, Riese locked her gaze to the Horsea that was down below her and then began to beat her wings swiftly to create a strong airstream before Misty even had a chance to be telling Horsea what to be doing next. The winds caused the waters to ripple and soon, Horsea was left trying to fight against the winds that the Butterfree was creating.

Unable to continue fighting against the winds due to fatigue, Horsea stopped moving her dorsal fin around so much and then moved back with the gust attack. Closing her eyes, she was soon brought out of the water due to the sheer force of the winds that the Butterfree had been creating and been slammed into the side of the pool wall where she just floated there while listening to her Trainer's worried shouts.

"Darn it..." Misty muttered, raising Horsea's capsule and returning her to it. The ginger smiled a bit to Dixie before putting the capsule away and said to her, "you're pretty good! Though let's see how well your Pokémon can hold up against their next opponent! Golduck, go!"

Retrieving another PokéBall from her holster, Misty threw it out and released the blue duck-like Pokémon out into the pool. As the white light had faded, the Golduck had immediately taken to diving down into the water to wake itself up before bursting through the water's surface and landing on the blue platform that was there before Misty. He eyed the Butterfree critically before stealing a glance to its Trainer and giving a slight cackle.

'Is that thing... mocking us..?' Dixie thought, clenching her jaw and pulling her PokéDex from her pocket again. Glancing down to the screen of the PokéDex as Golduck's image appeared on the screen, Dixie listened to the information that followed: 'Golduck, the Duck Pokémon. Golduck is the fastest swimmer among all Pokémon. It swims effortlessly, even in a rough, stormy sea. It sometimes rescues people from wrecked ships floundering in high seas. Golduck is also said to appear by waterways at dusk. It may use telekinetic powers if its forehead glows mysteriously.'

Dixie found herself to be biting at her lower lip in nervousness as she looked out to Riese and pocketed the Dex. There was a lot going though her mind at the moment, but the main thing that she had to keep her focus on was what would be happening if she allowed for her to be getting her guard down while Misty commanded that Golduck. The Dex had already stated the things that Riese's opponent was capable of, the question at hand now was, was if Dixie could be teaming up well enough with Riese to be keeping her in the battle that was about to be going on.

"Alright, Riese! Keep your distance and attack with Stun Spore!" Dixie called out, her forehead breaking out in a small sweat as she tried not to think about losing this Gym match.

Fluttering about the pool's surface, the Butterfree kept her eye on the Golduck that was there before her and then started to release a small yellow cloud of the paralyzing spores. Staring up at the cloud for a good moment before blinking and hopping back onto another platform, Golduck looked back to Misty.

"Dive into the water to avoid the attack, Golduck. When you're ready, come back up for a Zen Headbutt!" Misty said, glancing back up at the Butterfree and then paralyzing cloud of spores that were engulfing the field arena. Her attention dawned back onto Golduck as the Pokémon had jumped from the platform it was on and dove into the water headfirst. A slight smile crept onto Misty's lips at that, though it quickly faded as she saw that the entire pool's surface had a relatively thick cloud of the Butterfree's Stun Spore coated over on top of it.

Continuing to flutter around the top of the pool, Riese scanned the waters to be seeing just where the Golduck had dove off to, but there was no such luck on her part. The Golduck had dived down deep enough to where she couldn't see to where he had gone off to. A few minute passed as the Butterfree continued to scan the water's surface before the Golduck burst forth, his head shrouded with a white and blue energy, and rammed right into Riese.

Flapping her wings almost helplessly, Riese began to descend quickly and soon came to landing in the water. The spores that had settled on top of the water also began to effect the bug-type. After a few seconds of flailing about in the water, Riese's movements began to slow and after a moment, she was just lying on her back on the water's surface. Dixie had called out to the butterfly-like Pokémon several times, though the Butterfree remained unresponsive as her chest heaved with each breath she took in.

Giving up after a moment, Dixie merely shook her head and held up the PokéBall to return the Butterfree. "You did a really great job, Riese, but I guess you just weren't a match for that Golduck. Sorry, girl...."

"So it's even now..." Jaxx commented, keeping his gaze out on Dixie as he did.

"Seems that way," Jakkaru responded, cradling the small Swablu in her arms as she, too, looked out to the arena. She gave a light sigh before she watched as Dixie pulled out another ball capsule from her messenger bag and toss it back out onto the red platform before her.

Scout was out again, though he looked rather worn down from the previous match with Misty's Horsea. Swallowing his fatigue, Scout balled up his fists and started at the Golduck, knowing that it was his new opponent for this time around.

"Watch out for the water, Scout! The surface has Riese's Stun Spore littered all over on it," Dixie warned, keeping her eye on the rodent-like Pokémon.

"Sentret sen!" Scout responded, looking at the water and noting the small yellow colouration to it now. Taking in a deep breath and looking to where the Golduck stood, Scout braced himself for any attack that may be prepared to be coming his way and awaited orders from Dixie.

"All right, Golduck! Start this battle out with Water Pulse!" Misty called out, glancing to Dixie for a moment.

Bringing his hands out in front of him, the Golduck began to close his eyes and then prepared the attack. Water started to build and swell into a ball in between the palms of his webbed hands. As the sphere grew, Dixie clenched her jaw and shouted out to Scout while she still had the time to be doing so, "go forwards with Quick Attack before that Golduck is able to carry out the attack!"

Quickly nodding and darting off the platform, Scout began to jump from platform to platform again before landing on the same platform that the Golduck stood on. A small smirk appeared on the Sentret's face as he leaped up and slammed his body into the Golduck's face, knocking him off balance and back into the water.

"Try to dive down to avoid the Stun Spore that's still there, Golduck!" Misty shouted, a look of worriment appearing on her face. It seemed, however, that Misty had called out to the duck-like Pokémon too late, though. The Pokémon had laid face down in the water for a while without budging as he, too, had been affected by the Stun Spore, much like the Pokémon that had spread it. Soon, the Golduck was engulfed in a beam of red light as Misty took out the ball to be calling him back to it.

"You're not half bad, kid! But let's see how well you and your Pokémon last for the last round!" Misty exclaimed while putting the PokéBall away. Jumping up some and withdrawing her last PokéBall capsule for this round, Misty looked to Dixie with a rather critical expression upon her face. Taking in a deep breath, Misty reeled back in her mind for a moment and then threw the capsule out onto the field without any formal announcement to it.

The ball landed on the blue platform and stayed there for a good few moments before bursting open and revealing a rather large Pokémon still bathed within white light. The ball seemed to retreat back to Misty as the light faded, and soon, the familiar Starmie that Dixie and the others had seen the other girl do battle with was standing there before them all. The only thing that was noticeable, however, was the fact that the Starmie looked refreshed and willing to do battle at any given moment, despite having been in battle just a good few moments ago.

"No way... that Starmie looks like it's in good as new condition!" Jaxx exclaimed, furrowing his brow some as he clenched his fist some.

"It may have been able to use Recover when Misty had it battling against that other girl..." Jakkaru remarked, hugging the baby Swablu a little more closely to her. The baby Pokémon chirped up at her with a slightly disgruntled tone to his chirps as he shifted and settled more comfortably in Jakkaru's arms.

Giving a wary glance to the Starmie, Dixie swallowed and felt a bead of sweat trickle down her face as she looked back to Scout. She had also noticed the Starmie's condition and was wondering as to why it was that the Pokémon looked hardly fatigued as well. Her fingertips twitched for a moment before she reached back into her pocket and pulled out the PokéDex for a third time.

Flipping it open to be scanning the Starmie, Dixie kept her eyes on the field and listened as the robotic voice arose to where only she could be hearing it: 'Starmie, the Mysterious Pokémon. Starmie swims through water by spinning its star-shaped body as if it were a propeller on a ship. The core at the center of this Pokémon's body glows in seven colours.'

"... Its... core... glows in seven different colours?" Dixie reiterated, looking down to her PokéDex before closing it and pocketing it once more. Her brow knitted together as she rose her gaze to be looking out to where the Starmie stood, and sure enough, the core seemed to be dully alternating between the spectrum as it stood there. Raising her thumb to her mouth, Dixie bit down on her nail and continued to look at the starfish-like Pokémon.

'Switches between colours.... Now I know I must definitely get one on my team when I find one. That, or a Staryu!' Dixie thought to herself, a slight smile growing upon her face as she looked to it. Tearing her gaze away from it to be looking to Misty, Dixie grinned broadly and shouted out to her, "your Starmie's a beautiful Pokémon! I didn't really get to see it up close when I was up in the stands with my friends when you were battling the other girl, but it really is amazing!"

"Amazing isn't the only thing my Starmie is!" Misty called back, a grin of her own spreading wide across her face as her gaze met Dixie's. "You'll be seein' soon when this Gym match comes to an end! I'm sorry, Dixie. You're a great Trainer from what I've seen of ya so far, but I'm sad to tell ya that this is gonna be your downfall! Starmie! Start with Camouflage and dive into the water!"

"Dive into the pool? But the Stun Spore's still–" Dixie started before seeing Starmie's body became almost completely translucent (save for its core) as it engaged in the attack and soon dove into the pool. Both Dixie and Scout had watched what they could of the Starmie as it disappeared from view, wondering if the Stun Spore would have effected it any. However, with how the both of them stared at the waters, and saw the faint glowing of the core, it became clear that the Starmie was impervious to the spores.

"Nng..." Dixie sighed, gritting her teeth and clenching her hands into fists. She stole a worried glance to Scout and furrowed her brow. The Sentret was breathing heavily, and Dixie could already see that the poor creature's body was trembling with fatigue as he continued to stand there at the ready.

"... Continues to stand there for me..." Dixie murmured, reaching back into her bag and pulling out the fedora-marked capsule and holding it up after enlarging it. "I'm sorry Scout. I don't want to put you through any more. You're tired as it is, and you've done a good job so far anyways! So thanks. Return!"

Misty rose her brow some to Dixie's actions and kept to herself as she watched the younger girl withdraw the Sentret from battle and look to the PokéBall with a warm expression on her face. Dixie put the ball away and then withdrew one last one that had a lightning-bolt shaped mark on it.

"Heh... guess I'm out two Pokémon and down to my last..." Dixie commented, looking to Misty with a smile on her face as she maximized the new capsule in her hand.

"'Out two Pokémon'?" Jaxx questioned, blinking down to Dixie. "But her Sentret's still able to battle if it wanted. Why is she calling him down for the count?"

"It's sad that you've known her longer than me, and yet you're totally hopeless when it comes to analyzing her..." Jakkaru replied, not breaking her gaze from the arena.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jaxx hissed, glaring to the brunette that sat beside him.

"Exactly what it sounds like..." Jakkaru said, turning her head to look to him. Her expression had become from placid to stern as her gaze bore into him. "Dixie's that carefree girl that one rarely runs into every once in a while. Though, despite that carefree-ness that she shows to the public, deep down, she's compassionate and stands for the people and the Pokémon that she shares a close bond with. Which is fortunate for you, because if I were her, I would have left you to travel on your own back to where you live a long time ago."

"... Why would she have a close bond with me in the first place is the question now..." Jaxx muttered, frowning and looking back out to where Dixie stood.

Drawing her hand back to throw the capsule out, Dixie was soon stopped by several hard tugs on her pant leg. Looking down, her questioning expression was met by a perturbed expression that sat upon Zalaras' face. Dixie felt it as Zalaras tightened his hold on the fabric and then crouched down beside him with a sympathetic look.

Resting her hand on the top of his head, Dixie merely patted him lightly and gave a light chuckle. "I'm sorry, Zalaras. I'm sure that you were looking forward to having another Gym Battle... but we already discussed this. You would have the type-disadvantage, and if your tail flame goes out, you'd... well, I don't want to say what would happen. I care too much about you to lose you in a simple Gym match. So you're going to stay here, okay?"

"Charmander char!" Zalaras pleaded, pouting slightly as he rested his hands on Dixie's knee for a moment.

"I'm sorry Zalaras... you're sitting this one out," Dixie said, standing back up and drawing her hand back again to toss out the ball. As Dixie threw the ball forwards, Zalaras plopped down on the ground beside her and folded his arms over his chest with a miffed look upon his face.

"Pi pikachu!" announced the new Pokémon that had burst from the capsule. Sparks now stood on the blue platform that floated before Dixie, and he gave a rather happy look to Misty before turning back to Dixie and waving his arms some. Waving back to him, Dixie merely cheered him on, "that's the spirit to have, Sparks! Though be careful, kay? The Starmie took to the water! It could be anywhere! Stand your ground and prep for the next attack! Use Charge!"

Threads of electricity sparked from the Pikachu's cheeks as he furrowed his brow and stood on the platform on all fours. Soon, electrical charges ran along his body as Sparks continued the attack and waited for the Starmie to be making its appearance.

A smirk make its way onto Misty's face and she cupped her hands around her mouth, "Starmie! While the Pikachu is busy charging! Use Hydro Pump to send the platform up and knock it off balance!"

Sparks' ears perked up after a moment and he looked around, not knowing when to be expecting the attack that was called out. Tightening his jaw, Sparks continued to stand on the platform, braced and ready for releasing a strong electrical surge. Before he had gotten fully charged up, the waters started to move violently, and the platform was soon tossed about on the water's surface before it rose into the air and sailed straight into the rafters of the Gym with a very alarmed Pikachu upon it.

"Sparks! Use Agility and jump down to the nearest platform!" Dixie quickly commanded, looking up to where the Hydro Pump was sending her teammate in shock. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she saw a small yellow blur jump down onto one of the other floating platforms. Sparks still had a few small lightning bolts sparking from his cheeks and body as he furrowed his brow and looked around.

"Out of the water, Starmie! Looks like we're going to have to do things a little more differently!" Misty said, furrowing her brow to the Pikachu. The Starmie burst from the water's surface several moments later, and landed on a platform that was only a couple away from where Sparks stood. It also seemed that the Starmie had kept up with its Camouflage attack, as one could still see through it somewhat.

"Okay Starmie! Before anything else happens! Minimize!" Misty commanded.

The translucency faded off as the Starmie began to shrink its image and soon it was the size of Sparks, himself. The Pikachu scoffed lightly and glared at the Starmie a bit, his tail twitching with the built up electricity that was now charged to its peak within him.

Pursing her lips, Dixie narrowed her eyes to the now tiny Starmie and then looked back to Sparks. Releasing a breath, the dark-haired female pumped a fist into the air and shouted out to the Pikachu, "alright, Sparks! Just because that Starmie's a different size doesn't mean that you're not going to hit it any less easily than you could have when it was normal sized! Keep your charge and use Quick Attack!"

"Pi!" Sparks answered back, slamming a paw against the platform before rushing forwards and leaping from platform to platform. A smug look crossed Sparks' face as he neared, though it disappeared as quickly as it came as soon as he heard Misty's next instruction for the Starmie, "now! Use Power Gem while it's close!"

"No! Sparks won't be able to dodge them!" Dixie exclaimed, her eyes widening.

The core of the Starmie's body glowed white, and soon, sharp projectiles of energy shot forth. Many of the gems missed Sparks initially, though several had caught him right as he was a foot away from the Starmie. With the force of the gems that had been shot his way, Sparks rocketed backwards and into the water with a splash.

"No... no, no, no, no, no!" Dixie repeated, falling to her knees. " At this rate, it's going to be over for sure! And after all that training that we went through when we had the time!"

"Char! Charmander charman char! Charmander!" Zalaras spoke up, getting back up to his feet and jumping up and down. Dixie turned her head to look to the golden lizard and then watch as he flailed his arms to the water with a determined look on his face.

"I told you that you can't!" Dixie said, frowning.

Shaking his head, Zalaras merely brought his hands to his cheeks and then pointed out to the waters again.

Staring at him for a moment and then immediately turning her head at the sound of water splashing and a sharp intake of air being made, Dixie rose her brow and quickly stood back up on her feet.

"That's it! Water conducts electricity! I almost forgot! Sparks! Thunderbolt, now! Before the spores that are still in the water effect you" Dixie nearly screamed, trying to get through to the flailing Pikachu that bobbed around in the water. The flailing stopped some and Sparks looked back to Dixie before turning his attention back to the Starmie and having that smirk return upon his face.

It was Misty's turn to go wide-eyed as the electrical rodent discharged a powerful Thunderbolt attack right in the water. However, her gaze quickly reverted from lingering on the Pikachu to looking at the minimized Starmie. Her expression quickly became from worried to shocked. The water that stayed on the Starmie's body attracted the electrical currents, and soon, the starfish-like Pokémon was being electrocuted as well.

"Starmie, no!" Misty yelled.

"I think this battle's over!" Dixie grinned, watching as Sparks finished up the attack and then started to swim for the edge of the nearest platform. He turned his head back to look at the Starmie and his gaze hardened. The Starmie still stood there, though the jewel at its core flashed weakly before the Pokémon just tipped over backwards and landed on its back against the platform with a rather loud thud.

"Starmie..." Misty shakily let out, looking to Dixie in disbelief as the Pikachu had made his way back up onto the platform and then jumped over to where Dixie stood to being up in her arms. Giving a slight shake of her head, Misty pulled out Starmie's ball capsule and called back the water-type Pokémon and then looked back to Dixie.

"Looks like I kind of underestimated you after I saw how soft you became towards your Sentret..." Misty announced, walking around the pool to be nearing Dixie. "It's rare to see Trainers that will go out of their way to be protecting their Pokémon, even if for just a meager Gym Battle. Though, with the way your Pokémon seem to respond and react to you, I can tell already that your Pokémon are closely bonded with you. You're lucky."

Turning her attention to Misty, Dixie tilted her head and gave her a slightly quizzical expression. "Well... I don't know about all of that... I mean, I love my friends, sure. I'd do anything just to see them or other Pokémon happy and well." With that, Dixie looked back to Zalaras and then crouched down again with Sparks in her hold before raising a free hand and patting the golden Charmander on the head.

"It's why I didn't want to be sending Zalaras out to be battling. I know he loves to battle right now, but... if I lost him just cos his tail got doused, I don't know what I'd do. Even though he's hard to deal with at times and a bit of a stick in the mud more times than not, he's one of the best friends I've got – and I've always considered him as such ever since I got him from Professor Oak."

"Heh... you remind me of someone I used to know and travel with..." Misty said, smiling with a knowing gleam in her eye. Digging in her pocket and pulling her hand out after a moment with a teardrop shaped, blue badge in her hand, Misty said to the younger female, "it makes me proud to be presenting someone like you with this Cascade Badge."

Holding her hand out Dixie, Misty waited till the younger female was holding out her own hand before placing the Cascade Badge in the palm of Dixie's hand. Grinning some as she moved her hand to closing Dixie's fingers over the badge, Misty glanced back to where Jaxx and Jakkaru sat and just shook her head.

"Ah, nostalgia..." Misty murmured before turning her head back to look at Dixie. "Well, with that, you're another badge closer to being able to get to face off in the League. I wish you luck. Though, with how you raise your Pokémon you have and the friends that are with you, I don't think you're going to need it."

"Hehe... Thanks a lot, Misty. It means a lot coming from a Gym Leader."


The Cascade Badge glinted blue in the air as Dixie held it up high with a grin plastered on her face.

"You look happier than usual..." Jaxx remarked, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked alongside Dixie and Jakkaru on the road to be getting somewhere to be eating. He kicked a rock and looked away as he continued to walk, though he was cut short, as were the other two, when they saw someone standing there before them.

"So! Looks like little miss colourful was able to beat Misty! Not that it matters – after all, you're still steps behind me, and I doubt that's going to change any time soon!" rang out a familiar voice. The trio had looked to the male that was standing there before them. There was the same pair of brownish-green eyes and that medium-length dirty blond hair that sat atop his head as the three kept their attention glued to the male as he stood there.

"What do you want, Ivan?" Dixie spat, hastily going to put her newly acquired badge.

"You don't know?" Ivan jeered, grinning with a smug expression on his face as he did. "I saw you at the Pokémon Center and I know your Pokémon are pretty much good to be going." He hardened his look as he focused in on Dixie and then stepped towards her to where he was only a good few inches away from her.

"I want that battle. Now."