"What do you mean?" I asked the man, who was standing in front of Olivine's Gym's doors. "I already went to Cianwood. I already fought Morty. I even took care of his kids for him! Why can't I fight the Leader yet?"

The old man smiled at me, his eyes surrounded by little squinty wrinkles. "Because I say so. I said so last time, too. I don't feel like fighting right now. Come back in a few minutes."

I sighed and walked away, choosing to sit out on the beach while I waited for the minutes to pass. That old man had caused me nothing but trouble since I had first come to Olivine back after beating Whitney in Ecruteak. He had been standing in front of the Gym when I had first arrived, and he told me that the Leader didn't want to accept challengers at that time and that I should take my fighting spirit across the sea to Cianwood. So I took the Lumineon that my parents had gotten me and went across the water on its back.

Then all the adventures I had in Cianwood occurred, and now I was back in Olivine to fight the Leader. But that old man was still there, telling me that I couldn't. That was why I was sitting where I was, just looking out on the water and remembering what had happened over the past few days. I turned around and looked back up at the Gym, where the old man was still standing. My eyes instinctively rolled, and I got back up to go talk to him again.

"You're back. And it hasn't been five minutes," he said to me. "Are you really that impatient, kid?"

"Yes, I am! I really want to fight the Leader!"

The old man, for one reason or another, decided right then would be a perfect time to visit the lighthouse's Pokémon. The thing about this was that he decided I should go with him. And even though I had been and was still fighting him that I should get that battle in before we went to visit, he wouldn't listen. So I got dragged to the very top floor of the Glitter Lighthouse, completely against my will.

"All of my vacations are spent up here, boy," he told me. "I couldn't bear to leave Amphy without a guardian for more than a week." The Ampharos that was sitting up there bleated in agreement, letting its tail glisten, filling up the room with blinding light.

"That's great, sir, but I really want to take care of that battle now, so if we could just go back to the Gym, I'd rea—"

He gave me a stern look. "Kid, do you love your parents?"

"Yeah! They gave me my—"

"Would you be sad to lose them?" It was a stupid question, so I gave him a very sarcastic answer. "Amphy lost his parents to poachers. I am the only parental figure in his life. Would you like it if someone left you to die, and the person who took you in always abandoned you?"

I looked at the guy with a crazy expression on my face. "Why would you ask such a ridiculous question, man? Of course I wouldn't like that! Why would my parents be killed, anyway?"

"It was just to make you think. Don't get all defensive about the topic." The old man stepped closer to the Ampharos. "Turn here, Amphy. It's me, your old buddy Pryce. Remember me?"

The Pokémon bleated again. "Does it see you?"

"Amphy can't see. no. His vision was taken from him by those poachers. But he can sense light and dark. Perfect for a Pokémon that lights up the night sky for sailors on the sea." Pryce began to stroke the Ampharos, who was now letting off steady stream of light. "But Amphy gets quite sick often, and it saddens me that one day, he will leave this world for the afterlife."

"Okay, you're like ancient. Is the Ampharos that old, too?" He gave me a smile when I asked that, but he didn't answer. "I see, just ignore me..."

"Kid, be patient. Don't expect an old guy like me to respond instantly. I'm hard of hearing and even harder of thinking."

What was I supposed to say in response to that? He had just been brutally honest with me and my impatience. So I just asked a random question: "Is Amphy soft?"

"Depends on what your definition of soft is." He gestured for me to approach him and the Pokémon, who was still bleating and emitting light. "Just give him a little pet, okay?" I did exactly as he said and my fingers were soon filled with the warmth that the buzz of electricity could give them. "Feels funny, doesn't it?"

"My Mareep, well, I can't pet him. He tries to electrocute me whenever I do, and it's quite upsetting." I began stroking Amphy's neck, something that the Pokémon really seemed to like.

Pryce put his free hand on my shoulder. "You train a Mareep?"

"That I do, sir. My parents, who are certainly not dead, gave me him a few years ago. He's my lead Pokémon on my team." The old man smiled at me again, and I couldn't help but get the "warm fuzzies" on the inside. Was it his smile, though, or was it Amphy's electricity?

"Listen, kid, I want you to stay at my Gym tonight," Pryce said to me as we were walking back to his apparent place of residence. "It gets very lonely there, and I would appreciate it if you would bring me some company."

I didn't want to turn down his offer, because sleeping in a place with locks would be much safer than my previous choice, the Pokémon Center. "Sure thing, sir. I can do that for you. But, can I ask a question?"

"Go on ahead. I've got all the time in the world."

We were standing in front of the Gym now, and I was worried that he would take the question the wrong way, but I asked it anyway. "Why won't you fight me?"

"Because I wasn't sure if you were a Trainer that was pure at heart. I'm against the use of Pokémon as weapons, and I would have hated to have fought you if you were abusing your Pokémon. But you showed that you really do care about them, so I figured that I could give you some time of my day to let you carry on chasing your dream."

"You'll fight me?" I asked in shock at the turn of events. He nodded and laughed, unlocking the Gym's door so I could run inside, jumping with joy. "This is great!"

He calmed me down with a hand motion. "I understand that you're excited about getting to battle, but how are you going to beat me? You don't even know what type I use here."

"Electric, right?" I felt smart saying that, as if he was trying to demean me with his statement, but I was proven wrong when he opened a Pokéball in front of me, and a Steelix came out. "Oh, you use Steel, don't you?"

"It may be a new type, but I have found myself quite good with it. Are you ready to get your chance to get the Badge from me?

My eyes nearly bulging out of my skull, I said I was indeed ready and braced myself for the coming battle, one that I had learned a mighty lesson to even have. You see, Pryce taught me something that day. He taught me to respect everything. And no matter how much my journey had sucked up to that point, or no matter how much it would suck in the future, I would have him to thank for keeping me going.

A/N: I wrote over half of this as part of my 50,000 words in 30 days for November, also known as my half-NaNo (as I'm not noveling this year). And it came out great! :)

Pryce as Jasmine would be pretty cool, not gonna lie. The Ampharos backstory fits him pretty well, and I like it.

Please leave me some kind of feedback! Even if it's not a review, just a favorite or alert would rock!

I do not own this stuff at all. Sorry, folks.

Signel