Chapter 6: A Harder Challenge

Getting to the Battle Factory proved to be an easy task after journeying through Kanto for so long. A quick fly to the Cinnabar Islands followed by a swim to a relatively unpopulated place called Workmen Island got us there. Workmen Island was covered in large factories from end to end, each one dirty than the next. As we hiked to the middle of the island where the Battle Factory was supposed to be located, Gary insisted that we talked about Nicholas.

"There's something up with that guy! First he attacks us in the skies, then he goes on about legendaries, and then we find out he works for Scott! I'm telling you, he means trouble!"

"Alright, Gary, we get it. The dude's bad. Can we please change topics?" Emily asked in an exasperated tone.

"We've gotta do something about it before it's too late and he tries to, you know, kill someone or something!"

"He's not going to kill someone, end of story. Now stop worrying about it! After all, we're almost at the Battle Factory!"

"I'll race you guys the rest of the way," I grinned. "Loser has to break the ice with Noland."

"You're on!" Gary exclaimed.

"What about-" The rest of Emily's sentence was lost as we sprinted towards the factory.

We charged down the rocky slope and dried grass straight towards the door of the navy blue building. At the last minute, Garry pulled ahead, with me on his heels. Emily fell behind us, and finished a second later than both of us, breathing hard.

"Good race," she said in between breaths. "But Crystal's the one challenging him so she's doing the talking."

"What? I thought we made a deal?"

"Which I never agreed to."

"But you lost."

"But you're talking to him."

I glared at her before admitting defeat. "Fine, fine. Let's just go inside already."

The lobby we entered inside was crystal clean, with shiny light blue tiled floors and a lobbyist who was looking at some papers behind a brown desk. We walked inside, and I approached the women behind the counter. "Hi, I'm here to challenge Noland."

She looked up and immediately frowned, no doubt looking at our dirty appearance. Traveling through the factory-filled island had resulted in dirt-caked shoes, scratches on our arms (several of them bleeding), and our shirt and jeans in varying degrees of conditions. Finally, she asked, "Battle Frontier card?"

"Oh yeah, I've got it here somewhere," I said, digging through my pockets. "Here you go!" I pulled out a shiny gold card with my name and Trainer information, including a picture of each of my Pokemon.

"Crystal is it? You're the Pokemon League Champion, aren't you?" Her the warmth in her voice increased several notches, and she punched a couple of keys on her keyboard. "Noland will be right with you. In the meantime, you can take a seat - or a stand - if you'd like."

"Bet you she's hoping we'll stand," Emily smirked as we walked away.

We never got to choose between sitting and standing because Noland walked in and straight towards the woman a second later. A red hat covered most of his brown hair, and he had a lab coat on top of his gray shirt and black pants.

"You called me? Something about a challenger?" His voice had a rasp to it, as if years of working in factories and doing research had changed it.

"Yes, she's right behind you."

Noland turned around and faced me with narrowed eyes. "Name, age, and where you're from."

His abrupt tone caught me off guard. "Um…"

"Hurry up, we don't have all day," he growled. "I just imported a Mightyena with a pretty big temper, so you'd better move along unless you want a couple of those researchers down there to get eaten."

Somehow, I didn't think he was joking. Regaining my confidence, I rattled out the answers to his questions from before. "My name is Crystal Mapliskee, and I'm 13 years old from Cinnabar Island."

"Alright then, Crystal, I'll meet you outside in the stadium in exactly 30 minutes. Don't be late, or you won't get a battle." He turned around and headed back up the stairs he had come from. "And try to put on something cleaner, would you?"

I felt my face get hot as the attendant added, "Bathroom's down the hall on the left."

"I'll go change," I said in an unusually high-pitched voice before bolting out of the lobby as fast as I could.

Exactly 30 minutes later, the three of us (now in clean clothes) regrouped at the stadium, which was a lot more like an outdoor battling arena and some benches than a stadium. He was already waiting when we arrived.

"About time," he remarked. Pointing to Gary and Emily he added, "You two can find a place on the benches." As if there was anyone else there.

"Technically the rules of this place are that both of us use rental Pokemon, but I like to mix it up sometimes if the challenger has a good idea for a battle style. So you got any?"

"I want a challenge - a really, really hard one," I said confidently.

"Daring are we?" Noland raised an eyebrow.

"More like it'll make my victory over you that much more notable."

This took him by surprise. In an even rougher voice, he questioned, "Is that so? You think you'll win?"

"I don't think I'll win," I smirked. "I know I will."

He let out a laugh that sounded more cold than humorous. "In that case, let's have a 3 on 3 battle. You can use your own Pokemon, and I'll use a pet project I've been working on."

"I can beat harder challenges."

"Fine, no substitutions."

"Easy."

"Let's battle first, and then you can decided if I'm that easy."

We both took our place on opposite sides of the arena. "I'll choose first," he called to me. He pulled a Pokeball out of his pocket, and threw it onto the field. The ball popped open, and in a flash of white light, a bright yellow bird appeared, sparks flying from it's wings. "Meet Zapdos, my first Pokemon.