My newly acquired confidence, much to my surprise, stuck around even as we were shown into the waiting room of Azalea Gym. It was a quiet confidence that purred happily in my chest like a contended Persian. I found myself jittery and excited as I looked down at the Pokeballs around my belt. I tried to calm myself down and be a little more rational. Over-confidence could be a downfall, and my jittery excitement wasn't helping me to come up with a strategy to take on Bugsy. It was strange; no matter how much I tried to force myself to concentrate and think up a strategy, I couldn't do it. Nothing was coming to me. It was a little unnerving, drawing a blank like that. After all, I used to be pretty good at evaluating a potential opponent for weak spots that I could exploit. Not as good as Elliot, or even Nikki who used that kind of thinking in contents, but you know, I was better than most. But to sit there, and think of nothing was strange. Even odder was that even with that worry, my confidence purred away like a fire that refused to be doused.

I tried to rationalize again. Just because I couldn't think of something now didn't mean I wouldn't at all. I had thought up strategies against Whitney practically on the spot against that beast of a Miltank of hers and I had won! My confidence soared again. Surely if I had won against Whitney without even resorting to my best fighters, it would be, dare I say it, easyto win against Bugsy?

A smile touched on my face. I felt confident, and I'm pretty sure I looked confident now. I looked around to consult my fellow battlers. Jasmine looked almost bored as she lounged on one of the seats, her legs loosely crossed. Yeah, she was definitely not worried about this Gym Battle. All she had to do was use her powerhouse of a Quilava and the whole thing would be over in a matter of minutes. My eyes glanced on Scott, who was standing with his back to the wall, his fingers moving like lightning across the keypad of his phone. The occasional electronic "bleeps" coming from it made me strongly suspect he was playing some kind of game on it. Yeah, he certainly wasn't worried either.

Last but not least, there was Bailey. He was a completely different story. He had the look of a man who had just been told he was going to the firing squad in the morning. He had his four Pokeballs strewn out on the bench in front of him, and he was picking through them and muttering under his breath, looked pained.

Just as I was about to get up and go see how he was doing, Nikki got to her feet and sat herself down next to him. "Hey," She said quietly. "How are you doing?"

"Panicking," was all he said.

She frowned a little. "Have you thought up a strategy?"

"No," Bailey said mournfully, dropping his head into his hands. "None of my Pokemon are strong against Bug Types."

"Well, I could help you?" she offered. "I'm pretty good at thinking up strategies. You need to do it a lot for contests," she added hastily when she saw his puzzled look. "You know, exploiting the opponent's weaknesses to score better marks and all that…"

"I don't know if it'll help…" Bailey said despondently with a sigh. Nikki caught my eye from across the room and I grimaced at her. It was definitely unusual to see the almost criminally happy Bailey so down. Granted, we had only known him for barely even a week, but his cheerful, jolly demeanour was refreshing amongst the melting pot of personalities we had in our little group.

"Sure it'll help!" Nikki squeaked in her best impression of "upbeat". "Umm… I know! What kind of Pokemon do you have?"

Bailey opened his mouth as if to answer, faltered for a moment, and then snapped his jaw firmly shut. Nikki looked at him worryingly as he stubbornly remained quiet. I sighed. It still seemed that Bailey was reluctant to talk about his Pokemon. I wondered why, especially when he revealed them to me. Was he embarrassed? Insecure? The whole thing was just a little strange to me.

Elliot happened to be listening and cut in. "Hey, Bailey, listen. I'll give you a bit of advice, okay? You don't always have to rely on using type advantages to win a battle. If Pokemon are well trained enough and the trainer is smart enough to compensate for the weaknesses, it's completely possible for… I don't know, a Water type to win against Grass type…or for a Rock type to lose to an Electric type! Okay?"

Bailey didn't look convinced.

"Think about it," Elliot sat down next to him. "You did in Goldenrod. You beat Whitney's Normal type Pokemon without so much as a type advantage in sight. And if you want an example of trainers able to work around their Pokemon's weaknesses, look at me! I'm the perfect example! My team's been made up solelyof Grass and Dark Pokemon since I was ten years old, and I've never let that hold me back."

"I know, but still…" Bailey said mournfully.

"Don't worry!" Nikki tried a different tactic. "You just have to do your best! That's all anyone can ever ask of you anyway."

Bailey cast Nikki a woeful expression and she deflated. It was clearly the wrong thing to say. I couldn't help but feel sorry for poor Nikki. She loved helping people almost to an obsessive level. She was always trying to make people feel better. Only problem was, when her techniques didn't work or people just simply didn't want to know, Nikki often took this as a personal insult and slipped into a depression.

While Nikki wrestled with trying to inspire Bailey, they gave us the call to go through into the battling room. I cast final probing glances in everyone's direction. Yep, Jasmine and Scott looked totally at ease at the thought of going into the battle. It was only Bailey who seemed to be literally quivering in fear. Still feeling inexplicably confident, I followed the gym proctor through into the battlefield.

I felt like I had stepped inside some glorified over-sized greenhouse as we entered the Gym battling room. I squeaked inadvertently as the high pitched, screeching cries of bug Pokemon reached my ears. Elliot glanced at me worriedly, before swooping in to my side and taking my hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. Squinting in the dim light, I tried to make out any sight of the Gym Leader. There was nothing.

"This place is a little creepy…" Nikki murmured as we tentatively walked forward.

At the edge of my peripheral vision, I caught sight of a bunch of Caterpie slowly inching their way up a tree. I squeaked and a violent shudder leapt up my spine. I hated to think what kind of creepy crawly Bug types were hiding in the depths of this over-sized greenhouse. I bit back another shiver. "Let's just get the badges and get out of here, okay?" I hissed, before clearing my voice and shouting out. "Hey! Bugsy! Where are you! We want a battle!"

"Oh? A battle, huh?"

The voice came from nowhere, and no sooner had the voice sounded out, lights came on overhead, momentarily blinding us. I had to bite back a shocked scream, as we all whipped around. My eyes touched on a young man suspended, upside down, from a nearby tree, with a couple of gormless looking Caterpie crawling over his body. He had a big grin on his face, and as he twisted himself around, loosing himself from the tree and landing on the ground, he never stopped smiling.

He was a young looking man, perhaps late teens, early twenties. Like Whitney, he was very youthful in appearance, almost androgynous, even feminine in a way, and had wide rounded dark eyes and a shock of lavender hair brushing past the nape of his neck. As well as wearing what looked like a green explorer's uniform that looked perfect for hacking through jungle terrain, Bugsy held in his hands a large net which he waved from side-to-side aimlessly as he looked us up and down.

"You're all challenging me?" he sounded pleasantly surprised.

Nikki squeaked and backtracked until she was practically backed up against a tree. Elliot took a few slow, deliberate steps backward, leaving myself, Jasmine, Bailey and Scott standing in a line. "Us four are," I put forward.

A childish grin spread across Bugsy's face, and he spread his arms wide. "All right! Then who's first?"

I stopped myself just as I was about to step forward, swallowed and looked from Jasmine to Scott to Bailey. "Guys? Any of you fancy going first?"

"Why?" Jasmine demanded at once.

"Yeah?" A smirk spread across Scott's face. "You scared big ol' Bugsy's gonna beat you?"

Jasmine snorted with laughter, and I could have sworn I saw a look of triumph flicker briefly over Scott's face at her laugh. I frowned. "I was just wondering if someone elsewanted to go first for a change."

"Not me," Jasmine became serious again at once. "I like to see what I'm up against first,"

My frown deepened. "You know, that's not exactly playing fair, Jazz."

"I know," she said with a grin and a cheeky wink. I let out a sigh, but couldn't quite maintain my frown and it disappeared to be replaced with a smile. As annoying as Jasmine was, she did everything with such good humour that I couldn't stay angry at her.

"Uhh…" a voice to my left piped up. "I'd like to go first,"

I blinked in shock as I realised the speaker was none other than Bailey. "Are you sure?" I questioned him at once. "You were so nervous about challenging this Gym!"

Bailey swallowed, and I saw him visibly try and strengthen his resolve. "Well, there's no point in being afraid, is there?" He cast the smallest of glances at Jasmine.

"Well, if you're sure… I mean, it's not a problem for me to go first if you want to see how Bugsy battles," I appealed.

"No, I…" Bailey faltered for a moment but then nodded firmly. "No, I think I need to do this."

With that, he said nothing more and strode forward to introduce himself to Bugsy. With nothing else to do, Jasmine, Scott and I retreated to the bleachers to sit alongside Nikki and Elliot to wait for the battle to start.

"I don't get it," Jasmine hissed to me as the proctor began to announce the battle. "Why's he challenging him first? I thought he was worried about this Gym battle."

"I think he's trying to prove himself,"

Jasmine frowned, looking confused. "To who?"

I had to stop myself from saying "to you", but I caught it in my mouth and instead managed to squeeze out "to everyone."

I couldn't help but notice Jasmine's face soften, just momentarily. Her mouth parted as if she meant to say something, but then she compensated with a violent grunts. "Let's just… watch the match, okay?"

I nodded, and fixed my attention back to what was unfolding in front of me. Bugsy and Bailey were in the middle of a conversation, and I had to prick up my ears to listen to what they were saying.

"I studied hard to get where I am today!" Bugsy was saying enthusiastically. "I'm the region-wide authority on Bug Pokemon! So, I'm gonna show you exactly what I've learned from all this hard work!"

I could see Bailey visibly tense.

"I choose Kakuna!"

The cocoon like Pokemon burst out of the ball and stood stationary, facing Bailey. His hands wavered over the Pokeball collection before stopping at the final one. He grasped it and threw it clumsily into the arena. With a flash of red, a flutter of wings and a high-pitched screech, a tiny purple Zubat appeared.

"A Zubat!" I heard Scott and Jasmine say incredulously.

I let out a long sigh. "Guys, seriously? What do I keep telling you? Don't judge a book by its—"

"Zubat, quickly! Get in with a Wing Attack!"

With a frightening screech, the Zubat descended into a blur of purple and blue and zoomed towards the awaiting Kakuna. My jaw dropped and my heart started to beat in eager anticipation.

Bugsy reacted almost impossibly quickly. "String Shot, now!"

However, matching the Zubat's speed in its entirety, Kakuna forcibly expelled thick gloopy strings from its mouth! The string sped straight through the air, connecting directly with the incoming Zubat.

"No!" I found myself crying out as the Zubat was knocked back, the sticky string binding together its wings. It shrieked as its wings became heavy, and it struggled to stay afloat. Seconds later, the struggle became too difficult and the Zubat plummeted heavily to the ground.

"Zubat!" Bailey cried out in fright.

"Poison Sting, now!"

The Zubat let out a tiny screech as the sharp needle-like stingers barraged its body, but it thankfully didn't seem to take too much damage from the attack. Bailey looked flustered as his grounded Zubat tried to free its wings, but to no avail.

"Not going to make a move?" Bugsy taunted Bailey, a wicked grin on his face.

Bailey couldn't answer him. His eyes looked wide and terrified, flickering from his struggling Zubat to Bugsy's now surprisingly intimidating figure.

"You may as well give up," Bugsy said with an airy shrug. "Your Pokemon can't move. If you don't recall it, you're just asking for it to be attacked!"

Bailey was grimacing, looking pained as he tried to encourage his Pokemon. "Please, Zubat! Shake that stuff off! Come on buddy, you can do it!"

Zubat squeaked pitifully, its wings still hopelessly stuck together.

"Just give up," Bugsy reiterated, crossing his arms.

For some reason, as the exchange between Bailey and Bugsy continued, I found myself sneaking glances at the rest of my friends to see their reactions. To my extreme left, Nikki looked worried, her brows knotted tight together and her hands squeezing the railings of the bleachers. Next to her, Elliot was frowning slightly, his eyes constantly flickering up and down the battlefield. Beside Elliot, Scott seemed to be doing his best impression of a particularly emotionless statue. But Jasmine… there was a look of what anyone could have said was worry on her face, and she was biting her lip fiercely. She looked tense. Almost… concerned…

She caught me glancing at her and before I could avert my eyes, she spoke. "He can't give up," she stated as if reciting fact.

"I know." I said with a swift nod. "But… does he know that?"

Jasmine growled. "I really hate seeing people give up! If he was so goddamn set on being the first one to battle Bugsy and "not be afraid", why the hell is he just standing there not doing anything?"

Even as Jasmine said that, the Kakuna sent another ruthless Poison Sting towards the immobile Zubat. This one seemed to be considerably more painful than the previous and Zubat screeched again, looking noticeably weakened. I had a nasty suspicion that poison could have kicked in.

Wait, could Poison types like Zubat even be poisoned? I wasn't so sure...

Jasmine's fists were clenching as Bailey still seemed incapable of movement or speech. "Why isn't he doing anything?"

"Come on, Zubat, please…" Bailey found his voice again and was begging weakly. "Get up, please! Shake that stuff off, please!"

With every word Bailey was uttering, Jasmine's face was twisting more and more into anger. Eventually, she slammed her fists hard down on her thighs and stood up.

"You idiot!" she screeched. "Zubat doesn't have to get up to attack! Think abut its moves! Come on! Don't be a coward!"

My mouth gaping open from Jasmine's uncharacteristic outburst, I turned to look at Bailey, wholly expecting him to get flustered and start to panic. However, his face suddenly contorted into determination and he turned around towards the battlefield once again.

"Zubat! Use Supersonic, now!" his voice rose up to confident heights.

Despite Zubat being bound up, it still managed to open its mouth and set out a high pitched screech. All of a sudden, the Kakuna's eyes dilated and its whole body seemed to go limp.

A grin spread across my face. "Yes!"

Jasmine sat down again, crossing her legs and looking proudly satisfied.

Grunting, Bugsy quickly resumed the battle. "Kakuna! Poison Sting now!"

The Kakuna did nothing.

"Kakuna!" Bugsy cried hysterically. "Do something, Kakuna! Try another Poison Sting!"

The Kakuna still did nothing.

"Yes!" Bailey was cheering at his success. "Good one, Zubat!"

"Damn!" Bugsy cursed. "Come on, Kakuna! Cover that Zubat with String Shot! Don't let it attack any more."

While this time the Kakuna responded to Bugsy's instructions and fired the string shot, it didn't work exactlyas planned. Still to this day I don't know how it happened, but the Kakuna's String Shot seemed to take on a life of its own and somehow end up wrapped around the Kakuna's body. Wrapped up in a thick web, the Kakuna teetered ominously, overbalanced, and crashed to the ground.

"Kakuna!" Bugsy cried out in horror.

"Yes!" I cheered. "Well done, Bailey!"

No-one looked more surprised at his victory than Bailey. Well, apart from Bugsy perhaps, who recalled the Kakuna stiffly. Bailey looked up at us and cast us a cheery wave, a wide beam adorning his face. Following that, he ran to his Zubat, picked up and cradled the weakened bat for a few moments before recalling it to its Pokeball. With his first Pokemon forfeited, it came down to a final one-on-one battle.

"Well, you may have won the first battle…" Bugsy sounded annoyed as he spoke, completely alien to how I expected the child-like Gym Leader to behave. "But you won't win against this one!"

My heart plummeted to somewhere deep in my stomach as Bugsy revealed his second and final Pokemon. It was a Scyther.

"Oh God…" I heard someone say from down the line. I echoed the sentiment. I wasn't even battling that Scyther and even I was intimidated.

"Okay…" I could hear Bailey muttering to himself softly on the battleground as he pulled out a Pokeball. "I didn't want to do this but… Go, Misdreaveus!"

A resounding "WHAT!" issued from everyone sitting alongside me, while a smile burst onto my face. Misdreaveus was a Ghost type, and it had the advantage of being quick and wily, and, so far as I knew, an ability to negate a lot of Physical attacks.

"Since when did he get a Misdreaveus!" Scott cried out, sounding genuinely shocked, and dare I say it, a little bit jealous?

I frowned, not really understanding what the fuss was about. "What's so special about them?"

"Well Ghost Pokemon by nature are really difficult to find, but Misdreaveus especially!" Elliot explained at once. "They're only really found around the base of Mt Silver, or in protected places like the Safari Zone. Sometimes you can find them in old abandoned buildings but chances are pretty slim. Not only that, they only ever come at night too! I just can't think where he'd get one from…"

"I can't believe it really. A Chikorita and a Misdreaveus," Jasmine said from nearby. "Whatever happened to him not being "anything special"…"

"Yeah!" Nikki piped up. "With Pokemon like that, he could be really good someday! I mean, really good!"

As everyone started talking over each other, I tried to shut them up. "Guys, we're missing the battle!" I appealed and everyone almost immediately quietened.

The Misdreaveus was floating, almost aimlessly in the air, with a contented look on its face. The Scyther on the other hand was standing perfectly still. I'm not sure if it was even blinking. For a long tense moment, nothing was ordered and nothing was done.

And then, both boys reacted at the same time.

"Misdreaveus, Psywave!"

"Scyther, use Fury Cutter!"

The weak telekinetic waves hit the Scyther first, but the Scyther simply powered through the attack, leaping with ninja-like speed towards the Ghost. However, with a cackling laugh, the Misdreaveus sailed effortlessly out of the way of the attack, and then began circling the giant mantis Pokemon, still screeching with laughter.

"Misdreaveus, cut that out!" Bailey cried, sounding mortified as it started flying up and down, weaving strange, criss-crossing patterns in midair. "Get back to the battle!"

However the Pokemon didn't seem to listen and flew off in a totally different direction than where Bailey was pointing at.

"And people wonder why people don't train Ghost types much…" Elliot deadpanned, letting out a sigh that fluttered his long brown fringe.

I managed a weak smile before refocusing my attentions on the battle. Bailey seemed to be struggling to get the cackling Ghost type to listen to him, and any attempts he made to gain control it met with resistance. The Pokemon also seemed to have a fondness for yanking on Bailey's messy brown hair. As serious as the situation was, we couldn't help but laugh at this, quite frankly, hilariously funny scene. Well, that is until the Misdreaveus soared up towards the stands and started the same thing with us. Jasmine let out a screech as the Misdreaveus lunged for her hair. Without missing a beat, Jasmine in turn lunged for the Misdreaveus and attempt to throttle it, but her hands sailed straight through its translucent body. Cackling, the Pokemon then proceeded to bite down hard on her forearm and scream tauntingly in her face.

As chaos descended in the bleachers, mainly caused by Jasmine diving bodily at the cackling Ghost and missing completely, Bailey ran up to us. He attempted to breathlessly apologise to Jasmine, but she completely disregarded him, still trying to catch the Misdreaveus herself. Bugsy let out a long sigh, cast a look towards Scyther and remarked "This is the worst Gym battle I've had in a longtime…"

Eventually, after what seemed like a full five minutes of panic, Bugsy snapped and sent Scyther off in the Misdreaveus's direction. The Misdreaveus, comically sitting in a high tree, cackling as Bailey attempted to clamber up after it, had totally forgotten about the other Pokemon, and caught off guard, was a sitting Ducklett for the incoming attack.

The force from the attack knocked the Misdreaveus totally out of the tree. While it was still reeling from the attack, the Scyther was on it again, delivering quick slashes, pushing it further and further towards the ground. Eventually, Scyther finished with a nasty Pursuit, sending the Pokemon spiralling back into midair and crashing to the ground.

"Oh no, Misdreaveus!" Bailey cried out in fright.

"Now, Scyther! Finish this with a final Pursuit!"

As Scyther closed in for the attack, I squeezed my eyes shut. It was over…

I heard the Misdreaveus howl in pain and my heart twisted painfully as I heard Bailey yell out. My eyes opened, and I prayed for some sort of logic-defining miracle that would somehow leave Bailey's Misdreaveus okay, or even the victor somehow, like what I saw happen almost in every crummy episode of Pokemon TV shows ever created. But this wasn't an anime or a kid's show. This was real life.

And Bailey's Misdreaveus was completely out cold.

"Oh, no!" I heard Nikki gasp.

"Bailey!" I cried out.

Bailey looked horrified as he took a few tentative steps forward towards the unconscious figure of his Misdreaveus. I was shocked to see him fall to his knees, his head bowing forward. Without even realising what I was doing I had stood up, but sandwiched in-between Scott and Jasmine, I was rooted to the spot. My mind started to race and my heart thudded against my ribcage. Bailey had lost. He had really lost!

As I stood there, and as Bugsy slowly walked up to Bailey, he all of a sudden delved for his Misdreaveus's Pokeball. The unconscious ghost disappeared into the Pokeball in a beam of red, and no sooner had Bailey replaced the Pokeball; he had clambered clumsily to his feet and was running towards the doors of the Gym.

"Bailey!" I cried out again as the Gym doors slammed shut a moment later. I cast urgent looks at everyone else, who were still sitting stationary. "Shouldn't we go after him?"

"No," Elliot said solemnly, getting up. "A loss is hard enough to deal with as it is, let alone losing in front of friends and people you admire. He'll be humiliated right now."

"But—!" I protested, waving my hands around helplessly. "Somebody still should…"

Elliot shook his head firmly, but he looked a little sad all the same.

I sighed and let my hands fall to my side. As much as I hated to admit it, Elliot was probably right. Bailey had been desperate to win, anyone could see that. And then to have such a difficult time in the battle, losing control of his Misdreaveus and then losing in such a humiliating way… it must have been crushing. I couldn't imagine how he must have been feeling.

"So!" A voice from the battleground shocked us all back into the present. "Who's next then?"

I was just about to put myself forward for it when Scott stepped up. "I'm next. I'll show you how a realPokemon trainer battles,"

"Hey!" I said, casting an indignant look in Scott's direction. "I thought Bailey was your friend!" I said accusingly, remembering the odd friendship blossoming between the two of them.

"Does it matter?" Scott said threading his way past Elliot and his sister. "Friend or not, he wasn't good enough to win. Just wait, I'll show you how to take down Bug-Boy over there," As he said this, I noticed he wasn't looking at me. He was staring straight at Jasmine.

Before I could say anything else, Scott turned on his heel and descended down the steps towards the battleground. I let out an agitated sigh and collapsed my head into my folded arms. "Boys!" I said viciously.

Jasmine glanced at me a few moments later. "Bailey will be fine." she said, strangely enough, a little nervously.

I frowned at her. "I wasn't talking about him…"

"Oh!" She said, looking a little surprised, and then I blinked in surprise as a hint of a blush reddened her face. She looked away. "N…neither was I."

I blinked, frowning. What the hell was going on with her? "Jasmine, you're not making any sense…"

"You're not making any sense!" she rebuked immediately.

"What?" I spluttered, flummoxed. "Jazz, what the hell?"

"You're not making any sense!" she repeated shrilly.

"Oh Jazz. You're so mature…" I remarked.

"You're so matu—"

We were both distracted when an almighty blast echoed throughout the battle arena. I whipped my head around to see a Pokemon I wasn't familiar with emerging from the billowing clouds of dust and debris and a Spinark lying out cold nearby. I blinked. Scott had literally only been down on the battlefield for two minutes! How on earth could he have knocked out a Pokemon that quickly! I cursed my childish argument with Jasmine; I had totally missed what had just happened.

"Wow, that was a little overkill," Elliot remarked from next to me, still spluttering from the kicked up smoke and dust.

"I missed it," I sighed, slumping down disappointed in my seat. "What even is that Pokemon anyway?" I singled it out with my finger as it joined Scott at his side.

"Gabite. A Dragon Pokemon native to Sinnoh," he added when I stared at him blankly.

"Dragon, huh?" I repeated warily as the Pokemon steadied itself, letting out a proud roar in the process. "God… That's pretty impressive…"

"He's exceptionally talented for a fourteen year old…" Elliot admitted, as Bugsy released his next Pokemon, an Ariados and the two Pokemon squared off.

I laughed. "Better watch out, Elliot. That kid's wanted to battle you since he first saw you on the TV two years ago! You know… I'm actually quite surprised he hasn't tried already,"

Elliot shook his head, looking a little perplexed. "I never did understand why he wanted to battle me so much…"

"Hey, he was twelve!" I said with a shrug. "You know what kids are like at that age. He saw you on the television, you knew me, you had a Dragonite—"

"Lance's Dragonite."

I shot him a look. "It's a Dragonite, Elliot. Whether it was your brother's Dragonite or your own, it doesn't change the fact it was a Dragonite."

Elliot smiled. "I guess… he'll challenge me when he's ready, huh?"

"Uhh…" I said worriedly as Scott's Gabite effortlessly dispatched Bugsy's Ariados with two incredibly fast and incredibly powerful attacks, resulting in a shockingly quick win for the fourteen year old. "If it were me battling that kid, I'd be worried… Look, I mean he's won already!"

We clapped for him as he approached Bugsy, who I was surprised to see was grinning. "You're talented, kid." Bugsy told him as the badge exchanged hands.

Scott muttered a quick thank you before leaving the battle arena and climbing the stairs to the stands next to us. Sitting down heavily, stowing his badge away in his case, he turned to me and Jasmine and said "See. It's not that hard."

I growled, his comment irking me. "Don't get cocky, Scott. It's not an attractive trait in a man," I said haughtily before threading my way past him and Jasmine.

"And where are you going?" Jasmine said accusingly.

"To battle Bugsy, where else?" I snapped back, for some reason unable to keep calm.

Bugsy smiled as I stood in front of him. "Another challenger, huh? I've never been so popular in one day. I just hope you're not as much of a wimp as the first guy, or as cocky as the second one."

"I can guarantee you that," I said, pulling out a Pokeball.

"All right!" Bugsy said with a smile.

The Gym Proctor's voice rose up, signalling the beginning of the battle. I tensed, getting ready. Even in spite of Bailey's lose, a burst of confidence returned to me and started purring in my chest. I gripped the Pokeball hard in my hand, tensely waiting.

"This will be a two-on-two battle between challenger Sienna and Gym Leader Bugsy. No items. No substitutions. No time limit. Ready? Go!"

I threw the Pokeball forward with as much strength as I had. I was ready for this battle, and losing was certainly not an option!

Author's Note

Hey everyone :) Another update for you :) Uni's been crazy the past two weeks so I apologise for the wait :)

Awesome news though! Spirited reached 38,000 views and is close to reaching 39,000! :) Free Spirits is nearing the 4,000 mark so I'm really excited about it :)

I'm gonna be creating a forum for Spirited and Free Spirits soon so you guys can ask me any questions, comments and concerns there :) It'll also be handy for when the OC tournament sparks up so I can get your views and feedback :)

Anyway, this chapter's been long enough so thanks to my reviewers WarriorSwift, WildCroconaw, WOWFan123, Aeroga, KRDiva, Sniper Mudkip, ArchXDeath, Manser77, Zoeten, TwewyReaperGirl, and May and Dawn are the best :)