At that moment, I simply wanted the ground to just rise up and swallow me whole. It was official. I was in trouble. Serious trouble.

"I can't believe this. I actually cannot believe you two…" Elliot's voice held badly concealed tinges of anger and I winced as he dodged around the sofa and stared down at us like a angry teacher in the middle of scolding a child. "What did you do?"

I opened my mouth, ready to attempt to deny everything, beg for mercy and explain what had happened all at once, but Jasmine interjected first.

"Don't be mad at Sienna, Elliot." Her voice sounded strangely shy and humble, not like the normal roaring foghorn I often likened it to. "It… it was kind of my fault."

Elliot rounded on her immediately. "Your fault?" he demanded.

The wry smile he had been displaying earlier had now completely dropped off his face and had been replaced with a look of pure unmitigated fury. I winced. I had never seen Elliot look so angry in all the years I had known him, both recently and when we were children. He had always been so calm and composed, never losing a grip on his temper. I wanted to intercept and tell him not to get so angry, but I had a horrible creepy-crawly feeling that nothing I could say would help or save or asses. We had basically been caught red-handed. There wouldn't even be any point in trying to lie or feign ignorance. Elliot was angry. And I could totally understand why. In the cold light of day, it was impossible to deny that what we had done was exceptionally dangerous…

Jasmine was looking uncomfortable under Elliot's steely glare and I couldn't blame her one little bit. "Yeah. My fault…" she swallowed. "I'll admit, I wanted to go after the rogue trainers. I wanted to go and take back all the Pokemon they had stolen… I was so desperate to get them back that I was going to go on my own. But Sienna caught me and—"

Elliot turned on me next. Now he didn't look angry, he looked absolutely horrified. "You caught her, Sienna? And then what? You both went looking for trouble?"

"No, no, it didn't happen like that!" I said hastily. "Yeah, I caught her and after she explained what she wanted to do, I managed to talk her out of it, thank goodness…" I said, shooting Jasmine a look in the process. "But then… we decided to go on a walk…"

Elliot looked dumbfounded. "And what? You conveniently walked into the rogue trainers while you were out on your walk?"

I grimaced at Elliot's tones. He had unwittingly hit the nail right on the head and I did not want to verify his sceptical accusation. "Yeah, we sort of did."

Elliot was now looking like he had been slapped in the face. "You cannot expect me to believe that…"

"It's actually the truth!" Jasmine cried indignantly, looking mildly affronted that Elliot didn't seem to believe us. "We went out on a walk cos neither of us could sleep and we saw some people hanging around the Pokemon Mart. They looked like they were robbing the place! So we went to see what was going on—"

"So you just walked straight into danger?"

"What else would you have us do?" Jasmine appealed, a hint of a frown creasing her face. "We're Pokemon trainers, not helpless children! I certainly wasn't going to let them get away with it! So, we went over there and well… well…" she broke off, looking at me helplessly for salvation.

"…stuff happened," I finished for her, trying to smile.

But the look on Elliot's face made the smile slip sheepishly from my face. I sighed, hating the way this was all working out. I dropped my eyes to the ground and bit my lip. "Sorry…" I murmured slowly.

"I'm sorry too…" Jasmine nodded.

I dared to look up at Elliot again. He wasn't looking angry now, however, more sad and despondent. The look on his face tugged viciously at my heartstrings, and I found myself feeling worse to see him sad than I had to see him angry. I wanted to get up, go to him, and reassure him that everything was okay, but I couldn't. My legs simply wouldn't work and I was paralysed to the sofa, my eyes firmly on the floor.

A moment passed before a shadow fell across my vision. I looked up to see Elliot standing above me. Before I could say a word, his hand was gently covering mine. "Sienna…" he murmured softly. "Come with me, okay?

I allowed myself to be pulled to my feet and led away without a word. I didn't even look back at Jasmine as Elliot took me to a secluded spot in the corner of the Pokemon Centre away from prying eyes and sharp ears. As he came to a stop, he let go of my hand, the ghost of his touch still echoing as it fell limply to my side. He leaned across on the windowsill, before running a hand through his long brown hair, making it stick up in odd quiffs. For a moment, I didn't know what to say or do. My heart thudded hard in my chest as I looked at him. It seemed like he was completely incapable of speech or action…

And it was scaring me…

But just as the silence got too much for me and I dared to open my mouth to speak, he suddenly let out a deep sigh and turned to me, his green eyes wide and pleading. "Sienna… you have got to stop pulling these crazy stunts…"

I winced, but in truth, I had been expecting him to say something like that. I breathed in deeply, getting ready to plead my case. "I… I had to do what I did, Elliot… I had to protect Meloi."

I had seen his face twist the entire length of time I was speaking, but nothing could have prepared me for him to bang the windowsill hard with his fist, an alarmingly loud thud ringing out. "Sienna!" he cried out sharply, making me violently flinch.

However, no sooner had he done this, his face softened and he stepped forward, pulling me into a hug. I let out a tiny, instinctive squeak as I was pulled into warmth and softness. I took a moment to breathe in his familiar smell, a gentle and sweet musky smell, with the slightest underlying hint of the peppermints he was so fond of. I raised my arms to return the embrace, feeling properly safe for the first time since ever hearing about the rogue trainers.

"Sienna…" he murmured, holding me close, his breath tickling the fronds of my hair. "I know you have to protect Meloi. She's your Pokemon and your best friend after all, I can understand that. But it's my job to protect you… And when you pull all these crazy stunts and put yourself in all this danger... it scares me. Sienna, you know what I'm like… you know how much I worry…"

"I know, Elliot," I whispered, clinging onto him even tighter. "You're a bit of a worrywarts, aren't you?"

"Mm… but hey, it's my job to keep you safe…" he reiterated softly, running his hand through my hair. "Hmm…" he said, as the strands fell through his fingers. "It's getting long…"

"I know," I said, managing a little giggle, staring at the wisps of red hair now falling across my forehead. "I'm thinking of getting it cut, actually…"

"Aww, no!" He protested playfully, winding a lock of it around his own fingers, making me giggle with delight again. "I like your hair the way it is,"

"Elliot, you'd like it if it was three feet long and blue," I grinned, and he too chuckled, his green eyes shining. "You're a little bit biased, you know?"

"Biased or not, I like it long."

I laughed and stuck my tongue out at him. "You are terrible, you know that?"

"I know." He shot me a cheeky wink, before his face softened again and he leant down, kissing me softly. As he broke off the kiss, his arms tightened around me and he whispered in my ear. "You mean so damn much to me, Sienna… I couldn't bear to lose you…"

My heart twisted in my chest and I became overcome with such sadness that I almost lost it right there and then. I looked up at Elliot, taking in every minute detail of his face and I was hit by such a wave of emotion that I simply wanted to throw myself at him and hold him for eternity. Instead, I sniffed fiercely to try and contain that emotion, found his hands and held them tightly. "Elliot… you won't ever lose me," I told him firmly, before grinning and looking up to him once again. "You're stuck with me for a long time, I hope you know this?"

That saying was an old favourite joke of ours. Telling each other we'd be 'stuck' with the other whether they liked it or not. It was definitely a unique way of showing affection to each other, that was for sure, but in the year and a half Elliot and I had been together, we never had had that 'conventional' relationship that 'normal' people had. But it worked for us, and I knew I was in as much love with him now as I ever had been. Perhaps even more…

I looked up at Elliot expectantly. This little in-joke of ours had always raised a smile and this time was no exception. Elliot was smiling broadly.

"Well, Miss Volbeda, I can't think of anyone in the world I'd rather be stuck with than you."

My heart fluttered in my chest at his words and I giggled shyly, feeling a blush tinge my cheeks. Elliot often said this to me, and once, in the early stages of our relationship, I had been worried that he saying the same things to me all the time would become sad and boring after too long. But it wasn't. He still said the old line with as much love and affection as he ever had, and it was nice, comforting, to have familiar things and sayings to share with him. I smiled once again and hugged him tight, suddenly fighting off another wave of emotion. "You're a charmer, Elliot Wood, you know that?" I said, a little thickly.

"I know. And I'm not even trying," he grinned, before tilting my face up to kiss me again. "Hey, I love you…"

"I love you too," I replied without hesitation. "So much."

He kissed me again, before touching my face gently, cupping my cheeks with his strong hands. His touch made me feel a little weak, and I felt my cheeks redden as I became conscious of his fingers gently caressing my cheeks. As I stood there, fighting to keep a silly grin off my face, he suddenly smiled broadly. "You're blushing."

"Of course I'm blushing!" I said in embarrassment, feeling the blush suddenly intensify.

"You're cute when you blush."

"Eh?" I gasped, before pushing his hands off my face, my cheeks suddenly feeling red-hot. "G—get away from me with that 'cute' nonsense!"

Elliot was laughing. "I'll get you to take a compliment yet,"

I stuck my tongue back out at him, blushing furiously and unable to come up with any other appropriate reaction. He returned the gesture, but overcome with a laughing fit, couldn't maintain it. This of course, made me laugh too and the two of us hugged one more time, holding each other close for a few seconds. I wanted this soft, precious moment to go on forever, or at least, last long enough that I could imprint on my brain and remember it forever. However, the Pokemon Centre was beginning to fill up with trainers coming down to and from breakfast, and what little privacy we had managed to find was instantly jeopardised. We both spotted Nikki and Bailey arriving in the lobby from the dorm area, looked at each other and simultaneously let go.

Without a word, he moved away, heading towards the others. Part of me sincerely hoped that Elliot would keep what Jasmine and I had done completely secret, but I had my doubts that he would. And while Elliot didn't actively go out of his way to tell Nikki and Bailey what had happened, as soon as our friends heard the news that Will Brennan had been captured, they both instantly wanted to know what had happened. And of course, Elliot gave them the answers they both wanted. Upon hearing the details, Nikki was horrified that she had simply slept through us sneaking out and leaving, and after realising how easily we could have been hurt, sobbed for about an hour, despite myself, Jasmine and a rather perplexed Bailey's attempts to calm her down. At this point, seeing Nikki's hysterical tears was making me feel increasingly guilty. I didn't like worrying anyone, especially not my friends and my boyfriend. A thought invaded my head. Maybe I should stop being so reckless…

However, even as I thought this, I had to laugh. As much as I wanted to stop being careless and stay out of danger, some part of me told me it would never happen. I never was the kind of person to go looking for danger, but it still somehow followed me around like a bad smell. It made me think that I wasn't exactly destined for the quiet life. Something told me that my desire for a quiet, peaceful and 'normal' life had been totally destroyed the minute I had woken up that morning on my fifteenth birthday and held Meloi's Pokeball in my hand for the first time. No, I had made up my mind. Myself and the quite life was just a combination that was never going to happen…

We filled in Scott later on in the day when he eventually emerged from the seclusion of his room. Unlike Nikki and Bailey whom had been horrified at the news of what we had done, Scott actually seemed quite impressed to learn Jasmine and I had taken down a whole league of rogue trainers by ourselves and was keen to hear all the details. He seemed highly fascinated by the teams Charlee and Will had used, picking our brains for as much information as we could give him, and later professed that he would have quite enjoyed testing his strength on them too. Elliot shook his head and muttered 'what an idiot…' under his breath at Scott's confession, but thankfully the hot-headed fourteen year old didn't hear him. Nikki also looked horrified and told him the best way to test his strength wasn't on 'scary illegal trainers who don't even play fair!' but on proper, respected trainers like the Violet City Gym Leader. Scott nodded, seeming to actually listen to his sister for a change and seemed to quite relish the idea of another Gym Leader challenge.

The rest of the day passed slowly. The Pokemon Centre was still in ruins from the attack from the rogue trainers, so we spent the majority of it getting it all cleaned, reorganised and put back together. It was a long, boring, and often back-breaking operation to remove all the broken bits of furniture, move in the newly arrived replacement furniture, clean everything up and put the finishing touches together. Of course, news had spread throughout the Pokemon Centre that the rogue trainers had been apprehended, but thankfully, the fact that it was Jasmine and I that had incapacitated them remained a secret. I spoke to several trainers throughout the day who had become excited about the prospect of a gang of vigilante trainers going around taking the law into their own hands and I privately chuckled merrily at their imaginations, wondering how on earth they could come up with such an idea.

I discovered later, however, that the excitable young trainers weren't really to blame. The local media had cooked up some mad idea that there was a band of Robin Hood-esque vigilante trainers going around to try and solve problems that the police couldn't solve. Every time it came on the news I couldn't help but snort with laughter. Part of me wanted to set the records straight since it was so far off the mark of what had actually happened, but if the fictional vigilantes put the minds of the local trainers and residents at ease, and I didn't have to get involved and own up to responsibility, I was okay with that.

As night fell, the police dropped by to return the stolen Pokeballs they had recovered from the rogue trainers. The trainers who had their Pokemon stolen instantly mobbed the police officers, desperate for information on the band of illegal trainers and wanting to know if there was any truth to the reports the media were sending out on the vigilante trainer gang. Out of curiosity, I sidled up to where the police and the local trainers were talking and eavesdropped. The police were pretty adamant that they couldn't hand out information to just anyone, but strongly hinted that they shouldn't believe everything they heard on the television. Finally they imparted on the local trainers that a proper, full and wholly truthful report as to what happened would eventually be released to the public as soon as they finished questioning the trainers. With that, the police gave back the stolen Pokeballs and were on their way.

I kept on watching and eavesdropping even as the trainers gleefully took back their lost Pokeballs and happily released their Pokemon. I couldn't help but smile as I saw the trainers reunited with their friends, many of them scooping up their Pokemon in their arms, hugging them, one or two of them even bursting into tears as they embraced them. Seeing the sheer glee and relief and happiness on those trainers' faces as they welcomed their Pokemon back made my heart warm and fuzzy.

I smiled once again as the trainers began to leave. "Yeah… seeing that… It makes it all worth it. Any amount of danger I was in was totally worth it to see those trainers back with their Pokemon. Because that's so precious… It's so worth it. Every time."

Night fell, but when I went to bed, my sleep was disturbed and I was restless, tossing and turning for some unknown reason, my mind weighed down by thoughts of Will and Charlee, wondering how they were doing, what was going on with them. Thinking about Will and Charlee somehow also made me worry about Helene… I'd been watching the news like a hawk ever since I had first heard about her, but there had been absolutely nothing on the news concerning her, and I'd heard nothing further from my father. I knew the old saying, no news is good news, but that still didn't ease my concerns. I had an odd feeling of foreboding that I'd felt all too many times before…

But as days passed, my fears seemed to be unfounded. The days passed slowly, gloriously and with little to no news on much of anything released to the public. The incident with the rogue trainers seemed to drop off the face of the earth within a few days, all thoughts of bands of vigilante trainers totally forgotten as the police eventually released a statement that the rogue trainers would be remanded in custody until an appropriate court date could be set and to ensure no information they had would be leaked.

So, the days passed peacefully, for the most part. Violet City Pokemon Centre was more or less empty due to the closure of the Violet City Gym for the immediate future, so there was very little keeping any passer-by trainers there. Elliot suggested forgoing challenging Falkner and just moving on to Ecruteak or another nearby city in search of the third Gym badge, but I wasn't too keen and managed to convince everyone to stay until the Gym reopened. As much as I knew Scott in particular was frustrated about having to stay in one place, I found myself quite welcoming to the peaceful days. I found that I wasn't missing the familiar comforts of Pallet Town and I wasn't even missing the typical trainer lifestyle of being constantly on the road either. Right now, I was happy and content enough exactly where I was. I often caught myself smiling for no reason when I was simply hanging around the Pokemon Centre or with my friends or my Pokemon. I was happy. Being out on a journey again was one of the best decisions I had made in a long time.

A week and a half passed like this, and it soon began to feel more like a relaxing holiday than anything else. However, by the time the second week began drawing to a close, some disturbing news broke out into the world of Pokemon training. News was coming from the government that legislation aimed at raising the legal training age to sixteen was tipped at eventually being passed, which would leave a lot of trainers, Scott included, technically not permitted to train Pokemon. Even trainers who already possessed a trainer's license, like Scott who had held a license since the age of eleven, would have it stripped from them and reissued only when they turned sixteen. This fact rightly enraged him and he went off in a vicious rant in full view of the Pokemon Centre lobby as the news broke, yelling angrily at the unfairness of the whole situation, which was quite possibly the most animated I had ever seen him…

While Scott was angry and a little fearful, he admitted, to the thought of having to forfeit his license for two years, Elliot on the other hand was far more confident. "They'll never pass it," he assured the younger boy firmly. "Not at sixteen; that's way too late. They might have more luck shooting for the age of thirteen or something. That makes more sense, but never sixteen. Never sixteen."

While Scott didn't look so sure, Elliot remained fiercely positive. I honestly didn't know what to think or believe in regard to the issue. I wasn't even sure where I stood on the matter any longer considering I had seen both sides to the story. I knew young kids travelling out on the road alone were in huge danger when being left responsible for themselves. It was dangerous for someone as young as ten or eleven to travel alone, even with the protection of Pokemon, I knew that. Hell, it was dangerous for someone even my age to travel. Simply because you never know what's gonna come round the corner. At the same time however, I wasn't sure I agreed with imposing such a limit… not if what it was kids really wanted to do… Not when children had been training Pokemon at that young of age for as long as I could remember. Every time I thought about it and tried to formulate an opinion, I just ended up tying myself up in knots. The whole issue was just too confusing for me to even attempt to wrap my head around…

So instead, I simply put it to the back of my mind and carried on as normal. I thankfully didn't have to think about it too much as the day after the news broke about the training age proposed to be raised, Violet City Gym reopened for business as normal, almost a full two weeks after the end of the battle tournament. We unfortunately didn't get a chance to battle the Gym straight away, as there was a long line of impatient trainers waiting for entry. In fact, it was that busy and in demand that we all had to put our names down on a waiting list in order to challenge the Flying type master. Luckily for us, we were able to get our names down fairly early on the waiting list, and snagged timeslots on the afternoon of the Gym's second day of re-opening. It wasn't just myself that had decided to take on Falkner; Scott, Bailey and Jasmine also deciding they wanted to try their luck against the Flying gym leader. Of course, as always, I was volunteered to go first.

I had to admit, it felt a bit strange returning to the giant open air battlefield once again after the battle tournament two weeks ago. The place looked immaculate, completely spotless and rebuilt perfectly. The stands, battleground and podium looked completely brand new, not so much as even a hairline fracture remaining where the ground had once been ripped apart, stands had been uprooted and explosions and churned earth had once peppered the entire battleground. The entire of the gym looked brand new and perfect, like it was newly built. It looked almost like there hadn't even been a single battle ever held here, let alone a massive tournament.

As we stepped out into the open battlefield, it was oddly quiet. There was no-one around, not even a gym proctor. I swallowed, running my tongue across my dry, chapped lips, suddenly feeling a stab of nerves. Nothing moved. The open emptiness of the gym and the endless sky spread above me was intimidating. I almost felt like it was taunting me. A thin gust of wind picked up, biting at my exposed skin and making me flinch slightly.

"Where's the Gym Leader?" I heard Bailey murmur in worry behind me.

Muted conversation picked up behind me as I raised my eyes up to look at the sky that from so high up seemed to go on forever. It was a deep blue colour, thick puffs of white cottony cloud drifting lazily across it. Another gust of wind picked up and it was so cool and refreshing that I closed my eyes and let it wash across me, like a wave breaking across the sand, I stood there, eyes shut, feeling the cool wind breeze over my body. For that one moment, I felt totally calm and at peace with the world.

And then, there was an ear-piercing shriek and a gust of wind so powerful that it almost knocked me to the ground! I cried out in surprise, snapped my eyes open and looked upwards. A dark shadow suddenly fell across my vision, so huge it momentarily blocked out the afternoon sun, the winds intensifying before suddenly a giant Pidgeot landed right in front of me! I shrieked in surprise and almost fell over my own feet again as the giant Pidgeot spread its massive wings and cawed angrily.

It was only then that I noticed there was a rider straddling the Pidgeot's back. As the winds slowly died down and everything calmed, I finally got a good look at him. He was a tall, slim man with a shock of blue hair obstructing part of his face, leaving only one piercing blue eye visible. His clothes were simple, a loose, open, light blue shirt over a darker blue outfit that inexplicably reminded me of samurai attire. The entire outfit was offset by black and red wristbands and black shoes. He held himself with such pride and elegance atop the Pidgeot as he stared at me through the fan of his hair.

"Falkner…" I murmured to myself.

In one fluid movement, he dismounted gracefully from the Pidgeot, landing expertly. He produced a Pokeball and recalled the Pidgeot he had been riding. With a cool nonchalance, he stowed away the Pokeball and approached me. He carried himself with a refined air, moving with such poise and style that I couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by his presence.

"So, you're here to challenge me, then?"

"Y…yeah." I said, managing to nod my head firmly.

"And your name is…?"

"Sienna Volbeda."

He nodded, folding his arms lightly "And is this your first gym battle in Johto, Sienna Volbeda?"

I chuckled a little. "Not quite." I said with a wry grin. "I've already beaten Whitney from Goldenrod and Bugsy from Azalea."

"Really…?" he said, looking interested. "That's… unusual. Not many trainers go backwards through the Gym circuit. This will make things… interesting…"

"Interesting?"

"Yes," he said with a smile. "You've taken quite an unorthodox method in challenging the Gyms. Most unusual."

"If you think that's unsual, I've got badges from Cerulean City gym and Sootopolis City Gym, too." I said with a smile.

"Really…?" Falkner looked intrigued. "So, you've beaten Misty, Wallace, Whitney and Bugsy already… I see. Hm. Any other Gym Leader would be a little worried, seeing his challenger beat some of the finest Kanto and Hoenn have to offer, as well as his own colleagues. But I'm not." He said with finality, taking a firm step forward. "Well, my name is Falkner, as you already know, and I am the leader of the Violet City Gym. You know, they say that Flying type Pokemon can be easily defeated by something as simple as a bolt of electricity… but my father taught me that bird Pokemon are the noblest and most honourable of all the types in the world! And I believe that! I won't allow people to insult the magnificence of bird Pokemon any longer! So, Sienna Volbeda, are you ready to battle me?"

"Y… yes!" I blurted out, without even thinking.

"Very well." Falkner said. "Take your position. We will begin."

I did as I was told and took my position at the other end of the battlefield. It felt strangely familiar being back here and I couldn't help but think of the battle tournament two weeks ago. I thought of all the powerful trainers, strong Pokemon and amazing battles I had both participated in and seen unfold in front of me. I swallowed. This place just seemed to be a stadium for greatness, and here I was, standing right in the thick of it. Was I really great enough to merit being here? I didn't know… I clenched my fists tightly. It didn't matter how many other Gym Leaders I'd beaten before or how strong they had been, I was always going to be nervous and afraid in the face of a new one. In a sense, it didn't even matter how many normal trainers I had battled and defeated before. Because I knew that no matter how good you were or how bad you were, there was always a chance to win. And vice-versa, there was always a chance you could lose…

Because that's what Pokemon battles were like. Nothing was ever guaranteed. Victory, or defeat, was never ever certain…

Author's Note

Hi guys, another update for you.

I didn't get as much ground covered in this one as I would have liked, but I'm glad to have worked in a little GreenhornShipping fluff into it.

Next chapter is the culmination of Sienna vs Falkner and be on the lookout for two big shocks!

Thanks to my readers and reviewers, as always! Big thanks to SniperMudkip, The Neverending Meep, ArchXDeath, WarriorSwift slightlyobsessedHaylz (Your review especially made me beam with happiness! I loved it), Shadow Serenity 57 and WildCroconaw!

Until next time, guys! Your reviews really do mean a lot to me!