A/N: So, thank you Fenrir's Phantom for that review, and I do plan to continue this if time allows, by the way, is your name based off the Yu-Gi-Oh! card Fenrir?

While Ash was busy trying to figure out his next move, the Gym Leader in question, one of the eight treacherous Gym Leaders, Marley, was lounging around in his headquarters in Deluge City, so named because of the floods that used to come in ancient times when it rained too much.

Of course, with the Gym Leaders now controlling much of the weather all across Galea using their Badges- a surprising perk they realized they had as Galea was separated due to spatial barriers, rain in Deluge City was never too much. And it was never too much elsewhere either, and it always obeyed strict patterns laid down by the eight Gym Leaders, necessary of course, to keep the harvests good, as they could no longer rely on foreign aid in case of a crop failure.

Out of habit, Marley took out his Gym Badge, which featured two swords crossed on a shield, the Irresolute Badge, which shined with an unearthly aura. Anyone who looked at it would feel a strange tingling all across their body and an urge to bow down and submit to the one who held it. Marley could feel its power crawl across his skin, and knew, that if he wanted to, could command any of the Pokemon in his area, and even the wind, air, and land to some extent if he wanted to.

It was only natural to be expected, that since he had such great power with his Badge, that there were always those out to get it from him. He, along with most of the other seven, had taken precautionary measures against that. They had banned Pokemon training and restricted buying of Pokeballs, as well as forcefully seizing the strongest Pokemon ensuring that no challenger would ever appear strong enough to usurp their thrones from them.

Marley's followers, who would have been called his samurai in an earlier time, who were allowed to raise and train Pokemon, had to first agree never to challenge him. As for the other Gym Leaders, they were bound by their truce, and had agreed to not challenge each other or to send their servants to do so for them.

In short, there was no one in Galea capable of challenging the eight Gym Leaders, especially with the Elite Four gone. Galea was theirs to do with as they pleased.

Marley himself, for that matter, was a handsome young man looking to be in his twenties, who was dressed up in a fine suit like the CEO of some multinational corporation rather than a traditional feudal lord.

Oddly enough to someone who would be an outsider, Marley had looked like a young man in his twenties for the last thirty-two years since he had seized power.

It was then that his phone began to ring. Marley stifled a yawn, to be honest, his entire rule was rather bo-ring and many of his officers would agree. Nothing of interest really happened and the Marley had long since excused himself from being involved in the monotonous governing of his realm, leaving the bulk of it to his officials. They were to only consult him on important matters- matters that never really seemed to end and that he usually preferred to kick down the road for later.

The phone, itself, would have been a rather standard device anywhere else in the world, but was an exclusive luxury in Galea. Galea had always been slow to adapt to change, while it had embraced many of the new technologies of the world, unlike in other regions where feudal rights had become a part of textbooks, the Gym Leaders of Galea had been slow to let go of their ages-old rights and privileges, mainly due to the nature of their Gym Badges. Not to mention that while they did not know it, although thirty-two years had passed in Galea since the barrier had been erected, fifty years had passed in the outside world, making many technologies in Galea outdated with their outside counterparts.

Marley picked up the phone to see a rather lovely looking woman with electric blue hair and eyes the color of the sea, wearing what seemed to be an impossibly regal and complex kimono with a tiara of gold and diamonds keeping her hair from falling all over her face.

In other words, she didn't look a day older than how she had looked all those thirty-two years earlier. She was the seventh Gym Leader, Selena.

"I have some news," Selena said. "There has been an unexpected storm somewhere off the coast."

"There are no unexpected storms," Marley said.

"This one was," Selena said with disdain. "And this could very possibly be a tactic of the Elite Four to-"

"Oh-" Marley said with a groan. "Not again. What is it with you Selena? You're the only one of us who seems to constantly think that the Elite Four are behind every tiny thing that happens. There was that time when you were sure there was an oddly shaped cloud following you around the place. Okay, fine, there was an unexpected storm, but that could have been due to some odd variable of us meddling or something we haven't accounted for."

Selena did not take to this kindly. "The storm was not just unexpected, it came out from beyond our spatial-temporal barrier. I'm beginning to worry that it is weakening."

That, Marley had to admit, was a problem he could care about. "So what would you have me do? Clearly, the barriers are a matter for His Majesty the Emperor to worry about. Was he not the one who had spearheaded their creation in the first place?"

"His Majesty-" Selena said those two words with a venom people generally reserved for thieves and murderers, "apparently has better things to do. The storm ended near your territory, and anyone, or anything from outside could have come there."

Marley yawned. "Get to the point already."

"I want you to search your territory to see if there is anything out of the ordinary," she said.

"Meh," Marley said. He slid in his chair into a more relaxing position.

"What?"

"Meh," Marley repeated. "It just seems like so much work, you know."

Selena looked ready to erupt. "You do realize that you're the first Gym Leader- someone hardly capable of battling- and I am commanding you to do so!"

Marley bolted himself upright in rage. It was no secret that the eight Gym Leaders loathed each other and that only a common enemy could unite them, which was why it was good that the Accord forbade war between the Gym Leaders or else there probably would have been one every week. "Commanding me? You dare issue orders to me? We are all equal, in case you've forgotten the various provisions in the Accord we drafted after ridding ourselves of the Four Heavenly Kings, stating that we would all rule with none above the other, and His Majesty would merely be primus inter pares. I may be one of the weakest Gym Leaders when it comes to battling, but I have as much rights as any of you within my territory."

"And I assume you don't want to lose them. Think! If that storm brought in someone from outside, they could challenge you for your Badge," Selena snarled, the features of anger contrasting with the otherwise perfect nature of her face. "So start looking."

She cut the telephone off, which meant that she, of course, had the psychological advantage there.

Marley had to admit that she had said one thing that truly stung, that he was not very good at battling and hence was the butt of many jokes due to that among the others. It was true, and to be honest, he should have been training in his spare time, but training was just so much work.

Instead, he preferred using his power, the power of the Irresolute Badge, which was able to evolve any Pokemon, regardless of training or requirement of evolution. After all, evolved Pokemon were always better and stronger, and there were only the tiniest (in Marley's opinion) of side effects, for example the Pokemon seeming weaker or having disproportionate limbs occasionally. But it was all well and dandy for Marley and he didn't care about such small side effects.

Just then, he was interrupted by his right-hand man, Mr. Jennings, who had served him for many years and was now approaching retirement. He was the one entrusted with most of the day-to-day working of Marley's territory, and would not have disturbed him if something wasn't seriously amiss.

"We have a situation, Milord," he said after a bow. "Near the Sandalwood Forest, an overseer encountered a certain trainer with a Pikachu."

"A Pikachu! But those don't exist in Sandalwood Forest."

"Indeed," Mr. Jennings said. "An overseer engaged the Trainer, but was quickly overcome, describing him as a boy no older than twelve, wearing odd clothes."

Marley slowly put two and two together. "Jennings, I want you to find that boy and bring him to me. Put in all the soldiers you want, but I want him here, before me."

Mr. Jennings was surprised, but didn't say anything. "As you wish, Milord."

Marley realized that he may just have a battle on his hands and so a bit of training would have been good to prepare. But then, it occurred to him just how much effort that would take, and after all, he was sure that his subordinates would find the intruder.

So then Marley reclined in his seat and took a nap.

A/N: I'm sorry if this got a bit too into politics and not enough into battling with Ash and all, of which we'll see more in a later chapter. I wanted to explore the Gym Leaders a bit. Primus inter pares translates to 'first among equals' if some of you were wondering.

Thanks for reading, and do please review if you liked.