I'm just on another level right now! I don't think I've ever spat out this many chapters in a day since Kanto Adventure (which was horribly written, IMO). I'm hoping this doesn't die out too soon and that I can keep it up for the next couple of weeks. So, last chapter was Owen's gym battle, which he won thanks to Blitzle. After it was over, Blitzle evolved, and now the group will watch Fate's contest! This will be one of the shortest contests Fate competes in, so she won't have too many performances this chapter. Now, let's find out how will she does!

Owen's team

Snivy, (f), level 16, Tackle, Leer, Absorb, Vine Whip, Leaf Tornado*

Tranquill, (f), level 26, Detect, Air Cutter, Gust, Quick Attack

Heatmor, (m), level 30, Flame Burst, Tackle, Hone Claws, Flame Wheel, Fury Swipes*

Krokorok, (m), level 30, Bite, Dig, Dragon Claw, Bulldoze

Puff, (f), level 29, Dynamic Punch, Sing, Rollout, Pound, DoubleSlap*

Muk, (m), level 37, Sludge, Body Slam, Protect, Poison Jab

With Professor Juniper

Prinplup, (m), level 27, Bubblebeam, Peck, Metal Claw, Whirlpool, Bide*

Zebstrika, (m), level 30, Quick Attack, Shock Wave, Thunder Wave, Flame Charge

"Just calm down," Owen told Fate with a bit of agitation hidden in his tone. Fate had been freaking out about winning her first contest. She only needed three ribbons, which was because of the lack of coordinators in Unova, and she was nearly about to have a heart attack.

"No!" she snapped back. "Angel, Venom, you need to nail this performance." The two Pokemon that would be performing felt the pressure of their trainer's words weighing heavily on their shoulders, but they didn't want to tell Fate that she was doing so. "I'm competing, so I'll act however I want!" Fate screamed while grabbing Owen's shoulders and shaking him violently.

"Would Fate Flores please report to the stage?" a man in a suit asked. Fate let go of Owen and turned around. She withdrew Angel and Venom to their Pokeballs and looked back at her three traveling companions with a worried look, hoping to hear them reassure her of her abilities.

"Good luck!" Owen and Rebecca exclaimed in unison, causing Fate to sigh in disappointment.

"You've got this, Fate!" CJ cheered as she began walking away. Fate waved back thankfully, and watched as her friends walked out of the coordinator room and headed towards their seats at the top of the stadium.

"Here we go!"

"Well, I'm going out to train for my next gym battle," Owen told Rebecca and CJ as they began walking up the stairs that led to their seats. Owen turned around and began walking away, but was stopped when he heard CJ.

"You said you weren't going to miss her performance!"

"Don't worry, I'll be back for the battle rounds," Owen replied nonchalantly. He and Snivy continued making their way down the stairs, but were surprised when they saw Rebecca catch up to them.

"I'll help you train for your battle if you need me to," Rebecca told Owen with a smile. The two trainers waved to CJ, who shook his head in disappointment. Though he was tempted to join Owen and Rebecca, he had promised Fate the night before that he would be in attendance. After getting to his seat in the nosebleed section, CJ looked down at the stage to see Fate running on.

"Angel, Venom, go!" Fate shouted while throwing two Pokeballs in the air. Both Pokemon appeared and looked at the enormous stadium, which was identical to the one in Castelia City. "Angel, start off with Ember! Venom, use Gust to turn it into a tornado!" Fate ordered. Angel's snout began to glow orange before she released a series of fiery bullets into the air. Fate's trusty Venomoth, Venom, flew a few feet away from Angel and began flapping his wings powerfully. The Ember attack was soon circulating around the stage, and everyone in the crowd watched in awe.

"That looks pretty familiar," CJ said to himself while rubbing his chin. "I wonder where she got that from."

"Now catch the fire with your tail, Angel!" Angel ran towards the spiraling column of fire and jabbed it with her tail. Suddenly, Angel's tail was wielding the Embernado (see what I did there? Ember... tornado… very original), as if she had done so thousands of times before. "Venom, use Psychic! Angel, throw the Ember tornado into the air!" Fate shouted. Angel flicked her tail upwards, sending the tornado back into the air. Venom's eyes then flashed blue, and a thin blue line of energy appeared around the tornado. Suddenly, the spiraling gust of wind stopped, and the bullets of fire from Tepig's Ember were thrown around the stage. Once the flames struck the battlefield the lights cut out, leaving everyone with a beautiful sight.

"That was a stunning performance," someone next to CJ whispered. CJ turned to see Akito sitting next to him while his attention was fixated on the stage. "She must be working really hard if she pulled that off," he said while turning to CJ.

"Why are you here, Akito? I mean, it's good to see you, but shouldn't you be at a gym battle or something?" CJ asked.

"Nope. I always have time to watch contests. The coordinators' performances give me ideas to use in battles," Akito replied with a grin. "Hey, where's Owen?" Akito quizzed after noticing the energetic teen's absence.

"He's out training for his gym battle in Driftveil City, even though he promised Fate he'd watch her contest." Akito nodded at CJ's response before getting up from his chair and walking towards the stairs, which were conveniently placed behind their row.

The flames acted as candles, and Fate was standing in the middle of the battlefield with Venom and Angel by her sides, and the audience let out a roar for the impressive performance. The lights turned back on, and Fate waved to the crowd while looking for her friends before finally seeing CJ. The older teen waved down to Fate, and the girl turned around strangely before looking over at the judges, who were identical to those at the Castelia Contest.

"Your stage presence with both Pokemon was second to none. Great job!" the man with a red suit exclaimed while nodding at Fate. The girl curtsied back before looking over at the short man with slits for eyes.

"Everything was remarkable!" the man shouted rather obnoxiously. Fate nodded thankfully even though the comment wasn't even the slightest bit constructive.

"Your Tepig and Venomoth looked like they were in sync the entire performance. Their contrasting styles were perfect for the routine," Nurse Joy told Fate. The fourteen year old girl thanked the nurse before walking off the stage while waving to the cheering crowd. Angel and Venomoth curtsied and bowed respectively before following their trainer back into the coordinator room, both beaming from the compliments.

"Thanks so much, both of you!" Fate told her Pokemon before embracing them. After breaking away from the hug, she turned and walked towards an empty seat before plopping down. "Are you guys ready for the next round?" Fate asked, assuming she was advancing. Angel and Venom nodded excitedly before sitting down next to their trainer, waiting for the rest of the coordinators to perform.

000

"Are you sure you want to use Deerling?" Owen asked Rebecca. The girl nodded, but didn't notice the Pokemon's reluctance to face Owen's Muk. The large pile of toxic waste looked over at Owen with a confused look on his face that screamed 'I don't think we should do this'. Owen nodded in agreement and took out another Pokeball.

"Hey, why are you sending out a different Pokemon? I want us to battle against Muk!" Rebecca shouted at Owen from across the battlefield that was outside the music hall, which was hosting the Nimbasa City Contest.

"I don't like the matchup," Owen replied. "Deerling's a little too fast for us," Owen fibbed. Deerling nodded confidently, causing Owen and Muk to sweat drop. "Everyone, come on out!" Owen shouted while throwing the four other Pokeballs in the air. Tranquill, Heatmor, Krokorok, and Puff all appeared in front of Owen and alongside Muk. Tranquill and Puff both looked over at Muk and Krokorok before exchanging puzzled looks.

"Jiggly," mumbled to Owen while looking at her two new teammates. Tranquill walked over to her trainer and did the same thing, which made the three other Pokemon turn to Owen.

"Oh! I totally forgot to introduce you!" Owen face palmed at his forgetfulness while Snivy hopped off his shoulder and stood next to Heatmor. The grass snake smiled at the anteater, who looked back at her and smiled happily. Snivy turned away nervously, drawing unwanted attention from Heatmor, who seemed concerned.

Snivy shot Owen an angry look, making him start the introductions.

"Tranquill, Puff, meet Muk.." Owen told the confused normal types. Tranquill and Puff nodded at their male teammates, welcoming them to the group. Muk happily hugged both Pokemon tightly, making them flail because of his slimy body and the fact that they weren't able to breathe because of his strength. After letting go of his two new friends, Muk smiled at Puff and Tranquill before they walked over to Krokorok "And Krokorok," Owen said, finishing his sentence. Both of the Pokemon that had been with Owen for a while introduced themselves to Krokorok and waited for a response. The ground and dark type, however, seemed disinterested. The two normal types glared at the powerful newcomer because he offended them. Krokorok didn't care, though.

Puff stepped forward and tried to hit Krokorok with a Dynamic Punch, but the crocodile smacked her hand to the right with his left arm, causing Puff to fall over. Before she could attack Krokorok again, Muk jumped in front of Puff and absorbed the impact.

"Thanks, Muk," Owen told the poison type with a wink. Muk nodded back with a smile before grabbing Puff and moving away from Krokorok, who was receiving angry stares from the three other Pokemon. Rebecca and Deerling both walked over to see the commotion Krokorok was causing before Rebecca spoke to Owen.

"So are we going to have a battle or not?" Rebecca asked, slightly agitated that it was taking Owen so long to choose his Pokemon.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Heatmor, why don't you battle?" Owen suggested while looking over at the fire type. Heatmor stopped checking on Snivy and nodded at Owen, but Krokorok stepped in front of him and pointed at himself. "You want to battle, Krokorok?" Owen asked. The ground and dark type nodded before giving Heatmor a smug look. "Alright. Let's do this thing!"

"Finally," Rebecca muttered as she and Deerling made their way back to the other half of the battlefield. "You can have the first move," the twelve year old offered. Owen nodded thankfully while his five other Pokemon moved off the battlefield and glared at Krokorok. Muk was the only one that didn't seem to mind the cocky Pokemon, probably because he loved everyone and everything.

"Krokorok, use… Dragon Claw?" Owen said in confusion while looking down at his Pokedex. He looked back up to see Krokorok shaking his head at the order, so Owen looked back down at the Pokedex. "Stone Edge!" Owen yelled. Again, Krokorok shook his head at the command. Rebecca watched the rebellious Pokemon refuse to attack, and then she exchanged glances with her Deerling.

"We'll go first!" Rebecca yelled to Owen. The fourteen year old nodded, so Rebecca began the battle. "Deerling, use Double Kick!" Deerling ran towards Krokorok before jumping in the air. His hind legs began to glow white, and the muscular deer prepared to roundhouse Krokorok.

"Dodge it and then use Bulldoze!" Owen shouted while studying Krokorok's moves, which were displayed on his Pokedex. Krokorok refused to listen, and decided to stick his arms out. As Deerling tried kicking him, Krokorok caught the normal and grass type's legs. All of Owen's Pokemon watched in awe, except Heatmor. The anteater watched in disgust as Krokorok threw Deerling in the air before his claws began to glow light blue. Everyone watched as the evolved Pokemon jumped after Deerling and slashed him powerfully. The force behind the dragon type attack sent Deerling flying into the ground.

Rebecca refused to acknowledge her Pokemon's wounds and issued another command. "Use Take Down!" Deerling struggled to stand up, but managed to do so after mustering up all of his energy. Then, he charged towards Krokorok while white light covered his body and made him look like a bullet that was fired from a gun. Krokorok scoffed at his opponent and ran at Deerling.

"Krokorok, get out of the way!" Owen yelled to his newly caught Pokemon. Krokorok frowned at Owen's pathetic choice, so he rebelled. Owen and his Pokemon watched as Krokorok slid just before Deerling could hit him, and he swiped the grass type's legs out from underneath his body. Deerling smacked against the ground face first and tried pushing himself up. Owen looked over at Rebecca, who wasn't encouraging Deerling in the slightest, which angered him.

"Sni-Snivy," Snivy said to Owen while looking at her grass type friend. Owen nodded, showing he understood what Snivy was saying. The grass snake looked over at her teammates, hoping she could get them to go along with her plan. What she saw, however, was Puff and Tranquill whispering to one another while glancing at Krokorok and Muk trying to catch a butterfly, which died as soon as he touched it with his poisonous body.

"Heat?" Heatmor asked while looking over at Snivy. The grass type froze up and looked back at the fire Pokemon nervously. Heatmor studied Snivy's reaction, but didn't understand why she was acting so strangely. He figured he'd leave her alone, but then Heatmor remembered what Charizard had told him when they were in Vermilion City.

"...you're shutting them out. But you can't do that…" The powerful words echoed in his head and gave him the chills. Replaying the words in his head, Heatmor walked over to Snivy and asked her what she wanted to say.

"Vy-Sni," Snivy whispered quickly. Heatmor had a hard time hearing Snivy, but he managed to understand her plan. The two Pokemon then looked over to Owen and began cheering for Deerling.

"Come on, Deerling! You can do it!" Owen chanted. The three preoccupied Pokemon that weren't battling stopped what they were doing, and they joined in on the cheering. Deerling looked up at Owen and his Pokemon in shock. They were supposed to be battling against each other, but his opponents were rooting for him? Deerling then turned to Rebecca, who stood in silence while looking back at her Pokemon. A sudden feeling of anger and confidence flooded through Deerling's body, and he began to push himself back up.

Krokorok glared at Owen and the others hatefully. He didn't understand why they were rooting against him, but he knew he'd make them regret their cheering. Krokorok sprint over to Deerling, who was still trying to get on his feet, and he jumped while his claws began to glow blue. Before Owen or anyone else could react, Krokorok slashed Deerling's back. The dual grass and normal type fell back to the ground as his legs gave out, but he was still conscious.

"What were you thinking, Krokorok!?" Owen shouted at the victorious Pokemon as he ran to Deerling's side. Krokorok looked at the teen in shock. What did he do wrong? He wasn't the one cheering for the other side, and the point of battles was to win. Owen cradled the downed Pokemon in his arms after withdrawing the other Pokemon, and began to run to the Pokemon Center. Snivy and Rebecca ran after him, leaving Krokorok by himself. Even though he didn't want to, the rebellious Pokemon began running towards the Pokemon Center.

000

"Now it's time for the championship round! Our two remaining coordinators are Fate and Edna! Five minutes will be on the clock, and the winner will receive the Nimbasa City Ribbon! Begin!" the announcer, who was named Jill, shouted.

"Angel, use Tackle on Psyduck! Venom, circle over Edna's Pokemon!" Fate shouted. CJ, who was sitting by himself shook his head angrily after turning his attention back to the stage. Owen and Rebecca had said they'd be back after the appeals were over, but they weren't. They even missed Fate's semifinal bout, which she dominated. CJ peered down at Angel, and saw that she had smacked into Psyduck's head with her own. Angel fell on her rear end and rubbed her throbbing head while Edna's Psyduck stared straight ahead, completely unfazed by the Tackle attack. Fate watched as she lost a sixth of her points while Edna only lost an eighth.

Venom circled over Edna's Psyduck and Vulpix, though neither Pokemon noticed the bug flying in the air. Psyduck looked lost and remained stationary while Vulpix dashed towards Angel. The fire type starter turned her head slightly to the left to see Vulpix running her way, so Angel stood on her feet and prepared to fight off her opponent.

"Vulpix, use Quick Attack! Psyduck, use Calm Mind!" Edna croaked. Her shrill voice rang through the stadium, causing everyone, even Fate's Pokemon, to cover their ears. Angel took the Quick Attack head on, and she was thrown twenty feet back. After getting up for a second time, Angel shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the pain, but it only became worse.

"Now use Toxic, Venom!" Edna gasped as both of her Pokemon were hit by the harmful attack, and both girls saw their points drop slightly. Edna had three fourths of her points remaining while Fate had two thirds of her total. Turning her attention away from the remaining points Fate watched as both Psyduck and Vulpix were shocked by purple static that spiraled around their bodies.

"Vulpix, use Will-O-Wisp on Psyduck!" Edna cried. The audience watched as Edna attacked her own Pokemon. "Now, Psyduck, use Confusion and turn the flames into rings!" Psyduck's eyes turned bright blue, and the purple balls of fire began to spin around his boy. Eventually, they began to spin so fast that two blue rings, one spinning horizontally and the other vertically, orbited around Psyduck. "Now throw it at Venom!" Fate gasped when she saw Venom get trapped by the two rings, and her points dropped down to a mere quarter.

"Angel, use Flame Charge on Vulpix!" Fate shouted. Vulpix was crushed by Angel and flew into Psyduck. The water type fell onto his back, but didn't attempt to get back on his feet. Vulpix rose back up slowly while gingerly putting weight on her front left leg, which dropped Edna's points down to a third.

"Vulpix, use Flamethrower on Venom! Psyduck, use Water Pulse on the ground!" Before Vulpix could hit Venom with the super effective Flamethrower, Psyduck hurled a sphere of water on the ground in front of him. Because he was on his back, Psyduck's angle led him to strike Vulpix, which dealt major damage to the fire type.

"Here's our chance, guys! Angel, use Ember straight in the air! Venom, use Gust!" After Angel sent the orange bullets of fire into the air, Venom whipped his wings forward. Even though he was stuck inside the Will-O-Wisp prison, the wind from his wings managed to escape and create a vortex of fire. The crowd began to cheer excitedly after remembering Fate's appeal round, as they all knew what was coming next.

"Vulpix, Psyduck, get up!" Edna shrieked. Both of her Pokemon desperately tried to get up, but were too tired to do so. Edna watch helplessly in her trainer's box, so the audience and judges turned their attention to Fate and her Pokemon.

"Angel, control the vortex with your tail! Venom, use Psychic on the rings around your body and throw them at Vulpix and Psyduck!" As Angel's tail went into the tornado of fire Venom's eyes flashed blue. He then escaped from his prison and hurled the rings at Edna's Pokemon.

"Dodge it, both of you!" The exhausted Pokemon looked up and watched the blue rings of fire surround their bodies. Vulpix and Psyduck tried breaking out of the Will-O-Wisp trap, but neither Pokemon had enough space to use an attack.

"Angel, finish this up with Fire Tornado!" Fate commanded while pointing at the targets of the attack. Angel pointed her tail at Vulpix and Psyduck and the two Pokemon were scorched by the incredible combination. After releasing the tornado, Angel ran over to Fate's side and Venom descended to the other. Once the red tornado dissipated, everyone saw that both of Edna's Pokemon were unable to battle, and her points had hit zero.

"Edna no longer has any points or Pokemon capable of battling! That means Fate has won the Nimbasa City Contest!" Jill roared. The crowd exploded with applause, and the screen jumbotron displayed a picture of Fate, Angel, and Venom over the word 'WINNER'.

"We did it! We did it! We did it!" Fate iterated while jumping up and down. Angel and Venom cheered excitedly as Fate received the Ribbon from Jill. It was a simple gold diamond, but there were two thick strands of yellow ribbon behind it. Fate ran off the stage with her two Pokemon and waited for Owen, Rebecca, and CJ to show up.

000

"Nurse Joy!" Owen shouted as he barged into the Pokemon Center. He sprinted over to the pink haired woman and her Chansey, which was wearing a small white hat with a red cross on it. "Please help this Deerling," Owen said in-between gasps for air. Snivy, Rebecca, and Krokorok came running into the Pokemon Center as soon as Nurse Joy whisked Deerling into the emergency room.

"Is he going to be okay?" Rebecca asked normally, clearly not aware of the damage Krokorok had done.

"Are you serious!?" Owen screamed, drawing the attention of everyone in the lobby. "First, you don't cheer him on, then I have to take him to the Pokemon Center, and then you don't even know, or care, about how badly he was hurt!" Owen roared before slamming his closed fist on the counter. Rebecca and the two Pokemon flinched at the thunderous noise, and she hung her head.

"I-I do care. But I thought-"

"What? What did you think!? Did you actually think Deerling would be fine after that Dragon Claw?" Rebecca stepped away from the enraged trainer before running out of the Pokemon Center.

Owen then turned his attention to Krokorok, who was acting like everything was normal.

"And you! What the hell were you doing out there!? You don't listen to me, and then you attack Deerling when he's completely defenseless?" Owen shouted. Krokorok glared at the fourteen year old before snapping right back at him.

"Kroka! Krokorok!" Everyone began to walk out of the lobby, but Owen didn't care if he had disturbed any of them.

"We weren't cheering for you to lose!" Owen screamed back. Krokorok gave Owen a puzzled look, so he continued screaming. "Rebecca wasn't supporting Deerling, so I figured I would! And so did everyone else!" Krokorok looked over at Snivy, who was nodding, albeit reluctantly.

"Krok," Krokorok muttered before hanging his head. Owen realized the remorse Krokorok was showing, so he took a deep breath and brought out the ground type's Pokeball. "Return." The rebellious Pokemon was zapped back into the spherical device and Owen walked over to an empty booth that was a few feet away from the counter.

After taking another deep breath, Owen heard the automatic doors slide open, so he looked up. Fate stormed into the lobby with CJ following close behind. Owen looked at the clock on the wall and cursed under his breath when he realized he had missed Fate's contest.

"Seriously? You miss my contest to go practice. even after you promised me you wouldn't miss it?" Fate interrogated while she put her hands on the table. Owen looked up at his friend before putting his head against the table.

"I would've been back, but Deerling got hurt badly," Owen responded quietly. Fate immediately snapped out of her rage and slid into the booth, taking a seat next to Owen. "Krokorok decided to battle, but he didn't listen to me." CJ slid into the booth and sat across from Owen before leaning in to hear the rest of the story. "Rebecca wasn't cheering for Deerling, so we did," Owen said while pointing to Snivy. "Then Krokorok used Dragon Claw on Deerling when he was trying to get up, so I ran all the way here."

"Is he going to be alright?" CJ asked in a hush whisper.

"…I don't know," Owen replied while raising his head to look at CJ. "And Rebecca ran out because I flipped out on her." As if on cue, Rebecca came back into the Pokemon Center and walked over to the table. Her eyes were puffy, so the three teens knew she had been crying. She didn't say a word as she walked towards the windows that let trainers see their injured Pokemon being healed.

"Well, I managed to win my first ribbon," Fate told Owen while sliding the piece of gold towards him. Owen stared at the ribbon before giving Fate a congratulatory fist bump. "It's no big deal you missed it, though. At least you'll get to see me win my other two," Fate joked after punching Owen in the shoulder.

"Haha. I'll make sure I see those. But I have to go apologize to Rebecca and then call my parents," Owen told Fate and CJ. The three trainers slid out of the booth, and Owen walked over to Rebecca, who was watching Nurse Joy heal Deerling. "I'm sorry for yelling."

"It's fine," Rebecca responded quietly. She and Owen both watched as Deerling was put into the healing machine, and continued to look at Deerling when Nurse Joy left the room. "I'm a bad trainer. I should have encouraged him and stopped the battle," Rebecca told Owen as she turned to him.

"No. I shouldn't have let Krokorok battle. He clearly won't listen to anything I say, so I guess I'll have to release him," Owen replied while looking down at the younger girl. "Besides, Deerling wouldn't have let you pull him from the battle. He's a competitor." Rebecca nodded at Owen's statement after wiping her eyes. She then turned to Owen and smiled at him.

"Don't release him."

Owen turned to Rebecca with a shocked expression.

"If anyone will get through to him, it'll be you. I know it," Rebecca stated, causing Owen to laugh.

"Thanks. I'm gonna go call my parents, but I'll be back to keep an eye on Deerling." Rebecca nodded at Owen as he walked out of the lobby and headed into the video chat room with Snivy sitting on his shoulder. Owen opened the door and sat down at one of the empty chairs before dialing his parent's number. The screen let out a ringing sound, but stopped when Owen's parents picked up.

"Owen! We caught your battle yesterday, and you did so well!" Owen's dad exclaimed. Before Owen could ask, his mother appeared on the monitor and chimed in.

"The Unova League gave us a free subscription to your gym battles, so we can watch whenever we want!" Owen laughed at his parents before remembering he had to introduce them to his Pokemon.

"Oh yeah! Last week when we were going back to Castelia City, the power cut out, so we had to go into the sewers and fix the generator," Owen told his parents, who waited for him to continue the story. "To make a long story short, I have to introduce you to my new Pokemon." Owen tossed Muk's Pokeball in the air, and the friendly Pokemon appeared.

"Muuuk," the pile of poison greeted lowly while waving to Owen's parents with a smile. Owen's mom had a grossed out look on her face, but she still waved to the Pokemon because she didn't want to be rude.

"Did you catch any other Pokemon?" Owen's dad asked excitedly as he pressed his face against the screen. Owen nodded and reluctantly released Krokorok from his Pokeball.

"This is Krokorok. I caught him two days ago, so we're still working on our communication," Owen explained while turning to Krokorok. The ground and dark type nodded at Owen's parents while his arms were crossed, and the Plateaus waved back. After meeting his new Pokemon, Owen withdrew them back to their Pokeballs just incase Krokorok did something stupid. "I'm gonna go. Tomorrow's going to be a long day," Owen told his parents. His parents waved before ending the call, and Owen walked out of the room with Snivy.

Realizing Fate, CJ, and Rebecca weren't in the lobby, Owen walked over to the window and looked in the ER. Deerling was resting comfortably on a stretcher, so Owen decided to head to his room.

"Snivy, are you ready for our next gym battle?" Snivy looked up at her trainer and nodded excitedly as they headed down the hallway where all of the rooms were located. "Good. I don't know what type the gym specializes in, but you'll get to battle."

"It's ground." Owen turned around and saw Akito leaning up against a wall with a grin on his face. The long-haired teen walked over to Owen and Snivy while tossing a Pokeball before speaking again. "It's been a while," he said.

"Yup. We've gotten a lot stronger since our last battle. Right, Snivy?" Owen asked his starter. The grass snake nodded in confirmation, which made Akito stop tossing the Pokeball.

"That's good to hear. How about we have a battle soon?"

"Definitely. I'll meet you at the practice battlefield at eight tomorrow," Owen replied.

"Actually, I was thinking we could battle at the Driftveil Bridge in a couple of days. Me and my Pokemon are gassed, so we need a break."

"Well, when would you want to battle?" Owen asked.

"In three days. I'll meet you at the Driftveil Bridge at noon." Owen nodded and watched as Akito walked towards the lobby. "I'll be looking forward to it!"

Well, that was a pretty tough chapter to write. Fate won her contest, Krokorok injured Deerling badly, and Owen will battle Akito within the next couple of chapters! So, next chapter will be about the group's arrival in Driftveil, and a new character will be introduced! And because this A/N was so short, I'll be giving you the titles of the next THREE chapters! Till next time, peace out.

1) Do you like Krokorok? Why or why not?

2) Should Owen have been angry at Rebecca?

3) Which of Owen's Pokemon is your favorite at the moment? (I know they've gotten uneven amounts of development, but that's why I'm asking)

4) Should Akito and Owen's battle be 3 vs 3? Or 6 vs 6? Which of Owen's Pokemon would you like to see battle?

Next Chapter: Fighting for Love!

Chapter 29: Blackout

Chapter 30: Battle at the Bridge