Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

The last light of the waxing moon shone on a rocky plateau, high in the mountainous Hoenn north-west quadrant, Two trainers sat on the plateau's edge, legs dangling, bathed in the moonlight, and two Pokémon, vastly different in size, sat nearby as well. Below them, close enough to be visible in daylight, yet far enough away that it would be more than a day's walk, lay Lavaridge Town. Small lights shone from street lamps and homes, indicating its position in the tableau below.

The left trainer, his face partially hidden by the hood of his cloak, spoke. "I am uncomfortable with enlisting two trainers as young as they are. Surely there are better, more experienced, older trainers that could be of assistance."

"Probably," his compatriot stated, tapping his left heel on the cliff face. His face was not obscured by a hood, though a cap did cast a shadow on his forehead and eyes. "But nobody else I know is close to here, unless you want to wait a week for a boat or plane from Kanto and a teleport. Had you told me earlier, I could have contacted them. I'm doing the best I can."

"An error you have reminded me of more than once," was the reply. "But I see dissuading you is not an option. I'm not certain why I even tried. You're too stubborn." The other trainer made a noise of agreement, and so did the Pokémon present. "Have you written your note?"

"Yeah." A hand went into the vest, retrieving the paper. He held it out, and the other trainer grabbed it, a small light in his other hand. "Any good?"

"I can't make anything of it," came the admittance a minute later. "And by that metric, so should anyone not familiar with the event you refer to. In lieu of an encrypted message, this will have to do." The hooded trainer stood up, patting his Pokémon, which stood close to two heads taller than its trainer, once. "I think we've covered everything. If you find anything, contact me. I'll be at most an hour's flight away," he said, holding out the note he had taken earlier.

The writer took the note back, sticking it in his vest pocket before hoisting his legs back onto solid ground. He stood up, prompting the smaller of the two Pokémon present to come stand by his feet. "Yeah, will do."

The trainers shook hands before one climbed on the back of his Pokémon. "One more question. Why did you come here? Why train with him?"

"He asked me to. One last time, he said."

"I see." The mounted trainer whispered something to his Pokémon. Then, with mighty wing beats, they lifted off from the ground, soon vanishing from sight as they flew south. The other trainer released one Pokémon, ordering it to keep guard while he slept. The Pokémon obeyed as it tucked its legs underneath it, but no wild Pokémon disturbed his trainer or the other, small, Pokémon as they slept under the moonlit sky.

~~§~~§~~

When Max and Danny arrived at the Lavaridge Gym, three days after aron was added to Danny's roster and twelve hours after the boys stumbled into the Pokémon Center in the deepening dusk, they were surprised to find the doors closed, with a laminated note stuck to the front door.

Dear trainers,

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will be gone until June 29th. Battles will resume on June 30th by order of appointment. Please register your name and Pokédex ID at the Pokémon Center.

Flannery, Lavaridge Gym Leader, June 23rd.

Danny summed up the boys' feelings. "Well, bummer."

Three days later, Max and Danny walked up to the Gym, their Pokémon rested, their minds set towards the sole goal of beating Flannery and her fire-types. Since Max had gone first for the Shadow Badge, it was now Danny's turn to fight the Gym Leader first. He'd be Flannery's fourth opponent of the day, and at least one trainer had probably beaten Flannery, judging by the happy smile on her face as she exited the complex when they entered.

Danny stopped just after they'd entered the complex. When Max stopped as well, turning to face Danny, he saw that his friend was looking around the surrounding rooftops as if he were searching for something. "Is something wrong?"

"Thought I heard something fly and land. Something heavy," Danny admitted.

"Probably one of the Gym Pokémon," Max reasoned. "C'mon, we have badges to win."

There was an audience for the match: a local primary school class had come in just after Max and Danny had, and they'd be watching her battle for some school excursion. Flannery told them that she fought 3v3 and that she wasn't allowed to swap out, while the challenger was, and that they'd be watching two matches in succession. The class looked appropriately excited.

It was a heated match, and Max was glad Flannery's arena included barriers maintained by several psychic-type Pokémon. Several of the Flamethrowers and other assorted fire-type attacks came close to hitting both battlers, as well as the audience, but all were redirected into open air as the fire splashed upon the convex shields. The heat was not redirected, though, making the bleachers a thoroughly uncomfortable place to sit between the fire and the blazing summer sun beating down on them.

Danny won, his duskull beating a slugma, nicknamed Mig, before losing to a young torkoal. The torkoal went on to beat gulpin as well. It had inhaled too much of gulpin's poisonous clouds, though, and mudkip was able to make short work of it, as well as Flannery's final Pokémon, which turned out to be a cyndaquil. Applause was duly given, and there was a short question and answer thing with the schoolchildren, and then it was Max's turn.

Barriers sprung up around Max, and he heard Flannery wish him good luck, even as they sent out their first Pokémon. Flannery led with a growlithe, while Max opted to go with baltoy. It was he who opened the offensive by ordering the levitating Pokémon to grab growlithe with its psychic powers.

Growlithe was having none of that, and at a sharp order by Flannery, it twisted away, returning fire with a series of glowing embers that managed to score a few hits before baltoy could bring up a barrier of psychic energy, red evaporating on a wall of nearly fluorescent blue.

The barrier dropped, but growlithe did not wait for Max to take the offensive again. It spewed forth fire, shaping the flame into a ball that surrounded it even as it started running, aiming to hit baltoy with the Flame Wheel attack.

Max grinned. He knew the perfect counter for the move. "Rock Tomb," he ordered, and the tip of baltoy's foot shone for a second before it slammed into the ground twice in short succession. The first rock that sprung up was half avoided by the growlithe: fur fell to the ground, torn off by one of the sharper edges of the rock. The flame wavered slightly. The second rock was a full hit, launching growlithe into the air before landing harshly, even as another attempt at grabbing it psychically was made.

A full-on, but narrow, Flamethrower forced baltoy to spin out of the way, descending rapidly with a foot glowing even as the growlithe tracked its target as fast as it could. Flame licked the top of the baltoy for a fraction of a second before a third rock sprung up, wide enough to split the flame, baltoy waiting behind it for the fire to stop.

Waiting was okay, because it provided time for baltoy to charge up its newest move. "Ancientpower!" Max ordered, and a white glow covered his Pokémon for a brief second before coalescing into a ball perched atop baltoy's arms. "Launch it at another rock!" he added when the fire stopped flowing across the field.

The second rock shattered into several smaller rocks, a lot of fragments, and dust. Rocks and fragments shot away from the point of impact, crashing into and clipping the growlithe multiple times. It had hid from baltoy near that rock, taking a moment to coat itself in flame once more before resuming the attack. It was a costly delay.

For a third time, Max called for a psychic attack, and this time, it connected. The growlithe struggled to get free, increasing its frantic movements as all four of its paws left the ground, but there was no escaping. Baltoy was careful to keep the furry Pokémon's mouth facing away from it as much as possible, and embers shot in desperation bounced off the barrier near Flannery as the fire-type was levitated higher and higher, slowly but steadily.

And then, baltoy slammed the growlithe into the ground, jaw hitting one of the larger pieces of rocky debris. Flannery called for her Pokémon to continue fighting, but it couldn't, and the referee ruled it knocked out.

Baltoy hadn't come off unscathed, Max saw as his Pokémon floated back. Its normal levitation was steady as anything, and movement was usually smooth and stable, yet now, the levitation wavered every so often, as if the powers that kept it floating slipped for a fraction of a second. Depending on the next Pokémon, Max thought it might be better to return baltoy to let it recover slightly.

Then, Flannery's second Pokémon took the field, and Max immediately signalled that he wanted to switch Pokémon. Only stupid luck or extremely skilled and experienced Pokémon could win when faced with type immunity, and Max had neither. Baltoy was returned, but replacing it was not an easy decision. Ninjask was stronger and faster, but electrike was not affected as much by fire, while treecko was straight out.

He opted for the bug-type, which caused some chattering to his side, where the class was seated. Some of the more knowledgeable children were educating their neighbours on why this was a bad idea, though one girl was loudly insisting that ninjask was a good Pokémon to use, "coz it's fast."

Max smirked when he heard that.

Flannery opened this round, ordering her second canine Pokémon of the fight to unleash a Flamethrower. The houndour gladly obliged as it ran forwards, closing the distance even as it expelled fire from its mouth, flame rippling forwards, seeking to engulf everything in its hot embrace.

Ninjask zipped out of the way of the fire, gathering speed as passed the houndour by on the right, one of its pincer-like forearms scratching the houndour on the tail as it went past fully, rising again, swerving left when the canine spun to adjust its flame.

The Flamethrower attack stopped, Flannery ordering another attack, but the ninjask slammed into the houndour's flank before it could be used. The bug-type's speed was reduced drastically as momentum was transferred from the ninjask into the lighter, albeit grounded, houndour, and the canine Pokémon was pushed sidewards, its claws saving it from going fully airborne and slamming into the shielding, instead merely skidding softly into it.

The houndour was on its feet nearly immediately. It expelled a toxic gas, vanishing in the thick smog even as half the field was obscured, and an attempt by ninjask to hit it from its right side failed, though the pass through the cloud did clear the Smog attack slightly.

Max heard soft, careful, pattering of feet as houndour constantly kept moving In the smoke. Flannery had used this strategy before, against Ash's pikachu, only then it was slugma, not the canine Pokémon. He grinned. They'd practised for this situation specifically, and as ninjask gathered more speed, Max ordered it to clear the smoke out.

The ninjask dove, pulling out of the dive inches above the ground. Dust kicked up in its wake as it sped into the smog, the velocity high enough to cause the smoke to disperse momentarily, before more smoke fled into the path it had taken. Upon reaching the end of the field, it shot upwards, dodging embers fired at it in the process and banking around the edges of the arena until it reached a point high enough. "Drop!"

And drop the ninjask did, aiming for a spot off the centre of the cloud. It was wise to do so, fire scorching the ground in that dead centre, but ninjask reached the low point of its arc safely before rapidly changing direction. The resulting small shock wave pushed enough smog away to fully uncover houndour. "Fury Cutter!"

Forearms glowed as ninjask banked once more, flipping over in mid-air to reach the houndour sooner. It dove through another Smog attack, but forearms raking the houndour's nose stopped the attack from covering the field again. The glow extended and ninjask turned, eager to press its advantage.

Houndour tried to stop the ninjask, but its desperate Ember did not visibly faze the bug-type, and the second fly-by of Fury Cutter slashed a furry back, prompting loud yelps of pain as houndour collapsed in the attack's wake.

"I forfeit houndour!" Flannery called across the field as she returned her Pokémon. "Time out!" she added, making the universal gesture for a time-out to emphasise her call.

Flannery walked over to a man that Max recognised as her grandfather, the old Lavaridge Gym Leader, and they started talking animatedly. As they did so, Max took a good look at his ninjask. There was one small visible spot of burnt insect hair, most likely the result of the last Ember attack, but it looked eager to continue.

It took a minute, but eventually, the former Gym Leader nodded, apparently agreeing with whatever Flannery had said, and the Gym Leader returned to her trainer area. "I underestimated you! Let's see you try this on for size!" Her third Pokémon entered the field, a small heat haze surrounding it. Several licks of flame shot from its red and yellow body as the magmar sunk into a ready stance.

Max's mind recalled the details he knew about magmar. Their body was incredibly hot, and Ash had fought one that could block electricity. They lived in volcanoes and used primarily fire and poison-type attacks. Like most Fire-types, they lacked solid defences, but made up for that with blazing offence. Of course, attacking it bodily was risky in and of itself.

The third round began, and both trainers ordered their Pokémon onwards. Magmar took the offensive, inhaling shortly before spewing out a round of embers, spread out as to catch the agile ninjask.

Max had ordered ninjask to lead off with Double Team, and though three of the four illusions were ruined by the projectiles, the real ninjask and one copy had avoided the embers entirely. They flew circles above the fire-type's head, careful not to go too close to the ground where magmar could more easily reach them.

A ball of fire gathered in front of magmar's beak, before streaking off into the sky in different directions, attempting to hit ninjask in mid-flight. The last copy faltered as fire hit it, but the real ninjask remained untouched, though it was a close thing.

The bug-type dove into an attack, forearms glowing in a Fury Cutter, and while magmar made to inhale once more, ninjask unleashed an unholy Screech that took magmar by surprise. No fire left its beak, and the Fury Cutter scored a hit when ninjask swiftly raced past magmar's belly while it was still recovering from the assault on its hearing.

Triumphantly, Max ordered another Fury Cutter, but magmar quickly cloaked itself in a layer of smog and moved out of the way. Ninjask was unable to hit magmar, but immediately banked and shot back into the smoke at top speed.

A soft thud rang across the pitch, along with cries of pain from both Pokémon. A second, louder, cry of pain rang out a few seconds later, and it was ninjask that cried out.

The reason for its distress soon became apparent as it was launched into the air with a vicious toss, wings still, body lightly smoking. Underneath it, the black smog suddenly lit up as a jet of flame shot up, its aim dead-on, engulfing the ninjask for two seconds before Max was able to hit the return mechanism on his pokéball. He vaguely heard something from his right, but he ignored it as he shrunk ninjask's pokéball and grabbed another.

Without hesitation, Max sent out his electrike. It was fully charged, wasting no time after the referee's signal to send a jolt of electricity at the fire-type, scoring a hit in the leg as the magmar moved left to dodge. Static crackled, but no paralysis occurred.

Magmar's retaliation consisted of a Flamethrower, which did nothing but heat up Max's area and obscure his view, electrike having sped out of the way. A second attack followed as Flannery ordered a round of Ember, but if they hit, they were not enough to deter Max's small electric-type.

More electricity tried to zap magmar, and once more, electrike scored a glancing hit. It was a powerful attacker, but the dodges were slow. Too slow. That was something Max could work with. "Keep it up!" Electricity peppered the fire-type, scoring more glancing hits. None were enough to induce even temporary paralysis, but it was not something magmar could keep up.

Flannery recognised the same thing and ordered magmar to hide itself in smog once again, which it did, before firing more flame at where electrike had been a few seconds before.

Fire and electricity shot back and forth as the two Pokémon traded attacks, the magmar presumably mixing in some smog as well, as the smokescreen did not diminish despite a minute passing. Only a few loose embers hit electrike, and Max had no idea if the magmar was hit in return.

Then, suddenly, electrike charged, a blue aura surrounding it as it sped into the cloud. The Spark attack drove into magmar, nearly pushing it into the right-hand barrier, and electrike jolted away before magmar could Fire Punch it. The green Pokémon had not come off unscathed, but the burn on its snout did not appear to affect it in any way as it returned to firing electric attacks at magmar.

One hand held to its belly, the magmar returned fire, opting to try to block with embers rather than dodge. It worked well enough, as the embers drained the current flying at magmar, and some also forced the small canine Pokémon to keep moving.

Electrike circled around magmar as the fire-type took up position about halfway into Flannery's half of the arena, periodically launching more electricity. Every time the electricity arced in magmar's direction, the fire-type was quick to launch embers at electrike, which were nearly all dodged by the green and yellow Pokémon. Barely any electricity made it over to magmar either, creating a stalemate: the Gym Leader's ace having successfully negated its opponent's speed advantage.

Voltage ran out long before a fire-type's flame would, and electrike began showing small cues of tiring out, even as the magmar's inactivity allowed it to recuperate slightly. It was the advantage of the defender, to wait and expend less energy until the opponent tired. Fire-types weren't usually a good contender for defending, the element's destructiveness lending itself to attacking, but even makeshift defending worked.

Max, however, had one more Pokémon left. He just needed to leverage that. "Spark!" he ordered. "Aim for its belly!"

The belly was a weakness, judging by the protective hand magmar had held in front of it ever since taking up the defender's role. Electrike shot towards it, dodging embers and jets of flame as it put electric charges into its legs, allowing for seemingly supernatural turns. One last burst of flame hit, but it was too late, and the electric-type rammed into the magmar.

Magmar was prepared, and a small adjustment of its footing mitigated some of the damage as it worked with the electrike's momentum instead of against it, but even so, it was hard to ignore something ramming itself into your gut. It did stay upright and conscious, which was more than could be said for electrike.

"Electrike is knocked out! The score is now two each," the referee declared as Max switched Pokémon. "This match between the Gym Leader's magmar and the challenger's baltoy will decide who wins."

Baltoy was floating more steadily than before, its powers partially recovered by the rest it had been afforded. Magmar was not as lucky: even from a distance, Max could see the fire-type breathing heavily. Physical endurance was not magmar's territory, not that they needed it in their usual habitat.

"Overheat!" Flannery ordered the instant she was allowed to.

Magmar's body lit up, its yellow parts gaining an orange tint and the red turning brighter, before destruction spewed forth from its beak. White fire, surrounded by orange lints, streaked towards baltoy, intent on ending the match in one shot.

Baltoy required no order to dodge out of the way, which was all Max saw before his vision was impaired by blinding fire forcing itself on the barrier in front of him. Scorching heat forced Max backwards, eyes closed, but the heat vanished before Max could take a third step.

He opened his eyes, and a wave of sound assaulted him as a rock was obliterated, red hot remnants scattering themselves around the middle of the arena, far away from baltoy, but close to magmar. It was a rock that had not even existed moments before.

Baltoy's Rock Tomb effectively stopped magmar's Overheat in its tracks, as the fire-type instinctively stopped to shield itself from debris raining down from the shattered rock.

Its instincts of shielding, not moving, cost it, as baltoy called forth another rock, right underneath magmar, before grabbing some of the debris psychically and sending it in magmar's direction, even as the fire-type fell down, laying prone.

The latter half of the debris shot through magmar's translucent red form, as Flannery returned her Pokémon. "I forfeit magmar. Congratulations Max!"

Barriers dropped, allowing Max to reunite with his baltoy, showering the psychic-type with praise for its ingenuity. Danny was beside him a moment later, congratulating Max enthusiastically, and the three of them went over to the referee's area.

Flannery was already there, and she waved the class over. Twenty-odd children were soon standing around them in a semi-circle, prompting Flannery to start speaking. "Did you like the battles?" Flannery addressed the children. Some nodded, some muttered and some loudly agreed in reply. "You have any questions?" Two girls and a boy raised their hands, and Flannery pointed to a girl with pigtails, standing in the back of the group. "You."

The group parted slightly to allow the girl to come closer. "It's for the trainer," she said, looking at Max, "if that's okay."

Flannery gave Max a look, and Max shrugged. "Sure, go ahead."

"Why did you order electrike to use Spark? Couldn't you let it stay far away?"

"Electrike was getting tired," Max replied, "and magmar was only getting better. I needed to stop that."

"How did you know it was getting tired? Didn't look like it," a boy in the back piped up, before visibly deflating under his teacher's gaze. "Sorry."

"Ooh, good question," Flannery praised, which caused the boy to blush. "Tell ya what, Max, you give an answer and I'll add to it."

"Uuuh... Let me think..." Max said slowly, trying to remember what exactly had made him think electrike was getting tired. "There was... the turning. After it dodged the embers every time. It was getting slower."

"That's one thing I noticed too," Flannery said, a smile on her face. "The electricity was getting less powerful too, but I only saw that because it was on my half. It was running out of voltage. So, any more questions?" Three hands went up. "Hey, I thought there were two questions left. You," she pointed at a girl that hadn't raised her hand before.

"What do you mean by running out of voltage?"

"Most elemental attacks, like electricity, water and some grass-type attacks, only have a limited storage. An electrike can only store so much electricity," Flannery answered. "Same for the mudkip I fought earlier, and even my fire-types will run out of flame at some point." She put her hands behind her head. "More questions?"

"Last question," the teacher added, leading to a groan or two. "Timmy?"

A small boy, holding a squirtle backpack in his left hand, stepped forward. "Ms. Flannery, which battle was better?"

"Which did you think was better?" Flannery returned the question. A few kids answered, but the teacher made a shushing sound. "Timmy?"

The boy shuffled his feet, looking down shyly. "I liked both."

"You know what, Timmy?" Flannery said as she crouched, making eye contact as the boy looked straight ahead. "So did I. They were great battles and I'm proud to give them a badge. They earned it." She stood up and took the badge from a bag tacked onto her belt. "Congratulations Max. You're halfway to Ever Grande."

~~§~~§~~

Once back in the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy held Max and Danny back after accepting the wounded. "Someone's Pokémon left a message for you while you were away," she said, holding up an envelope. Both their names had been written on one side. "Did you make friends with one of the other trainers?"

"Don't think so?" Danny said as he took the message. "Thanks Nurse Joy. We'll pick up our Pokémon tomorrow morning," he added before walking to the cafeteria. "Any ideas who wrote this?"

Max took the letter from Danny. The handwriting was familiar, but Max couldn't think who would've written them a note. Most communication was done with the Pokénav or the videophones. "No. I know my sister doesn't have a Pokénav, but she's not in Hoenn, I think." He stuck one finger under the envelope's flap. "Let's see."

Max, remember where you last had that green crystal? Be there by the next full moon.

"Well, that's not a letter at all," Danny said. "I don't get it."

"I do," Max said, wondering when the next full moon was. Probably in a few days: Max remembered the moon waxing to first quarter the nights before they'd arrived in Lavaridge."I'll explain in our room. I need food for this." A rumbling stomach agreed with that statement.

Max had never really talked about jirachi with Danny. He didn't like talking about that week. It was just too uncomfortable, which he'd told Brock the one time they talked about it. His sister had tried once as well, but Max had been a bit angry with her that day for some reason he didn't remember. He probably still wouldn't tell her.

"So, what about that crystal," Danny said as they sat down in their room after dinner. "And who's writing us anyway. You never said that."

Max took a deep breath. "Remember the Millennium Comet?"

"Yeah! That was cool," Danny enthused. "I watched that as much as I could. It's only once in a thousand years, and we were able to see it!" He frowned, thinking. "Wasn't there some legend to it? About jirachi?"

"Yep," Max confirmed. "A jirachi only wakes every time the Comet is here, but he needs a friend according to the legend." Danny nodded, familiar enough with the legend to follow. "The legend is real. There really is a jirachi that wakes with the Comet."

"Really?" Danny exclaimed in surprise. "Cool! Did you see it? Can it really grant wishes?"

"Yep," Max said, remembering the mountain of candy. That'd been cool. The part with the fake groudon... Not so cool. "The jirachi was sleeping in a green crystal until it woke up."

"And you had that crystal, so... You're the friend?" Danny asked. He sounded a bit sceptical. Max gave a nod as an answer to the question, which caused Danny to frown. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Max felt irritation flare up, but it went away nearly immediately. "I... I don't like talking about it. It's..." he trailed off, unsure what to say. "It wasn't all wishing for candy..." he trailed off. Some things he had never told anyone outside of Ash, Brock, and May. This. Groudon and kyogre. The Tree of Life. Several other events. He made his decision. "There's something I need to tell you."

He didn't tell Danny everything. That would take far too long, and he told Danny that straight up. He knew Danny would likely ask him about it later, but it was about jirachi now, and for the first time, Max shared the elation, the happiness, the fear, and the sadness that he had felt in that week in Forina. Danny had questions, of course, but he kept them to the topic at hand.

By the time the story had been told and Danny had asked all his questions, half an hour had passed, and Max's throat was parched. "So..." Danny said, "recapping. That green crystal is jirachi's crystal." Nod. "And that was in Forina? The place about a day and a half from here?" Another nod. "And why the cryptic hint? Could just ask, y'know."

"Yeah. That part is weird," Max agreed. "Oh well, it's okay. When's the full moon?"

"Three days," Danny answered immediately. "I looked it up while you were taking the dishes back." He put his hand on Max's shoulder. "Thanks for telling me." He took his hand back, and shuffled around in place, uneasily. "Your parents... They...Do they..."

"Not unless May told them."

"Why not?"

"Hi Mum, Dad. I had great fun with Ash. Only got into Legendary-grade lethal danger about half a dozen times," Max stated flatly. "Or more. Kinda lost count. I'm still not sure how Ash and Brock talked them into letting me join after Team Rocket stole my sister's torchic. Adding lethal danger to that, well... I think I'd be grounded until I turned sixteen or something."

"Well, if you put it that way. Next stop, Forina."

~~§~~§~~

Flannery watched the class and the two trainers go off. The class went back to the school just down the road and the trainers were probably going to the Center to get their Pokémon healed. She had no more appointments until that night, when two more trainers would try to earn a badge. Because she was still working through the backlog, any new arrivals would have to wait in line.

A muffled thump sounded behind her as a heavy-set Pokémon landed, and a lighter thump followed it as a human jumped off the Pokémon's back. "I figured you were watching when I saw him loitering around. Enjoyed the show?"

"Yes. You ramped up for the second boy, did you not? That was why you sought guidance from your grandfather, to ask if you should ramp up against someone with three months of official experience under his belt."

"Well, yeah. Normally, I wouldn't, but you saw what he did. Ninjask are great Pokémon. Too bad many trainers don't look past the type advantage fire has over bugs. If you can't hit it, you can't win." Flannery smirked as she turned around. "I know more trainers with that motto."

She saw her companion nod in agreement. "Travelling with someone for the better part of two years leaves a lasting impression, it would seem."

"Did they pass your test?" Flannery wondered, not flinching when a dark glare met her eyes. "Don't give me that. Why else would you be here? You don't idly watch my battles. You don't even live close to here."

"They exceeded my expectations," came the admission. "I am not comfortable with it, but less so than I was this morning."

"Good. Now, care for a training match in the mountains?" Flannery said as she grabbed one of the yellow and black pokéballs on her belt, releasing a charizard that obediently sank down, allowing Flannery to climb up on her back. "You owe me a rematch from last time."

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Though our philosophies differ, we Gym Leaders share one overarching ideal: we want to push trainers further. No matter if you test strength, tenacity, friendship, or any other measure by which a trainer's worth can be seen, we have always sought to be the goal just inside of a trainer's reach. We should not be walls of impenetrable steel, nor should we be mere bumps in the road. Our duty is to assess the trainer, and hopefully find him worthy.

That is not to say that we must never be that insurmountable obstacle, or that minor bump. However, never be these callously, without regard for the situation. Adapt. Challenge the trainer by whichever measure you want. Make them earn your badge.

From: Hoenn Gym Leader Philosophy.

By: Juan, Senior Gym Leader of Hoenn.

Author's Note: More fighting, and Max taking a leaf from Ash's book in fighting against type disadvantage. Also some other characters.