AN: Thanks for the nice comments guys! I appreciate them all. Eventually, this fic should stray away from battles and more to character/Pokémon relationships. Frankly, I have a lot of ideas for battles, especially late game battles, but I think making it the focus can be dull. Hopefully you all don't find these battles dull though.

I might end up changing some formatting decisions, like capitalizing Pokémon moves or other stuff. Some changes to the overall story should come. Anyway, enjoy the chapter! Please give me feedback in the reviews!

Discord Link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

Beta: XenoTime39

"Scyther, use Slash" Scyther flew with all its speed to strike a dark-feathered Pokémon that dodged with a practiced maneuver.

The maneuver didn't end there though as the very same Pokémon knocked Scyther back with its hardened wings.

"Shinx, back Scyther up with Discharge!" Shinx jumps into the fray, watching Scyther back up, out of harm's way. With a smirk, Shinx lets out a large wave of electricity that pulses through an area of the field.

One would think that would make Shinx safe, but the darkened flying figure, pushing through the electricity would say otherwise. The figure speedily accomplished a hit and run on shinx, knocking out Shinx's Discharge. That move could only be the move that many flying pokemon wished they had access to, the sky attack.

"Alright, I think that's enough!" I said, stopping the battle. "Good work Scyther, Shinx. Fighting more experienced Pokémon is always going to be an uphill climb and you two performed well under these dim conditions."

"Scy/Shi!"

I turned to the two that they faced. "Murkrow, it seems that your skills haven't dulled in the slightest. I'm glad. Be ready to improve upon them though. You may only be helping out the lesser experienced Pokémon right now, but the time for you to battle will come sooner than you might think."

Murkrow happily let out a "Krow!"

"Alright then, let's break then!" I quickly gathered the pokefood and left it out to all of my hungry Pokémon who had been training. Calling out the others who had been training on their own, I left everyone to their own devices while I ate a premade sandwich.

My progress yesterday on route 209 had been substantial to say the least. I didn't encounter any traveling trainers that day, leaving me with a smaller portion to trek today. Hearthome City by now will take an hour or two to get to… unless I find myself in another battle. While yesterday I had not encountered any trainers, today, on the other hand, I had battled a full four trainers. They had all been beaten by Scyther and Shinx, but still had taken up quite a bit of time.

What can I say? I never turn down a challenge, especially when it can be used to help me get my Pokémon stronger! I can almost feel when Shinx is going to evolve she's so close!

On that note, I take another bite of my sandwich and turn to my bag, taking out the egg that is still waiting to hatch. I've been researching the possible Pokémon that could have a coloring pattern like the egg. If I'm right, then I'm going to need to get as much time as I can to train this secret weapon up! Maybe it's the adventurer in me that ignores the dangers of traveling that Hunter J shows exist. Or maybe it's my inner trainer who wants to challenge anyone who tries to do something like she did. Or maybe, I'm just in a good mood today.

Regardless, it's been hard for me to contain my excitement to progress in my journey. Hearthome City isn't far away now.

"Hari!"

"Wah! Oh, it's you Hariyama." His call broke me out of my thoughts completely. "What do you need?"

Hariyama held out his bucket. "More food?" I asked.

"Hari." he nodded.

"Right," I murmured, taking out a can from my bag that expanded immediately upon opening it. This little thing cost me some good money to buy, but I had to get it while I was in town. It's a holder for more pokemon food. It's widely used for trainers with larger Pokémon and since I knew I was putting Hariyama back on the team, I had to get it. Hariyama eats more than Nidoking and Torterra combined. I have no idea where he puts it away, although I suspect it's in his hands, but he indeed eats a lot.

"Here you are," I say, topping off his bucket bowl. "How about you walk me through what you did for training while I handled the others?"

"Yama!" the big guy said, excited to share. He took the bucket from my offered hand and recalled his time training through his hand filled bites of pokefood.

Ah, so Hariyama practiced 100 Arm Thrusts, working out both the move and the motion in one action. Since Arm Thrust is a big part of a usual Hariyama's move set, this much is normal for his species.

Hariyama continued to note where he worked on his other moves, such as Brine, Force Palm, Seismic Toss, and Whirlwind. Hariyama said that he's in good shape for everything which is good, considering he's my heavy hitter.

I let him finish eating and walked up to the dynamic duo that had been sparring with one another. "Monferno, Electabuzz, any progress?" The two grinned at me with Electabuzz's grin having a competitive edge to it while Monferno's was more playful.

Electabuzz explained that his moves were getting more fluid with him being able to switch between moves easier and easier as he battles more. Monferno jumped in and said that he was getting better at switching moves too, but his main growth has mostly been in his moves getting faster and stronger relative to his response times. The fact that Monferno is getting to be faster than some of Electabuzz's moves in and of itself is scary considering Electabuzz's control with electricity.

I decided to give my praise. "Good work you two. There will be many opportunities to battle, although I struggle on when to call you out. I swear that I will make sure that you two can test your skills on an actual opponent soon."

Electabuzz smirked at the compliment while Monferno climbed onto my back and sat on my head.

"You know, you're kinda heavy Monferno." The rascal flipped from my head into a battle stance, obviously showing off.

That made me chuckle. "Pft, anyway guys, we're going to head out again, but be ready to battle." I returned the two into their pokeballs and got to heading out once again. But first, I gotta gather up everyone else!

(-)

"Hey you! I challenge you to a battle!" a passing trainer said to me while on the road. Perfect. Just what I was expecting. It does make sense that I'm getting so many challenge requests. I'm traveling on the more commercial part of route 209. More trainers pass along here if they just want to get from point A to point B.

"Very well. How do you feel about a two on two battle?"

"That's fine by me."

"Then I'll show you my Pokémon first! Monferno, Electabuzz, stand by for battle!" The two appeared within a flash and showed that they heeded my words and were ready to battle.

The opposing trainer seemed a little put off from our eagerness to battle, but he shook his head and seemed to give himself some motivation. "Tear him up, Bibarel, Roselia!"

Our opponents showed themselves and were raring themselves for battle. "I'll allow you to take the first move," I said, acting a little cocky.

"Fine then, Bibarel Hyper Fang. Roselia, Magical Leaf."

Curt orders, huh. I'll follow suit. "Monferno, Flamethrower. Electabuzz, Thunder Punch." Monferno burned the incoming Magical Leaf with ease, although in doing so he became vulnerable to being hit by the attacking Bibarel. Electabuzz punched him away with a super effective punch to the head.

Bibarel looked shaken up from the blow, but still had power to keep going. I wasn't going to let up the heat though. "Monferno, Electabuzz, Dig and Thunder." Monferno burrowed underground while Electabuzz powered up his sparks.

"Roselia, use Sweet Scent. Bibarel get Electabuzz with Rollout!" More words the more he gets angry. Tut tut tut. A trainer should be calmer. ...Totally not being a hypocrite there.

Electabuzz's Thunder missed the Bibarel due to the rollout making him harder to hit while he's moving that fast. Combined with Roselia's Sweet Scent and Electabuzz was for sure going to get hit.

Which is perfect for me.

"Grab them!" Monferno popped out of his dig and took a hold of Roselia, immobilizing it. Electabuzz braced himself and when Bibarel barreled in, Electabuzz's grasp on him was secured after popping him up into the air briefly before slamming him down. "Finish this. Flamethrower, Thunderbolt now!"

The two complied with my commands and within seconds, the two were knocked out. A close up attack like that was too much for them.

The opposing trainer returned his Pokémon and nodded at me before taking off. He seems to respect that I won, but must be a bit sore about it.

Nevertheless, I won and I'm incredibly proud of Monferno and Electabuzz.

"Well, I kept to my promise didn't I? I'm sure they didn't give you a workout but they did allow you to stretch your legs, right?"

A frantic nodding and a stoic grunt was signaled back to me.

A grin made its way to my face as I came up with an idea. "Why don't you two travel with me the rest of the way to Hearthome City?"

"Buzz/Ferno!" And with their affirmation we traveled all the way to Hearthome City. I was incredibly surprised no other trainer wanted to battle me, but they might've been intimidated by Monferno and Electabuzz…

(-)

After a quick check up at the Pokémon center and a routine supply run at the department store, I have to ask. How does anyone get anywhere in this stupid city! I know that this is only the fifth largest city in Sinnoh and that Jubilife City is the largest city, but Jubilife was more spread out and open while Hearthome's buildings all look samey and confined.

Calming myself down with a deep breath, I reasoned that since Jubilife is the most modern city in Sinnoh, maybe Hearthome was more thrown together in development when all the buildings were being constructed. Yeah, that makes sense.

While I was finishing up my tangent rant, my PokéGear's ringtone blared. Hm. I don't get many calls considering I usually just call Reggie from the Pokémon Center's transfer machine area. Who could it possibly be then.

Looking at what name pops up, I'm surprised, but intrigued.

I answer the call. "What'd you call for Barry?"

"What? No greeting? Straight to business? Boooooring. Anyway, how've you been?" Barry's hyperactive attitude is coming into play now, huh. He wasn't nearly this energetic when we were traveling together.

"I've been…" my mind flashes back to the incident with Hunter J, "fine, all things considered. What about you?"

"Well, ehem ehem," he says, puffing himself up, "Say hello to Mr. I have four badges now!" Well dang… He already has another one. I would too if a certain Pokémon bounty hunter hadn't thrown a wrench into those plans...

I was slow to respond. "Congratulations?"

Immediately, Barry yelled back. "Why was that phrased as a question!" Clearing his throat, Barry got to his main point of discussion. "Anyway, I just wanted to know if you'd like to meet up in Alamos Town in say, two weeks or so? We could have a rematch there. I know that Empoleon can't wait to rematch your Electabuzz."

"Alamos Town eh?" Isn't that the town of the Darkrai movie? Well, if I do go, will the events of the movie even line up in two weeks? I'm not Ash after all? With those questions in mind to answer, I reply, "Sure, you'll get your rematch there. I have to ask though, why Alamos Town?"

"Well, it's the home of the Space-Time Tower. It's a really interesting piece of Sinnoh history that I've got to see in person. You went to see the Palkia statue in Eterna, right?" He doesn't wait for an answer as he just goes aheads and says, "I just thought it'd to have our rematch there because you're probably just as, if not more, interested in the Space-Time Tower than I am."

"You're not wrong about that." I take a quick look for it on the map. "It's out of the way though. Northwest of Oreburgh City, near the Ravaged Path."

"Yeah, but if you got a flier, it shouldn't be too bad of a journey. That is, you do have a Pokémon that can fly you over, right?"

"Not yet, but before the two weeks, I should. By the way, you mentioned Empoleon. So that must mean that Prinplup evolved. Congratulations."

"Yeah, Crasher was giving us some trouble, but then Empoleon pulled through."

Dang, he must've cut it close there. I hope that's not the case for me most of the time. I like to stay on top of things. "That sounds cool, although I don't think that Empoleon will pull through for you when rematching me.

"Pfft, don't underestimate Empoleon and me! We might surprise you when we rematch, but until then, see ya!" He hung up on me… That guy doesn't wait for anyone does he?

Seeing a Town such as Alamos should be interesting to say the least. I've never been to anywhere like it nor have I heard Reggie talk about visiting.

In any case, whether circumstances arise to where I'd meet Ash over there or not, I should be prepared to rematch Barry when the time comes.

I look up at the building that I've been talking to over the course of my conversation with Barry.

It's time, Hearthome City gym!

(-)

Upon entering the gym, I immediately noticed how flashy the lobby looked. All the furniture seemed more expensive than they should be and the receptionist was dressed in a posh uniform.

"Hello sir, what business do you have here?" the man at the desk said while bowing.

"I'm here to challenge Fantina to a gym battle. Is she available today?"

"Please wait while I check with her." I took that as a sign to take a seat on the bench next to the door.

It was only a few seconds until the receptionist said, "Fantina will see you now. Please make your way past the curtains."

I nodded to the receptionist and walked through the curtains, revealing a large room with a stadium in the middle. The dim lighting made it hard to see, but once I stepped into the challenger's side of the stadium, a spotlight appeared on a pedestal on the opposing side, revealing a woman with 4 blobs of hair purple hair, wearing an elegant dress that looks like a Drifblim.

"Greetings, challenger. To whom do I have the pleasure of battling today?" Fantina's speech was heavily accented. If I recall, that accent would be from Kalos.

"My name is Paul and I challenge you to a battle!"

Fantina's smile morphs into a smirk. "Hello, Paul. I believe your presence itself makes your challenge obvious, although I appreciate you announcing it." With no response from me, she steps down the stairs to her proper side of the arena. "Well? I'm ready. I presume you are too, yes?" Slipping into Kalosian for some of her speech, she awaited my answer.

I nodded my head and the receptionist from earlier started his speech. "The battle between Paul the challenger and Fantina the gym leader will now begin! Each trainer will use four Pokémon and when all four of one trainer's Pokémon is unable to battle, the battle is over! Only the challenger may substitute Pokémon."

Fantina then threw a pokeball. "Battle position, Banette!" A smiling vindictive doll-like Pokémon gave a battle cry when it appeared.

"Staravia, stand by for battle!" I command Staravia to the stadium, throwing out his pokeball.

"Oh? I wonder what your Staravia has in store for my Banette."

"You'll just have to find out. Hope you're not disappointed."

With those words, we let the announcer finish giving the rules. "The challenger calls the first move. Let the battle begin!"

"Staravia, take to the skies and use double team!" Staravia quickly flew up farther into the air and multiplied. Now use steel wing!"

While I gave out my commands, Fantina just stood there amused at the commands before she spoke her own. "Banette, use Sucker Punch."

While Staravia was rushing towards the still Banette, Banette calmly shifted into the shadows until it appeared behind Staravia.

"Staravia, turn now!" I said, trying to stop shadow sneak.

As Banette winded up its attack, and tried to strike Staravia, it only managed to hit steel as Staravia's wing was now in place of its back.

Before the fight in the air stopped, I knew that I had to take this chance to get more damage in. "Staravia, send it up with Aerial Ace!"

"Banette, use Sucker Punch, again!"

Staravia attempted to drive Banette up into the air, but Banette took control of itself in the air as it morphed out of existence and appeared again behind Staravia. This time however, I couldn't utter an order out fast enough to get Staravia to counter. This resulted in Staravia being the one to get hit up into the air.

Fantina let out a haughty laugh. "I think you should be mindful of Banette's attack speed. He might not be as speedy on his own, but his attack speed is magnifique!"

I took the criticism to heart as Staravia started to fall from the ceiling that he was punched into. Fine, no choice then! "Staravia, use Double Team and then Whirlwind!"

Staravia immediately woke up mid fall and stopped himself only to transfer that falling speed into downward flying speed, once again multiplying during his flight. Staravia then unleashed a massive spiral of wind in the air.

"You must know that normal attacks like that won't work on Banette, so what are you up to? No matter, Banette, use Sucker Punch, one more time!"

I immediately put my plan into action. "Staravia, allow the wind to carry you and use Steel Wing!" Staravia responded well, completely encasing his wings in steel.

Banette immediately went to work on its master's order. Vanishing quickly, it creeped behind Staravia's back only to get hit before it happened?"

"Ah, I see." says Fantina. "Staravia used the wind to move around erratically, managing to flail around and hit Banette. Very smart, Monsieur Paul."

"My thanks for the kind compliments, but I think you should pay closer attention to the stadium." Fantina looked to the stadium, but her vision was obscured from all the wind thrown out from the whirlwind.

A little urgency in her voice, she called out, "Protect now!"

"Aerial Ace!"

The wind cleared up enough to where Fantina could see Staravia descending fast on the protected Banette. Her smirk was there the entire time until she noticed that the Staravia that rushed into the protect, disappeared upon impact.

"What kind of trickery is this?" she muttered. Then she saw another figure in the sky flying down. It was Staravia. Banette's protect expired, leaving it defenseless. "Banette, use Thunderbolt!"

Only due to Banette's quick reflexes, it released a powerful wave of electricity straight up into the air, hitting Staravia immediately.

"Push onward Staravia!" I called out. Staravia's expression got more serious as it fell further and further into the Thunderbolt, trying to make it to Banette.

Then to both Fantina and my surprise, Staravia let out a battle cry and a white light erupted from him. The electricity stopped as the white light dimmed until it stopped completely, leaving a new Pokémon behind.

"Star-Raptor!" my new flying type cried out, dropping down, finishing the Aerial Ace.

Staraptor swooped towards my side of the field to sit as he knew the result. Banette lied there with swirling eyes. It was knocked out.

"Banette is unable to battle, Staraptor is the winner!" the referee called out.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" an exaggerated voice yelled out. Fantina is really dramatic, huh.

"Return, Staraptor." I say, holding out its pokeball. "Congratulations on evolving. I'm very proud."

Fantina returned her own Pokémon, commenting, "Merci Banette for your effort." Turning to me she said, "You seem to bring out a lot of power out of your Pokémon, no?"

Grabbing a pokeball out of my belt, I respond, saying, "What can I say? I hate losing and my Pokémon hate losing too."

She let out a laugh at that. "I can tell that these remaining battles are going to be just as interesting as you are monsieur Paul. Ah, but now we must continue the fight." Throwing out a pokeball, she said, "Battle positions, Mismagius!"

One of the Pokémon that Fantina is known for, her Mismagius, flying around onto the field with a spooky cry.

This one, I can't let off easy. Good thing the Pokémon I have in mind has no idea how to go easy on anyone. "Electabuzz, stand by for battle!"

The stoic one of my group appeared and was in his own battle position. It's time to see how these two will clash.

"Electabuzz, use Thunderbolt."

"Dodge it and use Psywave!"

Electabuzz fired off a wave of electricity to test the speed on Mismagius. Mismagius, in accordance with Fantina's orders, masterfully slipped out of the way and then fired off a psychic beam.

"Roll out of the way and use Thunder!"

Electabuzz knew my intentions. So, he dodged the incoming beam, with no hesitation and ran toward Mismagius. But Fantina wasn't going to allow us to attack willy nilly.

"Use a Shadow Ball!" Mismagius angled her attack downward to Electabuzz and that's when he struck.

Electabuzz from below powered up and his body pumped up as his powerful Thunder was prepared to fire.

Fantina realized what was wrong. "Dodge it!" Unfortunately for her, Thunder is an especially fast electric attack. The Thunder passed through the shadow ball, causing an explosion of dust being picked up and Mismagius getting hit by Thunder from underneath it.

With an amused smirk, Fantina said, "Nice trick, eh? Using your own attack speed to your advantage."

I shrugged in response. "Learned it from you."

"Indeed you did, and since you did so, I shall make things, how do you say it, interesting. Use Magical Leaf!"

Out from the stadium that still hasn't settled, out from the shadows came various leaves floating through the air.

"Electabuzz, stop them with Discharge!" Only barely letting out Discharge in time, Electabuzz was forced to use more power than necessary to stop the attack that usually never misses.

"Energy Ball and Shadow Ball!"

What?

To my surprise, two attacks came out of the shadows. Two balls of energy were parallel to each other, making it increasingly difficult to dodge as long as I thought about it.

"Punch the Energy Ball with Thunder Punch!" Electabuzz sidestepped the incoming shadow ball and instead put all his weight into pushing back the Energy Ball. The shadow ball hit the ground behind Electabuzz and I took that as the sign to push back. "Electabuzz, get going to Mismagius!"

Electabuzz stopped the stalemate with his Thunder Punch and the Energy Ball and instead forced it to explode upon itself, causing the field to become even more shrouded in dust. Electabuzz rushed into the fading shadow that was holding Mismagius.

"Use Psywave, Mismagius!" called out Fantina.

"Slide in!"

The quick exchange of commands based on the others' command made this back and forth hard to judge since the Pokémon were out of sight. A big wave of psychic energy erupted from the shadows. The blast was broad enough to hit if he hadn't gotten out of the way. Instead, Electabuzz could jump up after the psywave ended and get his move in.

"Mismagius, use Psychic!" Fantina wasn't going to give up the barrage of attacks.

Everything was clearing up, so when Mismagius tried to cast Psychic on Electabuzz, a noticeable spark could be seen from Mismagius. Good. Electabuzz's Thunder Wave worked nicely. Time to bring this home.

"Electabuzz, use Thunder Punch, one more time!"

Electabuzz rushed toward the panicking Mismagius, ready to punch.

"Mismagius, quickly use Hyper Beam!"

Electabuzz's fist hit Mismagius' head as Mismagius with reactions I didn't know were possible, recovered from her shock and fired off the powerful beam, hitting Electabuzz directly in the head.

The trade of hits resulted in both Pokémon being thrown back and hit to the ground. But from the two that were down, one stood back up, shakily. Electabuzz.

Mismagius, on the other hand, lay with swirls in her eyes.

"Mismagius is unable to battle, Electabuzz is the winner!"

Another loud no from Fantina ensued. Amused, I recalled Electabuzz. She sure wasn't pulling any punches despite her flamboyant personality. Electabuzz was really hurt just from that one attack.

What will the rest of her Pokémon bring for mine?

As I saw Fantina's distressed face, switch to a smirking one as she recalled Mismagius, I knew that she doesn't plan to give up a relic badge just yet.