A/N: Thank you for interacting with the story, I love the support! Song in quotations by the lovely Irene Cara.

Y'know, when I first got into the Sinnoh E4 "Fame" always ran through my head, so here you go.


Chapter 2- A Challenger Approaches

or:

"Fame"

Cynthia woke up in her side of the wing where the Sinnoh Elite Four and the Champion had resided. When she dragged herself out of bed, a pleasant smell hit her nostrils; cooking done by the eldest Elite Four member, Bertha. It wouldn't be long until the rest of them would follow.

She settled with black (because that was, after all, her signature color) and groaned when she looked at the time. It was Monday and fifteen minutes before seven, which meant she only had an hour and fifteen minutes until the league challenge started. Though the challengers wouldn't reach Cynthia for a while, she despised being late and made sure she was at least fifteen minutes early. Though the trip to the league was short (It was only five minutes by using Fly on her Togekiss) punctuality was Cynthia's middle name.

Ironically enough, the first of the Elite Four, Aaron had a habit of running terribly late.

It was also his first official day to battle, so Cynthia knew she and her fellow members had to prep for him. She hated how it seemed very last minute, but due to the event of yesterday - the incident that still shall not be named - everyone was tired, and there hadn't been any time.

Cynthia walked in the kitchen to see Bertha smiling warmly at her. "Morning, dear. Have something to eat." The older woman was always pushing her to eat. And while Cynthia was technically Bertha's superior, even Cynthia felt like she owed her a lot of respect.

So Cynthia grabbed herself a plate of pancakes and bacon. "Good morning, Bertha." She took a bite of her pancakes. "How long have you been up?"

"Just an hour. The older you get, the less sleep you need."

"Well then I must be old, then," joked Cynthia.

Bertha gave her a stern yet kind look. "You're thirty-three, you still need sleep. Don't think I don't know you stay up well into the night to read Pokemon Mythology."

"But it's so fascinating," Cynthia marveled. "I forgot to tell you I went to the Canalave library a few days ago, I read how after a volcano erupted..."

"The story of Registeel, Regice, Regirock, and Regigigas," Bertha interrupted gently. "You told me this. You're also fascinated with these myths and sometimes I wonder if you read too much."

"I don't read that much," Cynthia chuckled. "And why is that a bad thing?"

"If it interrupts your sleep and eating schedule, it can be a hinderance."

"What can be a hinderance?" interrupted a new voice, emerging from one of the other wings of the castle. Cynthia noticed the arrival of Flint. He took his seat beside Cynthia and piled his plate with a lot of food, mumbling a thank you to Bertha before adding, "Is this about Cynthia's terrible sleep schedule?"

Cynthia frowned. "You're one to talk, Flint."

"Forgive me for having a lot of energy, fired up, and being ready to go," Flint said, with a winning grin. "It's Monday - which means..."

"Eight am to six pm, with an hour lunch break," sighed Bertha. "Sometimes I think I'm getting too old for this."

"You are not allowed to say that, ever," Cynthia cut in, half jokingly, half not. "Jett left only a week ago."

Flint snorted in amusement in Bertha's direction. "You'll outlive us all, granny."

"Quiet, you. Less talking, more eating."

"So I think we need to point out the obvious," began Cynthia, changing the topic: "Aaron's first day is today. And I understand we are all tired, due to-" Flint and Bertha shot her a glare that said, of course, not to name the incident. "yesterday, but we're very underprepared."

"When I first started, I didn't get a pamphlet or a how-to to being in the Elite Four. Lucian told me to just suck-it-up, and battle like your life depends on it," remarked Flint.

"Speaking of Lucian, I feel like he should be here to discuss this," Bertha pointed out. As if right on cue, Lucian wandered into the room already dressed, grabbing himself a cup of tea without saying a word.

Flint chuckled. "Whoah there, Lucian. Want some tea with your sugar?"

Lucian kept adding heaps of sugar and sat down, looking less than amused. "Headache."

"If you're having one of your headaches," Bertha started off, radiating concern, "You ought to eat something. You can't live off tea, you know."

Lucian's eyes softened. "No thank you, Bertha. I'll grab something later."

Flint smirked at Cynthia while jabbing his thumb in Lucian's direction. "Hey, at least you're better than this guy when it comes to taking care of yourself."

"Very much not in the mood today, Flint."

"Oh my, a rare occurrence!"

Lucian glared and rubbed his forehead. "Ugh. I'm so glad I don't get many challengers."

"You're welcome," Flint said cheekily. "But speaking of who does... where is Aaron?"

Cynthia sipped her coffee that Bertha made for her. "Probably overslept again."

Lucian checked his watch and proceeded to countdown, "Three... two... one..."

"Holy crap!" came a cry from a far-away room, however so loud Cynthia was convinced all of Sinnoh could hear. Lucian hid his smirk behind his cup of tea as Flint, Cynthia, and Bertha stared in amazement. "I overslept!"

The next two minutes consisted of rummaging through drawers in a panic and lots of incoherent sounds, which made Bertha shake her head and sigh. "That boy needs to calm down, it isn't that serious."

"I'll speak to him later," Cynthia noted.

She and her other colleagues were greeted by their youngest member. Aaron – for that was who it was – entered huffing and puffing, his green hair sticking out everywhere. Flint chuckled out loud, until Bertha sent him a glare to stop, which he did. But it was admittedly hard for Cynthia to hold herself back from laughing when Aaron spilled a bit of coffee on his shirt from chugging it.

"Oh crap!" The bug-type specialist exclaimed yet again, before mumbling profanities about having to go back and change. A minute later he returned, smiling at his colleagues. "I'm not late!"

"...You are not," Cynthia allowed.

"So..." Aaron began, smiling as he sat down. "What's up? How's everyone doing? Today is my first day, so I'm nervous, also excited, but nervous - I don't know what to expect, really, so I don't know how to go on about this whole thing-"

"Headaches," groaned Lucian, putting a hand up yet not removing his head from the table. "Headaches, Aaron." Aaron's smile disappeared, looking down at the floor.

"Don't mind him, dear," Bertha interjected kindly. She sent a look in Lucian's direction. "Lucian is just tired from all the socializing yesterday and has the need to let the universe know."

"Alrighty then," Aaron allowed, still skeptical. "So, how do I go on about this?"

"You kind of have to have a shtick when battling," Cynthia replied.

Aaron furrowed his brows. "A shtick?"

"Yeah, like... a personality that differs from the rest of us," Flint proceeded to explain even further, "Bertha is kind of motherly and kind, yet has that stern demeanor that is unforgettable. Kind of like a trademark. I'm energized and 'fired' up blazing to go. Cynthia is more reserved and sweet, right before demolishing her opponents. Lucian takes the asshole role, which is a testament to his true personality."

"The afro has done numbers on your brain," mumbled Lucian from the table.

"See? Asshole," Flint said, grinning. "Don't take it personally. Lucian hates everyone."

That caused Lucian to sit up immediately to glare at Flint. "I don't hate everyone."

Flint turned to Aaron to explain. "He hates mostly everyone. The only exceptions are Bertha, Cynthia, and maybe Will on a good day."

"He doesn't hate Bertha and Cynthia?"

"No one hates Bertha, and everyone likes Cynthia," Flint filled in.

"Got it."

"I have you know," Lucian began to Flint, annoyed, "I have no problem helping people out when they need it. So no, I don't hate people."

"Oh I'm sorry, strongly dislike people," Flint corrected, with a wry grin.

"That's better."

"Of course there's the paperwork you have to deal with later," Cynthia said to Aaron, sighing. "It is the least interesting thing about being in the Elite Four, but it's a requirement. We have a big say in how our region is, what laws can go through, and so on. So you better start practicing with a pen, because you will get frequent hand cramps if you don't."

Aaron let out a dramatic sigh, sinking into his chair.

"Oh you'll be fine," Bertha said amusedly, a smile tracing her lips. "If it's any consolation, it's the battling that really is the most important."

"I'm good in that area," Aaron admitted, smiling back. He took more sips of his coffee, then: "But what about the 'shtick' thing? I start in an hour, and I haven't even thought about a shtick."

"You could always be yourself," Flint advised.

"That's terrible advice, stop corrupting him."

"You know Lucian, just because you hate yourself doesn't mean the rest of us have to hate ourselves," Flint quipped. Lucian said nothing, instead offering an eye roll and sipping his tea. Flint smiled at Aaron encouragingly, "Just be yourself, and that's your shtick."

"I agree," said Cynthia. "There's nothing more refreshing in the league when you be yourself." Cynthia thought that people ought to learn from that in their league. She would've dropped names on who didn't do that, but remained quiet. She addressed the others, "Right?"

Bertha and Flint nodded encouragingly, and when Lucian said nothing Cynthia stepped on his foot.

"Ow - Um, yes..." Lucian said awkwardly to Aaron, "You should, um... do what you feel is best."

"How convincing," Cynthia said dryly to Lucian, then turned back to the teenager. "Very well. We should get going now, I've been told we have fifteen trainers coming by today." The Elite Four stared at her. Cynthia smiled and added, "Possibly more."

"You're joking." That was Aaron.

"I'm afraid not."

The Bug-Type specialist crossed his arms. "No fair. You don't have to fight all of them, but I do."

"This is the job you agreed to," Lucian reminded him.

"I know that," Aaron replied, a bit more hostile than he intended. Lucian merely raised an eyebrow that told the boy not to continue, but Aaron couldn't help himself. "I know that, and I also know that it's not normal to get more than fifteen trainers in a day. The average amount is six or seven, so I don't know why this is happening."

"They probably want to see Jett's replacement," Cynthia answered. "It's their way of testing you. The top trainers want to see if they could get passed you the same way they got through Jett." Aaron groaned and buried his face in his arms. Cynthia held back a chuckle an patted him on the back, "You'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say when you're the champion."

Cynthia did not dispute the point. "You'll be fine," she repeated instead.


Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Aaron was breathing in, but he was hardly breathing out. To say that he was anxious would be the understatement of the century. The clock had yet to strike eight am, when the first challenger would arrive, and Aaron felt like he was losing a battle that hadn't even started. His Dustox helped him of course, to try to ease her nerves before the first Pokemon battle that really mattered. Sure, all of those other Pokemon battles were important, but this was his first battle as an Elite Four member.

He knew how hard he worked. Aaron had to; because he needed to prove to Sinnoh that bug types were actually worth something, that they were actually good in battle if applied correctly. That was the problem with most trainers, he thought. Too many of them fell to the stereotypical belief that bug-types were weak. His bug Pokemon have been with him for eight years, and if he could get to the Elite Four with bug Pokemon he had for eight years, then that was something worth acknowledging.

The door suddenly opened to reveal the first challenger. Though Aaron was the one in charge here, he couldn't help but flinch.

"Hi, um. I'm Terese!" said the female challenger, looking to be around Aaron's age. "I'm from Snowpoint City, and I wish to challenge you."

"Hello! I'm Aaron from... from..." Aaron faltered, making Terese frown. "...Jublife City. I'm looking forward to you challenging in - oh, I mean battling me. Good luck."


"What is he doing?" Lucian asked, with a sigh from their break room, staring at Aaron's screen.

Cynthia frowned deeply. She knew that she and her colleagues should've been waiting in their respective rooms in case the challengers passed by Aaron, but Cynthia thought this was a special exception. If one of the challengers managed to get passed him, then of course the guards wouldn't open the door unless Bertha was perfectly in place.

"It's just nerves," Cynthia insisted. "I'm sure he'll be okay."

"I've seen him battle before," said Flint, a hint of humor in his eyes. "He'll be more than okay."

Lucian blinked, facing Flint. "Oh?"

"You should see him train sometime," Bertha advised. "Clever." Lucian turned away from Bertha, in favor of keeping his eyes on the screen.


Aaron sent out Dustox, goosebumps plaguing his entire body, "Go Dustox!" His Dustox appeared and let out a cry.

The challenger, Terese, had sent out a Floatzel.

"Dustox, light screen!" The bug pokemon sent up a special defense barrier.

"Floatzel, use ice beam!" Terese ordered.

"Dodge it, and use toxic!" Aaron said instinctively. His Dustox had barely evaded that ice beam, but the point was that his Dustox did - and landed toxic on the Floatzel. The water Pokemon began to whine due to being poisoned.

"Try to fight through the poison, Floatzel!" Teresa said. "Try ice beam, again!" Floatzel shot out an ice beam, but this time Dustox was smart enough to dodge it without being instructed on doing so. "No!"

"Bug Buzz, Dustox!" Coupled with the poison slowly inching away at Floatzel's health, it went down once Bug Buzz hit it. Aaron started to relax a little, but shook himself out of it. No, just because he defeated one of her Pokemon didn't mean he could relax just yet.

"Floatzel, return!" Terese called back, then extracted another pokeball: "Go, Rapidash!" Aaron frowned deeply. Of course he was disadvantaged here, but he wasn't going to switch out - not just yet.

"Dustox, use toxic!"

"Dodge it, and use flamethrower!" The Rapidash managed to hit Dustox with a flamethrower, but it still inevitably got poisoned by the Pokemon. The light screen barrier was still up and ready to break, so the damage hadn't been too strong. Aaron thought that now would be an acceptable time to switch out his Pokemon.

"Dustox, return," Aaron called out, putting Dustox back in his pokeball then getting another. "Vespiquen, let's go!" He threw his pokeball out to reveal his beloved bee Pokemon, Vespiquen who squealed with delight. "Okay, Vespiquen, use defend order!" Vespiquen's defenses were now raised, which meant it could take a flamethrower - along with the light screen barrier in place.

"Rapidash, flamethrower!" Terese ordered, sounding panicky likely due to the poisoning taking its course. But Vespiquen was fast, and dodged the flamethrower instantly.

"Vespiquen, power gem!" Terese's face fell as Vespiquen managed to score a direct hit, knocking the fire Pokemon down quickly. Shaking her head, Terese called out another Pokemon - a Roserade. Aaron made the quick decision to keep Vespiquen in, considering its defenses were still up - however, the light screen had broken.

"Vespiquen, defend order!" Vespiquen's defenses were up by one stage.

"Roserade, use sludge bomb!" Unfortunately for Aaron, Vespiquen couldn't dodge that attack in time and had gotten hit - however with its defenses up, it could still stand.

"Hit her Roserade with an attack order!" Aaron ordered. By some sheer luck, the Roserade had taken a bad fall - it was still standing, but barely. "Now finish it off with power gem!" Roserade didn't make it fast in time, and had fainted.

"Slowbro, I choose you!" Terese called out. Odd, Aaron thought. She had two water types, and this was one specifically weak to bug. "Slowbro, use water pulse!"

"Dodge it, and use attack order!" Aaron was quick to say. Terese looked less and less confident as her Slowbro was, unsurprisingly, not fast enough to move. It was yet another direct hit, sending her second-to-last Pokemon down.

"This is my last Pokemon," Terese muttered, then stated: "But I'm not giving up. Go, Crobat!"

Aaron turned to his Vespiquen. "Do you think you can stay in?" She gave him a curt nod. He smiled earnestly, "That's good. Okay, Vespiquen, use heal order!"

"Crobat, use Aerial Ace!"

Crap.

Aerial Ace never missed, and Vespiquen had gotten hit. Aaron was convinced that Vespiquen was hurt pretty bad, but his Pokemon looked at him as if telling him not to dare switch out. Aaron nodded once, and ordered: "Vespiquen, Power gem!" The Crobat was knocked out, a direct hit - luck was definitely on his side, he thought - ending the match.


Cynthia, Lucian, Bertha, and Flint collectively stared at the screen in shock and awe.

"Did he just..." Flint began, with a smirk: "...Did he just knock four out of five of her Pokemon using merely one?"

Lucian continued to stare. "It appears so."

"I knew he was good at battling," Bertha remarked.

Cynthia couldn't help but smile.

That's the spirit, Aaron.


Terese sighed. "Crobat, return." She returned her fainted Crobat to her Pokeball, hesitant to look up at Aaron. "...I lost."

Aaron bit his lip. If she had lost, that meant he had won. Part of him was relieved that his first battle with a challenger didn't end with him losing, but another part was conflicted because of how sorry he felt for the girl. "That's okay. You learn just as much losing from battles as you win from them. Just keep practicing."

"Any another advice?"

Aaron thought about it for a moment. "Get more Pokemon with more type adversity," he replied. "Two of your Pokemon were water types, with one of them being water-psychic, which is weak to my bug type. Your Rapidash was a good choice, I'll give you that."

Terese gave him a weak smile. "Thank you."

With that, she departed out of the building.

But another trainer had come to challenge him shortly. Aaron grinned, much more confident opposed to before. "Hello, I'm Aaron of the Elite Four."


Bloodbath.

Bloodbath, after bloodbath, after bloodbath.

Cynthia couldn't keep track anymore of how many battles Aaron won as time came to an end. None of the challengers had gotten to Cynthia, and only two had made it to Lucian. The majority of challengers - and she knew, that there were many of them - had been stopped by Aaron. She had been watching the entire time, close and in total fascination, along with her colleagues that didn't have to battle yet.

The last challenger of the day had gone up against Aaron and had lost, with only one of Aaron's Pokemon fainting. This had been a continuous pattern, and yet Cynthia was shocked every time by it - along with her companions.

Cynthia turned to one of the guards, "How many..." she began cautiously, "...How many challengers did Aaron defeat?" Lucian, Bertha, and Flint looked up expectantly, also waiting for the answer.

"...Eleven."

The number was big, that was for sure.

"And how many challengers came in today?" Cynthia pressed once more.

"...Seventeen," answered the other guard.

Silence plagued the room. Everyone, with the exception of Cynthia, paled.

"Holy shit," muttered Flint.

It was a big deal. To win eleven out of seventeen battles was incredible, especially given that this was Aaron's first day. Cynthia had no choice but to make a mental note of that. It was commendable, it was something great - and what made it better is when Aaron lost, he still had his confidence - wouldn't let it waver, or falter. He didn't need to pick a shtick, either - and was comfortable, and most importantly, he was himself.

"Marvelous," Bertha gushed happily. "Oh, that's just wonderful. Why was he so nervous for?"

"He just had to get used to the battle sequence," Cynthia supposed. "This is what he's good at; he's in his prime. If he keeps this up, he's only going to grow."

"And did you see how he gave advice to that first trainer?" Bertha asked, smiling brightly. "Wonderful, just wonderful. Brava."

"This is good. No, this is more than good," added Flint, beaming with pride. "If he keeps this up, then I'm sure that the citizens of Sinnoh will be more accepting toward his place in the Elite Four."

"You're just happy you aren't getting as many challengers because he's doing all the work," replied Cynthia, grinning.

"I resent that idea!" Flint proclaimed, but he winked. "And I'm sure-"

But Flint stopped speaking upon their new arrival, Aaron, who looked to be sweating, yet never looked more prouder of himself. This was good, because he should be proud of himself considering what he had done. Cynthia had casually mentioned to the others that Aaron had skipped lunch in favor of getting the challengers out of the way. She had to be sure to mention that it was okay to rest every now and then, but more on that later.

Lucian reacted first. He tossed the water bottle he kept just in case at Aaron, who caught it flimsily. "Drink," he ordered. "You fought an awful lot of battles." Cynthia smirked. That was Lucian's way of saying he approved of Aaron, but of course, he wouldn't voice such a thing aloud.

"Dude," Flint said, his eyes shining with pride, "That was sick. In a good way."

Aaron smiled. "Was I on fire?"

"Totally on fire. In a good way."

"Aaron, you were great," Cynthia said, nodding in approval. "We were watching. You have a knack for battling, never lose it. Keep it up."

"And please drink water," Bertha couldn't help but add. The others stared at her. "What? He looked like he was going to pass out."

"Drink, don't chug," Lucian told Aaron, the moment he saw the Bug-Type specialist almost spilling the water on himself. "Arceus, help us."

Cynthia rolled her eyes fondly. "Lucian is very proud of you, but he won't say it." Lucian glared, and Cynthia could only smile.

"I just have one question," Aaron said. The others waited expectantly as he gathered his courage to ask, with a sweet smile, "Can we get something to eat?"

"I told you not to skip your lunch break," Cynthia sighed, rising from her chair. "But yes, we can eat something. But from now on, don't skip your lunch break - even if you're 'on fire' as Flint would put it. Being 'on fire' is not an excuse to miss a meal."

Flint snorted. "You sound like Bertha."

"Quiet, you," Cynthia addressed, then flashed Aaron a smile: "What did I tell you? You would be just fine."

Aaron nodded eagerly. "I was. Oh, it was amazing. That feeling out there, it was nothing that I had ever experienced before."

"Officially one of us!" Flint cheered happily. "One of us, one of us!" Aaron laughed out loud, and this time, Cynthia couldn't fight the smile forming on her face. It was nice to know their newest addition was more at ease, and given how close their group was, Cynthia was right - he'd fit right in.