Now that Davis has earned his fourth badge, our heroes think it's finally time for Tetsu and Davis to have an official gym battle. As they are on their way to Floriba City, they stopped at a local beach for them to do some training.

"Listen, everyone... Even though Tetsu is our friend, we have to give it everything we've got when we get to battle him." Davis told his pokemon as they were all getting ready for their upcoming gym battle.

"Davis sure is pumped for this gym battle." Cletus said. "What about you, Tetsu? Aren't you excited? Aren't you going to try to get your pokemon ready for this battle?"

"Yeah... Uh..." Tetsu said as he wasn't sure how to answer that. 'It's not that I'm not excited, but what do I do? Seeing that last battle, how do I push Davis at my current level?' He wondered. Just then, they all saw people run by and were gathering together.

"What's going on?" Davis questioned as they all tried to see what was happening. Everyone turned to sea as they saw what appeared to be someone surfing on a large wave. Out there was a woman with sandy brown hair tied back with tanned skin. She was wearing a blue one piece suit, but she wasn't riding a surfboard. She was riding a Mantine.

"Get ready, Mantine!" She said.

"Man!" Mantine jumped high in the air and the two of them spun around like a pro surfer with them landing on top of the wave.

"She's amazing!"

"What did you expect? She's Kaya, one of the Elite Four!" Davis and the others overheard people talking and heard them. Hearing who she was astounded all of them.

"She's one of the Elite Four?!" Tetsu said as they couldn't believe it.

Pokemon

It's a battle, win or lose

It's the friends you make

It's the road you choose

We've got the right stuff

So make your mind up

And find the courage inside of you.

If you're strong, you'll survive

And you'll keep your dream alive

Let the battle begin

Pokemon

Be the best you can be and find your destiny

It's the master plan

The power's in your hand

Pokemon

(Davis' Voice) Surf Way Up

Everyone cleared the way as the wave was coming in, but Kaya and her Mantine jumped and landed down at the last moment with her landing on the ground and her Mantine still in the water. When they landed down, the crowd gathered together and were acting like big fans of her.

"Okay. Calm down, everyone." Kaya said as she tried appealing to all of them. Davis and the others had to meet her as they tried to get through the crowd.

"Hey! Over here! Hello!" Davis called and managed to get her attention. "Are you really Kaya? The same Elite Four member that Ven told us about?"

"Did you say Ven? You met him?" Kaya questioned.

"Sure did." Davis said.

"Well, I am the same Kaya he talked about, and that there is my surfing and battling partner Mantine." Kaya introduced.

"Man!" Meeting Mantine, Davis pulled out his pokedex to learn more about it.

"Mantine, the Kite Pokemon. A water and flying-type, and the evolve form of Mantyke. Mantine can glide up to 300ft when they swim fast enough and are usually accompanied by Remoraid."

"I can't believe we've met three of the Elite Four." Tetsu said.

"Three?" Kaya questioned.

"We met Marvin, too. Davis here actually had a battle with both of them." Cletus said.

"You don't say..." Kaya said as those facts seem to have caught Kaya's interest. "Let me get my stuff and maybe we all can talk somewhere a little more private." That sounded good to Davis and the others. Kaya hurried over and grabbed her things so they got moving. Having meet a third member of the Elite Four certainly was an amazing opportunity.

...

Down the Beach

Once they all went further down the beach so they couldn't be bothered by Kaya's fans, all of them stuck by the shoreline so that Mantine could swim around freely. She put on a light blue jacket with a blue towel with white flowers around her waist. She was also wearing an interesting looking bracelet with a diamond in it.

"There we go. People shouldn't bother us down here." Kaya said as they all had a seat on some rocks and such. "So, did you boys actually meet Ven and Marvin, and battled them?"

"I sure did, but they both beat me pretty good." Davis said. "Imperialdramon and Galvantula just couldn't match pokemon that belong to the Elite Four. Obviously, I got a long way to go."

"The fact that you did battle both of them in an unofficial match is impressive." Kaya said. "Of course, you can't expect them to be easy. Just like riding waves. The bigger they are, the harder it can be."

"Miss Kaya..." Tetsu said in politness.

"I hear Miss Kaya, I feel like I'm middle aged. You can just call me Kaya."

"Sorry. I was just wondering something." Tetsu said. "You're a pro surfer, aren't you, but your specialty is towards flying-type pokemon. Wouldn't it make more sense to specialize in water-types?"

"You think, but I do enjoy soaring through the air." Kaya said as she looked towards Mantine and saw it playing around with Imperialdramon. "When I first rode Mantine, Mantine jumped high above the water and it felt amazing. I felt like I got higher than I ever have with my surfing." She said as she remembered that experience well. "I still remember the view of Alola when that happened."

"Alola?!" Cletus said. "You mean... You're from the Alola Region?!"

"I sure am." Kaya admitted. "Where do you think I got this?" She said as she held up her bracelet and showed the diamond in it.

"What is it?" Davis questioned.

"I take it this is your first time seeing this." Kaya said. "This here is a Z-crystal and Z-ring. The crystal is called Flyinium-Z."

"That's right!" Cletus said as he realized something. "Ven told us that you're capable of using these Z-moves."

"What exactly are Z-moves?" Davis questioned.

"Z-moves are powerful attacks that can be done when pokemon and trainer are in sync." Kaya said. "To perform one, you need a Z-crystal within a z-ring and both pokemon and trainer need to be in sync with each other. There are different z-crystals for each pokemon type, and the one I have is a flying-type z-crystal. That means that any pokemon that can use a flying-type move is capable of using the flying-type Z-move." She tried to explain it, but Davis looked more puzzled.

"I'm not really getting what you're saying?" Davis said.

"You must not really have seen in a Z-move before." Kaya teased.

'From the sound of things, Z-moves must be something powerful.' Tetsu thought. 'The Elite Four really know how to bring out the best of their pokemon. Come to think of it, Davis does the same. As has the gym leaders he's faced up until now. What about me? Have I been doing the same?' He wondered if he can really bring out his pokemon's potential.

"Tetsu?" Kaya said as she could see something was off. "Is everything okay?"

"There's one way to find out..." Tetsu mumbled to himself as he stood up. "Kaya, please have a battle with me."

"Hold on. I want to battle her first." Davis said. Tetsu's request was unexpected, but Kaya sees something in him that is telling her that he needs this.

"Very well." Kaya agreed as she walked out to the water and stood with Mantine for a battle.

"Here goes. Croconaw, let's go!" Tetsu called.

"Croconaw!"

"Any idea why Tetsu is doing this?" Davis questioned.

"Not quite." Cletsu said as they both watched closely.

'Time to see if I can really bring out my pokemon's potential like a gym leader.' Tetsu thought. "Croconaw, Aqua Tail!" Croconaw started this battle as he jumped into the air and had water form around the tail to attack.

"Mantine, Take Down!" Kaya ordered. Mantine jumped in the air and smashed itself against Croconaw with Croconaw's attack not doing anything. Not what Tetsu wanted to see. "Now use Psybeam!"

"Dodge it!" Tetsu called. Mantine tried blasting Croconaw with its attack, but Croconaw kept moving around the shore and kept avoiding Mantine's attack.

"You can't escape that easily! Mantine, Wing Attack!" Kaya ordered. Mantine leaped right out of the water and smashed its fins right against Croconaw and Croconaw got hit rather hard from it.

"Croconaw!" Tetsu called. Croconaw rolled against the sand and landed near Tetsu. Tetsu looked down in shame towards himself. Croconaw's easily getting thrashed and there's nothing he can really do. 'I was right. I can't seem to bring out Croconaw's strength. I probably can't with Kingler or Tentacool either.' It wasn't looking good for Tetsu with all of them wondering what he's thinking. Suddenly, Mantine seemed alert about something from the sea.

"What is it?" Kaya said. Suddenly, something emerged out of the water and it ended up being a Gyarados that looked rather mad. It attacked them with no reason as it launched a Hydro Pump, but all of them were able to move out of the way.

"What was that about?!" Davis questioned.

"Looked out there!" Imperialdramon said. They all had a look and saw there were many other Gyarados attack the beach itself.

"Oh no! Don't tell me it's that time of the year already!" Kaya said. "I heard that around this time of the year that the Gyarados like to use this part of the ocean as spawning grounds!"

"Spawning grounds?!" Cletus said.

"And they certainly don't like having anyone around for it! They'll attack everyone in the area!" Kaya said.

"We've got to get down there and try to help them!" Davis said. As all of them agreed, they all hurried back to help the people getaway from the raging the Gyarados. The Gyarados were attacking everyone in the area, trying to chase them all away. Seeing the danger there is, Davis and the others did the best they could to help.

"My pokemon can help! Kingler and Tentacool!" Tetsu called as he called on all of his pokemon.

"Koki!"

"Tentacool!" Tetsu jumped in the water and went with all three of his pokemon to try and help anyone in the water out of it. Kaya rode on Mantine and helped everyone they could out. As for Imperialdramon, he stood in the way and tried stopping a Gyarados as it tried attacking the shore.

"I've heard of roughing it on the beach, but this is ridiculous!" Imperialdramon said as it pushed Gyarados aside. Everyone was doing everything they could to help, but those Gyarados seemed rather upset.

"Mommy! Help me!" A child called as a Gyarados was right near it.

"Tentacool, Poison Sting!" Tetsu had his pokemon acted fast as Tentacool blasted a Gyarados right in the face. "Go on. Youv'e got to swim for shore." Tetsu said as he pushed the boy closer to shore with him trying to cover that boy. "Croconaw and Kingler, keep that Gyarados distracted Crab Hammer and Superpower!" The both of them tried attacking, but that Gyarados easily knocked both of them away. "No! Guys!" This wasn't looking good, but Croconaw refused to give in as Croconaw tried attacking again. However, Croconaw got blasted by a Hyper Beam and got hurt badly. "Croconaw!" Tetsu called as he hurried and swam over to Croconaw to help it.

"Koki..."

"Tentacool..." All three of them were worried as Croconaw looked badly hurt, and Tetsu blamed himself.

"I'm sorry..." Tetsu said. "This is all my fault. You guys can't bring out your potential, but that's my responsibility. You guys would be stronger if I was a better trainer, a better gym leader." Tetsu blames himself for this happening, but it also shows him he's got to try harder. "I'm not giving up. I'll try harder. I want to be even stronger with all of you!" Croconaw felt the same way as Croconaw started to get back up and began glowing. "Croconaw?!" Croconaw started to grow bigger, larger, and more fierce.

"Feraligatr!"

"You... You evolved!" Tetsu said as he was amazed that Croconaw would evolve now of all times. Just then, another Gyarados was trying to attack them, but Feraligatr stepped in as it used a new attack: Surf! Feraligatr formed its own wave and the wave blasted against the Gyarados and pushed it back. "Incredible! You evolved and know how you to use Surf now!" Tetsu wasn't the only one that saw that.

"Davis! Check it out! It looks like Croconaw just evolved!" Cletus pointed out.

"It did? Amazing!" Davis said.

"Maybe so, but it's not over." Kaya said as she landed down and could see there plenty of Gyarados angry. "Time to end this, and I think I know how. Mantine, are you ready?"

"Man..."

"Watch closely." Kaya said as she and Mantine stood together. She held up her arms with the Z-crystal shined with her moving her arms around. "Take flight to even greater heights and see the world from above!" Mantine embraced pwoer that was being given to it and shot straight into the sky. "Supersonic Skystrike!" Mantine dived straight down at incredible speed and power, faster than a rocket. Mantine swooped down and then pulled up with a great power as an immense shockwave roused the water and blasted against all the Gyarados.

"What the..." Davis said as he was at a loss for words.

"What power!" Cletus said as they were amazed by the power they just saw. The power certainly seemed to have scared the Gyarados and got them to calm down. The Elite Four truly are impressive.

...

Later

Now that the situation was taken care of, the sun was going down. Kaya loaded up her jeep and was getting ready to go.

"Well, time for me to find the next beach and hit the waves." Kaya said. "It was great meeting you guys. Do you all need anything before I go?"

"I wish we could have battled, but it was still fun seeing you." Davis said.

"Maybe we'll see each other again." Cletus said as they were fine, but Tetsu wasn't.

"Wait. Do you think you could give me a lift back to Floriba City?" Tetsu asked with all of them being shocked.

"Tetsu? What are you talking about?" Davis questioned.

"Listen, I want to be the best gym leader I could, but I don't think I've brought out the best in my pokemon." Tetsu said. "Davis, when we have our battle, I want it to be great as I can make it. However, I don't think I can get ready for it while I'm traveling with you guys. That's why I want to go on ahead and get ready for that battle, especially since Feraligatr just evolved." It was a surprise, but they both understood.

"Sure. I want our battle to be a great one too." Davis said.

"We'll see you when we get to Floriba City." Cletus said as they were both fine with it. With that, Tetsu climbed in Kaya's jeep and drove off with him as the three friends parted ways for the time being. "Later, Tetsu!"

"We'll catch up with you soon!" Davis called.

After meeting Kaya, Tetsu's resolve to become a great gym leader is stronger than ever. As our heroes part ways for now, Tetsu will have himself ready for when his gym battle with Davis comes. You better be ready too.

To Be Continued...