Josh considered sailing away on the S.S. Anne for a long time as he stood on that deck. The ship was incredible, and full of Trainers. Traveling the world with no one who knows him had a certain appeal. After that battle with Ryan, he grimaced at the thought of meeting his brother along his journey, or Ash, or anyone he knew for that matter.

Josh's hand drifted to his collar, and he pulled out a necklace from under his shirt. It was nothing more than a piece of string connected to a bit of rusty metal — the bottom half of a shrunken Poke Ball. What used to be a spherical white capsule was now a dull gray color with patches of brown rust, which refused to be removed no matter how hard Josh had tried. Josh had resigned himself to punching a hole through it with his father's power drill, and looping a string through the hole. His makeshift necklace he had worn ever since that day.

Josh had gone fishing at the same spot his brother had a few days after Jake had caught that Poliwag. Somehow, Josh had had even less luck than his brother, and not even the Magikarp that Jake had landed by the dozen seemed to be biting as eagerly that afternoon. Every time one of them nibbled on his bait, Josh yanked on his fishing rod, but the Magikarp simply darted away, leaving nothing but a few ripples in their place. Josh had never had his brother's patience.

Josh had almost given up when he saw Ryan stroll onto the pond next to him and cast his own line into the water without so much as glancing at him. With this unspoken challenge, there was no way Josh was leaving empty handed. The two of them stood there, eyes trained on their hooks bobbing along the surface of the water, and traded jabs.

"You know there's no good Pokemon in here, right?" Ryan had said.

"Then why are you here?"

"I thought I'd see how quick I could land one before you fell asleep out here."

"Maybe you're just afraid I'll get one before you."

"Fat chance!" Ryan had said, "I'm doing this as a favor for the Pokemon in here, any of them that get stuck with you are doomed to failure."

Josh had gripped his fishing rod so hard his knuckles went white. He had wanted to punch Ryan, but he knew that was what Ryan wanted. Still probably worth it, Josh had thought to himself.

Josh had turned to Ryan, and Ryan had looked back at him, daring him to try it. But just then, their lines were tugged forward. Josh and Ryan immediately turned back and yanked on their fishing rods, the water on the surface broke and their lines emerged attached to the same thing — a rusty Poke Ball. It was clearly broken, covered in rust and even some algae, and it dangled between the two boys; each of their hooks attached to one end.

Before Josh could react, Ryan had immediately lunged back and yanked on his fishing rod, pulling Josh forward and almost knocking him over. But Josh had regained his footing and immediately pulled in the opposite direction.

"It's mine!" Ryan had yelled.

"No, it's mine!"

"I pulled it first!"

"I was here first!"

"Let go!"

"No, YOU!"

The two of them had pulled as hard as they could on their lines, until finally the hinges on the Poke Ball snapped and the two halves flew apart, sending the two boys tumbling backward and falling to the ground. Josh had gotten up and scrambled to retrieve the half attached to his line.

"It's broken, idiot," Ryan had said as he simply stood up, and reeled in his line without bothering to touch his half of the Poke Ball.

"I know that," Josh had said, "but it's kind of cool. Who knows how old this thing is."

"Who cares," Ryan had muttered.

"Well, I guess we can call it a draw," Josh had said.

Ryan had scoffed. "Drawing against you is as bad as losing."

Josh had always imagined the day he got his first Poke Ball going differently — it being intact, for one thing — but he had also thought that Ryan would at least have congratulated him for it.

Instead of resuming his plan to punch Ryan in the face, Josh had simply pocketed the Poke Ball half and reeled in his line quietly. Once he had finished, he finally said, "You're a bad friend," and walked away.

Josh didn't see much of Ryan after that, for a long time. He spent more time with Ash than anyone else in those days, and had gotten to know her almost as well as he knew Ryan. She had never asked what had happened between them, which Josh had always appreciated, but never said out loud. One day at lunch, Ryan had sat down with them and started eating without saying a word. Josh had wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words. He had looked at Ash, who only shrugged.

Josh stood on the deck of the S.S. Anne, staring out at the black expanse that had been the ocean bathed in an orange sunset a few hours ago. He toyed with the Poke Ball half hanging from his neck. Ryan had seen Josh wearing it a few times since that day. He had never said anything about it. But that was as close to an apology as Josh was ever going to get. If a draw was a loss to Ryan, then Josh had won. Ryan wasn't unbeatable. And Josh wasn't worthless.

Josh would see Ryan again. He knew it, in his gut; with more certainty than he knew anything, it felt like. But first, there was somewhere he needed to be.

#

A few of the Trainers in Vermilion Gym raised their eyebrows as Josh entered at 7:00 AM on the dot. One of them tried to challenge Josh himself, but immediately bolted when Lt. Surge left his office and declared that he would face this challenger himself.

Josh had spent the entire night training, and hadn't slept at all. But the weight on his eyelids lifted once he saw Lt. Surge approaching him. He seemed taller in his own Gym, and Josh briefly hesitated before taking out his first Poke Ball.

Lt. Surge held his hands clasped behind his back as he stated the conditions for their battle: two-on-two, the Gym Leader opens with their choice first and has no substitutions. Like his announcement on the S.S. Anne, Lt. Surge hardly waited for Josh to respond before turning around and walking to his end of the battlefield.

Surge led with a Magnemite. Josh called on his Geodude, but Surge didn't miss a beat. He immediately gave the order for Magnemite to use Supersonic. The magnets attached to the sides of the Steel-type began to spin rapidly, and the sound of metal-on-metal forced Josh to cover his ears. Hephaestus lost his grip on the ground underneath him and and fell over, rolling onto his face. Surge quickly followed-up with a Sonic Boom from Magnemite, hitting Hephaestus with a blast of sound shaped like a crescent. It hit Hephaestus dead-center in its face, but Hephaestus powered through and slammed his hands on the ground, most of the ground shaking as the Magnitude took effect. Cracks formed on the ground underneath the Magnemite, and Josh heard the sound of metal denting. The Magnemite's single eye rolled into the back of its head, and its magnets dropped to the ground at its side.

Surge sent out Raichu next, and gave the order for Iron Tail. The Raichu lunged forward with incredible speed — faster than Josh could react — and brought his tail down on Hephaestus's face like an axe, defeating him in one fell swoop.

Josh sent Pan out next. But the Electric-type was too fast and too strong. Surge gave it exact orders to dodge and counterattack and the Raichu executed them perfectly. It dodged Pan's Sleep Powder, zapped his Razor Leaves out of the air with Thunderbolt, and slapped Pan's Vine Whip away with Iron Tail. Surge had stood upright during the entire battle, shouting his orders loudly but without a hint of emotion. Only now, as Josh grit his teeth and Pan backed away from the Raichu, did Surge allow himself a moment to gloat.

"Seems you still haven't learned, kid," he said.

Josh didn't take the bait. "Pan, Take Down!"

Pan jolted at his own Trainer's voice, but immediately charged forward. For once, Surge was too slow to react, and Pan finally landed an attack. The two Pokemon tumbled over each other, and Josh ordered Pan to stay on top of Raichu no matter what. The Electric-type immediately responded with a point-blank Thunderbolt, both Pokemon glowing yellow and the air crackling from the electricity; but Pan wrapped his vines around the Raichu's limbs and refused to move.

"Now, Sleep Powder!"

Pan growled loudly as the Raichu continued to hit him with Thunderbolt, but he let out a puff of green smoke from the tip of his bulb, which floated down and onto the Raichu's face. Finally, the Thunderbolt barrage stopped, and the Raichu went limp and closed its eyes.

Surge withdrew his Pokemon and surrendered, giving away no sign of anger as his discipline returned. Josh returned his battered Ivysaur and walked forward to meet Surge, the smell of burnt leaves still lingering on the battlefield.

Surge made no mention of their conversation on the S.S. Anne. He simply gave Josh the Thunder Badge, a disc for TM24, and a firm handshake. Somehow, Josh knew there was nothing more that needed to be said. His battles with Brock and Misty had already given him a sense of perspective, that they were only single steps on the road to becoming a great Trainer. It seemed silly now how Josh could spend entire weeks training and mentally preparing himself to face someone like Misty; only to start all over again right after winning her Badge. But, Josh realized, this was the part that Jake hadn't mentioned. It was a marathon, not a sprint.

Misty was Badge two out of eight, and Surge is three out of eight, Josh thought to himself. Celadon. That's where I have to go. Erika's next.