Now that our heroes are in Hephas City, Davis can finally have his gym battle to earn his third badge.

"There's the gym!" Cletus said as they could see the gym right ahead of them.

"Great. I'll be getting that third badge soon enough." Davis said as he was excited to have his third gym battle.

"Uh... It looks like you might not be the only one wanting a badge." Terra said as she noticed something. They took a look and saw a large group of trainers just outside the gym. "Are they all here for a gym battle?"

"What? Why are there so many of them?" Davis questioned.

I want to be the very best

Like no one ever was

To catch them is my real test

To train them is my cause

(Pokemon!)

Every challenge along the way

With courage I will face

I will battle every day to claim my rightful place

(Yeah!)

Pokemon

Gotta catch'em all

Oh, so true

Our courage will pull us through

You teach me, I'll teach you

Po-ke-mon

Pokémon

(Davis' voice): Steel Dissolve

"Excuse me. Hello?" Davis said as he got the attention of a trainer. "Is everyone here for a gym battle?"

"Yeah. We're all here to meet with Shenelle." He said.

"So the gym leader is named Shenelle? Well, where is she?" Davis asked.

"Wait. Here she comes now." All of them took a look and saw a young lady with dark skin and wavy dark hair. She wore sunglasses with a black dress and heels. She wore a necklace that was broken into pieces that appeared to be made of platinum. What's more is that she and her pokemon were carrying shopping bags.

"Hi, everyone. Sorry I kept you all waiting." Shenelle said. "Sure seem to be a lot of you today."

"Is she going to battle all of them?" Terra questioned.

"Maybe. Look at her pokemon." Cletus said. There was a Lairon, a Metang, but the third looked like a horse covered in silver armor. "I recognize Metang and Lairon. They've got good defense." Seeing those pokemon, Terra used her pokedex.

"Lairon, the Iron Armor Pokemon. A rock and steel-type, and the evolve form of Aron. Lairon live in mountains that holds both spring water and iron ore."

"Metang, the Iron Claw Pokemon. A steel and psychic-type, and the evolve form of Beldum. It adores magnetic minerals. It's brain acts as if two of them are together."

"I believe the last one is called an Armorse. They all got strong defense." Cletus said.

"Armorse?" Davis said as he used his own pokedex.

"Armorse, the Armored Horse Pokemon. A steel-type. In ancient times, warriors like knights rode these pokemon. They were often used in times of war."

"They're all steel-type pokemon, but how does she plan to take on all these challengers?" Cletus questioned.

"Okay. Here they are." Shenelle said as she retrieved a box. "Here are the platinum badges." She claimed as she showed the badge being a silver diamond. "Here you go." She basically handed the badges away.

"What?! She's just giving them away!" Imperialdramon said as they were shocked at what they saw.

"She can't do that! A badge has to be earned in a battle! Otherwise, there's no point!" Cletus said.

"Hold on. Didn't Jason say some bad things about this place?" Terra said as she remembered what he said. "This must have been what he meant." Davis certainly didn't like this.

"Hello." Shenelle said as she reached them and offered the badges. "Are you all challengers to? I've got plenty of badges left. Here."

"No way." Davis said.

"No? Okay then..." Shenelle said as she walked away. "I guess that's all of them."

"Wait! I mean I want to battle for it!" Davis called.

"Battle? No way. Go to another gym if you want. I've got stores to hit." Shenelle said. "Come along my steel beauties."

"Meta/Lair/Armorse." All of them followed her, but Davis and the others didn't know what to think.

"This is unacceptable. She can't do this as a gym leader." Cletus said.

"I agree." They all turned around and met a man with dark skin with black and grey short curly hair. He wore a beige shirt with jeans.

"Who are you?" Terra asked.

"My name is Terrance. Shenelle is my daughter." This sounds like it could be interesting.

...

A Restaurant

Upon meeting Terrance, they all moved to a restaurant so they can learn more about what is going on with Shenelle.

"You see, I was the gym leader before Shenelle, but I thought it was time for me to retire." Terrance claimed. "I made her gym leader thinking it would teach her responsibility and discipline, but that backfired. She decided to just give badges away so she could have more time for herself. Shenelle's the type that cares for what's in style. I asked her about it, and she said..."

"Battling is so outdated and out of style. They're so yesterday if not more."

"The fact is that Shenelle doesn't care for battling anymore." Terrance claimed. "There was a time she did and was really good, but I think part of this behavior comes from overconfidence. I hate to say this about my own daughter, but she can be rather spoiled."

"I can get the whole thing with following trends and style, but I still uphold my responsibilities." Terra claimed.

"I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing. If you want to battle for a badge, you'll have to go to a different gym." Terrance claimed.

"But what about Shenelle? She can't just keep going like this." Davis said as he didn't like this.

"I completely agree, Davis." Cletus claimed as he was feeling very strong about this.

"That's right. You were a gym leader yourself." Imperialdramon claimed.

"Shenelle's behavior is a disgrace to gym leaders everywhere." Cletus said. "Something about this must be done. Davis, I know you wish to have a battle with Shenelle, but let me battle her first. Maybe if she's reminded the thrill of battle or understands what a gym leader is suppose to do, she might stop this nonsense."

"You really think she'll go for it? Terrance just said she doesn't really battle." Terra said.

"I'll make sure she battles." Cletus said. Being a gym leader, he can't let this attitude stand. He feels like it's his responsibility to do something about this.

...

The Gym

"Nicely done. All this stuff is going to make you all look fabulous." Shenelle told her pokemon after finishing a shopping spree, but it looks like her pokemon aren't that excited about it. Once she made it back to the gym, she spotted her father with Davis and the others. "Dad? What is the is?" Ashe she removed her sunglasses.

"Shenelle, there's someone I want you to meet." Terrance said with Cletus stepping forward.

"Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cletus. I was once the gym leader of Pennsila City back in the Centros region.

"A gym leader?! Wow! I've never met another gym leader aside from my father, let alone one from another region." Shenelle said.

"It must be pleasure. In which case, would you mind having a battle with me?" Cletus asked.

"A battle? Dad, did you set this up?" Shenelle questioned as she sounded annoyed. "I don't understand what the problem is. By giving the badges, I have more free time and the trainers get badges. Everyone wins like this. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Shenelle, they have to earn the badge by winning." Terrance said.

"Your father has told my friends and I a lot about you, but this sort of behavior isn't appropriate for a gym leader." Cletus said.

"But battling is so out of style. They're always the same." Shenelle said. "Besides, if I know how things are going to turn out, what's the point? Battling has become so boring and predictable."

"That's not always the case. You never know how a battle might turn out." Cletus claimed. "A gym battle is intended to test a trainer and their pokemon. It shouldn't matter if you think it's boring or not. If you want, we can just have a simple one-on-one battle. What do you have to lose?"

"Besides time that I would rather spend trying out all my new stuff?" Shenelle complained.

"Armorse." Armorse stepped forward and seemed to be telling her to do it.

"Armorse? Do you want to battle?" Shenelle questioned. It certainly seemed like it wanted to.

"Meta."

"Lairon." It sounded like her other pokemon wanted her to do it.

"Fine." Shenelle said, but it sounded like she didn't really want to. "I'll battle you. Maybe once I do, you'll begin to see things my way."

"Do you think Cletus can really win?" Terra questioned.

"He has to." Davis said.

...

The Battlefield

All of them moved to the inside of the gym for this battle. Shenelle might not want to do this, but she's going through with it.

"As I said, we'll battle with just one pokemon. Since you'll be using Armorse, a steel-type, I'll be going with my trusted partner: Krookodile!" He called as he threw out his partner.

"Krookodile!"

"Krookodile is a ground-type! Cletus has the advantage!" Davis claimed.

"Yeah, but Shenelle is still a gym leader. She might have a way to deal with it." Terra said.

"You might be using a Krookodile, but I think I'm still going to win this." Shenelle claimed.

"Krookodile, let's win this! Start out with Dig!" Cletus said to start the battle and Krookodile started digging.

"Armorse, dodge!" Shenelle called. Armorse readied itself and jumped away just as Krookodile emerged. "Now use Double Kick!" Armorse turned around and kicked with its kind legs against Krookodile.

"How did Armorse do that? It was as if it knew where Krookodile was going to emerge?!" Terra said.

"Armorse is quite sensitive, so it can follow the vibrations in the ground and can tell where Krookodile is." Shenelle claimed. "Since Armorse also knows a fighting-type attack, I'm afraid Krookodile can't win."

"This battle isn't over just yet. Now use Shadow Claw!" Cletus called with Krookodile charging in with the attack.

"Use Iron Head!" Shenelle called. Both pokemon charged right at each other with their two attacks crashing into each other. They tried to overpower the other, but it was an even match. "Now use Stomp!" Armorse pushed Krookodile's arm out of the way and stomped down on Krookodile. This battle is proving to be tougher than Cletus expected.

"I'm a little impressed." Cletus said. "You clearly raised Armorse well and make full use of its characteristics. With this, I'm sure you give challengers a real test. So why not display that by battling more?"

"I don't need someone to tell me how beautiful and amazing my Armorse." Shenelle said. "Besides, what's the point when I know how a battle will turn out?"

"But how could you when anything could happen in a battle?" Cletus said. "There not as predictable or as boring as you might think."

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion." Shenelle claimed. "I just simply think battling is all the same. If you know how it's going to go, it's not exciting. Plus, they're so outdated. They're not even in style anymore."

"But it's not about that, and you need to understand that." Cletus claimed. "Now use Shadow Claw again!" Krookodile charged right at Armorse and slashed its claw agains Armorse with ghost power. "Now use Rock Tomb!" Krookodile formed rocks and threw them at Armorse.

"Iron Head!" Shenelle called. Armorse charged right through the rocks and smashed them. After that, Armorse smashed right into Krookodile and caused some damage.

"You're Armorse is quite powerful, but what would you do if someone actually beat it?" Cletus said. "Beating a tough challenger would make the badge much more deserving."

"Deserving? A badge is just badge. It's not even a cute accessory." Shenelle claimed.

"But it's not meant for fashion. A badge has to be earned like a reward or a trophy." Cletus said.

"All of that sounds like jumbo to me." Shenelle claimed.

"You don't get it? Allow me to teach you by winning! Krookodile, Dig!" Cletus called and Krookodile started digging.

"This again?" Shenelle complained. Armorse felt Krookodile coming and simply jumped away right when Krookodile came out.

"Block off their path with Rock Tomb!" Cletus called. Krookodile formed the rocks and threw them behind Armorse so that it would have no place to run. "I bet you didn't see that coming! Shadow Claw!" Krookodile slashed against Armorse again. They all thought that did it.

"It still ends the same." Shenelle said as Armorse was still standing. "Double Kick!" Armorse swung its legs around and kicked Krookodile so hard that it slid against the ground. That hard hit caused Krookodile to lose the battle.

"No!" Cletus called as this wasn't the outcome they wanted.

"See? Now because of this battle, I wasted my time. I'm going for a latte." Shenelle said as she walked away like the battle meant nothing and Cletus feeling like he failed.

"So much for that." Terra said, but Davis wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"Shenelle!" Davis called as he raced over to her. "I don't like the way you do things either."

"I won. This matter is settled." Shenelle said.

"No it's not!" Davis said. "You say battles aren't fun, out of style, and you just give badges away like they mean nothing so you can have more time for yourself? All that stuff sounds like excuses for you to be selfish. You're really nothing more than a spoiled brat!"

"Now you listen..." Shenelle started.

"Shenelle!" Terrance called as he stepped in. "I actually agree with what this young man is saying. This is not why I wanted you to be the gym leader. You said something about Armorse's beauty, but how can it really show when you won't let Armorse battle."

"Why is everyone on my case about this? Shouldn't I run the gym the way I want?" Shenelle questioned.

"Because of this is how you fell, you should just quit being gym leader!" Davis said. "If you're so sure about the way you do things, prove it by having a real gym battle against me!" He challenged as he is still aiming for that gym battle.

It would seem that after meeting a rather interesting gym leader, Davis wishes to have this battle to teach Shenelle a lesson. What will become of Davis getting that third badge? Stay tune.

To Be Continued...