After a month of recovery, the doctor did one final thorough body checkup to update my condition. The results seemed to have come out positive, as the doctor announced, "Lows, as expected, you're finally able to be discharged from the hospital later today. However, as mentioned before, you're required to continue walking in crutches for the next two months, and long periods of walking are not allowed to prevent more stress on your legs, which would affect your recovery.

I nodded, and the doctor kindly handed me a foldable wheelchair, which looked rather easy to store in his backpack in that form, "This foldable wheelchair should come in handy in case you needed faster travel. You're going to be continuing your journey, right?"

"Yeah, thanks to the help of my friends."

"Stay safe out there, and don't do anything to further injure yourself." The doctor advised, before patting me on the shoulder as a wish of luck in the remainder of my journey.

With that, I used my crutches, which I had some practice days prior to get a feel of them, to slowly exit the hospital, my sister, Charmaine, accompanying me from behind in case I suddenly lose my balance and fall over.

Fortunately, that did not happen, as the glass doors serving as the entrance of the hospital opened in front of us, as I stepped foot outside the hospital.

The sunlight shining on me, and the outside air I got to inhale made me feel oddly, incredibly relieved.

Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom!

The days of recovery I had to spend in Fortree City were nothing compared to this, and I was so glad it was over.

However, there was not much time for me to reminisce and laze around, as the deadline to complete the Gym Challenges would end in one month, and me wanting to challenge all remaining three Gyms, decided to get straight back into action. As such, as promised, Winona and Regis were already waiting outside with their respective Pokémon: Winona with her Altaria, Merodī, and Regis with his Swellow, Tsubasa.

Technically, Regis did not need to follow us, but he said he wanted to see his ex-mentor in action… plus some personal reasons, so he tagged along anyway.

As Regis helped me carefully get onto the fluffy Altaria's back, Charmaine once again thanked Winona for her help in a soft voice as she held both the Fortree Gym Leader's hands, "I'm really grateful for your help, Winona. Thanks for helping Lows continue his Hoenn journey."

Winona simply responded with a gentle smile on her face, "No big deal, Charmaine. Consider this a gift for being such a hardworking Gym Leader. Let's get a treat together some other time again."

"Yeah, let's!" Charmaine beamed.

As their brief conversation came to an end, my sister approached me before we exchanged a hug. Without her, who took care of me so well throughout the month despite her busy Gym Leader duties, I would not have recovered so well to keep everything according to schedule.

"I owe you one, big sis." I whispered.

"You don't owe me anything, little bro." Charmaine smiled, "Thanks to you, I've already gained so much more than I could alone. Now, go get 'em, Lows!"

As we broke from the hug, it was time to go. My sister waved us three goodbye as we slowly ascended from the ground, before eventually flying off.

Initially, I was nervous about being more vulnerable to falling off Merodī and dying a horrible death, due to my movements becoming much more limited, but my nervousness slowly disappeared as I realized Winona was flying Merodī at a gentle pace, accommodating my current condition.

Regis was also flying alongside his ex-mentor, and as we made brief eye contact with one another for a moment, Regis gave me a confident smile along with a big thumbs up to reassure me.

I felt nothing but thankfulness towards the two… for basically reviving my journey that should have been completed without a proper ending.

The journey obviously took slightly longer due to the slower pace than before, but I absolutely did not mind since in exchange, the journey felt safer than ever. At that moment of time, I preferred not rushing to risk my dear life again.

Mossdeep City

"Our slogan: Cherish Pokémon!"

As we landed on a comfortable spot in Mossdeep City, the clear, sunny weather greeted us three as I looked around the city that was surrounded by water, and even noticed some Wailmers nearby. The island of Mossdeep was also covered with plants and flowers, which I thought my sister would have definitely loved.

I planned to stay around Mossdeep for three days, some of the time would be for light training and preparations for the Gym Challenge, which I felt was needed after such a long time of not battling. Upon hearing my upcoming plans, Winona simply said, "When you're ready to head to the next place, just contact me, and I'll be there once my schedule allows."

I nodded, "You're a lifesaver, Winona. Thanks for everything."

The Fortree Gym Leader smiled, "No worries. I love flying, anyway."

I thought the two would stay around the city for a little longer, but Winona appeared to be getting back onto her Altaria's back. I asked, "You're leaving already?"

"Yeah. I would've liked to stay a bit longer, maybe have a chat with Tate and Liza, but I need to head back to my Gym. There's a battle happening later that I have been looking forward to for a while."

She certainly piqued my curiosity with her description, "Is the person challenging you someone that I know?"

Winona simply patted Regis' shoulder with a grin, "Yeah, you'd definitely know."

The challenger somewhat awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, "...I thought it'd finally be the time I show Winona my improvements as not just a Trainer, but also as a person. But honestly, I'm super nervous right now! I don't even feel this nervous during my early flight days. Battling against someone I looked up to all these years… is a huge mountain to fly over. In some way, I needed to take this flight to get my mind off things."

He then heaved a big sigh, "I just hope I won't end up showing a crash landing in front of Winona instead…"

I chuckled, "You'll be fine, Regis. I had similar feelings before facing my sister, but ultimately, I was able to show everything I got to offer during the Gym Challenge. Just give it all you've got, and not leave any regrets behind."

Regis seemed to feel slightly better from my words of encouragement, "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Lows."

Winona smiled at her ex-mentee and asked, "Shall we, Regis?"

"...Yeah, let's fly, Winona." Regis looked towards her with a more determined expression, as they flew into the sky in sync back to Fortree, both ready to give their all for the upcoming Gym Challenge.

...Good luck, Regis.

I decided to stick with the wheelchair temporarily to move quicker, as I unfolded the wheelchair from my backpack and sat on it comfortably, before gripping on both wheels of the chair and thrusted ahead to start moving forward. Thankfully, my practice back in the hospital paid off and made this road to the Mossdeep City Gym a lot smoother than I expected.

As I took slightly more effort to push the glass doors open before entering the Mossdeep Gym, the lobby's unique design greeted me and left me pleasantly surprised. The lobby was designed as if it was outer space, with the trophy cases resembling rocket ships, the succulent plants there having unusual shapes, and the realistic-looking stars painted on the ceiling, appearing to be shining with the aid of the outside sunlight.

Near the registration desk, the twin Gym Leaders, Tate and Liza were actually present, as they wore similar outfits from the last time I saw them during the meeting in Lilycove. The two were talking to a woman with short dark blue hair and glasses, who was also wearing a green dress.

At first, it seemed that they were having a heated argument, but upon closer look, it actually just felt like the common conversations my sister used to have with my parents when I was younger. The older woman looked at the twins with a stern look on her face, "I get you two's eagerness to battle, and that the Gym Challenge season was almost over, but five battles in one day is still ridiculous! You two can't be overworking yourselves like that, week in, week out."

The twins simply replied in sync, "We are fine!"

The older woman sighed, "Although you two are working hard as Gym Leaders, your teenage years were something you only live once for, so cherish them on other hobbies as well."

Liza raised her right hand, "But battling is basically our hobby, and we enjoy doing it!"

Tate raised her left hand along with her twin sister, "And I think we're managing our schedule fine, too."

The blue-haired woman wanted to further give a talking to the girls, "Tate, Liza-"

Knowing they would not be a match against the older woman in front of them, the twins quickly cut her off and announced their surrender together, "Whatever, we got it!"

The older woman sighed and gently patted the two shorter girls' heads, before finally noticing me and quickly composed herself. She then gave me a brief self-introduction, "Welcome, Trainer, I am Rachel, Tate and Liza's mother. I also work in the Gym to help the girls out with matters regarding the Gym Challenge."

Tate and Liza then looked to follow along with their own self-introduction as well, but Liza seemed to have recognized me before she gleefully said, "Hey, you're the Trainer who got Shock Wave'd!"

...There's no way this is what I'm known for now.

Before I could feel any embarrassment, Rachel sternly looked at Liza and said, "Manners, Liza."

Liza realized her mistake before she looked at me and apologized, "I-I'm sorry…"

I waved my hands and said, "It's okay, I don't particularly mind."

"Oh! Does that mean I can keep calling you Shock Wave Boy-"

"Please don't call me that, thank you very much." I chuckled, before looking towards Rachel, "Anyways, I would like to register for the Gym Challenge."

"Sure thing!" The older woman nodded and put on her professional smile, "You can either choose between the traditional double battles format, and the new multi battle format that we just started testing earlier this year."

"What is the multi battle format you're talking about?" I asked.

"Let us explain!" Liza was eager to chime in, "For this multi battle format, Trainers are allowed to pair up with another Trainer, where each of them sends out one Pokémon for a two versus two double battle against Tate and I!"

"...The testing of this new format was originally going to be on a first come, first server basis, but since not many people opted for this option, there are still many test spots left." Tate continued.

Then, the two finished the explanation together in sync, "We wanted to see whether the new format would be viable for future Gym Challenges in the upcoming league seasons!"

I thought working together with another Trainer would not only be interesting, but also helpful as I was just recently going to return to the battlefield, and needed to derust my skills.

However, I don't think I really got anyone I can pair with-

Suddenly, the sounds of the glass doors opening once again caught our attention, as I looked behind and saw the Trainer who just entered the Gym, which was a familiar person I knew.

"Sip!" I cheered.

The Lavaridge native seemed surprised to see me, "Lows! I thought you told me you're not able to participate in the remaining Gym Challenges anymore."

"Well… plans have changed, and I now have transport to get myself to the last few cities, so I'm able to continue my journey again." I smiled.

"That's great!" Sip was delighted hearing the good news, "Welcome back to the league, Lows."

"Thanks! What brings you here, Sip?" I asked.

"This is the last Gym I needed to visit to collect all ten Gym Badges." Sip explained, "I have been holding this Gym until the last because of the different battle format. I'm not a traditional Trainer who studied in Trainer School before, so I think I would struggle in double battles the most. I wanted to pair with a few Trainers for the Gym Challenge before I was captured by Team Willpower, but I got rejected."

I offered, "Why don't we team up for this Gym Challenge, then? I want to try out the new format as well."

I extended my hand to Sip, "I don't have much experience on this format, either, but I've learned about a thing or two back in Trainer School. Plus, I did that one multi battle with Harry against Kyla and Stone some weeks ago, so we should be doing just fine."

Sip looked at me as if I was his savior, which funnily enough, I technically was, before extending his own hand to exchange a big handshake with me, "I'm more than happy to! Thanks, Lows!"

"Looking forward to working with you, Sip." I smiled.

With that, it was all settled as we registered for the Gym Challenge to be in three days from there. After we filled in our personal details, Rachel gave Sip and I a pink ticket each, "Hold onto the pink tickets, and hand them to me on the day of your Gym Challenges to signal that you two have decided on the multi battle format."

We nodded, and Rachel politely smiled, "I wish you luck in your upcoming Gym Challenge, Lows and Sip."

"Looking forward to battling you two!" Tate and Liza said in sync.

We bid the three farewells before leaving the Gym, with Sip offering to push the wheelchair for me, which I happily agreed as it saved me some effort. I then suggested, "Why don't we get right into training later? I haven't battled in quite a while, and probably needed to derust as much as possible."

"Sure thing! I don't have anything important in my schedule, anyway."

"Alright, I'll see you around in an hour, then!" I said, as our training for the Mossdeep Gym Challenge would soon begin.

The days of training went by in just a blink, at least it felt much faster in comparison to the time I had to spend in the hospital bed.

On the day before the Gym Challenge, after a somewhat intense training session, I was giving some after-thoughts and tips to Sip, who was naturally talented as a Trainer, but definitely showed brief moments of lacking knowledge towards double battles.

"I think you're starting to get the format a lot better now!" I praised, "There's still some tips that I think you will find useful, though. Always remember to specify the target when you issue a command to your Pokémon. Since during double battles, the situation would be more chaotic and there are two targets to attack, commanding single-target moves will be confusing to your Pokémon if they don't know who to go for."

"Ah… yeah!" Sip lightly hit his forehead in response, "Now that you mentioned it, I did notice that I sometimes forgot to specify who to attack during some moves."

"That's normal for someone who doesn't do double battles that often." I reassured him, "You'll get the hang of it soon."

"Hopefully!" Sip said.

"Also, this advice isn't really on the commanding side, but I think it's important for us to keep looking out for each other, and follow up when needed during the battle. When done correctly, the combination of moves can provide some surprising effects that can help us get the edge."

"I see… something like a double Night Slash combo?" Sip asked.

"That could be one, yeah." I nodded, "Also, it's important to look out of each other because let's say, my Pokémon is vulnerable to the opponent's attacks during their move, it'd be helpful if yours can counter the opponent to fend them off, or even just protect the Pokémon from taking damage through moves like Protect."

"I'll take note of that, Lows." Sip nodded, appearing to make a mental note of what I said. Other than that, he had picked up the basics of this format rather quickly through training, so I did not think I needed to teach him any further.

For the past few days, besides basic training, we also simulated a lot of different scenarios with the help of a bunch of two versus two practice battles. According to my research, Solrock and Lunatone were the Gym Leaders' go-to picks for Gym Challenge battles, I decided to use Shadow for the Gym Challenge due to the superior typing against Psychic types. Besides, she could also make her debut and get valuable experience before the Ever Grande League began. For Sip's side, we decided that he should use his new Pokémon, Slash the Scizor, who he received from a Trainer in Kanto through trading a Pokémon he caught in the wild.

After deciding on the Pokémon we would main for both the practice battles and the Gym Challenge, the other Pokémon in our teams formed groups of two to go against us in the practice battles, in which the odd pairing of Power and Sip's Magcargo, Magma, surprisingly gave us the hardest time.

These battles not only helped Sip get a lot more hands-on experience before the actual big match, but also helped us improve our overall synergy together for the Gym Challenge, which we owed our cooperative Pokémon for. But obviously, we were aware that things would become more chaotic and difficult during the Gym Challenge against the veteran Mossdeep Gym Leaders, which made us just that little more nervous thinking about it.

...I don't hate the feeling, though. In fact… I'm more than excited to return to the battlefield once again.

It felt good just doing practice battles after such a long time, and thinking back, I definitely would not be satisfied just ending my first season recovering at home.

The change of plans had allowed me to write my own fate, and I was more than excited to reunite with the passion that could only be felt during the intense battles once more.

And I hope I never separate from that feeling ever again.

On the day of the Gym Challenge, I took my time just slowly strolling around the city using my crutches, to get some extra practice in for a better walking experience moving forward. If I had to live with crutches for the next few months, I might as well get used to it early on.

And when the time had arrived, I switched to moving on my wheelchair just for the Gym Challenge as I headed towards the Mossdeep City Gym. Upon reaching right outside the Gym entrance, I saw a fidgeting Sip, who looked quite nervous.

I extended my arm to tap on his shoulder from behind, which slightly startled him, "L-Lows!"

"You've arrived early." I said, "Feeling okay?"

"Truth be told, I'm quite nervous." Sip admitted, "This doesn't usually happen, but I figured since I'm the weaker link for this multi battle, I might be the one dragging you down if we end up losing against Tate and Liza."

"There's no such thing as that, Sip." I patted his shoulder, "You'd be fine. You've put so much hard work into our practice, and you picked up the basics quite well, I'd say."

"I guess… I think it's just the nervousness talking for me, right now." He took a deep breath, trying to ease his own nerves, "Besides, even if all fails, you'll definitely have my back!"

"If you say so." I laughed, "But over the past few months, you have definitely caught up with me in terms of skills, so have some more confidence in yourself."

"I hope so!" He smiled, "Thanks, Lows."

With the small talk we had, we felt more mentally prepared as we entered the Mossdeep Gym, where the outer-space-like lobby greeted us once again. Tate and Liza's mother, Rachel, was also in the lobby, working in the registration counter.

The middle-aged woman noticed us two and politely smiled, "Welcome back, Lows and Sip."

"Hi, Rachel." I waved my hand, before we handed her our pink tickets, "We're here for the Gym Challenge."

"Looks like you two have decided on the multi battle format." Rachel said, "Now, I'll bring you two to the battlefield room."

Rachel led the way for Sip and I as she opened a set of doors near the walkway, as the outer-space theme was further extended into the battlefield room, with planets and comets hanging from the ceiling in the room mainly painted dark blue.

We positioned ourselves on one side of the battlefield, and shortly after, the twins entered from the opposite side through a set of doors that had a heart drawn on them. The more eager twin, Liza, first spoke, "First off, thank you two for helping us test out the multi battle format! However, don't expect us to go easy on you two because of that."

The other twin, Tate, calmly continued, "Liza and I had been battling together since we knew how to battle, and as twins, we have the best synchronization to make the perfect pair and excel in countless double battles."

Then, they finished the short speech together in sync, "...As such, we would like to see you two bring everything you got right at us, Lows and Sip!"

Sip and I both responded with determined smiles and big thumbs ups, which was a response that satisfied the twins as they cheerfully smiled in unison. Rachel served as the referee of the match as she stood in the middle of the battlefield and started explaining the rules, "This match will be a multi battle, featuring challengers Lows Landerson from Pallet Town and Sip Anders from Lavaridge Town against Tate and Liza, the Mossdeep City Gym Leaders. Each Trainer will use one Pokémon each with no substitutions, and the challengers get the first move. The winner is decided when both opponents' Pokémon are unable to battle. Do you understand the rules, Lows and Sip?"

The two of us firmly nodded, and Rachel stepped aside before announcing, "The multi battle between Lows and Sip versus Tate and Liza will now begin! Trainers, please choose your Pokémon."

As expected, Tate and Liza took out their Pokéballs before sending their benchmark Pokémon, Yōta the Solrock and Tsuki the Lunatone, while we followed suit right after them, with Sip and I sending out Slash and Shadow respectively.

The four Pokémon briefly examined their respective opponents before Rachel announced, "Battle begin!"

"Slash, Swords Dance!" Sip commanded.

"Shadow, use Night Slash on Yōta!" I said.

Upon command, the Scizor quickly slashed its arms about and multiple light-blue swords circled around him, which eventually stopped before pointing towards Slash and disappearing. A yellow aura immediately went upwards along Slash's body, boosting his attack power.

On the other hand, Shadow made a huge leap as she looked to lunge herself towards the Solrock for the Dark type attack. Tate and Liza obviously were not going to let her through that easily, though.

"Tsuki, use Reflect!" Liza said.

"Yōta, use Rock Slide after Shadow's attack!" Tate commanded.

A pink translucent barrier was quickly formed around the twins' side of the battlefield, just in time before Shadow managed to land the slash onto Yōta with her glowing horn, which helped negate the damage of the physical move. Right as my Absol was making her retreat, large boulders formed around the Solrock before it hurled them towards Slash and Shadow using its psychic powers, which resulted in an accurate hit onto the two.

As our two Pokémon were in the midst of recovering from the Rock Slide's impact, Tate and Liza quickly took the opportunity for a follow up.

"Tsuki, use Helping Hand on Yōta!"

"Good move, sis! Yōta, release a Charge Beam attack at Shadow!"

A gold aura surrounded the Lunatone before it was slowly transferred to its partner Solrock, and Yōta immediately released a quick beam of electricity right towards my Absol, Shadow unable to dodge the attack as the extra power of the move made her tremble slightly in pain.

"I've never seen a move like that before!" Sip exclaimed.

"Yeah, double battle things. Helping Hand helps boost the partner's attacking moves. This is going to be troublesome for us." I said, "Also, I think I get their strategy now. Liza focuses on boosting her partner's Pokémon and negates damage for their side using Tsuki, while Tate focuses on the hard-hitting attacks using Yōta. Their teamwork and roles makes them a perfect multi team."

"In that case, I think we should set a target first, Lows." Sip suggested, "Without one of them, the other can't excel as well, right?"

"That's a good point." I agree, "For now, let's focus our firepower onto Tsuki. Not having to deal with its moves would be more helpful for us in the late game."

"Got ya!" Sip nodded.

"Shadow, use Night Slash on Tsuki!" I commanded.

"Tsuki ain't going down that easily, Lows!" Liza smiled, "Tsuki, use Cosmic Power!"

Shadow lunged herself forward right at the Lunatone, her horn already glowing white, but the Lunatone barely managed to focus its energy as its body started to glow brightly, increasing its defense before becoming the receiving end of a powerful slash from my Absol's horn. It was looking harder than ever to take it down anytime soon.

"Yōta, Signal Beam at Shadow as she retreats!" Tate commanded.

Before Shadow could return back to our side of the battlefield, the Solrock looked to fire a rainbow-colored beam right towards my Dark type, but Sip quickly reacted, "Slash, cover Shadow with a Bullet Punch on Yōta!"

The Scizor's claws glowed light-blue as he quickly approached the Solrock and fired multiple fast punches, which startled the Solrock right before it launched the Signal Beam attack at Shadow, causing the move to barely miss my Absol. As Slash looked back to check on Shadow's condition, my Dark type immediately nodded with a grateful smile as her thanks.

"Not bad!" Liza said, "Tsuki, support with Helping Hand once again!"

"Yōta, Earth Power!"

"Not on my watch!" I yelled, "Shadow, use Protect!"

The Solrock focused its power on the area below our two Pokémon, but my Absol was quick enough to form a protective barrier around the area between her and Slash, which made instant contact with the attack as the ground below them erupted.

As the Earth Power was happening, Sip quickly took the opportunity to sneak in another command, "Slash, Swords Dance again!"

Slash quickly formed another set of light-blue swords around him as another yellow aura went upwards along his body, and I knew he was definitely going to be a big problem for the twins later on. Fortunately, it seemed that Protect managed to negate most of the damage before breaking apart after the powerful impact, as Slash remained pretty much undisturbed throughout his self-boosting move.

"Yōta, Rock Slide!"

"Tsuki, boost Yōta's move with Psychic!"

The large boulders were formed as they were hurled towards Shadow and Slash, the combination of psychic powers of the duo seemed to have made the move even stronger as the boulders headed towards our two Pokémon at a more alarming speed.

I saw it as an opportunity, though, as I commanded, "Shadow, use Psycho Cut to cut through the boulders!"

I then quickly glanced at Sip, who immediately understood my idea and said, "Slash, use X-Scissor on Tsuki afterwards!"

My Absol charged up a powerful purple crescent-like blade of energy from its horn before launching it towards the boulders, cutting through them upon impact as they broke down into pieces. After a clear path was paved from the Psycho Cut attack, it was time for Slash to take the stage as the Scizor's claws glowed light green before he landed a powerful slash at the Lunatone with his claws in an "X" formation, a trail of light green energy left behind from each claw. The accumulation of Slash's attack stats meant a deadly blow towards Tsuki, which made it cry in pain, but thanks to the increased defense from Cosmic Power and the Reflect barrier, it was barely able to hold on.

"Sis…" Tate worriedly said, knowing Liza's Pokémon might not have long to fight for.

"Don't worry, Tate. We can hold on a little longer just for you!" Liza said, not giving up until the last moment.

"...I see." Tate smiled, putting faith in her twin sister before commanding, "Yōta, use Rock Slide again!"

"Shadow, cut the boulders open with Psycho Cut!"

"Slash, assist with Night Slash!"

Our two Pokémon worked together to cut open the boulders hurled at them with rather ease using their respective moves. However, that proved to all be just a mere distraction as Liza prepared for the big move, "Tsuki, support Yōta with Helping Hand!"

As the gold aura was transferred towards the Solrock, Tate yelled, "Yōta, now! Signal Beam onto Shadow!"

My Absol was still busy with her task of cutting the boulders open using Psycho Cut, so the sudden rainbow-coloured beam fired at her caught everyone on our side off guard. Sip understandably panicked at the moment, which I did not blame him for; it was happening so fast, that it would have been hard to counter, anyway.

But I still need to turn this into a less disadvantageous situation for us!

And fortunately, Shadow had the perfect move to do so.

"Shadow, use Payback at Tsuki!"

My Absol closed her eyes and readied for the impact as she took the rainbow-coloured beam head on, temporarily ignoring the super-effective attack's damage as she stored up the power for her Dark type attack and lunged herself towards the Lunatone and tackled it with incredible force, which caused Tsuki to wince in pain. After the Payback attack finished, the cry of pain Shadow had been holding back for her move was finally let out, as she struggled to stay afoot.

Sip was not going to let Shadow's efforts go to waste, as he quickly commanded, "Slash, finish Tsuki off with Bullet Punch!"

"We're not letting you do that!" Tate said, "Yōta, hold them back with Earth Power!"

"Shadow, help Slash out with his attack!" I commanded.

The Solrock tried stopping the Scizor through erupting the ground below Shadow and Slash, but my Absol was ready to assist Slash to deal the final blow, even at the cost of her being eliminated for the remainder of this battle. With my Dark type's signal, Slash jumped onto Shadow's back in one swift motion as the ground below them erupted, only affecting the Absol.

Shadow gritted her teeth before using her remaining strength to launch the Scizor into the air using her back, as Slash readied himself and landed right in front of the Lunatone before firing multiple powerful punches using his claws, which was finally enough to take down Tsuki, as the Lunatone fell onto the ground, motionless, and the pink Reflect barrier subsided as its caller fainted. As the Earth Power subsided, though, Shadow was also in a similar state, her final task accomplished.

Liza returned Tsuki with a sad look on her face, "I'm sorry, Tate. It's all up to you now."

"No worries, Liza. I got this." Tate reassured her twin sister.

I returned Shadow as well after thanking her and looked at Sip, who nodded in return, his expression one full of determination.

"Let's go all out for the final moments of this battle!" Tate said, "Yōta, use Charge Beam on Slash!"

Not as powerful as the one boosted by its ally, Slash took the beam of electricity rather well as Sip commanded, "Slash, use Night Slash!"

The Scizor quickly ran towards the Solrock, his claws glowing white before landing another powerful slash onto Yōta, the super effective attack causing it to wince in pain. The previous Sword Dance moves definitely worked in Sip's favor in the later stages of this battle, as Tate's face turned more serious than ever.

"Yōta, Earth Power!"

"No worries, Slash. We have the advantage here!" Sip said, "Go for another Swords Dance!"

As the ground below the Scizor erupted, Slash closed his eyes and remained focused as the light-blue swords were formed and pointed at him once again, boosting Slash's attacking power one last time. Sip wanted to go for the final blow in his next move, and Tate knew it.

"Never give up, Yōta! Use Rock Slide!"

"This is nothing for us! Slash, break the boulders with Bullet Punch, then finish Yōta off with X-Scissor!"

As the boulders were hurled towards the Steel and Bug type, Slash ran forward to face the attack head on, hurling multiple quick punches to instantly shatter the boulders into pieces upon contact with his large steel pincers. Eventually, Slash finally reached within range before his claws glowed light green, and he was ready to land one last slash onto the vulnerable Solrock.

The deadly "X" sign made by the Scizor's claws foreshadowed Yōta fate, as the critical hit proved too much for Yōta as it went down following a loud, defeated cry.

Sip, although not being a traditional Trainer, made it up by developing his own aggressive, all-out style with powerful attacks, which I thought we implemented well in this battle. Towards the end, Yōta could only accept its inevitable end with no chance to resist.

It was all the Slash show.

As Rachel declared Sip and I the winners of this grueling battle, I cheerfully high-fived Sip, "Sip, nice work for holding until the very end!"

Sip was humble in his reply, "I couldn't have done it without your help, Lows."

Tate and Liza walked towards us after the calmer twin returned her Solrock, with Liza first saying, "That was a great battle, you two!"

Tate continued, "I'm impressed by you two's synergy, despite not practicing with each other for that long. You two must have worked hard."

"I won't deny that." I smiled, "You two gave us a really tough time, though."

"We're glad!" Liza beamed, "We are Gym Leaders, after all."

"Anyways, as a reward for defeating us, we present to you the Mind Badge." Tate said.

The two each handed us a badge shaped like a heart, which resembled the one drawn on the set of doors they entered from, with two sides closing in, possibly in reference to Tate and Liza's relationship as twins.

"We enjoyed the intense battle against you two!" Liza said, "It made us able to go all out with no regrets."

Tate followed, "Since our battle format is different from the other Gyms. We hope this experience is a little more special for you two, and that through this experience, you two managed to learn something new about battling…"

"And bring this experience into the future of your Trainer journeys!" The two happily said in unison to close it off.

We nodded in response, just as Rachel walked towards us four and gently patted her twin daughters, "Great battle, Tate, Liza. You two have worked hard today, haven't you?"

The twins wanted to say something in return, but their stomach growled in sync, which already told it all for everyone in the battlefield room.

Rachel chuckled, "Well, you're just in luck, girls. I got news that dinner is ready, and your Dad is already waiting for us at home. Let's close the Gym for today and head home, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's!" The twins said, with Liza even jumping cheerfully.

It seemed that our battle with Tate and Liza was the last for the day in the Mossdeep City Gym, as the five of us left the Gym together before Rachel locked the entrance to prevent any night intruders.

Then, Rachel told Sip and I with a gentle smile, "I hope you two enjoyed the battle. I'm sure the twins did, and will be talking about it all dinner long."

"We're honored." Sip laughed.

"Hopefully, we'll see you three around again soon!" I said.

"Likewise." Rachel said, before putting her hands on each of the twins' shoulders, "Now, let's head home, you two."

The twins happily obliged as the trio headed home, with Liza giggling along the way while chatting with her twin sister, who also had a slight grin on her face.

Their family interaction made me miss my parents at home, but I was sure that Mom and Dad were proud of what I had done so far.

I can't wait to go back home after accomplishing what I want to achieve as a Trainer.

Sip did not let me drown in my thoughts for too long, as he patted my shoulder happily, "With that, I finally managed to collect all ten badges and completed the Gym Challenge!"

"That's great!" I was impressed, "Congrats, Sip."

"It's nice to see my hard work paying off." He smiled, "You also reached the minimum badges required to qualify for the Ever Grande League, right?"

I nodded before replying, "Yeah, but I still want to challenge the remaining two Gyms, especially the Lilycove City Gym. I want to get more experience to derust in my battling, and besides, I also made a promise with Wally a while back that I would challenge him this year. Hopefully, I'm not bothering Winona too much."

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind!" Sip said, "Anyways, to celebrate us making it to the Ever Grande League, let's have dinner together in a nearby restaurant! My treat!"

"I'll take you up for that, then." I usually would hesitate accepting such generous offers, but I knew Sip was a hospitable person, and would not want to spoil my friend's mood by rejecting his kindness.

With that, Sip and I headed towards a decent looking restaurant called, "Wailmer-fique Eats" and had a hearty meal, enjoying the moment before resuming our journeys.

Enjoying the moment before soon approaching the end of our roads in the Hoenn region.

Lows' Pokémon Team:

Surfer (Blastoise, Male), Jolly Nature

Ability: Torrent

Moves: Surf, Ice Beam, Aqua Tail, Iron Defense

Ziggs (Linoone, Male), Naive Nature

Ability: Quick Feet

Moves: Dig, Iron Tail, Protect, Facade

Grace (Kirlia, Female), Calm Nature

Ability: Synchronize

Moves: Calm Mind, Magical Leaf, Shadow Ball, Psybeam

Woody (Grovyle, Male), Lonely Nature

Ability: Overgrow

Moves: Agility, Leaf Blade, Giga Drain, Rock Tomb

Power (Machoke, Male), Timid Nature

Ability: Guts

Moves: Rock Tomb, Scary Face, Submission, Seismic Toss

Shadow (Absol, Female), Quiet Nature

Ability: Super Luck

Moves: Payback, Night Slash, Psycho Cut, Protect