A few days after the stargazing event in Sootopolis, I found myself heading towards the Sootopolis Gym in my wheelchair for the scheduled Gym Challenge.

However, when I finally arrived at my destination, I was quite flabbergasted, to say the least.

...Am I really in the right place?

The Sootopolis Gym in front of me looked more like a grand home than the usual normal Gym structure. The building had a blue roof along with large paned windows, while being surrounded by multiple small gardens and ponds. You could just tell a lot of effort had to be put every single day just to maintain the neat condition around the Gym area.

Feeling slightly doubtful of my sense of direction, I slowly entered the building, which the interior also looked just as aesthetically pleasing, where a large white fountain was at the center, with the walls of the Gym surrounded by beautiful cabinets and vases filled with blue roses and white lilies. Before I could question myself further, though, I was reassured by the Sootopolis Gym Leader, Wallace's presence, as he was actually near the reception desk, talking with another man who looked older than himself. The man had a small, trimmed moustache, while the two white locks standing out in the front of his hair stood out to me specifically. He also wore a skin tight black suit, a regal blue mantle, and a white scarf with a blue gem etched into it.

Well, this at least confirms that I'm probably at the right place.

I slowly approached Wallace, who eventually noticed me in the middle of his conversation and quickly welcomed me, "Welcome to the Sootopolis City Gym, Lows!"

"Ah, yeah." I said, still trying to fully take in the unusual Gym sceneries around me.

Wallace noticed the shocked look on my face and laughed, "You should take a look at your own face. You looked like you just took a Scary Face attack!"

"I mean… It's just so much to take in for me." I replied, "It's so much more different compared to the other Gyms in Hoenn."

"We get that a lot!" The man beside Wallace chimed in, "It's a lot of effort to maintain the Gym, but the Sootopolis Gym is proudly considered as one of the best creations in the entire region, and we plan to keep it that way in the future!"

"I can tell. The effort part, at least." I smiled, "Anyways, you are…"

"Ah, where are my manners?" The older man politely bowed with a smile on his face, "I'm Juan, Wallace's master and the former Sootopolis Gym Leader."

Juan then extended his hand towards me for a handshake, which I gladly obliged before replying, "I'm Lows, a rookie Trainer from Pallet Town."

"Oh, you're from the Kanto region! That explains why you didn't know the history of the Sootopolis Gym Leaders, then." Juan said, "I was originally the Gym Leader in Sootopolis, but eventually, I had given up my position and asked my protégé here to take over my duties. He has done a magnificent job ever since!"

Wallace added, "Well, if I do try becoming the Champion again, you might have to make your grand return once again, Master."

"My protégé looks as ambitious as ever again! A stroke of inspiration must've hit you recently." Juan chuckled, "I'll be looking forward to your good news, then."

"I guess you can say that." I laughed, knowing most of the full story.

"Anyways…" Wallace gracefully cut me off before I had any chance to tease further, "Originally, before Trainers do their Gym Challenges in the Sootopolis Gym, they were required to go through three different stages before getting access to the battlefield, where every ice tile must be stepped on in order to proceed to the next stage. Failing to do so will cause a short fall from the stage and forcing Trainers to retry again.

"That… sounds more like an Ice type Gym gimmick, but fine." I said, "Though right now, I'd prefer if I don't have to go through another fall that could extend my injury for another month."

"Yeah, I'd expected so." Wallace smiled, "So for this time, you're given a free pass by yours truly, me."

"Thank Arceus…" I heaved a sigh of relief.

"We also get these similar complaints about the challenge from time to time." Juan added, "As such, we're looking to revise the challenge for future seasons hopefully soon."

Wallace laughed, "Despite no longer being the Sootopolis Gym Leader, you're still so involved in all these Gym matters, Master. It's like you have never left."

"Of course! This Gym… is my heart and soul, after all." Juan looked proud declaring that, "Besides, if fate intervenes… I might return here very soon."

"Perhaps." Wallace smiled, "Now that we're all set, Lows, let's get going to the battlefield room."

Wallace led the way straight to the battlefield room, as I quickly followed along in my wheelchair. What greeted me was a battlefield fitting the Water typing of the Sootopolis Gym: one of a mixture of water and land, where it mainly consisted of a short, winding river surrounded by a grassy land with a few stone structures built above it, while a large island was located at each of both sides of the battlefield, which I assumed was where our Pokémon would first land before the battles commenced.

As Wallace and I headed to our respective sides of the battlefield, Juan made his way towards the referee box, serving as the referee for this match.

"Since our trusty butler, Sebastian, is taking a day off for today due to personal reasons, I will be your referee for today!" Juan announced, "This match will be a three on three single battle, in which the challenger has the first move as well as being able to switch his Pokémon. The winner is decided when the opponent's three Pokémon are unable to battle. Do you understand and agree with the rules, Lows from Pallet Town?"

I nodded, and Juan declared at the start of the match, "Leader Wallace and Challenger Lows, it's time to display your grace and elegance in the grand stage! Trainers, please choose your first Pokémon."

The Sootopolis Gym Leader took out his first Pokéball of the day and threw it into the sky, "Time to show your charms, Charles!"

The Pokémon released from the Pokéball instantly dived into the river shortly after landing on the island on Wallace's side, which I recognized as Seaking, a Fish Pokémon also commonly seen in the Kanto region. I took out a Pokéball from my belt and did the same.

"Let's do this, Woody!"

My Grovyle landed on the large island before examining the Seaking with his usual unfazed look. Wallace seemed to have expected this pick to come, due to the typing advantage from the Grass type. The confident smile remained on Wallace's face, though, so I would imagine this would still be a tough road ahead of us.

As we were ready to go, Juan declared, "Battle begin!"

"Woody, Agility!" My Grass type used the land around the river as his advantage to set up his move, as he dashed around the field at an alarming speed, increasing his speed stat along the way.

Wallace noticed my set up strategy and followed suit, "Charles, let's go with an Aqua Ring attack!"

The water around the male Seaking slowly rose up before forming a thin veil enveloping the Water type, which would recover his health as the battle went on. But overall, Woody felt like the clearer winner in this set-up phase, so I had nothing to complain about.

In hopes of maintaining our advantage, I commanded, "Woody, use Giga Drain!"

Woody quickly fired a dark green beam from his mouth towards the Seaking slowly roaming around the river, but Wallace was quick enough to react, "Charles, deeper into the waters!"

The Seaking instantly dived deeper into the river, as the Grass type attack instantly lost its target and thus, resulted in a miss. Knowing the battlefield still favoured Wallace's Water type Pokémon, I knew we needed to do more than this to take them down.

"Woody, Rock Tomb!"

"Charles, counter with Water Pulse!"

Boulders were formed around the Grovyle as he continued dashing around the battlefield in an attempt to surprise the Seaking with this approach. However, the experienced Water type reacted on time as the boulders were launched at him, as each of the pulsing blast of water released from the Seaking's mouth accurately hit the center of each boulder before they shattered into pieces.

Despite the type advantage and increased speed, Charles is still giving Woody a really hard time… I need to find the right opportunity to make good use of Woody's moves.

It was not all fruitless, though, as I realized most likely due to the type disadvantage, Charles was being extremely passive in his stance, where he would only react accordingly based on Woody's actions. I could only hope Wallace realized the situation soon and would be forced to command Charles to be the one striking first.

Almost immediately, Wallace seemed to have heard my prayers, "Charles, let's get the high ground! Horn Drill!"

Now! "Woody, counter with Leaf Blade!"

The Seaking roamed around the river, waiting for his time to strike while Woody anticipated Charles' surprise attack. After a few seconds, the Seaking leaped out of the water towards my Grass type with his horn spinning like a drill. Charles was probably hoping he could cleanly hit the Grovyle and back away unscathed, but unfortunately, Woody, who was fully prepared, used the long sharp leaf blade formed on his right forearm long ago to unleash a painful slash right onto the Water type's stomach. The Seaking cried in pain, but still endured the damage to hit Woody with his drill before trying to return back into the water.

However, we were not going to let Charles off that easily, "Woody, follow up with Giga Drain!"

"Oh no you don't!" Wallace said, "Charles, stop him with Water Pulse!"

Charles was able to quickly release the pulsing blast of water before Woody's attack landed on its target, but due to him still being mid air during the move, instead of breaking off the dark green energy beam, the Water Pulse instead landed right at Woody's head, the impact instantly stunning my Grass type for a moment.

As the Giga Drain attack successfully hit Charles and started sucking off his energy, Woody looked to be in a trance with dizzy eyes, as stars started to spin around his head.

"Well, guess we got lucky." Wallace smiled, "It's not an all-lost situation, after all!"

Before Woody could have any opportunity to recover from his status condition, Wallace was going to take full advantage of the situation, "Charles, use Horn Drill!"

"Woody, snap out of it!" I yelled, "Fend Charles off with Rock Tomb!"

Unfortunately, the confused Woody was not able to snap out of the confusion in time, as the boulders he formed ended up being thrown in a completely wrong direction, before they made contact with the river and sank into the water. Charles on the other hand, was able to hit Woody with his spinning horn, unleashing the full power Normal type attack. To my relief, the pain of the move was just enough to get Woody out of the confusion.

"...That didn't feel very good." Woody said.

"You good now, Woody?" I asked, to which Woody quickly nodded, "Thanks to the Giga Drain, I still feel okay."

Knowing the situation was still dire for Charles, Wallace said, "Charles, let's help our friends for later on! Give me a beautiful Rain Dance!"

The Seaking looked into the sky, as dark rain clouds started to appear in the sky as it started drizzling all over the battlefield area. It was definitely a boost for not just Charles, but also for the rest of Wallace's Pokémon.

I stayed calm as I said, "Woody, Giga Drain!"

Woody used his lightning speed to hop between the land and the large islands located around the river, before settling on a good spot to aim the dark green beam towards Charles.

"Charles, dodge and use Horn Drill!"

Charles smartly used the water to his advantage, as the Seaking started splashing around the water in an unpredictable fashion, resulting in the Giga Drain attack to miss its target once again. Afterwards, the Water type leaped towards Woody again with his spinning horn.

"Woody, Rock Tomb barrier!"

The boulders were formed around my Grass type once again, but instead of launching them towards his opponent, the boulders were instead moved towards the front of Woody, forming a wall between him and Charles, and it was too late for Charles to do a last minute retreat as it bumped right into the barrier of boulders before falling right back into the water.

Before it could recover from the sudden impact, I commanded, "Woody, Leaf Blade!"

Woody hopped towards one of the large islands to get closer to the Seaking, before leaping forward towards the Water type to deal the final blow with the leaf blade formed on his forearm, which the Seaking was not able to endure as it instantly fainted from the Grass type attack while remaining afloat on the water.

It got a little hairy at times, but it always seemed an inevitable conclusion for the Seaking due to the type disadvantage.

"Charles is unable to battle! Woody wins!" Juan announced, to which Wallace remained his dazzling smile as he thanked and returned his Seaking. Then, he sent out his second Pokémon of the day.

"Richard, let's dance!"

It was another Pokémon I was familiar with, a Sealeo appeared on the large island opposite to our side. Knowing his additional Ice typing, he was Wallace's hope of countering my Grass type pick.

"Battle begin!"

"Richard, Water Pulse!"

"Woody, counter with Leaf Blade!"

Woody formed the leaf blade on his forearm quickly before it made contact with the pulsing blast of water released from the Sealeo's mouth, breaking the attack apart instantly.

"Woody, Giga Drain!"

"This isn't going to work on us, Lows!" Wallace smiled, "Richard, dodge and use Body Slam!"

As the dark green beam was launched towards Richard, just like his Seaking teammate, he made a graceful dive into the river, successfully avoiding the attack. Just when Woody tried to anticipate Richard's attack, the Water and Ice type suddenly launched himself high up into the air from the water before swinging its tail for his counter attack.

"Woody, stop Richard with Rock Tomb!"

The boulders however, were not enough to stop the Sealeo as Richard fought through the impact of the boulders hitting him before slamming itself right at my Grovyle before making a graceful landing back into the water. Meanwhile, the powerful impact of the attack temporarily stunned Woody once again, as yellow particles appeared around him.

Paralysis… Just great…

Before I could think of Woody's follow up move to turn the tides, Wallace commanded, "Richard, use Encore!"

A white ball was formed from the male Sealeo's mouth, before Richard fired the attack at Woody, hitting my stunned Grovyle with no resistance.

"Woody, use Giga Drain!" I commanded, but instead of releasing the dark green beam from his mouth, boulders started surrounding Woody again as my Grovyle had a shocked look on his face. Realization about what Encore did instantly hit me.

"Now, Richard!" Wallace said, "Aurora Beam!"

Trying to turn a bad situation into a… not so bad one, I commanded, "Woody, stay calm! Stop Richard with Rock Tomb!"

Woody tried to accurately aim the boulders at Richard, but the paralysis was clearly taking a toll on my Grass type, as only two boulders ended up barely hitting the Sealeo. That was not going to be enough to stop Richard, as he fired a multicolored beam of energy from his mouth towards Woody, the attack causing a wince in pain from my Grovyle.

"This should be enough." Wallace said, "Richard, finish Woody off with Body Slam!"

"Woody, snap out of the Encore and counter with Leaf Blade!"

As Richard leaped out of the water temporarily once again to slam itself onto Woody, Woody's body was finally listening to its owner, as the blade managed to form on the Grovyle's forearm before he felt the impact of Richard's body on him. Enduring the pain, he unleashed the slash right at Richard's body, but eventually, the paralysis and accumulated damage proved too much for Woody as he collapsed on the grassy land.

"Woody is unable to battle! Richard wins!"

It was not a good day in the office for Woody, but I was proud of his efforts in this match. I thanked him and returned him back to his Pokéball, before throwing my second into the air.

"Show them what you got, Power!"

My Machoke landed on the large island on our side, hoping he could avenge his fallen teammate as soon as possible.

"Battle begin!"

"Power, use Rock Tomb!"

"Richard, counter with Water Pulse!"

Similar result came just as expected, with the pulsing blasts of water fired from Richard's mouth hitting the boulders as accurately as they could.

"These won't work really well against us, Lows!" Wallace said, "Richard, use Body Slam!"

As Richard dived deeper into the water for another attack, I was more prepared as I commanded, "Power, stop Richard with Seismic Toss!"

When Richard launched himself up into the air from the river towards Power, my Fighting type readied his counter attack as he successfully grabbed the Ball Roll Pokémon by his tail before jumping into the air and spinning around in a circle. After a few seconds, Power threw Richard back into the water as a loud splash sound followed.

"Okay, this is your warning to not do close-ranged attacks. Gotcha." Wallace said, "We'll play your game, then. Richard, use Aurora Beam!"

The multicolored beam hit my Machoke, but Power still looked relatively fine, which relieved me, "Power, use Scary Face!"

Power approached closer to the Sealeo on the land area before showing a frightening face right in front of Richard, which looked completely in contrast to his usual timid self. The face he made resulted in a scared Sealeo as his speed was shown to be decreased.

Afterwards, I took the opportunity of the timing to follow up, "Power, Submission!"

Before Richard could recover from the brief scare and react accordingly, Power was not going to let him off, as he immediately flipped into the air towards the Water and Ice type. Wallace knew what Power was going to do, and instantly commanded in hopes of him being in time, "Richard, stop Power with Water Pulse!"

Unfortunately for the Sootopolis Gym Leader, the slower speed of Richard made it harder for him to generate the blast of water with his usual efficiency, and by the time the attack hit his opponent on his stomach, it was already too late to stop Power.

Once locating his target, Power grabbed Richard with his tail before rolling around on the large island while holding Richard in a full-body hold. After the damage had been done, Power once again threw Richard into the river.

"Richard, this might be the end of your road… But never give up!" Wallace encouraged his partner, "Water Pulse!"

"Power, finish him off with Rock Tomb!"

The pulsing blast of water quickly generated in the Sealeo's mouth before it was fired towards Power, the effect of Rain Dance increasing the attack's power, but Power remained firm as the boulders around him slowly turned larger and larger before they were launched together towards the Sealeo.

Richard tried to dive deeper into the river once again in attempt to dodge the boulders, but the slowed speed was not working in his favor, as the boulders were faster than he hoped for as they ended up landing on their target, which was enough to take Richard down as he remained motionless in the river.

"Richard is unable to battle! Power wins!"

Wallace's smile remained as he returned his second Pokémon and took out his last Pokéball for the battle, "Lows, you have performed magnificently with all your heart so far, so let's keep this show going until the very end!"

He then threw his last Pokéball high up into the air as he yelled, "Alice, time to perform with elegance and passion!"

His Milotic landed on the large island, a Pokémon I was familiar with as it was touted as one of the strongest Water type Pokémon in the Hoenn region, not just in skills, but also in beauty. Alice was also famously known as Wallace's key Pokémon in Gym Challenges, giving Trainers a tough time as the final boss.

I need to be careful. It's not over till it's over.

"Battle begin!"

"Power, use Submission!" I commanded.

But as Power flipped into the air towards the Milotic, Wallace said, "Alice, counter with Twister!"

Just as Power was almost at range to unleash his attack, Alice spun her tailfins like a fan, before a powerful tornado came out at Power, which was enough to send Power flying briefly in the air before falling back onto the land area of the battlefield.

Okay, this isn't going to work.

"Power, let's change to a different approach. Rock Tomb!"

"Alice, fight through the pain and use Ice Beam!"

The boulders were able to hit the Milotic relatively easily due to her larger size compared to Charles and Richard, but she remained unfazed as a stream of cold water fired from her mouth towards my Fighting type.

"Power, take cover!"

Using the battlefield to his advantage, he quickly saw a stone statue nearby before running towards the back of it as cover. Just as he made his destination, the stream of water made contact with the stone statue before the cold water instantly turned into ice and freezed the statue.

"Power, launch yourself up from the ice beam and use Seismic Toss!"

Following my command, he climbed up the frozen statue before stepping on the ice beam for a moment to launch himself up into the air, as the ice beam shortly broke upon the heavy contact. Power managed to reach the large island the Milotic was residing before he grabbed the Water type and jumped into the air once again to spin around in a circle. After a few seconds, my Machoke threw the Milotic into the river, becoming the new temporary owner of the larger island on Wallace's side.

Wallace looked surprised for a moment before giving Power an appraising smile, "Not bad. Alice, use Hydro Pump!"

With the boost of the Rain Dance, the Milotic was able to fire a horrendously high volume of water from her mouth as it came towards Power at full speed, engulfing him almost immediately. After the attack subsided, Power was gasping for air while looking bruised from the Water type attack.

So that's the power of Alice… "Power, Rock Tomb!"

"Alice, Twister!"

A similar story was told, as the boulders managed to hit the Water type in the river, but in return, the tornado immediately sucked Power in upon contact before launching him even higher up into the air, resulting in a crash landing for Power, taking the Superpower Pokémon out.

"Power is unable to battle! Alice wins!"

Power looked dejected about the results, which I did not blame him for. Throughout the entire battle, he was countered to the full limit, and he definitely felt like he could have done more in any other circumstances.

But that is the harsh reality of battles sometimes. Not everything will go in your favor.

I thanked my Fighting type before returning him, and took out my third Pokéball before taking a deep breath.

"Grace, let's finish this!"

I threw Grace's Pokéball, sending out the Kirlia as she made a gentle landing onto the large island and examined the Tender Pokémon swimming around the river before the final battle began.

"Battle begin!'

Going for another set-up strategy, I instantly commanded, "Grace, Calm Mind!"

My Kirlia closed her eyes before her body glowed brightly. She then opened her eyes, which also started glowing brightly as her special attack and special defense stats increased.

"Alice, use Ice Beam!"

"Grace, counter with Psybeam!"

The pink beam of energy forming in front of Grace was fired towards the Water type, before it met the stream of water released from the Milotic's mouth. The two attacks collided with one another as the water turned into ice, before the two attacks eventually cancelled out each other from the impact.

"Grace, Magical Leaf!"

My Kirlia raised her hands above her head before bringing them forward, releasing multiple glowing green leaves towards Alice. The attack could not miss, so Wallace accepted his partner's fate and let her get hit by the attack before saying, "Alice, Recover!"

Alice, who slightly panted from the Grass type attack, made her body glow gold before all the bruises on her body caused by the attacks of Power and Grace were nowhere to be seen any longer.

Well, that's a problem.

"Grace, use Calm Mind again!" If Alice was using self-boosting moves like Recover, I was not going to hesitate doing the same.

As my Kirlia once again boosted her special stats, Wallace said, "Alice, launch a Twister attack!"

The Milotic's tailfins started spinning in the water as a water tornado suddenly appeared right in front of Grace, but Grace predicted its coming as she made a huge leap towards the right of her, barely dodging the water tornado as it quickly dissipated after missing its target.

Right after the Twister attack, I heaved a sigh of relief as I saw the clouds surrounding the battlefield finally gone from my sight, signalling the end of Rain Dance. But the job was not done. It was far from done.

"Grace, Magical Leaf!"

It was a boring, but definitely good move to use in this kind of situation, as the unavoidable attack hit the Water type once again.

"You're having too much fun with Magical Leaf now, Lows!" Wallace laughed.

I chuckled, "Desperate times call for desperate measures. Someone taught me that quote some time ago."

"Don't think that this will stop us, though!" Wallace confidently smiled, "Alice, use Hydro Pump!'

Despite the end of Rain Dance, the high volume of water approaching my Psychic type still looked as scary as ever before it engulfed Grace, but thanks to the boosted special defense stats from Calm Mind, Grace was able to come out of the attack less scathed.

As the Milotic was trying to recover her energy from releasing the powerful Water type attack, I commanded, "Grace, use Psybeam!'

The pink beam was more powerful than the first as it hit Alice on her head, but it was going to take us more to defeat her.

"Grace, follow up with Shadow Ball!"

A shadowy blob quickly formed in front of Grace before it was fired towards the Milotic.

"Alice, stop the attack with Ice Beam!"

Instead of colliding with the shadowy blob head on using the stream of water, the Milotic instead smartly used her attack to form an ice barrier right in front of her using a wave of water in the river, which the thick ice instantly shattered upon defending Alice from the Ghost type attack.

"Alice, go for another Hydro Pump!"

Another huge wave of water engulfed my Psychic type, but the attack was noticeably less powerful, which gave me hope that the Milotic was definitely becoming tired from Grace's relentless attacks.

I quickly asked my Psychic type, "Do you think you can try using the move you have been practicing right now?"

Grace knew what I was talking about and calmly nodded, "I'm not exactly confident that I have perfectly mastered the move, but I'll try my best, Lows."

"That's all I need to hear." I smiled before saying, "Grace, use Thunderbolt towards the river!"

Grace closed her eyes before a weak bolt of electricity formed in her arms, which gradually turned into a powerful yellow beam in succession. The attack was then launched towards the water part of the battlefield, and as it made contact with the water, the electricity was able to transmit throughout the river and shock the Milotic residing inside.

"...Learning a move mid way through a battle, that's the first in a while." Wallace said, "Alice, return to land. Let's finish this battle on the field."

The Water type did as instructed before I continued the barrage of attacks, "Grace, use Shadow Ball!"

"Counter with Ice Beam!"

This time, the stream of water made direct contact with the shadowy blob before the moves shortly broke apart.

"Psybeam!" I yelled.

The pink beam was able to hit Alice rather easily, which I assumed not being in water had severely restricted the Milotic's movements. However, Wallace also noticed something regarding Grace's new set of moves.

"...So to fully learn Thunderbolt, Grace had forgotten the move Magical Leaf." Wallace said, "That's a bold move, Lows. Sacrificing a surefire attack for a more effective move."

I only replied with a smile, which basically confirmed his guess. He returned a dazzling smile and said, "Well then! Lows, let's see whether this move will pay off for you in the end. Alice, use Twister!"

A normal tornado was fired at my Kirlia, one that Grace was unfortunately not able to dodge this time as she was launched into the air for a moment before crashing back onto the grassy field.

Before my Kirlia could get back up on her two feet, Wallace continued, "Alice, use Hydro Pump!"

"Grace, counter with Thunderbolt!"

Fortunately, Grace was able to get back up on time before stabilizing her vision towards the Milotic as she fired the bolt of electricity towards the Water type, the attack going right through the wave of water coming at Grace before hitting Alice. At the same time, the huge volume of water swallowed Grace once again, and it was only a matter of time before the victor was determined in the aftermath of the two attacks.

Thankfully, it looked like the early Calm Mind moves worked out for Grace, as the accumulated special defense managed to help her endure the consecutive Water type attacks. In addition to that, the increased special attack also helped the super effective Thunderbolt attack take Alice out as she laid on the ground motionless. I heaved a huge sigh of relief before looking towards Juan, who would confirm the final results in just a moment.

And that he did.

"Alice is unable to battle! Grace wins! The winner of the match goes to Lows Landerson, the challenger from Pallet Town!"

I happily looked towards Grace, who maintained her calm smile as she slowly spun around and did a small dance in celebration of our win. Wallace then walked towards us two and said, "Congratulations on the win, Lows!"

"Thanks for the great battle, Wallace." I replied.

"You did really well! I particularly liked your boldness of switching a move of your Pokémon mid battle for a better advantage."

"It was risky, but I'm glad it paid off." I said.

"It sure did!" Wallace smiled, "It removed one of Alice's biggest advantages by forcing her to switch to the land area of the battlefield. That move of yours… resembles bravery, which is what the new generation of artists need nowadays to succeed. Perhaps… you can become Master Juan's next protégé very soon!"

Juan quickly chimed in, "I don't accept protégés that easily, Wallace."

Wallace laughed, "Of course I was just kidding, master. Lows, there might be no protégé spot for you, but you can have the Rain Badge instead."

The Sootopolis Gym Leader handed me a badge shaped like three raindrops arranged in a triangle. I gratefully took it before putting it in my badge case, resulting in only one empty spot left for the Hoenn Gym Badges.

"Once again, thanks for the dazzling performance on the battlefield." Wallace said, "It made me realize that while this isn't my main team, I still have a lot of work to be done before I could challenge the Champion again."

He then quietly added, "...And also, thanks for bringing Winona back to Sootopolis, which helped me find my resolve again."

"It's nothing." I smiled, "I'll be hopefully hearing good news from you soon, Wallace."

With that, concluded my short but fulfilling stay in Sootopolis. As I messaged the Fortree Gym Leader, Winona about the results of the battle and how I was ready to head to the last destination, Lilycove City, I thought of the brief promise I made with the Lilycove Gym Leader, Wally.

"I'll leave and do something else for now, though. I look forward to battling you soon, Lows."

"You bet. I'm sure I'll have a good time in the gym battle against you, Wally."

"Lows... when we meet again, I hope you still have that trait in you."

"What trait?"

"...Your passionate love towards Pokémon."

I smiled.

I thought I wasn't going to make it after everything that happened, but…

Looks like I have another promise that I'm able to fulfill soon.

I'll show Wally through our battle…

That I still love Pokémon. I still love Pokémon battling.

Perhaps even more than before.

I headed back to my room in Sootopolis, excited for my final Gym Challenge before the Hoenn League to commence soon.

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