As it neared the time for the Junior Division Top 64 matches to start, I went to the locker room provided by the Hoenn League for all the Trainers to put their belongings before entering the battlefield areas in the stadium once it was time for their matches. There were actually a few televisions hung at each corner of the ceilings around the locker room, all playing the live broadcast of the Hoenn League for Trainers to kill time before it was time for their matches.

I had some time to spend, so I looked towards one of the televisions' screens, which the broadcast was featuring a male and female host. The male host first spoke, "Welcome back to the live broadcast for the 2004 Hoenn League, everyone! I'm one of your hosts for today, Fred…"

"And I'm Lisia!" The female host then enthusiastically followed, her palpable energy could be felt even through the television screen. I briefly recalled Cassie saying Lisia was a popular Pokémon Coordinator in the region, so I guessed it was not entirely a surprise to see her being so uplifting in her hosting.

After some early banter between the two hosts, Lisia continued, "Well then, let us first take a look at the matches that will be happening today in the Junior Division!"

What followed was a long list of matches consisting of many Trainers' names that replaced the two hosts, as they were temporarily featured on the screen for the viewers to see.

Fred's voice remained in the background, though, "Some familiar names, and most importantly, many new names that would surely take their chances to make their best impression throughout this year's Hoenn League! Lisia, what are some of the matches you'd recommend the viewers to pay good attention to?"

Lisia suggested, "One of the matches in the Junior Division I'm looking forward to is the one between Harry Waves versus his opponent, Alejandro Invicto, where both players' calibres were recognized throughout their journeys leading to the Hoenn League, both of them featured in television programmes specialized in showcasing rising stars in the region!"

Fred added, "While that is true, all eyes must be on Harry Waves today, the previous semifinalist of the latest iteration of the Indigo League! He would surely be aiming to win the whole thing in the Junior Division, and cement himself as one of the best among the younger Trainers in Hoenn."

"We're looking forward to seeing how that match will fare out!" Lisia said, "Besides that, Daniel 'Disc' Chase, a Trainer known for his overall brilliant consistency throughout every battle, would be facing against Ray Zheng, a Trainer famous for integrating Chinese kung-fu into his battle tactics. We'll see whether he'll be able to break through Disc's defense using his unique playstyle!"

"The contrast of the two Trainers is sure to stir up a storm when they face each other in battle later!" Fred said, "I'm also very interested in the battle between Sip Anders and Aurelia Rivera. The former is a Lavaridge native who actually just registered as an official Trainer just five months back, a true rookie in the scene! Yet, he managed to collect all ten badges coming into the Hoenn League in such a short amount of time. Pay good attention to Sip, as you may be discovering a brand new diamond in the rough!"

Lisia agreed, "It's storylines like these that make you want to cheer for these Trainers to go all the way, don't they? Another battle I would recommend is the one between Lows Landerson and Samuel Pescador. While in terms of popularity, Lows is nowhere close to his opponent, but his bold move of becoming one of the voluntary early challengers against Drake in the Elite Four entry match had surely helped himself garner some attention. Receiving Drake's recognition would most likely surge some confidence in the Trainer from Pallet Town, but to continue his momentum, he must now go through the Sootopolis native, and perhaps, the entire fanbase of his too!"

"Personally, I think Samuel's looks aren't nearly as good as mine, to be honest." Fred joked.

"You're going to get in trouble for saying that, Fred." Lisia laughed, "That's all from us for now! There are many more matches besides the one we mentioned that would be beginning very shortly, so be sure to stay tuned and find out who are the Trainers that would prevail in the first round of the Hoenn League for Day 1! See you then!"

Afterwards, some matches were picked by the broadcast to be featured live on television, and since my match was set to be taking place in the middle of all the matches for the day, I was able to check out some of the live results of the earlier matches. Disc was able to defeat his opponent, Ray, rather convincingly with two of his Pokémon remaining, while for Sip, it was a closer affair, but his Flygon, Max, managed to bail him out of an early exit as he barely defeated Aurelia.

Just as Sip's match concluded, my name was called through the P.A. system, as I readied myself to walk through the hallway under the staff's instruction to head towards the designated battlefield area for my match. Since I was in a wheelchair, I waited attentively for their signal to move immediately.

I entered the arena on my wheelchair before locating myself on one side of the battlefield, while on the other wise, the handsome Trainer was looking at me with a bright smile, and seeing his looks in person, I could see why he managed to garner a dedicated fanbase. We were both welcomed by the cheers from the audience, though it was obvious that they were more for my idol-like opponent.

The referee walked towards the middle of the battlefield before introducing both of us on the battlefield.

"To my right, we have Samuel Pescador from Sootopolis City!" The sentence was followed by many loud cheers, notably from a front row a female audience, who were collectively shouting a predesigned chant for their favourite Trainer.

"Sa-mu-el, so bold and true,

Catch our hearts and victory too!

Pescador, make waves today,

Win it all—the Sootopolis way!"

I tried my hardest to not cringe from that chant, but judging from Samuel's reaction, the Sootopolis native seemed to have enjoyed it.

The referee continued, "To my left, we have Lows Landerson from Pallet Town!" The audience politely cheered for me, though obviously not as loud as Samuel's. The contrast in support was giving me some nervousness, but I thought of the close people who were supporting me throughout my journey: my parents, my sister, my friends, and Gym Leaders like Wally and Winona, who were probably either watching through their televisions or in the stadium at that moment.

Let's do this, for them.

"The battle between Samuel Pescador and Lows Landerson will now begin!" The referee said, "The field type and who gets the first move will be chosen at random."

A "beep" sound was made, as the pointer on the enormous television screen above us started spinning in the middle of a circle that was cut into three parts, showing three different field types: rock, grass and water. The pointer slowly stopped and much to my relief, it landed on the grass field. Another circle then immediately replaced the first one, showing Samuel's and my face on two different sides. The pointer spun around the circle once again before eventually stopping at my side.

"This battle will be on the grass field, and Lows will have the first move."

The ground below us slightly shook, before the dirt battlefield was changed into a field full of short, green grass. The second circle on the television screen was also replaced with our pictures and Pokéball icons, showing how many Pokémon we had left, which would be updated as the match went on.

I took out my first Pokéball and threw it into the air, "Let's do this, Shadow!"

"Bestia, show the world what we are!"

On my side, my Absol landed on the grassy field, while on my opponent's side landed a Gyarados, a Pokémon also commonly seen in the Kanto region. Even though the Gyarados fortunately would not be battling in the water, I kept my guard up as the referee announced the start of the match.

"Battle begin!"

"Shadow, Psycho Cut!" Assuming that Bestia would be more restricted in his movements in the grass battlefield, I thought this would be a good move in theory.

Shadow released a purple crescent-like blade of energy from her horn towards the Gyarados, but Samuel simply said, "Bestia, dodge and set up Rain Dance!"

Despite its movements being restricted, just as I predicted, it instead made a huge leap above ground in a near-immaculate timing, which made it successfully avoid the Psycho Cut attack. Then, it let out a loud roar, summoning a dark cloud that spun around the battlefield area for a few seconds before stopping, rain pouring from it shortly after.

That's definitely going to help all his team in the long run.

"Bestia, Aqua Tail!" Samuel yelled, and the Water and Flying type's tail quickly became surrounded in swirling water before Bestia lunged himself forward towards my Absol.

"Shadow, Protect!"

Just as my Dark type barely managed to form the protective barrier around him in time, the Gyarados' long tail crashed right at the barrier, shattering it almost instantly, giving us a brief warning of the alarming power of the boosted Water type move.

Bestia was obviously a strong Pokémon, but I knew that we could not just remain on the passive side and decided to respond immediately, "Shadow, Night Slash!"

Shadow closed in towards the Water and Flying type Pokémon immediately, her horn glowing white, while Samuel quickly came up with a counter, "Bestia, fight back with Ice Fang!"

Bestia's fangs became covered in light blue, icy energy, before the Pokémon bit right down on Shadow with them. Fortunately, just before she was forced to endure the pain of the Ice type attack, she managed to swing her horn right onto Bestia's large body, resulting in a critical hit thanks to her ability, Super Luck.

As Shadow backed off to our side of the battlefield, Samuel commanded, "Bestia, Hydro Pump!"

"Shadow, use Protect again!" Due to the shorter timeframe given to set up, the barrier this time felt even weaker against the powerful stream of water blasted from the Gyarados' mouth towards Shadow. The barrier shattered within seconds, the Protect not able to absorb all the Hydro Pump's impact as the remaining blast of the water engulfed my Dark type for a brief moment before subsiding, causing cheers from Samuel's female fans.

"No, eso no es, tío!" Samuel let out his Spanish accent for a moment, "You can't use Protect forever, Lows!"

I ignored the noise around the stadium and quickly said, "Shadow, use Payback!"

With the damage taken from Hydro Pump, Shadow was able to charge up some additional power before lunging herself towards the Gyarados and slammed her opponent with incredible force.

"Bestia, Aqua Tail!" The Gyarados tried striking my Absol once again, with its tail surrounded in swirling water, though its restricted movements on the grassy field made it look slightly silly in its attacking approach. That gave me a quick idea, "Shadow, get on Bestia and strike with Night Slash!"

Right as Bestia aimed its tail towards Shadow in another lunge attack, a quick leap was all she needed to dodge the attack, as Bestia's tail missed its target and slammed right onto the ground, causing a thundering sound to be heard for the audience. In the meantime, Shadow landed right on Bestia's slithering body, which caused Samuel to slightly panic and said, "B-Bestia, get her off with Hydro Pump!"

That's a mistake, Samuel!

Instead of opting for the quicker Ice fang, the Gyarados was forced to charge up for a more powerful Hydro Pump just to attempt getting the hassle off its body. That gave Shadow the chance to climb further up, her horn glowing white at the same time as just before Bestia could fire its large blast of water from its mouth, Shadow finished her intrusion with a powerful slash using her horn right at its face, causing Bestia to wince and uncontrollably looked up towards the air in pain, firing its attack right towards the ceiling as a result. Luckily, there were protective barriers around each battlefield arena, if not, some audience might be drenched at the end of that Hydro Pump.

Just as Bestia needed time to recharge its energy, I yelled at Shadow, who just made a gentle landing back to our side of the battlefield, "Shadow, finish it off with Psycho Cut!"

"N-No, no puede ser!" Samuel said, "Bestia, counter with another Hydro Pump!"

Another rash command from my opponent out of panic caused the Gyarados to have to attempt firing its Water type attack once again, but due to its tired state, the move was nowhere close to the previous two attacks' power. The purple blade of energy fired by Shadow easily cut through the blast of water and landed right on Bestia's body, which while my Absol had to take some damage from the Hydro Pump move, it paid off in return, as the Gyarados soon crashed onto the ground, unable to move from yet another critical resulted by the Psychic type move.

"Bestia is unable to battle! Shadow wins!"

I realized even though Bestia appeared stronger than Shadow, I was definitely calmer in my decisions compared to Samuel's.

If I can keep this up, I should be able to do this.

As that victory slightly boosted my self confidence, Samuel had returned his fainted Gyarados, and I decided to do the same.

"Shadow, good work. Take some rest before your next battle." Shadow nodded at my suggestion as I returned her back to her Pokéball before taking out another one.

"Woody, let's keep it going!"

As my Grovyle landed on the battlefield, Samuel smirked and said, "You've made a grave mistake, Lows! Go, Medusa!"

The Pokémon who appeared on his side of the battlefield was a Tentacruel, one I recognized as also another common sea Pokémon from Kanto. I instantly had a slight frown on my face.

Yeah, that's not really the matchup I need for Woody…

"Battle begin!"

The show must still go on, either way. "Woody, Leaf Blade!"

A sword-like blade came from his arms almost immediately, but Samuel knew what to do, "Medusa, force Woody off with Acid!"

A stream of violet acid was released from the Tentacruel's mouth right towards my Grass type, forcing Woody to halt his actions. Samuel remained relentless in his approach, "Medusa, now! Use Blizzard!"

Oh no! "Woody, protect yourself using Rock Tomb!"

Multiple gray rocks outlined in white energy formed around Woody while the Tentacruel fired a blizzard right towards him. Woody used the boulders formed to shield himself from the Ice type attack, which managed to reduce some of the impact. It was an unorthodox way to use the Rock type move, but I had no other choice at that moment.

"Woody, Giga Drain!"

A beam of energy was released from my Grovyle's mouth at the opponent, as the beam managed to make contact with Medusa and stuck to its body before absorbing the Tentacruel's energy. The energy was soon transferred to Woody, but instead of feeling rejuvenated, a painful expression suddenly appeared on Woody's face as he struggled to stand still for a few moments, but managed to endure the pain and regain his focus.

Seeing Samuel's proud look on his face, I lightly slapped myself on the forehead, remembering Medusa's potential ability, Liquid Ooze, which made moves like Giga Drain disadvantageous towards Woody instead.

This isn't good… Medusa hard counters Woody here. We'll have to try going head on.

"Woody, use Agility, then Leaf Blade!"

Woody instantly started running around the battlefield at an extremely alarming speed while the blade-like leaf formed from his arms.

"Medusa, counter with Poison Jab!"

There was no turning back anymore, as Woody managed to slash the Water and Poison type with the Grass type attack, but just as he tried to retreat from the Jellyfish Pokémon, the Tentacruel stuck out one of its tentacles which started to glow purple towards Woody, successfully jabbing him with it and causing its opponent to let out a wince of pain, the Poison type move clearly taking a toll on Woody.

He struggled to get back up, but his sheer willpower brought himself back from the ground, right before the referee looked to announce his defeat. I knew he did not have long to battle on, but I had to honour him by giving my all for the remainder of this battle, too.

"Woody, let out a full power Leaf Blade!"

"Medusa, stop Woody with Acid!"

Despite making direct contact with a stream of violet acid, Woody gritted his teeth and continued rushing forward at lightning speed, before he repeatedly slashed the Tentacruel's body with the sharp leaves on his forearms until his body completely gave out on him. With that, he finally collapsed onto the ground, unable to continue any further.

"Woody is unable to battle! Medusa wins!"

I wished I could run right towards him and thank him for his efforts, but I was still in my wheelchair, and could only quietly give him my thanks before returning him back to his Pokéball to rest up. I then took out another Pokéball and threw it into the air, "Shadow, time to return!"

Despite the short rest Shadow got to enjoy, she looked just as bruised as her upcoming opponent, so I expected this encounter to not last as long as the previous ones.

"Battle begin!"

Knowing Shadow liked head-on battles, Samuel instantly commanded, "Medusa, Acid!"

Medusa had to use long range attacks to avoid physical attacks due to its restricted movements on land, which made me feel more and more fortunate as the match went on that we got the grass battlefield instead of water.

"Shadow, dodge and use Night Slash!"

Shadow was able to successfully avoid the violet acid rather easily, before she found a good timing to slash the Tentacruel with her glowing horn. However, before she could fall back, Samuel instantly shouted, "Poison Jab!"

Medusa was prepared for its Trainer's command as a tentacle jabbed right into my Absol's body, causing her to wince in slight pain before returning to my side. Her face turned slightly purple as she looked unwell for a brief moment, signalling that she was unfortunately poisoned from the attack.

We need to end this fast.

It looked like Samuel also intended to do the same, as he yelled, "Finish Shadow off with Hydro Pump!"

Shadow looked too exhausted to generate another Protect barrier, and I needed to come up with something to lessen the damage on our chances to win this match against Samuel. I yelled, "Shadow, charge up a full power Psycho Cut for Medusa!"

As a huge blast of water was fired from Medusa's mouth towards my Absol, it looked like the outcome of this battle was doomed for my Dark type. But Shadow never gave up, as the powerful purple crescent-like blade of energy once again cut right through the Water type attack before hitting the Water and Poison type, the super effective attack causing Medusa to cry in pain. The stream of water then engulfed Shadow, and as the water subsided, my Absol was seen down on the ground, fainted from the impact of the powerful move.

However the accumulated damage dealt to the Jellyfish Pokémon from a combined effort between Woody and Shadow also proved too much for Medusa to handle, as shortly after Shadow's exit of the match, Samuel's second Pokémon also collapsed on the battlefield, which was an outcome I would not complain about.

"Both Medusa and Shadow are unable to battle! This battle is a draw!"

I thanked Shadow for her efforts before returning her, and took out my last Pokéball for this match.

Let's do this.

"Let's win this, Grace!" I let my Psychic type Pokémon out of the Pokéball, and as she calmly landed on the battlefield, she examined her Pokémon briefly, who was Destello the Chinchou, who looked eager to battle. Due to the earlier battle against Medusa, I was more wary of the abilities of my opponent's Pokémon, which I remembered was Volt Absorb for the Chinchou. That meant Thunderbolt was out of the question for Grace.

"Battle begin!"

"Destello, use Thunderbolt!"

A powerful bolt of yellow electricity was released from the orbs at the end of the Chinchou's antennae towards Grace, but I quickly responded, "Grace, dodge and use Calm Mind!"

Grace avoided the attack using her psychic powers as she teleported herself away to a safer spot, before she closed her eyes as her body glowed brightly, raising her special attack power.

"Destello, use Charge, then Spark!"

The orbs on Destello's antennae glowed yellow once again, before its whole body became surrounded by yellow sparks. Afterwards, another blast of electricity was fired towards Grace with increased power.

"Counter with Shadow Ball!"

Grace quickly formed a shadowy ball of energy in front of her before firing it right towards the blast of electricity, dissipating the attack immediately before it continued to hit the Chinchou.

"Destello, no te rindas! Thunderbolt!" Despite the Chinchou's enthusiastic efforts, the bolt of yellow electricity was not fast enough once again, as Grace managed to teleport away from the attack once again.

"Grace, use Psychic!"

My Gardevoir's eyes glowed light pink, before she created a light pink glow in front of her arms, which then expanded and was shot forward as a wall of psychic towards, which easily hit the Water and Electric type, causing it to wince in pain.

I came to realize that compared to the other two Pokémon, the Chinchou definitely looked out of place in Samuel's team. Despite its obvious enthusiasm to battle, it was noticeably getting outclassed by Grace.

I had my suspicions of why the discrepancies felt so obvious, but what was important at the moment was to end this battle in my favour. I did not let my guard down and commanded, "Grace, use Calm Mind, then Psychic!"

Samuel knew he needed to break off Grace's focus, but it seemed like he also realized the discrepancy of powers between the two, as the panic in his voice returned again, "D-Destello, stop her with Bubblebeam!"

The Chinchou's mouth glowed light blue, as a stream of blue bubbles were released at Grace, but the bubbles barely affected my Psychic type as she finished her move and fired another wall of psychic energy, which hit the Chinchou directly, The consecutive buffed Psychic type attacks proved too much for Grace's opponent in the end, as the Chinchou collapsed after the exchange of moves, much to audience, and in some way, to my disappointment as the match came to an anticlimactic finish.

"Destello is unable to battle! Grace wins! The winner of this Top 64 Junior Division match goes to Lows Landerson from Pallet Town!"

I clenched my right fist in relief, glad that I was able to win my first match in the Hoenn League. As Grace returned back to my side, I said, "Grace, good work out there."

My Psychic type appeared delighted by my compliment and the outcome of the match, before she returned back to her Pokéball. I then pushed myself on the wheelchair towards the middle of the battlefield, where I met Samuel, who looked dejected, but maintained his polite smile as we both extended our hands for a respectful handshake.

I quickly asked, "Destello is probably new to battling, isn't it?"

Samuel looked surprised, "Y-You realized that, huh?"

I said, "Yeah, it looked… sorta out of place compared to the others in your team. I do think it's very enthusiastic to battle, though, so with some training, Destello could be a great battler in the future."

"Yo también lo espero!" Samuel said, "Even though sending Destello to battle here didn't really pay off for the Hoenn League, I was hoping both Destello and I could learn from this experience and become stronger in the future. Thanks for the battle, Lows, and good luck in the next stages."

"Same to you, Samuel. Good luck in the future."

We ended our brief conversation with approving nods before heading back to our respective hallways, leaving the battlefield, along with the cheers and claps from the audience behind, though I knew I would probably be experiencing this atmosphere and the feelings I had in the Top 64 match again very soon.

When that happens, I hope I have a few more supporters cheering for me than today, though.

After winning the match against Samuel Pescador, I had a somewhat mandatory interview for the live broadcast, before heading back to the locker room to retrieve my belongings. Afterwards, it was already nearing evening time, and I was free to do anything for the rest of the day, as I headed to the lobby to recover my energy. Battling in the stadium was definitely a fun experience, but also a mentally exhausting one.

I entered the lobby, which was notably more crowded than before. As I tried finding an empty seat for me to just chill on, I actually noticed a familiar face in the distance and decided a quick chat would not hurt.

I walked towards him and greeted, "Steven!"

"Oh, Lows! I just watched your match on the live broadcast, and it looks like you did just fine to make it through. Congratulations." Steven smiled.

"It got a bit hairy at times, but I managed." I replied.

"Well, gotta get used to it now, because there's many more matches ahead of you." Steven said, "Anyways, how is the condition of your legs so far?"

"They're recovering well, thankfully." I said, "I should be able to get out of this wheelchair and walk normally in a few weeks."

"That's good."

"What brings you here, Steven?" I asked.

"I just had a meeting with the PLA authorities about the launch details of Pokétalk. It's still a long way to go before the official launch, but we're making progress, that's for sure. Fortunately, talks are going quite smoothly so far, part of it owing to my former status as the Hoenn Champion."

"Looking forward to it!" I happily said, "Pokétalk is a very convenient device, so I'm glad more people would get to talk with their Pokémon in the future."

"That's the vision, anyway."

The conversation came to a brief pause for a moment before he continued, "By the way, just like Charmaine, you came from Pallet Town, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded, knowing that my relationship with Charmaine as siblings was not really a surprise for anyone associated with the PLA at this point.

"Did your sister inspire you to start your journey as a Trainer in Hoenn, then? Usually, anyone would first pick their home region to travel around, familiarity and all of that."

"Well, meeting my sister again was part of it, but it's probably not the main reason why I wanted to come here." I replied honestly, "It actually had something to do with an incident that happened to me when I was younger."

"Is that so?" I saw Steven's eyebrows raise in slight surprise, "...Do enlighten me about it, if you don't mind"

I had become acquainted with Steven enough for me to tell him my story, since it was not really a big secret that I needed to hide, anyway. Thus, I told him the brief details of the incident, of how I was surrounded by wild Pokémon controlled by Team Willpower in Petalburg Woods, and how the Trainer that I regarded as my saviour ended up rescuing me out of trouble by fending off the Pokémon with his partner, Warrior.

Even though later on in my journey, I found out he was not able to stop the sudden attack from the Willpower Leader, Wilson, my gratitude towards him did not decrease any less. If it was not for him, the outcome could have been a lot worse for me back then.

After finishing my story, and telling Steven about my main purpose of travelling in Hoenn as a Trainer, the former Hoenn Champion, who remained expressionless throughout, asked, "...What if the Trainer you mentioned doesn't actually want you to find out his identity?"

"...Why is that?" I was slightly confused.

"You mentioned that you still came out of the incident injured in the end, right?" Steven explained, "It's not difficult to assume that the Trainer could still feel guilty that Wilson was still able to knock you out, even after his initial plan fell apart. He could have probably done a better job to prevent such a thing from happening, that's why he didn't regard himself as the saviour you envisioned him to be."

"But he tried his best, right?"

"...Huh?"

"He tried his best, and I think that's all that matters." I said, "After that incident, I returned to Trainer School back in my hometown region, and something actually happened to me that pained me till this day."

I tried hiding my pained expression and continued, "I wasn't even that upset towards the incident itself. It's just… despite having people I considered good friends, throughout that incident, no one helped me. No one tried for me. It was a little sad."

"...Which is why I've come to really appreciate those who actually tried to help me, even if the efforts weren't meant to be." A gentle smile appeared on my face, "In some way, that Trainer in Petalburg Woods was my hero. Besides, because of him, I travelled here and was able to have so many great experiences and made so many friends. At this point of my journey, it's more than just the incident in the forest now… which gives me more reason to thank him, for being the first push that made me return to Hoenn."

"I see." The signature smile returned in Steven's face, "I'm sure if the Trainer heard what you said, he'd be grateful to hear that. I hope you get to find him very soon."

"It's not looking likely, but I hope so, too!" I smiled, before my Pokégear rang, which Steven kindly signalled me to go ahead and take my time answering the call request. I did so, and Sip's voice appeared through the Pokégear, [Lows, your match just ended, right? Let's grab dinner together, to celebrate both of us winning our matches!]

"Yeah, sure. I'll meet up with you in the hotel lobby in a few minutes." I replied.

[Sounds good. See you then!]

Once the call came to an end, I said, "Looks like I'll be going, then! It was great talking to you, Steven."

"Likewise. See you soon, and good luck in the rest of your Hoenn League matches."

I waved the former Hoenn Champion goodbye, before pushing myself in the wheelchair out of the stadium and towards the Dragon King Hotel to meet up with my roommate and friend for a celebratory meal.

After three days…

Sip and I looked at the television screen in our hotel room, where the next Top 32 matches would be announced live through the Hoenn League broadcast. Technically, we would be receiving messages through our Pokégears about our next opponents, anyway, but doing this gave us more suspense on who we were battling against next.

After what felt like forever, we finally got to hear the host say the magic words, "...And here are the Top 32 matchups you're all been waiting for!"

The list of matches were shown on the screen, with Sip quickly finding his name and said, "Looks like I'll be going against Giichii Kobayashi, the ace student from Leap Trainer School… I hope I'll be able to learn a lot from battling him, then."

He then turned towards me and asked, "Who are you going against, Lows?"

He did not receive a response from me, so he started searching for my name on the television screen himself. It did not take long for the attentive Lavaridge native to find my name and said, "Oh, found it… You're going against… huh?!"

Sip then took a closer look at my face, which looked even more shocked than his initial reaction. I then let out a big sigh, "...I expected this to happen eventually, but not this early."

My roommate could only helplessly pat my back gently in sympathy. If possible, none of us wanted this outcome to happen.

My next opponent was…

Regis Furaito from Fortree City.

As another day of work neared its end at the Devon Corporation headquarters, Steven took some time at the balcony just beside his office room to take a quick breather.

He stared into the sky as he recalled the conversation he had with Lows just a few days prior.

...I'm sorry, Lows.

Once everything is truly over… I'll hopefully be able to tell you the truth.

His longtime partner, Metagross, noticed its Trainer and slowly floated towards his side, "Stressed with work, Steven?"

"Not really, I got accustomed to my work long ago." Steven slightly smiled, "It was a bit hectic back when I first returned to Devon, but I managed rather easily after."

"Something else, then." His Metagross said, "...It's about that kid again, isn't it?"

"...Nothing can escape from you, huh." The smile remained on Steven's face, though this time with a hint of resignedness.

"If it's really bothering you that much… maybe it's time to tell him, eh?"

If only it was that easy, he thought.

But deep down, he knew he could not hide the truth forever, but he wanted to do it right.

To give Lows, and even himself, the deserving closure of that incident years ago.

"Perhaps, Warrior.

After our job is finished."

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 (Gardevoir, Female) Calm Nature

Ability: Synchronize

Moves: Calm Mind, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt

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