Silver's gym battle had gone far better than mine. Totodile had managed to defeat Natu pretty easily and he had managed to get Murkrow down on the ground.

"Murkrow! Get up!" Falkner shouted.

Silver grinned. "Totodile let's finish this up! Hit them with Ice Fang!" Silver threw his hand forward as he gave the command.

Totodile rushed forward with his mouth wide open while Murkrow struggled to his feet. "Murkrow! Faint Attack!" Murkrow winced and prepared to attack but Totodile quickly closed the gap and bit down on his wing.

Murkrow immediately fainted on contact and Falkner recalled his trusty ally. "Well done, rarely does a trainer beat me with just one Pokémon." He told Silver.

I ran from the sidelines and gave my friend a high-five. "Silver that was so cool!" I told him as Falkner handed him the badge and TM.

Silver's cheeks went as red as his hair and he smiled. "It wasn't that cool!" He said.

"Both of you did wonderfully! I hope you continue to train your Pokémon and achieve great things." Falkner told us.

Silver and I smiled at him. "Thanks!" We said in unison and we stepped onto the platform that took us to the bottom.

The four of us exited the gym while I recounted the battle I had experienced just a little while ago.

"Well kids," Blue said. "That was some great stuff from both of you! Maybe we'll run into each other again, but I've got to get going."

Bill nodded. "Same here! But I wanted to give you kids something." He reached into his bag and pulled out two Poké Balls. "I've been studying Eevee a lot so I have a bunch of them! And I want you kids to have them!" He said, handing us each a Poké Ball.

"Really? That's awesome!" I cheered, looking down at the new Pokémon.

"Mhm! Let me know what they evolve into when we meet again!" Bill told us.

Silver and I put the Poké Balls away and grinned. "Thanks so much!" Silver said.

Bill waved it away. "Don't mention it! You kids are helping me out by being field testers." Bill and Blue waved and walked off in separate directions, leaving Silver and me outside of the gym.

I exhaled loudly. "Wow. We really just got to have two famous trainers watch us battle!"

"And we were even given Eevee!" Silver recounted. "This is so cool!"

We were about to walk to the Pokémon Center when I noticed a girl making her way up to the gym. Her auburn hair was tied up in a bun and it bounced up and down slightly as she walked. The girl looked to be a few years older than us and a lot taller.

She had small freckles dotting her light skin and her blue eyes were narrowed. "Hey, trainers!" She called to us. Her features were soft and she seemed generally inviting.

"Hm?" Silver turned around to face her. I noticed how she was dressed for warmer weather, wearing a pink skirt that went up to her knees and a floral patterned blouse.

"You kids just took on this gym, right?" She confined. Silver and I nodded and she grinned. "Perfect! Give me the scoop, how hard was it?"

Silver shrugged. "We beat it on our first try. So I guess it wasn't too hard."

She thought about what he said. "Alright, I can work with this then. I want to warm up my Pokémon though, hows about a battle?" The girl offered.

"For sure!" I said.

Silver raised an eyebrow. "Gold are you sure that's a good idea? You just battled the Gym Leader."

"It'll be fine!" I assured him while I sent out Chikorita. "Chikorita didn't battle today!" My Pokémon looked back at me and grinned.

"The name's Jess!" She said as she tossed a Poké Ball into the air. The ball burst open and a small white sheep Pokémon appeared on the ground.

The wool covered most of its body except for its legs, tail, ears, and small blue head. It opened its mouth and lightly yawned before focusing on Chikorita.

"The first move's all yours," I told her.

Jess grinned. "Mareep use Tackle!" Her Pokémon began to run forward on its stubby legs.

The Pokémon was moving surprisingly fast based on what I expected. "Chikorita get ready! Use Vine Whip!" The two vines extended from Chikorita's vines and she stopped the Mareep in its tracks, throwing it back with ease.

Jess waited for her Pokémon to regain its bearings before giving the next command. "Mareep! Use Thunder Wave!" Her Pokémon narrowed its eyes and raised its tail.

The tail began to emanate electric waves that washed over my Pokémon and I. My hairs began to stand on their ends and my heart started pounding in my chest as the electric energy went through me.

Chikorita was noticeably not moving as much. "Alright, Chikorita hit 'em with Poison Powder!" I told her. Chikorita tried to take a step forward but it seemed like she couldn't move at all.

Jess put her hands together. "That's what I'm talking about! Mareep use Electro Ball!" A ball of electricity appeared above the sheep Pokémon's head and it flung it at Chikorita.

The attack barreled into my Pokémon and knocked her down. She stood back up with a grimace. "Chikorita! Let's wrap this up before they can do anything else! Use Razor Leaf!"

"Oh no, you don't! Mareep use Take Down!" Jess's Pokémon took off, running straight towards Chikorita. Chikorita whipped her head around and fired leaves at Mareep as it approached.

Mareep began to glow bright white as it continued to charge through the leaves. "Chikorita you can stop it! Use Tackle!" My Pokémon looked back at me with uncertainty. "Trust me!" Chikorita quickly charged forward to meet Mareep head-on.

As the two collided Chikorita was thrown back and launched into the ground a little past me. She slowly got up yet again.

Jess's eyes narrowed and her smirk grew. "Still standing, eh? Well, let's finish this. Electro Ball one more time!"

I watched Mareep begin to charge the attack and I was sure Chikorita couldn't take another hit. "Chikorita you've got to dodge this!" I told her.

Chikorita took a step forward but stopped suddenly. I noticed electricity course through her and she seemed completely paralyzed. The electric attack slammed into her and created a small explosion.

When it cleared, Chikorita was lying on the ground and had fainted. I quietly returned the Pokémon while Jess celebrated her victory.

"Not too bad kid," Jess told me. "But you didn't stand a chance against me and my Mareep that's for sure."

I didn't want to come off too bitter after my loss. "Yeah, you're pretty good," I said without conviction. "We should probably heal our Pokémon."

Silver and I turned to leave but I noticed she was following us. "I ought to heal up before the gym battle too, so I'll go with you guys." She said, running to join us. "So was I mistaken or were you with that Kanto Gym Leader, Blue?"

I didn't feel like talking but fortunately Silver was able to take over. "Uhm yeah! He watched us take on the gym! It was super awesome!"

"Oh, that's pretty cool that you know the Champion's brother. I know a pretty famous trainer too." Jess said with a smug aura. "You guys have heard of him I'm sure. It's Alex Goldfinch."

I glanced up at her to see if she was lying. Nothing in particular gave away that she was trying to trick us. "No way." Silver said bluntly.

Jess grinned. "Way! We grew up in Ecruteak City together before he left for his big journey five years ago. And now that he's trying to take on the league again I've decided to become his rival and do the same!"

That piqued my interest. "He's taking on the league challenge again?"

The girl nodded. "Mhm! He's starting from scratch and determined to win! And since he always insisted he was stronger than me I plan on beating him to the punch and putting him in his place." She explained to us as we walked into the center and had our Pokémon healed.

Once we had our Pokémon returned, the three of us left the center. "So, where you kids off to next?" Jess asked us.

We shrugged. "I guess we're going to Azalea Town, that's the recommended route at least,"

"Well, hopefully, we'll run into each other again once you're a bit stronger," Jess told me, smugly.

I wanted to throw some bitter retort at her but I shrugged it off. "Well when we do meet again we'll have a rematch, and next time I'll win," I promised.

"I like the confidence," Jess said with a chuckle. "I'll be looking forward to our rematch." She told me and she walked off to the gym.

"Are you alright, Gold?" Silver asked me.

I gave him a thumbs up. "Totally! I just made a couple of mistakes! I'll win next time for sure!"

Silver nodded. "Yeah, definitely! Until then it's off to Azalea Town!" We walked through Violet City one last time and made our way to the south exit.

I kept replaying the battle in my mind as we walked into the new route. If I had just done a few things differently, maybe I could've won.

It wasn't too big of a deal. I told myself. Everyone loses. Then why did it feel so bad?