In his years as the top of the Orange League (and through many debates if 'Orange League Supreme Gym Leader' meant Champion, was equivalent to Champion, and ranting purists arguing one way or the other), Drake had fought many challengers.

Many local, some from Kanto or Johto. A few from even further afar.

They had never defeated him. No one had joined their hall of fame in his time, though a number did get close.

"Saur!"

Though it seemed like these days that was getting closer and closer to being changed.

His Venusaur, even two years ago, appearing in battle was a rarity, though it seemed that he had to call him out more often now. If nay sayers wanted to suggest that weakened his old friend, the Tyranitar currently being held by dozens of vines was a good testament to the fact that lack of use did not lax Venusaur's well honed strength and skills.

Said Tyranitar was flailing about, roaring in anger and trying to get an arm free or a foot back on the ground. Or at least be unmuzzled.

"No!" Tyranitar's trainer shouted in desperation.

"And this looks like the final move folks! Our Drake has our challenger's ace Pokémon wrapped up to go. Clearly Drake was setting up for this when he went into the second half at a handicap: Ditto, Onix, and Gengar clearly were weakening the remaining four Pokémon to be finished in a single display of power!"

No, no he wasn't. That wasn't what he was planning at all. Nothing of that was him setting up this sweep.

"End this!" Drake didn't let the truth show on his face, that this recovery was spontaneous.

"Venusaur!" His old friend agreed, with a ring of exhaustion that probably only he could pick up in his tone. Venusaur slammed Tyranitar against the ground, the ground shaking from the impact of so much raw beast.

Venusaur retracted his vines as the dust cleared, revealing the fate of Tyranitar.

"Tyranitar is unable to battle! The victory goes to the Supreme Gym Leader Drake!"

The crowd cheered him on.

His challenger returned Tyranitar with a frown, looking into the Pokemon's Ultra Ball with a look of personal disappointment.

"Sorry bud, I thought I had him figured out. I suppose I'll just have to pass it on," Drake barely overheard over the crowd roaring in delight over his victory.

Pass what on?

Drake moved to question his defeated opponent about what he meant, but Venusaur let out an exhausted groan and collapsed to the ground.

Priorities first. Venusaur needed to see Nurse Joy. Four battles in a row hurt anyone.

...

Drake had hoped to see his challenger in the Pokémon Center to question him, but there was no sign of him.

Perhaps he had dropped his Pokéballs off and was off in seclusion somewhere? Perhaps he had medicine on hand? Drake had no idea, but he would not be finding the answer to his question directly.

Perhaps indirectly would be better?

Soon after Nurse Joy rolled away his Pokeballs for a healing and check up (best not risk an electric flu pop on again), Drake made for a utility phone and dialed the first number that came to mind.

A redhead greeted him.

"Drake. This is a surprise," Luana, the Kumquat Gym Leader greeted.

"Hope you don't mind, but I have a question for you." Drake decided to leave out the part that he could just as easily bother Rudy, Danny, or Cissy with the question, though he'd probably prefer her or Rudy's response.

They would be the better judges.

"Sure, though I am waiting on a weekly call. If it comes up, I will have to put you on hold." she told him bluntly.

Drake suspected what that call was about. He knew that her son had recently left on his own Pokémon Journey, going to Johto if he recalled. He had apparently been hyped up by witnessing a recent tournament in Fuchsia City, which Drake had to admit was pretty impressive.

It wasn't every day you saw a field be weaponized by a Pikachu, the same species as Travis's starter.

"Then I'll make it brief. Have you noticed the challengers to your gym being stronger recently?" he asked. It was probably best he look at the simplest explanation first, that being that he was facing tougher opponents.

Luana put a thoughtful finger to her chin as she thought.

"...Honestly, I can't say that's the case at all. They aren't bad, but I don't think we're seeing that surge of talent that a lot of regions are seeing recently. Maybe dealing with Cissy and Danny's unique challengers is stemming the tide of them, maybe we're just going to see a lot of them after this year's Indigo or Silver conferences, I honestly can't say."

Drake frowned at that comment. The challengers weren't simply tougher than usual? Analysts in league statistics usually said that successful generations of talent in leagues often came in waves, with the leagues entering a resurgent period of talent and interest in the regional leagues after the last wave ended around the time of that Kalos league with the old woman winning.

Between then and about a year ago the newer blood wasn't all that interesting, with most of the interesting battles being in other levels of league, like the less frequent Gym Leader Tournaments and Champions League.

The former was straightforward, the latter was far less so.

"I see. Thank you." He logged off the call with the double battle specialist and found himself staring at the blank screen.

If it wasn't a change in strength, what was going on?

…..

The Palace of Victory, also called the Hall of Fame by the kids.

In all his time, Drake had never entered anyone into its hallowed halls. All the images came before him.

Walking into the hallowed halls, he passed by a pair of Dragonite Statues and came up to a similarly made statue of a man, posed forever in stone in garb that was a few centuries out of date.

The first Supreme Leader.

Past his statue were tablets with prints and inscriptions, occasionally with paintings or some such. Each marking someone who had defeated the first leader and ended up in the hall.

He continued to walk along the mementos, eventually finding himself as a second statue, this time of a woman.

The second Supreme Leader, beyond whom were more memorials to those who triumphed over her. The first being, oddly enough, a painting of a ship with its captain at the bow, flanked by a Gastly and a Haunter.

No print tablet. Though he supposed asking a Gastly to make a handprit or footprint was a tad difficult to do.

Drake continued on, passing more and more statues and memorials. The clothing grew progressively more modern, as did the art styles.

Though Drake did have to pause when someone had apparently requested their hall of league portrait to be done in a Cubist art style. That was worth a few minutes of staring in a 'what, why, you can't be serious' manner before continuing down historical lane.

Eventually he came up to his statue. His face was a bit less sharp then, a tad more youthful.

Nothing was beyond his statue, the last entry to the hall being a Kanto born trainer named Casey Snagem.

That photo, featuring a Clefairy and Magmortar, had stood as the last entry for years. It had taken the historical record for longest streak as such some time ago.

And yet, it seemed like something was making that streak see the signs of its end.

…..

Like all islands in the Orange Archipelago, tourists were common on Pummelo Island.

It wasn't the most popular of them by any means, but the beachfront businesses still got a handy dollar from tourists of all varieties.

While general consensus among 'experts' was that Alola was better for vacations overall, the lack of visitors from Fiore, Almia, and Oblivia that Alola had was considered by many reason enough to go to the Orange Islands and their less developed infrastructure and less interesting culture. Such facts/opinions aside, Drake walked the beachfront, his boots causing the boardwalk under him to crunch in a way that was pleasing to the ear as he gazed over the nearby beach idly.

The questions bugging him still buzzing in his head….

"And I'm telling you, weirdo, that you don't have a clue! I'm going to beat Drake!"

The angry yelling caught his attention. It was related to what was getting at him after all.

A jump down onto the sand and some walking led Drake to the source of the argument.

"It isn't just the internet! Everyone's done work on it, and I've done my own thing. I don't actually have any Pokémon with Rock-type moves, but I do have two with Dazzling Gleam!"

On one end, doing the yelling, there was a local. The fact said local was not dressed for the beach helped made that obvious, as only tourists came to the beach dressed up for the surf. Locals weren't huge on it. The good tan was another indication.

On the other end were two younger people, probably older teenagers. Long enough to do at least one league, if they made it.

The one he was yelling at had a red hat covering his head, and was wearing a pair of black shorts. They appeared to be only for relaxing, if the belt of Pokéballs still attached to them were any indication. He didn't have the best posture, and his eyes seemed to be lacking focus on the local, yet not out of disdain. More like, they were too busy looking at everything else, yet not looking at all.

The shorts were monogramed with the label BW on the side, a brand that Drake did not recognize.

The other was a teenage girl, with a massive head of brown hair contained in a large ponytail. She appeared to have in fact gotten in the water, given a sheen about her skin, white bikini, and sarong covering her swimsuit bottom, though the bag swung in her shoulder looked dry. Said sarong also had a BW monogrammed into it.

"It's quite simple really you act like that it is a simple solution of plugging in moves to win but really in the end it isn't just moves you also need strength and typing and attributes like speed and endurance and strength which during your rant you clearly were not in possession of."

Drake blinked in confusion as the teenage male spoke so fast he barely could understand it. Did the kid even breath during that entire sentence?

"What?!" the local growled at the kid, in both anger and confusion.

"As I was telling you you assumed that a single round of research and some training is enough to win when I won I did a lot of research for years of not only everything my opponent could do but also everything I could do to counter them and create the most effective team you would have to research Drake and everything about what Drake could do as well as what you could do to best handle him which you clearly have not as you are mostly winging it on the possibility of only one Pokemon giving you trouble which is a really foolish thing to do really."

Breathe, kid, breathe.

Was this kid… normal? Drake had heard tales of horrible freaks capable of controlling the minds of Pokémon and leveling cities who masqueraded as humans with noticeable differences. Was this kid one of those?

"Black…" the girl told him as one would remind someone to stop doing a bad habit. The kid, who Drake now knew was named Black, looked at her in confusion, before he, fairly automatically at the reminder, tapped his Pokéball belt.

Said ball released some sort of purple and pink Pokémon. It sort of resembled a Drowzee, but it was leaking smoke out of its nose like one of those Hoenn Fire-types.

It floated over Black's head, and latched itself onto his head like a Shellder on a Slowpoke tail.

The kid promptly tensed, and his posture improved, as was his focus.

"I'm just saying," the kid spoke with a clearer, slower tone that made him a bit more understandable, and revealed a hint of a Unovan accent to his words, "that you don't have the correct strategy to win. You can't win without hard work and a half-baked plan. Perhaps a fully-baked plan, but you all are far from it."

Okay…..so he was wrong? Maybe….

This was kind of weird. Had the kid even noticed he was here? The girl certainly had, and the local hadn't…

And this plan they were talking about was what exactly?

"What the…." the local snapped at the change of focus as the girl shook her head.

"He needs a bit of help focusing, too much thinking even for his head to manage most of the time. Though when he's focused, he can achieve a lot. We never did introduce ourselves, did we? He's Black Gaiman, winner of the last Unova conference at Vertress. I'm his supervisor for the BW agency, White."

"Champion!?" the local gasped in shock.

"Conference winner. The champion is Alder, I'm still planning how to defeat him, and one last member of the Elite Four beyond simple strength disparity. Marshall has a brand new Sawk capable of powering itself up with something called Bond…."

"If you're not a Champion, then why should I listen to you?" Clearly the local did not know how leagues worked.

He could only blame the focus on his own conference, as well as his own lack of losses.

"Because unlike you, he beat eight gyms, then seven powerful trainers to win the league. All done without losses," White declared.

Drake knew as well as she did that not losing with the seven powerful trainers in the league was kind of a requirement, but the local didn't it seemed, and seemed to lose heart.

He backed away, first a step, then a second, then darting away in a rush. It was only then that League Winner Black seemed to notice he was there.

"Oh, you are the guy with the Dragonite. How long have you been here?" Black asked.

"Since before you had that…." Drake pointed at the pink thing on his head. Still slurping like its trainer was a soft drink.

"But never mind that. What brings a league winner to Pummelo? While you are more than qualified to fight me, you do have to qualify like everyone…."

"He's on vacation," White declared firmly, cutting off even the idea of him going on a badge quest before it could sprout. However under the firmness was a genuine concern.

"I trained too hard, and we just have to be more careful next month after we go home," was all Black said in elaboration. White gave him a look that suggested it wasn't a simple case of passing out in exhaustion, but Drake did not press the issue.

If that wasn't the case, there were only two things to do now.

Either bid them goodbye and continue to figure out what was going on, or see if they knew. The latter was a long shot….but he had nothing to lose.

"You and that other guy were arguing about something, about me and Dragonite. What was it?" Drake questioned.

Given White didn't look ready to drag Black away, he might just get an answer. Black opened his mouth briefly, only for White to reach into her bag and pull out a tablet.

"Thanks," he told her as he began poking at it.

Drake watched the youth stare at the tablet his companion/boss/minder had given him, noting him swipe or prod at it at random intervals.

The entire time that pink Unovan Pokémon was nibbling on his head, and presumably also acting as a sun hat.

He stopped and handed the tablet back to his boss without a word.

"I just needed to check something for sure, but what is going on is actually pretty obvious. I'm surprised you haven't picked it up yet," Black said in complete honestly and without any malice. In the corner of his eyes he noted White wince in agony at the comment.

The twitch suggested this was not uncommon.

"Well then, Mr. Unovan League Winner, if it is as obvious as you say it is, tell me about it." Drake had a bit of an edge in his voice as the most recent winner of the Vertress Conference stared back at him seriously.

"Golem beat itself with Earthquake as well as Electabuzz while still having Stone Edge, Vileplume had Dazzling Gleam and Giga Drain, Tyranitar had Stone Edge and Dark Pulse, Jynx had Psychock and Ice Beam, Golbat had Toxic and several attacks meant to stall, a tactic that Shuckle can imitate."

"And that means..." Drake wasn't following.

"The previous challenger who had been vacationing from Hoenn brought with her a Absol with Megahorn and Stone Edge, a Medicham with Ice Punch, a Kirlia with Psychic and Dazzling Gleam to her, a Frostlass with Blizzard, a Vibrava with Dragonbreath and Earth Power, and an Aggron with Rock Slide."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Still not..."

"The one before that had the same basic planning, and the one before that and the one before that. This pattern repeats itself going back quite a while, each time slowly slinking forward."

"What pattern!?" Drake demanded an answer to what was going on as the Unovan gave him a simple look.

"Your battle style has been cracked," Black declared simply.

"People are building their teams around the idea of all being able to fight Dragonite with the idea that they can, and often do, handle the rest of your team and aim to defeat Dragonite with a gauntlet strategy. I can think of about twelve equally efficient team assortments to do so, and about twenty others that have an acceptable success rate off the top of my head right now. Some, like your previous challenger, underestimate the rest of your Pokemon and are defeated before they can fight Dragonite, but their failure is noted by others and taken into consideration. Every loss only increases what people have to work with, facts and strategies enough to occupy entire internet forums devoted solely to perfecting how to defeat you. Some of them are even well-founded and maintained. If this keeps up, you will lose. It may be tomorrow, or next week, or in a year, but it will happen. And it will be because your methodology and tactics are entirely figured out," Black elaborated as White took out the tablet and held up what Black had been looking up.

Staring back at him, lit up electronically straight from the internet, was a website that had his picture on it.

As well as that of all his Pokémon, with Dragonite highlighted via a click with data next to it.

More data than Drake had seen in some textbooks. And atop the data itself, and his picture, was a banner with a simple statement.

Ever evolving plans to defeat Drake: every loss makes this data more and more accurate. Use the data to finally defeat Drake.

...

The caretaker of the Palace of Victory found him sitting in the center of the palace, staring at the line of victors.

"…So, you found the website." The question wasn't spoken as such.

"….." Drake didn't respond, still staring silently.

"I must admit, I did find it rather unsettling, but I'm pretty sure you can find websites like that about Alder and Cynthia and the rest. Heck, given it is the internet, you are probably spared from name calling those two invite." The caretaker's words were heard, but Drake didn't respond to them.

He said something else entirely.

"…..What do I do?" Drake asked vaguely, not really aimed at the caretaker specifically.

"Well, lose I suppose. Unlike Alder and Cynthia, you won't lose your job for it," the Caretaker said simply as Drake shook his head.

"I can't."

"…Do I need to remind you that you are not in fact a Champion of the 'lose once and you have to go away' variety, again?" the caretaker reminded him gently.

Drake stood up, turning to the caretaker and grasping Dragonite's Pokéball.

"When Dragonite and I first began working together, I promised him that we'd rise to the top and never be defeated. I have never lost a battle, and thus I have kept my promise. I don't want to break it."

"You could simply retire. Drake, the Head Gym Leader of the Orange Islands, announces his retirement. He retires undefeated, as the process of selecting a new Head Gym Leader begins," the caretaker offered as Drake frowned.

That….was the most logical way to keep his promise. Rather than waiting for someone to use that website and get lucky, he retires on top.

His promise is kept, and the internet can go find someone else to plot against.

Yet…..the idea of just doing that, of taking the logical way out and retiring…..it didn't sit well with him. Why was that?

Did he not want to run away from his problem?

Did he feel like that would betray his promise in spirit, even if not in words?

Did he just have no idea what he'd even do with himself if he retired? It wasn't like he could just move to Agate Village: he wasn't at the age where he didn't need entertainment beyond prune juice!

"Of course, that is the logical way to avoid your fear, and the only way that is foolproof. Perhaps you will do something else," the caretaker mused as he stepped towards the first victor portrait before turning back around to face him.

"I see two ways you can move forward, Drake. One is that you need to train more Pokémon than the six you currently use. With a mixed team, it is harder to plan against."

"You are aware of how long that would take, assuming I can simply work on it day in and day out like a young trainer," Drake noted as the caretaker nodded.

"Yes, that is the problem with the plan. Your training would be interrupted by challengers, and you'd have to find a way to surpass your struggles before they surpass you. Doable yes, and rather rewarding if you can achieve it, but stressful and an ongoing plan."

"You suggested a second option," Drake recalled as the caretaker nodded.

"Yes I did. The other option is that you can simply find a way to give yourself more power, even with the plateau someone like you reaches."

A fact about elite trainers was that at some point the amount of time it took for a Pokémon to be strengthened further became a lot more arduous for a lot little reward. They could get stronger, but it was a far slower process.

The caretaker held up his phone, which was currently on an airline's page, specifically for flights to a city.

A city that was far away from the Orange Islands.

"Shalour City?" Drake read the name of the city in confusion. He had never heard of it.

"Yes. Shalour City is a Kalosian City, famous for its wonderful beaches. It also is home to a man named Gurkinn, who I believe will be able to help you with increasing the power you have access to. He lives in a tower on the coast of the city, which also functions as a Pokémon Gym for the Kalos League."

"Gurkinn?" Drake questioned as the caretaker nodded.

"While a random person going up to him asking for help is likely a fruitless endeavor, as a Head Gym Leader you should have more luck than most. If not, his specialty is not so exclusive only he can aid you."

"And his specialty is what, doing one hundred sit ups and a hundred squats?" Drake questioned as the caretaker smiled his way.

"I'd tell you, but I feel as if knowing what he can do for you and asking about it will make it less likely he'll help you. So, if you are willing to cash in some of your accumulated vacation days, I'll lend you my air miles. You'll have to pay to get back though, that's on you."

Drake stared at the man for a moment, before smiling.

"Well, I certainly can afford to. So vacation days huh…..think I can extend it if I tell them it's a training trip?"

"You'd think you could, but going to a place of beautiful beaches and women doesn't really say 'training trip' the same way ice mountains do," the caretaker pointed out.

Good point. That sounded more like he was going to find one of Kalos's infamous nude beaches.

----------------------------------------

On an airplane, days later

The ocean was interesting to watch, for the first hour.

After that point, it got tedious, as were the clouds.

The economy-sized seat became an irritant in half the time.

'When I fly home, I'm buying my own ticket,' Drake decided. He was not taking economy again.

He was a Head Gym Leader who was paid more than he frankly needed. He didn't give nearly enough of it to charity, he might as well spend it on a seat with actual space and effort put into it.

"All I'm saying is that you get what you pay for. What you don't pay in taxes you pay in hospital bills and toll roads."

Or the ongoing political discussion occurring in the row in front of him.

Unlike most everyone else on this contraption, he wasn't able to fall asleep. Part of that blame could go to the two in front of him who had been arguing politics for the last three hours.

"You say that as if everyone pays for what they use. Why should my tax dollars go into funding ferries I'll never use?"

"Because the people paying for the ferry are paying for the mountain tunnels you use, that they'll never see just as much as you are paying for the ferry."

Would he get arrested if he let Dragonite out to glare at them? Was that allowed on planes? Just having a Pokémon glare at someone to make them shut up, without firing any attacks off?

After some thinking Drake decided that yes, it would probably get him detained, and thus it wasn't worth it.

Though after another hour he was starting to consider it again.

"Don't you see that the world is moving too fast? Nothing has time to sit anymore, it's always some new crusade," the conservative arguer declared.

"You'd want the world to stop moving all together. Things are moving because we live in a new age of progress. The world has gotten better, and people want to keep working to make it even better."

Shouldn't the flight parching have rendered them silent yet? Did the stewardesses keep giving them water? Could they possibly stop doing that so they'd stop arguing?"

"And in trying to achieve something that impossible, what have we lost? Plus, what is even perfection? Everyone wants to make what they think is a perfect world they don't ask themselves if it's perfect for people who aren't themselves. You liberals are so preoccupied with whether or not they could change something that they didn't stop to think if they should."

He was going to find a hotel the first thing he did in Kalos. Find a hotel, and sleep off this flight.

Brahhhh!

"You didn't even use the reference right, Ian Malcom is far from a conservative character," noted the liberal arguer as the torture continued.

….

Kalosian hotels had nice beds. Good for forgetting torturous, sleepless flights filled with people whose arguments defied the human need for hydration.

Done with his little trip through the depths of madness and pain, Drake took a long look at the city he was pointed to to improve itself.

It was a city hewn from more hill than he was used to seeing in the Orange Islands, the streets rising and falling randomly, almost like a roller coaster at a theme park.

The people treated it as normal, but Drake couldn't help but look at it in interest.

Was this what tourists felt when they came to the Orange Islands?

Waves washed against the shore of the city, upon which a tower of stone was hewn. It looked older than even the Orange League palace of victory, which Drake has always seen as the oldest thing he knew.

Compared to the tower he could see in the distance though, it looked like a rookie trainer standing against one of the old champions.

Like Alder, but staying in one place. And more shaven.

It was where he needed to go, and thus the place he'd be going now.

….

Drake noted something about the people of Kalos as he walked through the town.

They were really open about having their Pokémon out with them.

Standing beside them, walking with them, helping carry parcels and packages as they left mail places and stores….it was something that stood out as he looked around.

He recognized some of them: he saw Mr. Mime and Slowpoke, Oddish and Heracross. Though he also saw ones he wasn't familiar with.

Some sort of white and blue Pokémon with cheeks like a Pikachu, a purple cat with large eyes that seemed to follow him as he walked past it, a blue fuzz ball with wings and a heart shaped nose.

He stopped in the middle of the street and took the ball around his neck in his hand, and activated it.

In a pop Dragonite was out in front of him, looking confused as to why he was out.

"It seems to be a thing here to have Pokémon out with you. What do you say Dragonite, do as the Kalosians do?"

Dragonite looked around for a moment before nodding, and so the two continued to walk through the town together.

Drake noted a slight change in the air as he did so, a subtle change in how the people looked at him. It seemed a bit more…..something.

Happy? Accepting? Approving?

Whatever it was, it felt positive.

After a few blocks were walked Drake's eyes were drawn to the edge of the road, where an open park resided.

In which, a battle was wrapping up.

"Eevee!" A black haired trainer in a similarly dark vest gave the command as a white blur crashed into another Dragonite.

His own Dragonite stopped and gave a whine of sympathy at the other Dragonite suffered, and Drake had to agree. That was not a pleasant blow.

The Dragonite toppled over in defeat as the white blur came to a stop at the legs of the dark vested trainer, revealing a pale colored Eevee, white as a ghost.

The Dragonite's trainer stared at his opponent in disbelief as Drake couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

That Eevee didn't look touched, yet the Dragonite itself did not look half bad either. It wasn't anything compared to his Dragonite, the only Dragonite that could possibly match his belonged to Lance. However it was hardly what one could call weak or under trained.

That Eevee had utterly manhandled it.

"So Dragonite, do you think that this Gurkinn fellow is something like that and whatever he did to that Eevee he can do for us, or is that just what a Kalosian trainer is like and the guy has something else up his sleeve?" Drake wondered aloud.

"Wooo!" Dragonite responded in a tone that suggested uncertainty.

….

With a mighty push, Drake pushed open the door.

It creaked open, even as Dragonite moved to help him with it, but stopped as it was not needed.

The door slowly open, revealing a receiving foyer with spiraling staircases going both up and down into the tower.

Drake looked at the descending staircase for a moment, unsure of how that even worked.

This was built on a sandbar, wasn't it? How could it have a basement? Or did he miss something, like a more solid earthen bank.

"Woo." Dragonite pointed to the center of the tower, and Drake followed his partner's gesture.

He followed the finger upwards as he noted that it wasn't just a round block of bricks.

It had a massive statue on top, larger than anything in the Orange Islands.

It was of a Pokémon, though one that Drake hadn't seen before. It looked like some sort of Fighting-type.

The tower shook as Dragonite gave him a knowing look.

A battle was going on below.

Following the sound of battle would likely help him find the man called Gurkinn.

Down the staircase they darted, and indeed down below they found some people, one of whom was possibly Gurkinn.

They also found a gym battle in progress.

"Flamethrower!" two voices shouted at once.

A two on one gym battle, it would seem.

Drake found himself on a balcony overlooking the field, hewn from some sort of stone as the torch lit field was alit with two fire attacks.

One came from a Houndoom, a Pokémon Drake had seen before.

The other came from a Pokémon he had not seen before that resembled a chandelier.

The two fire attacks flew towards a pair of Pokemon commanded by a single, thin older man with three long bangs of white hair atop his bald head (or were two of those bangs massive eyebrows, Drake wasn't sure).

One of the Pokémon Drake knew: a Machamp. Said Machamp darted in front of the other Pokémon before using Protect, taking the Flamethrower head on with little damage.

Behind the Machamp was a Pokémon that greatly resembled the statue he had seen coming in: a blue and black Pokémon with a thin build. However, details about it were off.

The old man humphed as the flames died down before giving a long look at his two opponents.

"In these days before the League, you waste your time as much as mine! Do you think that you can prove yourselves like this?!"

"What more do you want to see? We've both trained hard, and our Pokémon trust us. Gallade and I did not take out that Hawlucha of yours because Gallade doesn't trust me and knows what I mean a hundred percent!" a pale trainer of about sixteen with pink eyes and baggy clothes questioned in a Johto accent.

The old man shook his head as the other trainer, probably the one with the unknown Pokemon that looked like a fancy lamp, had something to say in a lot more annoyed tone.

Helped by his Unovan urban accent.

"Look old man, we've been here long enough to know what goes into Mega Evolution, and we think we're good enough to do it. If we aren't, could you just come out and say what gives?" the dark skinned youth in dreadlocks declared.

Mega what?

"I have no time for this," the old man declared as the Pokémon behind Machamp darted forward, and Drake noticed for the first time that it had a faded green metal holder on its right arm. Affixed to it was some sort of stone.

"If you refuse to see what you lack, allow me to demonstrate."

"Can you just say it like a normal person!?" the Unovan demanded as the old man held out a glove with a round stone afixed in the center.

He pressed it, as two streams of light shot from it and shot into the Pokémon's holder.

Said Pokémon, promptly began to evolve in an orange color.

Drake and Dragonite stared in shared shock as the Pokémon became the exact same one as depicted in the tower statue, as a wave of pure power burst from it like a gust.

Dragonite shoved him out of the direct wave of impact and took it for himself, an act shared by the two Fire-shooting Pokémon with a bit less shoving.

Both their trainers only felt a fraction of the force, though both were looking at whatever had just happened in some terror.

"This is as close to Mega Evolution as you both will get: Bone Rush!" the old man who was probably Gurkinn declared as the Pokémon knocked its fists together, before pulling them apart again.

In each hand the Pokémon now had a pair of energy bones that hummed blue.

Dragonite gave off a hiss. Drake recognized it as a 'that is powerful' hiss.

"Heat Wave!" the dreadlocked trainer called as the light fixture Pokémon hopped in front of Houndoom and began unleashing a red wave of solid heat.

The Mega Evolved Pokémon avoided it by jumping over it.

All the way to the ceiling, before using the ceiling to fly at the two fire types as if nothing had just happened. Meanwhile Machamp used Protect to avoid the Heat Wave.

"...Try Dark Pulse!" the Houndoom trainer shouted as Houndoom spat out a wall of spiraling darkness.

The Bone Rush sliced through it like it was paper, before slamming both Fire-types with Bone Rush.

Both were sent flying into a wall, as their trainers ran after them in urgent concern.

The old man shook his head as the Pokemon glowed again, and it turned back into what it was before that Mega Evolution thing happened.

"You up there, wait a moment and I'll be with you shortly," the old man called up his way.

….

The man sat them down for tea, all four of them.

The man and his Pokémon sipped their cups with well-worn ease, while Drake held his own cup oddly. He was not a drinker of tea.

Though he was doing better than Dragonite, who took a few minutes to realize he was even being offered tea before trying to figure out how to drink it.

Thankfully the cup seemed to be made of something less breakable, and was large enough that it wasn't as silly a spectacle as Dragonite sipping on a human sized cup would be.

"I must admit, tea is a rare preference in Pokémon. My Lucario is one of the few who drinks it with me willingly, though I find it is polite to offer it to all present parties. But that is besides the point, what brings the Head Gym Leader of the Orange Crew to the Tower of Mastery and the Mega Evolution Guru Gurkinn?"

"You know my name?" Drake was surprised. The Orange Crew were not exactly super famous.

"I watch television, same as everyone else," the man simply said.

With that simple explanation given, Drake gave Gurkinn a breath, before he began to explain.

He told Gurkinn about what he had been noticing with his wins recently, the discovering of the documentation of his weaknesses and the building up of a blueprint for beating him. He explained the reason he came here, why he had come to him specifically, and that he had not known what it was that he had to offer before arriving.

Drake figured that would probably be worth putting on the table now.

"I see…..tell me, why can't you simply retire if an untarnished record is what you seek?" Gurkinn questioned though there was an odd tone to his voice that Drake couldn't quite discern.

Dragonite didn't pick up on it, though that was most likely because Dragonite was still struggling with grasping tea drinking protocol.

"When Dragonite and I first began our time together as partners, I promised him that we'd make it to the top and never lose. I made that promise twenty years ago, and I haven't broken it. I want to make sure that it stays that way."

"You make dangerous vows," Gurkinn observed. "To think you'd travel this far from your home, simply under the impression that I could help you. Or that I even would."

Dragonite dropped the cup at Gurkin's declaration, glaring at the man with a low growl. Lucario put its cup down before glaring back at Dragonite evenly.

Drake would approach this a tad less angrily.

"Oh, and why can't you help me?" Drake questioned as Gurkinn took a slow sip of tea.

He answered after putting his cup down.

"First off if you came for a Mega Dragonite, you came for nothing. Mega Evolution is not known to be possible among the Dragonite. New Mega Stones aren't impossible to find, the fact that Aerodactyl can mega evolve was discovered within my own lifetime for example, but I would not hold your breath for it unless some other region happens to be holding something close to their chest. Though I am well aware that you have more than just Dragonite."

"And the reason you won't help me work with them is….." Drake pressed as the old man looked at him evenly.

"A multitude of reasons. First off there are honestly too many people using Mega Evolution right now in my opinion. Mega Evolution is supposed to be a rare art only a few are worthy of, but keystones and mega stones have been getting everywhere. Some pudgy man in Kanto gave them out as entry rewards for pete's sake."

"Would you rather it only be those you deem worthy, whatever it is you are looking for?" Drake questioned the man, who nodded.

"In an ideal world, yes. However I am aware that is a pipe dream and a nightmare to try and make happen. Of course, the second reason is that if I was interested in training you, you would need to stay here with me until you can properly utilize Mega Evolution, and I doubt a Head Gym Leader has years to spare."

"Years?" Drake asked incredulously.

"Unless you want to do it wrong. If one does Mega Evolution wrong, the process causes problems for the Pokemon. Houndoom tails and claws melt, Absol become dangerous towards weak people without strong will, and everything from Lucario to Salamence become uncontrollable aggressors. The last thing I want are people running around without having a clear understanding of what they need to do to not have such unspeakable things occur."

What?

Drake's expression was noted by Gurkinn, who took another tea sip.

"Finally, I don't know you. I don't know if you are tainted with evil."

"Tainted with….." Drake asked incredulously.

"Evil. I have seen far too many people use Mega Evolution for foul purposes in my time. I was alive when a malcontent wrecked your end of the woods with a Gyarados."

Was he talking about Twenty Gyarados…..that wasn't even in 'his neck of the woods'. Johto's western coast and the Orange Islands were hardly that close to each other!

Pummelo was one of the more northern islands, and it was still pretty far away!

"Of course I am not saying evil is something that is not found here. In my day I was trained with a young man whose heart was wicked. Tarasque was his name, and in his hands Mega Evolution was used for wicked purposes."

"And that disqualifies me why? I'm hardly in a place to use a Mega Ditto to commit tax fraud," Drake questioned the old man, who rolled her eyes.

"First of all, 'I've never heard of a Mega Evolution of Ditto. As to your question, it was obvious that Tarasque was going to be a problem. His father was imprisoned when he came here, and stayed there until he died."

Drake stared at the man for a moment, wondering if he was being serious.

The following tea sip was in fact quite serious, and so Drake exploded.

"You cannot be serious. Just because someone's in jail doesn't make them evil, nor that the people they're related to are guilty!"

"I can assure you Tarasque's father was there for good reason. The investigation left no doubt and was done by impeccable prosecutors and police officers with untarnished records. The perfection of the investigation is still taught today to avoid errors and biases in…."

"That is not what I meant!" Drake was not arguing about false imprisonment and police incompetence.

"Just because one of your parents is a criminal doesn't mean you are automatically one. My mother was a tailor, yet I can't knit anything without stabbing my hand, but under your logic I should know how to make three-piece suits."

"Hardly my logic. That's a learned skill you would likely only start with the fingers of a clothes worker. Evil is inherited, and I have no idea if you are spared from it, I'd have to trace your lineage only a mere three generations back to be sure," Gurkinn said simply.

"So what, because I might have a thief in my family tree, you won't help me?" Drake questioned as Gurkinn shook his head.

"What do you think I'd be doing in the years long training span, it would be the second thing I check. I'd need to see if you are worthy of Mega Evolution first, then I'd need to make sure you aren't tainted. But of course the time restriction you are undoubtedly under…."

"I take simply explaining how not to mega evolve 'wrong' and a crash course aren't an option, even if you spend half of it seeing what my grandfather did for a living?" Drake questioned in an even tone.

"That is correct," Gurkinn nodded.

"Well then, I guess I've wasted enough time here," Drake stood up, as Gurkinn took another sip of tea.

"Hardly. You learned what you sought and had a cup of Kalosian tea without having to pay for it. The taxes may pay for my dental work, but I'll admit they can be annoying to deal with. Plus it was nice to talk to someone again."

Drake stared at the man for a moment, even as Dragonite moved to get the door for him.

"If this is how you talk to people, I can completely understand why you're alone." And with that remark Drake left, followed by Dragonite.

Drake pretended not to notice Dragonite flipping off Gurkinn as they left.