It turned out Alder had been called away on some urgent business, and he couldn't meet up with us for the rest of the week. He said that he was sorry, and we didn't have to wait for him to come back. Rosa, Hugh and I were pretty upset when we heard this news, but there wasn't anything we could do about it. Alder had reserved our rooms for us for several nights so we didn't have to worry about where we would stay.

We ended up staying in Floccesy for nearly a week in some futile hope Alder would be back. Day six of our visit to Floccesy came around and I was sitting with Rosa and Hugh in Floccesy Town's square, bored out of my mind. We hadn't gotten into contact with Alder today, and it was past noon. Two battles against Ivy and Flaris, and a trip to the Pokémon Center later, it was almost two!

I must've dozed off at some point because the next time I opened my eyes, some random guy dressed kinda like a school teacher was standing in front of the bench talking with Rosa and Hugh. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and asked them what was going on.

"Nate, this is Cheren," Rosa told me, gesturing to the stranger. I introduced myself and he said hello.

"I was passing through Floccesy on my way to Aspertia City when I noticed your friends battling each other," Cheren explained. "I couldn't help but watch them. For such novice Trainers, their battling skills were not too bad."

"Ha! If you think we're so good, you should see Nate battle!" Hugh remarked. "I swear he could take on a Gym Leader and win."

I felt my face flush red. "Haha... No, he doesn't mean it. Like, I'm not saying he's wrong or anything, but I don't think I'm ready for a Gym battle," I awkwardly laughed.

Cheren raised an eyebrow. "Really?" A small smile crept across his face. "Why don't you show me what you can do then? I may not look like it, but I'm an experienced battler. Two years worth of experience, actually."

"You want a battle? Sure. It's not like I have anything better to do." Though I wish we were doing something else.

"Disregard what I said about Gym battles," Cheren said. "Just battle me as if you were facing a Gym Leader. That's not too difficult of a request, is it?"

What is with this guy? 'Battle as if you were facing a Gym Leader?' I mean, I'm not gonna turn down his offer or anything! "Uh, okay..?" I hesitantly said. "I'll give it my all if it's what you want."

"Thanks for agreeing, I have a new team I need to test out and this'll be great practice for them," Cheren said. He handed Rosa a small cardboard box. "Could you hold this for me? Its contents can't afford to be damaged." Rosa accepted the box and set it down on the bench next to her. Cheren turned to me. "Nate, how many Pokémon do you have?"

"Uh, two," I said.

"Well, since this is kinda an impromptu Gym battle, I'll be using my Lillipup and Patrat." Cheren removed two Poké Balls from his belt.

   For having two years of experience, you sure don't have the Pokémon to show for it, I almost said. I didn't really know who to send out first, Saber and Lilith had both battled earlier. But at the same time, Lilith could use some more experience. Being level eleven wasn't the highest after all. Having made up my mind I tossed Lilith's Poké Ball and she came out, already raring for battle. Cheren sent out his Patrat. I heard Rosa's Pokédex giving a description of Patrat.

   "Patrat, the Scout Pokémon. Extremely cautious, one of them will always be on the lookout, but won't notice a foe from behind."

"You're the 'challenger,' so you get first move," Cheren said.

"Okay. Lilith, use Tackle!"

Lilith charged at Patrat and Cheren told Patrat to dodge. Patrat moved to the side and retaliated with its own Tackle to Lilith's side. Lilith was knocked off her feet and flung to the far side of the square. She darted to her feet, looking like she hadn't taken too much damage. Cheren ordered Patrat to Tackle again and I told Lilith to use Leer. Lilith cast Patrat a shifty glance and let out an intimidating growl. Patrat froze mid-Tackle and shrunk back, covering its eyes with its paws.

"Now use Bite!" I told Lilith.

Patrat was just recovering from the Leer when Lilith bit down on Patrat's tail. Patrat cried out and whirled around, using Tackle again on Lilith without Cheren telling it to. Lilith was flung away, but managed to hang on without fainting. I told Lilith to Tackle and she hit Patrat so hard that the poor Pokemon was sent flying into the trunk of a nearby tree. Patrat slid to the ground in a heap, knocked out.

"Nice job, Nate. I can see why your friend says you're a good battler," Cheren said. He returned Patrat to its ball and sent out his Lillipup. I called Lilith back and sent out Saber in her place. I wasn't in the mood to play the "Which Lillipup is Lilith?" game. I told Saber to start with Water Gun. Saber shot a powerful jet of water from his mouth.

"Lillipup, use Work Up!"

Lillipup took the Water Gun and was able to remain standing. It began glowing orange and it let out a battle cry.

"Work Up? What's that move?" I questioned aloud.

"Work Up is a move that raises a Pokemon's Attack and Special Attack. Lillipup may have been hurt by your Oshawott's Water Gun, but it now can inflict more damage. And with that, Lillipup, use Tackle!"

My breath caught in my throat when Cheren said that. Could Lillipup take out Saber in one hit? Without thinking, I told Saber to use Water Gun again. I thought Saber would defeat Lillipup before it could attack. Saber shot another jet of water at the oncoming Pokemon. The water hit Lillipup head-on, and if it did any damage, it wasn't noticeable. I could only watch as Lillipup smashed into Saber, knocking him back so forcefully that Saber carved a shallow rut into the ground. When the dust settled, Saber was revealed to have been knocked out.

"But I... I thought..." I trailed off, staring at Saber confusedly. "Saber, return." I didn't get it, how was Saber not fast enough? And he fainted after one hit? Cheren's Lillipup probably got lucky with a critical hit, too. I would have to find a way to defeat this powered up Lillipup, and quickly. After hastily coming up with a plan, I sent Lilith back into battle. I then told her to use Bite.

Cheren shrugged nonchalantly, smirking slightly. "Not learning from last time? Fine. Lillipup, use Tackle!"

When Cheren's Lillipup was about to collide with Lilith, I said, "Lilith, jump and use Tackle!"

Lilith sprung over the charging Lillipup and as soon as she touched down, she spun around and slammed into Lillipup with her own Tackle. Before Lillipup was able to recover from the Tackle, Lilith used Tackle yet again. Cheren's Lillipup was sent skidding across the dirt until finally coming to a stop and collapsing. Lillipup had fainted, and I won the battle!

Cheren and I returned our Lillipup to their Poké Balls. "That was a great battle. Nice job!" Cheren congratulated me.

"Thanks for battling me! So does that mean I could take on a Gym Leader?" I asked, genuinely wanting to know.

Cheren went over to Rosa and retrieved his parcel. "Yes. Though you and your Pokémon need some practice, I think you have enough skill to battle the other Gym Leaders."

"Wait, others?" I was confused. The other Leaders? He said that like he was...

"So you've figured it out? Took you longer than I thought," Cheren opened the box and dug around inside it. "Why do you think I only have low-level Normal-types? Especially after mentioning I'd been a Trainer for over two years. Being the first Gym Leader doesn't mean you can be the strongest." In Cheren's hand was a glimmering rectangular piece of metal almost two inches long. Gold trim bordered its edges and what looked like amethyst filled the empty space. There was a pin on the back of the piece of metal, allowing it to be pinned to cloth.

"Is that a badge?!"

"This is the Basic Badge, and it's yours." Cheren gave me the badge.

"Really?!" I was freaking out on the inside, I couldn't believe it! I just got my first badge! Sure, the battle may not have been at a real Gym, but I didn't care. I wasn't about to ignore a badge when the Leader was handing it to me. I took the badge and pinned it to the inside of my jacket.

"So you're really a Gym Leader?" Hugh asked. "Do you mind having another battle right now?"

"Of course not, give me a minute to heal my Pokémon and I'll be ready."

I looked to Cheren and smiled. "I can't wait to see Hugh win!"

Cheren smiled back. "We'll have to see about that."