"This is it, right?" I looked to Rosa.

   Rosa looked at the sign next to the windowless building's entrance. "Castelia Gym. Victors: Hilbert Idelle, Cheren Gannet, Hugh Vallance," she read out.

   "Looks like Hugh already got his badge," I commented. And he didn't call me about it..? I thought right afterward. "Do you want to come in with me?" I asked Rosa.

   "Sure, I could pick up some battling tips from you," she said, reaching for one of the double-door's handles. She opened the door and gestured for me to enter first. "After you, Mr. Amazing Trainer," she said with an exaggerated Kalos accent.

   "Why thank you!" I replied in the same accent.

   We entered the Gym into an all-gray lobby. A woman was sitting behind a counter, looking bored. "Are you two here to challenge the Gym Leader?" She asked in a tone as bored sounding as her demeanor.

   "I am. She's here to watch," I said.

   "Okay, please wait." The lady pressed a button on a headset she wore. "Burgh, you have a challenger."

   "Burgh? Do you think she's talking about that Burgh?" Rosa said.

   "Possibly. He did mention he knew the Gym Leader. Maybe he pulled a Cheren and is actually the Leader," I replied.

   "Pulled a what?"

   "Nate,Rosa! I knew you two would show up here eventually." Burgh strode into the lobby from a hallway on the far left wall opposite the counter.

   "Let me guess, you're the Leader?" I asked sarcastically.

   "What gave it away?" Burgh laughed. "Anyways, why are we standing around? I have a challenger to face!" he looked at Rosa. "Are you here to battle too?"

   "No, I'm not. Battling's not exactly my strong suit. I'm here to watch, if that's fine with you," she said.

   "It's fine if you watch. Battling is an art form, and people should be allowed to witness it," Burgh said. "Follow me to my 'gallery'!"

   We followed Burgh down the hallway to another set of double doors, these ones made from solid oak wood. With a flourish, Burgh flung both doors open and we were hit with an explosion of color. The Gym arena was a long room each wall covered in framed paintings of different kinds of Pokémon. The far wall had a single floor-to-ceiling painting hung on it. It was a painting of a line of emerald green scales rimmed in gold. Surrounding it were seven other objects, I recognized the Basic and Toxic badges among them.

   "Welcome to my gallery! It also doubles as the Gym's arena, so please try not to damage any of my works," Burgh said. He walked to the far edge of the arena and I took my place across from him on the arena's other end, near the doors. Rosa moved to the right wall and took a seat on one of several chairs placed along it.

   "We'll use three Pokémon, sound good?" Burgh held out a Great Ball and tossed it. "Whirlipede, come on out!" A familiar Poison-type fell to the arena's hardwood floor.

   I didn't have a Pokemon that was super-effective against a Poison-type, but there was nothing wrong with using a Normal-type. I decided to send out my new Herdier.

   "As the Unova League states, the challenger gets the first move." Burgh announced.

   "Fine with me," I replied. "Lilith, use Take Down!"

   "Whirlipede, Poison Sting." Whirlipede shot four purple colored spikes at Lilith.

   "Try to dodge it!"

   Lilith sprung upward, narrowly missing the spikes. She landed and continued her charge. Lilith made it to Whirlipede and crashed into its front. Whirlipede was knocked back and rolled backwards a few yards, leaving deep gashes in the wood. Lilith was hurt by the recoil of course, but the damage was minimal.

   "Lilith, use Crunch!"

   "Whirlipede, Iron Defense!"

   Whirlipede emitted a steel-gray glow and remained where it was. What? No attack? Lilith tried to bite down on one of the Whirlipede's antennae, but it seemed like the Pokemon took no damage.

   "With Iron Defense, almost no physical moves can leave a scratch on Whirlipede," Burgh said.

   No Physical moves, huh? "Lilith, return!" I recalled Lilith and sent out Surge in her place. A quick Spark dispatched the Whirlipede's remaining HP and Burgh returned it to its ball. He then sent out a yellowish Pokémon swaddled in large leaves. It must have been part Grass-type because Spark didn't seem to do much damage.

   "Swadloon, use Grasswhistle!" Burgh said.

   The new Pokemon flapped its leaf cloak and sang several sweet-sounding notes. Surge stopped hovering and dropped to the ground like a stone. I switched Surge out for Saber.

   "Saber, keep your distance and use Razor Shell!"

   "Swadloon, String Shot!"

   Saber removed both of his shells and flung them at the bundle of leaves just as it shot a thick rope of white silk. The silk wrapped around one of Saber's feet, catching him off-guard and causing him to fall over. Still airborne, Saber's scallop shells collided and the combined force of both shells managed to knock Swadloon out. Burgh and I switched our Pokemon. I sent Lilith back out and Burgh used his last Pokémon. It was a tall Bug-type with long arms, antennae, and a collar made of leaves.

   "This is Leavanny," Burgh said. "It's my best Pokémon, and the elegant evolution Swadloon deserves."

   "Lilith, be careful and use Crunch!" I said, not wanting Lilith to be put to sleep in case this new Bug-type knew Grasswhistle.

   "Leavanny, use Tackle!"

   Leavanny sprang at Lilith with surprising speed and collided with her. The pair rolled across the ground in a mess of fur and leaves. It ended with Lilith holding Leavanny down under her paws, her jaws closed on one of its arms.

   "Leavanny, Razor Leaf!" Leavanny raised the arm Lilith wasn't gripping.

   "Get out of there, Lilith!"

   Sharp-edged leaves shot from under Leavanny's leaf collar and knocked Lilith off of it before she could react. Lilith was thrown back a ways and she tumbled until she hit the left wall.

   "Great job, Leavanny. Use Razor Leaf again!"

   "No! Lilith, get up and try to use Take Down!" I begged Lilith, who was beginning to move again.

   Leavanny shot more leaves and just when I thought she was going to get hit again, Lilith managed to roll away and the leaves struck the wall. She sprung to her feet.

   "Make sure your Razor Leaf connects!" Burgh ordered. Leavanny shot several rounds of Razor Leaf at Lilith, and she weaved back and forth around the leaves, not stopping on her course to Leavanny. But instead of using Take Down like I told her to, Lilith used Crunch. Lilith jumped at Leavanny and bit down on its left shoulder, bringing it to the ground where it didn't move.

   "Let go of it, Lilith!" I told her. Lilith growled and released the fainted Bug-type.

      "Seems like you won. Leavanny, return." Burgh recalled Leavanny to its ball. "Here, Nate. You've earned this Insect Badge." He took something from his pocket and tossed it to me. I saw a glimpse of emerald green glinting in the arena's bright lights before I caught it. It was the same badge depicted in the huge painting.

   Admittedly, I forgot that Rosa was watching the battle. I saw her fiddling with her Pokédex. "Rosa, we're going!" I called to her. She looked up and had a surprised look on her face.

   "You're finished already?" She stood up and walked over to me.

   "I thought you were gonna watch," I said, feeling disappointed. 

   "I was at first, then those last two amazing Bug-type Pokémon came out... After recording their basic data, I was distracted with trying to see where I could find them. Don't worry, I still saw most of the battle."

   "Okay." I pinned the badge beside my first two. Three out of eight... one more and I would be halfway to my goal. Even if I couldn't win the Unova League, it'd still be great to participate in the Elite Four tournament. And it would be amazing to see the Four themselves. Practically no one in Unova has seen the Elite Four, much less the Champion. They were almost like an unofficial myth.

   "Nate, can I ask you a favor?" Rosa asked quietly.

   "Sure. What's up?"

   "It might sound weird to ask, and I feel embarrassed to ask my younger brother about this..."

   Younger?! Yeah, by a whole five minutes! "Just ask, sis!" I sighed.

   "Can you train me?" she blurted. "I want you to help me train my Pokemon and improve my battling skills! I haven't won a single battle since we first began our journey and... I know it sounds selfish, but I hate being the 'useless' one."

   My heart sank. How long had Rosa been feeling this way? She was a better actor than I thought she was because I hadn't picked up on any of what she was feeling. Or maybe I was just really bad at noticing these kinds of things. I have always turned down Rosa's offers, but I knew I couldn't refuse what she was asking of me this time.

   "You don't need to be embarrassed, I'll try to help you. Most of my wins come from powering through, not strategy," I admitted.

   Rosa smiled at me. "Thank you, Nate. I'm... glad you're my brother."