Before the gates closed, I took one last look behind me. I saw Rosa and Hugh waving at me, and I raised my hand to wave back. Before I could, the gates swung closed, closing with a soft click. I heard a latch fall into place, meaning that the door had been locked. It dawned on me that the guard was actually serious when he said I couldn't leave until I had won or lost. There was no going back now. I turned around and got a good look at where I was.

   I was standing in an open, circular room. The tall stone fences encircled the room's circumference, and the last few rays of sunlight spilled over the fence's top, painting the room with warms shades of orange and yellow. Deep shadows were cast wherever the light couldn't reach. I technically wasn't indoors, I was still outside. Even so, I heard no sound other than the soft howl of the wind. I felt utterly alone in this place.

   On the room's far side were four short flights of stairs that led up into darkened archways built into the mountain behind the League building. Each archway was a different color. From left to right they were purple, black, pink, and orange. I figured that the colors had something to do with the type that each Elite specialized in. In the center of the room was a huge granite statue of a hooded figure, a Pokémon of some sort next to it. The statue was so weathered that I couldn't tell what the carved Pokémon was supposed to be. There was an old plaque mounted upon the statue's base, and I saw that there were words on it.

   "In order to enter the Champion's Approach, four trials of great power must be faced. To the west lies the one who has studied the tactics of the Ghost-type. To the northwest lies the one who dares to dabble in the activities of the Dark-type. To the northeast lies the one who basks in the knowledge of the Psychic-type. And to the east lies the one who learns the styles of the Fighting-type. All four must be defeated to reach the fifth. All four must be defeated to enter the Champion's Approach."

   "Champion's Approach, huh? If that isn't a fancy-sounding title, I don't know what is..." I said to myself. It'd only make sense that I would have to defeat all of them before I could battle the Champion, I was sure they didn't need a sign explaining that. That led to my first decision.

   Who to battle first..? Every one of the Elite types had a pretty common weakness, and I had a Pokémon for almost all of them. Soul could handle Fighting and Ghost, and Lilith could take care of Ghost as well along with Psychic if I played my cards right. The only one I could have trouble with was Dark since I didn't have any Fighting moves of my own. I would have to settle for pure power and stab moves to get past that particular Elite. I decided to go with my gut on this one and chose Ghost. It was the first type mentioned.

   The hall past the purple archway was pitch black. It was so dark that I had to keep one hand on the wall to make sure I wouldn't get turned around or something. This blackness continued far a lot longer than I expected and I began to wonder how deep into the mountain the Elite's arena was. I became so used to the dark that I thought I was imagining things when the hall gradually lightened. The light's source soon became evident.

   Old oil lamps lit by purple flames lined the walls of the halls now. The light they gave off didn't seem natural. It was ethereal, otherworldly even. Along with the eerie light came a slight chill in the air that made me shiver despite me still wearing my coat.

   Right when I began to think this chilling hallway would never end, the hall opened up into an arena. The room was decked out in varying shades of purple and black, and the walls were covered with more of the purple-flamed oil lamps. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled every space the lamps didn't, giving the room the appearance and feel of a haunted library.

   "You don't have to stand in the doorway, you may enter if you wish."

   I jumped when I heard a voice echo from the far end of the arena. The voice was female and had an airy tone to it. I stepped farther into the arena and caught sight of an overstuffed armchair wedged into the far right corner. Seated in the chair, reading a thick tome under a flickering floor lamp, was a woman with fluffed-out purple hair dressed in purple and black. She adjusted her pair of cherry-red glasses, looking at me as she did so.

   "Are you perhaps a challenger?" she asked.

   "Uh, yeah. Are you the Ghost-type Elite?" I replied.

   The woman nodded and turned her attention back to her book. "Yes, I am. My name is Shauntal. I've chosen to use Ghost-types because they have inspired many of my novels. Ghosts are never boring, they always have something interesting going on with them. But I know you're not here to listen to me rant about my writing, you're here for a battle." Shauntal closed her book on that last word and stood up, placing the tome on her chair. She took her position on her side of the arena. "Are you ready to begin?" she asked.

   "Ready whenever you are," I responded, reaching for Lilith's Poké Ball. I could feel my heart begin to pound in anticipation, and a rush of excitement washed over me, filling me to the brim with energy. I couldn't wait for these battles to begin!

   "I do hope you give me some inspiration. I've been suffering from a terrifying bout of writer's block recently. Perhaps a good battle will relieve some of the stress," Shauntal said wistfully as she removed a Dusk Ball from her belt. "Now... let us commence this battle!"

   And so it began. The fight against Shauntal wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I was able to sweep her entire team of four with Lilith alone, and because she was a Normal Pokémon, most of Shauntal's attacks couldn't touch her. None of her Pokémon gave me a problem, and the battle was over before I knew it. For how powerful the Elites were rumored to be, I felt a tad underwhelmed. Shauntal congratulated me on my win and wished me luck with my other battles. I thanked her and continued my League Challenge.

   The second Elite I battled was a man named Grimsley who specialized in Dark-types. His battle was the one I had worried about. I was surprised to find out that two of his Pokémon were duel-typed, and that allowed me to have an advantage with Saber and August. His Liepard was fast and hit pretty hard, and it took August's speed to chase it down and take it out. He was certainly a step up in terms of difficulty from Shauntal but I still beat him in the end.

   The third Elite was a girl named Caitlin who used Psychic-types. Her battle was fun and decently challenging. She had both a Reuniclus and a Gothitelle, making it slightly confusing when I tried using Soul. Surge got to battle when she sent out a Sigilyph and Lilith had a field day with her Musharna. She was able to take down Thorn and almost got Saber if it weren't for him using a Torrent-boosted Surf. I thought she was easier than Grimsley but still harder than Shauntal.

   The fourth and final Elite was the Fighting-type user, Marshall. Every one of his team members moved quick and hit like a freight train. August and Soul did most of the work in this battle, having enough speed to keep up with them. With a few Wil-o-wisps and more than a few Psychics, I defeated the fourth member of the Elite Four. Before I left Marshall's arena, he told me this: "You have gained permission to enter Champion's Approach. Place your hands flat on the plaque and close your eyes. Do not open them until you feel solid ground underfoot."

   I re-entered the center room and saw that the statue in the center room began glowing with a mystical blue light. I approached the statue once again and as per Marshall's instructions, placed my hands on the plaque and closed my eyes. I felt as if I was being rapidly spun around and I didn't feel the cold metal of the plaque, or even the ground under my feet. It was incredibly disorienting. I quickly became nauseated by the spinning sensation, and I could do nothing but suppress the urge to throw up and wait until I could open my eyes.

   The spinning then finally stopped, and I felt my feet touch down on solid ground. I opened my eyes as quickly as humanly possible and spent a few moments recovering from my nausea before seeing where I was.

   I was at the bottom of a vast staircase that stretched up to the very peak of the mountain. At the top of the stairs was a domed building that looked like a clone of the main League building in design. When it came to size, it looked to be less than half the size of the Elite's building. There was nothing but steep rock walls behind me and I could barely see the top of the Elite building's dome. I had somehow been transported from the center room to here. I looked back to the staircase and I knew that the Unova Champion was waiting at the summit.

   I wouldn't be exaggerating when I said it took nearly half an hour for me to climb those stairs. With every step I took, I silently cursed the Champion for allowing this many stairs to be built. I mean, nobody needed that many stairs, nobody! They were there for the sake to make the so-called Champion's Approach a lot "grander" than it really was.

   Once I reached the top of the staircase, I collapsed on the ground in a heap of aching muscles and various swear words. Never again! If I somehow manage to beat the Champion, I'll make sure that they install an escalator or something practical! I forced myself to my feet and entered the Champion's arena.

   The arena was built like the Elite's building. What was different was that the statue was replaced with the standard arena markings and the far wall had a huge circular gold frame attached to it. On the frame rotated two-dimensional models of the planets and a gold sun was placed in the middle. It was like the place was an astral observatory. The model sun suddenly moved to the side, uncovering a doorway. A small set of stairs extended from the doorway to the ground, and someone began to descend them, taking their time to reach the bottom.

   The person was a girl in her mid teens wearing a fancy pink party dress with sparkly ribbons trailing off it, pink shoes, and a gold tiara inlaid with emeralds. I had no idea who she was until I saw her face. My eyes widened in shock and recognition as I recognized the girl as Iris. Her purple hair was curled and flowed down her back in a mauve wave and her deep brown eyes sparked with happiness when she saw me.

   "Nate! Long time, no see!" Iris greeted me.

   "Iris... you're the Champion?" I gasped.

   "Yep! Have been for two years now after I defeated Alder! I'm surprised you didn't piece it together yourself. How do you think I have so many connections with the Gym Leaders even though I'm no longer a Leader myself? Why do you think I was so involved with the Unovan Gym Force and formulating the plan to send Hilbert into Neo Plasma undercover? The Elites and the Champion are as much part of the UGF as the Leaders are."

   Wait, Alder used to be a Champion?! My mind was reeling from all of this new information, but I forced myself to focus on the here and now. "To be fair, I didn't see you too often. I didn't exactly have many clues to go off on," I said defensively.

   Iris crossed her arms and nodded thoughtfully, her curls bouncing about her shoulders. "True, true..." she said. "So!" she clapped her hands, startling me. "Are we gonna get this party started or what? You have a Champion to battle, and I have a title to defend!"

   "Yeah, let's do this!" I said, psyching myself up for this last battle though I knew I couldn't match Iris' enthusiasm. I had never felt this exhilarated before. This was it, the final battle. The battle to end all battles. A challenger against the Unova Champion. Iris and I stood on our opposite sides of the arena and readied our first Pokémon.

   Iris held up an Ultra Ball, thumb resting on the center button. "As the Champion of the Unova Region... I, Iris Draconne, accept your challenge! Let's get this show on the road!"