"Houndoom, return."

A red beam engulfed the fire-type Pokemon and sent it back into its Pokeball. The mysterious red-haired trainer somberly watched her totally crestfallen opponent sink down to the ground to comfort her fainted Pokemon as she stowed the Pokeball away into one of the pockets of her satchel.

"You did great, Poliwag," The opposing trainer, Nico Yazawa, comforted her fallen tadpole Pokemon with tears in her eyes and a small yet sad smile on her face as she cradled it in her arms. "This is the strongest battle we've been in yet, and I couldn't be more proud of you."

"Poliwag..." The Pokemon could only utter its name weakly at the heartfelt words of its trainer.

"Here," The raven-haired girl held up a Pokeball with her unoccupied hand. "I'm going to put you back inside your Pokeball, okay? I know you're tired, and you deserve a little bit of rest after that hard-fought battle." And at those words, the Poliwag was sent back into its Pokeball.

Nico could only sigh. Her water-type Pokemon had taken quite a thrashing despite having a type advantage over the opposing Houndoom. Shouldn't Poliwag have easily won? Water always trumped fire didn't it? Or had she heard wrong after all these years?

"How?..." Screw her pride. Every single ounce of the pride that Nico had before had gone out the window once she lost to this powerful stranger a few minutes ago. And clearly this stranger was more experienced than she was, so it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?

"How what?" The redhead snapped. Nico had been so disappointed and puzzled about her controversial loss that she didn't flinch at the harsh tone.

"How did you beat me?" She looked up at the stranger from her spot on the ground. Nico didn't know if her vulnerability from losing was making her think like this or not, but the redhead standing a few feet away from her was captivating. The way she had been twirling her hair as she looked at the raven-haired girl out of the corner of her gorgeous amethyst eyes stunned Nico to a point where she felt as if she'd been hit by thunder wave.

The stranger's somber expression immediately grew irritated, almost as if Nico had insulted her. "You mean you don't know?"

"I mean I thought I could easily win because of the type advantage I had over y-"

"How many gym badges do you have?"

Nico looked at the stranger as if she had grown a second head. "What?"

"I said how many gym badges do you have?"

Goose egg. That's how many she had. Absolutely none. However, she had been on her way to challenge the very first gym leader in Santalune City before meeting this captivating stranger on the way and challenging her to a match right there on the spot, which wrecked her horribly.

"Just as I thought," Nico's prolonged silence justified every single theory the redhead had hypothesized about her within the few short minutes she had known her. "If you'd had any gym badges, you would know that type advantage doesn't always work out in your favor if the opposing trainer's Pokemon are more experienced."

If the trainer inside Nico hadn't been paying heed to this information, the girly Nico would be swooning over the amount of passion that could easily be heard in the stranger's explanation. It was almost of if she'd been battling way longer than Nico had.

"That's why my Houndoom was able to easily defeat your Poliwag. He's been by my side ever since he was a Houndour, and because of that, he's strong. What you witnessed a few minutes ago was only a taste of what he's capable of doing."

Whoa. That last part gave Nico chills. If what her Houndoom did to her Poliwag was only a taste, just imagine what a full course meal would've been like!

"You saw how he obeyed my every command during our battle, right? Not only is experience an important key in battle, but trusting in your Pokemon and vice versa is also an important key. Without the mutual trust, there is nothing there to help you and your Pokemon grow together."

Nico could only look on in wonder at the redhead. She'd never heard anyone talk about Pokemon like that. The way the flames ignited in the stranger's amethyst eyes when she spoke of respect and trust for her Pokemon made Nico's heart beat so fast she thought it was going to pop out of her chest.

A pinging noise sounded from the redhead's satchel, and she quickly retrieved her phone from one of the pockets. Nico watched her expression change once again as she read over the incoming text. The fire in those perfect eyes seemed to only grow bigger, like someone had doused it with gasoline.

She quickly tapped at the phone and placed it back in the satchel. "I have to go. I'm needed somewhere else."

No. Stay.

The redhead hadn't even taken two steps before Nico suddenly called out to her from the ground. "Wait!"

"What?" She asked over her shoulder, eyeing Nico out of her peripheral vision.

"What's your name?" Nico stood up from the ground. Crimson eyes meeting amethyst eyes under the setting sun.

"I'll tell you when you have all eight gym badges." And the mysterious, red-haired stranger stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets and calmly walked in the direction of the Pokemon League.

"And she walked away, nya? Just like that?"

Hanayo, Rin, and Nico were sitting in a patch of grass just outside of Santalune City, enjoying the setting sun. Nico's Poliwag was fully healed and sitting cozily in Hanayo's lap, while Rin's Bagon was happily frolicking in the grass along with Hanayo's Espurr.

"Yep, and when I tried to ask for her name, all she said was 'I'll tell you when you have all eight gym badges.'" Nico picked at the blades of grass in front of her, anything to distract her from thoughts of the girl she had battled earlier.

"Why would she need you to have all eight gym badges, though?" Hanayo questioned. "That doesn't make any sense."

"What did she look like, Nico-chan?" Rin asked as she sprawled out on her stomach, propping her chin up with her palm.

Unbeknownst to the raven-haired girl herself, a small sideways grin made its way onto her face. "Beautiful red hair, smooth skin, perfect purple eyes, and she has a way with words. Like I'm pretty sure she could manipulate anyone if she tried. That's how perfect she is."

Rin and Hanayo grinned at each other. "Oooohhhh! Nico-chan's in lo-" The cat-like girl abruptly stopped mid-sentence and looked into the distance with wide eyes.

"Rin-chan?" Hanayo prodded.

"What's wrong with you?" Nico snapped.

Rin's hand immediately gripped the shoulder of Hanayo's blouse, bunching up the fabric and pulling her childhood friend slightly towards her. "Miss Nishikino!"

"Who?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"Miss Nishikino of the Elite Four, nya!" Rin repeated.

"That's exactly who it is, Rin-chan!" Hanayo exclaimed. "I knew she sounded familiar!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up," Nico held out both hands. "Are you saying she is a member of the Elite Four? As in the Elite Four?!"

Rin and Hanayo both nodded once. "Yes!"

The raven-haired girl's jaw dropped. "So, you mean to tell me that I just battled a member of the Elite Four on the way here?!"

"Yes!"

"Well, that explains why she was so powerful!" Nico scoffed, falling on her back and sprawling out to look at the stars that were starting to show.

Rin rolled over on her back as well. "You know what this means, nya? You've gotta collect those badges!"

"Easier said than done, Rin," Nico rolled her eyes. "Right now I've only got a Poliwag, and he isn't strong enough to face Viola yet." She looked up at the sleeping Pokemon in Hanayo's arms.

"We'll help you!" Hanayo spoke up. "We'll even battle with you to help train him up to face Viola!"

"Yeah, nya! My Bagon could gain some experience from this too!" The orange-haired girl looked over to where said Pokemon had been playing earlier, only to find him snoozing next to an equally tired Espurr.

Nico sat up and looked between the two of her friends. "And you guys will really help me?"

Hanayo and Rin smiled. "Of course! What are friends for?"

The raven-haired girl looked at her two dearest friends, then to the sleeping water Pokemon in Hanayo's lap, and then to the stars in the night sky.

Tomorrow will be the day she earns her first badge.

And also the day that will bring her one step closer to battling Miss Nishikino again.