Episode 1: The Fight Area!

"Looks like we're almost there, Niko." Lauren said, holding her boyfriend's arm as a port came into view. "The Fight Area."

"Excited?" Niko asked, not looking down at her. Lauren nodded. Niko noticed that, on their week-long journey back to Snowpoint City, which was the only port available to take them to Battle Island, Lauren had seemed happier. As someone who has generally been poor at reading others, Niko has put more effort into this than he usually does with interpreting emotions and other actions.

He wanted to believe that her happiness was derived from the conclusion of the Sinnoh League which, from Niko's perspective, did not go very well. At one point, it nearly created a rift between him and his friends, due to his anger getting the best of him. His outbursts inadvertently hurt Lauren as well, and for the following couple of days she was largely silent around him. After giving her time, the two talked over his feelings—and hers—and found themselves in a better place. At least, as far as their relationship was concerned.

Niko, however, still felt a lingering pain from his battle with Hunter. He found it hard to believe that anyone—anyone at all—would go as far as to intentionally wound a pokémon like toxicroak did to rampardos. Niko still felt angry about it all, but did his best to repress his anger, both for the sake of his friends, family, and pokémon, but also for himself. He knew that if he let it fester, it could damage his life as he knew it.

Because of the injury rampardos incurred—one that, if only an inch or so in a different direction, could have been fatal—Niko chose not to bring the headbutt pokémon to Battle Island with him. He took his remaining four Sinnoh pokémon, and was considering rotating his other reserves in and out of Pallet Town. After seeing how much they'd improved during the Sinnoh League, Niko wanted to give them more chances to show their abilities and help him win whatever came his way.

Lauren was also participating in this new challenge—one that Scott called the "Battle Frontier." Neither of them knew specifically what it was, but from what JJ and Brittany surmised, it was akin to gym challenges, but with several different styles of battling. On the train from Celestic Town to Snowpoint City, they looked up the Battle Frontier in the Kanto region—something none of them even knew existed—and saw the different kinds of "facilities" that they had built up around the region. One of them was a type of battle where the challenger would use rental pokémon, and another was a flying pyramid that flew over the region periodically. After seeing this, Niko and Lauren were excited to try this new challenge for themselves, both hoping to win it all.

As they pulled into the port—and as Niko felt incredibly nauseous—JJ and Brittany joined the other two on the deck, marveling at the area around them. The Fight Area was breathtakingly beautiful—palm trees littered the edges of the town and the mountains around the city. The area itself was just like any ordinary port city that the group's seen before. The only exception was the massive, several-dozen story tower sitting in the center of the Fight Area.

"So…that's probably where we go first…" Lauren said, showing Niko the tower.

"Gee, what makes you think that?" Niko said with a wheeze and a laugh. He really was feeling sick now.

Lauren simply stuck her tongue out at him playfully before realizing that they needed to leave the boat. Unlike most of their other travels, their journey to the Fight Area was with other passengers as well. The trip only took a day or so, and the group got to know some of the other people on the boat. On one occasion, they got to meet an old couple who were going to visit their granddaughter at the Fight Area, and a young couple going to the Resort Area for their honeymoon. They also met the occasional trainer, but for the most part the passengers were tourists. And, given the environment of the Fight Area—and supposedly the Resort Area—it wasn't difficult to see why.

As soon as they got off the boat, Niko doubled over and breathed heavily while the other three decided what to do first. Once Niko was starting to feel a little better, they all elected to visit the local Pokémon Center, rest up a bit, and then go find Scott, who had given them directions before they left Lily of the Valley Island.

Niko was the first to lay down on a bed, quickly falling asleep. Meanwhile Lauren, Brittany, and JJ went to grab some food and walk around the city for a bit. When Niko woke up, he looked around, noticed his friends were gone, but continued laying there.

During his brief nap, he had a dream about his battle with Hunter. Those weren't uncommon since the Lily of the Valley Conference, where he lost 2-6 to Hunter and nearly lost one of his pokémon in the process. In his dreams, he would either relive the moment—which, in a dream seemed far more frightening to him—or would see another one of his pokémon get nearly killed in a battle. Every time, he imagined Hunter laughing hysterically at him, calling him names or colorful expletives. And each time he would wake up in a cold sweat, which would sometimes also wake a concerned Lauren up.

Niko crawled off the bed and stood up in a daze, as he sometimes did, before grabbing four of his pokéballs and lumbering out of the room for the practice battlefield.

"Hey, everyone. Come on out!" He said, summoning torterra, luxray, prinplup, and staraptor. "So... we're finally here at the Fight Area." He said, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry, just woke up." He said apologetically, earning a low chuckle from torterra and staraptor. "Anyways!" He perked up, looking at the four standing before him. "I don't know exactly what we'll be doing here, but we will be battling, and I'll need to rely on you guys to keep battling as hard as you can. We don't know yet how many of these 'battle facilities' there are on this island, or even what kind of battling they'll be. In some cases, I might not even get to battle with you all." He watched as they all looked at him with despair. "I know, there are places that require using rental pokémon, which will definitely be odd.

"Anyways, I just wanted to give you four a heads up. We'll still be travelling with Lauren, Brittany, and JJ, and all their pokémon, so it won't be too different. Except for one thing. I might try rotating you four out with my other pokémon—the ones you met at Lily of the Valley Island. I want to give them an opportunity to participate, too, since some of them did really well in the conference. So, I might send some of you off to Pallet Town. Will that be okay with you four?" When he saw them all nod in affirmation, he smiled and clapped his hands together. "Great! You'll love it there! My parents will take good care of you, and Jake might even be there to practice battling with you all. And, as you know, my other pokémon are there, too, and they'll love to have you along."

Niko then trained for a little bit with them. It felt good to be working alongside his pokémon again. He didn't get much chance to interact with them during his trip to the Fight Area, with the only exception being when he fed them. He watched as torterra and luxray were practicing their bite; prinplup was trying to learn hydro pump after seeing feraligatr use it; and staraptor was practicing his aerial ace.

It was actually the predator pokémon, of all of them, that most caught Niko's attention during this short session. Every time staraptor used aerial ace, Niko noticed small blue spark emitting from the white tendrils that appeared during the attack. He recalled noticing it during the Lily of the Valley Conference during his battle with Lauren, but seemed to forget about it until that moment in the Fight Area. Was staraptor learning a new move? Was it an upgrade from aerial ace? What was happening?

While Niko was sleeping or training at the Pokémon Center, the other three went off into the city to tour the area, as they had no idea how long they'd be there, or really anything about the island. It seemed to irk Lauren the most, of all people.

"I wish we knew more about this whole Battle Frontier business." She finally complained after they left the Pokémon Center. "Scott didn't really give us much, other than the offer and where to meet him, and when."

"I'm sure once Niko wakes up and we go visit Scott at that tower that everything will click. This is new for all of us, and I think it's exciting, actually." The brunette said, looking up at the cloudless sky above them. "It almost feels like vacation to me. No worrying about contests, no stress over mastering a performance. It feels good."

JJ nodded in agreement. "Hey guys, can we see if there's a Poketch manufacturer here? I want to see if I can upgrade this watch to have a map of Battle Island." The girls give him permission, and JJ then started to ask around for directions. Soon enough, they found themselves at a Poketch store, only to find it closed for the day. "You're kidding me…"

"Well, we could just go find a paper map. There has to be one somewhere." Brittany suggested.

"Yeah, I just want to find new uses for my Poketch. Actually, I'm going to go look for a map, want to meet up at the Pokémon Center in a couple hours?"

"Sure." Lauren said, once more giving JJ permission. Soon enough, the curly blonde was off, with togetic fluttering at his side, leaving the two girls alone. They began walking aimlessly in one direction until Lauren started talking again. "So, do you think Niko is alright?"

"What do you mean?" Brittany asked. She had a feeling she knew, but she wanted to hear it from Lauren.

"About the Pokémon League…Hunter…is he going to be alright? Has something like this happened to him before?"

"Do you mean to ask if a pokémon of his was hurt like this before?" Lauren nodded. "Then yes, but only briefly." Brittany then told the story about Niko's Bulbasaur being temporarily blinded in the aftermath of his first battle with Sabrina, several years back in Kanto. Ultimately, bulbasaur was able to recover, but it definitely affected Niko. "As for Hunter, I'm sure he'll get over it. Niko gets over losses eventually. He always has." She then lowered her head, looking at the concrete ground under her. "But…Hunter is different from other rivals he's had. Hunter is a different person altogether. Niko will pull through, though!"

"Good. Thanks for reassuring me, Brittany." Lauren said with a sincere smile. Just as they turned the corner to walk back towards the Pokémon Center, a little girl ran up to them.

"Hi…are you Brittany from Vermilion City?" The girl, who couldn't have been older than 8 or 9, asked quietly.

"Yes…?" Brittany asked, thoroughly confused. "How may I help you?"

"I, uh…" The girl said, hiding behind her stuffed doll. "I think you're really great…" She said. Moments later, an older woman—presumably the child's mother—showed up. "Mommy, look! It's Brittany!"

"Oh! Brittany, hi…I'm Lisa's mother. Sorry if she seems nervous. She's a huge fan of yours. Lisa and I have watched all of your contests this past year, and now Lisa wants to be a coordinator when she gets older." Lisa nodded in confirmation.

"Oh, I…wow." Brittany said, unsure of how to feel. "Well, I-I'm sure you will be, Lisa. And you'll be a Top Coordinator one day, too! But you have to work hard for it every single day. Can you do that?"

"If you could, then so can I!" Lisa said proudly, seeming to come out of her shell, albeit blushing a little.

"C'mon Lisa, we've gotta go find your dad now. Thank you, Brittany, for inspiring my child." The mother said as she walked off with Lisa, leaving Brittany dumbfounded. For a minute, both girls were standing still.

"I guess that's what happens when you become Top Coordinator, eh?" Lauren asked, nudging Brittany a little.

"Yeah, guess so…" Brittany replied, suddenly feeling a mix of euphoria and purpose.

The group reunited back at the Pokémon Center a few hours after leaving Niko alone to nap. JJ was the first to arrive, finding Niko running around with his pokémon on the practice battlefield. For a few minutes, JJ just stood there, observing the human and four pokémon. Judging from the mix of joy and determination on their faces, one wouldn't have guessed that they had almost lost a teammate. Just as he was about to walk outside, he saw Brittany and Lauren get back.

"Find it?" Brittany asked. JJ nodded, holding up a folded map of what was presumably Battle Island. She then looked on with Lauren at their friend and his pokémon. "Wow, he seems in his element now."

"He really does…" Lauren said with an exhausted smile on her face. Minutes later, they all walked outside. "Niko!"

Niko turned his head to see Lauren holding her arms out wide. "Hey…how're you all doing?" He said, briefly hugging his girlfriend.

"Waiting for you to wake up!" Brittany said before retelling their past couple of hours. Niko and JJ seemed particularly touched by the girls' encounter with young Lisa. "Anyways, should we get going to meet Scott?"

Niko and Lauren both nodded, grabbing their bags—and pokéballs—and heading off with Brittany and JJ towards the tower in the center of the Fight Area. All in all, the trip didn't take too long, and when they got there they noticed Scott standing outside talking with what looked like a referee of sorts.

"Oh! Niko, Lauren! Ha-ha, welcome to the Battle Tower!" Scot said, opening his arms wide as well. "Tell me—how was the trip here?"

"It was…alright. At least until the end." Niko said, explaining his motion sickness. "But we're glad to be here. Can you tell us more about this Battle Frontier now?"

"Oh, course I can!" Scott said. "Come on in, I'll explain inside." He then led the group into the Battle Tower with the referee. They walked to an ordinary elevator, and once inside Scott pressed a button to take them to the 21st floor. The entire time, Niko was wondering the purpose of the referee. Were he and Lauren about to battle?

They made it to the top, which comprised of only a standard battlefield and stands. Sitting in the stands was a tall man with a white t-shirt and forest green overcoat with yellow buttons on them. His hair was blonde and messy. Upon seeing Scott and the group, he perked up and jumped out of the stands, landing on his feet on the battlefield.

"Scott! Long time no see! How's the recruiting coming along?" He then took a closer look at the four young trainers, and smiled warmly.

"That's exactly why I'm here, Palmer! Meet Niko and Lauren. They both competed in the recent Lily of the Valley Conference, which is where I recruited them. They both show promise, and their pokémon are tough as nails, judging from their battles." He turned to Niko and Lauren. "Niko, Lauren, meet Palmer. He's the Tower Tycoon, and the Frontier Brain for the Battle Tower here."

Author's Note: Season 5 is here! So, this season will be significantly shorter than the others previous, so in some ways think of it as an extension of Season 4. I hope you enjoy it! It'll be a little more intense in some respects on previous seasons (or, at least, I plan for it to be!) enjoy!