"Are you... the Veilstone City Gym... Leader?" Courtney asked.
"Yes. I'm Maylene." a pink-haired woman said.
"My name's... Courtney, and I'm here for... the Cobble Badge." Courtney said.
"You'll need to earn it! Go Meditite!" Maylene said, tossing a pokeball.
Meditite is a Psychic/Fighting-Type. Fighting-Type moves won't be very effective on it, and neither will Dark-Type moves. Then I'll choose...
"Camerupt! Come on out!" Courtney cried.
"Cammmeeerrrrrr." Camerupt snorted. It pawed the ground, intimidating Meditite.
"Meditite, use Drain Punch!" Maylene commanded.
"Camerupt... Eruption..." Courtney said.
Camerupt unleashed a powerful Eruption attack from the mounds on its back, covering Meditite in magma before it could hit it. Meditite, who got a face full, collapsed immediately.
"Meditite return. You did great." Maylene said, returning Meditite to it's pokeball. "Alright then, I choose you, Machoke!"
"MACHOOOOKE!" Machoke said ferociously.
"Camerupt, return... Go Crobat." Courtney said softly.
"CROOOOBAT!" Crobat screeched.
"Machoke, use Rock Tomb!" Maylene said.
Good strategy... Courtney thought. Using a Rock-Type move against a Flying-Type would be super-effective, but only if it can make contact!
"Crobat... Dodge it." Courtney said.
Crobat, who had a speed and agility advantage, dodged the Rock-Type attack with ease.
"Rock Tomb again!" Maylene shouted.
"Crobat, fly over Machoke... and use its attack... against it."
Crobat flew over Machoke, and when the rocks fell, Crobat dodged them, but Machoke couldn't and was crushed under them.
"Machoke, return." Maylene said. "Go Lucario!"
"Lucar..." the Aura pokemon said.
"Crobat... Return." Courtney said. "Go Luca."
"LUCARIO!!!" Luca roared.
Maylene's Lucario faltered slightly, intimidated by Luca's strong Aura.
"Lucario, use Force Palm!" Maylene commanded.
"Luca, match that with... Ice Punch."
The two Lucario's fists met in midair. There was a cracking sound as Lucario was frozen in a suit of ice.
"Good, Luca... Use Iron Tail, then Close Combat."
Luca executed the moves, leaving Lucario unable to battle.
"Oh... looks like I won..." Courtney said.
Maylene handed Courtney the Cobble Badge.
"Thank you... for the battle." Courtney said.
"It was a pleasure." Maylene said, waving her out of the gym.

Leo, with his monferno, wooper, and buneary, managed to take out all the geodudes. "Aww, good job bro! you defeated them all by yourself!" Sylver cooed over her brother, hugging him. "Sylverrrrrr, put me down! you're embarrassing meeeeee!" Leo groaned, sick of his sister's affection. The three finally got through the other side of the cave.

Courtney's next destination was Pastoria City, but she decided to stop by Lake Valour and check it out.
Lake Valour was a beautiful, sprawling lake with a small cave in the center. That cave was said to be the home of the legendary pokemon Azelf, the Being of Willpower.

Several people in blue uniforms stood around the cave entrance, guardian whatever was inside. Out of nowhere, a woman in blue came out "Hello there, may I ask what business you have here?" She inquired.



Sylver wished Leo good luck with getting his contest registration, and Leo hugged her, wishing her luck with her gym battle with fantina. "Aww, you're really close with your brother, arent you?" Kai said. "I'm an only child, having a sibling seems really nice, I've had some friends, but we haven't been very close" Kai told her. "It's a lot of work, I haven't really had any friends besides my brother" Sylver told him as they entered the gym.

"Why do... you want... to know?" Courtney asked.

"Maybe we'll meet up again? Dusty should have evolved by then, and then we can fight for real," Ashley said.

Konnyr smiled "Yeah, unless you wanna join us" Konnyr said as they walked to the door. "If you ever need to, feel free to come back any time" He told her as he scanned his card. The little screen below the scanner flashed red -access denied- Konnyr just gave it an annoyed look, scanning his card again, once again denied. "Ugh, dumb machine, acting up again, probably astr's magnemite, or Raelyn's bronzor, that thing loves annoyin everyone" Konnyr muttered to himself. He pulled out a small devide. "Maintenance, the front door card scanner isn't working right, can you send someone to check it out?" He requested, before hitting another button and putting the device away. "Well, we're stuck until it's fixed, want to check out the cafeteria?" Konnyr asked, hoping to fix the situation.

"You see, it's out job to guard the legendary Pokemon Azelf, we're here to make sure no one comes to harm our Azelf." The woman explained.

"Sure, but can we fix up Dusty real quick? I promised him some berries at lunch,"

"Oh... okay..." Courtney said. "You must... be Team... Willpower."
"Lucario." Luca said.