Gabe looked down as he flew over Hearthome City. With wide-eyed wonder the blond youth drank in the wonder that was the Old Hearthome City ruins. Knowing that Hearthome City was around one-thousand years old, it came as no surprise that the city itself was more rustic than the rest of Sinnoh with the exception of Solaceon Town. Gabe couldn't help but admire what he was seeing. Giving the order to descend, Tropius slowly made his way downward, landing right in front of the Contest Hall.

Hopping off Tropius, Gabe reached up and ran a gloved hand along Tropius's neck and looked up at the leafy wings. He could see that they were looking little stiff. Reaching down to his belt, Gabe grabbed Psyduck's ball and released the duck in order to gain his assistance. After a few moments of Psyduck's Scald, Tropius's wings were thawed out before Gabe returned the two.

"Barry!" a familiar female voice called out, causing Gabe to turn to see Dawn headed his way riding what appeared to be a Ponyta with a fiery blue mane.

Okay... I know I have a shiny Psyduck, but shiny Ponyta is my all time favorite next to Aegislash...

Gabe muttered something along the lines of "lucky little..." before cutting himself off as she approached. Dawn got down from Ponyta and gently stroked her head.

"Was that a Tropius I saw you fly in on? He was HUGE!" Dawn exclaimed.

Gabe raised a brow at her reaction.

"He was? He seemed normal to me," Gabe blinked.

Dawn shook her head.

"I've studied the Tropius of this region with Professor Rowan, and never have I seen one that big. It must be at least eight feet. Normal Tropius don't get any bigger than six feet when full grown," Dawn added.

"No wonder he could carry me so easily," Gabe murmured to himself.

"Anyway, how have you been? It's been a while since we met up," Dawn beamed.

"Not much," Gabe replied casually. "I'm just here to get my badge and maybe look around."

Dawn nodded.

"Sounds like you've got a plan. Lucas is on his way here. He took the scenic route," Dawn chuckled.

"That sounds like Lucas alright, slow as always," Gabe grinned.

"Yeah, not to mention he has a habit of being a bit gluttonous at mealtimes," Dawn laughed nervously.

Ah... I nearly forgot about that. He's like May in that regard. I swear those two would be fun to watch at an eating contest. May would win though...

"Barry, you there?" Dawn asked as she waved her hand in his face.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Gabe shook his head and laughed, rubbing the back of his head out of habit.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought for a second there," Gabe replied.

"It's fine," Dawn chuckled. "I do that too sometimes. Anyway, I'm going to head over to the Contest Hall to see my mom. Maybe when I get done I can come watch yours and Lucas's gym battles?"

"I'd like that, and I know Lucas will too since he uh..." Gabe paused, catching himself before saying anything more.

"Since he what?" Dawn asked, raising a delicate brow.

"Since he likes having his friends there for support!" Gabe hastily replied, hiding his nervousness.

"Hmmm... yeah, you're right," Dawn smiled. "Anyway, I'll see you later," Dawn chirped, and headed off towards the Contest Hall.

Gabe breathed a sigh of relief and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets before walking off towards the gym. All the while he was walking, he was taking in the sights. As he passed Sinnoh University, he stopped to admire the historic structure where several of the great professors attended and taught. At that time, the doors of the university opened, causing Gabe's heart rate to quicken.

The violet-haired woman adjusted her burgundy scarf and tucked her books beneath her arms and looked down the stairs, directly at Gabe, a grin forming on her face as their eyes met. Making her way down the university steps, Jupiter stopped in front of Gabe and smiled.

"We have to stop meeting like this you know?" Jupiter chuckled.

Shoot, what's she doing here? Gabe thought, doing his best to keep a neutral expression on his face before making a reply.

Come on Gabe, play it cool...

"And why's that?" Gabe inquired, putting up a confident facade while dawning a smirk.

"Twice in a café, and now here at the university? I might get the wrong idea and think you are following me," Jupiter snickered.

Gabe bit his tongue and cleared his throat.

"That would be creepy if it were true," Gabe added.

"Indeed. But, nevertheless, it is a good thing that I bumped into you. I had hoped to see how much you've progressed since our last encounter," Jupiter stated in a curious tone.

"So in other words, you want to battle me again?" Gabe deduced, getting a smirk from Jupiter as a silent reply.

"Something like that. However, as much as I would love to do this now, I am due for a little down time after some extensive studies. I take it you are going to challenge the gym leader here, correct?" Jupiter queried.

"Err... yeah, that's the plan anyway," Gabe responded sheepishly.

"I believe she is currently involved in a contest at this time. Perhaps now would be a good time to prepare for your challenge," she replied as she walked off, pausing to look back at him with a devious smile. "Good luck," she added before traipsing away.

Gabe released the breath he didn't even know he was holding. He had no clue what was hiding behind that smile. All he could do was watch as she sauntered away, eyes fixed on the hypnotic sway of her hips. Dear Arceus was she alluring!

Get it together Gabe! He mentally coached himself, shaking off the thoughts that crossed his mind.

So she's in a contest now huh? I guess that means I have to wait. That's fine, I'll just head to the Pokémon Center and give my team a checkup...

Gabe, deciding that was the best course of action, made his way to the Pokémon Center in order to have a brief reprieve from the events of the morning. With that in mind, Gabe entered the center, only to be overwhelmed by how crowded it actually was. There were scores of trainers all lined up at the reception desk.

As Gabe looked on, he saw his friend Lucas standing at the back. Walking up behind him, he tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"What's this line for?" Gabe asked Lucas, earning a perplexed look from his friend.

"Huh? Don't tell me you forgot about this already! It's the Hearthome City Battle Tournament signups. This year they're doing something different though," Lucas explained.

"Uh... of course I didn't forget. I just... didn't realize it was that time already!" Gabe hastily replied. "So uh, what's different this year?"

"Instead of it being the standard one on one, this year it's double battle format. However, you can't choose your partners as they are picked at random, which is weird if you ask me," Lucas elaborated.

"Looks like a lot of people are signing up," Gabe observed.

"Yeah, signups began an hour ago. A few people got the jump on it right away and then left," Lucas added stated, blinking as he heard his stomach growling.

Lucas laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Double battles huh? Sounds like a lot of fun," Gabe mused. "Any other special rules?"

Lucas stroked his chin and snapped his fingers as he remembered something.

"Ah! You can only use two Pokémon. So after you and your partner are matched up, you should figure out which of your teammates would work well together," Lucas informed him.

"Right, because bad synergy will trip up a team. Got it," Gabe stated as he moved with the line.

Several more minutes passed and soon Gabe found himself at the front of the line with the electronic pen in hand. Looking down at the tablet, he saw the list of names and recognized a few of them. It appeared that Dawn had entered as well. However, that wasn't what caught him by surprise. It was one name that was fourth on the list.

You're kidding... she entered too!?