It had been two days since Ben left to meet with the other Police Chiefs in Johto, only two to go until Jake went with him to New Bark Town to get registered for the Johto League Championship. "C'mon you two," Jake said to Rascal and Lucario, "we're gonna need to be well prepared." He then put on his hat and turned to leave the room. As he came down stairs he waved to Nurse Joy and said, "We'll be back, we're going to the Poke Mart." "Ok stay out of trouble you three." Nurse Joy said as they walked through the door. Jake, Rascal and Lucario walked up the street and turned the corner to a strange sight. The Poke Mart was completely crowded; Jake saw reporters and other people crowding the front entrance of the store. As Jake elbowed his way through the crowd, he heard people say: "I wonder what she's buying," and "Wow I can't wait to meet her." The double doors of the store opened automatically for Jake; inside was almost completely empty with the exception of one girl at the counter. "I'll take this and this and this. Oh do you have any Dusk Balls?" Obviously in a hurry, she ran back and forth between the shelves and the counter. On every trip back to the counter she always brought back an armful of things. "That'll be 40,000 dollars." Said the clerk while trying to see over the mass of stuff. "Here you go." Said the girl, managing to pick up the whole pile in both arms. She walked through the double doors that opened automatically, and Jake could hear one reporter say "Rose! Can you tell us..." and was drowned when the double doors shut out all sound. "Who was that?" Jake asked the clerk. "Don't you watch TV?" the clerk was counting the money and putting it in the register. "That's Rose Blackthorn. She was almost the champion last year but got beat out by some kid wearing a ball cap. I think he was from the Kanto Region. What was his name, oh yeah it was... " Jake tuned her out. Jake turned and walked toward the back slowly; he grabbed six dusk balls, six quick balls, and six timer balls. Rascal lay near the counter looking out through the double glass doors, and Lucario had ran to the back to get himself a soda pop. "Lucario could you get a couple for Rascal and me too?" Lucario nodded in agreement, and ran to the counter with three bottles of soda. Jake walked back up to the counter, and placed all the items he'd just grabbed on it. "What do I owe ya?" "3,750 dollars." The clerk said looking at the pokeballs and drinks. "Thank you." He nodded as Jake handed him the money. "Well let's go get some food." Jake said to Lucario and Rascal, "I'm hungry." The street was completely empty now. The only thing Jake could hear was a dull roar coming from the other side of town. "Wow they move fast." In the diner Jake sat down with Rascal and Lucario while the waitress handed him a menu. "Can I get that?" Jake pointed to a picture on the front of the menu. "Yes, and what will your pokemon have?" she asked looking at Rascal who was gnawing at his left fore leg. "They'll have the same." Jake said, while poking Rascal's left shoulder. Rascal looked up at Jake who was looking at the waitress. "Thank you sir, your order will be right out." The waitress turned and walked away. Jake took his hat off and set it in the chair next to him. He noticed a girl in the back corner wrapped in a shawl and wearing dark sunglasses, trying not to be seen by any one else in the restaurant. Just when his order came out he heard the door behind him slam open, nearly shattering the glass in the door. Forks scraping on plates, and people talking suddenly stopped to see the person who did it. All eyes were on the front door except Jake who had his back to the door. "Those are some weak looking pokemon you got there, pal." Said the stranger referring to Rascal and Lucario. Rascal's fur stood on end, and a low growl could be heard from deep in his throat. Lucario stood up from the chair he was sitting in, ready to strike. Jake picked up a napkin, and placed it in his lap, "You wanna find out?" he asked. "That's why I'm here. I've seen you around town." The stranger said, "And now that I've met you, I'm starting to think you're not worth my time." "That so? It's illegal to battle in town, so you meet me out side of town at four o'clock sharp." Jake said trying to hide his displeasure. "Four o'clock then." He turned to leave and stopped, "I won't wait 'til any later." "You won't have to." Jake picked up his soda and took a drink. When the door shut, the girl in the shawl came over to Jake's table, "Excuse me, did you know that person?" "No ma'am, but I think he's got it in for me." Taking a bite of his food, "You must be Rose Blackthorn." "How did you know?" she looked around to see if anyone had heard. "Well, if I were you, and I wanted to get away, I'd come to the most obscure diner in town too." Jake pulled out the chair next to him and moved his hat to the table next his. "Eaten yet?" "No I haven't, thank you." She sat down. "What a cute Luxray you have there." "His name's Rascal, that's Lucario, and I'm Jake Brooks." He said giving her his hand. "I'm Rose." She shook his hand. Time passed without notice and before he knew it, it was already three- thirty. "Well heck, its time." Jake said looking at his watch. He stood up and paid for his and Rose's food, and then turned to leave. "Do you mind if I come with you?" Rose said also standing up. "This should be interesting." "Come along." Jake said as he put his hat on and pulled it down tight. Ben sat in the Indigo Plateau Police Department for what seemed like all day. He'd just begun to watch the TV on the counter when he saw that unmistakable cowboy hat, with that unmistakable kid inside it. "What is he doing?!?" Ben stood up and looked around; everyone was staring at him. He walked over to the TV and turned up the volume. "Well folks, we came out here to confirm sightings of Rose Blackthorn but instead we find a pre-season showdown." The reporter was commentating before the battle had even begun. "Chief Cane. Your son will see you now." Officer Jenny said, but Ben was glued to the TV. "Chief Cane?" "Dad, what are you doing?" Ben's son had come out of his office. "Sorry Jimmy, but this is that kid I told you about. Come watch." Ben was still fixated on the TV. "Jake's son? He's in Olivine right?" Jimmy walked over to the TV set. "Yeah. I don't under stand why he's doing this though." Ben rubbed his chin. There was forty feet between the stranger and Jake when they met. Jake looked around to see a news crew filming the whole thing. "Looks like I'm gonna make a fool of you on national television." The stranger said with a sneer. "Don't count on it." Jake turned to see where Rose was. There was a long silence. The wind rustled the red and yellow leaves in the forty feet that separated Jake and the stranger. "Go, Golem!" He'd made his first move. "Lucario, you're up!" Lucario stepped out into the field, not needing to be told twice. "Golem, use Rock Slide!" The stranger shouted. "Lucario, Aura Sphere!" Jake said hoping to catch Golem off guard. Out of nowhere fifty rocks came tumbling out of the trees, all bent on running Lucario into the ground. Lucario skillfully dodged the renegade rocks, and turned back to Golem charging up a sphere of blue light. "Golem, Earthquake!" He was on to Jake and Lucario's game. "Lucario, look out!" Lucario released his attack just before Golem could unleash his. Golem went down in an instant. "Are you kidding me?" The stranger was in disbelief. "Fine. Go, Pidgeotto!" "Lucario, c'mon back. Rascal your turn" Rascal stepped out now ready to fight. "Pidgeotto, Hyperbeam." A beam of red and yellow light nearly hit Rascal just barely missing him by inches. "Rascal, use Thunder Fang." Jake took a step forward. Rascal jumped up and kicked off of a nearby tree giving him the boost he needed to reach Pidgeotto's height. When he reached his foe, he clamped down on its leg and released electricity through his teeth. Pidgeotto went down for the count. "Return." Pidgeotto turned red, and returned to his pokeball. "Try this." The stranger pulled out his last three, and summoned them all at the same time. They were: Golbat, Wailmer, and Kadabra. Without hesitation, before the stranger could give a command, Jake gave his command, "Rascal, Thunder." Rascal released all the electricity he had into all three of the other pokemon, knocking them all out. The stranger hung his head dejectedly. After returning all three of his pokemon he began to walk away pausing only to say: "This isn't the end of it. We will meet again, count on it." Reporters swarmed in from all sides. "Mister, why were you two battling?" "Who was that?" "Who are you?" "Where are you from?" "Are you going to take on the Johto League?" Everyone was asking questions. A female voice interrupted, "Hey, Rose Blackthorn is down at the beach!" every reporter within a hundred yards began running to the beach on the other side of town. Jake stood there, stunned. Rose walked up trying to contain her laughter. "Rose, I thought they were gonna eat me alive!" "Welcome to my world." Rose was about to burst out laughing. That night, Jake lay on his bed watching the news when his story came on, "...In other news, two relatively unknown pokemon trainers battled outside the city limits. It is unknown what the reasoning was behind the battle or how it started. As the footage here shows the battle was a quick one." "Great, I've managed to get the entire region's attention." Jake said to him self, "Well, I'll worry about it in the morning." Jake switched off the TV, rolled over and went to sleep. "Can you believe that?" Ben sat on the hotel balcony looking out toward the stadium. "His TV debut convinced the other police chiefs to go through with the plan." "Does he know he's gonna be the bait?" Jimmy asked. "No, and he doesn't need to know." Ben replied looking down at the pool. "Our main priority is to catch these thieves, and Jake is the only kid his age that I'd trust with this kind of assignment."