Flint

After a while the gang finally made it to Sunyshore City. Sunyshore City was a real modern city. There were moving escalators, robots and modern buildings everywhere. On top of all the buildings were solar panels. The gang was amazed by the sights of the city. Ash remembered all the modern cities he had seen in the past.

"So this is is where we'll get our badges?" Tomo asked Ash.

"Yes, but I'm still concerned about what Lucas said before." Ash replied.

"You mean about the gym leader giving badges away for free?" Dawn asked.

"Yes if that gym leader is just giving away the badges we need to do something about it." Ash said.

"I agree." Brock added. "Just giving away badges for free will give other gyms a bad name."

Brock didn't like how gym leaders handled their jobs irresponsibly.

Thanks to Brock's Pokegear the gang found the Sunyshore Gym. It was a big dome shaped building and it had solar panels around it. An automatic voice speaker spoke to the gang when they got to the doors.

"I am here to challenge the gym leader to earn a badge." Ash said.

A container, next to the door, opened a lid and inside were lots of gym badges. They were the Beacon Badges and they were colored yellow and grey and shaped like a lighthouse.

"Lucas wasn't kidding when he said the gym badges were given out for free." Dawn said. "What are we going to do Ash?"

"Talk to the gym leader of course." Ash said. "I'm the type of trainer who would never want to earn a badge for free. Besides you wouldn't want to earn a contest ribbon for free, would you Dawn?"

"Absolutely not." Dawn said.

She was the type who wouldn't want to earn a ribbon for free.

"I want to talk to the gym leader!" Ash shouted.

Unfortunately, the system ignored his words.

"Please leave." It asked him.

"This is outrageous." Ash angrily said. "I want to talk to the gym leader and I want to do it now!"

"If you want to talk to Volkner I'll take you to him." A voice said.

The voice came from a red-haired man.

"Hello there. I'm Flint of the Elite Four." The man said.

The gang couldn't believe their ears and eyes, seeing another member of Sinnoh's Elite Four.

"If you come with me, I'll take you to Volkner because he and I are old friends." Flint said. "He'll be up there."

Flint pointed to a tall tower. This tower was called Sunyshore Tower and it was the tallest building in all of Sunyshore City. Flint and the gang boarded an elevator to go all the way to the top.

"Volkner built this tower and all the solar panels." He explained along the way up.

"Really?" Ash said.

He was surprised Volkner was a great battler, but why wasn't he acting like a great gym leader? Once they were up at the top, they immediately looked at the view.

Suddenly a Raichu appeared.

"Hi there." Flint said to Raichu.

Raichu ran up to Flint and hugged him.

"Where's your partner?" Flint asked.

Just then, a blond-haired man appeared; he was Volkner.

"Hey Flint, who are the kids?" Volkner asked.

"You have a gym challenger Volkner." Flint said.

Ash introduced himself to Volkner and asked him for a gym battle.

"You saw the badges at the gym, so just take one." Volkner said, gloomily.

"No way." Ash argued. "I'm the type of trainer who wants to earn his gym badges the right way by battling. Why aren't you accepting real gym battles?"

"I have completely lost interest in battling." Volkner said.

"Volkner, I can tell that Ash is an electrifying trainer, so please give him a chance." Flint pleaded.

Volkner ignored his words and looked up at the sky.

"I would like you to leave." Volkner said.

He was one of those gym leaders who had a empty soul. Flint didn't like this and neither did Ash and Tomo.

Flint took the gang to a cafe for coffee and sandwiches. The cafe owner was an old friend of Flint and Volkner. Ash didn't feel like eating or drinking because of what just happened with Volkner.

"Flint, why is Volkner like that?" Ash asked. "A friend of ours named Lucas said he battled Volkner a year ago and he was a really tough gym leader. But Volkner looked nothing like I imagined."

Flint sighed.

"Volkner wasn't always like this." He said.

"It's true." The cafe owner nodded. "Volkner used to be known as the Shining, Shocking Star."

"He always battled with a bolt of lightning. He was electrifying." Flint said.

Flint explained back when he was a kid, Sunyshore City wasn't like what it is now and it was full of hoodlums. He and his Infernape, back when it was a Chimchar, would battle the hoodlums every day and always won. Then one day Volkner showed up with his Pikachu. Flint and Volkner had a battle and Flint won, but the next time they battled Volkner won. So the two boys always battled each other to show who was the strongest trainer in the city.

"Wow." Dawn said. "Did you battle so much because you didn't like each other."

"Oh no, nothing like that." Flint shook his head.

"It's true." The cafe owner nodded. "In fact, they would always get along no matter what."

Flint then told the gang back when they were kids they came across a poacher in the forest and fought him together. In the end they drove the poacher away, but were injured in the process. The two had been best friends ever since.

"Volkner is even more amazing, but that still doesn't explain the reason he wouldn't battle." Ash said.

The cafe owner spoke next. He explained that when Volkner and Flint grew up Flint left Sunyshore to train and get stronger, while Volkner stayed behind and became the gym leader. In time Flint and his Infernape grew stronger, when it evolved from Chimchar and Monferno and he became a member of the Elite Four. As for Volkner, well he started to lose interest in battles and then he became obsessed with technology. He had always been interested in technology, and therefore he built all the solar powered systems in the city and the Sunyshore Tower. After all that Volkner became an empty shell and lost his spark for battling.

"I brought you to Volkner because I thought your spark could help him and fix him like new." Flint told Ash.

"It was a wasted trip." Volkner said.

He had just arrived at the cafe for some coffee and was listening to what they had been saying.

"Volkner, you know how I feel about your attitude right now. Snap out of it!" Flint angrily shouted.

"You came back here to give me a lecture, Mr. Elite Four?" Volkner asked.

Flint was becoming angrier because he disliked his old friend's attitude.

"What happened to the electrifying Volkner I know. The Shining Shocking Star?!" Flint shouted.