Crystal turned around.  'Excuse me?' she said.
'I will battle you,' replied Kamon.
I knew it.  The entire time I was right.  Kamon was just here to show me up.  Now was his chance to succeed where I failed.  He was going to take advantage of my loss to try to show off.  That bastard.  I thought he was my friend.  I thought that I could trust him, but there he went, behind my back to try to show off.  Arrogant.  I realized how I utterly loathed him.  Every second of him being near me.  I hated it.  I hated him.  Kamon must lose.  And when he does, I will laugh in his face.  I will finally show him that even though I lost, I was still better than he was.  And he would never be better than me.  Never.
'Okay, Kamon,' said Crystal.  'Will you choose first, as Drew here poorly did?'
Now they were mocking me.  Mocking me and everything I stood for.  I was nothing without my Pokémon, and without being the best.  I was a nobody without all of that.
'No, you can go ahead,' Kamon replied.
But maybe, it was my own arrogance that caused my fall.  I was cocky, overconfident that I would win.  I chose a Pokémon first, instead of trying to pick the best Pokémon for the match, like I normally would.  If this was any other battle, my opponent would have chosen first.  I would have chosen a better Pokémon.  I would have won.
'All right.  I choose Tyranitar first!' Crystal yelled.
No, it wouldn't matter what happened in the battle.  Crystal had four legendary Pokémon.  Mew alone was like two legendary Pokémon combined.  So, it's like five or fix legendary Pokémon, in addition to her Tyranitar.  There would be no way I could have won that one.  Never.  I was...
'Delibird, go!  Blizzard, now!' Kamon commanded.
Weak.  I was too weak.  And it killed me to think of that.  I was never weaker than anyone.  Never.
'Tyranitar, Iron Tail!' said Crystal.  I saw Kamon's Delibird get hammered by Tyranitar's colossal tail, but he was still ready to fight.
There was one time where I was weaker than someone.  It was when Kamon fought me.  I was weaker than he was.  That was why he won, and that was why I was in Gehta.
I watched as Delibird retaliated with Ice Beam, but was then pummeled with rocks-Rock Slide.  Delibird didn't move.  Kamon already had one Pokémon down.
No, I wasn't in Gehta because I was trying to show Kamon that I wasn't weak.  I was in Gehta because I wanted to show Kamon that it was a fluke that I lost, and that I really was better than him.  I wasn't weak, I was superior.
My vision focused on the battle.  Apparently, Crystal's Tyranitar was knocked out, since she was using Suicune against Kamon's Umbreon.  Umbreon attacked with a Toxic.  However, Suicune came back with Hydro Pump, nearly knocking out Umbreon.  Kamon commanded her to use Crunch.
What if Kamon wasn't trying to beat me or try to show me up.  Maybe he wasn't trying to impress me.  Maybe he was just trying to win, too, like I was.  But he didn't have a secret motive.  He just wanted to battle.
'Umbreon, now use Skull Bash!' Kamon exclaimed.  His Umbreon smashed into Crystal's Suicune, critical hit, I assumed, knocking it out.
'Unreal!  Return.  Let's go Mew!' Crystal yelled.  Mew attacked Umbreon with an Iron Tail, but Kamon's Dark Pokémon was still in the match.
'Try to pull of a Faint Attack,' said Kamon.  Umbreon faded away for a moment, but then struck Mew from behind.  Mew tried to attack Umbreon, but it didn't effect Umbreon.
'You fool,' I spoke up, 'anyone knows that a Psychic-type attack won't effect a Dark-type Pokémon.  It's common knowledge.'
'Hey, you're not battling anymore, loser,' Crystal said.  I started to walk out onto the playing field, but Kamon motioned for me to stop.  I contained my anger and resumed leaning up against the wall, arms crossed.
Mew knocked out Umbreon with a Mega Punch, making Kamon switch Pokémon to Corsola.  Like that would work.  However, when Mew tried Psychic, Corsola reversed it with Mirror Coat.
I went back to thinking about my journey.  I had realized that I was being naďve this entire time.  I was the one that was ruining this voyage.  Kamon didn't have a secret motive, I did.  It was stupid.  I should be in this to have fun, not to compete with Kamon, a person that wasn't even competing with me.  I was an idiot.  I was trying to make this entire thing something it wasn't.
Like I just snapped out of a trance, I looked back at the battle.  Both Corsola was gone, but Mew was still out.  Kamon was using Entei.
'Entei, Fire Blast,' Kamon yelled.  His Entei fired flames at Mew, engulfing the Psychic Pokémon.
'Mew, Hyper Beam!' Crystal instructed.  Entei blocked it with Detect, and then, miraculously, knocked out Mew with a Fire Blast and then Hyper Beam (because Mew had to recharge, Entei got two attacks).
Unbelievable.  Kamon managed to knock out Mew, the one Pokémon I couldn't.  It was only because Mew used Hyper Beam.  That was the only reason.  I was convinced.  It wasn't like Kamon was better than me...
'Mew, return,' said Crystal.  'I cannot believe you beat Mew.  Even your comrade here couldn't do that.'  She was just teasing me because I lost.  I'll get her back for that.  'Now, Raikou, go!  Thunder!'  Entei suffered the Electric attack, but, unfortunately for Kamon, fainted.  Raikou was too much for the Fire-type Pokémon to handle.
'Come back, Entei.  I choose you next, my Golem!  Earthquake!' Kamon commanded.  I watched as the Pokémon exchanged attacks, until finally Raikou went down after a Fissure from Golem.  Kamon wouldn't be able to win this one, but he would sure come close.
'You've gotten mighty lucky, Kamon,' Crystal remarked.  'But your luck ends here!'
'It's not luck,' Kamon commented, 'it's skill.'  He smiled.  I did too, though I doubt he saw me.
Kamon, for once, was enjoying himself.  I knew it.  I knew he enjoyed battling.  I knew that is why he came along with me.  He wanted to battle, but there must have been something inside him that made him not want to...maybe it was the fear of losing.
Kamon sent out his last Pokémon, Typhlosion, after Celebi knocked out Golem.  Typhlosion quickly knocked out Celebi with a Fire Blast-a critical hit.
'It seems that you have me down to my last Pokémon,' said Crystal.
'It does,' Kamon replied.  'Now send it out.'
Kamon must have known that he was going to lose.  It was inevitable.  Crystal still had her Dragonite against Kamon's lone Typhlosion.  Kamon must have also realized that the only way to succeed would be to face his fear of losing, as I had.  That was why he was battling now.  It was truly the only reason why Kamon was battling now.
One of the most amazing things was that Kamon was still in the battle.  My Pokémon were far superior than his.  Of course, his Typhlosion would probably be knocked out right now.  And I practically won that last match.  Still, he shouldn't have lasted that long.
'Dragonite, come out and use Surf!' Crystal cried.  The orange dragon nearly knocked out Kamon's Pokémon with the tidal wave.  Kamon told his Typhlosion to use Dynamic Punch, but it missed.  Dragonite knocked out Typhlosion with Slam.
'Wasn't even close,' I heard Kamon mutter under his breath.  He recalled his Fire Pokémon.
'Nice try, Kamon,' Crystal said.  'I take a great interest in your Entei, but he is far too weak for my team.  But he was shiny, wasn't he?'
'Yeah, he is,' Kamon responded.
'Well, the two of you come back when you have decided you can take me on again.  And Kamon, come back when your Entei is more powerful, okay?'
'Yeah, sure,' we called back.

* * *

Back in the Pokécenter in Chrono, Kamon and I were talking.
'I cannot believe we both lost,' I said.  'I was almost there, Kamon.  Almost.'
'You have to learn to live with loss,' Kamon replied.
'You knew you were going to lose, didn't you?' I asked.  Kamon nodded.  'So you battled her...to try to teach me that we all lose once in a while?'
'Even the losers win, sometimes.  Therefore, the winners must lose.'
'How profound,' I said sarcastically.
'Drew,' Kamon said after several minutes of silence, 'my Pokémon haven't gotten any stronger than when I fought you, have they?'
I shook my head.  'No,' I said.
'Well, we're going to have to do something about that, now aren't we?'
'Like what?' I inquired.
'We'll figure it out,' he said.  We sat in the Pokécenter, pondering our next move.  Whatever it may be, I knew it was going to take all of our skill, once again, to overcome all of the obstacles.  We would have to fight Crystal again.  The only real question was, when?