Sitting at the base of an ancient tree was Lavarre City, the 'city of otherworldly dreams.' It was a tranquil city where many trainers could relax and enjoy themselves. Sitting inside the Cafe on the northeastern side of the city, Jamie and Felicity sat at a table sipping on frappes and conversing.

"Can you believe how fast time has flown? I mean, we're already here in Lavarre!" Jamie exclaimed.

"We did work pretty hard didn't we? Getting that badge from Valerie won't be easy mind you. She's got quite a few tricks up her sleeve," Felicity reminded him.

"True, but I'm sure we can handle it," Jamie replied casually. "By the way, did you ever get around to telling Seth we made it here?"

Felicity placed her chin between her hands and smirked. "Nope. I figured it'd be better if we surprised him. Besides, I wanna see how I stack up to him after all this time."

"With the way that guy trains, I'm sure he's strong as hell right now," Jamie replied, remembering their sparring sessions in the gym at school.

"That's exactly what I'm counting on," Felicity said grinning. "I expect nothing less from the one person I saw as a rival..."

Jamie could see the determination on Felicity's face. It was the same look she'd given Seth the day they first met when he was introduced to their class.

"Class, if I could have your attention for a few moments, there's someone I'd like to introduce to you all," Mrs. Rosseau declared as she took a seat on her desk, crossing one leg over the other before gesturing to the door and saying, "you may come in now, young man."

Making his way into the classroom was a boy of average height with dark brown hair and bright sapphire eyes and fair skin.

"Go ahead and introduce yourself," Mrs. Rosseau urged him with a reassuring smile.

Steeling his nerves, the young man cast aside his nervousness and began to speak.

"It's... nice to meet you all. I'm Seth Da Silva and um..." Seth paused, looking over at his new teacher who only nodded for him to keep going. "I'm hoping we can all be friends."

"Thank you Seth, you may take a seat wherever you choose," Mrs. Rosseau said cheerfully.

Seth glanced around at the classroom, spotting several empty seats throughout the room. Not exactly being the social type, he found it difficult to decide on where he ought to sit. Just then, a student spoke up to get his attention.

"Got a seat right here newbie!" a blonde boy called out to him, pointing to a seat in front of him.

Seth relaxed his mind a little and trekked over to the seat he'd been offered, his eyes meeting with a pair of curious emerald eyes belonging to a ginger in the seat in front of the seat he was about to take. She seemed to be studying him, almost as if she were sizing him up. Taking a seat, Seth set his backpack down and straightened up in his chair. That's when the girl turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. There was a fierceness to the calm look she was portraying. Behind those eyes was an unspoken challenge. Seth recognized that type of look anywhere.

"So uh... you two just gonna stare at each other or are you gonna say hi?" the blonde asked with a sly smirk.

"Nobody has time for your shenanigans, Jamie," the ginger quipped, her eyes shifting to the blonde for a moment before directing themselves back at Seth.

"Hey, I'm just trying to break the tension, no need to get all up in arms about it Felicity," Jamie said with a raised brow.

Felicity rolled her eyes and turned to face the front of the room while Jamie began talking to Seth.

"Don't let her get to you bud. Felicity's just like that until she warms up to people," Jamie said in a hushed tone. "She may come off as serious, but she's a nice girl."

"I'll remember that... I guess?" Seth replied, his gaze falling back on Felicity.

Felicity huh? Mom and Mathilde were right. This place will serve as a proving grounds for how far I've come. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me if this girl is who I have to deal with. I can tell she's going to be tough competition, Seth mused, a smirk twisting onto his features at the thought of a potential challenge.

"Looks like you won't need to wait much longer, because if I'm not mistaken, I think that's him right now," Jamie said, jerking his thumb toward the door as he looked over his shoulder.

Felicity looked up to see that Jamie was indeed correct. Seth was standing in a long line of customers, and hadn't noticed them sitting near the back. After getting his drink, having ordered ahead, he turned around to spot Jamie and Felicity waving him over. His eyes widened as he didn't expect to see them again so soon.

"Hey there stranger, long time no see," Felicity said as Seth took a seat at their table. "Bet you didn't expect to see us here now did you?"

"Not exactly. I mean, last I checked you had just gotten Korrina's badge and were on your way to Ramos. I should have guessed that the few weeks I took off after getting Clemont's badge would be enough time for you two to catch up," Seth replied chuckling. "You two worked faster than I thought."

"Damn right we did! Felicity and I made it a point to catch up to you as fast as we could. Now it's just like old times huh Seth?" Jamie chimed in. "By the way, where are your other pals? I remember you tagging along with like... four other trainers."

"We didn't get the chance to meet back up after the incident at the ball," Seth sighed, taking a sip of his frappe. "Serena and the others are taking their adventure at their own pace now."

"I heard about what happened at the palace. It was all over the news in fact. I'm just glad nobody was seriously hurt during all of that," Felicity inputted, relief evident in her tone.

"That's the most important part. But enough about the incident, tell us how things went after all that. You're still in the running right?" Jamie asked eagerly.

"I'm still in it, along with twenty-one other trainers actually," Seth said, taking another sip of his drink.

"Weren't there like... forty or something like that? Allie cut that down by a lot," Felicity pointed out. "Sounds like things have started to really heat up. It'll be interesting to see how this all turns out."

"Allie said that there will only be ten left standing before the Lumiose Conference begins. That means I'll have to be on my guard if I'm to win this thing..."

"Just the fact that you are trying to win is enough to give everyone in the contest cause for worry. I've known you for a long time Seth, and when you put your mind to something, you usually end up getting what you're after. It's why I considered you a rival in the first place and why I still do," Felicity added smirking. "And speaking of that, I've been itching to test my strength against yours if you're up for the challenge. We can do it either before or after we take on Valerie, it's entirely up to you."

A smirk flashed across Seth's face as he met Felicity's eyes. The three of them had been competing with each other since they first met, and it seemed as though that wasn't going to change anytime soon.

"Hey, I want in on this too. We haven't had a battle since before you graduated!" Jamie interjected hastily. "What do you say we make it a three way?"

"Heh... a three way huh? I guess it couldn't hurt. There's been something I've been meaning to test out anyway so why not?" Seth replied, his eyes catching sight of the keystones his friends were wearing. "But if we're gonna do this, I want you guys to use your strongest team members."

Jamie had his embedded into one of his fingerless gloves while Felicity had hers fashioned into an earring. He had to admit, he was curious to see which of their teammates were capable of Mega Evolution.

"Our strongest huh? I should have known you'd ask something like that. You always did like to make things challenging for yourself didn't you?" Felicity laughed. "Alright, we'll play it that way. After Valerie, we'll have a three way battle. Our strongest versus your strongest. I've been waiting to see how I stack up to you after all this time anyway, and what better way to do it than this? I hope you're prepared Seth, because I don't plan on holding back."

"I'd be disappointed if you did," Seth retorted with a cocky grin.

"Damn I missed this," Jamie laughed. "This is gonna be one hell of a battle. I can't wait!"

Neither can I, Jamie... neither can I. I've been looking forward to battling you two again. This will probably be my toughest test yet. I can't wait to see what you two have in store for me after all this time!