Cornelia waved goodbye to the professor and started tinkering with her newly obtained Pokedex.

"I've heard about these on the news, but now I finally have one for myself!" she exclaimed with glee.

"I'm still here, you idiot," the scruffy haired boy reminded her.

"Shush. I'm trying to figure this out," she told him, looking down at the gadget within her hands.

"You need to catch Pokémon in order to have entries on it," he drawled, prodding at the screen of the gadget.

"Thanks, genius." Cornelia gave him a frustrated glare as she looked down at her Pokedex, feeling it being prodded. "Oi, would you stop that? You have your own, idiot. Prod it yourself," she huffed as she continued to look at the gadget.

"I know I have my own," he mocked her, making his voice exceedingly high. "Hey, maybe I should start calling you Nellie. Would that piss you off a bit more?"

All of a sudden, a mix of anger and sadness filled the female's body, and she slapped him in the face. The only person that was allowed to call her Nellie was her careless younger twin, and even then she was considering revoking her own brother's privileges to the nickname. She was so worried about her brother, too. Where had he gotten to? Was he safe? Did he need help? She didn't want him in another bad situation due to carelessness.

Annoyed at her own rival, she stormed off into the direction of a vast desert area, before stopping off to a Pokémon Centre to heal up her Devifire. The nurse was somewhat comforting, which caused the girl's mood to mellow slightly. She was still frustrated. She hadn't seen Connor in a long time, which resulted in her becoming increasingly worried. She knew her brother was reckless, but she didn't know why.

She stepped towards the desert area, immediately surrounded by temperatures of at least forty degrees Celsius. She was beginning to overheat in this area, so she wiped a small bead of sweat from her forehead and leant down. She had purchased some Pokeballs from the Pokémon centre that she had just been to. She fished a couple out of her satchel as she ran into a Torchic in the tall grass.

She sent out her newly healed Devifire and shouted, "Nova! Scratch!"

The Pokémon obeyed, running at the Chick Pokemon with newfound eagerness. It scratched the opposing Pokémon three times and was about to run back to its trainer when it was nearly incinerated by a burst of fire that the other Pokémon had sent out from its beak.

"It already knows a vital move? Well, let's do this! Nova, Bite!" she ordered.

The Pokémon obeyed its trainer and rushed at the opposition, biting into its flesh. This resulted in a few wounds on the Torchic, which fought back with another Flamethrower. This gave the Devifire a few scald wounds as it waited for its trainer's next instruction.

"Alright, Nova, I think it would be wise to retreat for now. I don't think this battle is —"

Before its trainer could finish her sentence, the Devifire made a lunge for the smaller Pokémon that was battling it. With a soft growl, it scratched it again. This landed a critical hit on the Torchic, resulting in it fainting. Eagerly, the proud Pokémon rushed back to its trainer in search of a compliment.

Cornelia gave it a soft pat and smiled. "Good work, bud," she congratulated the Pokémon, scratching it behind the ears. "I can't believe you did something like that without me having to ask you first! Good job!"

The Pokémon yipped excitedly. "Devi! Devi!"

Cornelia giggled a bit and withdrew it from the hot, sandy ground and into its Pokeball, where she knew that it would be safe. She walked along the area, avoiding some wild Graveler and a few Abra. She wandered through the area, seeming a bit lost, until she found her way to a mountain. Out the front, a man shouted at her to get away.

"This is Flight Rock, the home of Team Archipelago! Leave or prepare to surrender in an earth-shattering defeat!" The man proclaimed with a smirk. "Outta my way, girlie!"

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" she scorned, throwing out her Devifire's Pokeball. "Nova, come on out!"

"Okay, little lady! Want to challenge me?" The man addressed her.

He sent out a Banette and smirked proudly. "Banette! Shadow Ball!"

The Banette charged for the unsuspecting Devifire. Creating a ball of shadowy energy with its fists, it growled and the Devifire flinched slightly, somewhat intimidated by the other Pokémon. It flung this ball at the Devifire, who screeched and flinched.

It barely lived the hit and was severely wounded and scratched. Cornelia then realised that she was in a really bad shape to be battling this guy, as she didn't have any items that she could use to heal her Pokémon. She accepted defeat somewhat, but didn't fully give up before doing so.

"Nova, Flamethrower!" she yelled, allowing her happiness to fly free within her.

The Pokémon chased after its opposition with vigour and blew a flame in its face. This barely made a dent on the other Pokémon. She knew she was going to need to withdraw from this soon, as it wasn't safe for her Pokémon anymore.

The man smirked. "Banette, use Bite!"

The opposing Pokémon nodded and charged for the nervous Devifire. The Devifire was bitten and felt all its strength being sucked out of it, barely able to flinch due to the damage inflicted on it. As she withdrew it into its Pokeball, tears filled Cornelia's eyes.

"You're a monster..." she whispered as she left the man chortling after his win.

She worked her way towards the next Pokémon Centre before she was stopped by two girls.

"G'day," said the first. "Name's Sheila."

"Name's Vivian, but call me Viv..." the second murmured.

Cornelia stared up at the two with a soft smile filling her face. She knew she had to trust them. They seemed like such nice people, and she felt like she recognised them from somewhere.

"We saw how that guy roughed you up," Sheila told her, tucking a wad of thick hair behind her ear.

"Team Archipelago are known for causing a ruckus 'round these parts," Vivian explained with a pained look. "I live up by Bane's Ridge, but Sheila here alerted me of the danger, so I had to come down."

Sheila then looked shocked for a second. "Y-You, you're supposed to be my rival!" she shouted. "I promise not to be as rude as I know Viv's friend Bruce was, but I'm not gonna be too nice."

"I'm not ready for another battle yet," Cornelia confessed.

They nodded. "We know," Vivian told her, a soft smile crossing her face for a moment. "That's why I wanted to give you these."

...
After her Pokémon was all healed up, Cornelia was escorted by Vivian and Sheila towards Psyche Springs, where she was told that her next battle would take place.

"I'll battle you later," Sheila promised with a wink.

Both girls left Cornelia to her own devices for a moment, and she looked up at the sky. She needed to be ready for a battle with her most detested rival, Bruce.

"Hello there," he greeted her with a wave. "I saw you with them. We have a score to settle."