Old Titles (Betrayed) **Revising**

Chapter 7: Revelations (revised)

"Anabel, you can stay too. They did mainly want to talk with Ash, but they also mentioned you briefly."

Anabel was hesitant, but she finally closed the door and sat down next to Ash again.

"So who requested to speak with me?" Ash wondered. Upon thinking about it, nobody could have made a request to meet with him unless it had been made during or just before his match, which made no sense how that could have happened.

"Well, you already know who he is." Scott told him. "He caught me while I had to grab my laptop during your battle and asked me to set this up. He said that he had a very important thing to tell you." He added.

"Ok... well bring them in." Ash stated as he leaned back in his chair a bit.

Scott moved towards the door and beckoned someone through. When they stepped in, both Ash and Anabel recoiled back, knocking the chairs over, and grabbed Poke Balls from their belts, glares launching quickly at the person.

"What do you want?" Ash growled angrily.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

"I hope you're ready. There's no backing out from this now."

"I should be asking you that."

The Galarian duo of Callum and Gloria laughed lightly at each other as they prepared to do their first tag team battle of the tournament. They were well equipped to fight Morty and Pryce, but that did not mean that they wouldn't take this battle seriously like they did with all their other battles. As gym leaders that are usually fought near the middle and end of the Johto Gym Circuit, these two gym leaders were considered fierce and skilled in numerous ways.

Gloria looked at Callum briefly. "So we have our battle strategy laid out. Now what do we do about Hop and Marnie?"

Callum crossed his arms. "You still don't want to talk to them I take it?"

Gloria looked down. "It's not exactly that." She admitted. "It's... every time I look at them, my memories resurface from when I lost to Leon." She then noticed the look on Callum's face. "I'm not afraid of losing to Leon, Callum. I can take a loss." Gloria added before hugging herself almost protectively. "I want to forgive them, but every time they get close, that memory... that feeling... it resurfaces. It's almost like PTSD."

Callum shrugged before pulling her close. "I understand. But you have to promise me that you'll try to work through it. It's rough... feeling like all the friends that you made seemingly abandoned you. But if you want to forgive them, then you have to tell them face to face. Do you think you can do that at some point?" She nodded in return. "Good." He finished.

Their platform started to move, indicating that it was their turn on the battlefield.

"Alright, now let's show those two gym leaders what for." He grinned, Gloria sharing his enthusiasm as she grinned alongside him.

Upon reaching the top of the platform, they caught the eyes of both Johto Gym leaders, immediately shifting into battle mode almost like a shift in gears. Morty and Pryce are considered two of the stronger gym leaders in Johto due to both their experiences and their mastery of their specific types. However, they knew that while this would come down to a fight of skill and strategy, the chosen types that the duo had would ultimately be their downfall.

Pryce spoke out loud, talking directly to the duo in front of them. "I've heard a few things about you two. Namely, you." He pointed directly at Gloria. "Rumor has it that you made a complete disappearing act after losing your battle against Champion Leon."

That made Gloria frown. "The rumor mill already has information on me?" She questioned aloud, glancing at Callum. "I would think there would be more time in between my return to battling and the rumor mill starting than just two days."