2 days after the battle with Pierre, Jason and Nathan had gotten another job request to assist the miners at the Oreburgh mine toward the Sinnoh region.
Nathan: "Good Arceus, We've been in the ocean for like 2 hours now, Just how far is Sinnoh from Kalos?"
Fennekin growled in exhaustion.
Jason: "Well on the bright side, it's giving me and Froakie here some extra training."
Froakie: "Froakie."
Jason: "Alright Froakie, focus on harnessing water and fire right at this target."
Froakie uses both of his hands, controlling water into a ball before firing straight at the target in front of Jason, landing a perfect Water Pulse.
Jason: "Yeah baby, You finally mastered Water Pulse Froakie…After hitting me with that move several times now, but good job."
Captain Charles: "Can you two stop training, I don't want my precious ship to go down because one of those Water Pulses hit the ship and makes a massive hole causing us to sink to the bottom of the ocean!"
Jason: "Sorry, Captain Charles."
Nathan: "HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL WE MAKE IT? I'M GOING TO BE SICK!"
Captain Charles: "Another hour, so enjoy that it's a smooth trip so far."
Nathan: "Oh come on!"
Jason: "Oh I can't wait to go to the Sinnoh Region, maybe I might even see Cynthia…A champion whose beauty is only rivaled by that Trauma inducing Garchomp that's destroyed teams single handedly."
Nathan: "Stop…simping."
Jason: "I'm just saying, I would gladly buy her ice cream whenever she feels like.."
Both Froakie and Fennekin hit Jason before he could finish.
Jason: "Yeah I needed that."
Nathan: "and more!"
Nathan then passed out from Seasickness as Fennekin, Froakie and Jason just waited until they finally arrived at Sinnoh.
After fighting through hordes of Zubat, Jason and Nathan finally arrived at Oreburgh City. The two were stunned by the power plants and tall buildings around the city
Nathan: "Amazing, no wonder it's considered the city of energy."
Jason: "Yeah, let's just head toward the mine to get this job done."
After arriving at the Oreburgh Mine, Jason and Nathan meet a miner who had been waiting for them.
Miner: "Ah good, you boys finally arrived, although considering the work, we might only need one of you."
Nathan: "I guess I'll do it, it'll give Jason over here a chance to get some more battles in."
Jason: "Thanks man, I'll be sure to put in a good word for Professor Hazel."
Nathan: "Oh You better!
Miner: "Alright then son, you're just gonna want to follow me."
Nathan followed the Miner as he explained the job.
Jason: "ALRIGHT WORKERS WHO ARE ON SHIFTS, IF ANY OF YOU ARE WORLD CORONATION TRAINERS, I: THE FUTURE WORLD CHAMPION CHALLENGED YOU ALL!"
Worker: "Get a load of this kid, He's definitely enthusiastic. Alright kid I have 5 minutes to spare so let's make this quick."
Jason: "Thank you sir, I will!"
Miner: "Alright here's the deal kid, we mine for coal in order to power the majority of our city, but the thing is, you have to be extremely careful to not bring damage to the Pokemon's natural habitat."
Nathan: "Alright, so what exactly do I do?"
Miner: "Oh it's simple, Just mine for Coal and place it on the system, and if you find any rare gems, you can sell them for a pretty high price. Eh eh?"
The Miner nudges at Nathan's elbow as Nathan immediately puts on his mining gear, grabs a pickaxe and rushes onto the mine to get started.
Nathan: "Here I come Gems!"
Miner: "Yeah that always motivates the youngsters."
Jason: "Froakie, Water Pulse!"
Froakie throws a Water Pulse into 3 workers Geodude, instantly knocking them out. Jason's Rank goes up to 18,500
Froakie: "Froakie!"
Jason: "HA! It feels good to win again. I guess we're just that strong huh Froakie?"
???: "Sounds like you take a lot of pride in that pokemon of yours huh?"
Jason: "Well obviously, We're going to be the world champions one day!"
???: "Interesting, and you only have him and no other pokemon?"
Jason: "Umm, I guess, I haven't really thought about what Pokemon I'm going to use. Why are you asking, for that matter, who are you!?
Roark: "My name's Roark, I'm actually the gym leader of the city."
Jason: "Wait, you're a gym leader!?"
Roark: "Yes indeed, since I haven't found any new fossils, would you be interested in challenging me to a battle?"
Jason: "I mean, I would but I'm not exactly trying to compete in the Sinnoh League, I'm competing in the world coronation series."
Roark: "So? You can still battle me regardless, not only will you get my badge, but you can get a boost in your rankings than you would against your average trainer."
Jason: "Alright then, Gym leader Roark, I accept the challenge."
Later, Both Roark and Jason arrived at the Oreburgh gym as the Rotom Drone flew over the arena as the match started
Jason: "Alright Froakie let's go!"
Froakie: "Froakie!"
Roark: "Go Onix"
Roark sends out Onix, Jason smirks expecting an easy win.
Jason: "Welp, time to knock this rock snake out, Froakie, Water Pulse!"
Froakie then launches a Water Pulse that makes direct contact with Onix.
Jason: "And down goes the Onix."
Roark: "I wouldn't be so sure about that."
The dust clears as Onix is still standing.
Jason: "How is it still standing? Onix has a 4 time weakness to water!"
Roark: "Thanks to its sturdy ability, Onix is still in. Thanks to that we managed to give you a little surprise."
Jason looked confused until he realized Froakie winced in pain as several stones made their way toward Froakie.
Jason: "Wait, so Onix intentionally took that water pulse in order to set up stealth rocks?!"
Roark: "Finally putting it all together huh, let's see how you overcome this. Onix, use slam!
Onix used his tail in order to slam Froakie, but Jason commanded Froakie to use Quick attack to avoid the hit. Onix then used Rock throw sending rocks toward Froakie but Froakie used Lick in order to smack the rocks away. Only to get caught off guard with Onix using Slam again, as his Tail slams Froakie toward the ground. Jason Groans not expecting Onix to be that strong, fortunately Froakie gets back up. Onix uses another Rock Throw but then Jason comes up with a plan.
Jason: "Froakie, Use a quick attack to climb those rocks!"
Froakie did just that, making it towards the air. Onix tries to go for a slam, but Froakie uses a quick attack to hit Onix in the head before finishing him off with a point blank water gun.
Jason: "Phew, that a great battle Froakie, definitely a lot harder than I thought."
Froakie: "Froakie…" Froakie croaked weakly.
Roark: "Impressive, but will you be able to handle my next pokemon?"
Jason: "Say what?"
Roark: "Go Rampardos!"
To the shock of Jason and Froakie, Roark sends out his Rampardos.
Roark: "You've been so accustomed to fighting single battles, that now you face someone with more than one Pokemon, you're at a disadvantage."
Jason stares in shock as Onix gave Froakie so much trouble that Froakie was too weak to move.
Roark: "Rampardos, Use headbutt."
Rampardos charged with headbutt and hit Froakie, sending him flying out of the arena as he landed onto the wall, fainting.
Rotom Drone: "Froakie is unable to battle, Rampardos is the winner. Which makes the victor Roark."
Jason: "Froakie!"
Jason rushes toward Froakie as he picks him up as gently as possible.
Jason: "I don't get it, we should've won from the advantage, we should've won."
Roark puts Rampardos back into his pokeball and walks toward Jason.
Roark: "Listen Jason, I can tell you and your froakie have a lot of potential, but the strength of one can only go so far. You can't expect to beat everyone with just a singular pokemon.
Jason didn't say a word.
Roark: "I'd recommend you go out and find yourself some new team members, when you do, I'll be here waiting for a rematch."
With that, Jason walks out of the gym holding Froakie in his arms.
After Jason took Froakie to the Pokemon Center to heal him up, he walked out with his head low, but instead of Sadness, Jason felt nothing but anger as he punched the wall of the Pokemon Center.
Nathan: "Yo Jason, Guess who mined a whole bunch of gems and made $2000 Pokedollars!?"
Nathan ran toward Jason but he paused, noticing his downcast look.
Jason: "I lost…again!"
Nathan: "Oh damn dude."
Jason: "Losing to Pierre was bad enough, but now Roark! I can't keep losing Nathan, I can't!"
Nathan: "Dude just calm down, remember Professor Hazel telling you that losing it's a part of life?"
Jason: "Even so, I'm losing to the actually good trainers, the only people I've been winning against are tomato cans!"
Jason sits down angrily as he clenches his fists and his eyes blackened.
Jason: "I need to get stronger!"
Nathan simply stares at Jason, concerned for his best friend. Meanwhile a mysterious figure and his Scizor have been watching them from afar.
???: "I got eyes on both target's, boss."
Orobas: "Good, make sure both of them are secluded before apprehending them."
???: "And if they refuse apprehension?"
Orobas: "Just kill them, We'll create some elaborate tale for their parents."
???: "Very well sir."
Orobas: "Good Luck…Anarchist Roku Katto."