Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 24: A Fight for Honor! Logan's Determination!

---

Grotto PKMN Center, Sinnoh

"Are you kidding me!?" An enraged Scorbunny asked, flailing his arms. This outburst of rage had alerted a lot of the Pokémon in the main lobby, where Logan's standoff was happening.

Logan pointed his right paw accusingly at a Pangoro, who remained silent as he loomed over him with his arms crossed.

"Hey, Logan, calm down..." Oliver tried to put a paw on his shoulder, but his paw was quickly slapped away.

"Stay out of this!" Logan shouted.

"You probably should let Logan do what he wants," Sophie looked at Oliver, "That way, when he gets destroyed one day for doing this, you'll have the satisfaction of telling him that you told him so."

"You can be so heartless sometimes, Sophie..." Jacob commented, giving the Snivy a side eye.

"This has nothing to do with you, you overgrown teddy bear!!" The Scorbunny bellowed.

"Whether it has anything to do with me or not, that little 'plan' of yours is absolutely insane!" The Pangoro, Pan, stated quickly.

Pan had managed to overhear one of Logan's many heroic speeches about how he was going to take down Nidoking and free the Grotto, and Pan had decided to confront Logan about it.

"So what if it's insane?" Logan's paws balled into shaking fists, "It's more than what you and the rest of the GR have been doing!"

"Just give it up, kid! We're dealing with this, like it or not!"

"I'll never give up! This is more than just you!" Logan yelled, "Nidoking's the one..."

"...He's the one who hurt Mom and Dad!!"

Tears welled up in his eyes before he quickly wiped them away.

Pan's eyes widened, "I see... That's Kenny's son..." His gaze quickly reverted to normal as he let out a frustrated sigh, "The protection of the Pokémon in the Grotto is more important."

"What about the Grotto itself?"

The Pangoro remained silent after Logan's question.

The Scorbunny then scoffs, "I can't believe you call yourself a ranger, I could do better than you any day."

Pan smirked softly, having expected this reaction from the hot-headed Pokémon, "How about we settle this like rangers? One on one battle."

"You're on, bucko!"

Pan begins to walk away, adjusting the leaf in his mouth, "Meet in the clearing behind the Pokémon Center in an hour, don't be late."

---

Oliver, Jacob, Sophie, and Logan returned to their shared room. Logan let out a faint huff as he walked in first, his back facing the three.

The traveling trio all exchanged glances before Sophie and Oliver shifted behind Jacob, pushing the Pikachu forward.

"Seriously?" Jacob mouthed, a little frustrated.

"Out of the three of us, you're the closest to him," Oliver reasoned in a low whisper, "Try and talk him out of this."

The Pikachu rolled his eyes, walking up to Logan, "Yeah... I don't think battling a Grotto Ranger is that good of an idea..."

"I can't back out of this now, I've already accepted his challenge."

Jacob let out a soft sigh, realizing how hypocritical of him to be questioning Logan's decision to go through with a battle. He didn't know how to convince him otherwise, since he's been in the same situation.