"Ice Shard! Bite!"

"Ludwig, Smog!" Harry ordered as the icy projectiles shot out ahead of Pongo's charge, the poisonous cloud filling the space between battling Pokemon.

"Stumper, Leech Seed!"

The Phantump disappeared into the Smog as he tossed out the seedlings, but only for a moment.

"Icy Wind!"

The 'smokescreen' was swept aside in a gush of arctic air, Stumper tumbling head-over-smoke as Ludwig flared his flame to ease the chill on his waxy body.

"Flamethrower!"

"Rock Throw!"

The attacks collided midair, canceling each other out, as Snow darted in close, chilly mist billowing from her back like extra tails.

"Ice Shard! Bite!"

Stumper cried out, unable to dodge in time, as a seeded Pongo pinned Ludwig with Dark-enhanced fangs, growling and bristling at the thrill.

"Hold!"

All four Pokemon went still, peacefully separating, as Nasrin jogged onto their impromptu battlefield, Mulan trotting on her heels.

"You all did great." She praised, healing each of them in turn. "Why don't we take a snack break?"

Harry and Neville echoed their agreement, tired but pleased with their progress, and plopped down on the picnic blanket where Hermione and Luna were playing with Togepi and Melody and Ginny was helping Flora take her medicine.

Mulan hopped up onto her trainer's shoulder, wrapping a paw around one of her rosy curls as Nasrin opened their cooler and began passing out sandwiches, which caught Ron's attention from where he was helping Emolga and Meeko focus their Electric attacks.

The newly-evolved Pikachu squeaked happily, rushing to dig into the bowl of Oran berries Neville set out, taking a couple to share with Togepi and Melody as Sam and Cubchoo waddled over from where they had been icing trees.

"You know, we're learning a lot more here than we were in Battle Class." Harry noted lightly, ignoring Hermione's frown as Pongo gave chase after Eevee for a berry.

"Lockhart does seem to like the sound of his own voice." Nasrin agreed, handing a berry each to Ralts and Snorunt when they toddled up plus an extra for Crookshanks, who was curled up in their trainer's lap.

"It's really nice of the team to help us out, too." Neville voiced, hoping to cut off a fight. "Fred and George are pretty amazing at Tag Team battles."

"Would be a little weird if they weren't." Ginny admitted, watching Snow trot over to grab Magikarp before the Fish Pokemon could try and spear himself on a fallen tree branch.

"We still have a lot of training to do." Nasrin reminded them, Robin swooping in to land on Harry's shoulder. "Hermione and Percy did a lot of research on Mienfoo and Sneasel, but we need to think about other types they'll probably use to get an edge."

"You can come up with a list during History of Avalon." Ron voiced around a mouthful of ham and lettuce. "It's not like B.I.N.N.I.S. will notice."

Considering that B.I.N.N.I.S., the Binary Interface Network-Nodule Interactive Sentient, barely remembered the last sentence it had said, let alone when to assign homework or tests, that was certainly the case.

Even Hermione could not come up with an argument against such blatant disregard for class time, and she still defended Lockhart's tendency to tell stories rather than teach anything about battling.

"We'll need the time to research counters for types with advantages against Grass-, Fire-, Ghost- and Normal-types." Nasrin agreed, smiling as Togepi trilled and hugged Meeko tight. "We only know two of their Pokemon for sure, but they know Neville's a Grass Trainer and that Harry has Eevee and Ludwig."

"But not Stumper and Emolga." Ginny noted, her Rattata and Pachirisu wrestling in playful mimicry of Eevee and Pongo.

"Exactly. They'll come up with a second Pokemon to counter the ones they expect you'll send out, so we need to think ahead of them."

"What if they send out a bilgesnipe?" Luna asked dreamily, Linus shifting from his perch on her hair and Mickey blinking from where he was clamped onto her sleeve.

"We'll send out a jabberwocky and let them duke it out." Nasrin answered easily, Ariel reaching out to stop a giggling Melody from rolling away.

"In the meantime, we should review that practice battle." Hermione sniffed, pulling out her Pokedex. "Snow is a pretty accurate analogue for Edgecombe's Sneasel, even if Scooby's not anything like Chang's Mienfoo. Now, Harry, using Smog like Smokescreen was a great idea, since it can also cause poisoning…"


"You need to be careful."

Turning her head from the still water surrounding where the Heaven Beetle had once lived, Nasrin stared at the woman standing only a few feet away, layered dress fluttering in a passing breeze.

She had not seen Rose Quartz since that first dream so many months before, a memory that still sent tingles up her spine, an omen.

"Careful of what?" The pink-haired girl asked, mind buzzing with more than thoughts.

"He's here."

There was something profoundly sad in those matching-dark eyes.

"The Beast is awake."

Nasrin's heart jolted in her chest as she stared at the dorm's shadow-strewn ceiling, Mulan mumbling sleepily before curling tighter against her neck, Melody yawning on the other side before snuggling in again.

A deep breath, and she registered Robin nested in her hair, and Ariel sprawled on her chest, and Snow weighing down one arm while Pongo rolled off the other with muffled yips, nearly unseating Meeko from his place on her hip.

"I will find them…"

That voice, deep and male and quiet, echoed strangely in her head, and Nasrin bit back a frustrated groan.

It was always something.

"Time to hunt…Time to find the wicked…"

Resigned to a night without peaceful sleep, the half-Gem went utterly lax across the mattress, thoughts drifting to the Honor Battle that would take place in only a few hours.

"Time to punish and break…"

At least the voice would distract her from worrying.