The room we were given was modest, but enough to accommodate us. The lighting was better than the halls, but dimmer than the dining area. Neither Brio nor Aeris seemed concerned over the details, so I likewise echoed their thanks to Asgard and settled in the best I could. There were two couches here, not as soft as the ones in Brio's library, but not as firm as rock, so again, no complaints from me.

The Togetic then went off for a vaguely defined reason, leaving us to sort out the arrangements. The couches were plenty large for two Pokémon to lie on comfortably, and I chose to share with Brio. He'd be less prone to movement than Aeris, and he was small enough to stay on the opposite side of the couch without crowding me. Aeris had started talking, but I found myself too tired to pay much attention. In fact, I don't remember hearing more than a few words before falling asleep.

What felt like mere minutes, I awoke to a light prod on my shoulder. As much as I liked the Gligar, if this was Aeris, I don't think I'd be able to keep myself from complaining. Really, after all I've been through today, I wanted to sleep. However, it wasn't Aeris or Brio, but Asgard.

"What?" I grunted, cracking one eye open to glance at the hovering Togetic.

"Mom's ready to get back to training," the fairy explained in a whisper. From the nervous way he glanced over at Brio, I assume everyone else was also sleeping. "She wants to take you one at a time to work out techniques on a more focused and personal level. She told me to bring 'the Buizel' first, so that's you..."

I groaned quietly and stretched, weariness still clinging to my body, but I nevertheless rolled myself off the couch and onto my feet. Asgard appeared momentarily relieved at my lack of argument, but the expression vanished in the next instant and he led me dutifully from the room.

Neither of us said a word on the way back to the training room, and I spent the majority of the walk getting my brain to wake up. Normally a good dip in the river was enough to shake off the weariness, but with that option non-existent, I had to do the next best thing, which was spraying my paws with water and rubbing my face.

Sensi was waiting for us, her neck flames crackling loudly in the otherwise silent room. She nodded to me when I came in, and walked forward to greet me. Asgard departed at a single gesture from his mother and I eyed the fire type with a hint of wariness. I had no idea what to expect, and as far as I was concerned, she and Asgard were still complete strangers.

"Syren, correct?" Sensi asked, turning and lumbering back to the other side of the battling field. With her back turned, she couldn't see my nod, forcing me to confirm with a word. "I wanted to take you as the first one-on-one client because you seemed to have the greatest drive of the three of you. Would you agree?"

"What? Um..." I wasn't sure what to say. I suppose Aeris probably didn't take battling too seriously, and Brio was more of a bookworm than interested in battling, but even if that was true, how did she pick up on that, and what would make her label me as being the most driven.

Sensi chuckled. "No need to worry about answering. You see, I came to this conclusion from the brief training exercises I had you do. Your friends all have a fair amount of potential, but how you all handled it was interestingly diverse."

She gestured towards the perimeter of the field and continued, "Your Glaceon friend, Brio, was running these laps and while he did so without protest, his body was not well-equipped for sprints. He is a passive Pokémon, opposed to violence when other methods work better, I think. He was quickly overwhelmed by fatigue."

"So was I," I said, inexplicably defensive of Brio's performance. Sensi chuckled, but pretended like there was no interruption.

"Aeris displayed great flexibility, but has no power behind her. She is speedy and energetic, and has very nice reflexes. But she has a short attention span and was distracted by feints. While I view her as the most capable of handling herself in battle, her interests are not there."

I gave a slight shrug. Why was she telling me her interpretations of my friends? What did this have to do with me being the most driven to learn? I had just been told to run back and forth; that was scarcely different from Brio running laps, and I hadn't even done that well.

The Typhlosion smiled, as if she knew was running through my head. "And then there was you. Your species are naturally more adapted to water environments, so you had the most noticeable disadvantage in what exercise I assigned. Your performance wasn't what I really wanted to examine, though. None of my exercises were crucial beyond getting a read on your strengths and weaknesses."

"I don't follow."

Sensi smirked. "It was something I picked up from your eyes. From the attention and effort you put into something you aren't naturally talented at. Brio and Aeris gave honest effort, but you really put yourself on the line. So I want to ask you something: What are you here for?"

I blinked, my tails flicking self-consciously. I knew the main reason I was here...didn't I? As I considered the best approach to the question, I felt a cold shiver on my spine. I could practically feel the pressure that the Venomoth had placed on me, with the grand obstacle of Huntress' overwhelming strength before me. How were we supposed to fight a Servine that had not only outmatched a large group of Beedrill, but was nearly unstoppable in personal combat? I had seen firsthand what she was capable of, and that couldn't possibly be her full power...

"No need to answer yet," Sensi said. "I want to consider that as we work on this. See if you can find what drives you to succeed."

"Great," I answered, masking the flatness in my voice the best I could while keeping that tiny hint of displeasure. There's no point in being sarcastic if no one notices. "So what are we doing?"

"With some consideration, I decided to train you in a more speed-based combat style," Sensi replied. "Many view it as an unexpected style for your species, but one they can adapt to quite impressively. It is efficient and compensates for a lack of power."

"I thought the species did have a lot of power," I said, furrowing my brow. Okay, so I had no idea how strong my species was supposed to be. That's what I get for never really having any role models or guardians in my species line.

"Floatzel have power. Buizel not so much. If I can teach you to be hard to hit in battle, power can come in time," the Typhlosion explained. I nodded. That at least made some sense. Sensi smiled at me, gesturing for me to take my position across from her. Not that I really needed to be told, but I backed up a few paces, watching the fire-type.

"How exactly do I learn speed?" I wondered. She was acting like she expected me to fight her, and there was simply no chance I could handle a battle like that. She had to be in a league exceeding Huntress, and as the Servine was vastly stronger than me, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be learning here.

"Through evasion," Sensi answered, smirking as the flames around her neck flared up stronger than ever. She extended a paw and a sphere of flame appeared within it. "These are low power fireballs, but I expect them to still sting significantly, even to a water-type."

"Are you serious?" I demanded, eyes widening. "You're going to throw fireballs at me?"

"Yes. My training is not for the faint of heart, but I am pleased to admit that I don't put my students through hell," Sensi said. "You may use any means you deem appropriate to dodge or otherwise neutralize the threat. Once you have the hang of that, I will put a bit more spin into it. Are you ready?"

"I gue-" the word wasn't even out of my mouth before the fireball was racing towards my head. I yelped and ducked down, the sizzling sphere flying just above my ear. Before I could even get my bearings back, a second ball of flame was forming in the Typhlosion's paw and heading towards me. This time I jerked to the side, nearly falling over in my desperation to avoid the scorching sphere.

And yet another came speeding my way before I could get my balance, but this one glanced my shoulder, sending a white-hot flare of pain through the shoulder. I yelped, my paw clutching the burn, my eyes watering from the burning feeling running down my arm. Sensi observed me passively, her expression unreadable. I growled under my breath, getting up and glaring at her.

"You allowed yourself to be pushed into a corner almost immediately. It was only a matter of time before I'd bypass your crazy maneuvers. Something to remember, Syren, is that desperation is predictable. I knew which direction you'd move and what your options would be," Sensi said, her voice booming in the empty room.

I didn't answer, turning my head and spraying my burned shoulder, clenching my fist as the water agitated the burn. It'd be fine in time, but it hurt. I don't know if that was the entire point of the training: to use pain as a learning experience, but I had an uneasy feeling that this wasn't going to be the only burn I'd pick up today.


I'm not sure exactly how long Sensi put me through my paces before calling a halt, but it was a stop I was beyond relieved to have. Several other burns had made their marks upon my fur and I was exhausted from all the running, ducking and dodging. I had started to get the hang of avoiding the fireballs, but Sensi had changed things around a few times by trying to move closer and strike me with her paw. Supposedly the lesson was that projectiles weren't the only dangerous attack in combat.

"You're doing well, Syren, and I think we can call it a day for you," Sensi said, settling down and studying me with an intense gaze. I just nodded, wincing from the plethora of mild burns. "Asgard can get you some ointment for those burns, if you want. I keep a stock for all my pupils."

As if on cue, the Togetic appeared at my side, startling me. I quickly nodded my approval. Any sort of relief for these burns that wouldn't require a long healing period was preferred.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, Syren," Sensi told me. "Asgard, after you attend to her burns, kindly call the Glaceon, Brio, for his training session."

"Okay, Mom," Asgard said, already flying to the door. With another nod to the Typhlosion, I followed him from the room.