"And did you see the way she tried to hug up to Grovyle?!" Celebi rants, swinging her arms wide in fiery exclamation, "'And with your build, you have to have some Garchomp in you, don't you? You're so rugged!' What's that even supposed to mean?!"

I don't know what exactly happened since Ri and I had already returned to our room by the time she and the psychic apparently met: I can only make out just enough from her rant to understand the situation. I probably don't have the right to laugh, but it's admittedly a little funny to see her getting so worked up—even more so than I was when Gothorita was hovering around Ri. I now think she really just enjoyed flirting to try to get under all of our skin and she's long gone by now, but Celebi's still fuming over it.

The breakfast rush just ended and—while they'd never let me in the kitchen otherwise—I'm stuck on dishwasher duty. Even then while Chimecho normally wouldn't get started on meals for the few people who stick around for lunch, she's lingering on the opposite side of the room and glancing at me with careful eyes every now and again. Ever since the orange juice incident, they don't trust me in here by myself.

A point Celebi can't help but bring up as she stares down at my work in twin tubs that act as a sink. It's not human tech, but there's a nearby spring where I can fetch more water if I need it. Normally they'd give a Water-type this kind of job, but that's just part of Grovyle's and Wigglytuff's instructions: Ri and I getting the most dull chores that we'd like the least. "Do you think you've got enough soap in there?" she quips sarcastically, "You're washing dishes, not a Wailord."

"At least they're clean…" I murmur dryly, stacking a clean platter onto its pile with the others.

"I think you've washed them so much, the soap's been leeched into the wood," she continues, immediately picking the plate up in her our hands, "We'll be tasting soap for a week with these… Haven't you had any experience doing housework? I don't think you really did anything as a trainer, but didn't the resistance ever give you any chores?"

If I did, I don't remember it. It doesn't seem to be an ingrained trait of mine either. Apparently, if it has nothing to do with survival or from being a rebel, it has nothing to do with me. I remember that the resistance had people specifically assigned to handle our ration. And as for my experiences in the other future, living in an orphanage and on the road as a trainer doesn't prepare you for much beyond working with Pokemon. "What do you expect? I was raised to fight and hunt down Time Gears, not be someone's housekeeper."

"You can use aura, follow and identify tracks, read dead languages, and battle legendaries… but you can't wash the dishes?"

"Can you?" I quip right back, "You were hiding in the woods for most of your life. I doubt you have many basic life skills either."

"At least I have a good excuse," she smirks. With that, she dunks the plate back into the rinse bin before I can stop her. This is taking long enough without her judging every single part of my work. It's a good thing Sunflora's looking after Manaphy for us today…

At least like this I can work and have some time to my own thoughts. The talk about mine and Ri's lineages was a mess to say the least. It pulled a curtain away from a lot of things I hadn't questioned before and reminded me that there's still a lot that I'm missing from both my memories and about where I come from. I know enough, but I just don't feel… content. I can't pretend that I'm ok with missing any of the pieces of my past, no matter how small they are.

I turn my head toward the kitchen entryway at the sound of footsteps just in time to see Bidoof walk in. He spots us instantly and marches over, "Hate to bother you, Lira, but Dusknoir and Grovyle are looking for you. They want you to come to the training yard to practice for a while. Ri's already out there."

Saved by the Bidoof! I glance over at Chimecho from afar and share a brief nod with her before leaping up onto my feet from where I've been kneeling next to the tubs. Scooping up the rest of the dishes and setting them aside to clean later, I then try to shake the soap and water from my hands before darting off with Celebi right behind me. I'll take training over chores any day.

It only takes a few minutes to climb outside, into the fresh, clean air, and around the tent covering the compound's entryway. Just like Bidoof said, the rest of the team is already waiting for us. What I don't expect to find is an extra trio of familiar faces standing with them.

A wave of mixed feelings between disgust and nonchalance washes over me when I spot Team Salacious. After what happened at Brine Cave nearly a year ago, they haven't been bothering us—or anyone else, from what we know. Still, a one-time truce isn't going to make up for all the grief they've put us through. So on one hand I really don't care, but on the other I'm not very forgiving. "What are you three doing here?" I manage to ask in an even tone.

"They're here to help you both with your training," Dusknoir answers for them without missing a beat, "In return, Grovyle and I have promised to do what we can to convince Wigglytuff to reinstate them in the Guild."

It looks like they've already gone over this with Ri, but I can't tell whether he's happy with it or not since he's keeping a pretty straight face. He's probably not, and I can't blame him. They were jerks to a lot of people and, unfortunately, Wigglytuff's so forgiving that he probably would let them rejoin if they faked being sorry well enough. Not of it would mean they've actually changed though. On top of that the thought never once crossed my mind to ask them for anything, so the idea of training with them makes me cringe.

"From what I've observed," he continues, "You both appear to draw out the best of your abilities in an actual combat or survival situation. We can't mimic that sense of danger, so I imagined that a little bit of rivalry would have to suffice."

'A bit of rivalry' would be having us spar with some of our guild mates: This is more like trapping a Seviper and a Zangoose in a room together and hoping for the best. "I thought you were going to try teaching us a Dark or Ghost-type move yourself," I press, crossing my arms over my chest.

"There aren't any Fire-types around that could help you with Blaze Kick," he counters, "Skuntank at least knows Flamethrower, not to mention Bite, and so he's the best substitute for the time being. I think you can afford to set your stubborn attitude aside for a while to learn something."

The leader of Team Salacious gives me a confident sneer at that and I shoot a glare right back at him. I'm pretty sure Dusknoir and Grovyle both scared him and his two goons into this, so he shouldn't have anything to look so smug about. He might've had a small change of heart when he gave Ri his Relic Fragment back, but I won't put it beneath him to try some dirty trick again either.

Ri doesn't say anything to that either, although I have no idea what might've been said before Celebi ad I got here. From what I can tell, he's not any fonder of this than I am. A firm silence lingers in the air before Dusknoir's shoulders fall in an expression of a sigh, "Fine. If you'll do this I'll see to it that you won't have to do some of the work Grovyle saddled you both with, would that suffice?"

To this, the Tree Gecko glares at the Ghost-type and opens his mouth to voice against him just as Celebi places a hand on his shoulder. "It would be a saving grace for everyone, my dear Grovyle," she mutters, "Trust me."

My eyes narrow at her—I get it; I'm not good with housework—but I can't say I'm easily going to decline the bargain. I look over at Ri once more. Even though he's better at those kinds of things than I am, I know there are plenty of other things he'd much rather be doing. We still won't be given a pass to run off on missions just yet, but at least we'll be able to occupy our time under house arrest doing something we actually enjoy.

Then I look over at Team Salacious, who are smart enough to at least keep their mouths shut even though they look like they're enjoying the spat. I don't know if I could ever call them our friends, but I guess I'd be a hypocrite not to give them a second chance when I gave Dusknoir one. And they didn't really have to help out with this. Not to mention if we're going to spar we might finally see who's tougher than who… That last argument appeals to me most since we've never had the chance to fight them on even ground.

Now it's my turn to sigh in exasperation, "If that's what it'll take to get me out of dish-duty, then I guess I'm in."

Ri gives a single nod at that, "I'll take training over chores any day."

"Then it's settled," Dusknoir quickly replies, as though afraid we'll find a way to back out of this. He then claps his hands together and continues, "Alright! Lira, I want you to face off against Skuntank. Ri, with Koffing and Zubat. Lira I want you to use Copycat to mimic Skuntank's Flamethrower or Bite to get a feel for those types of moves. As for you, Ri, I want you to focus on using Bone Rush to repel the attacks sent your way. You tend to use it with a stronger focus on your aura as the strongest foundation of the attack, but since it's a Ground-type move I want you to use it with a stronger focus on that energy coming from the earth itself. It should prepare you for learning an Iron-type move such as Metal Claw."

With that, Ri and I split apart to face our opponents. I should probably worry about him facing both Zubat and Koffing alone, but they're not all that strong so I know he can handle it. He's not the same person he was that always resigned himself to being bullied. He'll be fine.

What I need to worry about is my own matchup against Skuntank since he's the wild card. Not even Ri knows what the Skunk Pokemon is capable of in a fight. I caught a glimpse of his brute strength from when he knocked down all of those Perfect Apples last year, but that was it. I know I've faced worse a thousand times over, but I still want to be careful.

From the corner of my eye, I see Ri some ways to my left summoning his staff. Some ways farther to the side, Celebi and Grovyle are taking a seat at the edge of the patch of earth that makes up the training field. That's the last glance I give them as I face off with Skuntank about five meters in front of me. He's still wearing the same, smug grin on his face too…

"I hear that you've gone and got yourself a kid now," he chuckles, "I didn't realize that people were letting babies take care of other babies. Tell me, are you finally considering quitting the Guild and turning to a family life?"

I hold my arms out in a taunting, beckoning gesture, "Funny, but we'll see who's laughing after I'm done knocking you for a loop."

To my surprise, his grin only gets wider at that. It's not a wicked one though, it's more like he's just amused by the whole thing. And to my even greater shock, I find myself grinning back. Maybe, to a small degree, things have changed.

I don't have to remind myself that it's only to a small degree as a blast of fire is hurtled my way as he uses Flamethrower without any further warning. If I weren't busy rolling out of the way to narrowly avoid getting roasted, maybe I could admire the strength and technique behind the attack. Not only is it powerful, but somehow he manages to get it to spiral—making it harder to dodge. It's obvious he's mastered it carefully and that he's leagues above his teammates.

Dust skids up around me in its own spiral as I quickly regain my footing. I have to remind myself that this isn't a typical fight so I don't just jump into any kind of attack I feel like out of instinct. A vivid red light surrounds me as I use Copycat and the split-second play-by-play begins. There's a searing heat that threatens to burn me from the inside out, a blossom of fire that emerges from my core. It's so intense that for a moment it feels like my lungs are weighted and I can't breathe. Beneath all of that though there's passion. Determination. I feel the sensation taking over me and then travelling upward.

However, where the flame emerged from Skuntank's mouth, I feel the flames lick at my fingertips. Thanks to this I end up not being able to aim the attack right, so I end up creating a long scorch mark on the earth before I can shift my aim over at the Skunk Pokemon. He already knows it's coming from the blunder and easily dodges it.

I grimace, but I hear Dusknoir murmuring to himself. "Interesting… Even when using Copycat, Lira uses the move more like a Braixen or Delphfox would as opposed to a quadruped. The body still affects the execution of the attack…"

So long as it doesn't throw me off my aim again, I don't care about a minor thing like that. I'll just have to adjust. But this feeling in my chest… I clamp a hand over my heart. Maybe an actual Fire-type would like that sort of thing, but is it this was for them every time they use one of their attacks? It's like one way or another it could consume you.

"Pretty overwhelming the first time, huh?" Skuntank smirks, "Fire-types usually take baby steps before getting to the big moves, but my kind can jump on it fresh out of evolution."

"If every member of your species has the same explosive personality that you do, I can see why…" His boasting never got to me before: Why would it now?

After those words have left my mouth, he doesn't waste another second to use Flamethrower a second time. I start to use Copycat again in turn, but he quickly charges through the flames to follow up with Bite. He lunges for me with his teeth digging into the flesh of my arm and I hold back a wince of pain as I struggle to keep from being knocked over.

Copycat ends up mimicking his last attack instead and a wave of a shadowy hue falls over me. It's not the first and definitely won't be the last time I use it to mimic a Dark-type move, but I don't really like it. I think I'm starting to figure out part of why too. I recognize the feeling of drawing from the world's stores of negative energy and it reminds me all too much of what the Dark Future was like. Nowhere near to that omnipresent extreme, but enough to summon up some bad feelings and memories with it. It's like a taste of that world again. Worse, it's like I'm relying on the same powers so many of the corrupted Pokemon in that time did.

With that, the energy around me fades even though I still feel it. I feel it being channeled through me as a growl reverberates from my throat and I crane my neck to latch my canines into the unprotected layer of flesh right below where his shoulder and collarbone meet. His jaws snap open in surprise, enough so for me to free my arm and break away from him. I create some distance by rounding over to my right and shuffling back.

It didn't feel like that attack was all that powerful, so I guess Gothorita was right about how hard it would be for me to master it. At least it doesn't feel like it's taking just as much out of me as it should my opponent like the first one. That's probably the only redeeming thing about it.

I'm actually prepared when the next course of flames is launched my way, jumping up to return the fire from a better vantage without getting caught in a cross of infernos. Flamethrower is such a powerful move that I still feel a broiling, heavy weight in my chest even as I brace myself for it though.

I've been told more than once that I play with fire, I land back on my feet and Skunktank backs away from the flames, but I don't think anyone ever thought that literally. With what little we've done with it, a thin layer of sweat has nevertheless already begun to form at my temple. We might as well be sparring inside of a furnace.

But there's not a chance either of us our letting up. Because what Dusknoir forgot about the kind of rivalries people like us get into is that none of us are willing to quit easily—even when beyond exhaustion and with a Pokemon twice our size ordering us to stop.