Nothing happened the next day until midmorning. Tyler was laying in his ball, wondering what was going on when it finally lit up. Claire had them outside the building – Tyler thought it must be the same one – and she immediately launched into an apology while pulling food out of her bag. There wasn't much, but she pointed down the slope to where another town was visible and told them that was where they were going. Apparently she'd slept for a long time after they'd gotten out of the cave and had just barely woken up. After quickly eating what there was, Claire put them back in their balls.

A short while later Tyler's ball opened up again, this time in another pokecenter – probably in the town they'd seen. There was more food for them there, and Tyler got a chance to replenish his water. A pink-haired woman came over and examined each of them. She felt down Tyler's neck and legs; he pulled away from the unfamiliar contact, but Leo shook his head warningly and so he waited uncomfortably as she continued with his back and tail before moving on. When she was done, Claire put Miranda back in her ball and passed it to the woman. Tyler moved to watch as she put the ball into a tall metal object – some kind of machine. It started making a low whir. He turned to Leo. "What was that all about?"

"That's the healing machine." Leo pointed.

"But what about the other part? Why was she touching all of us?"

"It's an examination. We were all fighting in the caves, but we've also had some time to rest. Claire was just having us checked to make sure we're not still hurt or anything. I guess the nurse thought Miranda needed some healing."

Tyler tried to put the examination out of his mind. "Really? She wasn't acting like it or anything."

"Miranda won't," Leo told him. "She's always trying to be stronger than everyone else. It's kind of annoying sometimes."

"She's not that bad." Olive jumped into the conversation. "I wish I was more like her sometimes."

"Why?" Tyler asked, curious.

"Oh, well, I don't know. I just do sometimes," the murkrow answered.

Leo nodded. "All right then."

Claire came up to them with their balls out. "I'm gonna do some shopping," she announced.

Tyler looked over at the other two. "What's shopping?" he asked as Olive disappeared into her ball.

Leo gave him a quick answer. "Getting stuff. Like food and stuff." Then he disappeared too.

Claire shrunk their balls down and put them back on her waist. She picked up her bag and called, "Come on, Vaporeon!" Tyler followed curiously. He didn't know why he was being left out of his ball. They went through a large door and Tyler found himself outside again, with the familiar red shape of the pokecenter behind him. There were other humans around, but Tyler didn't feel afraid of them like before. Claire headed off down the street, and Tyler followed, trying to keep up while looking around at everything.

Some things he recognized from exploring towns at night, but there were other things that were still entirely unfamiliar. Claire headed for an area that seemed to have even more humans, and Tyler had to turn his full attention to not getting separated from her. Finally she turned and opened the door to another building, letting Tyler enter before walking in herself. It was cooler in here, and the air was dominated by unnatural smells of metal and other Catcher things. She approached a man standing behind – they called that a counter, right? – a counter and started talking to him. Tyler looked over the small machines on the walls; a lot of them looked like the one Claire had. He tried to listen to Claire and the man too, and he was able to pick out some of their conversation. She was looking for something, though he wasn't sure what.

After a minute, the man retreated to another room and came back with a bright yellow, rectangular object. Claire looked it over for a few moments before taking it and giving him something else in return. She left, holding the door open for Tyler again. Outside, Claire stopped and showed it to him, pulling it open to reveal something much smaller inside. She started talking about it; Tyler didn't get anything beyond that it was for Miranda, but Claire went on anyway. It was a good chance to listen to her talk.

As they went on, Tyler listened to some of the other humans around, picking out what he could of their conversations like Olive had recommended. He followed Claire through the streets as she went into two other buildings. She got healing sprays and some more of the other food she carried from a blue-colored one and then went into a smaller one that had lots of berries and fruits of different kinds.

After that Claire took him in front of another building. It was much larger than any others he had seen in town. She pointed it out and told him it was a gym, whatever that was. Then she headed back to the pokecenter and picked up Miranda's ball, putting it with the rest before turning to leave. They headed for the edge of town; before they left the buildings behind, Claire stopped and crouched down in front of him, putting a hand on the back of Tyler's head with her fingers splayed around his fins. "I'm gonna have you in some battles today. Be ready, okay?" With that, she stood up and continued out of town, beckoning him after her again.

Tyler enjoyed walking down the road. There was so much wide-open space here, even though it was still mostly dirt and rocks around, and different smells reached him on the breeze. They had been walking a few minutes when Tyler saw where she was going: there were other trainers up ahead. Two of them had pokémon out and seemed to be in a battle; one released a flash of light as he watched. The vaporeon trailed behind as Claire went up to one of the others and started talking. He nodded, and after a moment the two of them moved apart. Tyler watched the male trainer pull a ball out of his bag, and suddenly worry struck him.

Claire beckoned him over. "All right, this is it, Vaporeon. Your first battle. Ready?" Tyler hesitated, then gave her an uncertain nod. He didn't feel ready at all, and it wasn't just any battle for him.

This would be his first time really being like all the other trainers' pokémon. He would be there out in front, fighting whatever it was the other trainer sent out and taking orders from Claire. Tyler hadn't been looking forward to it, but there wasn't much he could do. It's how I can get stronger. Focus on that.

"All right then," Claire called out. "I'm using Vaporeon!" Tyler padded out in front of her like he'd seen the other pokémon do, a strange feeling washing over him. Part of it was nervousness, but there was… something else too.

The other trainer brought his arm back. "Go!" He threw the ball he was holding. "Sneasel!" The ball opened up in a white flash as it hit the ground, and a slender black pokémon with a red feather behind one ear appeared in front of him. Standing on two legs, it reminded him a little of the meowth he'd faced before. The sneasel gave him a confident stare as it settled into a fighting position with its white claws drawn back. Tyler shifted back and forth, crouching a little lower. He wondered if there was something else he was supposed to be doing.

"Get ready, Vaporeon!" Tyler wasn't quite sure what that meant, but he started drawing on his energy. The other trainer called out and order and the sneasel darted forward. Tyler's pulse quickened; it was faster than he'd thought. A split second later, Claire called, "Water Gun!" Tyler had been half expecting it already, so he quickly aimed a blast of water at his opponent, catching it in the stomach. It spun quickly out of the way, stumbling for a moment before regaining its footing and coming at him again. This time it came in and slashed at his side before he could do anything else. Tyler reflexively hunched his shoulders, but the layer of thick neck fur he'd come to rely on as an eevee wasn't there anymore, and the sneasel's claws left a painful streak down his side.

Tyler clamped down on a cry of pain, drawing a hiss through his teeth instead. He threw himself to the side as the sneasel tried to hit him again. As he rolled to his paws, Tyler realized Claire was shouting at him. "Vaporeon! Vaporeon!" As he looked back at her, she called, "Use Aqua Tail!" Tyler thought desperately. Aqua tail… aqua tail… Which one was that? Then he remembered. Tyler reached out and took hold of the water on the ground, pulling it into a spin around him as he moved. The sneasel, which was almost on top of him again, sprang back out of the way. As Tyler came to a stop, it ran forward and slashed him again, twice. Instead of dodging or trying another water attack, Tyler spun again and swung his long tail into its side. The hit knocked the lighter pokémon to the ground, and Tyler finally had a moment to catch his breath.

Claire was calling to him again. He turned back to her, wincing as his right side and shoulder flared with pain. "Okay, Vaporeon," she said, more quietly. "Use Aqua Ring." He threw a glance at the sneasel, which had also retreated to its trainer, before starting to cover himself with a layer of water. As it covered his scratches, they dissolved and started to heal. That must have been what Claire wanted. Why didn't I ever think of that? Healing with his own water seemed so obvious now.

The sneasel approached at another order from its trainer, stopping a short distance away to exhale an icy breath over him. It froze the water solid, encasing him in a shell of ice. The ice was stronger than it looked; the only place Tyler managed to break it was at the base of his tail. It was hard to breathe too. He started smashing his tail against the ground, breaking the rest of the ice off, then started working on the rest of himself. Meanwhile, the sneasel approached, leaped up, and brought both claws down on him, black energy tracing slashes in the air. It shattered the ice altogether and sent Tyler crashing to the ground, gasping. Claire was shouting something, but he didn't have any time to focus on the words. As he tried to get up, the sneasel slashed him again and again, dashing back and forth with more black energy to rake its claws horizontally across him. The cuts felt like they were on fire, and Tyler found himself curled up, gasping for breath. Finally Claire shouted something. The other trainer gave an order, and the sneasel left him alone. A rush of white light pulled him inside his ball again.

Tyler got up slowly, still panting, and limped to the cave he'd found. There was a depression inside and he tiredly filled it with water before laying down in it. The pain went away as his injuries started healing, finally letting him relax and think.

I thought I'd be stronger now. That was the first thing that came to Tyler's mind. He didn't resent Claire for the fight; it… it hadn't been her fault he'd lost, it was his. He sighed. The sneasel had obviously known what it was doing. Claire had known what she was doing. I'm the one who wasn't good enough. But why do I even care? It was Claire's idea. It's not like I owe her anything.

Tyler felt ashamed at the thought. It was true, but then… Claire had taken care of him. Trusted him. He didn't really want to be with a trainer, but he did like the human girl. He'd wanted to make her proud. That was what he'd felt, standing, facing another trainer for the first time. For some reason, Tyler cared what she thought of him.

After a minute, his ball started flashing again. Tyler got up out of the water, groaning as his cuts reformed half-healed. He made his way out of the cave, looking up at the pulsing sky. After a few moments, he started wondering if it was actually going to open. It finally did, depositing him near the training area. Water unexpectedly splashed down around him, and he took a moment to absorb it before Claire crouched down in front of him. She had a healing spray in her hand. "Are you all right, Vaporeon?" He didn't respond, and she ran her other hand lightly down his side. "That looks a little better. Were you…" Tyler didn't understand the next part, but she switched the healing spray to her empty hand and started using it on his injuries. He winced as the mist stung his cuts, but after a moment the pain went away.

"We're gonna need to work on that Aqua Tail," she commented as she worked. Tyler huffed his breath out in a sigh, slumping his shoulders. That was what Leo had said too. Guiltily, he realized he hadn't practiced at all since he'd first gone through his moves with Claire. That probably would've helped. As she finished with the spray, Tyler stretched his sore muscles and nodded. She gave him a piece of fruit and returned him to his ball. Once he'd eaten, Tyler finished his healing and practiced spinning and striking with different amounts of water until he started to feel tired.

Later in the day, Claire sent him out again. He still didn't win the fight, but he felt better about it that time. At the end of the day, Claire took them back to the pokecenter to rest, then let them stay out in her room for the night.

That was how Tyler's training started. He quickly started a routine of practice: every day when the sun came up he worked on his different moves, practicing the motions and repeating the human names in his head. He soon learned to keep an ear open for what Claire would say during a fight; things always got worse when he panicked and stopped listening. Claire understood the other trainers' orders, and whatever she called out usually helped him deal with what was coming, whether it was sweeping leaves out of the air with his aqua tail move or knocking the wind out of an opponent who was about to breathe fire.

As he got more used to working with Claire, she started to trust his reactions too, especially when things got to close quarters. Tyler's experience fighting as an eevee was valuable there, and he was a lot better at timing those moves than he was when using water. She also started teaching him about types. It was sort of like what he'd learned from Andreas, but more specific for him. He learned things like not touching water when he was fighting an electric pokémon (which, thankfully, didn't happen often) and how he could sometimes get bigger, heavier opponents stuck in mud. Tyler still wasn't sure he liked being sent out to fight, but at least Claire would end things before he got badly hurt, and he was getting stronger.


September 9

It's taking some time to get ready for the gym. Honestly, most of it is bringing Murkrow and Vaporeon up to speed. I know Murkrow's not ever gonna be a heavy hitter, so I'm working with her on disruption. She can do pretty well when she blindsides things, so I try to play to her strengths, like night vision. Vaporeon will probably be stronger …eventually, but I don't think he evolved too long ago. He definitely seems more used to physical moves. He's making a good effort to get basic water moves and tactics down now, though, so he might be ready for something more advanced soon.

Typhlosion and Flaaffy, of course, already know pretty well what they're doing. They're not exactly the cute little Cyndaquil and Mareep I had when I was starting out anymore. It's good to know that I can fall back on them when things start going against us. I'll be relying on them against Janine.

As for her gym, trainers around here say they're all trying to be ninjas or something. I didn't think ninjas were a thing anymore, but I guess it gives me an idea of what strategies to expect in the battles.


A few times Tyler found himself in fights alongside Miranda or Olive. Claire called them "double battles" and Tyler liked them a lot more. He enjoyed working with one of his teammates; they could do different things when combining their powers. Miranda's electric attacks worked better on opponents if he soaked them first, and if there was water on the ground he could use it to sense where their opponents were standing while Olive was using her night shade move.

One day, Claire pulled him aside. "I've got something new for you to work on. Your water moves are getting pretty strong, but you still need some energy attacks. I know Vaporeon can learn a few." She pulled out her tablet and consulted it for a moment. "There's one called Aurora Beam that shouldn't be too hard for you to learn, you just need to learn to tap into your energy directly. It's a pretty strong attack, and it'll help disorient your opponents so they can't aim at you very well, kind of like when Flaaffy uses Flash."

Tyler started trying. It was easy drawing on his energy, but he only knew how to use it for water. "Let's try something else," Claire added. "You're normally focusing your energy inside you, right?" Tyler gave her a slow nod. "I want you to focus it outside. Like… like when you're using it to move water around, but don't do anything with it yet, okay? Just focus it on one spot, right in front of you. You got that?"

Tyler took a few moments to work it out in his head before replying yes. He took a deep breath and furrowed his brow in concentration, trying to do what Claire had said. It reminded him of his first time trying to move water, back on the river, and Tyler felt a flash of longing to be back there. He shook the feeling away. That's not going to happen. He gathered his power up and tried to push it into one spot. After a few moments, a glowing dot appeared in the air in front of him, and Tyler's pulse quickened.

"There you go," Claire encouraged. "That's a start. Now, can you make it stronger?" Tyler nodded carefully, not taking his eyes off the ball he was forming, then started drawing on more energy and focusing it in front of him. The little ball of energy got larger and brighter as he did. Claire eyed it critically. "All right, that should be enough. Can you put it back and practice it again? That's the first part."

Once he was a comfortable with forming a ball of energy, Claire said, "Okay. Do you know what a rainbow is?" The vaporeon thought for a moment and shook his head. It wasn't a word he'd heard before. "All right. Give me a moment…" She pulled out her tablet again and started tapping on the screen, then paused. "Actually, why don't I just—" She tapped on it some more, then turned it to face him. There was a picture on it of curtains of light in the night sky in different colors. "This is an aurora. It's what the move you're learning is named after. The next part should be to make your energy turn colors like this."

Tyler imagined the aurora moving, waving back and forth in different colors. I've got to make my energy do that? Let's see… He called up memories of the familiar feeling of water rippling. It seemed right, so he tried to change his energy from a point into a ripple. He'd never seen an aurora before, but he tried to imagine how the colors would ripple outwards. Tyler watched in fascination, both seeing and feeling the point of energy unfurl. It really did look like a little aurora. I'm doing that! he thought again, as excited as the day he'd first unlocked his powers as an eevee.

The aurora continued to spread, and after a few moments it faded. It had used up more of Tyler's energy than he'd been expecting. "Can you do it again?" Claire asked. Tyler tried, but he was only able to make a small one. "That's all right," the trainer reassured him. "This must be your first time using energy attacks. You should get used to them with practice. It'll make you stronger too. Maybe we can try again after lunch." With that, she sent out Leo, Miranda, and Olive and pulled out food for all of them.

It took some time until Tyler was able to hold the aurora for more than a few seconds, and it was another day after that before he finally managed to send the power rippling out in a beam that satisfied Claire. It still drained a lot of his energy, so he started practicing with it too in the mornings. He had to be careful not to overdo it and exhaust his powers, especially since they still practiced against some of the other trainers in town every day.

After another week of training there, Claire pronounced her team ready for the gym. Tyler had asked about it a few times; Leo had told him it was one of the challenges trainers had to pass. There were apparently eight of them in different towns, and this would be the fifth. Claire also told them this was the poison gym. Tyler hadn't been looking forward to it; all of his experiences with poison so far had been bad. At least Claire would be taking care of them – Tyler saw her pouring one of the poison sprays into a bottle of water on the morning of their challenge.

Tyler was only sent out for one fight that day; Claire brought them all out in the afternoon to get ready for the gym. "So, Janine only takes challengers at night," she told them. You can all get some rest, we're not doing anything else until sundown. Maybe try and take a nap."

She went on to outline what they'd be up against. "It sounds like the gym here is ninja-themed." Tyler looked to his sides and saw he wasn't the only one confused by the word. "That means we might not be in for fair fights. They'll try to mess with us, probably with me too, so keep an eye on them. It'll be dark in there too, so we're gonna have to work with that. I know that's not gonna be a problem for you, Murkrow, but it means it won't be for them either, so be careful. Typhlosion, Flaaffy, you're gonna have to be careful with your light. A little is enough for them to see you – if you're gonna light up, do it bright enough to see them too. Flaaffy, if you can't see them, get ready to use Discharge, but wait till I say, okay?"

"I will," Miranda confirmed. Claire turned to Tyler.

"Vaporeon, your Aurora Beam is gonna help too. I know we haven't really used it in battle – are you ready?" Tyler responded with a yes and a nod. "Okay, good. It'll seriously mess up their night vision – just be careful you don't look at the beam when you're using it. If it's really dark, I want you to set up water right away like we practiced. Don't wait for me to tell you, I don't want them knowing what we're doing. I know you can tell where stuff is, so use it to aim.

"And Typhlosion, you're gonna have to be extra careful. They'll probably try to dodge and hit between your fire attacks, so make sure you're always ready to follow them up with Slash or something." She sighed. "Hopefully it'll be light enough to see and none of this will be a problem, but we have to be ready. That's all till tonight." Tyler, Leo, Miranda, and Olive all nodded. Tyler glanced out the door; Claire caught the movement and smiled. "Don't worry, Vaporeon, I filled the tub with water for you. Go ahead."