"Vance?"

Flannery called out curiously the moment she spotted her boyfriend whipping up dinner in her kitchen. She wasn't expecting such a sight the moment she reached home after work.

"Sit down and take a rest. Dinner will be ready soon."

"You sure you don't need help? I still want my kitchen intact after dinner, you know?"

Vance gave her a flat look as he finished cooking the admittedly delicious looking meal.

"I know I can be clumsy, but I do help my Mum around in the kitchen. My cooking skills is even better than Vel and she is not bad at it either."

Flannery whistled in surprise. They have only started dating for a short while, but she only just found out that her boyfriend can actually cook. Extremely well too, from the looks of it.

Definitely a keeper. Now she no longer needs to survive on instant noodles anymore whenever she is hungry.

She helps Vance set the table and to also serve food to their pokemons, who are mostly out at the backyard of her house where they are released to stretch their legs. Vance had also cooked up a large portion for both their pokemons. Domesticated pokemons have no complaints towards the factory manufactured pokemon food that most of their kind are served with, but they will enjoy it if their humans are capable of whipping up a delicious, piping hot meal for them as well. Knowing how to cook homemade pokemon food is a must-know skill for a Vera given their family business, Flannery should have guessed that the same skill would apply to Vance's ability to cook human food. There are jobs such as pokemon cooks, although they are usually a luxury that the rich can afford for their pokemon. The services of a pokemon cook do not come cheap due to the sheer number of different types of pokemons there are in this world and each of them have their own different needs. It is not easy to become a certified pokemon cook because of that, there is just so much to learn to become a proper pokemon cook. There are ways to prepare a generic meal that can be consumed by any pokemon, but the taste will definitely be lacking as compared to a meal specifically made for the pokemon in question.

Flannery have no idea how her boyfriend did it, but he managed to cook something specific for each and every of their pokemons as best as he can. Her fire types are given a big portion to share among themselves. According to Vance, this is the Vera recipe that is catered to fire types in general. His own pokemons have their own specific meals since they all have different typings.

Makes her wonder how long he took to complete everything.

"Not bad, right?" Vance asked with a hint of pride in his tone. "Admit it, my cooking skills are top notch. Even Mum had asked whether I will be considering getting a license to be a certified pokemon cook."

"How many times did you nearly die in the kitchen to get to this level of skill?"

Vance remained silent, but the howling of Macky's laughter told her everything she needs to know.

"I guess that means a lot."

The two of them enjoy a comfortable meal at the backyard of her house with their pokemons with the setting sun as the background. Flannery felt like this is blissful paradise. Heh, now she can claim that she has a good eye for guys.

"I can come around more often to cook for you if you like. I know you are always busy since you are a gym leader. You need to eat something that is not instant noodles."

"Vance, I know you have a lot more time now since you are retiring from ACE, but-"

"And I should use the extra time and spend it with the people that I care about." Vance breathed out a sigh as he paused in his meal. "It took me a big argument with Vel and then a huge scolding from Dad to realise that I have been neglecting them."

Flannery blinked her eyes in puzzlement. What happened?

"I know Wallace told you about the prophecy crap and what Vel did to prevent the possibility of a world war as much as possible. She wants to be a part of the international force, or whatever fancy title the group will be called as in the future. It is dangerous being a part of that kind of organisation, the nature of their duties cannot be easy. I tried to talk Vel out of it but she suddenly snapped. It was like whatever quiet discontentment she has with me since day one suddenly exploded in one big mess. It was then that I realised that I had missed out on a lot. I missed out on her growing years. I joined ACE almost immediately after my conference ended. I was too busy going on missions after missions that I didn't realised that my little sister had actually grown up. I didn't realise this fact because I hardly have time to spend with her and my family due to the nature of my work."

Flannery slowly put down her cutlery and reached out a hand towards Vance, gently putting it over his hand as a show of support.

"Quitting ACE couldn't have been easy for you, I know how much you love your job. It wasn't easy for me either when I quit the LSDF to be a gym leader, but thankfully I ended up loving the job of a gym leader more than I did as an officer of the LSDF. I never told you about my parents, did I?"

Vance gave a shake of his head.

"They were Rangers, the best of the best, from what I heard from my grandfather. Because of that, I rarely saw them since they are so good at what they do and they are needed by the Rangers at almost everytime, everywhere. I hated them when I was a kid, because they never have time for me." Flannery spoke in a regretful tone as her eyes misted up a little. "Then suddenly, when I was eight, they got themselves killed on a mission gone wrong. When they died, I didn't even know what their favourite food was, or their favourite colour, or their preferences and habits in general. Grandfather was the one who raised me up, my parents were just that busy."

Flannery looked back up at her boyfriend as she dabbed away the tears threatening to form at the edges of her eyes.

"So that is why I think that you made the correct choice. I know the initial phase is hard, especially when you are trying to adjust to the lack of battles and the adrenaline that comes with it, but trust me, it will be worth it. If you really want to continue battling, then consider finding a part-time job that can allow you to do that. My gym no longer has any available slots, but I can ask around if there are any gyms that needs a gym trainer."

"Thanks." Vance said quietly as he gently went to grasp Flannery's hand on the tabletop to show her his support as well. "I think I really need to hear what you just said."

"You and Vel made up with each other, right?"

"We did. By the way, have you heard of the Battle Frontier?"

"Oh, that? Yeah. You want to go visit it together when it is finally open? I heard that it will be completed soon although Scott is still having trouble finding another Frontier Brain. He had asked Spenser -you know that he is the previous gym leader of Mossdeep, right?- but he had said that he will only accept the offer if Scott really has no other suitable candidate to fill the last slot with. He had said that he is too old and he wants to enjoy his retirement if possible." Flannery then took out her pokenav as she uses it to check the calendar. "Well, I think I am able to take a few days off from work around the time the Battle Frontier is supposed to open. We can go enjoy a good battle together, there are double battle segments where trainers can compete together as a duo against other duos. It will be fun."

"Actually." Vance started out slowly as if he is afraid of her subsequent reaction to whatever he will be saying. "I am thinking of asking Scott if he thinks I am a suitable candidate to be a Frontier Brain. I know I am strong enough to be one, so I hope that this is enough for me to be accepted."

"What?"

"I had discussed it with Dad. Despite the glamour behind it, the job of a Frontier Brain is basically a nine-to-five job and it isn't as hectic as what I usually do in ACE. I will still have time to spend with whoever I want to spend with, be it you or my family and I will still have enough time to help out on the farm. Furthermore, I can continue to enjoy exciting battles. I don't see a problem with this arrangement yet. The only problem is probably the distance, but my gallade's Teleport is good enough to Teleport me to almost anywhere in Hoenn in a single jump, so travelling wouldn't be an issue."

"In that case, go for it. You are a natural in battles, Vance. It is a waste if you stop battling the moment you drop out of ACE. I think being a Frontier Brain will be good for you. You can also learn from the other Generalists there."

"Vel said that the one who had beat her in her conference will be a Frontier Brain too." Vance commented as he adopted a thinking pose with his fingers stroking his chin. "Maybe I should give him a beatdown when I see him. Vel was a little upset with how she lost even if she got over it fast enough. I mean, come on, Attract? Really? That was dirty."

"Vance."

"What? It will be just a normal trainer battle."

"Still, no."

"Just one battle?" Vance asked meekly as he slowly raised a single finger. "Please?"

"No."

"Welcome back, Steven. How did your mission go?"

"Everything's fine. How about you?"

"I just received a lapras from Dad about five minutes ago." I replied as I waved the pokeball that contains the last member of my team at Steven. "I am about to go out right now to release her and meet her for the first time. Do you want to come? If you are not too tired from your mission, that is."

Steven paused for a moment before he nods his head.

"I think I would like to come. Lapras are rare and it is not everyday that I get to see one. Just let me get changed first."

I sat on a chair in his living room as I idly took out my handkerchief to polish the surface of the pokeball that houses the newest member of my team while waiting for Steven. A lapras. I still couldn't believe Dad got me a lapras in such a short amount of time.

I still cannot believe how influential our family really is.

"Alright, I'm done. Let's go."

Both Steven and I walked out of his house and made our way towards Mossdeep's beach at a leisurely pace.

I really cannot wait to meet the newest member of my team.

I let out my entire team the moment we found a secluded spot on the beach that is also big enough to hold all of us.

"We will be meeting the newest member of our team. I don't know how she will react to us but I heard her species can be a little timid, so don't scare her with your rowdiness. Kratos, don't try to hide behind Ness, I am looking at you. Toothless, Snap, don't laugh. You two can be even worse than him."

My words got my team exploding into bouts of laughter. Even Steven chuckled with his skarmory by his side, who is already cawing out in laughter. Steven's entire team had met mine and they know how rowdy my team can be.

I walked towards the sea and released lapras out of her pokeball.

Lapras appeared in a songful cry on the beach. She took a curious look at her surroundings before spotting me.

"Hi there, my name's Velda although everyone calls me Vel. I don't know if anyone had told you before this, but I am your new trainer. It's nice to meet you."

Lapras returned my words with another tune as she lowered her head to get a better look at me. I reached out to stroke the bottom of her jaw and the side of her face. Dad had told me that most of their species enjoyed being stroked in that manner.

"Do you want a nickname? Everyone on my team has one. If you don't want one, that is fine as well. I know some pokemons don't like having nicknames."

Lapras gave a curious tilt of her head and sang out a reply.

'She said that she will appreciate it if she has a unique name to call her own, Mistress.'

'Thanks, Rena.'

"In that case, how about-"

"VEL! There you are!"

Don, Mossdeep's self-proclaimed pokeblock enthusiast ran up to me and Steven with his medicham following behind. What is he so excited for?

"Did you remember that you asked me if any of those rare pokeblocks arrived? They just did! Hurry! They might be sold out if we wait any longer!"

Those pokeblocks are said to be very tasty and according to Don, every pokemon who had ate it had enjoyed the taste. Although I really have to say, couldn't the pokeblocks come at a better timing?

Lapras gently nudged me with her head and gestured to me to get going.

"I will be back soon, I promise. Guys, take care of her, ok? We won't be long."

I quickly followed Don with Steven following us. He is also interested in those legendary pokeblocks and is curious to see if they really live up to its name. My smaller pokemons followed me while the bigger ones opted to stay and relax on the beach together with lapras.

Luckily, lapras seems to be pretty chill and doesn't seem to be a battle-hungry type. She should be fine with the rest of my team. Bigblue and Ness are there, they can help to keep some sense of order. Lily and Hulk are there too. Everything should be fine.

I will also need to see if I can find pokeblocks suited for lapras. It is also a common tactic for trainers to use the favourite food of the species of pokemon they had just caught or obtain to make it easier for the pokemon to open up to them. Lapras seems friendly enough even if we only met minutes ago, but I think she will love it if she can eat some really nice treats.

Steven is the heir to the Devon Corporation and I am the heiress to the Vera Farm, maybe we should just buy them all? It will be as easy as snapping our fingers.

'OW! Ness, stop it!'

'Stop looking at lapras in that manner. Vel said not to scare her and you are leering at her like she is some sort of tasty berry. I know that look. Push down your itch for battles and learn some discipline.'

'Toothless and Snap are also itching to fight her and I don't see you hitting them on the head either!'

BONK BONK

'There. Now it's fair. So stop complaining.'

'Damn it, Ness! What did we do?'

'Yeah, what did we do? All we are doing is to look after her!'

'I am not born yesterday, I know that look. You guys just want to start battling her straightaway, don't even deny it.' Ness said as if that is the most obvious thing in the world.

'We are not-'

BONK

'Ok, ok! Stop hitting us already!'

Lily gurgled happily as she whispered to Bigblue.

'Finally, someone who is strong enough to put them in their place.'

'Vel made the right choice getting Ness into our team. She made our life so much easier and quieter.' Bigblue admitted as he and Lily enjoy the sea breeze. Lapras is on the edge of the beach where the boundary of the lapping sea waves and the sands are, watching them curiously. Only the battle-hungry trio, Ness, Hulk, and the both of them are at the beach together with lapras. The rest of them had followed Vel to get their hands on the legendary tasty pokeblocks.

Lily and Bigblue gulped down their saliva at the thought of eating the pokeblocks. They really hope Vel can get her hands on those legendary treats and pray that they are really as tasty as people claim them to be.

'I have no idea how you two endured the three idiots for as long as you guys did.' Hulk said in his gruff voice as he sat down beside the two of them. 'Makes me wonder if there is a compulsory criterion to be stupid if you want to be strong.'

'Maybe it really is. They are all a little suicidal in how they usually train themselves. Maybe you need a lack of sense of self-preservation to get stronger.' Lily joked as she swayed about at her spot. 'Did Bigblue tell you how Snap purposely flew through his Blizzard attack? All because he thinks it will help him endure the cold better if he did it repeatedly? Vel was mad at him for that.'

'-And HOW will you know if you never ask?' Kratos's loud voice boomed out over the quiet clearing they are at as he argued with Ness. 'Maybe she likes battling too!'

'Vel told us to look after her, not to battle her. Didn't she also say that her species doesn't like battles and can be very timid? Look at how chill she is. Does she look like a fighter to you?'

'Never know till you try.' Snap backed Kratos up as he casually walked towards lapras, who is still watching them in curiosity.

'Snap, get back here. I don't want to go about cleaning up your mess.'

'We will be fine, just introducing myself, be friendly, show her around the team, the usual.' Snap waved Ness off as he finally stood in front of the new member of their team.

'Hey, want to spar? Just a friendly one, nothing too big or intense. It's how we greet each other in our team every time we see each other.'

'It is the only way you three idiots greet each other! Don't feed her lies!' Ness cried out as she pointed an accusing claw at Snap.

'A battle?' Lapras asked excitedly and her eyes visibly lit up at the mention of it. Bigblue swears that if she has legs instead of flippers she will be jumping on the spot right now. 'My pack trained me before I was sent here. I don't know how strong I am, but I am willing to try! Let's battle! Let's all say hi to each other!'

'What?' Hulk huffed out in disbelief. 'Another idiot? Come on. The three of them is enough to drive me to the brink of insanity, we don't need another idiot on the team.'

'I think she is just ignorant and a little naïve.' Lily commented. 'It looks as if she had never saw anything beyond what her pack saw. It is like she is seeing everything around her for the first time. She had probably never battled for real before. Are we stopping them?'

'If it is Snap, then it should be fine. He is not as stupid as the other two.' Hulk commented as he crossed his arms. 'He knows how to tone down his attacks. Lapras may have the type advantage, but she should be relatively untrained from what she just said. Snap can beat her with no problems. We just have to keep an eye on Snap and make sure that he does not go overboard.'

'Good point.' Lily gurgled out in agreement.

Ness accepted the inevitable outcome with an annoyed look on her face.

'Go too far, and you answer to Vel, Snap. I am not taking responsibility for this.'

'We will be fine. Can you be the referee? I don't know why humans always wants to be the referee for any of the matches. Can't pokemons be referees as well?'

'Just get it started.' Toothless grunted out.

Ness looked apprehensive but decided to just go along with the flow. She is enough to stop Snap if need be even if she isn't as strong as he is. She can still keep things under control.

'Ok, but don't go overboard. Three.' Ness started counting down as she stood a short distance away and Kratos raised rocks so that their surroundings now look like those of an arena used in official battles. 'Two, one. Start!'

'YAY! BATTLE!'

Much to everyone's shock, the lapras somehow jumped into the air and landed right in front of Snap in the blink of an eye. A mighty slap of her flipper sent the unprepared Snap flying through the rock walls and embedded into the side of a nearby rock cliff.

Did Snap just get himself KO'ed in a single hit?!

'SO FUN! IS THIS HOW BATTLE WORKS? LET'S ALL BATTLE! LET'S ALL SAY HI TO EACH OTHER!'

To everyone's horror, a massive wave of water from the sea was called upon by lapras with Surf.

It is a freaking tsunami.

'HOLY FLYING DIGLETTS! THIS GIRL IS THAT STRONG?' Hulk exclaimed as he quickly climbed up the cliff to escape the waters with Lily taking a ride by latching onto him with her tentacles. Bigblue raised himself up with a Stone Edge to avoid the mayhem.

'FINALLY! A WORTHY OPPONENT!' Kratos cried out excitedly as he went in to disperse the wave of water with a massive Dark Pulse. 'FIGHT ME!'

Toothless roared in response as well as he used a Solar Beam at lapras, who simply summoned a massive Thunder out of nowhere and destroyed the Solar Beam. The skies are sunny and clear right now, how did she just summon a Thunder from the skies in that manner?!

'YAY! THIS IS SO MUCH MORE FUN THAN THE BATTLES I HAVE WITH MY PACK! MORE! MORE! HELLO EVERYONE!'

'You guys stop this right now!' Ness shouted out as she dashed in to try and stop the chaos from escalating even further than it is right now. 'Stop! STOP!'

'YOU WANT TO BATTLE TOO? YAY! ICE BEAM!'

The three spectators can only watch in shock and disbelief as Ness got herself froze into a cube of ice almost instantly. Ness may be new to the team, but she is by no means weak.

'Guys, we need to do something if we don't want to get a week's worth of lecture from Vel.' Bigblue whispered carefully with his mouth wide open in disbelief at the scene playing out in front of them. The three of them all exchanged worried looks before coming to a unanimous decision.

With their mind made up, the only thing the three spectators can do is to jump into the fray to prevent the three-way battle between Kratos, Toothless, and lapras from spiralling out of control.

'Oi! Rock brain, cut it out!' Hulk entered with a Low Sweep and knocked Kratos off his feet. 'Do you want to get punished by Vel?'

'Hey, get out of the way! I finally found another worthy opponent that isn't Toothless or Snap!'

Kratos divided the area with a huge wall of rock in between him and Hulk. Hulk broke through it with a few punches and tried to wrestle Kratos into submission as the two of them went tumbling onto the sandy beach.

Meanwhile, Bigblue is trying to get Toothless to stop firing his attacks at lapras from the air as Lily went to try and talk sense into lapras, only for lapras to mistake Lily as another contender.

This is a complete mess.

'WOOHOO! I NEVER FELT SO HAPPY BEFORE! THIS IS SO FUN! ALRIGHT, TIME FOR THE SUPER POWERFUL WEATHER CHANGING BLIZZARD!'

'Hulk, get off me! We need to get out of the way of the-'

Toothless, Bigblue, and Lily all paused in their actions as they watched Kratos and Hulk got themselves froze into ice statues together with the entire area that they are at.

'Guys, I don't think we should be trying to stop each other. We need to stop her.' Lily said warily as she shifted herself closer to Bigblue and Toothless for protection from this madness. 'No one told us that she is strong enough to take out even Kratos.'

'I don't think even Vel knew that lapras is that strong.'

Just at that moment, lapras turned her attention to them.

'YOU GUYS ALSO WANT TO BATTLE? YAY! LET'S ALL BATTLE!'

Crap.

'Mistress, fire-brain and Lily had both just sent an urgent message for us to return back now. Things have gotten out of control.'

What did my team do this time?

"Steven, Don! I am heading back first! Something happened on the beach!"

Steven quickly helped and took the bag of pokeblocks from me as I jumped onto Flamel's back. He immediately galloped off in the direction of the beach as the rest of my team followed behind. Just what happened? They have only ONE job and that is to look after lapras! How hard can it be?!

I have a feeling the battle-hungry trio is at fault here. I shouldn't have left them with lapras, who knows what trouble they are going to stir up this time?

We quickly arrived onto the scene and what is laid out in front of us got our tongues tied. Even Fuzzy is quiet.

Snap had gotten himself embedded into the rocky cliff of the beach and then froze in a huge block of ice, like someone is trying to prevent him from getting out of the rock cliff. Hulk is grabbing a struggling Kratos from behind and they too, are frozen in ice together with an entire section of the beach. Bigblue looks like he was attempting to escape into the sea but again, frozen in ice like the rest of the team. Ness is now a gigantic ice cube. Toothless is hovering high above in the sky, he is so high up that he is a mere speck in the sky now. I wouldn't have spotted him if it wasn't for the bright flame at the end of his tail.

And is that Lily riding on his back? I think I see tentacles waving from Toothless's back.

Lapras made her way up to me excitedly. She is bouncing, that is the only way I can describe what she is doing right now. She looks like an excited puppy who had just did something worthy to be called an achievement and wants someone to praise her.

'Rena? Can you translate what just happened?'

Rena's left eye is twitching uncomfortably in visible annoyance and the twitching got worse as she conversed more with the excited lapras.

'She is asking if she did a great job in greeting the team. Snap had told her that a spar is how we greet each other and then… it turned into THIS.'

Lapras nudged me with her head in an excited manner, waiting for my praise. I sighed as I patted her head. How am I going to explain to her that this is not how our team greet each other? Lapras let out a satisfied cry at my touch and peered at the rest of my team.

Uh oh.

"No more battles, lapras." I disrupted her thinking before she sprouts anymore funny ideas in that head of hers. "You need to learn how to chill. I don't know what nonsense Snap told you but having a battle every single time we see each other is not how we greet each other in our team."

Lapras gave me a shocked look and whined. She looks visibly distressed at the thought of not being able to battle.

Damn it, Snap. What have you done?!

On the other hand…

"You know what? I am just going to name you Chill, I have a feeling that you are going to need that reminder, a lot. Might as well put it in your name."

Chill gave an excited whistle as she starts to shift excitedly at her spot once more the moment I named her. She even released an Icy Wind into the air like fireworks the moment she got herself a name.

"Chill." I called her name tiredly in resignation as I placed a hand on my forehead to soothe the incoming headache. Someone save me from this madness. I am also going to need to ask Dad on where exactly he had gotten Chill from.

"Chill. Chill?" The repeated calling of Chill's name finally got her attention and she looked at me with a cute tilt of her head.

"You need to chill."

AN: A short chapter, but I think you guys will appreciate the slice of life moment that I had been cooking up in my head. I only have three hours to write this out, so there will probably be a fair share of mistakes in it since I don't really have the time to check. Regardless, this chapter is here for me to properly introduce Chill and to help you guys better understand the personality of the new pokemons in Vel's team a little better, it has no real significance to the plot other than trying to get you guys to laugh.

As usual, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Character and pokemon list:

Velda Vera, Age: 13, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Runner-up in the 528th Ever Grande Conference

Pokemon on hand:

1) Rapidash (Flamel), male

2) Swampert (Bigblue), male

3) Banette (Dolly), female

4) Flygon (Snap), male

5) Absol (Kelsa), female

6) Charizard (Toothless), male

7) Cradily (Lily), female

8) Espeon (Rena), female

9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male

10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male

11) Cleffa (Joy), female

12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female

13) Pangoro (Hulk), male

14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless

15) Scizor (Archer), male

16) Lapras (Chill), female