"Yeah, from what I've been told, they did get all that for sure. Magnezone and Bassa Village police said so themselves. Why you asking?" Bert asked. Pike took a quick look around the mess hall behind him, making sure no unwanted ears were listening in.

"...just makin' sure," he eventually muttered. Bert snorted, crossing his arms.

"What, you don't trust ol' Arcanine himself?" he asked. Pike instinctively puffed up his feathers, giving a little squawk of shock.

"C-course I do! Just... j-just don't... ya know, Reach's a rookie team, only 'bout a moon old. Bit hard to believe they pulled all that off, ya know?" he reasoned. Bert hummed.

"True, true, but hey, if they can get to a mad feral, then-"

"Wait, wait, wait. They did what?" Pike demanded.

"You didn't hear about Team Luster?" Bert asked. Pike didn't answer, only choosing to look back at the crowd behind him as the Wartortle continued. "Anyways, er, mightcha remind me what you told me your group was up to after a moon?" he asked. Pike considered for a minute.

"...cuttin' off the Serperior bridgehead," he sighed. "Ya got me there. Sorry to bother ya."

As Pike turned to hop back towards his teammates, Bert sat there for a moment before giving a little chuckle to himself and kicking back in his seat. While the rest of the Guild's staff clearly hadn't told him everything, he felt he'd heard enough. With his fellow trainers getting up to turn in their platters, Bert craned his head to look over the mass of Pokémon.

"Knew you guys were something special from the moment you saved my tail on the Serperior. Good job, kid," he said under his breath. With that, he got up and made for the exit, pride in both his teaching and his student bubbling up within him.

Pike, meanwhile, was far from proud.

"Damn fool, honestly. The fuck was he even thinkin', takin' up a feral like that?" he muttered under his breath.

Even as he quietly judged Bert for his decisions, Pike was not entirely sure what to make of this situation. As he turned his platter in, he looked to the floor contemplatively. Something was wrong here, he knew it. This sort of thing did not just happen, especially given the circumstances. How could a team go from the quiet apprentice and a dungeon feral to this in only a moon? This type of success story just didn't happen outside of children's tales, and Team Reach was most certainly not the Radiant Squad searching for sweets.

Unless... what if the Oshawott...?

No. No, that was impossible. Pike had heard more than enough to know what former humans were like, and there was no way in distortion that a dungeon feral, of all things, could be one. He simply could not associate a noble explorer, much less a human with... that, not after everything he'd been through.

There was simply no way.

Grinding his beak and stroking a feather over his Sharpbeak pendant, Pike followed his teammates out the door, then spread his wings to fly back to their base. As he circled the building, something caught his attention: the smashed remains of the team's mailbox. The Swellow's eye twitched.

"Bagon, ya little shit! I'm gonna-" he cawed as he landed, only for something among the wreckage to cut him off. Curiously brushing aside the debris, his feathers stood on end at what he found.

"Oh, sh..." he whispered.

The item in question appeared to be a scroll with a red rod at its center and adorned with the Guildmaster's pawprint. These distinctive features could only mean one thing: Team Apex had been sent an official call to action.

...Pike figured he could scold Bagon for his destructive roof-diving later.


"Uh, what do we do now? Should we just wait for something to happen?" Rye asked.

"Well, unless Scruffy here's got any ideas, then sounds like a plan," Mavy said, zigzagging after us as we strolled out of the mess hall. Giving a little sigh in response, I gestured the two along. Before we did anything else, I wanted to check something first.

With a couple of right turns, the boards came into view, so I bounded over to the news board first and foremost. Amidst the sea of parchment, I found several familiar sketches, the most noticeable ones showing the hole in the ruined complex, what seemed to be the Scizor from my vision (albeit with noticeably warped facial armor), and... uh, me and Sinni. At least, I think it was supposed to be, though it looked like the artist must have decided to take a few creative liberties. I couldn't help but huff a bit as the laid-back Dewott in the drawing smirked back at me. I guess hearing about a little Oshawott helping in that raid might have been just a bit too out there, but this was... wait, were my ears really that big?

With a grimace, I left Rye and Mavy to read as I waddled over to the outlaw board. The posters were hard to see and partially covered up by the other tacked-on posters, but they were there. Crude sketches of Xatu, a Gengar, the Linoone I'd seen, and several other Phoenixes stared down at me as I looked them over. The only outlier seemed to only have text, one I guessed was reserved for their leader; the Director, I think Arcanine had called him.

Having caught up to me, Rye took a moment to gaze up at the posters, giving a little sigh at their arrangement.

"G-guess whoever hung them didn't know," he reasoned.

"Lazy ass is what I... think..." Mavy said.

"Well, uh, at least someone could catch these 'mons now, right? Th-that'd be nice," Rye said. After regarding the posters for a bit, he cleared his throat. "Uh, let's head back, get ready for the job today."

"Yeah," I agreed. We turned to leave, but I quickly noticed Mavy still lingering. I looked back curiously just in time to see him tear his eyes away from one of the posters, a grim expression on his face. As we walked, he looked up at me.

"Beck, uh... didja happen to see, er, a Linoone while you were out in the desert?" he asked.

"Er, yeah," I said. A second passed before the implications of the question hit me and I looked down at Mavy, my eyes wide.

"...that don't mean nothing. I-I mean, it ain't like Pa's the only Linoone around, right? Chances are he's still down south cuttin' lumber," the Zigzagoon nodded.

Giving him a long look, I just smiled and nodded. I could only hope he was right, because... yeah.

We didn't get long to think this over, though, because as we approached our base, Rye suddenly stopped short. It seemed we had mail in the mail slot, and as Rye walked over and fished it out, I cocked my head. I hadn't seen a scroll be used for mail before. I tried to ask Rye about this, but he only stared bug-eyed at the scroll like it was made of gold leaf.

"Th-this... I... oh, Jirachi..." he choked out, hurriedly tearing the seal off and unfurling it.

"What's the matter?" Mavy asked.

"Th-this is a call to action from Mr. Arcanine!" Rye exclaimed, excitedly jittering for a bit before calming down enough to read the scroll's contents. "Uh, okay, okay... t-to Team Reach. After much consideration, we have decided that your abilities as apprentices on this Guild are desirable for, uh, a-an upcoming mission. You are to be deployed to the as-of-yet unexplored ruin uncovered in the Imperium Desert three days ago to investigate whatever is inside. Other teams joining you will be Teams, uh, Stonewall, Ruby, Frontier, A-Apex and Joules. You have two days to prepare."

We all looked up at each other for a minute, quiet as the news sunk in.

"...so nah wha?" I asked.

"Well... i-it says we have two days. Uh, I think we should train one day and stock up the next. I-I mean, we might have to fight, I don't know. Even if the other teams have our backs, it's best to be ready," Rye responded.

"What we doin', then? A dungeon dive?" Mavy asked. Rye gave him a quizzical look.

"Uh, we can do one-on-one or just go to the training grounds," he said. Mavy's eyes seemed to light up as his ears pricked.

"We got a place for training? Guess I know where ah'll be the rest o' the day!" he said before turning to zigzag off, only to stop in his tracks. "Right. Uh, where they at?"

"Let's... uh, figure out what we need to work on first, alright?" Rye offered. Mavy rolled his eyes.

"Come on, now. Beck, buddy, don't you wanna go and-" he began.

"Nah, am weth Rye," I said, inching towards the Treecko. Mavy opened his mouth to argue, but he soon just hung his head, unwilling to argue with the democratic process. With that, I followed the two into our base, a skip in my step as we started getting ready. An exploration overseen by the Guild? I doubted the Phoenixes would try and poke in on that, and that was just fine by me. Needless to say, I was pretty excited.

We had those couple of days to get out of the way first, of course.


"You gon drown me, kid?"

With a smirk, Mavy jumped out of the way of a Water Gun and just missed me with a barrage of Pin Missiles.

"That almost got me there, maybe try har-!"

I gritted my teeth as an Aqua Slap missed its mark, only to get a Sand Attack into my face.

"That all you got? Disappointed, I gotta s- ah!"

I delivered a hard Tackle that took the Zigzagoon to the ground for a minute, but not for long.

"Rye's right there, buddy, you can call quits whenever-"

"Shat ahp!" I yelled as Mavy kept gleefully zigzagging around me. Though I couldn't see too well through the dirt in my eyes, I wasn't about to let the Zigzagoon get out of this sparring match unscathed. My eyes clenched shut, I started spinning around as I fired off a long jet of water. I figured that if anything, I'd hit Mavy in his running around if I was lucky. Sure enough, I quickly heard him sputter as my attack landed, so I pried open my eyes and ran to take advantage of the brief opening. As I tackled him and hit him in the face with a couple of Aqua Slaps, he threw up his forepaws in defeat.

"Aight, I give!" he said. With that, I stopped and rolled off of him, allowing the Zigzagoon to hop over to a nearby tree stump where Rye sat and watched worriedly.

While sure, this training was a bit rough around the edges, it was the best we had for the given situation. Rye had insisted we pinpoint aspects to work on before going to the training grounds, so upon securing a sufficient clearing in the woods and a few berries, we'd ended up here. It was all fine and good, I guess, but I just wished we could've done this a few days later.

Feeling at my belly, my paw met the little hard spot that had started growing there that morning. I guessed this new scalchop would be big enough to use to some degree in a couple of days, and being so close but so far from having my handy little weapon back was irritating, to say the least.

I gave a little sigh and begrudgingly pushed this qualm back again as I sat down on the sidelines, grabbing a berry to soothe the wounds from that brief fight. As I felt tangy purple juice dribble down my chin, I exchanged a glance with Rye. He'd promised to fight the winner, but now he wasn't looking so sure of himself there. Before long, I pushed myself up, feeling at least good enough to fight. Rye quickly followed, shakily getting into stance as we faced each other on the field.

"Whatever happens... er, I-I'm sorry," he said. I didn't answer, only giving a reassuring nod as Mavy called for the match to begin.

I immediately got hit in the side with a Quick Attack, to which I responded by quickly bounding away as I clutched my smarting ribs. I knew I was at a disadvantage here, seeing as Rye was a Grass-type, but I knew he wasn't particularly good at ranged combat. I figured if I could just keep my distance, I'd have a better chance at winning here.

Watching me as I rubbed at my side, Rye bit his lip before running to meet me, getting a Water Gun to the gut. This just slowed him down, though, and as he got within range, our glowing tails clashed in two separate attacks before I scurried to the other side of the field, shooting another jet of water at Rye for good measure. Appearing to realize what I was doing, the Treecko stopped for a moment to send me a light glare.

"Come on, th-that's not fair!" he protested.

"Shaa," I shrugged before bounding at him to get in a couple quick strikes. Panicking for a second, Rye shakily inhaled, his eyes beginning to glow as he instinctively got into stance. I gave a little battle cry as I made to Tackle Rye, but a sudden hot pain in my side sent me to the ground.

"Ah! Agh!" I yelped as I hosed off my side, which was now covered in a blanket of short purple flames. Although the flames didn't go out very easily and the area felt numb, it didn't feel like there was that much damage, so I pushed myself back up to continue the fight, a confident smile on my face. Instead of a fight, though, I only found Rye staring in horror at what his Dragon Breath had done. After a second's hesitation, he hung his head.

"I-I forfeit," he said. Mavy and I stared at the Treecko as he sulked over to the sidelines and plopped down on the sideline stump. I stared at his pitiful state for a moment, feeling at my tingling side all the while before I waddled over to join him.

"I'm sorry," Rye muttered as I sat down. I gave a little sigh.

"Rye, is okeh," I said.

"B-but I lost control again and hurt you. I-" Rye began.

"Is fine, rehly," I tried. Rye didn't seem reassured, so I just sat there for a minute, rubbing at my tingling thigh until Mavy scoffed from the ground below.

"Why you gotta get all moody over this, of all things? It's a battle, yer supposed to hurt the 'mon," he said as he fidgeted with the underbrush.

"It's not like that! I-it's-" Rye interjected.

"Rye, yeh fine. Nah mah sorry, yeah?" I said. The Treecko looked at me, confusion shining through his frustration.

"Wh-what do you mean no ma- uh, more sorry? You mean I should just...?" he asked. I gave a cry of affirmation, balling up a paw and punching my palm. In response, Rye just groaned.

"No, it... you don't get it! I can't... n-never mind," he sighed. As he crumpled in place, I kept rubbing at the pins-and-needles feeling in my thigh, letting out a sigh as I realized it wasn't going away.

"Rye? Sheh-ree?" I asked. Snapping back, Rye hurriedly nodded and fished a Cheri out of our little stockpile, his tail drooping but his face becoming determined as he tossed it over and stood to address us.

"A-alright, I'm gonna head to the training grounds if you two wanna come. So Mavy, you need to work on, uh, not focusing on just talking. Beck, I-I think you can polish some things out. I... uh, I need to find a Dragon that can help me," he summarized. Mavy seemed ever so slightly disgruntled at his recommendation, but still smirked as he pushed himself up.

"How 'bout this? Last one there has to shave his fur off. Or, er, we can paint Rye's face if he loses," he said. As I spit out the Cheri's pit, I exchanged a look with Rye, the both of us giving each other a smirk as I felt feeling return to my side.

"Y-you're on. Okay, Team Reach! Split off!" Rye commanded, prompting the three of us to bolt off in separate directions. As Rye climbed up into the trees to jump along the branches and Mavy kept zigzagging through the shrubbery in the Guild's general direction, I gave a little smile. Did all Pokémon do stuff like that? Did each species have its own little quirk when it came to dramatic forest running?

'If so, then who am I to object?' I figured as I emerged from the woods and dove into the river below without hesitation. The training grounds were just downstream, so why not? Taking a minute to let the river's cool water flow over my wounds, I soon turned downstream and began beating my tail, already wondering how Mavy was going to try and wriggle out of his own consequences.


As the sun began to climb down from its peak in the sky, my tail streaked through the air as I spun around, striking at an imaginary foe in a graceful display as Bert sat and watched on. The Wartortle gave a little shrug as I turned to face him.

"Well, it's no Aqua Tail, but y'know, it's a start," he said. My face fell.

"Wha?" I asked.

"The energy needed for a good Aqua Tail... it's too much for a Pokémon at your level. You won't be using it for... well, let's just say you'll probably be a Dewott when you can realistically use it in a fight. Closest new technique I can think of is Water Pulse, and that takes effort. Maybe just work on improving what you've got," Bert reasoned. I disappointedly hung my head, prompting the Wartortle to rock up off his shell and walk over to me.

"Eh, don't sweat it, kid. It never benefited anyone rushing in on things. Besides, you're doing just fine as is, you just need a bit more work around the edges, you know?" he asked.

"Er, wahk?" I asked.

"Reflexes, endurance, all that. I mean, look at... ahem, the thing coming up. Uncharted territory's rough, you're gonna wanna focus on endurance and the like more than combat, I think," he reasoned. When I didn't stop sulking, he sighed. "Don't get the wrong idea, it's not that you're bad, far from it. Just know that feral or not, I... well, you've done good. I'm proud of you."

I thought this over silently for a moment, the sounds of battle behind me backing my consideration. Before long, I sighed and nodded. Bert gave a toothy grin in response.

"Alright! Got nothing booked for the rest of the day, so let's try some good ol' physical training, yeah? Hop in the river and hold your breath for as long as you can, see if you can't push it," he instructed.

"Yeh, mah-steh," I said. Bert blinked hard, taken by surprise.

"Master? Well, I... please, just Bert. No need for formality," he chuckled, holding up his hands. I cleared my throat a bit, scratching my chest fur awkwardly.

"Er, yessir, Baht," I corrected myself. As Bert gave a satisfied smile at this, we both jumped into the river.

For the next couple hours, I did my best to push myself to my limits. I'd spent an hour and a half holding my breath and envying Bert's apparent gills, then what felt like two hours more of situps, heavy lifting, and running around the grounds. I managed to catch a glimpse of my teammates during my jog, noting Rye respectfully talking to the Goodra manning the Dragon-type grounds and Mavy practicing as a Stoutland watched. Unfortunately, I could only manage in a quick wave before continuing on. It was grueling, but at this point, I felt like I could take more. As my short little legs ached, I shakily raised a paw to show my continued cooperation, to which Bert hummed.

"Still not out for the count, eh? Well, then... uh, swim to town limits and back as fast as you can, then try and beat your time. We'll keep on going till you tire out. Sound alright?" he instructed.

"Yessir," I said, wading into the water as the Wartortle watched, waiting for me to head in neck-deep.

"On my mark... go!" he barked. I quickly submerged myself and shot through the cool water like a torpedo, sticking my eyes just above water to keep track of my progress. Despite the aching from all the previous working out, I felt soothed enough by the water to keep swimming through the clear river, the now-setting sun casting a tranquil glow on the water around me. Passing the last of Impetus Town's little riverfront shops after maybe five minutes, I turned around to head back. I'd made decent time, but there was definitely room for improvement. Not that I could do much improving afterwards, that is.

As I swam past the town's waterfront, I passed under a rather large rock jutting out over the water. The thing made me nervous; what if it suddenly gave and fell on top of me? I only worried about this for a second, as I quickly passed the menacing crag. As I emerged from under it, though, a sudden anomaly caught my eye. Sparing a quick look up, I slowed down to a halt. Sitting down on the rock's edge was Arden, looking worse for wear as he stared down at the bubbling river. It seemed he was oblivious to my presence, so I clung on to the river's bank and kept hidden, curious as to what exactly he was doing.

The Quilava stared down at the river absentmindedly, seemingly taking in the scenery for a minute before sighing.

"Hey, guys. It's... uh, it's been a while, huh?" he asked the flowing water. After waiting for a bit, he continued. "So... things are looking pretty fucked on my end. I get you'd tell me to just do what I have to do to fix things, Mom, but... I don't know."

A moment of silence passed before Arden cleared his throat and continued.

"Um... I-I hear we'll be heading over to, uh, the desert to try and see if we can fix things. Remember that place? Heh, we always wanted to go as a family, and... we came close. You know, the tickets, Otto? That'd have been... y-you know. Then, well, everything went to shit, and... now I..."

A quiet sniffle sounded out.

"I-I honestly don't know how long I can keep this up. I... I miss you guys..."

Arden hung his head, clenching his eyes shut as he silently sat there. It wasn't too long, though, before quiet footfalls joined the ambiance, inciting a sigh from Arden.

"May, I've told you not to follow me when-" he started.

"I was curious, is all. A trip to the rock doesn't usually spell out sunshine and daisies," the Leafeon said as she walked up to the edge of the rock, watching Arden for a minute before sitting down beside him as I kept watching.

"Welp, you caught me here again. Great, now what do you want from me?" the Quilava eventually asked. May bit her lip as she watched the water flow below.

"I'm worried about you, Ardie. You're clearly not fine. Please, just... talk to me," she said bluntly. When Arden only looked away from her in response, she sighed. "I get it's Guild business, but you know, no one's out here but us. The dog won't care."

A minute of silence passed.

"...it's this whole thing going on. Arcanine thinks there's a human involved, and... well, clearly some shit's going down if that's the case," Arden said. I nervously shrank into the water as May's eyes widened.

"A... human?" she asked. Arden gave her a grim look, not answering as she considered. "Is it... uh, do you know who it is?"

Arden hesitated for a bit.

"Don't know," he soon said. May gave a nod, thankfully choosing not to pursue this any further.

"Alright, but... what about the whole thing with Rye's team and the nightmare?" she asked.

"Who said anything about Rye's team?" Arden defended. May only gave a sigh.

"Really, now," she said. As Arden kept silently watching the water. she inched closer to him. "So, um... what are you doing here, exactly?" she asked. A moment of silence hung in the air.

"Visiting with the family," Arden said bluntly. May was quiet for a minute.

"...oh. Arden, I... we're here for you, you know that. I know, I could never know how it feels, but... Pike and I, we have your back," May said.

"Yeah, alright, but what if..." Arden started before trailing off. As I listened, he groaned lightly. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Something about his tone of voice told me that this wasn't going to be the end of whatever was going on with him, and judging by what I could see, May wasn't entirely convinced, either. Despite this, Arden didn't seem to be sulking anymore, so she resigned herself to watching the sun as it sunk ever lower behind the treeline, filling the sky with brilliant oranges and pinks.

"Nice sunset," Arden eventually said.

"Yeah. Brings back memories," May replied. Arden spared the Leafeon a small smile, looking over at her.

"Yeah? Like what?" he asked.

"Well, sky looked an awful lot like this the day you came sputtering about wanting to be... ahem, friends," May shrugged.

"What do you mean, sputt-" Arden started before tensing up. "May, come on. You weren't any better, you know."

May gave a smirk.

"Guhh, May, been wanting to talk to you," she said, mocking Arden's voice.

"Oh, nice, guhh, same here," Arden rebutted.

"So, uh, we've known each other for two months now, and, guh-"

"Wow, th-th-that's convenient, I wanted to say the same thing. So, guhh, anyways, you wanna maybe go and, uhhhh-"

"Alright, alright, enough. Any more and I'll jump in and drown myself," May suddenly butted in. The two shared a laugh as I stared up at them, unsure of what exactly I'd swam in on.

"So, what about you? Any memories coming up?" the Leafeon asked. Arden sat back, resting his forepaws on the ground behind him.

"The day we met, I guess. You know, that whole day of powering through being capped off with a nice sunset," he said offhandedly. May gave a loud snort to herself.

"Oh, sure, powering through. Yeah, the blood red there really gets all that powering through across," she remarked, pointing to a hue of red in the sky. Arden rolled his eyes.

"Come on, you know I have my ways," he said.

"Ah, yes, because that involves half your ribs broken, an arm and a leg broken..." May started.

"May-"

"...trauma to the head, internal bleeding, and let's not forget screaming and panicking like Darkrai just kicked your door down and violated you."

"Come on, have an open mind."

"You were so bloodied you couldn't even open your eyes at first. You'd have been dead within the hour if I hadn't heard your pathetic little cries."

"You can't say that for certain. The big guy could've found me and healed me up, you know?"

"...I'm still in disbelief you've even lasted this long, Ardie," May said. Smirk still on his face, Arden put an arm around the Leafeon.

"Same goes for you, Mayday," he said. The two watched the sun for another bit before Arden's ears stuck up. "You still remember our song, right?"

May didn't answer, and as she waited, Arden sighed.

"I... I will be king," he sang. "And you, you will be queen..."

A few seconds of silence hung in the air before May responded.

"And nothing will drive them away... we can be heroes, just for one day..." she sang.

"We can be us... just for one day," Arden finished. The two of them grinning ear to ear, they kept sitting in silence together as I turned my gaze back down to the river, my head still half-submerged.

That was... something. While there was a good bit to consider there, the first my brain commented on was how low the sun was getting. It was still above the treeline when I'd... I'd... oh. Oh, no. I'd forgotten I was being timed!

Quietly panicking to myself, I silently submerged myself and shot away from the rock, leaving the two to sit. I furiously beat my tail as hard as I could until I burst from the water and clambered onto solid stone as Bert jumped back in surprise at my sudden appearance.

"Ah! Kid! What took you?" he asked, running over to meet me as I got to my feet.

"Aagh," I said.

"What, did Alakazam send another house into the river?" he half-joked.

"...yeah. Hass in rivah," I said. Bert blinked a couple times.

"Oh," he said before craning his head up towards the river. "Uh, can... I see it?"

"...no," I soon said. Bert opened his mouth to say more, but ultimately just shook his head increduously.

"Right, anyways. Daylight's burned out, can't really do much more. You can just head on back, I guess. Getcha some sleep, alright? You'll need it," he said.

"Yessir, tank you," I said.

Bert gave a grin and a nod, so I turned to drag myself back to base as he jumped into the river. By the looks of it, both Rye and Mavy had finished up, so with no one to wait for, I decided to go ahead and excuse myself. With what I'd heard on the rock fresh in my mind, I stiffly headed through the grounds' gates to hopefully figure things out over some dinner.

Wearily dragging my tail through the Guild's campus, I soon headed into our quarters, waving at Rye and Mavy before collapsing onto my bed. Rye gave me a quick look of concern before scratching at the back of his head, seemingly at one of the last bits of unshedded skin.

"Uh. w-we were about to head out for dinner. We can bring some back if... uh, you're busy," Rye said, watching me as I rolled onto my back.

"Nah, no. Am fine," I said. Despite my claims, I just took a minute to lie there before hauling myself up, prompting the three of us to start towards the mess hall.

"So, uh, what'd you two do? I tried to work on my Dragon Breath with Master Goodra. I-I don't know if I made any progress, though," Rye said.

"Mr. Stoutland was aight, I guess. Couldn't really follow along, he had a weird accent, but ah can do this now," Mavy said before turning and trying to make Lillipup-eyes at me. I stared at him for a minute before awkwardly looking away. The Zigzagoon's odd look faltered.

"What, that didn't work? That was supposed to be a Babydoll-Eyes. Did I not put enough juice in it?" he muttered to himself as Rye craned his head to look at me.

"How about you?" he asked.

"Uh... trening. Shweemin. Saw Sh-Shahden," I said. Rye cocked his head.

"You saw Mr. Arden? But he doesn't ever go to the training grounds... wh-what was he doing?" he asked.

"Tahkin. Dahno," I shrugged.

"Huh," Rye said before straightening up. "W-well, I guess we'll just be stocking up tomorrow, I think we've got enough Poké. Uh, I guess we'll talk about what we need over dinner."

As we entered the mess hall and got into line, I stared off to try and think, but Rye suddenly jerked his head to look at Mavy.

"Oh, uh, Mavy? Remember the dare?" he asked, barely suppressing a humored smile. Mavy looked up confusedly for a minute before the fur on his back suddenly stood on end.

"Uh..." he said, panic in his voice.

"Y-you were last to the grounds. You gotta shave," Rye said. Mavy's face fell as he tried to come up with a rebuttal. Before long, though, he cleared his throat.

"I never said nothin' 'bout shaving. Ah said we'd paint your face if you lost," he said matter-of-factually. Rye and I exchanged a look.

This was going to take a while, it seemed.