Apologies for the late post.

This chapter was written fairly early on. I was still trying to figure out where I wanted to go with the story, but figured that having some sort of teaching moment might be good. Originally there was supposed to be another chapter like this wherein Alex assisted a novice Coordinator, but as I'm still trying to tell stories in a shorter amount of space I decided not to pursue it.

"Hey! I challenged you to a pokémon battle! You're not allowed to refuse, that's the rule!"

Technically it was, Alex mentally admitted, but it was an old archaic rule that had unofficially fallen out of favor. Some days you just didn't have the energy for juvenile battling. Despite his best attempts- read: silent treatment- to dissuade the kid, the brat refused to give up. Apparently he'd seen him humoring somebody the other day with Umbral and wanted to prove that he could beat 'such a weak, unevolved pokémon'.

He could still hear Morgan's maniacal chittering at the proclamation.

"Old man, are you even listening to me?! I said I'm challenging you to a battle!"

Alex closed his eyes and mentally counted to three. To his displeasure, the figment of his imagination was indeed real and nobody seemed interested in helping. Best not to discourage the kid too much, he thought. Alex stood up and silently strode to an empty battlefield carefully to avoid jostling the slumbering misdreavus on his head and posted up on the farthest trainer box. When the kid impatiently stomped after him, he merely raised a brow and tilted his head forward, smoothly catching Umbral in his arms as she tumbled forward. "Well? We doing this or what?"

"Yes!" The brunet pumped a fist and crouched over, thrusting it towards him when he stood back up. "I'm going to beat you into the ground!"

Oh the joys of youth. "Try not to hurt his feelings too badly, alright?" He whispered to Umbral, nuzzling her head with his chin. "As for moves," He stared at the kid, mulling the misdreavus' movepool in his mind. "Let's use Hex, Will-o-wisp, Double Team, and Confuse Ray. Try and drag it out as long as possible, okay?" Umbral moaned sleepily in response, lazily floating to her starting point.

The battle was the most pitiful thing he'd seen in a long while. While it was true that the minimum age limit for trainers had been raised to 14 a few years ago, with the extra years meant to be filled with studies either personal from a school, with both culminating in passing a test, that didn't stop people from slipping through. People such as the one before him right now, who subscribed to the idea of 'if you hit a wall, hit it hard'. There was absolutely no elegance to the kid's battle style. Just speedy tackle after speedy tackle, sometimes an electric tackle for kicks and giggles. The worst part was only one of those moves could even connect with Umbral. That was, if she even let herself get hit in the first place.

To be fair to the kid, it was really, really hard to deal with Umbral once she got going. Bad enough she hid Confuse Rays and Will-o-Wisps among the masses of Hex based energy orbiting around her, her frustration at being woken up was surfacing in the form of replicating the orbs of energy across the clones of Double Team. This hard into her illusion, the only way Alex could tell exactly which misdreavus was the real one was the subtle quickening change in elevation after every attack that failed to land on her; her method of gloating whenever she got into this kind of mood.

By the time the battle was completed, Umbral had exhaustedly requested to sleep in her pokéball. Not because she'd been injured, but because maintaining so many simultaneous moves for so long was that draining, to say nothing of the training she'd helped with the night before. When Alex stepped over to the moping kid, he felt absolutely no shame in holding a hand out and rubbing his thumb and pointer finger together, incrementally asking for more and more pid. To add insult to injury, and to spite the people giving him looks, he took great pleasure in counting it out before tucking it into his pocket. "Thanks for the battle, kid. Never see you again."

Out of sheer boredom, Alex headed back down to the battling fields after dinner that night. True, he could have (and should have) been working on making his side of connecting with Celèste easier, but that was already a wilderness exercise. It was better, in his opinion, to keep his time amongst civilization as the vacation it essentially was. Plus, he knew for a fact that Center walls weren't sound proof. Far be it that he accidentally let something slip while in a trance.

With the sun having set almost half an hour ago there were few people milling about; even fewer still at the fields. Ghost and Dark type trainers were taking full advantage of the time though. Three fields down, he could see the distinct glow of an umbreon's rings. Unlike the chaotic and unstructured battles from earlier, the trainers this time around seemed to be working on specific tactics with their partners. A whole crew if the unifying color scheme of purple and yellow somewhere on their outfits meant anything. The design reminded him of Morty. An odd thing, considering sweet, wonderful Ecruteak was a few days travel west.

"Misdreavus, use Confuse Ray!"

"Pachirisu, dodge it, hurry!"

Alex slumped down into one of the empty benches, stretching his legs out before crossing them. The ghost specialist on the field seemed to be taking a page from his battle earlier and was harassing the same brat from before with status effects in addition to Shadow Sneaks. Truly, the life of a Ghost trainer was a joyous one.

A shame the kid didn't seem to know how to train his pachirisu properly though. Not his fault if his battling style meant anything; he just didn't know enough. Pachirisu were able to take a surprising amount of hits if type advantage wasn't factored into the equation, much like umbreon. Give them an enhancing move of some kind, and you could easily turn that damage soaker into a damage dealer. Alternatively, as was the case for pachirisu, you could apply debuffs such as Toxic, Baby Doll Eyes, or even Charm before recalling the pokémon via Volt Switch if not just a general recall.

A somewhat lengthy amount of time later, the pachirisu finally succumbed to the Confusion and Poison, failing to stand back up after tumbling a fair distance mid Quick Attack. When the ghost trainer walked up to give the kid some advice, the youth had angrily turned around and stomped away, pokéball tightly held in his hand. He'd obviously been through a long night. Even in consideration of his inexperience, no respectable trainer would leave a battle without a handshake or other form of parting.

"Morgan." Alex quietly let out his vaporeon, the water type stretching out before sitting down. "Do me a favor and track that kid? Quietly, if you would. I'll come find you when I'm done here." With a short vocalization, the water type bounded off, disappearing into vapor three steps later.

It was an hour and a half later, after having Umbral excitedly train with the Ghost crew, that Alex returned to the center. The moment he stepped inside, Morgan leapt up from behind the counter and cooed happily, tail swishing gently. "Evening." He raised Morgan's pokéball, the water type pressing his nose against the button of the white and blue sphere. "I've got a pokémon that needs some light care, and I've also got a question regarding another trainer."

The volunteer nurse on duty accepted Umbral's pokéball, one of the Dusk variant, and handed it off to the chansey assisting her. "I'm not allowed to give out personal information, as I'm sure you're aware."

"Nothing of the sort," he waved. "Well, sort of. Any chance you could tell me a little about a newbie trainer, about yay high, brown hair and eyes, single pokémon consisting of a pachirisu?" When the nurse gave him a dirty look, "Kid didn't know how to take no for an answer, so I taught him a lesson. Trying to make sure he's not too heartbroken."

Arms crossed and tapping a forearm angrily, "As I'm sure you've learned in your time, Center workers aren't allowed to get too involved with our visitors and patients. So imagine how frustrated I was when I found out one of Mahogany's newest trainers lost almost all his savings."

"Yeah, it was pretty funny when he kept giving me poké-" Alex coughed, realizing that that growl he'd heard was coming from her.

"I should refuse helping you."

"Lucky you're not exactly helping me, you're helping my pokémon. And as a Center worker, your oaths prevent you from refusing care to an injured pokémon." He grinned, letting his mouth pull up in a manner he'd learned easily riled people up.

"You said it yourself, your pokémon was in need of light care, not injured."

Alex hummed, not letting his smile fade away. "Touché. But to try and clear things up, I was intending to give the kid back his money." He held out the folded wad of cash, a bit of a rarity, especially in this day and age of digital. "Call it 'a concerned patron heard of your plight and wanted to help out', or something. I dunno. Lie or truth, I don't really care."

The woman gingerly took the cash, making an irritated sound when she realized exactly how much cash Alex had taken. "You know stalking's illegal."

"As if I wasn't intending to return the cash at some point. Or that I didn't have a room here." Alex grinned.

"Ugh, if you think I'm going to thank you for your 'generosity' you have another think coming." The woman took back the tray from the chansey harshly, startling the normal type. "Your pokémon has been fully healed. Please, never let me see you again."

Alex laughed and took Umbral's pokéball. To the chansey, "Don't take it to heart. I irritated her, is all."

/ - /

Alex let out a long, pained breath. Attack, attack, attack- it was all the kid did. Granted this was still apparently his first badge attempt, and he was only carrying a single pokémon, but it was almost depressing how painful the match went. Mahogany's newest gym leader, Bastion, had gone irritatingly easy on him, but even that wasn't enough for a badge to be earned.

"I know it's still bright out, but could you go keep an eye on the kid? I'll let you feed when we meet back up."

Umbral cooed happily, floating after the youth. As for Alex himself, he waited until Bastion noticed him before vaulting over the railing and joining the ice specialist on the field.

A strained smile on his face, the younger man held a hand out for him to shake. "Battle Master Alex. A pleasure to have you visiting. What can I do for you?"

Alex gave a forced smile in return. Practiced and hard to see through, but his closer friends would have easily noticed the tells. "Just passing through, Bastion. And you can drop the title. Galar and Alola are set to join the International scene in the coming years, which means I'll have to do their circuits and recertify to keep the title. Might as well phase it out while I can. Is there somewhere more comfortable we can talk?"

"My office is this way. Please."

A Gym Leader of less than a year, Bastion had yet to personalize his office. The standard computer, desk, filing cabinet, and shelves of various documents were there, but the room was otherwise spartan. The one exception was a handful of pictures scattered about, each of them depicting the former Gym Leader Pryce in various scenes.

"How's the life of a Leader treating you? Settled in alright?" Alex gingerly sat down in the plush chair on the other side of Bastion's desk. It was softer than he liked, but the material helped warm his chilled body.

"It's… difficult," he said slowly. "Pryce was a long time figure here, and people have yet to warm up to me."

"He was a good man, Pryce." Alex gestured towards the picture frame on the desk. "You were his best trainer here, weren't you? I'm surprised the community hasn't rallied behind you yet."

"Oh, they have! Morty even sent some of his trainers to help me with any local problems while I build up my Gym." The steel haired man, closer to white than the blue of Steven Stone, shook his head. "But that doesn't change the fact that I'm only 22. Pryce… he was a tall tale. I could try all my life and I don't think I'd ever fill the shoes he left behind."

"So don't."

"I- what?"

Alex let out a short huff. "Stop comparing yourself to Pryce. The man was in his late 80's for Mew's sake. The week before he died, he was still here, in this gym, beating pipsqueaks left and right. You're never going to top that." He jabbed a thumb towards himself. "I'm never going to top that. Don't follow in the path of Pryce. Forge your own path. Make your own legacy."

Bastion chuckled, shaking his head once again. "Thank you, Alex. I needed that."

"Good. Now maybe you can help me out a little." The two of them sat a little straighter. "That kid you battled earlier, Jacob, how long's he been at this?"

"This would be his second week trying for the badge. I only let him try every three days."

"So two weeks with absolutely no progress at all. No travelling companions, no friends that I can see, and the best chance that he has of getting better is blocked from interacting with him by Center policy." Alex crossed his arms, frowning. "Doesn't seem much like a local to me."

Bastion hesitated, the words stuck in his mouth. "Jacob was Pryce's grandson. When he passed, he took it hard. In his old age, Pryce didn't exactly turn to many people for help. Just about anything that went wrong, he could handle it on his own. Jacob's determined to emulate that. We tried to reach him at the start, when he was officially a trainer, but he kept turning us away."

Alex turned to look at a picture of Pryce. Old and hunched over heavily, even frozen in time the man exuded a confidence that was inspiring. "This town is your jurisdiction, Bastion. Do I have your permission to intervene?"

"If you think you can do something, you're more than welcome to."

"The kid'll have his badge by the end of the month. Oh, and Bastion? Prepare your team. It's been a long time since I last participated in an official battle. A refresher of the IPA format will do me good. Feel free to record and upload the footage."

"Ah, yes, Battle Master! Thank you, Battle Master."

/ - /

Alex leaned on the wall, staring down at the battlefields. "He's been here all day again?"

Morgan trilled quietly, tail swishing back and forth lazily. After a moment, the vaporeon stretched out. Rolling onto his back, he began mewing several times, punctuating his words every so often with a thrust of a limb.

"Not even a break for lunch and still going strong." Alex sighed. "That pachirisu's got a lot of trust in him, too. Guess they're really in sync with each other," Alex reached over and began scratching Morgan's stomach. "So? Feel like teaching him a bit, or would you rather Umbral handle this?"

The water type cooed in the negative, quickly flipping onto all fours and racing up Alex's arm before draping across his shoulders happily.

"Lazy bum. I ought to have you used for target practice."

Morgan's following response was best interpreted as, 'A pidgey's flank of catching a gyarados.'

"Alright, Pachirisu, use Spark!" From the blue and white body of the Sinnohan Electric type, electricity began gathering along its fur. A moment later, the tiny squirrel dashed forward, stopping a handful of meters away and discharging the energy into an invisible target. "Great job!"

"Executive decision, Morgan. That thing's a physical attacker. Still remember how to use Tail Whip?" The disgruntled mews would have been adorable if he hadn't known that several of them were the equivalent of degrading his lineage. "Okay, I know I didn't teach you that. And what's gotten into you lately? Is it the cold? I swear if you're giving me sass because of the cold, I'm going to have Caitlyn drop a Thunder on you."

The responding chirrups almost made Alex fling Morgan violently. Instead, he took a deep breath and sang sweetly, "Guess who just requested store brand food for the next month. No? No witty retort? No trying to call my grandparents something I shouldn't be repeating?" Silence. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Now get out there, and maybe I'll think about letting you have your regular food."

Jacob turned to look at him as he approached, face turning a little disgusted when he realized who he was. "What do you want?"

"A battle. There's something that's bugging me and I don't like leaving things unsolved."

"We already know how this'll go," he groused, kicking at the ground. Beside him, the pachirisu chirped comfortingly.

"Humor me. I'll make it worth your while."

"Yeah, sure…"

The battle went the same as last time, though with Morgan participating as more than an unhittable target. The Tackles, Sand Attacks, and timely Baby-Doll Eyes and Growls hurt Alex's pride as much as it did Morgans, but the goal here wasn't to overpower Jacob and his pachirisu.

One last Tackle sent the pachirisu flying, the pokémon failing to get up even after a standard three second count. Before Morgan could start his usual gloat, Alex called the water type to his side, offering him a light blue pokéblock before stepping towards Jacob. "How long have you been at this, kid?"

"Five months…"

"Mm. When was the last time you read anything?"

"Not since I graduated Trainer School."

Alex grunted. "Answer me this: how do you win a battle?"

Jacob gave him a befuddled stare. "By making the other pokémon faint."

"Yes, but how can that be achieved?"

"By attacking the other pokémon and training yours so they can avoid incoming attacks."

Alex lowered his head slightly and raised a brow. "You know you're saying textbook answers but I don't think you understand the meaning behind them." Alex plucked Umbral's pokéball off his belt and enlarged it, tossing it in the air a single time before catching it. "How did I and the other Ghost trainers beat you?"

A little scared, "You were watching me?"

"Yes. And answer the question. How did I and the other Ghost trainers beat you? In every single battle."

"You guys dropped status effects on Pachirisu instead of attacking."

"That's right. Burn, Poison, Confusion; if they weren't fully attacking then they were debuffing you and letting things run their course. So tell me, how come you aren't using your other moves? I can tell a bred pokémon from a caught- there's at least one other move your pokémon can use, and based off that Spark, I'm willing to bet there's a fourth one as well."

Matter of factly, "Growl and Bide don't do damage. Only Spark and Quick Attack do."

"You get a pass for Growl since most of your opponents the past few days were special attackers, but your Pachirisu is startlingly durable. If you used it at the start once an opponent committed to an attack, you could easily throw back a stored Bide and then follow up with Spark or Quick Attack."

"But then Pachirisu would be too weak for whoever came next!"

"Standard rules state that trainers battle using an agreed upon amount, generally the lowest amount of pokémon either trainer has. You only have one pokémon. Ergo, you only need to beat one pokémon." Morgan jumped up Alex's back at that moment, once again draping himself across his shoulders. "Alright kid, here's the deal."

"My name is Jacob," he refuted.

"Yeah, and until you prove yourself to me you'll still be kid." Alex fiddled with his X-gear, navigating to the inventory functions and tabbing through to a specific spot. "Your pachirisu is unnaturally built for physical attacking. Seriously, you have it running around so much I don't even need a physical examination to tell its muscles are dense. If you want to start getting farther ahead in your battles, you need to play to your strengths." As if by magic, from the device on his wrist Alex pulled out a set of papers bundled together by string. "Now I can teach you, but you've got to listen to everything I say. And for crying out loud, actually think about the timing of attacks instead of just going head first. For some pokémon and trainers they can get away with that mentality, but you're still inexperienced that you can't."

Jacob's eyes widened as he realized what Alex was holding. "Is that-?"

"A Training Manual? Yes. With my personalized notes. Am I giving it to you? No. Will I let you copy it? Yes."

Unlike the instant moves teachings known as Technical Machines, Training Manuals were significantly more expensive and rarer. Their upside was that each manual had generations of notes packed into them. Exactly how to gather the energy for a move, how to release it in various ways, how the formation of the attack could lead into the basics of other, similar moves. The manuals also went beyond the standard array of Technical Machines, describing moves that could ordinarily be learned only through a pokémon's natural instincts.

"Heal your pokémon up, then come back here. And bring some paper, too. You're going to be writing a lot."

/ - /

"Would you be offended if I said I was surprised, Battle Master?"

"On Jacob's account, yes. The kid has the makings of a great trainer, he just needs to figure out what he's supposed to be focusing on." Alex tossed a fresh ultraball barely showing signs of usage up and down, admiring its design. Long ago he'd let his team pick out their own balls, and the third tier model had quickly become an oddity to him- which in of itself, was an oddity. "So, how much harder did you have to try?"

"Harder than I expected. When he said he wanted to fight against two of my pokémon I thought he was getting ahead of himself, but Jacob performed excellently. His pachirisu, too. Seeing them use Charge and Tail Whip like that…" Bastion chuckled. "I only hope he continues to learn."

"He will." Alex minimized the sphere, palming it in his right hand. Keeping it hidden like that was a trick rarely spoken of, and there was rarely any trust when you realized a fellow stranger was performing it. "I told him to always be researching and testing things out. There's a lot of synergy in moves that most trainers aren't aware about, and in the years to come there's going to be more that haven't been discovered yet. In fact, as an Ice specialist, there's one specific thing I've been meaning to have your help with."

Bastion brought his hands together in the traditional Johtoan sign of submission. "Battle Master, I would be honored to assist you."