"I can't figure out what you're looking for with this one," said Liam, tapping his pencil irritably at the last question.
"What I'm looking for?" repeated Professor Lloyd, sounding puzzled. "Liam, don't worry about what I'm looking for. I want to know how you would approach this battle."
"But there's more than one way I could do," Liam objected.
"Then pick whichever way you think is best," said Professor Lloyd. "Pokemon battling isn't sudoku. Just because you do things differently than I would doesn't mean you're wrong."
Liam took a deep breath and scribbled his answer to the final question. He was a little frustrated by Professor Lloyd's evasiveness, but he was confident in his own answer.
"Are we going to talk about these tomorrow?" asked Liam as he turned in his quiz and collected his things.
"Of course," said Professor Lloyd with a smile.
"Good," said Liam. "Well… see ya."
Professor Lloyd gave Liam a slight nod. As Liam stepped out into the hall, he nearly crashed into Orchid, who had apparently been waiting for him just outside the door.
"G-guess what?" she said in a frantic whisper.
"Professor Alexander forgot to assign homework again," said Liam with a grin.
"No," said Orchid. "Well, actually… y-yeah, he did, but it's n-not about that. Miss Snyder said…"
Orchid lowered her voice as they passed a group of upperclassmen.
"Miss Snyder said I can paint a mural over the T-team Power graffiti," said Orchid, sounding almost ecstatic. "She said as l-long as it's school related, and 'not too scary,' I can do whatever I w-want."
"Awesome," said Liam. "Have you decided what you're gonna do yet?"
Orchid shook her head.
"I'm s-still thinking about it."
"Well, I'll do my best not to contaminate the artistic process," said Liam as he put his Tactics book in his locker. "But if you want any help, or maybe just some company, let me know, okay?"
"Okay," said Orchid.
The excitement from the previous day had passed surprisingly quickly. Liam honestly hadn't thought much about it—there were too many other things on his mind. Winter Ball was getting closer, and so, by extension, were semester exams. Exams didn't worry Liam too much—he was good at test-taking, and he always had been. The business of the end of the semester was just getting to him. He was looking forward to another break.
A text message from Chez last night had confirmed what Liam already suspected: she was going with John Kim to the Winter Ball. Liam kept telling himself not to read too much into it—after all, his date certainly didn't have a crush on him. But it still bothered him. And worse still, his usual confidants were mostly unsympathetic.
"Didn't she literally ask you if you wanted her to ask you?" said Mori during Shrike's Unovan history class. "Anyways, I like Orchid better. I thought she'd be just your type. She looks super damaged. Don't suckers like you like damaged girls?"
Vasilio bit his knuckles to avoid laughing as Liam scowled.
"Look, Orchid is cute," said Liam. "And yes, she does clearly have deep-seated issues that would give you a run for your money."
Mori pretended to blush, as if Liam had just delivered a flattering compliment.
"But… I don't know. I like the nosy redhead more, okay?"
Mori rolled her eyes.
"I think my bad taste is starting to rub off on you," she muttered.
Orchid's first afternoon working on her mural wasn't very promising. She spent nearly two hours hunched over her sketchbook, getting frustrated, ripping out the page, and starting over from scratch, while Liam played with her Spinarak and Dartrix. It was a relaxing way to pass the time, apart from Orchid's periodic outbursts of violent frustration, and Liam did his best to imagine himself spending one-on-one time with Orchid on a more formal basis. Despite his best efforts, his mind always ended up wandering back to Chelsea.
"I g-give up," she said at last, snapping her sketchbook shut. "I'm gonna try again t-tomorrow."
Liam suspected that this was Orchid's usual artistic process—long periods of artist's block punctuated by occasional bursts of productivity. When she hesitantly asked if she could skip the next day's Team Virtue meeting, Liam gave his permission. He didn't want to make her any more frustrated than necessary.
"Ah, Liam," said Professor Huang, beckoning him over to her desk.
"Yes?" said Liam, wondering if he was somehow in trouble.
Pokemon Breeding and Care wasn't his best class, but he liked Professor Huang, and he liked the subject matter. He hoped he wasn't about to be scolded for his backlog of late homework.
"The Pokemon League Champion left this in my possession," said Professor Huang, holding out a Pokeball. "With your experience with Dark-type Pokemon, I thought I should pass it on to you."
Liam accepted the Pokeball with surprise.
"Uh, what is it?" he asked.
"A Bisharp," said Professor Huang. "And, there is something else you should know about it."
She lowered her voice and motioned for Liam to lean closer.
"It's Claire's Pokemon," whispered Professor Huang. "She left it behind at the Tubon Plateau. Silas told me to find a good trainer to raise it. I think you will take care of it."
"Thank you," said Liam, a little taken aback.
"Treat it well," said Professor Huang, smiling pleasantly. "Pokemon that are abandoned need kindness. Mori can help you."
Liam gave a slight bow and returned to his desk, cradling the Pokeball carefully in his hands. So, Claire had abandoned another Pokemon. He reminded himself that he shouldn't be surprised. After all, she had thrown away her Boufallant back in the spring. Still… it didn't feel right. Liam had never been able to reconcile the Claire that threw away Anastasia with the Claire he knew. Maybe his friends were right—maybe Claire was just an expert deceiver. Liam added the Pokeball to his belt and took out his class notebook. Claire's personality was a mystery he couldn't solve right now.