5: Midnight Falls Upon Them

The night was cooler than normal on that fateful summer day and still sweat pours down Luke's face as he traverses the narrow but well-used trail deeper into Mistralton Forest. Little animals made not a single noise as one young man tears through the grass, stomping loose strands of greenery into the mud as he trudges through the darkness.

Luke tries to ignore the flashes of his memories replaying in his mind as he makes his journey towards the ever-increasing cries for help and thinks back to that night on the boat as a small pink tentacle dragged him underneath the water and threatened to never let go. He could only remember peering into the dark red eyes of an almost invisible creature as it appeared to smile at him and try to drown him.

With both of his partners firmly in their homes at his side, Luke wonders too late if he should have left them behind. As he rounds another corner, he finds his precious Skittle standing bravely, covered in marks and bruises as a large cat-like creature with a spring-tail hisses violently in his direction. The other Starly lay unconscious at his feet but as the cat lunges to attack, Skittle pecks its eye and earns plenty of screams and yelps as it jumps back and presses its paw against it.

"Skittle!" Luke yells out for his friend and tosses out his two PokéBalls towards them. As Torbital and Aqua pop out, Luke gives off commands swiftly. "Torbital! If anything comes near that Starly, you fry them for dinner!

Torbital nods resolutely and blasts off a warning shot, nearly frying the Glameow that watches in anger as it curls its body up and prepares its next lunge. "Voltorb, Tor!"

Luke lowers his body to the ground. "Skittle, hold the front line and don't let it get close. Aqua, I know we haven't tried out your new move, but Heal Pulse on that bird! Just enough to keep it breathing!"

Aqua nods confidently and extends her petite arms outward to help. As her body begins to glow a dim purple, healing light washes over the Starly and the bird stirs slightly.

The Glameow understands what is happening and quickly makes a move to stop them.

"Hey, you furry bastard! Are you ready to fight someone for real!?" With his arm gripping his jacket, Luke disrobes, tossing it aside before tearing on his shirt hard enough the broken fabric comes undone and it shreds away. Though he's certainly no Machamp, his scarred chest and lithe physique indicate to Glameow to avoid direct conflict.

As Glameow mentally prepares itself to slay a live human, Luke disappears from its view. After years of fighting wild animals, Luke understood two things. The first was that if you hit them hard enough out the gate, even if they could beat you, they would almost always retreat.

Luke steps hard on the ground ten feet closer to the Glameow than he had been. As it turns to face him, he steps forward. These long quick strides mimicked the quick attacks that Pokémon often used in combat. As Luke reaches melee range in a matter of a few seconds, Glameow has no time to dodge the low sweeping kick that forces it to jump. As it does, Luke's hand flies back from his position at his side. With his front leg pressed lower than his right and his back leg curling back around, Luke backhands the Glameow square in the jaw as he spins, using his own momentum to put his considerable weight into the smaller animal.

The most important rule to learn for anyone hoping to fight Pokémon like those muscle fanatics wasn't about power or combat experience or even skill. Pokémon were smart. They know humans are weak, slow, and think things out. As the Glameow spins in the air, Luke grounds himself and punches with his other hand, slamming it into the feline and letting it fly off into the darkness. As he stands there with sweat falling down his face, he smirks. Pokémon can't handle fast people. They understand humans obsess over tough builds but they rarely understand why people would develop speed. They also don't understand Luke.

As expected, the Glameow fails to get up but a cacophony of growling and hissing indicates the real problem. "The gang is here."

Five more Glameow leap from the brush and quickly surround Luke as Torbital and Skittle watches. As the Starly gingerly moves its wings and stands itself up, it finds Aqua there with her arms outstretched.

The first Glameow to make a move uses a deft quick attack as a second lunges for Luke's face with scratch. The third loops around using the momentum of a quick attack and bites at his right leg aiming for the heel. The fourth jumps off of the back of the last one to get high in the air and flies down into a headbutt.

Luke understands two things in this moment. The first is that these groups of forest cats regularly fight alongside each other in both offensive and defensive formations. Smaller Pokémon fight in packs to take down larger foes and to protect themselves often from predators looking to get an easy meal. They must have expected more Starly to arrive to protect Skittle and his friend and only sent one to lure them in for a mass killing.

That thought angers Luke.

The problem was the second thing he learns. He's never fought coordinated efforts before and though individually he could win, he'd never do so like this. At the very least, he could run a good distraction.

The first Glameow slams into his ribs and nearly knocks him off balance. Thanks to the weight difference, Luke tanks the hit just barely. The second Glameow's extended claws miss thanks to Luke leaning back into the first attack. Luke grabs the cat's paw with both hands and bends it roughly before pulling it around and driving the cat downwards into the ground with all of his might. Lifting up his back leg, the third attacker bites at his heel and tears through his shoes. With his foot lifted, he presses it into the chest of the biter and crushes them hard against the ground. As the cat squeals in agony, Luke raises his head back and collides with the incoming Glameow's flying headbutt.

The fourth Glameow is flung to the side from the serious blow and Luke feels a trickle of blood leak from the busted skin on his head. Lifting his foot, Luke grabs the cat tearing at his now exposed ankle and bites it back on the shoulder. As the cat screams in confusion and anger, Luke leaves the whole cat hanging by that bite and picks up the pinned cat on the ground. With all of his might, he throws this cat at the one remaining behind before dropping the cat in his mouth, grabbing it, and throwing it right after.

The last Glameow manages to avoid both of its comrades being used as projectiles and hisses as the headbutted cat collapses next to them. Luke struggles to stand as a sharp tackle from the last cat behind him sends him careening toward the ground. The uninjured cats circle the now prone Luke as if begging for him to move. The other three rise to their feet sporting bruises and the bitten one cries as its fur is totally soaked in saliva.

"Torbital, on three you zap with everything you have." Luke speaks from on the ground. "Aqua, when he zaps, you blast toward me with confusion once the light is gone. Not one moment sooner, understood?"

His two Pokémon nod as they stand guard. Skittle doesn't hesitate and jumps forward into a quick attack.

As the bird flies in, Luke jumps up and shouts for him to not be so foolish. The cats turn and lunge at the bird but Skittle plows through one out of sheer willpower. The second cat pins him and lifts its claws to put the poor bird down.

Before it can, Luke's bleeding foot collides with its ear hard enough to deafen it. As a third cat cleaves through his back, Luke pulls it forcefully out of him by gripping its tail and whipping the other two attacking from the front with it.

Pokémon battles are measured contests. Unnecessary cruelty is avoided. Most people would never think to do something so horrible.

Most people don't stare death in the face around these creatures in the wild like they were.

Luke throws the cat aside and it slips into unconsciousness from the swinging. Luke makes a mental note to try and have them healed once the fighting is done if he can help it. Picking up Skittle in his arms, Luke holds him tightly to his bleeding chest. "One!"

As he starts the countdown, the remaining four Glameow position their attacking points strategically. As Luke goes silent, they leap in tandem with each other. These bastards are smart. They know that he could realistically only zap one of them. "Two!"

The cats intend to strike and jump off in time to avoid the last number.

"Five!" Luke skips the last number and the verbal confusion causes two of the cats to whiff. Luke drops Skittle to the ground and steels his nerves. With both hands gripping the two cats in his arm, he turns. The third claws him right in the eye and blood splatters the ground as he screams into his closed mouth.

The fourth lands its mark on his side and digs in deep.

"Three!"

With all four Glameow touching him, the cats realize too late that Luke wasn't just their target. He was a damn lightning rod.

Torbital expresses no concern for his master as he entrusts his entire power to him. The blast of lightning that fires out causes hair to burn and fur to smoke as all four cats eventually collapse and Luke drops them one by one off of his body as the energy surges through him.

Luke collapses to his knees and feels warmth crawl down his body. The fifth cat that had since been unconscious rises up with the last bit of its energy. As it picks itself up and jumps, a confusion attack blasts it out of the sky and into the dirt. The next step for the fighter is to double check his surroundings. The five Glameow were sufficiently injured enough to ensure they would not rise again for more combat.

The winds stir up again and the bright full moon covers them all in its light. As Skittle chirps weakly and struggles to keep his eyes open, Aqua runs to his side and begins the healing process. As Torbital rotates over to his friends, the noise in the brush brings their worst fears to life.

Out of the darkness comes another cat. This long black cat appears very similar to its brethren with dignified eyelid colors and its tail coils like a snake more than a spring. The black Glameow resembles its species but has a distinctly foreign look about it.

"The Full Moon Cat." Luke realizes just what Amos meant by what he had said. "This is your pack, isn't it?" With all of his strength reserves, he lifts his aching body to its normal state as he towers over the mammal. "I came to find you. I'm not leaving without you."

The Full Moon Glameow seemingly acknowledges his words and presses its body low. "He says you've harmed his pride and his pride."

Luke thinks on what he learned about Pyroars in school and smirks. "That's a pun coming from a cat. Did you once have a trainer by your side?"

Another swift meow earns another translation. "That was a lifetime ago. I've never seen a human fight my kind. Why?"

"That's simple." Luke points to Skittle. "He may be dumb but that's my child now. Your pride chose the wrong target."

The black Glameow presses down on the ground and leaps up into the sky. With a quick maneuver, it flings its body forward. Luke yells for his friends to step back and throws a hard right. The Glameow leans back midflight and Luke recognizes Feint. The incoming dark attack sends him flying back.

The glowing black aura surrounding the cat leave Aqua and Skittle too intimidated to attack. Torbital starts charging up but fails to create a spark. Having expended all of his energy to defeat the minions, he finds himself insufficiently charged to fight a prolonged battle.

Aqua can't stop the fear growing within her as the Glameow glares her down. With the noises of Skyla and Elesa approaching from the south, she turns and flees to get their attention.

Instantly the black cat unleashes what is likely its most practiced move. The dark energy swells and dissipates as the cat moves with inhuman speed. Torbital is knocked aside and Skittle fails to move as the cat crashes into its target with the sickening pursuit skill.

Aqua screams in agony and flies into the dirt as drips of blood appear on the whiskers of the forest's most vicious hunter. With everyone subdued, Glameow can finally enjoy its prey.

What happened next was a blur.

A lightning strike flies past the Glameow as an angry Sparky misses its mark. Two familiar birds drop down to block Aqua from it with their wingspans. Elesa and Skyla turn the corner, both looking ready to fight to the last.

When their expressions change from determination to shock, Glameow's curiosity signals its incoming demise. Luke drops his entire weight into a punch that shatters the Glameow's exposed back into the dirt. The cat screams in agony as Luke picks it up. "Follow this!" With his hand fully brought back, the second punch brings Glameow to the realm of dreams as Luke pummels it hard enough the cat breaks a canine off and collapses in a heap. With defeat a word unrecognizable to it, the creature lifts itself up to its feet only to see Luke drop onto it with a belly flop, pinning it in place and dazing it. As the cat finally succumbs to its injuries and loses consciousness, Luke breathes a sigh of relief.

Nurse Joy says nothing as she attends to the wounded cats in the back of her center. She was deeply concerned that they had so thoroughly attacked humans like this. Rarely did Pokémon so unceremoniously attack even here in a forest filled with wildlife.

Perhaps something about the night it was triggered them. She was old enough to remember the hunt for the killer in that forest years ago. She was but a young woman who endured a lot healing the many injured creatures wounded in that expedition.

Not all of them made it.

Tonight was thankfully different. She counted out each of the injuries listed. The Glameow had avoided hurting themselves too severely. That was a testament to their survival instincts. Their wounds weren't severe, but the Ralts that was brought in still did not awaken.

The rare Glameow black as night and sleek in design had awoken and refused any further aid. It lay down gently on the open window of its room and any moment could go by before it sauntered off. Perhaps it waited for its pack. That was what Joy thought, at least.

"He won't get help! He's a dumb idiot and we've wasted enough time!" Elesa kicks the wall outside of the room Aqua had been brought to. "He's going to bleed out and die before she wakes up and then she'll have to suffer even more."

Skyla holds the female Starly she had adopted in her arms. She had dubbed her Staria. As Staria cooed and gently licks its bandaged wing, Skyla stares over at Skittle and Torbital who both carried gaunt expressions of guilt as they guard the door. Neither would dare go inside.

Skittle was the one who took Staria out there. Torbital was the one who didn't conserve his energy. Both failed to protect their partners.

Skyla leans against the wall and can't assuage her worries. "Nurse Joy said she'd wake from her injuries tonight or…"

"We don't live in a world where she doesn't get up!" Elesa's voice cracks on the last few words. "We just had to stop and talk on the way there. If he dies, I mean, we, it…"

"I should have told you not to wait up for me." Skyla's eyes water as she presses her face into Staria. "You have no one to blame but me."

Inside the room beyond that closed door, Aqua's bandaged body lies on the bed as a machine monitors her health. Her heartbeat is slowed and the damage to her back was almost enough to kill her. That Full Moon Cat was powerful beyond its years and Nurse Joy claimed they were lucky she made it that far.

Luke knew that if she woke up, he'd go back to Rubin's store and pledge his soul to him for all the excess berries he'd given Luke. After she had been hit, Luke just tried feeding her berry after berry while the blood just seeped through his pants and new shirt.

Amos wouldn't see another day as pleasant as this if she didn't pull through.

The silence was overpowering. Gravity must have been intensified a thousand times. Luke couldn't move a muscle if he tried, and he did. Luke was rooted to the chair he had turned around, arms folded on the back with his head firmly on top of them. Move already. Please. Please, Arceus, please, please. The same thoughts that had run laps through his head came around for another trip down the straightaway of his brain.

"Aqua…" The makeshift bandages he had pressed against his open wounds held well enough. Luke refused to leave her side until she woke up. Joy had tried to talk him out of it and Elesa tried to pull him out. She only stopped when he reopened his back wounds and finally said he could die if he wanted it so badly.

If he had completed this test successfully, and the three that lay beyond it, he'd be taken to Mistralton's Ace Trainer Academy halfway across the massive city. He wouldn't see his parents for months at a time and anyone else that didn't make it wouldn't be there by his side.

Honestly, only Skyla was likely to make it through every test alongside him had he such potential. I hope she doesn't hate me.

Of course she doesn't. Though the words were unspoken, they didn't originate within Luke. Luke watches Aqua breathing peacefully and worries he may have started hallucinating. That's rude. I wanted to surprise you and you're calling my efforts a fraud!?

Luke notices Aqua has opened a single eye and is staring at him while remaining still. "Aqua, you're awake…"

You didn't kill something tonight, did you?

"No, I didn't kill that cat." Luke's dark passenger in his mind deeply desired to. He still did, in fact. "I'd be surprised if he walks out of here before we do."

Animals sure do take survival seriously, don't they? Aqua lifts her head up slightly and presses further up into the pillow she's been leaned against. I'll stick to scrounging and foraging, thanks.

Luke sits up and fails to stop his dumb grin from showing. "At least we don't tear Pokémon apart to eat them." That being said, veganism wasn't such a horrible thought to him right then. "Wait, no, even the onions have faces."

Aqua's eyes droop and she starts to sleep once more. Good night…Luke.

"Good night, Aqua. I promise you'll be safe now." Luke places his hand on hers and holds it tightly for a moment before getting up and walking to the door.

With sufficient effort, he pushes the door open and steps out into the hallway. Skyla greets him with a strong hug as her tears threaten to soak his bandages. "Is she okay!?"

Luke reluctantly holds his arms at his side and answers her. "She woke up for a moment and went back to sleep. Elesa, could you tell Joy? I should get looked at now myself."

"I, yeah, sure." Elesa grumbles. "I can't argue with the one smart thing you've said all day."

As Elesa leaves the two alone, Skyla nearly cracks his spine with effortless force applied to his weakened ribs. "If she didn't get back up…"

Luke stands still as Torbital rolls over and presses his head against Luke's leg while Skittle jumps up and painfully claws his way onto Luke's shoulder. With Skittle looking devastated, Luke tries to comfort the small bird by rubbing a hand along his back. "I forgive you, Skittle. You better pay me back one day for this, you understand?"

Skittle salutes to him with his wing and jumps onto Luke's head, pressing his beak against his hair and trying to stroke him without stabbing him.

With his right hand Luke runs it against the side of his face. Luke's eyelid would probably have scars across it but his eye was thankfully safe from the worst.

Skyla finally loosens her grip and steps back. "This is really terrible of me. If I hadn't asked you to compete, you wouldn't look like this."

"For all I know, Aqua wouldn't be safe and sound right now if you didn't. Torbital would be lost and confused and Skittle would definitely still be half-dead with a broken wing." Luke presses his left hand on top of Torbital's head and holds the spinning boy in place. "This is a small sacrifice to pay for their happiness."

"Luke…"

"Next time I go in a forest like that, I'm bringing a gun." Luke makes the joke despite knowing his father kept an old revolver he jokingly called Revolvelot in an old briefcase in the attic somewhere.

Skyla closes her eyes and basks in the moment. "Even if you don't make it through every test, I still want to see you again once this is done."

Luke glances down at his feet and notices the myriad stains marking them. "You're talking crazy. Once the adrenaline leaves, you'll know you're just saying stuff in the moment."

"My first fan is a person I can't help but admire." The honesty in her words halts Luke's thought train. "I grew up wanting to be a pilot because my grandfather loved it but it also means I get to meet new and interesting people every day. I just think it'll be sad."

"Why's that?"

Skyla admits to him with her cheeks red and her smile wide. "I don't know how they'll measure up to a guy like you, that's all."

Luke hides his feelings and gears himself for a night of tests and blood drawings. "You want to know why that cat lost the fight, don't you."

"I mean, yeah. I've never seen someone actually fight Pokémon bare-handed before."

As they bring it up, the Full Moon Cat drops to the ground between them and stares into Luke's eyes. The bandages wrapped around its waist indicate the back punch hurt it far more than it wanted to proclaim to others but its steely-eyed look demonstrated to Luke that it too wanted to know.

Luke smiles with pride. "Well, that's easy. Pokémon like this one here are so smart they're too stupid to stop me."

The cat rears its head back as if offended by his words. "How are you so smart you're dumb?" Skyla asks in his stead.

"Oh, that's easy. When I strolled up on that cat horde, they thought I'd be weak and use my partners. They accurately judged that they would win." Luke shakes his head as he recalls a wounded Starly near death, a small psychic with no combat experience, and an expended electric-type. "They know humans are usually weak, especially the smaller ones. They underestimate you. They don't think you'll lay hands upon them like I did. That's cruel and wrong to most people."

As Luke kneels before the Glameow, he pulls open a free PokéBall in his hand. "You wild ones assume we fight dirty, letting others get hurt for our sake. I'm everything you're unable to handle. I'm dumb, loud, and willing to die for my partners. I'm the one on the frontline getting supported. That goes against everything you understand."

Glameow tilts its head as Luke presses the ball into its face.

"Tell me, Glameow. Are you worthy… of being my partner?"

Without a word the dark feline presses its nose and finds itself captured. It shakes softly in Luke's hand before the light turns off and Luke grips the newest member of his team in his hands.

"You did it." Elesa says in shock and awe at the hallway corner. "You didn't even throw the ball at it and you did it."

With a flick of his wrist, Luke unleashes his new friend. "Midnight, the black cat I met under the full moon in Mistralton Forest. Welcome to the team." Torbital and Skittle quickly crowd around Midnight to his own annoyance as they rub against him and the fur on his face stands on end. "Don't worry. We'll get your friends healed and release them back out in the wild if they want."

As Luke struggles down the hallway to tell Joy the news, Elesa slides up by Skyla. "So that was far more intense than I really wanted tonight to be."

"So what do you think of him now?" Skyla teases. "Now that you've seen what I saw in him for yourself."

"All I've seen is a bumbling idiot with no self-preservation make a literal list of mistakes." Elesa plays up her annoyance once more. "He's physically capable and he's not necessarily stupid, but he's not smart, either."

Skyla presses her finger to Elesa's nose and laughs at her friend. "Do you really think that little of him?"

Elesa folds her arms and clicks her tongue in defiance. "You're the one trying to date him. Am I supposed to approve of him like I'm your dad or something?"

"I don't know. I just thought he grew on you." Skyla winks. "You're my best friend. I'll share."

"I'll kill you right here." Elesa's hair stands up as her anger blooms.

Skyla shakes her head. "I don't buy that. Murderers tend to be in tune to how they're feeling, you know?"

Skyla laughs off her friend's protest and heads into the room to see Aqua sleeping and puts Luke's chair back in place in the corner he grabbed it from.

Elesa remains unmoved. "Why does she think I'm into stupid guys? Bravery is another name for stupid. He's dumb. It's ridiculous."

Staria stands behind her and finds amusement in her own argument she's carrying on with no one as her friend fixes up the room and prepares to head home with her.

The next day was uneventful and quiet. Aqua came home that evening and avoided Midnight like the plague. Torbital and Skittle fought in the yard to train their bodies to make up for their failures. Luke rested in bed all day to heal his wounds.

On the morning of the day they would be judged for their work, Luke finds something to be happy about as he bounds down the stairs with two PokéBalls on either side of his waist.

His new shoes had been provided by Amos in penance for his actions and were slick sneakers with increased physical resistance to damage. His red shirt had plating in the fabric itself to better handle strikes and two gloves with metal casings covering the knuckles sport white and blue lines running through the red synthetic fibers. Even his pants were made of reinforced cloth to resist cutting and tearing.

The small scars that ran along his eyelid were only noticeable when he closed them and his body had healed save for two distinct claw marks along his back. His Pokémon were fully healed thanks to Joy's attentiveness and his new backpack was filled with useful items Amos had supplied him when he visited him in his hospital room.

Before he could exit his childhood home to begin the next phase of his life, his parents stand at the door awaiting his awakening and keep him from running out the door.

"I can't believe it but Amos says we're supposed to say goodbye for a while." His mother fails to hide the tears behind her glasses as she gently smiles with a closed mouth. "You passed the test and managed to catch more partners than your father and I ever did."

"Hey, I only needed two." Bob replies back quickly. "Dittle and Barkley kept me alive through the war."

Luke rolls his eyes. "I swear you gave that dog a thousand different names."

"You must not remember Lucky Seven Luciano Casino." His mother reminds him of their deceased Purrloin.

"I remember him." Not fondly, since Lucky Seven hated men.

"We just wanted to say we're proud of you." Bob walks up and hugs his son with a tight grip, something he hadn't done since he was a child. "You kick their asses, you hear me?"

Karen slaps her husband's arm. "Hey, language."

Luke gets lost in the moment. "I'll push their shit in for you."

"Luke!" His mother's warning tone says more than it needs to.

"He started it!"

"What will you do if your Pokémon learn after you?"

"I think they already have." Luke still couldn't believe Skittle nearly killed himself trying to help him. Was Luke worth dying for? "I guess when I see them act like I do; it makes me feel like I've done something good."

Karen hugs her son and pulls away reluctantly. "They see you how we do, Luke. They must be proud of the man you'll be someday."

Hiding his face from his parents, Luke heads for the door. "Wish me luck."

As their son leaves embarrassed at such sincere praise, Bob places his arm around his wife and gently kisses her cheek. "We might be grandparents yet."

"Oh, don't say that. What if he heard you?"

"He might hurry up."

"Bob!"

The pathway to his school felt different. That's what he decided as he makes his daily trek down to the place he had been forced to go to for years. Instead of excitement, Luke feels nothing but sadness in the thought he'd never come back here. Right when his tenure there was about to end did he find a reason to go.

As he turns the final corner and sees his school in the distance, Rubin appears from outside of his store and waves him over. "Hey, kid! Get ova here!"

"What do you need? You don't have another thief, do ya?"

From behind Rubin six Glameow each take up positions around the shop. Two lie down on the roof while another crawls onto the well and lays prone. Another sleeps in the windowsill and two more roam outside the front and back of the store. "I hated the idea of adopting these guys but they're really good at keeping little critters away."

Luke's wounds ache at the mention. "I'm glad Joy convinced you to adopt the little shits, then."

"Amos wanted me to deliver this to you before you get appraised." Holding out a trainer card, Luke grabs it reluctantly. On it was a picture from his last school photo shoot and a trainer ID number. The card was digital and by pressing his fingertip to the small lock sign on the edge, it opens up to a menu with a bank account number. The card apparently functioned both as an ID and a card to pay for things with. The account had a hefty four grand on it. "Generally, new trainers are granted three grand to pay for basic necessities when they begin their adventure. Here in Unova, you normally start with one."

"So why do I have four?"

Rubin slyly dances around the question. "Perhaps that grunt you caught for me had a bounty on his head. Maybe Amos wanted to reward your hard work for catching Reyvin's other partner."

"Wait, Midnight is…"

"Before you ask, Midnight never met the Ralts you have. Reyvin released him out here before that nasty crash ordeal happened." Rubin gives a few details he had known offhand. "The reason Amos suggested finding it is because that cat grew quite bold because of its fighting experience. That Glameow gang you put out of business and into mine was one of a few concerns Amos has with that old forest."

Luke tracks the movements of the Glameow around the shop. "Well if Midnight was trained by a trainer that went as far into the League as they did, it makes sense why he's so capable."

Rubin laughs at Luke's calm demeanor. "You say that like you didn't beat him yourself." The bright sun shines down and one of the Glameow collapses into the grass, rolling around and stretching its legs out in the summer heat. "You have to understand one thing going forward, though. When you're fully enrolled, you have to let your partners fight. Being strong enough to protect them in the wild is good and all, but you have to actually start training them to survive."

"I know that's the whole idea of it. I just don't like when they get hurt."

"Then why are you even going along with this?" Rubin's demeanor changes sharply. "You can't have come this far because of parental pressure."

Luke would have struggled to answer him before his last trip. After fighting Midnight and coming out the other side, he had a definite answer. "I want to know what I'm capable of. I'm testing the limits of my body, my capabilities, my mind."

Rubin's Cheshire grin unsettles the young lad. "You sound like a masochist."

"If you spend five minutes around the girls I've met, you kind of have to be." Luke's quip earns a chuckle from the shopkeeper.

As Luke turns to leave, Rubin shouts. Luke manages to catch the item thrown in his direction. The Potion in his hands gives Luke a sense of nostalgia as Rubin cheerfully waves him off before rushing into the store after a young couple walk inside with him not at the counter.

"I won't see you for a bit either, will I?" The thought of leaving Rubin behind as well starts to get to Luke. Shaking his head, he continues on.

As he arrives at the school gates, he counts out the students before him. Forty-seven other young adults are coagulating in the center of the track field as four distinctly unique individuals oversee their whispered conversations and size them up. Two of his classmates must have failed so badly they refused to even attend. Billy, Taba, Skyla, Vance, Emi, Jamie, Jonas, Vivian, and Jack are all among the remaining students and all of them pay him no mind. Instead their eyes are locked on the newcomers. Skyla's uncomfortable avoidance of them gives Luke insight to who they must be.

A girl in a purple dress adjusts her glasses and uses a gloved hand to peruse a book in her hand as she sits atop what appears to Luke to be a giant chandelier lying on the ground. When eyes pop out in the center of the thing, Luke's body straightens as he senses the creature watching every person and Pokémon that stands before it. The aura it gives off unsettles him.

A man with dyed orange hair and a sharp brow sporting baggy clothes throws punches at nothing as he trains in the early morning sun. By his side a slim feline creature with long and almost artistic limbs practices sweeping kicks across the field that tear the dirt off of the ground with every motion.

The second girl with abnormally long blonde hair hanging out with ridiculous petals seeming to levitate it in the air dressed up in high-profile pink modeling clothes stands next to a gothic Pokémon with noticeable lips and deep blue eyes. This one watches everyone and turns to Luke the second he begins assessing it. Luke can feel a presence and realizes it must be a psychic-type. Using what he had learned of through research, Luke attempts to hide his thoughts from it by frantically screaming mentally until it loses focus. The Pokémon gives him an amused grin before turning away and the feeling of being watched fades with its attention.

The last visitor stands out even among these four. His hair points upwards like bird wings on either side and his long black shirt has a large red collar that accentuates the white shirt contrasting his darker color scheme. The Pokémon at his side has long metal claws and feet with two metal protrusions on its chest with an axe head-like adornment on his helmeted head. Unlike the others, it folds its arms and pays no mind to what must be peons to it.

Some of the students stare at them in awe. Others feign ignorance of their status. Others still ask questions in hushed tones.

Amos walks up to the small podium he had moved outside and speaks clearly into the microphone. "Students!" Every one of us stands at attention as if the tense air has shaped us into the perfect squadron. "Today we are checking on how well you have passed the test and the level at which you have surpassed expectations. Two of us have requested to surrender their chances and that leaves us with forty-eight students. Our special guests here will be assigned twelve of you to be judged by them. I'll allow them to call out for you once they are ready."

"Ready!?" The muscular man stands proudly and marches up to the podium. "The Unovan Elite Four are ALWAYS ready!" With Amos moving to the side, the man speaks clearly. "Marshall is my name. I am Alder's personal apprentice and a fighting-type professional! Each of my fellow members and I are going to be judging you personally this year! Alder wants us on the lookout for the key stars of the next generation and has somehow found potential amongst you! We will be critical. We will be harsh. We will accept nothing less than your absolute best! Whether you managed to pass the test or merely grown by attempting it, you will be observed by us right now!"

One by one, Marshall started calling out the twelve names assigned to him. As he did so, I realized the identities of the others. Shauntal, Caitlin, and Grimsley all observe us silently as their boisterous leader begins the next step to the rest of our lives during this test.

My breath stops in that moment when I realize I have literally no way to survive now. I doubt even Skyla would surpass their lofty expectations.

Why did it have to be them!?