Anubis grinned. "OK. That's it for today. Serene is busy with work for today so she asked me to tell you to read the next chapter till next week. Also I think you are good enough now that we can pick up the pace a bit next week."
Craw sighed and nodded. "Yeah I thought so too. I mean nothing against your fighting style but it is just not the way I would fight normally..."
Anubis looked at him with curiosity. "Interesting. What kind of fighting style would you prefer?"
Craw shrugged. "Well... I saw Sam fight once. The way he fights was very interesting and I think I could learn it as well."
Anubis' ears flicked. "Well... Sam and his team is training Brighton already... But I know who he learned his fighting from. I will ask him to come and train you as well."
Craw nodded. "Thanks."
Anubis sighed. "Well there isn't much more that I could teach you anyways. You know most of the basics and only need to train. You could basically do that on your own from now on..."
Craw chuckled and shook his head. "It wouldn't be even quiet as effective as training with you and the others. I mean sure repeating the basics over and over again is important but it will just work better if you have someone to actually try them on."
Anubis looked at Craw for a moment before he started grinning. "You know how much I missed having you around these past 20 years?"
Craw shrugged. "Not really. But I guess it's a lot."
Anubis sat down and nodded. "Yeah. I must admit that there were times where I thought about just quitting and leaving it all. I was on the verge to give up so many times... As you suddenly came back I was so overwhelmed. And seeing you need me was kinda great... But now I realize I need you more than ever... Whenever I felt down back then you managed to cheer me up and even now you are able to do so. Whenever I think you don't need me anymore you find something else for me to help you." He smiled and sighed. "I missed that. Having the feeling of being of help to someone."
Craw smiled. "I bet you are always a help to Zaviro and the others up there."
Anubis shook his head. "That is something different... We work on the same goal like colleagues but with you it is... It is like helping the family. It is like it really means you something."
Craw twitches his ears. "It always means something and if someone wouldn't think so they are not worth your help." He sat down as well. He felt like if this was going to become another of those moments where he and Anubis would share a moment that Anubis just needed him as his brother rather than as the human. "You are doing something great as a leader. Others look up to you and want to be like you. You ended a war and caused peace between the kingdoms for good."
Anubis shook his head. "No... That was you..."
Craw laughed. "As if my death would have been the end. Tempers never cool off that easily. If they hate each other then they would go on each other's throat again once they finished fighting off the greatest danger. I am sure that you worked together with them for so long and used all the power and all the knowledge you had to convince them from stopping the war for good after my death."
Anubis looked to him surprised. "How did you know?"
Craw chuckled. "I think I know you a bit now... You would do everything to fulfill my dreams in the end wouldn't you?"
Anubis looked at him for a moment before he nodded.
Craw smiled. "You worked so hard all these 20 years just to make sure my wish that this world could live a peaceful life was becoming true. I also would guess you only didn't give up because of that."
Anubis nodded and looked ahead staring at the wall.
Craw smiled. "I really have to thank you. You made such great job... The city is such a wonderful place and the guild is great as well. Without you or Siver or Silver or Serene the world would probably be destroyed by the wars that would have followed or it would still be in a war... I have to thank you for keeping this balance... Now please stop making yourself worse than you are and let me handle the rest from here on."
Anubis looked at him again with tears in his eyes. "That means a lot to me to hear that from you Craw..."
Craw nodded. "You really earned it. But now I have to finish what I started back then."
Anubis looked to him confused. "What do you mean?"
Craw grinned. "I just recently found out that I probably had the dimensional scream as well. That means I knew the future. I also must have seen myself because of what I told to Seth. If I knew all that I am sure I planned for finishing this task myself and finally get the kingdoms to get a proper peace out of tolerance rather than fear. I must bring them to aim for a better future together rather than trying to dominate the others the one way or another. That is one reason why I want to make this travel. I want to see all the places myself and make myself some thoughts about how to make them work together."
Anubis looked to him nervous. "Promise me to be careful... I don't want you to get killed... You might have gotten pretty strong but you are not even quiet as strong as you were back then..."
Craw nodded. "Don't worry. I have a plan."

Brighton growled. "This is ridiculous!" He fired one attack after the other at Sam.
Sam just chuckled and dodged them all in his pretty unique fighting style. "Well since you have to push yourself to your limits and use as much energy as possible to keep your lightning heart running I have to counter that by using the least amount of energy possible and make you run out of it before I do. You should always have a second plan for a foe who thinks similar to me." He dodged just another Electro Ball before he jumped over an Iron Tail of Brighton.
"But I don't even land one hit!" He jumped from one side to the other trying his best to cover nearly every side of the Minun in attacks as fast as he could and he was really fast. Like a lightning he was changing his position in less than a split second and it nearly looked like if he was at several positions at the same time.
But Sam would simply dodge. "Then you should think of a way to take your enemy by surprise. Get some move items or throw items to get them with so many different moves that they don't know how to handle them." He moved his foot just a mere step but it was enough to get it into Brighton's path and make him stumble he couldn't stop his movement that fast and crashed right into a wall.
Brighton groaned in pain. "DAMN IT!"
Sam chuckled. "That's enough for today I think. You can't follow my movements anymore. You need to train your hand-eye coordination more. If your eyes can't follow up the movements of your own body then you won't be able to follow the movements of your enemies if you move that fast. Once you overcome that obstacle you will be able to plan counter attacks much better. Also you will be able to see where your enemies will try to dodge and attack them at that position before they get there so they basically dodge your attacks just to land in another."
Brighton rubbed his face. "Yeah..." He sighed frustrated.
Sam chuckled. "Just don't give up. You made so much progress that it is just normal that you had to get to an obstacle at some point. You can't learn things just easily. Otherwise nobody would need training and would just watch others and then try it themselves knowing right away what to do. The world doesn't work this way. Everyone has to work hard to get where they want. Some may be faster than others but they still have to work hard."
Brighton rolled his eyes. "Easy said as a genius."
Sam glanced to him with a rather angry expression. "Even I had to train hard to get where I am. I sat hours on hours learning hard and I spend even more time to learn my fighting style from a real master. That I am that good now is just because I worked my butt off for that. Don't think that I just need to see something and then know how to do it."
Brighton waved his hands in defense. "I didn't mean it that way. You are just always so good at everything. I mean sure you worked your butt off but unlike you I am not a genius what means to get even slightly as good as you I will need triple your time if not even more."
Sam laughed. "You think so? I needed much much more time than you to get as fast as I am now. I basically ran a path into the ground at the route I used normally to train running. I ran so often to get faster that my feet can't even feel the ground under them anymore. I mean I feel there is ground but I don't feel if it is grass, stone or anything else. This might sound handy but in a dungeon I am not able to feel if I step on a trap. That is also why I fell into the pit hole trap as I was going with you and Craw in the dungeon as you were still in trainee teams."
Brighton looked to him nervously. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to-"
Sam grinned. "No hard feelings. I am sure you didn't have an easy life either as prince. A life in a golden cage is a life in a cage after all."
Brighton looked to him a bit embarrassed. "You really know how to read Pokémon..."
Sam chuckled. "Yeah. That is true."
Brighton sighed. "I wish I would know how to do that too..."
Sam smiled. "Well then we will put that onto the list of your training as well."
Brighton sighed. "Why do I have the feeling I just made everything harder for me?"
Sam chuckled. "You are not wrong."
Brighton looked to him. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean to spend all your time with me? You have a family now after all..."
Sam grinned and nodded. "That is no problem. After all I am working right now. I get paid for this and so I don't need to go onto jobs while training you. So after training you I can spend all my time with Orenjii and the eggs."
Brighton nodded. "By the way? How are they doing?"
Sam smiled. "They are doing fine. Ariela really helped a lot and thanks to her healing Orenjii is completely fine again."
Brighton smiled. "That is good to hear."
Sam nodded. "I nearly forgot to ask. We would like to invite your team to a dinner. As a thanks for helping with Orenjii."
Brighton looked to him. "Oh. You really don't need to. We basically did our job and we were glad we could help."
Sam smiled shaking his head. "We won't accept a no."
Brighton sighed. "Fine... I will tell the others."
Sam grinned. "Good. It would be nice if we get an answer soon. We will be very busy once the eggs hatch."
Brighton nodded.

Damion sighed and tried it again.
Ray quickly threw him over with one hit of his bamboo sword. "That was wrong again. You center your wight wrong. Your strength comes from your shoulders but you have to center your weight around your hips or you get thrown over too fast. Your body is built to move agile and you can bend it much better than my species could. Use that as advantage. The thing about sword fighting and especially kendo is to train your style the way it fits your body the best. Sure there are a lot things that are always the same but if you don't watch out for what makes your body unique and different to that of your opponent then you are doomed to get overthrown. Use your agility to your advance and find the correct center of your body."
Damion sighed and nodded trying the position again adjusting it just a little.
Ray stepped to him and pushed him from several ankles. "Your right foot more to the left."
Damion nodded and moved his right foot just a millimeter to the left.
Ray pushed again and nodded. "This is your initial position. Remember it. You will have to take this position automatically. Now don't move your feet and try some swings."
Damion nodded and swung his bamboo swords.
Ray watched him for about a minute before moved his sword suddenly before Damion so he would automatically hit it.
Damion stumbled back a step.
Ray sighed. "You put your weight on your feet again... You will have to move from your hips. You have two tails to work with so use them. Your legs aren't stiff so don't act like if they are."
Damion growled in frustration but nodded going into position again.
Ray growled at him. "Your feet are too far apart! Your left foot a bit more to the right and your right one a bit more ahead."
Damion sighed and nodded going into position again.
Ray nodded. "Now continue."
Damion started training again and after some time Ray blocked one of his training hits again. This time Damion didn't stumble back but he lost grip of one of the swords.
Ray sighed. "OK. You seem to get it slowly. But it is enough for today."
Damion looked to him surprised. "But I still have enough energy left to train some more."
Ray shook his head. "Your paws just told you you aren't. You are exhausted and don't even realize it. You are too tense to notice it but once you relax a bit you will feel how exhausted you actually are. You need to learn what your body tells you. If you go onto an exploration because you don't notice how exhausted you are you will drag your team into just more dangers than they need to."
Damion took a deep breath and stretched himself.
Ray looked to him for a moment. "You are doing great progress. Your technique gets better every day and you already know most of the basics. Once you learned them and once you found your center I will just be able to teach you some few tricks and the rest you will have to find out yourselves. It is basically a learning by doing sort of technique so you will have to repeat and repeat everything all over again till it is as natural to you as breathing is. I will soon not be able to teach you much except for some expert moves I know but for that you will have to train a lot more by yourself."
Damion looked to him surprised. "Really? I didn't think I learned that much..."
Ray chuckled. "You learned much more in that short time than most samurai of my home country would learn within years of training. You have a talent for it. I now know what Anubis said as he told me you were really good at adjusting to new things."
Damion looked down and scratched his head a bit embarrassed. "Thank you sir..."
Ray chuckled. "You are one of my favorite students so far... In fact you remember me a lot to my teacher... His technique was very similar to what I am trying to teach you... He was a Floatzel so I thought it would be the best technique for you even though they are stronger in their arms by nature. But that is something you can obtain by training or evolving so you will be good no matter what path you seek out in future..."
Damion smiled and looked to Ray. "That sounds great! May I ask how your master was like?" That was when he noticed some sort of sadness in Ray's eyes.
Ray looked to him for a moment. "I don't really like much to talk about him... But I can tell you so much that he was very similar to you... You two even look similar. I think his son would have looked just like you now..."
Damion saw how much it must have hurt the Swampert and what made him even more worried was that he saw some sorrow flow over Ray's face as well. "I am sorry if I remembered you to something sad..."
Ray shook his head. "It is OK. It is part of my past. I won't ever forget it but I decided to leave it behind and look forward."
Damion nodded.
Ray looked to him. "You better go back to your base or maybe do something else to relax. Use your vacation very good. Next week I will raise the level of your training to the next level so you should be well rested."
Damion sighed and nodded. "OK sir..."

Ariela sighed sitting at the table reading through the book.
Grace smiled and gave her a cup of tea. "Here sweetie."
Ariela smiled and took a sip. "Thanks mom." She looked to her mother. "It is really great that you are back. I missed spending time with you..."
Grace giggled. "I guessed so. I saw the garden. You really spent a lot of time making it look as great as it does now."
Ariela blushed a bit and nodded. "Yeah... It was one of the few places that I could really relax since there weren't much Pokémon around..."
Grace looked to her with a grimace. "Oh. Yeah... I guess it was a rough time for you..."
Ariela nodded and looked at the book again.
Grace sighed. "OK. It is enough for today. I mean it is of course important that you learn these things but you can't learn everything from books. How about we just sit together now and talk a bit. There are things you will never be able to learn from books."
Ariela sighed and nodded closing the book. "I would really like to learn more about surgery but I don't want that others get hurt just so I can learn..."
Grace giggled. "Oh you don't need to worry about that. You need to learn the dry stuff first and learn how to sew someone together before you go into the deeper content of surgery by watching and then trying out. There is a long way ahead of you before you can learn that. I know you learned a lot while I was gone but there are a lot of things you will have to learn over time. The arts of a doctor are hard to learn and even harder to master. It is important to know the basics and on that things you already know a lot more than the most others. Now we will refine your knowledge and get you to the point of a good emergency doctor. That is what is most needed in the world of an explorer so it will come in very handy for you. Surgery is something you will learn later on since it will cost a lot more time and training than we have. Your job will be to decide what is the best first aid and what specialist your patients will have to go once you stabilized them."
Ariela nodded. "Yeah... But I think to learn about surgery would be a lot of help too... Take the birth of Orenjii's kids for example... If I would have known about surgery back then I could have helped her a lot more back then..."
Grace looked to her. "Or you could have made everything worse. Think about infections. Surgery is only used on open field as last resort because the risk of an infection is much too high. Also loss of blood would be dangerous since you have nothing to counter that out in the wild. Surgery is only a good path if you intend on doing it in a sterile room with sterile tools and blood reserves and if the patient is anesthetized or really bad things can happen. There are also so many things that can go wrong what is why you have to do so many preparations for a surgery... It is better to have a proper room prepared for that..."
Ariela nodded. "I know. That is why I want to learn it. If I have a room for that I can stabilize them and then teleport into the surgery room and work on it right away without any time loss."
Grace looked to her and smiled. "I think you will be a great doctor one day."
Ariela smiled. "Craw just reminded me how important it is to think ahead. Not by telling me but by his actions and thoughts... He is always three steps ahead of everything just because he prepares himself... I think if I just aim for half of what he already archives every day I can get much better."
Grace giggled. "Yeah... That is just him... And he doesn't even realize how much he affects us all with that. He doesn't know what a great influence he has on this world just by being here..."
Ariela nodded. "That is why I love him... That is why I want to help him. I want to show him how great he is and I want to see what else he can archive in the future."
Grace nodded and looked into the distance like thinking about something. "Yeah. I know that feeling. He has this effect to those around him to show them the best sides of the world."
Ariela smiled and nodded again.

Kathrin chuckled. "What you wanna do now?"
Morph chuckled as well. "You really learned how to use your special ability huh?"
Kathrin grinned and evolved into a Sylveon to use Moon Blast on him just to become an Eevee again and then evolve into an Umbreon and use her Dark Pulse.
Morph growled just barely able to keep up with the speed she was adjusting herself to his transform. "Damn. You really learned fast how to master your new ability and moves!"
Kathrin transformed into her Eevee self again and grinned grimly. "I always had a talent for learning how to use moves and items. I just hate that I only can use Espeon, Sylveon and Umbreon yet..."
Morph chuckled. "Well if you get yourself enough evolution stones you should be able to use the other forms too. Especially since your evolution is never fully finished and you just evolve for a short time indicating that your cells try to adjust to your new form but can't keep it up for long enough." He transformed back into a Ditto. "OK. That is enough for today. I think I taught you everything that I could... The only thing I now can teach you is how to keep the evolutions up without evolving fully into the new form... if that is even possible for you."
Kathrin looked to him confused. "What do you mean with that?"
Morph sighed. "Well... Like I said you seem to have a lot of Ditto genes in you. Probably a lot of your ancestors were Dittos. At least that is the only case of unstable adaptation I know. An Eevee that has several Dittos as ancestors can evolve into any form of their evolution line and then transform back to an Eevee. They can use nearly every move of their Evolution line that way except for those moves that their evolutions have to train hard for to learn it. But the only Eevee I've ever met before that had this ability was never able to fully evolve. His genes were too unstable similar to that of a Ditto like me. They were just stable enough to keep the form of an Eevee and evolve into one of his evolutions but never was able to evolve for good. It could be that there are also other factors but if you are like him you will maybe always stay an Eevee..."
Kathrin looked to him shocked. "But... That means..."
Morph sighed. "You don't need to be too worried. I will look into this case a bit more and ask some friends if they know more about it. It can still be that you can evolve at some point I just say it is a possibility that you maybe can't."
Kathrin sighed and looked to him. "Still a bummer..."
Morph nodded. "Yeah. But like I said if you get an evolution stone you should be able to use that stone without using all of it's energy up. So you should be fine with just one stone for each evolution."
Kathrin looked to him and grinned. "Really? Then I have the perfect Item for that!"

Peggy sighed. "No that is wrong. Many will fall for that but there are enough that would see through your charade. I know it is hard because you learned to suppress your instincts but you still have them. Use them for your own desires. They are strong and that has a reason. What civilized Pokémon call wisdom is very similar to our instincts. Both were born out of experience. Wisdom is only acquired from what you experience yourself while instincts come mostly from what is burned into your species through generations of natural selection. Only the ones that have the right instincts survived and were able to breed what made them go over into their offspring. Use that for your advantage. If your instincts tell you that something is wrong you don't need to flee but you can watch out for danger. Use your instincts by combining it with what you have learned. Don't try to fight your instincts with your knowledge. combine them and you get much much better."
Fletcher squeaked nervously. He barely made any progress. "But how do I know when I have to trust my instincts and when not?"
Peggy seemed to ponder over the question for a second. "Well in fight it is easy. There your instincts are superior. Let them take the lead and combine it with your knowledge. Use your knowledge to refine your instincts then. Out of fight you should keep them in control and try to signal your leader if something feels off. It can be of good help. Take the exam for example. You said that your instincts told you something was wrong so you were able to protect Kathrin from an attack that would have been fatal to her right?"
Fletcher nodded.
Peggy chirped. "That was just the right way to react. You have to find out what instincts are beneficial to you and which ones are giving you a hard time. In fight it gives you a bit of a head start if you let your instincts lead you while you are able to think of a strategy to overcome your enemy. It is one of the biggest advantages that we feral have over the civilized Pokémon. They think too much about everything. I don't think it is a bad thing to think about stuff but if you think too much then you will lose yourself in your thoughts while the world continues to go on and maybe you will lose track of what is happening around you."
Fletcher stretched his wings. "But wouldn't that be too dangerous to let my instincts take over?"
Peggy nodded. "You would be right if it were for every situation but you can train your instincts. Like you learned how to control them you can learn to lead them to different directions. You know when civilized Pokémon say that they acted by instinct? It is not a lie. It is their learned instincts. You just need to train your instincts into doing what you want them to do and then let them do the rest. It is like if you have two different brains. The one makes your body move by itself and the other is observant and kicking in when your body goes the wrong way. Your observant brain has to keep the control but at the same time it shouldn't control too much. It is like putting a leash at your body. Let it loose enough so it can act but not too loose so you can still keep it under control. Do you understand what I mean?"
The Fletchling tilted his head like so often when he things about words he doesn't quiet get. "Not fully but I can grasp the idea of it."
Peggy nodded. "Good. Now since we still have some time left I would like to ask you how you are doing in general. How are your interactions with your team doing? Are you doing well?"
Fletcher flapped his wings. "I think everything is going well. My instincts still tell me to run away from Rex but I have that under control. Damion is doing a lot better lately so I am... happy for him I would say. It is still a bit hard to interpret my feelings towards others but for my team it feels a lot different than to others. I don't know how to feel for Tira and Ricky yet but I guess that will be solved over time. Brighton is a good travel companion. Since he has the fly move item I finally have someone to enjoy some flying sessions. I still have to hold back a lot but he does pretty well and I am trying to teach him the one or other thing like you suggested."
Peggy nodded. "That is good. This way you both get something from it. You deepen your knowledge and Brighton learns something new. Also your bonds will strengthen and that will help your teamwork."
Fletcher nodded. "I am helping Hoshi at the moment to collect some herbs. She said that this is the best time to get some rare herbs that only grow at this time of the year. I feel a bit closer to her but maybe that is my instincts. If I evolve I become a fire type and she already is a fire type so maybe I feel a bit attracted by that."
Peggy looked to him with curiosity. "What about finding a mate? Did you talk with Craw about the things I told you?"
Fletcher shook his head. "Not yet. He is very busy at the moment and I thought it would be a good idea to talk with him before we go to the Avian Nations. There will be a lot of flying types and maybe we can recruit several flying types there."
Peggy nodded. "That is a good idea. But make sure to not only recruit females. It is not very common in the civilized world to have more than one mate even though it sometimes happen."
Fletcher nodded. "I will keep that in mind."
Peggy looked to him for some seconds. "What else?"
Fletcher tilted his head. "I am still thinking about the other thing we talked about... I am not so sure about it because I will have to adapt a lot then. It would turn my life upside down..."
Peggy nodded. "Yeah that for sure. It is something you can't just decide over night so take your time thinking about it."
Fletcher nodded.
Peggy smiled or at least it was the closest she could muster resembling a smile. "Good. That would be everything then for today. You are free to go."
Fletcher bowed down and turned to leave but stopped at the door for a second. "Thank you for all the things you are doing for me. I really appreciate it."
Peggy chirped. "It is my pleasure."
Fletcher then left.

Hoshi sighed and concentrated onto the flames. The flames slowly took the form of a ring and she smiled.
Kirian nodded. "Very good. You have a talent for controlling the flames. Now you just have to get faster." The Delphox that Anubis hired came from the Ashen Kingdom and even though it was a male Hoshi didn't seem to be bothered. He was strict but strong and fair. Whenever he expected something from Hoshi it was only something she was able to do even though she had to work hard for it. "If you ever evolve you will be already be able to fully control the flames so if you already know how it feels and how and what you can do with that knowledge then it will be a very good advantage for you."
Hoshi nodded and looked to the flames trying to bend them a bit more.
Kirian watched her for a while. "It is true that you were a bit too naive from what I've heard but that other teacher went too far. I think it would have been enough to show you some real criminals and you would probably have learned from that. What she did was just... disgusting. But you shouldn't let it get to you. You are strong and you now know that there are also bad Pokémon that will try to trick you to use you to their advantage. But there are also good Pokémon out there. You just have to learn how to see the differences between the good and the bad ones and that is something that even the most experienced explorers sometimes fail at."
Hoshi nodded losing control over the flames for just a split second but that was enough to make the fire fly everywhere.
Kirian just swung his staff and the flames flew back into place. "Hmm... you are lacking there a bit. I think we have to train your ability to keep your concentration up no matter what happens around you... I will think about a proper training for that till next week. But for today..." He swung his staff again and the flames disappeared. "I would say the training lasted long enough. How does your homework go?"
Hoshi sighed. "I've read most of the books... They are a bit hard to read but I think that I get the most of it..."
Kirian nodded. "You will be a supporter. Your knowledge will be as important as your fighting. While others just learn basics you will have to learn a lot more while training your body as much as they do. That is the path you chose."
Hoshi nodded. She remembered the day of Kirian's arrival very well. As Anubis brought him to her the Delphox asked her what her goal is and how she want to help the team with her abilities. It needed one week till she finally came up with an answer. She wanted to become a supporter like Rupert. As she saw the Meowstic in action she was amazed by how good he was able to support his team. Whenever someone needed something he was there to provide his aid. He used his moves to boost or protect his teammates and used items to heal them. all of his work was built around helping the team with whatever they needed at that moment the most and Hoshi wanted to do the same. She knew already that with enough training she could learn moves like Light Screen, Embargo or Confide and even Rain Dance was possible what could help Damion. She would also be able to get some more move items and with more training she would be able to provide the team with the items they needed in fight like oran berries or max elixirs. Her cooking skills would help to keep the morale up and her knowledge about herbs could help Ariela as healer. But beside that she also needed to learn how to fight. She saw how hard it was for Rupert if he faced an enemy himself. He only knew Psybeam to fight and that didn't go well whenever he fought a dark type. He always needed others to protect him and Hoshi wanted to be able to fight for herself if necessary.
Kirian looked to her. "How are you doing with your team?"
Hoshi sighed. "Nearly as good as before... Still having some trust issues but I guess that will be over in some time..."
Kirian nodded. "Still... You should work on that. From tomorrow on you have your vacation right?"
Hoshi nodded.
Kirian stretched himself. "Good. Try to use that to bond with the others again. A team is only strong if they trust each other."
Hoshi sighed. "I know..."
Kirian looked to her again. "I know it must be hard to overcome your fears but sometimes it is necessary. I think you should use your time as much as you can to spend it with your team and learn more about them. That way you come to understand them better and learn to trust them again."
Hoshi nodded. "I will try my best. Thank you for the advice."
Kirian looked to her for some more seconds before he sighed and nodded. "OK. Your homework over your vacation time will be learning something about everyone of your team that you didn't know before."
Hoshi looked to him nervously. "That isn't fair..."
Kirian chuckled. "It is fair. It is rather easy tho... So it must be something nobody else of the team knows yet."
Hoshi frowned and looked to him. "Really? That is mean..."
He grinned. "Believe me. You will thank me later. Oh and you will have to tell everyone of them a secret about you that nobody knows yet and for everyone it has to be something different."
Hoshi looked to him now angry. "Why?"
He chuckled. "Because it will help you. Just trust me on this one."
She frowned again and left.

Rex growled angry and threw his Dragon Pulse at the Flygon.
Dyno chuckled as he dodged. "C'mon. I know you can do better."
Rex frowned. "I know what you are trying but it won't work this time..."
The Flygon landed and sighed. "You need to get it under control. You need to be able to fuel your rage. It is the strongest power we dragons have."
Rex sighed. "But how? Once I learned about it I am just not able to get angry about your try to mock me anymore because I know it is just to get me stronger..."
Dyno tilted his head. "Maybe you will have to fuel your rage yourself then... are there things that make you really angry?"
Rex thought about for some seconds. "If someone would try to hurt my team."
Dyno grinned. "That is a wonderful thought to work with. Imagine right that. Imagine I would try to kill your whole team. Even more so imagine you have no chance of defeating me."
Rex looked to Dyno. "I know you wouldn't try to kill my team so it is fruitless. Even though you are right with the last part."
Dyno chuckled. "Oh you better don't be so sure about that. If Anubis would order me to kill your team I wouldn't hesitate a second. Aren't you frustrated that you couldn't do anything to stop me?"
Rex looked to him a bit nervous. "Are you lying again to get me angry?"
Dyno shook his head. "No. I trust Anubis with my life. If he orders something I wouldn't hesitate to do it. I know you aren't much different with that topic either. If Craw would order something you would also do your best to follow it wouldn't you?"
Rex nodded.
Dyno grinned evil. "So imagine that Anubis gave me the order to kill you all. Your friends are lying around you. They are barely breathing. You are the only one left between the lives of your team and me. You know you have no chance against me. I am determined to kill you all and Anubis the one you all trusted betrayed you and sent me to kill you all. What would you do? You have nothing to protect your friends from me and no attack you know even scratches me. So what will you do huh?" He even went as far as to push his claw onto the Deino's head.
Rex growled. "I don't know..."
Dyno chuckled. "I thought so. Isn't it frustrating how weak you are? You have no chance against me. Not even the slightest. Now what will you do? Run away? Like a chicken? Like you ran away from home because you couldn't fit their expectations? Like you ran away from the guards troop that was killed by the aura-less? Like the coward you always were?"
Rex was shocked and enraged at the same time. "H-How do you know that?"
Dyno chuckled. "I know a lot about you Rex. Do you think I would train you if I wouldn't have made my researches before? I am one of the few members of Anubis' team that actually thinks ahead. Now tell me? what frustrates you more? That I know all about you? That you would be useless against a true enemy? Or that Craw would probably kick you out of the team if he would know the truth about you?"
Rex growled and nearly screamed. "He would never do that!"
Dyno chuckled. "Oh. So that is your trigger. You always ran away from others that expectations you couldn't meet right? But this time it is different. Your team isn't expecting anything else than working hard and doing your best. You actually feel as if you would fit in. You think you finally found someone not expecting anything from you except for the things you are already doing each day. And now you fear that you could be wrong right? What if those Pokémon actually only took you because you were so strong? But now they all get strong and you fall behind. What if they don't need you anymore and you get too weak for them? Will they kick you out? Will you have to live with them knowing you are weaker than everyone else in the team? Even the feral is doing much better than you didn't you know? You are the weak link in the chain. If I would be Craw I would throw you out next time you mess up in a job. What do you think how long he will wait till he does that?"
"SHUT UP!" He screamed from the top of his lungs and with his scream there it was. The blast of the purple pulse like flames that engulfed the Flygon again.
Dyno chuckled as the attack hit him and scorched his scales a bit. He was far out of the Deino's league. But still. It hurt. If Rex would train just enough he would for sure get as strong if not stronger than himself. "Very good. Never forget that feeling. Keep it treasured within your heart. That is the power you need to be really strong."
Rex panted and still glared at the Flygon. "We are done." He turned to go.
Dyno grinned and nodded. "Well then. See you next week."
Rex growled. "No. We won't see ever again. I will search my own way to become stronger. Your way is not my way."
Dyno chuckled. "Well. If you need me just tell Anubis. I know you will come back."
Rex just left without another word. He hated to admit it but the Flygon was right. Not about everything but about a few things. Dragon types get stronger the angrier they get but at the same time they forget who is friend and who is foe. Dyno's training was effective but Rex hated it. It would lead him down a dark path that he was sure and he didn't want to go that path.

Tira jumped over the Ice Beam before she launched an Ice Beam herself at the Beartic. She knew it wouldn't have much effect on him but at the same time he would be blinded for a moment and she could use it to try her Confuse Ray on him. That move already made many of her strongest opponents fall. It is her trump card after all. As the Beartic wiped away the ice from his face she used it. She hit him directly and he bluntly looked at her.
He chuckled. "Really? That is your trump card?" He smacked himself pretty hard. "And now it's over. What you wanna do now? There are so many ways to get out of a confusion. You were just lucky that you just fought against Pokémon who didn't know how to get out of it or had no proper healer with them." He rushed at her and swung his fist at her. She wasn't able to dodge. He was just too fast.
She lost her consciousness and as she finally woke up again it was already in the night.
The Beartic was sitting in the middle of the room looking at her. "You will need a lot more strategies and training to become strong enough to keep up with the training the others went through while you were still sitting around in class learning the basics. You know how to fight no doubt about that... but you lack of experience and strength. The best would be if you would try to find your own way to fight I would say."
She rubbed her head. Everything was still a bit blurry. "What?"
He looked to her for a moment before he shook his head. "OK You should go to rest for now. You are tired and beaten up pretty badly. But I will tell you something before you leave for your vacation. There is a difference about knowing how to fight and having your own way to fight. Sure you surprise a lot of Pokémon with your Confuse Ray but compared to someone like Kathrin you have no idea how to use your moves to the fullest. You have to learn ways to use your moves that nobody else would think of. You should think about things that are special for you and your evolution line... Things that are unique if you want so. You should know yourself much more than any enemy but if you lack what your personal strengths are and how you can use them then you will never reach the heights you are aiming for. So try to think about it. If you have some ideas when you come back we can start training them."
Tira moaned in pain and frustration. The last attack hit her pretty hard and she doesn't really understand what he is telling her. Not with that hell of a headache she has now. "My head is still spinning... Can you please tell me that later again? I can't really focus right now."
The Beartic sighs. "OK. Then at least try to focus on this. Over your vacation try to think about what your strengths are and how you can use them the best. The rest we will figure out when you are back."
Tira pouted. "How lame... homework for my vacation? I thought I could relax a bit..."
The Beartic chuckled. "Don't worry too much. You will eventually find a thing that we can start working on. Now please excuse me but I have to get some rest." He stretched himself. "It is late and I have a mission tomorrow in the morning."
Tira sighed and nodded before she left. She decided to go this path so she had to follow it till the end no matter how hard it will be. She still could hate it but she had to follow it.

Ricky sighed. "How am I supposed to get to that point? I am not a Zoruark..."
Lillith giggled. "You think evolving would solve that problem? I don't think so. Your illusions are strong no doubt about that and they will become even stronger if you evolve but this has nothing to do with your abilities." She turned back into her Smeargle self and the illusion dropped. "No what you are lacking is imagination, concentration and willpower." She sighed and used her tail to draw two chairs.
They looked real and as she sat down on one Ricky nearly fell over. "B-But... That is impossible!"
Lillith shrugged. "C'mon. Sit down. You will see it is very much possible and I swear that this is no illusion."
Ricky gulped and went to the other chair. He slowly lifted his paw to touch it and as he felt wood he he wanted to jump back. He knew Lillith was good. He saw her illusions and knew that they felt real but since some weeks he always knew when they were illusions. He somehow felt it. Maybe it was because he was a Zorua but somehow he always knew when she was using an illusion. "H-How..."
Lillith looked to him. "Well that will be your homework for your vacation. Try to find out how I made this. But for now let's talk. I heard you having some trouble with your team members... To be specific with Kathrin, Hoshi and Tira. How comes? Is it because of my... special training?"
Ricky gulped and slowly sat down on the chair. He still couldn't believe that they seemed so real. "Y-Yeah... I-I somehow hesitate to work with them because I always think whatever I do I could act wrong to them..."
She giggled. "Yeah I thought so too. Good that you at least know where your problem is. Well I put you through all that so you would realize that females aren't just there to fuck them. That is all. Now that you learned that you don't need to act different to them than before anymore. I mean Kathrin would for sure tell you one or another way that you did something wrong and Tira would probably don't worry at all. She is a bit more open about these types of things even though she rarely shows that. Someone told me that she is a bit of a free mind when it goes about sex. However Hoshi could be difficult. Just be nice to her and don't bother her too much. She went through a lot with her previous trainer. Just try to be friends with them like you would be with the males. I mean you can do it with Ariela too right?"
Ricky sighed. "Ariela is somehow different. She doesn't seem to act any different to me. She is just there for me and she is nice. I dunno why but she is just that way... The other three on the other side... Kathrin always scolds and threatens me... I always feel like walking on blades around her..."
Lillith nodded. "Understandable. But you also have to understand that after what happened to her twice she doesn't really trust many males especially not someone like you who used to get under every females tail."
Ricky sighed again and nodded. "Yeah... and Hoshi... Well she is always nervous around me and always tries to stay away from me..."
Lillith looked to him. "She is going through a rough time. Just be friendly to her and maybe everything will be good."
Ricky nodded. "Tira on the other side is a bit difficult to handle... She always is... well it is like if she is mocking me all the time. As if she tried to bait me."
Lillith giggled. "Well you maybe just look at it from the wrong side. Maybe she is not mocking you but just playing with you. She is normally shy about those she likes so maybe she tries to hide her shyness by toying with you? She knows as well as every team member of your team what restrictions you have. Maybe she just uses that to test you and if you don't fail... well that is something you should find out yourself. But let's say she wouldn't think bad of you in any way."
He looked to her nervously. "Yeah but still... What I fear the most is what would happen if one of them feels like if I am trying to seduce them... I mean what would you do then?"
Lillith chuckled. "Well what I would do if you would try that... is nothing."
Ricky looked to her shocked. "W-What?"
Lillith grinned. "I think you learned your lesson. You don't see females as fucktoys anymore so to me you are free to do what you want. If you would fall back into old habits I would hear that and then you would get punishment but as long as you don't you have nothing to fear. It is not my goal to make you a monk or something like that. You are free to get into a relationship as well and you can have as much meaningless sex as you want as long as your partner wants it too. As long as you don't try to trick females into it and as long as they are aware of what you want it's not my business. It was my job to set you straight and I did that. If you lose your path I will be there to set you straight again but as long as you follow your new path I will just sit back and enjoy some tea with my daughter."
Ricky looked to her flabbergasted.
She grinned. "Now get your things together in your mind already. It is like I said. I mean if I would try to make you a monk you wouldn't be happy neither right? I am the one who created team Second Chance. Also my life was... lets say full of mistakes. If I wouldn't believe in second chances then my life as I am living it now would be meaningless. And to have a real second chance you should also be able to be happy."
Ricky sighed. "Then why did you break me like this?"
She grinned. "I told you I am cruel. But to be honest I had to break you. I always break everyone I am training. Just to rebuild them and make them ready for what would come to them next."

Rex growled still frustrated about the situation. Everything seemed against him. He couldn't get stronger without the risk to hurt his team... his friends but at the same time he would be a burden to them if he wouldn't be able to become stronger. He tried to push these thoughts away to not get too angry but it didn't really work. He kicked a pebble and walked towards the edge of the city. He needed to find a place where he could let his frustrations out without harming someone or destroying a building or two... Just as he found a good place that consisted mostly of rocks he heard someone's voice and as he realized who it was he was angrier than before because it was the one who he wanted to see the least right now.
"You always come here to get rid of frustration?" The Flygon looked around.
Rex growled as he turned to him with purple flames in his mouth already.
Dyno chuckled. "You are not really able to hurt me with that. You are simply too weak." He sighed. "But let me clarify why I am here. After we talked you can let your anger out on me still."
The flames disappeared but the growl stayed. "Tell me what you want to tell me and then disappear."
Dyno nodded. "Well I got to hear some harsh words from Anubis today after training. After all he put me in charge of your training to help you grow not to change you... I see my mistake now. I might be a really good fighter but a terrible teacher..." He looked up to the stars. "The thing is I know you can be much stronger but I also only know my way..." He looked to Rex directly now. "What I want to say... and I really don't like to say those words so I will only say them once... I am sorry for pushing you."
Rex looked to him still angry. "Do you really think that would be enough for me? Fine. You said what you wanted to say now go."
Dyno sighed. "I won't order you to come to training after your vacation but I would bet that Craw will tell you that. However I can tell you if you come back we can work this out together this time. We will find a way so you can get stronger without going the typical way dragons go." He grinned as he lifted his wings. "Maybe I should have listened to you sooner but like I told you I take every order of my leader as they tell me and they told me to train you not to make friends with you. I will train you and make you stronger and if it means that we will have to figure out a way to train you together because you are too stubborn to go the classic ways then I will do that. Will you do the same or will you resist your leader's order and deny training with me?" He chuckled as he started flapping his wings lifting himself a few inches above the ground staying in there for some seconds. "I think I will find your answer in a bit more than a week when you come to training or don't... I wish you a good rest in your vacation time." Then he lifted into the sky before Rex could answer him.
For some seconds Rex just glared at the Flygon disappearing in the late evening sky. Then he turned around and released his frustration on a particular large rock blasting it with his Dragon Breath in small bits. He stared angrily at the pebbles he just created that were still burning with the magical flames only a dragon move could create. "I hate that he is always right..."

The Zorua sighed nervously as he knocked at the door.
Tira smiled as she opened. "Oh Ricky! What do you want at this time? It is a bit early for the meeting so that can't be it. Don't tell me you want to do something with me after avoiding me for weeks."
Ricky looked to her nervously and gulped. "Tira? Why are you teasing me all the time?"
Tira looked to him grinning. "Why? Maybe I just have fun. Can't you stand a little tease?"
He sighed. "After the 'training' I had with Lillith everything is pretty complicated for me..." He looked to her. "I don't know if you are serious or not but it makes everything just harder for me so please stop... I need to get this sorted out of my brain before I can get to those games you are playing." He turned to go. "I can't really tell you to stop but we are in a team and it really affects my performance right now."
Tira looked to him nervously. "Ricky wait...Let us talk..." She turned around and went back into her room. "Come in please..."
Ricky gulped. Somehow he was nervous. He was alone with females a lot before he met Team Aura Guardians but now things are different and he feared that things could go back to where they were. "Is this another of your games?"
She looked to him a bit nervous. "No I am serious. This time we will talk."
Ricky sighed and followed her inside. He had to admit that her room wasn't what he had expected. She wasn't in the team for longer than three weeks but it was already fully furnished and decorated. His room just had a bed, a closet, a table with chair and some things he took with him from his home back in Twilight Mountains. But Tira had everything decorated like a professional on the walls were some posters of beautiful looking snowy and icy places, her bed was a full blown king size bed all in white and nearly white light blue with snowflakes stichery, the closet she had wasn't only bigger than his but also was in white with a mirror and some slightly sparkling snowflakes on it, her table was in contrast to that made of a very dark wood and surely hand made for her since it hasn't the generic size the most tables in the base had that allowed different sized Pokémon to sit on them. She even had a small figurine that emitted a frosty coldness and looked like made of ice. beside that there were many accessories and other little details that made the room make look like a snowy forest that nobody ever set foot or paw on.
She sat down on the bed and let Ricky decide if he wanted to sit next to her or if he wanted to use the chair.
He sat down on the chair still feeling uncomfortable with the situation.
She looked to him. "I am sorry if I caused trouble for you... To be honest I am not very good with words..."
Ricky grunted. "Oh you used some really chosen suggestive words the last weeks..."
She sighed. "Yeah I am sorry for that..." She looked down. "To tell you the truth it is a but difficult for me to work with you... You see... How do I say this..."
Ricky sighed. "Yeah I know I am an asshole and should be locked away. I know I know... Now if you excuse me I still have to finish that report for Craw."
She looked to him. "No, wait! I didn't want to say something like that. It is just... Arceus damn it... I just can't talk normally with Pokémon I like OK?" She blushed a bit.
He looked to her confused. "But you speak normal to the rest of the team all day don't you?"
She rolled her eyes. "No you doofus... I don't like them the way I like you..."
He needed a second looking to her even more confused before it dawned him. "Wait... Do you mean..."
She blushed more and nodded.
He stared at her for what seemed like hours with disbelief and confusion.
She looked to him nervous. "Don't you want to say something?"
He blinked. "Oh... I am sorry I just can't get it... I mean you know how terrible I was in the past..."
She blushed and looked down. "Every Pokémon has something in their past that they want to forget or regret... And as far as I learned to know you you are nice and hard working... and cute..."
He looked to her. "Uhm... Thanks..." He sighed. "Look. I don't want to sound rude but I have no head for a relation right now... I never even had a real one. For me it was just getting under females tails... So I don't even really know how it is to be in an relationship with a female. Also I really don't have the time right now to get into a relationship with all the training going on... I wouldn't be able to make you happy and I don't know what I should think about all this right now neither. Also I don't really feel something for you except maybe finding you attractive and all."
She just giggled. "That doesn't matter to me right now. I mean sure I would love if it would become more serious but for now it would be enough for me to just be around you. I don't know myself if what I am feeling for you is serious or not but over time I will find that out. Also hanging around and having fun together won't hurt would it?" She looked down a bit embarrassed. "And maybe I can show you some things couples do together beside having sex..."
He looked to her with curiosity. "You don't make a joke now do you?"
She shook her head. "I mean it. Even if we just stay friends, as long as we don't have something serious with someone else we maybe could have some fun together."
He sighed. Why not he thought to himself. At least he could have some fun time. "But won't you be mad if you find out that you feel more for me but I find out I don't?"
She giggled. "I am not as easily frustrated as Damion. I know you can't always be happy but I also know that the life goes on. I had a crush on Brighton not so long ago and I wasn't mad as I found out that he is together with Kathrin. So if it doesn't work out no hard feelings."
He sighed again. "OK... But I won't pretend that we are mates now."
She giggled. "Don't worry. We are just some good friends having a good time together."

Author's note: Sorry for the long delay. Covid also hit in my surrounding pretty hard and besides job and family and corona there was just not much free time or motivation to write... Now that we are out of the worst I will write more so stay tuned for the next chapters! I have some exciting things planned!