The day after starts like any other day. I wake up, check on my Pokémon and then get ready for the rest. This may be a different Pokémon Center, but the true differences between this one and Castelia's are minimal.

The one thing that I do differently is choose to let Seteth fly around me, outside his Poké Ball. Not Annette or Leonie, though, they're grounded after yesterday.

When I get out of my room, I turn out to be the first one of us four. No sign of Dawn, Nate or Wes. However, it isn't long before the former gets out, though as she closes the door to her room, there seems to be something moving inside her coat's pockets. And as she notices that, she looks up at the ceiling and lets out an exasperated groan.

"Hey, is everything alright?" I ask as I approach her, Seteth right behind me.

She smiles as she turns to me. "Oh yeah. Just one of my Pokémon being unruly today." Her smile becomes strained after that. "So, uhm…"

She spreads her arms out invitingly, stretching them in my directions. I almost take her up on the offer and wrap her into my own.

Unfortunately, I'm stopped when a white beam of light comes out of her pocket, taking us all by surprise, and starts hovering next to me as it materializes into a red and blue duck-like thing with three appendages forming a Y and yellow eyes with black circles inside of them.

As soon as it lands its eyes on me, it narrows them and shouts out a bunch of noises I can barely understand and only get more confused by. And when it shuts up, it's still glaring down at me.

I turn to Seteth, who looks as puzzled as me. "What did it say?"

He answers by raising its talons and instantly dropping them. Which I think is the closest he can do to a shrug.

The weird duck doesn't take kindly to that, as it leans its head closer to my face, the horn on its forehead almost caressing mine, and narrows its eyes further.

Okay seriously, what's this guy's deal with me all of a sudden?

"Alright that's enough, Pory," Dawn huffs out before the red and blue Pokémon dissolves into red light. And as I turn to her, I find her holding a Poké Ball in her hand.

"Sorry about that," she sighs, the frown on her face washing away. "Pory is a Pokémon of habit, and they don't take well to new things."

So I've seen.

"So, uhm," I try to say, "I take it they don't approve of...you know?"

"More like they...don't like you. Most of my Pokémon haven't met you face-to-face yet, so they don't know what to make of you. Pory is just the most vocal."

Oh. Well, that's actually kind of disappointing to hear, I'm not gonna lie.

"But no need to worry," she tries to reassure. "They will all change their mind once they get to know you."

Well, that's good to hear. I hope.

While I think that, Dawn turns to my Sigilyph. "Hi to you too, Seteth!"

"Sig," he gracefully replies.

The bluenette turns back to me, a worried expression forming on her face. "And how did your Pokémon take it?"

I nudge to Seteth. "He was perfectly okay with the idea." The Flying-type gives an affirmative "Sig" and Dawn's mouth shifts to a pleased smile.

"As for the ladies here," I point down at the two occupied Poké Balls at my waist. And then I have to mule a moment over how to put it. "They were actually disappointed we didn't do more."

Dawn frowns at that answer. After a bit of that, her eyes shoot wide open and she soon blushes.

"Yeah, I had the same reaction."

We let a few moments pass, giving Dawn the time she needs to let the awkwardness go away. When she's returned to her normal complexion, she clears her throat and asks, "Anyway, what should we do for now?" she crosses her arms. "Without Wes backing us with Tabitha, we're stuck until the rangers are ready."

"Roxie said we were welcome to challenge her at any time," I reply. "While we wait, we may as well train for that. If we end up not getting the time to actually take her up on her offer, we will at least be better prepared for whatever Team Plasma throws our way."

Dawn purses her lips at the mention of Roxie. "I still don't like this. This has a high chance of blowing in our faces. And if it does, it won't be us who pays for it."

I nod to her words. "I know. But if Tabitha is onto us, we will need something more concrete to prove our point than Brendan's words."

"I know," she sighs. "I just hope we're doing the right thing."

I can't keep the unease out of my next words. "You and me both."

Our conversation is interrupted as another door opens. Unfortunately, it's the one to Wes' room, who walks out of it with his Espeon and Umbreon by his side.

"Good morning," he says, smiling cheekily at the two of us. And then he surprises us both as he walks past. "You three have fun without me for the next few days."

"Wait, what?"

"Just like that?"

He stops in his tracks to regard us as he says, "Of course. You've got a certain shorty to face and I've got other work to do on this Peninsula. Informants to meet, crooks to make squeal, that sorta thing." He smirks. "Or did you think the Pinchers and a certain fat guy were all I'm here for?"

We both glower at his mention of Tabitha.

"Anyway," he turns away from us. "Gotta go. Bye!" And he walks away.

Once he's no longer in sight, Dawn asks me, "We agree that he doesn't need to know, right?"

"He doesn't need to hear it from us," I reply. "But I have a feeling he'll figure it out on his own." Dawn rolls her eyes. As for me, another thought comes to my head. "What about Nate, though? What should we tell him?"

Dawn pales at that and then starts fidgeting. "He said he thought we were already a couple yesterday." What? "I told him we weren't. But that was yesterday. Now, I-"

As if on cue, Nate chooses that very moment to get out of his room himself. He then cheerfully greets us. "Good morning. How are you-" He cuts himself off as his smile drops and he looks at us apprehensively. "What's with those faces you're making?"

...are we really that obvious?

I turn to Dawn, hoping she'll think of something. She looks uncomfortable, but nods all the same.

Oh boy.

With the rain that came down yesterday evening, I wasn't sure there'd be any sunlight today. Thankfully, humidity in the air is all that's left of it, as a fresh autumn sun greets us.

Too bad it's a greeting we can't pay too much attention to, given the current conversation between Dawn and Nate.

"But yesterday you said you-" the bush-haired boy says, still stupified by the news.

"I know," Dawn calmly cuts him off. "As you said, that was yesterday. Yesterday morning, that is. A lot of things can happen between morning and evening."

"I'm just," he continues. "I'm just surprised. But are you…?"

"These kinds of things in real life are not like TV would have you believe, Nate," I intervene. "For now, we're still getting used to the idea ourselves."

"Precisely," Dawn adds. "We want to go one step at a time. And we're going to take things slowly while doing it."

"I…think I see." As he says that, his eyebrows furrow. And the confusion in his eyes is evident to see.

"One day, you will also find a girlfriend," I decide to tell him. "When that day comes, everything will be clearer."

Nate winces at my words and his cheeks redden. "Wh-what? I-I d-"

Way to fuck it up, me.

"Hey, if you'd rather have a boyfriend, that's good too," I attempt to reassure him. Seteth adds an encouraging 'Sig' to it.

"Yeah, I think what he meant was 'a significant other'."

Thanks for the save, Dawn.

Although Nate is blushing even more now. "N-not that. I-I meant…"

He trails off and soon has to shake his head. Meanwhile, Dawn and I look at each other questioningly. Seteth is less subtle as he lets out a questioning "Sig". One after which Nate has to gulp.

"Can we please change the subject?" he frantically asks.

…oooookay, I guess?

Dawn is the first to answer him. "Sure. Eugenio and I were discussing that it could be a good idea to train your Pokémon while we wait. Maybe even challenge the Gym if we get the chance."

Nate's face instantly lightens up. "That's a good idea, Miss Hikari!"

Dawn chuckles amicably in response. "Please, we've been around each other for a while now. You don't need to keep calling me 'Miss Hikari' anymore."

Nate widens his eyes at that. "Uhm…are you sure?"

"We're a team, Nate," I intervene. "Have been for sometime now. I think we're well past formalities."

"Sig," Seteth intervenes by my side.

Nate looks at the two of us quizzically before he turns to Dawn again and clears his throat. "Very well…Dawn."

The bluenette smiles and nods to him. I smile too at seeing the scene unfold.

"Good," Dawn says. "Now, for the matter of training, we need to figure out a good spot for it."

Ah, right. "Do you have something in mind?"

Dawn opens her mouth again, but before she can speak, Nate says, "The refinery to the south. I remember there used to always be trainers around it."

Dawn furrows her brow. "You've been to Virbank before?"

Oh, that's right. He told me before she arrived.

"Yes, five years ago. My parents and I were on vacation. We mostly saw the PokéStar Studios, but we also got a look around the city. Including the exterior of the refinery."

I purse my lips in thought. "That's outside the city proper, isn't it?" I ask. "Shouldn't we worry about coming across the Pinchers?"

Dawn shakes her head. "I don't think so. Poachers operating around the refinery would be easily spotted by the workers. Besides, none of us has a Fire-type."

Okay, that's fair.

With that said, I agree to that proposition. So does Dawn and we then head toward the refinery.

It quickly becomes evident that my concerns were mostly unfounded, as the trek between the city and the refinery is a pretty small one. So small we can close the distance between the southern edge of Virbank and the outer sheds containing God-knows-what in about ten minutes. A fact that makes me wonder how safe the city would be if anything went wrong at the refinery.

"Are you sure we are allowed to stay here?" I ask Nate as I look at the sheds. "This seems like an area they wouldn't want trespassers around."

"Sure I'm sure," he replies before pointing at a patch of grass near the side of one of the sheds. "See there? That's where I watched a girl catch a Venipede when I visited."

I blink in confusion at hearing that. "That was five years ago. How do you know for certain?"

Nate blushes at that question. "Well, it's because I…well I just remember that very well. That's all."

Why would he remember watching a girl catch a Pokémon so wel-?

Oooooh, I see.

Before I can comment on that, Dawn chimes in, "If it can put your mind at ease, look at it this way," she points back at the way we came from, "if we weren't allowed in here, why are there no guards?"

"That's...true," I concede. "But in that case, is no one worried about someone trying to steal what they keep in storage here?"

Dawn shrugs. "I guess not."

After that exchange, we select a clear spot of the place, not too close to the sheds but distant enough from the taller grass, and move there.

"Alright," Dawn says as her hands reach within her pockets. "Let's get started."

Nate and I quickly follow her example.

With all that happened after we caught Leonie and Mary, we never got the chance to properly ask them what moves they knew. Which is something we decide to correct now.

First of the two is Mary, who turns out to know Rollout, Defense Curl, Tail Whip, Tackle, Water Gun and Bubble Beam. Not a great set, especially since neither of her Water moves takes advantage of her Huge Power.

And Nate seems to understand that too, as he asks Dawn, "So, if I understood how her ability works, only Tackle and Rollout would benefit from it?"

"Yeah," Dawn replies. "But those two are not bad moves to know. If she can learn Tackle, then she could also learn Double-Edge. And if used properly, Rollout can be devastating as a move. Heck, one of Johto's Gym leaders is infamous because of her Miltank's Rollouts."

I suppress a shudder as I realize just who she is talking about.

"Still, learning some physical Water moves would definitely be to her advantage." She grabs a Poké Ball from her pocket. "Thankfully, I have someone who can help with that."

As she tosses the ball in the air, the Pokémon that comes out of it is a large brown beaver, with its upper front teeth sticking out of its mouth and red dot on its nose. And as it lies on the ground, it's also sleeping soundly, and not the moves-induced kind of sleep judging by how it's snoring.

Dawn looks at us embarrassedly before she clears her throat. "Hey, Bib! Wake up!"

The Bibarel responds by letting out a sudden nosy snort, quickly followed by a yawn coming out of its widely opened mouth. After that, it gets on all four and stretches its body. It also tries to blink its eyes open, but it only manages to keep them half-lidded. And in that state, it turns to Nate and Mary and lazily waves one of its tiny arms.

Wow, it's a Bibarel but it's got about the same energy as a Snorlax.

Despite that display, Nate still widens his eyes at the sight of him and crouches down to look at it in its dulled eyes. "What Pokémon is this?"

"He's a Bibarel," Dawn answers. "A rodent Pokémon from my region. They are part Water-types." She glances at Mary. "Perfect for your Marill to train with."

"Mar?" the blue mouse excitedly asks as her eyes all but sparkle while she looks at the much bigger Pokémon.

"Really?" Nate asks, sounding just as excited as his Pokémon.

Dawn nods to him. "Of course. He also knows a few moves that he can show to her if need be."

"Bib?" The rodent turns to his trainer and starts tapping on his belly. "Bib, biba bib."

Dawn sighs and shakes her head, but reaches into her pockets all the same. What she takes out of them is a bag from which she takes out some kind of...candy?

"Here you go, you big eater," she lightly chides as she tosses the candy into her Pokémon's mouth, who proceeds to munch on it with gusto.

"Bib!" he says right after, his tail wagging.

"Sorry Bib, you'll get the rest when you're finished with Nate and Mary."

The beaver answers by making a pair of puppy-dog eyes at his trainer.

"Alright, but just one," Dawn concedes before giving him another candy.

What a glutton.

Dawn then instructs Nate on what to do with the Bibarel and then turns to me and Leonie.

"Okay, your turn," she says as she approaches us. "First thing first-"

She suddenly stops mid-sentence and her gaze focuses on something past me. Confused by that, I turn around to see what. I am then surprised by the sight of a red and ashen dog sitting not far from us and staring intently at us.

"Uhm, hi?"

The Growlithe barks happily in response.

I turn to Dawn and whisper, "Do you think we've occupied its territory or something?"

"It's not growling at us, so I don't think that's the case."

I glance back at the dog. It truly is not growling at us, and besides that it doesn't seem on edge. It's expression is neutral, its paws are relaxed, its tail is wagging.

"Could it be it's just here to watch us?"

"It's possible. Growlithes are pretty friendly toward humans. It wouldn't be so unlikely that one would want to watch."

"So we just let it be?"

"Why not? It's not interrupting us or anything."

Okay…wasn't expecting to have an audience but alright.

In any case, when asked about her moves, Leonie turns out to know Fury Attack, Horn Attack, Aerial Ace, Brick Break and Night Slash. Somehow, it doesn't surprise that she never bothered to learn something different from actual attacks. That she doesn't know Bug moves does.

"That's it?" I ask her, mostly to make sure. "Nothing else at all?" Leonie shakes her head. "How did you never learn Bug moves?"

Her answer consists of planting her tiny legs into the ground, stretching for an obscene amount of time her arms and then flexing them as she strikes a series of poses. All of which only serves to frustrate me as I realize I've got a Bug-type that doesn't want to use Bug moves.

Dawn, on the other hand, seems mostly unfazed by that as she approaches the Heracross. "So Leonie. I take it you like Fighting moves."

"Hera!" she earnestly replies.

"Good, good." Dawn pulls out an Ultra Ball. "In that case, I have a little challenge for you."

The bluenette tosses the ball into the air and the light forms into a…rock. A rock with its top split in two and a sad face carved into its bottom.

And if I remember correctly what Pokémon Dawn said she has, I can hazard a guess what the rock actually is.

"Hera?" Leonie asks as she cautiously approaches the rock. "Heracros, hera-?"

"SpIrItOmB!"

The sudden echoing shout takes both me and Leonie aback as a pink mist bursts out of the rock. A series of green lights soon appear within that mist, making Leonie shiver in place. And when the mist jerks toward her, the surprise makes her fall on her back.

Apparently satisfied with that result, the Spiritomb retracts from her and half of its lights line up into a circle that spins around the…face the rest merge into.

Leonie glares daggers as she gets back on her toes. The ghost responds with something that sounds eerily similar to a human cackle.

"Alright, presentations." Dawn turns to the tall beetle. "Leonie, this is Spir." She turns to her Pokémon. "Spir, this is Leonie." She turns to me. "You're going to have Leonie fight Spir."

Wait, what?

"Are you serious?" I ask in disbelief. "Almost none of her moves can even scratch…him?"

"Them," she corrects me. "And as you said, it's only most of her moves. The point here is not to win. It's for you two to learn how to be a team."

That doesn't really help.

The bluenette steals one last glance at both Pokémon. "Now, up and at them, you two." She then walks over to Nate's side of the field, where Bib is showing his tail at Mary as water swirls around it.

"Alright," I groan. "Leonie, first of-"

The giant bug doesn't give me the time to finish as she spreads her wings and charges Spir horn-first. "Wait, don't-!"

As can be expected, Leonie's horn harmlessly passes through the pink mist, leaving Spir unfazed.

"Hera?"

The ghost cackles once again. Which apparently serves to enrage Leonie as she tries to strike at them with a barrage of Fury Attacks, with some Brick Breaks thrown in every now and again. All of that just passes through the misty body of the ghost, who just keeps cackling. And my calls at Leonie to stop are ignored.

When she finally stops to gasp for air, her arms hanging down with no strength in them, I take a deep breath to calm my nerves.

"Now," I tell her with what I hope is not an irritated tone, "would you listen to me for a moment?"

Thankfully, she turns to me. "H-hera?"

"Good. Now, Spir is part Ghost-type. That means they are immune to your Normal and Fighting moves."

Leonie narrows her eyes at me for a moment. When she returns them to normal, she raises one of her arms and conjures a Night Slash.

I smile and nod at seeing that. "Yes, that's it. Now, get away from them and-"

Instead of doing as I told her, Leonie raises her arm further up and slams it down on Spir. This time, their mist actually gets hit and the Night Slash pushes it down to the split in the rock. as if it were a net.

Leonie smiles triumphantly. The expression formed by Spir's lights remains unchanged.

Well, it's not what I had in mind but I guess it did the-

Spir's next cackle breaks my line of thought. With a move I did not expect, the pink mist wraps around Leonie's offending arm in a tight grip. Her attempts to break free prove futile.

I stare blankly as that happens, my mind having a hard time processing what just happened. What the hell is that? How am I supposed to counter it?

Spir doesn't give me the time to find an answer. All of a sudden, they pull Leonie, lift her over and slam her on the ground. The Heracross tries to get back up again, but the ghost just repeats the process.

Again. And again. And again, each time making me wince more and more and simultaneously leaving me at a loss as to what to do. All while the Growlithe barks excitedly behind me, which isn't helpful at all.

Thankfully, before Leonie can get seriously injured, Spir decides to toss her back toward me. After an unceremonious landing, Leonie gets back to her feet, glaring daggers at the Dark-type. But before she can charge them again, I rush to her side and hold her by a shoulder. Leonie looks at me confusedly while I search my bag for a Super Potion.

"Hold still," I tell her as I start spraying the potion. That seems to do the trick as she adjusts on her feet a little better.

"Now, before we resume this, one thing." Leonie doesn't rebuke and looks at me attentively. "I'm sorry for blacking out on you. I promise not to let that happen again. But in return, I need you to promise me to listen to what I tell you." I offer her a hand. "Do we have a deal?"

The Heracross looks up and down as she switches her attention between my face and my hand. Thankfully she soon reaches for my index finger and shakes it. I have to suppress a hiss of pain with how tightly she holds it, though.

"Hera!"

"Good." I stand back from here and turn my focus to the impassive Spir. "Then let's start with Aerial Ace."

"Hera!" Leonie declares as she takes off.

The next day, the Growlithe is already at the same spot as yesterday, again just sitting still. Today's surprise, though, comes in the form of another one by its side. Thankfully, it's just as well-mannered as its companion, so we don't have to worry about them.

With that said, for today I'll be focusing on Annette's training. More specifically, one aspect of her arsenal I've left lacking for too long.

"Ra." She waves at me as she takes shape.

I smile at her. "Hello to you too. How are you doing today?"

She answers with an excited "Ra" quickly followed by a series of poses reminiscent of the ones Leonie usually strikes. Someone mark my words, that beetle will turn her into a show-off.

"Unfortunately, today we won't be focusing on punching."

Her smile drops. "Ra?"

"Today, I want you to think back on your fight with Burgh's Dwebble. What do you think he had over you?"

"Ra?" She tries to bend her arms, with little success. Next, she tries to clench and widen in quick succession her spike-fingers. "Mara?"

"Apart from that."

Annette lowers her head and presses her lips together after that. After a bit, her mouth opens up and she looks up at me again.

"Ra." Her arms tap her chest, raise up and then mimic the gesture of throwing something. "Ra."

"That's right. His Struggle Bug gave him a ranged option. Something you didn't have back then." Her ears drop. "Fortunately, you know Absorb. It's not a long term solution, but learning its more powerful variants should take care of your long ranged options."

Her ears shoot up again. "Ra?" she asks before starting to happily hop in place. "Ra, ra!"

"Okay, okay, calm down."

She thankfully listens to me and stops hopping. She then looks up expectantly.

"First off, let's get you more acquainted with using Absorb." I point at the grass beneath us. "Use this as your target."

Annette briefly glances down at the grass before looking at me again. "Ra?"

"You should know better than me that plant life is still life. The fact it's literally grass means it should take you a while before you do any lasting damage." At least, I hope.

That seems to be good enough for Annette, who gives me a thumbs up before looking down and stretching out her arms. Before long, a green glow envelops some of the leaves and small flickering lights flow from them to the Maractus.

While seeing her get to it so readily pleases me, my mind also thinks of other possibilities. She is not too powerful on her own, so perhaps teaching her moves that can drain the opponent's health over time should be my priority. Maybe Nate can tell me how Leech Seed works. Or maybe Dawn has the TM with Toxic.

As the days go by, more Growlithes show up and after the fifth they are joined by an Arcanine. A female Arcanine, according to Dawn. And possibly the mother of this pack, judging by how close she keeps the little ones to herself.

Thankfully, besides some frowns when we look her way, she doesn't prove any less well-mannered than her pups. Which is good, as it means we can keep our focus on our Pokémon.

And boy, do we have to.

Seteth and Ruffles both land to catch their breaths. Stary, on the other hand, lands gracefully between her two fellow Flying-types, looking no worse for wear. And as if to add insult to injury, looks down at the two with a disappointed glare.

"How does she do that?" I groan out.

"Through a lot of practice dodging ranged attacks from other Pokémon," a smirking Dawn answers me. "And also-"

"Forget I asked," I sigh, causing her to giggle.

As it quickly turned out, Dawn had a special exercise in mind for our fliers. A sort of game of chase where Seteth and Ruffles had to hit Stary one way or another - be it through Ruffles' attempt to literally grab her or Seteth's Psybeams. Sounded easy at first. Too bad Stary is a dodgy bitch too fast for either of them.

I turn my perplexed gaze to Dawn. "Are you sure this is actually helpful for them? They're nowhere near your Staravia's level."

"I know," she replies. "But this is the best way to help them overcome their weaknesses that Burgh exploited in your fight."

What is she talking about?

"I think I see," Nate chimes in. "Ruffles must learn to fly faster while Seteth needs to improve his aim. Is that it?"

As Dawn nods, my mind goes back to our Gym challenge. Ruffles had the upper hand at first, but the moment the Dwebble started throwing more rocks his flight pattern was disrupted. And that Karrablast's constant running around kept Seteth from landing a good hit.

It seems Dawn is onto something. Though that thought leads me to another. When we were catching Leonie, Seteth had no problem using Confusion when Night Slash had parried Psybeam. Could it be that-?

"Is something on your mind, Eugenio?"

Dawn's words break me out of my thoughts. I turn to her to answer. "I was thinking that using Confusion might resolve Seteth's aim problems. If all he has to do is focus on his opponent's mind instead of actually aiming-"

"Good thinking," Dawn says. "Not to mention Confusion is the first step toward learning Psychic, its more powerful version. However, you might still want to have Seteth practice his aim. There isn't any short-cut like that for his Flying moves."

Oh, right…

When both mons are done catching their breaths, they get back in the air, quickly followed by Stary. The chase then resumes in earnest, with no sign of the results changing any time soon.

This is gonna take those two a while.

I was originally going to call this chapter "Training Montage 2" but then decided to go with this one instead.

Thanks to Softandhappy for betareading. You can find us at the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server at: 9XG3U7a

See you all next time!