After they opened up to each other, Lyman started to see Lucien in a different light. He could tell how he really felt, despite trying to hide it. They confided in each other more, and Lyman couldn't be happier to have someone else he could trust. He opened up more and more as time passed, and eventually he was completely enveloped by the warm feeling he got whenever he was around the Lucario, and accepted that he loved him. He would never say it aloud, or admit it anytime soon, but he knew it was true.

He just didn't know what to do. He noticed the Lucario had been a little more bubbly and affectionate since their talk, hugging him sometimes, greeting him happily and sometimes sitting a little too close when they watched TV. He just assumed it was how the Lucario treated his close friends. At this point he was just glad the Lucario had accepted him as that, but he didn't think he had a chance to be anything more, especially with how close he'd been with Monty. They've been studying nearly every day now, he often stops by to hang out with the Lucario, making an effort to keep him on the sidelines when he does. He knew he was jealous, but had figured Monty was a good guy and if Lucien would end up dating anyone he would at least be okay with it being him. He didn't let his jealousy stop him from considering Monty a friend. He got to know him to a decent extent since they've met, and liked him for the most part, which was basically any time he wasn't all over Lucien, and when they hung out as a group.

Now, it was the day of Midterms, and the last day of classes before the weekend of Winter Break. Lyman was getting dressed in his room, putting on his workout clothes, which were a white t-shirt and red shorts. He was getting ready for his battle assessment, his final test for the day. Lucien was sitting in his desk chair, going over some notes before his last test as well. He'd already taken his battle assessment and passed it flawlessly.

Lyman remembers how happy he felt. Everyone in their group knew he struggled with battling, and he wasn't doing so well in his more active class. They'd spent the previous night with Lucy and Cyrus, going over tips for battling, helping him workout his moves, and trying to cover his weaknesses.

They'd watched on the school website, which was streaming the battles of all the classes for the entire week of Midterms. They used it as a way for parents to track their progress, as well as show off the abilities of currently enrolled students, since they advertised their battle program as one of the best, and their students usually backed that up.

When he'd won, everyone cheered and hugged him when he got home, and Lyman even went as far as to pick the Lucario up and swing him around with pride. This of course, embarrassed the Lucario to no end, resulting in several punches to the arm, making everyone laugh.

Now that everyone had left, it was almost time for Lyman's assessment, and he was admittedly a little nervous. He didn't think he would lose, but his professor always graded his class harshly, since they were the advanced group. He finished dressing, and reached in his drawer and pulled out a bracelet. Latched onto that bracelet was a brown stone with a symbol of his species on it. Lucien tilted his head the side, curious.

"What's that?"

Lyman fitted the bracelet on his arm, and looked down at his housemate.

"Oh this? This is my Z Crystal. Lycanium Z."

Lucien looked at it closely, studying the crystal.

"Z Crystal? They let you use Z Moves right? How'd you manage to get one of those? Let alone get it to work outside of Alola?"

Lyman adjusted the bracelet a bit, to get it to fit comfortably.

"Well, they used to be passed down from family members who had ties with the higher ups that worshiped the Tapu Island Guardians. But since everyone involved in that either passed away or abandoned the practice, they began being manufactured by the Aether Foundation in HeaHea City."

He flashed the bracelet toward Lucien, showing off the golden triangular trident symbol of the Aether Foundation.

"These special bracelets give the crystals their power, meaning they can be used no matter where you are in the world. My parents gave me this one on my 16th birthday, a few days before I evolved. They knew I was close because I started getting aggressive and angsty heh."

Lucien gleamed at the bracelet.

"I wish I had something special like that. It looks so cool!"

He chuckled, but Lyman looked at him, confused.

"Can't you Mega Evolve? I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to get your hands on Lucarionite."

Lucien looked away, and 'tch'd'.

"I had gotten one from my dad before I came here, but I left it with my sister. I didn't want to accept any gifts from him, so I gave her my Mega Stone as a parting gift, so she could use it to protect herself and my brother should she need to."

Lyman smiled.

"Well that was sweet of you. My sister only got a tuft of my fur that she pulled off when my parents had to pry her off of me when I was leaving."

Lucien giggled, lightening up a bit. Lyman chuckled at the memory, before looking at his phone, realizing he had to leave soon.

"Alright. I gotta go now. I'll see you later."

He grabbed his bag, and put his phone in his pocket, waving goodbye to his roommate.

"Good luck! I'll be watching!"

Lyman smiled as he left the house, making his way to the gym stadium.

...

When he arrived, several of his classmates were already there. Most of them already had on fitness clothing, and were sitting in the stands, waiting for the assessments to begin. He checked the notice board, which already had who his peers would be facing. He found his name, and noticed he was facing an Inteleon named Pelton Fischer. He didn't know him personally, but he knew he was good. He inwardly groaned, realizing it wasn't going to be an easy battle.

He went walked into the locker room, and picked a locker. He put his bag, which held his change of clothes, inside it, and was checking his phone one last time when a shadow loomed over his device. He looked to his side, to see his future opponent, who was just an inch shy of being his height. The blue reptile looked him up and down while smirking.

"So you're the notorious Lyman Gibbs. The Lycanroc who's near double the size of the rest of his species, sports a permanent scowl, and is always seen latched to a Lucario. You've must have some bad karma to have been picked to by my opponent today."

Lyman kept sifting through his phone, not bothering to look up.

"I see my reputation precedes me. I hadn't realized people cared about the company I keep."

There was a glint in Pelton's eyes as he leaned against the locker next to him.

"You should know by now, rumors spread fast around him. Of course people would notice when a lonesome and quiet Lycan such as yourself would suddenly find himself abnormally close to someone out of the blue."

Lyman lifted a brow at the insinuation, easily growing annoyed.

"We're friends. That's it."

Pelton chuckled, smiling.

"I don't know...you guys seem awfully close to just be friends. Care to enlighten me so we can put an end to this rumor?"

Lyman glared at him, taking his attention away from his phone. He wasn't stupid enough to fall for such a lie, he knew people couldn't care less about his company or relationship status. The cocky lizard was just trying to strike a nerve to get him wound up before their battle.

"There's nothing going on. And even if there was, it wouldn't be any of your business."

The Inteleon gave him a cocky grin, and leaned against the locker. He lifted a brow, taking notice of Lyman's Z Crystal.

"Heh, of course it's not. I take it you're from the Alola region?"

Lyma huffed, and nodded.

"Yeah. Poni."

The reptile snickered, before laughing a little, holding his hand over his mouth. Lyman raises a brow, curious as to what's funny.

"I apologize. I was actually somewhat worried about fighting you, but it turns out your from that wasteland! I can't believe I let myself be intimidated by a mere farmboy."

He laughs a little louder, and Lyman glared at him, growling. The Inteleon regains his composure, and starts to walk away.

"I see I've made someone angry. I'll leave you alone I suppose. See you in the battlefield farmboy. Hopefully your loss won't be too shameful."

Lyman glares at the Inteleon as he leaves the locker room, before finally shutting off his phone, putting it in his bag, and closing the locker door. He exhales loudly, calming himself, and leaves the locker room as well, ignoring the stares from anyone else in there.

As they made their way to the stands, the professor, a Machamp who was nicknamed Mr. Flex, called for their attention.

"As you all know, today we'll be conducting your battle assessments! It consists of you using what I've taught you in battle, where you'll be pitted against one another. If you haven't seen already I've already displayed your opponents for the day. I've taken it upon myself to pick and choose who you'll be facing based on my own observations. I believe I've chosen fairly, and everyone is fighting someone just as skilled as they are, in my opinion. Don't worry about winning the battle, I'm only watching to see 3 things."

Like his namesake, as he listed each thing he'd be watching for, he flexed his arm and chest muscles in 3 different ways.

"Those are how well you can analyze your opponent and come up with a counter act to their strategy, how well you use your surroundings, and seeing how well you focus and keep a cool head during the match. And with that being said, will the first 2 students please make your way to the field?"

...

By the time it was his turn to battle, there were only a few people left in the stands. Everyone who had battled already were permitted to go home, but some stayed to check out the rest of the matches. The professor called his and Pelton's names, telling them they had 5 minutes to prepare. Lyman was stretching, pumping himself up, and looked over at Pelton. He was given another cocky grin, and looked away while growling, trying not to let his opponent psych him out.

The 5 minutes went by quickly, and the professor called for them to go to the battlefield. It had been reset and cleaned, and was ready for them. As they walked over, the field they'd be fighting on had appeared on a screen on the side of the field. It displayed their names, as well as the type of field they'd be fighting on: a Watery Canyon.

When the solid holographic field formed, they were surrounded large rocky walls, some with waterfalls flowing down to meet pools of water. It was a large area, with several rock pillars protruding from the ground. Most of the area was covered in water, and it barely reached Lyman's ankles. He worried that the water would slow him down, but since it didn't go too high he discarded that idea.

His ears twitched when he heard Pelton call to him from across the field.

"It's unfortunate that we've been assigned this field farmboy. This area is near perfect to put my magnificent skills to use. It's a shame you won't get to see much of them before our battle is over."

Lyman huffed, waiting for the professor to signal for them to begin. The professor took to the stands with the rest of their peers. Lyman took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He exhaled once more, before cracking his knuckles and opening his eyes, glaring hard at Pelton. The professor signaled for them to begin.

Lyman immediately ran sideways, avoiding Snipe Shots from Pelton, who'd jumped backwards into one of the pools of water near the canyon walls. Lyman took cover from the rest of the shots, and looked around, barely managing to avoid another watery bullet. He ran to another rock, trying to locate his opponent, but got grazed in the shoulder with another Snipe Shot, causing him to hiss in pain. He managed to find Pelton, who'd perched himself on a platform that was next to the waterfall atop the pool he'd jumped in. He was sporting his signature cocky smirk, with a black nictitating membrane extended over his eyes. He was kneeling, while holding his hand like it was a gun with 2 of his digits pointing right at him. Lyman looked around, trying to formulate a plan.

He has a clear advantage here. I'll need some cover from those Snipe Shots if I'm gonna get him down from there.

He turned as he heard Pelton call out to him again.

"If you're just going to hide, you might as well forfeit now so as not to waste anyone's time. It would be less shameful for you that way."

He 'tch'd' but ignored the taunt. He knew getting angry would make him lose focus. He kept looking around, and realized there was a decent amount of space between the canyon wall and the rock pillar he was behind. He devised a small plan, and used Rock Polish, a move he learned from Lucy's dad which doubled his speed. This made his body and fur glow orange.

Feeling light on his feet, he bounced a little, before sprinting from behind the pillar and punching the ground hard, using Stone Edge. A large wall of jagged rock pillars formed from his position to the wall of the canyon, hitting the wall with a thud. This caused Pelton to lose his footing, and stumble a little. Lyman used this chance to sprint to the wall, being covered safely by his wall of pillars. He made it there quickly, but not before Pelton regained his composure. He took aim at the Lycan once more, as said Lycan used Rock Climb, extending the claws on his feet letting him scale the wall with ease. He barely dipped and dodged oncoming water bullets, and jumped onto the platform.

He landed on his feet, and kept his momentum going, running toward Pelton in a flash, his eyes glowing red. Pelton quickly took his stance, letting loose three Snipe Shots. Lyman side stepped 2 of them, but the third scraped his side. He ignored the pain, and before a fourth one was fired he readied his fist.

"Sucker Punch!"

He landed a clean hit, punching Pelton right on the left side of his face. Pelton stumbled backwards, but caught himself quickly, doing a backflip to jump out of the way of another Stone Edge from Lyman. He jumped off the side of the platform, and extended the membrane on his back, allowing him to glide through the air.

"Air Slash!"

Lyman covered his face, not being able to counter or avoid it this time. He grunted in pain from the cuts and scratches, and watched as Pelton glided down to the rock pillars down below. He slammed a fist into the ground, using Stone Edge once more, to knock over the pillar his opponent landed on, but was too late. Pelton had landed on the pillar and immediately jumped off, landing safely on the ground amidst the pillars below.

As quick as a blur, Lyman jumped down the cliffside and slid down, trying to lessen the amount of space between him and Pelton. His eyes widened as a beam of ice was shot on the cliffside, covering it in ice. Lyman easily lost his footing, and slipped, falling to the ground with a thud. He groaned as he got up, shaking off the pain, and getting to his feet quickly. His eyes darted around the field, mild panic ensuing when he realized his opponent was nowhere to be found.

Just he started devising another plan, he was met with more Snipe Shots, which he avoided, but they ricocheted off of the icy wall behind him, and hit him in the back. He groaned, realizing he didn't have much energy left. He decided to throw caution to the wind, and ran around the field, occasionally dodging Snipe Shots and punching the ground using Stone Edge, causing a massive amount of pillars to arise. Eventually there were pillars everywhere, but Pelton was still gone. His ears perked when he heard a call seemingly from nowhere.

"Surf!"

The entire field rumbled, and Lyman's eyes widened with shock. As quick as a flash, he used Rock Climb to take hold of the wall, barely avoiding the massive wave that washed over the entire field. It destroyed every single rock pillar, leaving a clear field with nothing but a smirking Inteleon standing in the center. Lyman slid down and off the wall, huffing slightly. The Inteleon chuckled at the sight.

"I must admit, I'm surprised you've lasted as long as you have. I figured a few of my Snipe Shots would take you down in an instant. I guess you're tougher than you look."

Lyman caught his breath and stood up straight. Pelton pushed his head fin back, letting it flick upright, and pointed at Lyman. The black membranes covered his eyes again, and he smirked once more.

"But enough talk. Let's end this shall we?"

Before Pelton got the chance to fire, Lyman held his Z bracelet up, and turned his crystal, activating it. Pelton looked at him in confusion as Lyman howled loudly, causing a massive pillar to erect under the reptile. Pelton fell over, and looked up at Lyman, who'd jumped onto another platform on the wall, this time his body glowing gold. Pelton cursed himself, realizing he couldn't avoid this.

Lyman jumped onto the the surface of the canyon, and howled once more, causing the sky to briefly become dark, and small sharp stones to rise from the ground and point themselves at Pelton. He jumped, and glared down at Pelton, eyes glowing red, then lunged down at him with his claws extended, and the rocks followed suit.

"Splintered Stormshards!"

He quickly slashed at the Inteleon, and the debris honed in on him as well, creating an exploding cloud of smoke. When the cloud was cleared, all that was left was a fainted Inteleon, who had the stereotypical swirls eyes and was groaning.

The small crowd clapped and cheered, and Mr. Flex had declared Lyman the winner of the match. Lyman huffed, and his Rock Polish effect finally subsided. He waited for his professor to walk over and check to see if Pelton was okay, before walking up to Lyman.

"Amazing job! I'll email you the details of your score during Winter Break, and like the rest of the students, you're permitted to leave for the rest of the day or take a seat in the stands to spectate the rest of the matches."

He gave Lyman a pat on the back, and a thumbs up, before picking up Pelton, and carrying him to the bleachers, where a Chimecho nurse was waiting to treat fainted students.

Lyman walked back to the locker room, and showered. He quickly dried off, and put on his change of clothes, which was just a black T shirt and green cargo shorts. He had his towel around his neck, and was reading over the texts he'd gotten from his friends after the battle.

Luc: I watched your battle! You did awesome! Let's hope you got a good score!

Browless: Knew you had it in you. Good job.

GoofyIdiot: You looked so cool bro! I still wish you'd have let me borrow that Z Crystal when I did my test lmao

He smiled when he got to the one from Lucien, hiding his phone screen from any prying eyes from the embarrassing contact name.

Roomie3: Ahhhh! I knew you were good, but not THAT good! That was amazing! I already made something nice to celebrate!

He smiled to himself once more, his heart fluttering a bit. He put his phone in his pocket, put his towel in his bag, and walked over to the locker room exit. He waved goodbye to Mr. Flex, who told him to enjoy his break. He was about to leave, when he noticed a familiar reptile waiting for him at the hall leading to the stadium exit. He glared at the Inteleon, who only smirked at him.

"That Z Crystal packs a punch. You use it quite well."

Lyman rolled his eyes, and prepared to walk passed him, but the Inteleon followed.

"I am shocked at my loss, but I will not say I didn't learn from it. I apologize for being rude and presumptuous before, about your homeland, your friend, and for calling you a farmboy as well. You're a magnificent battler, and I'm happy to have been your opponent today."

He bowed apologetically, and Lyman's gaze softened. The Inteleon gave him a wholehearted smile this time, and Lyman rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Don't try to suck up to me cause you lost."

Pelton chuckled and smiled again, which made Lyman half smile a little. He'd never admit to the cocky lizard that he enjoyed the battle too, even if he was being a dick the whole time.

"A charmer I see. It was a fun battle regardless."

They reached the exit, and Lyman put a paw on the door. Pelton smiled one last time.

"This is where we part ways, however. I have to gather my things before I leave for the day. Enjoy your break."

With that, he walked away, and Lyman left the stadium.

When he got home, he was greeted by an overjoyed Lucario, who had hugged him and told him that he was impressed by his battling. He told him how cool he thought he was, making the Lycan blush a little. He then realized it'd been a while since he'd been happy to have someone be proud of him.

As he ate his favorite dish of shrimp and pasta that Lucien made to celebrate, he thought about how he'd been embarrassed and afraid to receive praise from anyone, thinking that it would only earn him angry stares and looks of jealousy. He usually trying to undermine any praise given to him, or was made to feel like it was obligatory, and that the person didn't actually mean it. It felt good to have someone think he was cool, and be happy with something he'd accomplished. He was glad it was Lucien.

And that's that! I absolutely love writing battle scenes, though they're hard to tie into romance stories, so I'm glad I somehow made this work. Hope you all enjoyed this, see you all next time!