Bright and early that next morning, a sleeping Cassidy's ears were graced with a noise so loud and thunderous that for a split second she thought a jumbo jet was taking off. But when her eyelids lifted and she turned her head to her right to see what the source of this horrible sound was, she realized it was just her dozing partner.

He snored. Loudly.

Cassidy scowled, muttering furiously under her breath as she threw the covers back, grabbed her uniform and stomped into the small ensuite bathroom, slamming the door behind her in hope that it would wake him up and stop that unbearable noise.

God, she could still hear it with the shower running. She was certain now that living with him was going to be a nightmare. That voice, his snoring, the fact that he was so overly irritating. How she'd be able to tolerate him for the rest of her days was a complete mystery to her. Maybe if she treated him badly enough, he'd get fed up and beg for a new partner.

Fortunately, by the time Cassidy had showered, gotten dressed and done her hair, Butch's snoring had ceased. She came back into the bedroom and plunked herself down at the end of her single bed with her cosmetics bag and a compact mirror, back facing to her partner who was still laying in bed, clearly not having been awake for very long.

She could see him through the small mirror as she began to apply her moisturiser, and she let her violet eyes stay fixed on him for a moment. Why on earth did he still seem to look so darn attractive with his hair dishevelled and a groggy expression on his face? It wasn't fair. Why did he have to be so... handsome, like that? It made it the slightest bit more difficult to hate him. The blonde frowned when she caught the subject of her thoughts staring right back at her, probably thinking she couldn't see him. "Is there a problem?" she snapped suddenly.

"...Not that I'm aware of."

She gritted her teeth, cringing at the sound of that raspy voice. "Then I suggest you quit staring at me. Thanks."

Butch sighed, but obediently looked away. It was hard not to stare at the golden-haired beauty. She was very pretty, even if her personality was...well, ugly. "Sorry. Must've spaced out," he mumbled, running a hand through his green hair as he let out an exaggerated yawn. "Didja sleep well?"

"Yes," she responded irritably, rubbing the smooth, cold moisturiser into her skin, her free hand keeping the mirror held up in front of her face. "By the way, are you aware that you snore like a bulldozer?"

"Ah, yeah. It's a...problem, I know," he said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck, chuckling. "Sorry about that. Guess you'll just have to get used to it."

"How can I get used to that? If I start losing beauty sleep because of your terrible snoring..." She paused, realizing there was pretty much nothing she could do about it. "...Well, let's just put it this way, I'll put a stop to it."

"Heh, that doesn't sound too promising."

She blanked him, rummaging through her bag for mascara.

Butch cast his eyes down at the lack of response. "..So uh...do you wanna go down to the cafeteria and get breakfast?"

"Whatever. I was going there anyway," she replied, her voice an unamused monotone.

Butch watched her in silence for a few minutes as she went through her bag. She was even doing that in an irritable manner, taking things out and slamming them down on the bed beside her. What a little brat. He'd been hoping that the way she'd been acting the other day was all down to a bad mood. He'd hoped that when they woke up the next morning she'd be a completely different girl. But no. She was definitely still the same, no doubt about it.

He stayed quiet for a moment longer before finally getting up and picking up his rumpled pile of clothes from the end of his bed. He paused as he passed his partner to go into the bathroom, and for a split second it looked as if he was about to speak, that shy expression on his face. But then he quickly carried on to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Cassidy's eyes trailed around the packed cafeteria, her cheek resting in her palm while her other hand distractedly stirred her cup of coffee on the table. It was amazing how many trainees there actuallywere in this place- there wasn't another free table in sight. The blonde wearily turned her head to glance across the small table at her partner, who was casually munching on his toast. Even that irritated her. "Do you have to chew with your mouth open like that?" she snapped, disgustedly averting her eyes elsewhere.

Butch glanced up and intentionally exaggerated his open-mouthed chewing, which earned a frown from Cassidy. "Force of habit," he began, pausing to swallow. "Like it even matters."

"It matters if I have to see the ground up food in your mouth, it's gross," she retorted with a roll of her lavender eyes. "Anyway, just hurry up and eat, I don't want to be stuck here all day."

His teal-tinted eyebrows rose. "Oh, so you're already putting your 'team leader' skills into good use, huh, blondie?" he said, sitting back and crossing arms across his chest. "I'll take as long as I like."

"Pathetic," Cassidy muttered, lifting her cup of coffee and taking a brisk sip. It seemed he wasn't taking her attitude quite so seriously anymore and his confidence was peaking just a little. But she wasn't planning on letting him get away with being a smartass towards her; she was team leader, she deserved respect and nothing less. "You can take as long as you like, you raspy creep. I'm finishing my coffee and leaving, got it?"

He shrugged casually, attempting not to let her hostile words bother him. "Sure," he replied. "Where ya going?"

"The gym. Official training starts tomorrow so I wanted to ready myself," she replied.

"Good idea, I'll come with you."

She heaved a frustrated sigh at his resounding response, pinching the bridge of her nose in aggravation and then glancing to her side with a weary-eyed expression. "You don't have to follow me every god-damn place I go."

"...I- I know," he replied, the annoyance in her voice making him cringe just slightly. God, if only she knew how much of an idiot she was making him feel. "But that doesn't mean everywhere you go is off limits to me. Or does it? Only, I wasn't aware you owned this building. "

She turned her head back and glared at him with piercing violet eyes. "Tell me something- do you think you're funny?"

His mouth formed a smirk. "Well, I have my moments."

"Don't change the subject. I said you don't have to follow me every god-damn place I go, do you understand?"

He sighed, but managed to restrain rolling his eyes or something else that might annoy her even further. "You sure do have a problem with me, don't you? Look, I'm not following you, alright? But we're partners."

"So what? It doesn't mean we have to be together twenty-four seven," the blonde replied briskly, grabbing her unfinished cup of coffee and standing, the legs of her chair scraping across the floor as she got to her feet.

The moment she began to leave the table, Butch stood up too. "Well, yeah, it kinda does," he insisted as he followed closely behind her, despite the fact that her pace was increasing by the second and sheclearly didn't want him there.

A frustrated sigh escaped the blondes lips when she sensed him on her tail. "Go away," she ordered coldly, shoving past any other trainees in her path.

"You don't boss me around."

"Go away. Before I make you."

"You and whose army?"

"I'll warn you one last time."

"Wah. I'm terrified."

That did it. In the blink of an eye, Cassidy whipped round and sloshed her coffee over him, earning an extremely startled gasp and striking all the nearby tables silent. "Will that teach you to quit stalking me, scumbag?" she spat, fully aware of the attention she'd brought on to herself and her partner. There were a few whispers, chuckles, a lot of stares.

Butch just stood there, his expression a mixture of shock and humiliation as the warm liquid seeped through his top. He could feel his cheeks flushing bright red, just as he could feel everyone's eyes staring right at him. Were they laughing at him? Probably. Why couldn't he stand up for himself? He knew he looked pathetic. It looked like his plan of not having attention drawn to himself in this place had been well and truly ruined. He couldn't handle this. The staring, the whispers.

Everyone was waiting for him to do something. Cassidy bit her lip in amusement, failing to hold back a malicious smirk as her eyes remained fixed on her partner- urging him to react and embarrass himself even more. She couldn't tell whether anger was building up inside him or he was just shocked that she'd humiliated him in front of their peers.

Finally, he snapped out of it and budged; he huffed shakily and gave the blonde a violent shove, then darted out of the cafeteria with his head held down.

Cassidy smiled, slowly turning her head to glance at the onlookers. "Shows over, folks," she piped up breezily, giving a little shrug before turning on her heel and strutting out of the cafeteria; her head held high and a proud grin on her face- as if she really was pleased with herself for causing an unnecessary amount of mortification for someone who hadn't really been at fault in the slightest. But who cared? He'd leave her alone now, no doubt about it.

It was only a couple of hours later, when Cassidy was in the gym locker rooms, getting changed back into her uniform after a gruelling workout, that she began to feel...what was this...guilt? Her conscience was getting at her. She'd been far too occupied in the gym to pay heed to the remorse pecking away, but now she couldn't think of anything else. She kept picturing the look on Butch's face when she'd embarrassed him like that; he'd looked devastated. A mixture of pure mortification and anxiety. And the way he'd hurried out of there as fast as possible...

She pulled on her heavy black boots, sighing. It had been uncalled for. She was stubborn, but she wasn't completely evil to the core of her heart. Not quite. She felt guilt just as much as the next person, she just didn't act upon it. And she wouldn't.

"That was some cruel stunt you pulled in the cafeteria earlier today. You've only been here a few days, and you're already causing drama. Typical you."

Cassidy glanced up at the familiar voice, only to see her red-haired rival had entered the room and was rummaging through her locker for her uniform.

The blonde smirked, neatly folding her gym shorts and t-shirt up. "Well, you know me, Jessica. Cruella Deville."

Jessie rolled her eyes as she hesitantly began to remove her gym kit- a little insecure and self-conscious about doing this in front of her oh-so-perfect and hypercritical rival. "No shame, hm? I pity your partner- I'll bet any amount of money you're going to be the end of that unlucky chump."

"I'm the end of everyone, Jessie-Jess," Cassidy replied breezily, gathering her perfectly folded gym kit in her arms and standing up. She smirked across at Jessie; taking note of the red-heads insecure demeanour. "I'll be the end of you too if you don't watch your back. That is, if you can actually turn your head enough to see your back, fat ass," she added scornfully, giving a few scornful snorts of laughter as she headed over to her locker.

Jessie stopped in her tracks, scowling. "Sorry, what did you just call me?"

"Fat ass. It's just, you look like you've gained weight since Pokemon Tech," Cassidy replied matter-of-factly as she put her kit away, closing her locker door behind her. She turned around and gave Jessie a sickeningly sweet smile. "But the funny thing is, you're still flat chested as ever."

Jessie did her best to ignore the remarks, though she couldn't help a few tears of anger springing to her blue eyes as she hurriedly began to put her uniform on, which was as red as her cheeks. "I know for a fact that's not true, you bitch," she snapped, stuffing her kit away and slamming the door of her locker, causing a slight echo in the empty room. She kept her back to Cassidy, her palm still resting on the cold metal of the locker door. "You're just trying to get at me, but it won't work. Not anymore."

"Get at you? Now, why would I do a thing like that?" Cassidy replied innocently. She forced a sympathetic expression and sighed. "Why are you so bitter, Jessie...?"

"Oh, please..."

"It's because you're jealous, isn't it?" the blonde continued, her voice remaining soft and sensitive, although the vindictive glint in her eyes was anything but. "Jealous because...you always wanted to be like me? I was popular, you weren't. I got straight A's, you got F's. I had guys all over me, you had nobody. I-"

"Just shut up, Cassidy!" Jessie hissed, whipping around to finally face the girl, a furious scowl embedded on her flushed face. Her gloved fists were clenched tightly, and she was putting all her efforts into not reaching across to give Cassidy the punch she deserved. "I-I'm not jealous of you, alright? I don't care if you were popular, I don't care if you were smarter, I don't even care if you're supposedly 'prettier' than me or if you got all the guys in Pokemon Tech! Can't you get it into your conceited little mind that the reason I hate you is because you're an evil, backstabbing skank who takes pleasure in making other people feel utter shit!"

Cassidy only pressed her lips together, eyebrows raised innocently, as if surprised by her rivals outburst. Jessie's temper was nothing new to her, however- getting a reaction was as easy as one two three. "I thought...you weren't going to let me get at you?" the blonde chirped in a childlike tone, batting her lashes as if she was confused.

Jessie swallowed, forcing her squared-up shoulders to relax. She held her head up. "...I'm not. See?"

Cassidy just scoffed, the innocent look fading to a disapproving snarl she passed her rival. "Whatever, weirdo."

With that, the blonde stalked out of the locker rooms, a satisfactory glint in her eyes. Seeing Jessie all worked up and bothered by the harsh taunts just fuelled Cassidy's malice even further. She knew she'd have to be sneaky with 'Operation make-Jessie's-life-hell' – something that she hadn't quite completed back in Pokemon Tech. Physically hurting her was out of the question- there was no way she'd be dumb enough to risk getting kicked out of the Academy all for Jessie's sake. But verbally hurting her was okay, for now, until she could come up with some 'genius plan' to completely sabotage the magenta-haired girls potential success. No way would she let that loser make it to agent status. Not a chance.

Cassidy went straight back to her room after getting herself a diet Coke from one of the vending machines near the cafeteria. As she expected, Butch was in the dorm room, sat at the top of his bed watching something on their small tv- although he didn't look too interested in what was going on on the screen. More like he was off in a daydream. He snapped out of it, however, when he heard the door briskly being shut, and his eyes met Cassidy's.

The green-haired young man quickly looked away, heart pounding a little as his partner strutted into the room. After the stunt she'd pulled earlier that day, he was unsure of how to act towards her. Ignore her? Give her a taste of her own medicine? Apologize... even though she was the one at fault? He swallowed and chose the first option, refusing to even glance over at her as she flopped down on her own bed and kicked her boots off. Maybe she would apologize.

"What's this boring junk you're watching?" the blonde demanded, scoffing at what looked like a documentary on the tv. She looked at him dumbfoundedly when she received no response. "Ignorant!" she chortled, snorting and shaking her head as she cracked open her can of coke. There was an extremely tiny, minuscule part of her, very deep down, urging her to just...say sorry and make amends. He was her partner, after all. But as always, her pride prevented the word 'sorry' from escaping her mouth.

"So, is this what it's going to be like? You won't respond to anything I say?" she pressed, making it seem like she was more amused than irritated by the fact he wasn't talking to her. "Rid-iculous."

"You seem pretty riled by the fact that I'm ignoring you," Butch eventually grunted, eyes staying fixed on the tv screen. "You just can't bear not having my attention, huh?"

"Oh, you're ignoring me? I could've sworn you just talked to me," she said sarcastically, flashing a glare at him. "Don't flatter yourself, honey, I'd rather you didn't talk anyway."

"Hey, I suggest you quit being rude to me," he replied briskly, reaching for the remote and clicking the tv off before finally managing to look her in the eye. He forced himself to stare her down, he would notlook away this time. Since when did a big boy like him allow himself to be bullied by a girl? "I went to see Viper today."

Cassidy blinked, her arrogant demeanour temporarily vanishing, being replaced with a bit of a concerned expression and a thudding heart. "What?"

"Mm. Went and told him about that incident in the cafeteria before. Ya know, when you threw your drink over me and caused a scene in front of everyone for...what was it? No reason at all?" He smirked the slightest bit, clasping his hands behind his head. "Boy, was Viper pissed when he heard about that little shenanigan! I'd prepare yourself for the worst if I were you, blondie, he told me he's thinking up an 'appropriate' punishment for you- and he sounded pretty grave when he said it. Gee, I wonder if you're gonna get expelled? And so soon...wouldn't that just suck?"

Cassidy's heart sank. Two days. Two days she'd been here and she was already in trouble with the Drill Sargent. If she got kicked out, she'd only have herself to blame. She'd have wrecked it for herself. Her last chance. "You snitch!" she blurted out angrily, a look of worry changing to an indignant scowl. "And to think, I was going to apologize to you at some point! Why would you rat out your own partner? Just because I got a little mad? You were pestering and following me, why couldn't you have just left me be? It's your fault, you should be-"

"Cool it, blondie! I'm messin' with ya."

She blinked, stopping dead in her tracks and staring at him dumbfoundedly."Sorry?"

"I was bluffing. Didn't go to Viper. I just wanted to see what you'd do if I had."

With her mouth slightly agape, she gave a knowing nod and attempted to look nonchalant again, secretly embarrassed for loosing her cool like that in front of him. And also, suddenly very grateful. "No duh. I knew that- I was playing along."

He smirked. "Course ya were."

Cassidy glanced away, pursing her lips into a tight line, almost the smallest smile, but not quite. "Well...I guess you'll be expecting me to thank you for not snitching on me, won't you?" she muttered after a slightly awkward pause.

"I think, if anything, 'sorry' is more in order than a thank you," Butch replied resignedly. "But you don't seem like the apologizing type so that's probably right outta the question."

"Yeah, it is," she said. She let her eyelids drop for a moment, heaving a sigh. Here went nothing. "But, I guess I could say I'm...slightly remorseful for my actions."

Butch looked over at her, surprised that she hadn't bitten his head off yet. Was that...an apology? "Yeah? Well...in that case," he began hesitantly. "I guess I could say I accept your...spoken expression of remorse."

"Right. Guess I could say I appreciate that."

"Good... so uh, we're okay?"

She smirked. "For now."