His Numel had been gifted to him as a child by well-meaning, though misguided, relatives. It was trained in the most basic sense, able to cleanly live indoors and fetch this or that, but nothing further.

The two he'd been given seemed to sense that, likely in large part due to their previous training, and flat-out refused to follow any orders he tried to give. He knew exactly how terrible that was, and so he decided to head out to the training grounds at night. Nobody would be around to see as he tried to follow the guidebooks and make something happen.

"You really suck at this."

Maxie nearly leapt out of his skin. He whipped his head around and scowled. Of course it was the loudmouth from the other day, because that was just his luck.

"What the hell are you doing out here?"

"I'm a guard you idiot," he said, and clearly tried to suppress a laugh. "Means I get stuck on night shift sometimes."

"Right. Well, anyway I have this covered." He tapped the book. "So if you'll excuse me..."

"The way you're having your Poochyena work is beggin' for a pulled muscle," the guard said casually. "And your Numel's gonna break its neck if you keep pushing it that fast. Just what I can tell in the dark."

He paused and frowned down at the guide. "Exactly how much training will they need?"

"Well, better than..."

"I mean in this organization. I wasn't expecting anything that'd need guards at all, much less ones following me around..."

"Are you asking if I'm not going to be able to keep you alive?"

He shifted. "Not in so many words..."

The guard sighed and looked at the group of lazing Pokemon. "Can't rule it out."

Maxie swallowed and nodded. "Right. Well, do you have a pointer or two?"

"Other than lose the book?"

"Preferably."

"Yeah, I have a couple." He fished out a Poke Ball. "Archie, by the way."

"What?"

"You never asked."

"Right." He straightened up. "Thank you, Archie."

His Numel had certainly been fat, which had been rather hard to admit since he'd never noticed. Within a few weeks the entire team was trimmed and responsive, certainly not to the level of the guard's but respectable for a young member of the research team.

The initiative hadn't gone unnoticed or unappreciated among his superiors. It was a strong career move to continue the lessons, he just wished there was a better way to keep them going than to follow every order unquestioningly. That included unnecessary ones like mandated grooming after training sessions. It was for an all-important bonding process or something, Maxie had more nodded along than anything.

"So when do they evolve?" he asked as he massaged shampoo into the Poochyena's coat.

"Depends. At the level you're working might be a couple years. But they'll get there." He reached over to give the Pokemon a scratch. "You have a good group."

"Glad to hear it. I hadn't expected it to be that long, though."

"You're only working out maybe an hour a few days a week. It's gonna take a while." He smirked. "Did you think you'd be rid of us that easily?"

"I'd like to be able to come back from fieldwork alive without having to be called 'bro' or 'dude'."

"Hate to break it to 'ya," Archie said as he passed over the hose. "But you're a long way off." He recalled his Zubat and slapped Maxie on the back. "But don't worry, bro. I'll get you there if I have to drag you."

The Poochyena braced itself to keep Maxie from face planting.

"You're too kind."

"Yeah, I know. Next lesson is going to require beer, by the way. At least a case, and nothing too cheap or stupid fancy." He headed back to the barracks for a few precious hours of sleep before his shift. "And yeah, it's mandatory for training."