Several days had passed since Tanner started learning about this place. It was strange, but the world had rules that kinda made sense. Types, moves, energy. He was getting better at remembering what moves were effective against which types of pokemon.

Tanner was lucky. He only needed to watch out for dark type moves.

He had started to learn the names of different pokemon too. Miss Ramona was a Florges, Tony the baker was a fighting Decidueye. He was also learning that some pokemon had different types. There were two different kinds of Zorua that had been discovered - dark type, and ghost-normal type. He might have been a dark type, if things had been different.

Tanner would have preferred to be a dark type.

"Dark is good typing, though I'm partial." Landon chuckled. "Ghost normal typing is very strong though. The biggest difference between the two is the moves that you have an aptitude to learn. You'll be able to learn more moves that deal ghost damage, and fewer dark moves than if you were a dark type. That, and the appearance."

"That's kinda the most important stuff though. Other than being a fox, I am a completely different pokemon than a dark Zorua." Tanner grumbled as he admired the image of a dark Zorua in the book in front of him. To think that he might have been black and red and cool, instead of white and pink and wispy.

"No, not necessarily. Your ability stays the same." Landon mumbled, while scratching his ear with his back paw.

Tanner looked over confused.

Landon sat up and paused for a moment, before sighing. "I haven't explained abilities, have I?"

Tanner shook his head.

"Alright. Each pokemon species, regardless of their type, has an ability. Some abilities are shared between pokemon, and some pokemon can have different abilities. For example, you are a Zorua, you have two evolutions, but only one ability- Illusion."

"Illusion?" Tanner sat up, and his ears perked up curiously. What did that mean?

"Yes- I'll explain that in a moment." Landon put a paw on his chest as he spoke. "Now, abilities usually give some advantage in a fight. Some are stronger than others. Mine allows me to absorb the power of a fainted pokemon. Tessa's ability, inner focus, allows her to focus her energy more easily in combat, and ignore painful attacks. Yours is... unique, and particularly strong. Zorua can project illusions onto themselves, or nearby."

Tanner paused, waiting to see if there was a catch. Surely it wasn't that cool, right?

"Wait, really? So I can just..." Tanner sat up excitedly, considering what this meant. "I can make illusions of fire or whatever appear?"

Landon nodded and his tail wagged in response to Tanner's excitement, flattening the grass as it did. "Yep. I haven't spent too much time with Zoroark, but as far as I'm aware, it can be whatever you'd like it to be."

"How do I do that?" The more time he spent here, the more it was becoming a sweet deal. Tanner definitely still wanted to go home, but he was going to be able to make illusions and do magical attacks along the way, which was pretty cool.

"That is what I wanted to work on today. Well, not that specifically, but channeling your energy. Pokemon use moves by focusing the energy inside themselves into… moves, I guess. You need to be able to channel your energy." Landon sat back up as he explained.

Tanner was expecting this kind of thing. He did need to learn how to use moves if he was going to go do his mission or whatever.

"Okay." He said nervously, sitting up straighter.

"The first thing I want you to do is relax. Get comfortable."

Tanner tried his best. It wasn't easy, as he still wasn't familiar with his body. He hadn't been sleeping very well, and he still needed to concentrate on walking occasionally.

"Alright. What next?" Tanner asked after a few moments of relaxing.

"Now, I want you to close your eyes, and look inside yourself. Every pokemon has energy innately within them. 'Mon use it differently, some through their emotions, some move the energy through their body or an object. For now, try to find it." Landon explained.

Tanner 'looked inside himself' for some kind of energy. He had no idea what it would feel like, or where it would be. In his chest? The back of his mind? He couldn't find anything. Maybe it was used through his emotions. Tanner tried to listen to his feelings. He felt awkward, which didn't help.

Tanner opened his mouth to tell Landon, but the Mightyena interrupted.

"Take your time. Be patient with it, the first one is always the hardest. Especially for you, since you're new to this." Landon spoke slowly, as if to make sure that Tanner understood every word. "For me, there's this darkness inside me, like a shadow. It's not frightening, it's comforting. It's always there, and I can use the energy when I need it."

"There's a shadow deep inside you?" Tanner opened his eyes as he asked Landon. The Mightyena nodded in response-

"Yes, though I'm a dark type. I don't know what it's like for a ghost and normal type. That's what we're trying to figure out."

Again, Tanner wished that he was a dark type, but closed his eyes. What did ghosts feel like? Cold? Spooky? Tanner couldn't feel anything like that. Looking for something that felt 'normal' was just as pointless. None of it felt normal.

"You said I can use the shadows too, right? Like what you did last time?" Tanner asked. He had no point of reference for ghost type moves, but he also really wanted to be able to do what Landon did.

Landon stood and nodded again. "Snarl? You can, and we can try it. It might be easier for you to learn ghost type moves, but I'll be able to help you more with Snarl. It comes partially from the sound you make- the sound of the move paired with the right energy."

"What does snarl sound like again?" Tanner remembered that it was scary, but a reminder would help.

As he expected, Landon stood and bared his fangs. He snarled a gravelly ferocious sound, like a rabid dog. Again, it made Tanner's heart jump. Dark fog gathered around Landon's fangs, though not as much as last time.

"It takes some practice to get right," Landon encouraged, as he turned and looked back at Tanner.

Determined to get the sound right, Tanner stood up on his feet. Landon's snarling wasn't quite a growl- it was more menacing than that.

Putting in his best effort, Tanner tried to growl. Surprisingly, it worked. It was higher pitched than he was expecting, but it was a competent growl.

"Not a bad start. Try breathing into it more." Landon commented.

Tanner was pretty sure he could figure it out. He tried again, growling more forcefully, trying to snarl.

"Gaarrgr" Tanner snarled.

"Pff- Sorry." Landon tried his best to hide a smile. "That's pretty good, it's a little too forced though. It should be a natural sound."

Tanner scowled. He would figure this out or die trying.

"Khrrrearr." It wasn't quite right.

Landon stood and walked up beside Tanner, then crouched down.

"Here- with me. Try to copy the sound I make." Landon then took a deep breath and snarled. The deep, guttural sound reverberated in his throat, and shadows flickered around the Mightyena's fangs. Tanner nodded, took a deep breath, and the two pokemon snarled together- or at least Tanner tried to.

"Good. Try again, breathe into it."

Several hours passed, with Tanner and Landon trying a variety of ways to get him to be able to use a move. Nothing worked.

"Don't be discouraged, I didn't expect you to get it on the first try." Landon nuzzled Tanner's ear affectionately.

"How long does it take"? Tanner couldn't help but be discouraged. He didn't know what he was doing wrong. He could do the snarl sound, but he felt nothing and wasn't able to shoot energy out of his mouth.

"For me, bite took a few weeks. Remember what I said? To use moves, you have to know about yourself. To learn a new move, you have to learn about yourself. With a new body, you have a lot to learn." Landon said gently.

"I didn't learn anything though…"

"We learned what didn't work, right? It takes time. It took me a long time to learn Bite. I was worried and putting pressure on myself and couldn't figure out the energy. It was only after I trusted myself that I learned to use the move."

Tanner appreciated that Landon had a hard time starting out too, but none of this helped him. He needed to know how to use Snarl in a more specific way than 'trust yourself.'

"So you're saying..."

"What I'm saying is-" Landon interrupted. "Be patient. Everyone's is different, and it takes time to figure it out."

"I don't want to wait weeks though." He couldn't wait that long. He didn't want to spend weeks growling at the wind…

"I know." Landon stood and brought his snout against Tanner's ear affectionately. "Let's call it a day and get some rest, yeah?"

Tanner sighed and nodded. He wasn't sure that would help him feel better.

Landon led back down the hill, rambling about ideas to help with training.

Tanner lingered for a moment, looking out into the wilderness on the edge of town, feeling dejected. Bright starts shone down on an unfamiliar landscape. Strange creatures called out from the dark forest, hooting and screeching in the night.

Tanner's fur blew in an unseen wind.

He relented, and let his furry paws carry him back into town.