42: Seeds of Doubt Planted

The Hayseed family name carries weight in the farmlands outside of Mistralton. Of that, there was no doubt. Myria Hayseed is a legend making rounds across the world. She is the golden child, the one that mattered.

Jaycen Hayseed never compared; until today. He finds no need to speak as he observes his map and heads toward Aria Islin. Soon he'd dethrone that petty woman, Raya, who dared claim a place higher than him. It isn't by birthright that he is so driven; the blood in him is just holding him back. He'd outdo them all.

…

Violet Pallet stands with confidence outside of a four-star challenge arena. By her side Tails chases a small Vivillon floating through the sky while Growley scans the horizon for any Pokémon dumb enough to get to stepping. Apeshizz hangs down from a nearby tree branch, shaking its head. Whatever the challenge is the Aipom couldn't find it.

"A mere S rank is all they could give me?" Violet's tone carries a hint of danger as she stares down at the challenge and ponders on the potential rewards. "These Mistralton punks better learn their place. Cyan's daughter doesn't settle for less than an X." Apeshizz calls out his name in response to her master. "Simple, Apeshizz. An X is all my foes ever see when they see their face on the board knowing I'm their foe."

Stepping into the forest, Violet spins a ball on the tip of her finger. Her boots crush the dirt and branches underneath; the result of any who stand in her path. Only two people ever gave her any kind of trouble and her only mission is to lay them both low. Her dad will be proud of her yet.

As the blue arena forms around the area, Violet licks her lips and awaits the inevitable attack. A branch breaks in the vicinity and her two fiery friends start sniffing the air and rushing down to meet the entity in the woods.

Out of seemingly thin air a fist covered in lightning rockets out from an unexpected point in the brush and lands directly in the gut of the sprinting Growlithe, knocking it into the air as an illusion fades to naught and Violet's foe appears before her.

The cocky Meowscarada twirls in place and bows, having taking great care to manipulate the scent of the field to lure the animals in for a counter. Once again it returns to invisibility, trying to play a game of cat-and-mouse.

"Heh. Aipom. Light it up." Apeshizz goes apeshit with a series of large Swift stars flying through the air, colliding with trees and rending branches in two. Tails ducks under them and lies low, blasting out Embers in every direction before landing a hit on the grass cat's toes.

The cat hisses and shrieks in anger as it tries to put itself out and is unable to stop the Swift attack from flying towards it. Waving its hands, thick vines block the attack before one of them strikes the Aipom hard enough to floor it. As the cat goes to bow once more, Growlithe bites it in the rear and unleashes a torrent of fire once it flinches.

Meowscarada stumbles forward into the open brush, allowing Violet to get a clear look at her attacker. "Just throwing an untrained full evo into an arena and calling it a challenge is a bit much, don't ya think?"

The grassy feline growls in anger and strikes the ground with its tail before leaping across the earth onto all fours. Each press of clawed foot against the earth shatters it as the feminine furry creature sprints at full speed.

Violet grins with a sinister smirk as she lifts her left leg high and right as the momentum of her foe reaches its terminal point, slams her foot down. The massive and lithe beast manages to duck out of the way of the attack only for its foe to crack it in the head with a baton hidden in her sleeve as she arcs her free hand down into the back of its head.

The stunned creature stumbles back and Violet lowers her body and begins throwing punches right into its gut before landing an uppercut right into its chin. As the powerful creature begins to stumble, Growley and Tails collide with its back in a double Flame Wheel as their bodies spin into the figure now flaming. Apeshizz jumps off of the top of Violet's back and lands an Iron Tail directly into the face of the now flying flaming feline, sending it to sleep and the ground below.

As Growley howls and Tails kicks dirt off of its paws onto the unconscious cat, Violet wipes the dust off of her hands. "So, what do I win losers?"

…

"It's startling, isn't it?" Shauntal adjusts her glasses as the arena fades away. "That Meowscarada's difficulty is the same as the Scyther's was, but an S-rank student is so far and away beyond a C-rank student."

Grimsley comments in between sips of his coffee. "Violet's also a trained combatant courtesy of the Iron Maiden and her father. Plus, that Scyther was unnecessarily aggressive. I expect it to attack someone else, now that it's untethered to its arena."

"I'd love to teach her personally." Marshall throws out a few practice punches at a dummy he had his partners drag up into the viewing box. "She gets my warrior spirit all agitated."

Caitlin remains in a dream-like state as her loyal partner Darach watches the festivities. "We have another match brewing, I think." His observation focuses in on two of the strongest fighters in the competition headed for a collision course.

"This is going to be a bitter match." Caitlin's eyes open as two of her best competitors close the gap between them. "This could decide the fate of the entire game."

"Uh, what about Raya?" Grimsley reminds her of the true highest-ranking fighter.

Caitlin's listless response embitters the Dark-type specialist. "She can't eliminate people by herself. Her threat level is muted when compared to the weight of my superior team."

Marshall folds his arms. "A lot of confidence for you this year, huh?"

"Can you name the last time my selected fighters didn't come out on top?" Caitlin's cool response leaves Marshall wracking his mind for an answer and then following silent.

"And it begins…" Shauntal's eyes light up; even she wonders how this next match will turn out.

…

Aria Islin stands at the ready, hand on her Ace's home as the wind whips her bangs up, exposing her forehead and steely gaze as her first and maybe only opponent of worth approaches her. "Hayseed's latest challenger approaches me. Your family doesn't need two champions, Jaycen. So why… are you here to start something so soon?"

The world pans forward onto the man marching on a mission as Jaycen, chewing on the edge of a single bit of straw in his mouth, grips it like a faux cigarette and pulls it from his chapped lips. "When I stepped foot into this arena, I knew damn well what two fools might give me a fight for a lifetime." Pulling the straw down and dropping it, his foot crushes it into the dirt below as he rubs it out. "Tha's gonna be you when this over, darlin'."

"Ohoho!"Aria laughs in such an imposing manner as she brings her partner's ball into her hands and spins it in place. "You seek to compete with Myria, is that it?" Jaycen bites his lip at the mention of her name. "Last I heard you can't even win a game of truths and dares." Skyla's story, relayed to her through Kelsie, comes to mind. "Those who know defeat once tend to keep it company."

"So let's make this challenge interesting, how about it?" Jaycen ignores the anger in his veins and focuses on unseating her. "How about we use only one of our team? That way we ain't exposin' all our skills in the first day."

Aria summons to the field her Cryogonal and watches her second partner shake some of the ice clinging to its body off. As it drips its watery coat onto the ground, the girl focuses on Jaycen and his insecure demeanor. "What kind of coward needs to hide his power from weaklings?" Her demeanor remains chilled and solid as the ice her partner shoots out onto the field around her. The cool air removes the sweat from her body as she breathes it in. "Thinking you're worth a rank above mine is egoism of the highest order."

Clicking his own Friend Ball to life and throwing with his ranch hand hay throwing arm, Jaycen shouts at the top of his lungs both to his partner, but also at his first foe. "You ain't fit ta survive the Weepin' Belle!"

The Weepinbell drops to the earth in front of him and makes a noise indicating a level of battle ferocity, but the high pitch voice and the goofy mouth leaves Cryogonal and Aria unperturbed. "Is its name a pun?"

"Well, ya see darlin'…" Jaycen accepts the duel conditions as the arena fills out around them. "A man once robbed my dear farm, and this here Bell… left his widow weepin' at the funeral."

Aria rolls her eyes and ignores his vain attempt at intimidation. "You'd be hard pressed to find a Pokémon of my training caliber that couldn't leave a man dead." As the arena finally fills out, Aria shouts out to the sky. "Cryogonal, begin Operation 3."

In an instant, a powerful Mist takes over the battlefield as the ice type manipulates the air, creating a powerful water vapor stream that culminates in a field covered in thick mist barely perceptible to a well-trained hunter, let alone Jaycen.

Jaycen merely closes his eyes. "It's like you to play defensively when you're afraid of what we can do."

Aria bickers with him like an impertinent wife. "Just because I'm making smarter moves than you doesn't mean you need to get all pouty." Her confidence soars as her Cryogonal reflects sunlight off of its shining body so she can track its movements from her end.

"Belle, we're taking this as seriously as we can. It's just you and me versus her and that paltry snowflake." Jaycen's derisive tone incises sweltering anger from the cool Cryogonal listening to him in the mist. "Throw in a good Razor Leaf at an angle of… sixty to one hundred degrees."

Belle cries out in compliance and twirls its body, still on the ground, to toss out razor sharp leaves that could cut stone and uses its twisting body to curl the pathways the leaves would fly around and glide at odd angles through the mist, covering a much wider range as the mist is literally cut through by the knife-sharp leaves.

As the leaves begin to pierce the veil of mist, one of them is frozen midflight and sent flying back. The leaf shreds through the lip of the barely-moving Belle, causing it to bleed and cry out in anger.

Subsumed by the mist, Cryogonal quickly floats away as several more lines of cutting edge leaves curve through the mist.

One of the leaves flies out at Aria and she dismissively raises her arm. The bracer attached to her glows bright as the leaf hits it and shatters. "Do be careful now, hick. Wouldn't want a misplaced attack to put you in prison now would we?"

"If you think that attack is deadly…" Jaycen steps back and grins. "Belle, use Gastro Acid!"

An attack that normally nullifies abilities becomes fatal as the potent concoction of toxins and poisons flows out of Belle's mouth, flying out at random intervals into the mist, hoping to catch its foe off guard.

Cryogonal turns sideways and begins spinning through the air particles like a shuriken as it carries the mist with it from its leaking mouth, making a snowy line that tracks across the field before it begins spinning around its foe. "Ice Shuriken!"

An improvised attack rooted in studying the graceful Greninja, Cryogonal turns midair and spins rapidly at Belle, cracking its head hard with its own icy body. The impact knocks the Weepinbell back as the spinning snowflake redirects itself midair, colliding with the area beneath its eyes with its sharp end, puncturing it like a water balloon.

This becomes a clear mistake as its Acid drips onto Cryogonal and melts it, causing massive damage, forcing it back and away from its wounded opponent.

"You're fighting an opponent you can't cut through." Jaycen speaks with pride as Belle shakes off the acid, the clear liquid burning through the grass near it. "I had ta work real hard ta qualify fer a license to use a Pokémon as dangerous as this, Aria. Ya get how strong I am now?"

Aria parts her bangs out of her face and smiles down at Jaycen. "You underestimate the danger we present, Jaycen. I can end that Belle without getting close."

Cryogonal fades into the mist and pops out in front of Belle as its master declares its next attack. "Finish this with an Ice Beam, Cryogonal!"

As the air chills to subzero temperatures, the beam of super effective ice fires right at Belle and coats it in excruciatingly cold ice as the move drains the literal color out of the plant.

…

"Are you sure you want to specialize into this typing, dear?" Aria's mother kneels down to meet her gaze as she clutches the newly-hatched Snorunt in her arms. "It's not a very viable type in combat."

Aria, a mere kindergartener, nods her head emphatically. "Yuki and I will be very via…. Viuh… good!" She jumps into the air with her playful Snorunt widening its eyes in fear before its master's small arms wrap around it again. "I found her, and I won't stop until the world knows our name, just like daddy!"

The older woman smiles despite her misgivings and rubs her daughter's head. "Be careful that fiery spirit of yours doesn't melt them, won't you?"

…

The blast knocks the Weepinbell high into the air. Without wasting a moment, the starry-eyed snowflake spins rapidly in the air again, shooting off like a rocket and bombarding the plant with blow after blow of rapid spins and damaging ice slams that send the creature hurtling into a tree.

As his partner collapses to the dirt and struggles to maintain consciousness, struggles to open its eyes, Jaycen watches in awe that she contained this powerful spirit within her.

Once he turns to see her smug face, it's overlaid with that of his gleaming sister. That smug girl, that brat, beating him at every turn…

His blood boils and with a shout he regains her attention. "That's it, Belle! Time for our Ace in the Hole!"

Belle shouts in tandem with its master and rises off of the ground with an extension of vines. Using the vines to keep itself suspended, Belle slams directly into the Cryogonal, knocking it out of balance. As it falters, Jaycen raises his arm into the air as a small Crystal lodged in his wrist watch begins to glow a sinister light. Following it up with a pose vaguely familiar to Aria, her eyes widen.

"Poisonium Z! Activate our most powerful move, Acid Downpour!"

Jaycen's call to battle is enough to wake the dead with his feral tone as his hick accent drops away and his eyes narrow in on his foes.

…

"He has a Z-Crystal!?" Grimsley's eyes widen at the potential dangers.

Caitlin laughs at the look on his face. "Of course a double-X ranked student would. He earned it in a trip abroad last year."

"We need to set up a protective shield for the area." Darach starts typing instructions into a nearby computer as other shields pop up around the local wildlife. "If we had known, we might have banned this."

"No." Alder says as he walks into the room, arms at his side as he walks. "I want to see his full potential."

Marshall holds his stomach as he lets out a chortle. "Hahaha! Just like you, Master, to want to sate your curious nature at the cost of the arena!"

Alder folds his arms and stares at the battle unfolding with no words leaving his lips. "This is a quick match, but a high-level one. I want to see it for myself."

…

Storms start forming in the air as the entire field darkens from the intense power coming off of Jaycen, Belle, and the air around them. Thunderous claps ring out as the sky's middling sprinkle turns into a sudden downpour. Acid from the dangerous Weepinbell is absorbed high into the sky and its very essence of poison leaks out into the atmosphere. A torrent of acid rain falls down, dissipating the mist easily. The snowstorm Cryogonal forms to protect itself is washed away and as the rain makes contact with and tears away at Cryogonal's icy form, it makes one last ditch effort to defend itself.

Unleashing Acid Armor, Cryogonal dissipates into a watery form and then fades away into the air.

This happens unbeknownst to its master, who watches in horror as her partner seemingly melts away. Her eyes well with tears as the rain destroys the ground between her and Jaycen, and her hands ball into fists as she contemplates following in Luke's stead.

As the rain dissipates, Jaycen speaks. "That's the proof of my dedication and slaving away at my job, lass." He tips his hat to her. "I take this deadly serious, ya get me?"

Before he can say more, the water in the air quickly gathers as Cryogonal reappears within range of Bell, striking it with another Ice Beam. This time Belle launches a swath of Razor Leafs into a makeshift Blade Storm, catching the ice off guard and battering it enough to leave it falling.

Belle stumbles back as ice coats its body, but the berry attached to it is swallowed as the ice falls away and the status effect is cleared.

Meanwhile, its foe falters and collapses to the dirt, unmoving.

As the arena closes down and deforms around them and the nearby shields drop away, Jaycen steps forward and pats his Weepinbell carefully to avoid any protruding poison. "There ya go, Belle. Another victory for Jaycen Hayseed."

A ding registers in his transceiver as his victory allows him to make one command of Aria as she rushes to Cryogonal's side, clutching him tightly. "You… did good, Cryo."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she bites her tongue as Jaycen speaks. "I told ya I would win, lass. Ya made the wrong choice targetin' me."

"I needed to beat you of all people." Aria spits out in anger. "Next time I'll…"

Jaycen scratches the back of his head and shakes it. "Why go after me, lass? Ya knew what I was like, yeah?"

Aria stands up right and returns Cryogonal to his home. "It's not just about your power. It's about the type matchup."

"Oh, my weakness to yer type, eh?" He nods in understanding. "If ya were after a test like that ya shoulda tried Skyla first."

"You know, that isn't a terrible idea…" Aria opens up her communicator and finds her name on the map. "I won't hold back next time…"

Jaycen shakes his head. "Ya know, targetin' your own team is bad faith, girl." He laughs it off and extends a hand out toward her. "No hard feelings…right?"

Aria gracefully meets his hand and shakes it. "Of course not; I started it." Pulling away, she pauses and looks around. "How about we camp together? I'd hate to be alone in this dark and scaaaary forest."

"I'm gettin' the fire wood, ain't I?"

Smiling wider than she has in a while, Aria throws her backpack to the ground and begins removing her tent poles attached to the sides. "And you're psychic? Why, aren't you amazing, Hayseed?"

Jaycen lets out a defeated sigh and grins as he moves toward the woods, tearing off damaged and dying branches from low-hanging trees. "No matter where I go, I'm gatherin' wood… If I don't make champion I could make a mean black belt."

"I have no doubts you won't make it." Aria's sudden admittance gives him pause. "I'm elite, training myself day and night. If you don't make it… what chance will I have?"

"Heh, you can be on the Elite Four if ya want." Jaycen jokes at their expense. "We can both be wavin' a flag for Alder if he don't retire."

"Hahaha, yeah, right? He's like a hundred." Aria's over exaggeration would have stopped that old man's heart on the spot.

…

"So what do you make of this group?" Finneas makes his way into a small clearing after leaving Raymundo behind to make camp. Rafael leans against a tree looking as dramatic as he always does.

As the match concludes and Jaycen Hayseed is marked the winner of the battle, Rafael makes note of it. "He won."

Finneas leans over and breathes in air as he struggles to regain his composure from sprinting up the incline to get to this meeting spot that Raya scouted out in the days before this all began. "Of course he did… Jaycen Hayseed is a monster of a man."

"The rankings don't matter as much as people think." Rafael Lopez stares down at his muscular frame and stretches one hand out, curling it to bulge his muscles out. "I'm far more capable than I've demonstrated to those old fools."

"Yeah yeah, talk your good shit…" Finneas groans in pain and summons his Wooloo. As the relatively large sheep appears, Finneas holds it close as he collapses to his knees, using it as a makeshift pillow and something to lean on. "I'm the weak one in our group and you can't let me live it down."

Rafael hides a smirk as he processes his partner's complaint. "You're better off than that Banks heiress. Half her team is so low-ranked it's startling one hasn't lost yet."

Finneas opens up his communicator and his eyes scan the names. The faces of the two fallen so far stare up at him; the young Darren sheepishly looking away from the camera and the bitter Janice hiding a scowl behind a fake smile as her fingers clench her dress in anger.

"The two out are Shauntal's, right?" Finneas puts weight back onto his feet as he stands upright. "Her team seems pret-ty weak this year."

Rafael stares down at the gloves covering his palms and closes his eyes. "Caitlin tends to nab people from Shauntal that could work in either team."

Finneas gathers up loose wool off of his friend and molds it around his neck in a makeshift scarf. "So when do you think Raya will send us in?"

"She doesn't need us." Rafael remarks bitterly. "You know that."

"So you think we're disposable to her?" Finneas grumbles under his breath. "We may not be Reyvin's chosen few, but we're still more useful than that Machamp chick."

Rafael's eyes darken as he balls his hands into fists. "If I had no collar on me, I'd destroy those gutless killers myself."

Finneas leans upright against a withered old tree and mocks Rafael by striking a similar cool guy pose with crossed arms and a smolder to mismatch with his goofy stare. "Yeah, using poison to kill a couple of kids is pretty sickening… but hey, Banks was a friend to Reyvin. We can't rule out that one of those two is…"

"I would never allow Miss Arces to indulge in keeping either of those monsters around." Rafael's anger is quelled by Finneas's defensive demeanor. "What I don't understand is the Levin kid."

"What's there to understand?" Finneas plays dumb as he runs his fingers up and down his fake scarf. "Guilty consciences do wonder to logical reasoning."

Rafael shakes his head. "No, he did not for a moment, for a second, sound like he regretted talking about it." He is wracking his mind for an answer and nothing, not a sliver of reasoning makes itself known to him. "Is he gloating, or just a fool?"

Finneas demonstrates his own enigmatic personality by seeing through what Rafael is unable to. "He's using that information against us."

"W-what?"

"When this round started, how many of us would target weaker people like his teammates or that Tyson fucker?" Finneas talks as plainly as he can. "Daisy's hunting them down regardless, but she wants all of them."

Rafael's mind intakes this new angle and nods in understanding. "He's luring attention to himself, but… It seems like a terrible plan. He has almost no battle experience."

Finneas wonders about that. "His team, perhaps, but he has fought himself like us, Rafi. If he can gauge opponents like he can the wild beasts, he might be capable of more than we know."

"Don't… call me Rafi." Rafael shudders at the nick name foisted upon him. "Even if that is the case, what would stop us from defeating him at the beginning of the game?"

"Do you think he really cares?" Finneas counters, his affable personality affording him more developed interpersonal skills. "He just admitted to murder. Even if he wins… even if they don't charge him, you think a school might accept him?"

Rafael rubs his chin in contemplation. "Perhaps you have a point, but then it begets another question." He raises his hand and punches down into his other open palm. "Why did Alder choose him?"

Before Finneas can respond, a message from their mutual companion comes in, and though Rafael's eyes widen, Finneas only grins. "Looks like she's curious too."

"He's done for if she goes after him." Rafael lowers his communicator. "Guess I don't need to concern myself with him."

"Yeah, no plan of his could defeat her… but then again, we could easily take him down, too. His strength is over projected by those old fools just because he survived an experiment gone wrong."

Rafael's hand lights up as fire courses along his fingertips before it extinguishes itself. "You know that describes us, too?"

Finneas waves his hand as static builds and sparks fly off of his delicate fingers only for his wool friend to dissipate the shocks with its massive body. "I'm an experiment gone very right, actually."

…

"What are you up to, Liz?" Luke finds himself somewhat amused as the Mienfoo enters his personal tent and shifts to sit up. He wipes the sweat from the late summer heat off of his body with a cooled blue towel next to his bed as he tries to fall asleep.

Liz enters the tent and approaches him timidly, her lithe body toned yet lacking in personality as she shuffles in awkwardly. "I… um… Lizzie and I, we…"

Luke figures out what she wants pretty easily. "You two were close, huh? Sleeping together like siblings, even?"

Hiding her blushing face, she finds a spot next to him and sits, feeling the warmth of the body next to hers and focusing on the fan loudly screeching as its metal hinges shake from its movement. Torbital had been very excited to see a rechargeable battery pack he could burn excess energy into so even his outbursts could be useful and helpful to his new friends.

"I doubt… I don't know if Lizzie ever…" Fighting between her doubts and the way her Master never once put her down, she struggles with her feelings. "Reyvin… he put me in her charge because I'm like Aqua, you know?"

Luke pauses, his eyebrow raising. "Please don't go on about how feminine you might look one day. Mark ruined my week with that, and Aqua, she's got weird ideas in her mind about me now because of him and that brat Daisy."

Lizzie looks down at her hands as she fiddles with her fingers. "Actually… I was… wondering… if that… if my origin is why… I'm so weak."

"Wh… Okay, racist. Explain to me how human blood makes you weaker?" Luke taunts her as he drinks from a half-drunk bottle of water mixed with some flavoring that turned it green.

"Well, I don't know for sure, I just…" Lizzie heaves a sigh that her body seems incapable of withholding. "I trained for years, but… Are these results the best I have? You put up a better fight against Tyson than I did, and you're just… a street fighter. No grace or proper training to be found."

Luke takes her jabs surprisingly well, from her perspective at least. "That might have to do with the fact your reason for fighting was gone already, but my team was right there." Luke cracks his neck and hurts himself; he knew that would be sore overnight. "If they were… If I had lost them already, I… I would have lost, I think."

"You don't mean that?" Lizzie's eyes widen and she fidgets nervously.

"Don't get me wrong, I'd have killed Tyson before I died…" Looking down at his hands, he smiles wryly. "Once blood is on your hands, you don't start separating the stains from the sources."

Lizzie tilts her head. "Uh, what does that mean?" Her lack of experience with people that weren't rooted in positivity and self-betterment leaves her at a loss.

Luke wipes the sweat off of his arms and wishes he could have just done this in winter. "A person might remember the first person they kill vividly, but I imagine if you kept doing it, it becomes numbing."

"That's horrifying. You're scary." Her blunt nature leaves him smiling at his own inadequacy as a person to talk with.

"Come on, really?" Luke rolls his eyes and leans back a bit. "You think an Ekans remembers every Pidgey hatchling it's feasted on?"

Lizzie's blood freezes in her veins. "I… that…"

Luke plants a finger against his left upper canine. "We're omnivores, you know? That means we eat Pokémon. But how do you decide what to eat and what not to?" The implications aren't pleasing to consider. "Even plants… have life to them." He stares out at Budew, resting in a planter, coated in freshly packed dirt. "A wandering Girafarig tears into a Sewaddle's leaves or a Houndour chases down a fleeing Rattata. If that's… normal… then what makes us different?"

"What are you saying?"

"Humans have to be hypocrites to live." Luke nods in understanding of his reality. "We'll kill a wild creature to eat and then murder a man because he slew another creature we just so happened to love. Isn't that awful?"

Lizzie thinks back on her own experiences, the diet and lifestyle of Grace and Lizzie, and finds a gleaning truth behind it all. "If being a hypocrite allows us to enjoy life and do good, if it's a necessary step to spreading knowledge and love… isn't that enough?"

Luke's expression softens and he gives out a more honest smile as he looks away from her. "That sounds like you're growing into the role of a person. Not just some thing."

"It's hard to come to terms with living for oneself." Lizzie's words carry bite as fierce as her canines suggest. "Humans are better at living for selfish reasons."

"You're the monsters with powers. You're the ones tolerating us." Luke replies in kind. "You just don't grow into your own potential alone… Getting along with those different from yourself comes naturally to you, I guess."

Lizzie lies down a little bit, placing her head on his leg and she stares up at him. "You don't know us that well if you think Pokémon have any of this figured out yet, either."

Luke reaches down and scratches under her neck, and despite the shock at his actions, the Mienfoo is reminded of her old master and her emotions swell.

"That's why we're together, Liz. We'll find a way forward for ourselves…" Luke hesitates as his hand continues caressing the nape of the mysterious weasel resting upon him. "At least, I would if that kind of life was meant for me."

Lizzie looks up at him and notices the weakness in his disposition. "Luke… What would you have done if you didn't come here?"

Luke pauses for a moment; the alternative reality he would be living in right now would be of typical schoolwork, of studying, of going to class alone, of being alone.

Then another thought comes to mind and a tear runs down the side of his face. He wipes it quickly, but not quick enough.

After a solemn moment of silence, he finally answers her. "I don't want to think about that."

"Why?"

"Because you would have…" Luke cuts himself off and returns to petting and scratching his lonely companion gently.

The grieving Mienfoo goes silent as well, contemplating the world she would be in now. "I… would like to think in that world… Grace… she would have…"

Luke rests his hand on Lizzie's shoulder as he falls asleep in the moment, the fan blasting him with cool air as his head lulls to the side.

Lizzie senses his departure from the land of consciousness and wraps an arm around his, lying there and awaiting Aqua's return.

He's not a good trainer, Master… but at least he cares like you did…

…

"Is it that weird?" Kelsie asks as Becca struggles to control her breathing.

Becca can't respond to that as her mind rapidly circulates in her brain. "I should call someone. Who? Officer Cyan? This has to be illegal…"

Kelsie gives up and bites into a part of the bread she brought for herself as Becca rambles on underneath her breath.

"When did this sicko get this idea!? That poor girl…" The way she gives Kelsie a look oozing with pity leaves her silent for a moment.

"She asked him." Kelsie answers succinctly and tears through another bit of bread. "Why does it bother you so much?"

Becca blankly stares at her, her eyes shrinking as her mouth forms a flat line. "Humans and Pokémon shouldn't be fraternizing like that."

Kelsie purses her lips. "Yeah, sure, tell that to my f-father." She struggles with the word. "The Wolfe Estate and Reyvin have been researching this. In fact, Aqua herself is… half-human."

"She what?" Becca stands up, her red face resembling a Krookodile. "You are sinners, all of you…" The heiress rubs the sweat off of her forehead and stops her shaking.

Outside in the field, Aqua opens up a new training match against Midnight, trying to match his speed as he lunges at her and she blocks with her arms coated in psychic energy to lessen the blow. She throws out graceful kicks with her legs that the cat bounces off of or rolls between in midair.

Unbeknownst to their viewers, the cat and the dancer battle into the night as the sun sets and Torbital sits still with Serade bouncing around on his head to cheer.

Kelsie readdresses the situation. "Well, you're talking to me like a person even though I'm not quite one."

"I don't want to date you!" Becca cries out in protest despite understanding her point. "People talk to their partners all the frickin' time! This is different!"

"He expected this…" Kelsie sighs. "You think he's a cold-blooded murderer and yet this seems to bother you more."

Becca pauses in the middle of her freak out and glares into Kelsie's soul. "His very existence bothers me."

Kelsie folds her arms and tilts her head. "Then what's this about you knowing him? Luke never mentioned anyone but Billy… and considering how that turned out, too, I guess you stopped being in his life after that whole Laurence situation…"

"I… Y-yeah, that's it." Becca stammers out.

"Which I think is very very weird." Kelsie accentuates the words with repetition. "You didn't know what he did until now, so what gives? What happened between you two?"

Becca finds herself cornered and after a long pause she says one name.

…

"Billiam." The heir raises his head as he and Daisy walk down through the forest path to the encampment they would stay at that night. Raymundo was watching their east encampment and Finneas appeared to be en route back.

Ariel Ryder stands before the two of them, her hands at her sides and a grumpy look etched into her features.

"You wanna fight?" Daisy readies herself, one hand at her belt and the other near her side. "You wannabe hero…"

"Raya Arces challenged me and I found myself defeated. Her winning condition is… to join your alliance." Ariel explains herself easily. "If you refuse, I'm to battle you."

Billiam runs through every possibility in his mind that he can conjure before shrugging. "I wanted to keep the top billing students out, but if this is a demand on her part, I feel like refusing incurs her wrath."

Ariel nods her head. "I don't understand her reasoning either, but she says we have a mutual aim in stopping those evildoers."

"Yes, right." Billiam's mind engages in debates as he thinks up a possible motive. "That kid really did draw the world down upon him."

"If you want to destroy those punk losers with us, feel free… but that bastard brother of mine is mine to fight…" Daisy warns the both of them. "I will see him and that idiot who spared him defeated."

"You're very determined." Ariel nods and slams her fist into her palm. "I like that! We can make a hero out of you yet!"

Daisy rolls her eyes. "Honey, the day I'm a hero, the world is fucked."

"Language." Billiam reprimands her.

"Fucked beyond belief." Daisy reiterates. "The amount of people better than me that would have to die for me to make a positive difference is biblical."

"That's not true." Ariel shakes her head and jumps forward, extending a hand to her rival in mindset. "Anyone can be a hero if they just do what's right."

Daisy's mind wanders back to her brother, and to the other Rejects, and bites her lip. "Well, I've failed at that for this long… why change now?" She walks in between her two alliance mates with her head hung low, leaving the two to exchange a concerned look before they inevitably give chase.