Team reminders: Wraith (Dreepy) and Sprout (Shroomish)

Soren hated sidetracking and hated stalling even more. Pushing onward to his next destination was always his goal and he wanted nothing more than to hit the road to make his way to Dewford Town but with his teammates undergoing evaluation at the Pokemon Center, he figured it best to at least try to find a productive use of his time.

And nothing was more productive than learning.

Soren couldn't help but smile at the rows of bookcases spanning as far as the eye could see. Rustboro Academy's library had an impressive collection of books that rivaled university libraries. His eyes darted to the shelf of new releases. He rolled his eyes at a few of the thrillers displayed amongst the new releases – Phoenix Rebirth, Life of Hesitancy, Distorted Jungles, Iridescent.

The works might have been new but he definitely recognized the authors' names. While he never bothered with those authors' series, they gained cult followings and his classmates tended to talk about them even if he never understood the appeal of those works. Most of the works by those authors had been shameless nonsensical power fantasies with shallow characters, stories with plots that were difficult to get into, or were ruined with poorly developed romantic pairings that would make a sensible reader shake their head. Not to mention the authors were apparently terrible at creating decent book titles. Certainly not as good as his favorite adventure stories – Globetrotter, Corporeal Horizons, and Notorious. Not even close.

A personal memoir written by Brawly specifically caught his eye. Not only would it be interesting to know more about the gym leader, his next gym challenge would be against him and he couldn't help but feel that a little advanced scouting might come in handy.

While he doubted that the gym leader would reveal much about his battle strategy or team in his book, he imagined he might have a little information on his training, his background in martial arts and surfing, and his inspirations – all of which could potentially be helpful information for his gym battle against him in the future. It never hurt to get an idea of the mindset and battling styles of future opponents along with who they patterned themselves after.

He scooped up the book and skimmed through it briefly. From the looks of it, there was quite a bit about surfing and quite a bit about training. He carried it with him as he made his way to what he originally came to the library for in the first place.

Soren passed bookcase after bookcase, peeking at the decimal system numbers displayed on the bookcase.

100, 200, 300, 400.

He stopped upon arriving at the universal number for books on biology and strolled through the aisle, scouring the shelves.

500, 510, 520, 530, 540, 550, 560, 570.

He stopped upon finding 573 and the biology category works on animals. Soren grabbed a couple books off the shelf once he found what he was looking for. Dr. Satoshi Tajiri's Guide to Grass Types, Professor Birch's Hoenn Habitats and History, and Dr. Ken Sugimori's Draconian Laws: Simple Principles to Understanding Dragons.

If only he had more time, a few books by Professor Elm on genetics intrigued him but he managed to resist the urge to add them to his growing stack of books.

He could spend the entire day in the library and all day reading if he wasn't careful. He loved reading, especially about history and science. Books were like a first row seat with the foremost experts in a field where he engaged with their research.

Soren contented himself with his haul and shuffled off in search of a quiet place to study. He had a lot of reading to do.

Grass types are fairly easy to raise, rarely requiring food like other Pokemon due to getting nutrients from the sun, the soil, or mulch and dead matter. They can potentially develop and evolve faster than most Pokemon due to their bodies generally relying on photosynthesis and chloroplasts for growth rather than consumption and growth hormones produced by the endocrine system.

Soren jotted a few more notes down into his notepad which was now littered with his musings, facts, and potential areas of research in the future. His head actually hurt from all the reading, likely from the eye strain. The golden chandeliers that lit up the room made the room look nice but the lighting they gave off wasn't the best.

He knew quite a deal more than he did before his arrival. He better understood the biology of grass types and how they developed, he learned about the predatory and territorial nature of dragon types in the wild and how they translated when they were added as team members, and he learned about Brawly's philosophy as a trainer being rooted in Bruno's philosophy of the warrior-scribe where it was taught that a trainer had to be strong in both body and mind before he could even begin to work on strategy and techniques with his team. Perhaps most importantly, Soren did some research into the Pokemon he could find on the road ahead since he wanted to expand his team before facing Brawly. He had even written down some notes about a few species he found interesting and believed could potentially help round out his team.

Soren frowned. The numbness of his leg snapped him out of his thoughts. He got up from the plush chair he was sitting in and paced back and forth to get the blood flowing again so he could focus properly and continue reading.

He took in his surroundings as he circled around the room. He hadn't stopped to appreciate the decor of the room with its elegant golden chandeliers lighting the room, the gas powered fireplace set within a brick hearth, or the maple desks placed in the room for people to study at; but now that he was not focused on books and research he looked at the room beyond just its usefulness as a quiet place to read. He couldn't help but be impressed by the lengths the Rustboro Academy went to make the room cozy and professional. Everything about the Rustboro Academy exuded class to the point it seemed more like a university than a just prep school. It almost made him wish he had studied at the academy instead of in Oldale. He would have had so many studying sessions in a place like this.

He didn't dwell on it long. A startled gasp turned his attention towards the entrance and a girl balancing a teetering stack of books in her arms. "No, no, no!" she exclaimed as the tower shifted forward.

Soren rushed over to try to help but ended up arriving far too late. Books spilled across the floor, eliciting a groan from the girl.

"Ugh, sorry," she apologized, running her hand through her white hair and rubbing the back of her head bashfully. "Going way overboard on the reading, I guess."

"Here, let me help you with those," Soren offered, scooping up the books off the floor.

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at some of the books in the pile. Aquatic Life: Understanding Water Types, Phases and Physiology: Understanding Pokemon Growth, In-Depth Dex Volume 1: #0252-#0297, Species of Hoenn – he clearly wasn't the only one conducting heavy research.

Soren's eyes widened as he handed the books over to the girl. Red eyes met black and he couldn't help but flinch due to recognizing her.

"Kei?"

The white-haired girl flinched. "Soren?"

The aspiring researcher clicked her tongue as she took the stack of books from him. "You know, I was going to thank you for your help but leaving without telling us your starter and sticking me with the annoying flirt means you kind of owe me."

Soren's nose wrinkled. "What?"

"Well, the way I see it is that you owe me at least another favor or two for dealing with Kaiji." Kei insisted in a sing-song voice.

Soren rolled his eyes. "Hey, you accepted the challenge, that's your fault," he retorted defensively.

"Do you know how many horrible pick up lines I had to listen to after I beat him in our battle? I didn't even know someone had that many lines to use." Kei fired back.

Soren shuddered, all too familiar with his cousin's horrific lines from the time they spent together in school and the secondhand embarrassment from him using them on virtually every girl in school. "Okay…that…yikes – so what exactly is it you want in return?" he sighed as he returned to his pile of books, scooping them up one by one from the stand next to his chair. "I'm kind of in the middle of something at the moment but I can try to make it up to you depending upon what you ask for."

Kei shrugged. "I haven't quite thought that part of my plan out yet, any chance you have some good ideas?"

"Don't expect me to finish your plans for you," Soren answered with a smirk.

"I'll come up with something…eventually." Kei replied with a mischievous grin before pointing to the stack of books he had in his arms and changing the topic. "Research, huh?"

"Yeah, I was studying because I wanted to do some research before I hit the road and make my way to Dewford to challenge Brawly."

"Huh, so you won against Roxanne as well?" Kei asked.

The redhead nodded as he reached into his pocket and flashed his badge case and the Stone Badge inside.

"Nice!" Kei beamed. "Looks like we're tied in the number of gym badges we have at one a piece – keep it up and you'll be peak rival material."

"So is that what you think, I'm not good enough yet to be considered a true rival?" Soren replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Kei paled. "That's not what I meant!" she panicked.

Soren squinted, his eyes narrowing to slits. "Sure seemed that way," he huffed.

"I was joking!" Kei exclaimed, her voice raising an octave and her face wrought with horror.

Soren snorted, suppressing a laugh only to break down into laughter.

"I think I hate you now," Kei groaned, finally catching onto him messing with her. "No, I most definitely, absolutely hate you now!"

Soren laughed louder.

"It's not funny!" Kei protested. "You are a jerk, you know that? Keep digging that hole, you'll have a huge tab to pay off at the end of all this."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, but in my defense, I couldn't resist." Soren retorted.

Kei groaned and shook her head. "So, what did you think of Roxanne?" she asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"Roxanne was a good first test, but seemed a bit on the easier side." Soren replied in between pants as he tried to catch his breath from laughing. "Brawly will be a bit tougher and I should probably expand the team to prepare for that. Been doing some research on my teammates to help me care for them properly and looking into potential additions to the team going forward."

Kei nodded approvingly. "Always moving forward, Soren? I'm impressed and maybe that's how you can repay me."

Soren frowned as Kei smirked, slightly unnerved by the ominous remark and her amused expression. "Not sure I follow?"

"I could use a sounding board for a few new ideas and thoughts that I had. How about we hit the cafe and swap research notes and team building ideas? Two minds are always better than one, right?"

Soren sighed and took a moment to consider her offer. On one hand, it cut into his reading time and derailed his plans; but on the other…

He really did feel a hint of guilt for his trickery. And Skylar had recommended socializing more and appreciating the journey more.

Soren sighed. He wouldn't wish Kaiji's flirting on any woman and given the circumstances in which he basically pushed his cousin off on her, Kei was more forgiving than she ought to be. Apparently, buying drinks and snacks and exchanging research notes was considered sufficient to make them even again.

He took a bite of his chutney sandwich savoring the flavor of sweet peach and the faintest whispers of cinnamon as he continued to listen to Kei ramble about what she had learned from her own research on Pokemon biology and her thoughts on his research notes.

"Your handwriting is very neat, you know that? And these entries and analyses, it's practically professional." Kei gushed. "I like how you even broke down team additions by category and your thoughts on team roles."

Soren shrugged. "Not my best work, I must admit some of the role explanations feel incomplete. Especially from a Pokemon biology aspect. It's mostly cliff notes compiled from the materials I read and the Pokedex. Not to mention it feels like overlap half the time like walls and tanks basically being described similarly and assassins being nothing more than a combination of the traits of both walls and sweepers."

"Your evaluation of a potential assassin role on a team is especially interesting. Unpredictability can be a very important trait in a team member and can make an opponent panic trying to adjust. I appreciate you accounted for it as a role because I probably wouldn't have considered that aspect. My mind always goes to the more conventional roles – tanks, walls, sweepers, flyers, and evaders."

"I dunno, I'm cautious to really take the roles thing too far as a whole because it reduces team members' value to checking a few boxes but it is nice in a completely abstract sense,"

"I mean, I understand what you mean. You don't want to limit your understanding of a team member too much, but some Pokemon have certain strengths and weaknesses that make them more suited for certain roles on a team. A defensive, tanky Pokemon like Hippowdon is never going to be the speedy sweeper of a team. Some categorical classification is helpful for analysis. If nothing else, it makes these notes more organized."

Soren shrugged. "Fair enough."

Kei continued thumbing through the pages of Soren's notes. "From what it sounds like, you have a good foundation for your team and I liked some of the potential future additions that you have listed here." she said in between munching on seaweed crisps that she dipped in a blend of honey mustard, ranch, and siracha.

Soren couldn't keep from cringing every time she took a bite and washed the snack down with a sip of hazelnut cappuccino. Seaweed crisps, her strange hybrid dipping sauce, and iced coffee – it was fortunate her advice and knowledge of Pokemon was sound because he would have certainly believed her to be warped and insane otherwise based on her tastes.

"And…" Kei frantically clicked the pen in her hand over and over as she continued reading through the notebook, prompting a grimace from Soren due to grating sound getting on his nerves.

"Aron, Ralts, Growlithe, Numel, Machop, Poochyena, Electrike, Taillow, Seedot, Feebas, Corphish, Snorunt, Makuhita, Magnemite, Elekid, Starly – not bad, I can see why you'd be interested in some of these. Although some feel redundant since something like Seedot or a fighting type like Machop is unnecessary because you already have Shroomish. For example, I'm not one to restrict to a single typing per team just to avoid overlap, but what can Shiftry and Makuhita and Machop do that Breloom cannot?" Kei remarked. "You kind of have the capability of grass types and fighters in Shroomish already."

"Some of these are mostly me thinking out loud more than legitimate suggestions, I am mostly looking into acquiring a fire type and water type at the moment. Some also made the list because they're on route to my destination or travel through the area." Soren explained.

"You're headed to Dewford, right? Have you considered stopping to explore Granite Cave?" Kei asked.

Soren shook his head. "Briefly, but it seemed like a waste of time. It would take me off my course. Exploring the caverns would require gear for that type of thing too."

"Too linear minded, Soren," Kei clicked her tongue. "On the contrary, I would recommend doing so and would suggest Sableye as a potential teammate. Especially since you want something bulkier like a tank or wall. Although, you already have Dreepy and I wouldn't want to try to deal with two Pokemon with potential mischievous and aggressive temperaments. Onix, Geodude, and Aron are options too, if you want to go that route. Lot of different species live in caves so you should be able to find something that suits your needs."

Soren nodded. "Fair,"

"But since we're on the subject, I'm actually surprised you chose a Dreepy as your starter. I understand that you received one with a good temperament; but dragons and ghosts are hard to train…I can't imagine trying to train a Pokemon that is both." Kei continued before dipping another crisp in the abominable sauce mixture.

Soren's eye twitched. He knew she didn't mean anything by it but the remark still irritated him. First Skylar and now her. "Wraith hasn't been that bad," he replied, pausing to finish his sandwich. "Exuberant and carefree, but not problematic."

"I was about to say, I was worried because that's definitely a Pokemon you don't want to get attitude issues. It's hard to curb stubbornness and rebellion in dragons and ghosts."

Soren waved off the comment. "I'm aware of that and have been dealing with that potential pitfall already by making sure to correct any more dangerous or impulsive behavior. It's really a matter of perspective, I happen to see these issues as teaching moments."

"Have you let your team members interact yet?" Kei asked.

"They trained together a bit, mainly sparred against my sister's teammates before the gym battle with Roxanne." Soren replied. "And there was the battle, of course."

"In my experience, the sooner they interact and the more they interact the better," Kei said. "Mudkip's even-keeled temperament even helped set an example for my high strung Poochyena and has mellowed her out a bit."

Soren frowned. "Isn't age or duration on a team the main factor with that though?"

Kei shook her head, pushing her notepad closer to Soren and pointing to a page of the notes. "Not necessarily. According to Professor Elm's research on Pokemon development, not only do Pokemon take after their trainers but sometimes feed off each other's emotions and mimic each other's behavioral patterns. Something to consider, if nothing else. Few trainers often pay attention to team chemistry as a factor but it's incredibly important to make sure your team's personalities mesh together well and they can work together. Don't want to spend all your training time trying to get a teammate to listen, right?"

"I'll keep that in mind then." Soren replied before changing the subject. "Tell me, have a couple of things I was curious about. I'm curious how you plan on utilizing Mudkip's sensory perception. Your notes mentioned something about using and fine tuning the use of Mudkip's fin? I also had a few ideas for making my own mulch for my Shroomish and trying to utilize Poison Heal's regenerative properties to speed up growth, so I'd love to hear your thoughts. Lastly, tell me more about Granite Cave, it sounds interesting."

Kei's eyes lit up. "Ooh, fun topics…where should I begin?"

Soren gazed back at the faint silhouette of Rustboro City, finally making his way towards Route 104. He couldn't help but feel a bit conflicted. Kei's advice had him running behind schedule and he couldn't help but feel he wasn't making enough progress. If it was up to him, he would have already arrived in Dewford Town days ago.

On the other hand, Soren was able to spend time working with his team and challenged a few of the trainers at the Pokemon Center – making sure Sprout could get some battling experience and acclimate to working as a team. If nothing else, Soren was able to better make sure he and his teammates were on the same page in battles and worked on their battling instincts. More importantly, he put in quite a few hours helping at the Pokemon Center to earn some extra cash. After all, if he was going to hit Granite Cave before arriving in Dewford Town, he was going to need equipment. Between his wins against trainers and his work helping Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center, he was arguably more prepared for his arrival in Dewford.

He had made enough money where he could restock his supplies, buy some batteries for his flashlight and purchase a headlamp, and even buy some materials to make proper compost and mulch to accelerate Sprout's growth while still having plenty of cash to spare. Not to mention, he surprisingly enjoyed talking with Kei. She was a bit eccentric but intelligent. He would have never considered using Mudkip's fin and sensory capabilities to detect incoming attacks and for precognition. It made him wonder if he could try something similarly with Wraith. Provided he could get his hands on the TM for Thunder Wave.

It was nice to swap ideas for training and techniques, talk about their plans for expanding their teams, and discuss preparations for challenging Brawly.

It also was Kei's input on expanding his team that influenced him to think more creatively. He now had a vision beyond just traveling to Dewford and challenging the gym. In fact, he had a plan beyond just traveling from city to city and beating the gyms. Granite Cave and a search for another team member awaited him. He had many challenges ahead and a conference to prepare for with little time to do so. The sooner he could add Pokemon to his team, the more time he had to work with them and prepare them for the challenges ahead.

And it would be fun to explore. He had to enjoy his freedom from responsibility and the spotlight while he had it – or so his sister had insisted. Sometimes veering off the beaten path and thinking less linearly was probably a good thing.