The sky was thick with gray clouds, the morning sun near-invisible behind them, and a fine mist filled the air as if the weather was caught halfway between deciding to rain or not. A gloom seemed to be cast over Laverre City, the normally-bright locale feeling washed out. Many people were choosing to stay inside today, preferring to get errands or training done when the weather was nicer.

None of this was stopping the two Trainers in one of Laverre's multiple open fields from engaging in an energizing Double Battle.

"Weavile, Dig!" Theo cried. "Mightyena, Rock Smash!"

As Weavile leaped forwards, claws outstretched, and burrowed smoothly into the soaked ground below, Mightyena charged forwards with Fighting energy outlining her body in an aura of red light. "Intimidate!" she snarled. "Power Bite!"

"Zweilous, meet him!" Opposite Theo, Connie called out her own orders. "Thievul, get ready to intercept that Weavile!"

Zweilous, clearly struck by Mightyena's Intimidate, nonetheless forced his way through the fear, baring the teeth on both his heads. "Dual-Head Dragon Slam!" he snarled; as Mightyena lunged, Zweilous caught her in midair with both heads enhanced with Dragon energy; despite the power behind Zweilous's defense, the impact of Mightyena's Rock Smash was enough to send the Dark/Dragon-type skidding backwards. "Dual-Head Dragon Blast!" Zweilous roared, forcing Mightyena to leap away in order to avoid the pair of Dragon Pulses that shot from Zweilous's mouth.

Behind Zweilous, Thievul crouched, readying himself for when Weavile burst out of the ground. Indeed, as Zweilous spun, readying another blast of energy to try and harry Mightyena, Weavile erupted from the earth right next to where the Dark/Dragon-type was standing. Thievul bared his teeth. "Run Away: Glimmering Swipe!"

Run Away had always been a strange Ability. When Thievul had first unlocked it, he'd believed it to be a simple speed-boosting Ability, nothing more. That belief had ended when Connie had heard of Speed Boost, at which point she and Thievul had swiftly begun experiments to see what else Run Away could do that would separate it from Speed Boost. And soon enough they'd discovered exactly that. Run Away didn't boost speed, it allowed the user to run away - that is, to escape. It could boost speed, sure, since escaping often involved running quickly, but it also meant Thievul could escape any trap, slip out of any grasp, and dodge practically any attack as long as he was concentrating on his Ability.

Combined with his natural speed, Run Away was the main reason why Thievul was one of the strongest members of Connie's team.

Thievul shot forwards, Fairy energy glinting around his body, and Weavile was forced to break off his attack on Zweilous in order to deflect Thievul's Play Rough with an Ice Punch. "Brick Break, Weavile!" Theo called. "And Mightyena, use Ice Fang!"

"Zweilous, counter with Fire Blast!" Connie cried as Weavile and Mightyena went back on the offensive. "Power Multislash!" Weavile snarled, lashing out with a barrage of Fighting energy-enhanced claw-strikes. But with Run Away still active, Thievul easily bent and twisted out of the way of each one. He could dimly hear the sound of Zweilous yelling "Dual-Head Fire Blast!", and both Connie and Theo shouting orders, but his attention was only on his duel with Weavile.

Run Away's a purely defensive Ability - it doesn't have all that much use when I'm fighting back. But I think it's time to take the offense anyway.

Weaving around another Brick Break from the Ice/Dark-type, Thievul let out a growl of "Wrathful Snarl!" The words bore upon them a burst of mingled Dark and Normal energy - Snarl mixed with Round - that sent the fairly frail Weavile staggering backwards. At the same time, Mightyena leaped away from Zweilous's snapping jaws, landing by Weavile's side.

"All right, guys, I reckon that's a good enough warmup," said Theo. "So let's get serious. Mind Break!"

Whatever that move was, Thievul had no intention of being hit by it. Connie seemed to have a similar idea. "Both of you, Protect!"

Both Zweilous and Thievul flung up barriers. They didn't help.

"Intimidate!" Mightyena barked, followed up a second later by a snarl of "Pressure!" from Weavile.

Intimidate hit Zweilous and Thievul first. Both knew how to withstand the fear effect of Intimidate, and though they instantly felt an unsettling feeling wash over them, both knew they were fully capable of shrugging it off without too much difficulty. On its own, Intimidate wasn't a real danger to them.

No, the real danger was the Pressure that immediately followed.

Pressure was extremely difficult, if not impossible, to outright ignore. It commanded attention, forcing those afflicted by the Ability to concentrate their minds and force the user of Pressure out of their heads. Thievul and Zweilous had enough mental faculties to do such a thing normally. But as the Pressure hit, Thievul's mental defenses slackened for a second, and now Mightyena's Intimidate hit him full force. As Thievul beheld the gigantic Weavile standing over him, summoned into his mind via Pressure, he felt a sense of terror wash over him, and all his training and preparation fell apart, his mind only focused on getting away, on resorting to his base instincts, running and hiding. For how could he possibly fight this thing?

He heard a shout from faraway - Connie's voice - and then something slammed into him, hard, and the image flickered and dissipated. Thievul suddenly became aware that he was staggering backwards, that Theo's Weavile was in his face with Brick Breaks flaring on both sets of claws, and that to Thievul's left Zweilous was suffering similar treatment from Theo's Mightyena.

"Run Away!" Thievul cried, instantly drawing upon his Ability once more. He managed to dodge Weavile's follow-up punch, but Zweilous was not so lucky. Mightyena landed a vicious Play Rough on the Dark/Dragon-type, and the quad-super-effective attack was too much for him; Zweilous collapsed to the ground, no longer able to battle.

At once all combatants stopped - as per the arrangement set at the start of the battle, the fight was over the instant one of the battlers was knocked out. Connie wasted no time in recalling Zweilous and Thievul. "You did good, both of you," she whispered, then stepped over to Theo, who was recalling and murmuring similar praise to Mightyena and Weavile.

"You're sure good at Double Battles, Theo," said Connie, shaking Theo's hand. "That was a pretty nasty combo you hit me with."

"Yeah, Weavile and Mightyena have been working on that one ever since they first got their Abilities," said Theo. "Double Battles are all over the place in Hoenn - in fact, they've got a Gym over there with two Gym Leaders, and they both battle you at the same time in one of them. It's a Psychic Gym; I went in there feeling way too confident, and it took me two tries."

"Really?" Connie cocked her head.

"Really," said Theo as the two Trainers turned and began to walk back towards the main cluster of buildings that made up the center of Laverre. "I'll admit I got a bit unlucky, though - back when Steven was still Champion of Hoenn, Tate and Liza were mandated to only use one Pokemon each, in the seventh Gym."

"You're joking," Connie stated. "Who came up with that bright idea?"

"Apparently some League official made a typo on the mandates," said Theo. "It was supposed to be two Pokemon each, not two Pokemon in total, and no one caught it for years. Tate and Liza just went along with it because Double Battles were still fairly new back then, and they just assumed the unfamiliarity would be half the difficulty. Steven was a good Champion, but he was very hands-off about it - it was only when Wallace became Champion and started initiating some reforms that the mistake was caught and fixed. And now Tate and Liza are regarded as one of the hardest Gyms in Hoenn - go figure."

Connie chuckled at the story. "I've heard Hoenn's one of the most difficult regions to get through," she said. "Is that true?"

"You bet," Theo affirmed. "Let me tell you, I know that firsthand. Kalos Gym Leaders have four Pokemon starting at Gym five? Hoenn's got that number starting at Gym three."

"I didn't know that was legal," said Connie.

"Admittedly, Wattson's team is sort of quantity over quality, aside from his Manectric," Theo pointed out. "Norman's where things get really tough…how are the Gyms over in Galar, by the way? Hard, easy, middle-of-the-road?"

"I'd say middle-of-the-road," Connie replied. "Four-Pokemon teams come into play 'round Gym four. Though they stay that way all the way through Gym eight - although that's only because Raihan also does Double Battles."

"Yeah, I've heard of him," said Theo. "Have you ever fought him?"

Connie shook her head. "I've watched him fight, though. He's good. Oh, hey, there's Serena."

Thievul's eyes turned to see the third member of their group of Gym Trainers, just now stepping out of the front door of the Laverre Apartment Complex. She smiled and waved. "Hi, Connie, Theo! What's got you two out so early?"

"Just a little morning training," Theo answered. "You?"

"Going to get some medicine," Serena responded. "Tangrowth's come down with a cough, and apparently the species needs a special injection method since they don't have a mouth. Don't ask me how he's got a cough if he doesn't have a mouth - I've already been through seven message boards trying to find an answer."

"Have they got that kind of injection method in Laverre?" Connie asked.

"No," said Serena, slumping slightly. "But those message boards recommended some substitutes, so I'm gonna go grab a few of them and see if they work."

"Hope they do," Connie said apologetically. "Look - we're already up. We'll make the daily rounds - you focus on helping Tangrowth."

Serena shook her head. "I can't leave you to do those alone. Without Marcus it'll already take a while, I need to-"

"It's all right, we've got it," Theo insisted. "Besides, what else are we going to do today?"

Serena sighed, but nodded. "That's really helpful," she said, glancing back at the apartment complex. "Thanks!" Twisting, she set off at a hurried pace, heading for the Pokemon Center down the street.

"Right," said Theo. "How about…I take in-town duties?"

"Sounds good to me," Connie agreed. "And I'll take out-of-town…oh! Serena?"
"Yes?" the blonde called.

"I think I might get down to Lumiose today," said Connie. "They're bound to have that special injection method over there - and worst case scenario, I can try and talk to Sycamore about it."

"You'd do that?" Serena grinned. "Thanks so much! If you do go down there, say hi to Calem for me!"

"I will!" Connie called back. Serena's demeanor was a little more relaxed as she turned and continued making her way towards the Pokemon Center.

"Lumiose?" Theo asked. "In this weather?"

"Hey, if I'm already heading down that way, it's not like it's that much further," Connie pointed out. "And besides, Shiftry's got Sunny Day."

Theo shot a half-amused glare at Connie. "You know, you could have been using that all this time, and we wouldn't have had to be standing outside in the rain."

"Hey, I didn't say it was easy for Shiftry to use Sunny Day," Connie retorted. "You know quite well she can't use it for more than five minutes before she needs to take a nap."

"All I'm saying is, that battle lasted way less than five minutes," said Theo.

"C'mon, Hoenn's known for its high rainfall!" Connie protested. "You can take a little mist, right?"

Theo sighed good-naturedly. "Just because I can doesn't mean I want to. Anyway, I should probably get going. With me covering for Serena, it'll take a bit."

"Yeah, same," said Connie. "See you at lunch, Theo."

"You too." Theo turned and walked off, leaving Connie to turn her steps eastward. 'Out-of-town' duties mostly revolved around taking care of the local Wild Pokemon, though it also involved checking on the nearby Trainers, meeting with the Ace Trainers assigned to the areas around Laverre, and in general taking stock of the situation within Laverre's sphere of influence. Usually either Marcus or Serena handled dealing with the Ace Trainers, and the various groups of Wild Pokemon were normally divided between the various Gym Trainers, so Connie knew doing all this by herself would take a while.

But she'd been working at the Laverre City Gym for three years now, and had worked at the Spikemuth Gym for several years before that. Thievul was fully confident that Connie was quite capable of handling these affairs with aplomb, and giving herself plenty of time to head down to Lumiose for a quick shopping trip to boot. And that would leave the afternoon wide open for leisure, training, and assorted odds and ends.

Thievul sighed contentedly. Just another day of life in Laverre.

Delphox watched nervously as Serena slipped a liquid-filled spoon between two of Tangrowth's vines. At once Tangrowth shuddered, letting out a disgusted moan. "I'm sorry, Tangrowth," Serena whispered. "But you really don't want this cough to keep up, do you?"

As if to punctuate Serena's statement, Tangrowth's entire body contorted as he coughed again, the sound making Delphox wince in sympathy. Serena began to stroke one of Tangrowth's vines, trying to ease the Grass-type's discomfort.

Delphox felt a small flash of shame. She was Serena's Starter, the first Pokemon she'd ever obtained, and as such it was her job just as much as it was Serena's to take care of the team. At least that was how it was supposed to be. Throughout the months before she'd been assigned to Serena, Delphox, then a small Fenniken, had gotten it drilled into her head that protecting the rest of the team would be her responsibility.

Yet things had long since changed. Sylveon, Jolteon, and Umbreon were a tight-knit family that took care of one another. Umbreon, Malamar, and Seeker-Of-Endings formed a group of their own, seeing as they were Serena's team as a Gym Trainer. Seeker-Of-Endings himself…Delphox didn't even want to get into the tangle of secrets and mysteries that the Absol represented. And Altaria, though she'd long since become a valued teammate, was also very independent and didn't like to be seen as needing someone else to help her out. About the only Pokemon Delphox felt comfortable 'taking care of' were Meowstic and Tangrowth, and now here she was, helpless to rescue Tangrowth from this sickness.

"You don't have to feel responsible. It's not like you gave him the illness, right?"

Delphox glanced over towards Meowstic. The second most senior member of Serena's team, she and Delphox had become very close friends, especially after the fiasco with Team Flare. "I know," Delphox murmured, "but…it's not just this. It feels like I can't protect any of them."

"We've had this conversation before," Meowstic reminded. "Several times."

"I know." Delphox felt the shame rising again. "And I know what you always say. 'They have their own lives. You don't have to be responsible for them.' But this…it's not Tangrowth's life choices that's the problem. It's the fact that he's sick. And I can't do anything about it."

"Maybe you should try asking Sylveon if she can teach you Wish," Meowstic suggested. "Or Heal Bell."

"She's already tried Heal Bell," Delphox told Meowstic. "While you were in the back fetching that pillow. It only cures status conditions, not this illness. And I doubt Wish could do anything similar."

"Maybe a Pokemon from the League?" Meowstic asked. "I know they've got Pokemon equipped with Healer and Natural Cure - shouldn't that help?"

"Again, Serena already thought of it," said Delphox. "Apparently there's been an outbreak of some disease in Southern Kalos, and all their Healer and Natural Cure-equipped Pokemon are occupied responding to that."

"All of them?"

Delphox nodded. "Serena wasn't exactly happy about that, either."

"Do you think this is the same disease?" Meowstic asked, then frowned. "Wait - Serena probably asked about that, too."

"Indeed, and it's not," said Delphox. "Which is why the League isn't giving this isolated illness much attention. It'll probably take days before they can free someone up."

"Damn, I missed a lot," Meowstic murmured.

Delphox nodded again. "Trust me, Meowstic. I've gone over many possible solutions, and none of them work. Why do you think I feel so helpless?"

Meowstic sighed. "Delphox, listen. Tangrowth's life isn't in danger. The best thing you can do at this point is just comfort him. Distract him from the pain. Don't be a protector, be a friend."

Delphox smiled. "I guess that is what Tangrowth needs right now. Thanks, Meowstic."

The fellow Psychic-type smiled back. "Anytime."

As Meowstic moved away, Delphox stepped towards Serena and Tangrowth; Serena was now withdrawing the empty spoon from Tangrowth's vines. "Serena," Delphox asked telepathically, "may I stay by Tangrowth's side?"

Serena glanced at Delphox. "Sure," she responded. "He'll like that, I bet."

Nodding, Delphox moved over to Tangrowth. "Hey," she said.

"Hi, Delphox," Tangrowth responded, his voice hoarse. "Hope you're doing better than I am."

"It'd be hard not to," Delphox admitted. Tangrowth chuckled, but the laughter was cut off by another hacking cough. "Easy," Delphox warned. "Don't overstress your voice - that's the last thing you need right now."

Tangrowth's coughing trailed off. "It really doesn't seem like this medicine is working."

"It's not going to work immediately," said Delphox. "You have to be patient."

Tangrowth let out a low groan. "This sucks."

"I know," Delphox murmured sympathetically. "Look, how about I tell you a story? Seems you could use the distraction."

Tangrowth's demeanor noticeably shifted. "I think I'd like that."

And so Delphox began to tell Tangrowth stories of her initial Gym Battles with Serena - about her quick defeat of Viola's Vivillon, about her mid-battle evolution against Grant, about her dramatic faceoff against Korrina's Lucario - and though Tangrowth continued to cough, he seemed a lot happier than he'd been all day.

By now, the sights and sounds of Laverre were very familiar to Weavile.

Initially it had been strange adapting to life in Kalos. Theo had spent his entire life before in Hoenn and Kanto-Johto, both of which were quite a bit more outsider-friendly than the tradition and culture-oriented Kalos. The first year of Marcus's tenure as the Laverre City Gym Leader - and by extension Theo's tenure as one of his Gym Trainers - had been filled with a minor sort of upheaval. Going from a Fairy-type Gym Leader to a Dark-type Gym Leader was a transition that had not been easily accepted by some of the townsfolk, even as Marcus had proven to be just as friendly and open as Valerie. In particular, the Kalos branch of the Pokemon Fan Club, an organization with locations all across the UPW whose members were inclined towards showing off 'cute' Pokemon, had closed down their building in Laverre and moved to Coumarine. Others had followed, claiming that the 'atmosphere' of Laverre had changed too much.

The movements hadn't exactly done wonders for the self-esteem of Marcus or his Gym Trainers, but thankfully, those townsfolk had been in the minority. Most were welcoming, and the members of the Dark-type Gym had soon learned that Laverre, despite not exactly being a small city, was a very tight-knit community. At this point Weavile knew practically all the names of those who lived in Laverre.

So it was that, as Theo stepped into the Laverre City Cafe about halfway through the morning's duties with Weavile by his side, the Dark/Ice-type found himself glancing around the room as humans and Pokemon alike greeted both of them.

"Hi, Theo!" a young woman with light brown hair chirped.

"Hey, Mahalyn," Theo responded, waving back; Weavile did the same to the Aromatisse and Dedenne that had cried greetings alongside their Trainer. Mahalyn had once been an aspiring Fairy-type Trainer who had apparently taken the Kalos Gym Challenge in the same year as Marcus - in fact, from the stories she told, she'd competed in the same Kalos Pokemon League Tournament he had, but had only gotten to the second round. Deciding she couldn't compete in that department with Emma, she'd instead chosen to settle down in Laverre along with her Dedenne and Aromatisse, who were standing on a bench alongside Mahalyn now, waving at Weavile.

"Theo," grunted a gray-haired, bearded man wearing a floppy gray hat and a pair of thin-rimmed glasses; his Victreebel, Quagsire, and Swanna bareilly looked up from their plates of food to murmur greetings of their own.

"Hey, Keanan," Theo replied. Keanan was the local warden of the nearby wetlands, and watched over the wild Pokemon there. He and his trio of Pokemon were a common sight at the cafe. Keanan wasn't exactly friends with Marcus and his Gym Trainers, but he had warmed up to them after Marcus had helped the local wild Pokemon take care of a young, orphaned Goomy who had stumbled into their swamp. Said Goomy was now a Sliggoo, and from what Weavile had heard was doing quite well.

A quartet of Pokemon Rangers - Weavile recalled their names were Nash, Reed, Dean, and Pedro - chorused "Hello, Theo!"

"Hey, guys." Theo gave the four a wave as he and Weavile passed by. There were normally seven Pokemon Rangers stationed near Laverre; the job of a Pokemon Ranger was to protect Trainers from attacks by the local wild Pokemon, and since the areas surrounding Laverre had such a high concentration of wild Pokemon, Laverre had more Pokemon Rangers assigned to it than any other city in Kalos. Weavile knew from experience that the quartet wouldn't be here long - this was just a short coffee break, after which they would spend most of the rest of the day policing Route 14 to the south and Route 15 to the southeast.

The owner of the cafe, a man named Bernard, smiled as he saw Theo approach. "Well, hello, there! Usual order, I take it?"

"Yes, please," said Theo. "Could you make Serena's usual order as well, and throw in one of those small Lumiose Galettes she likes?"

"Certainly!" Bernard turned towards his Alcremie, who at once shifted over to the dessert rack and pulled out one of the Lumiose Galettes. Bernard was an immigrant from Galar - he'd moved here along with his Alcremie two years ago, and had settled down in Laverre partially because of Connie's presence. He'd wasted no time in paying a large sum of Pokedollars to purchase the cafe - apparently he'd once been a Gym Challenger over in Galar, and had earned a tidy sum from that experience - and had quickly transformed it into one of the biggest hotspots in Laverre, even bringing in some exotic pastries from his home region to spice up the offerings.

"So how's Dwight doing?" Theo asked as Bernard's Alcremie placed the Lumiose Galette gently on a plate and used Mystical Fire, instantly beginning to warm up the plate and the Galette with it.

Bernard looked up from where he was placing a cup under a spigot, his smile widening - he always loved to talk about his older brother, who owned a cafe in Motostoke City back in Galar. "Oh, Dwight's doing just fine. In fact, business is booming - with this year's Galar Gym Challenge rapidly approaching, people from all over Galar are arriving in Motostoke to watch the opening ceremony, and a lot of them are going straight to Dwight's cafe."

"Good for him," said Theo.

"Yeah, this has always been his favorite time of year." Bernard looked wistful. "Though he always says it's never as special as the year I took the Gym Challenge."

Bernard's Alcremie called out "Sweet Veil!" and tossed a small spurt of Fairy energy into the now-warm Galette. Then she picked it up and carried it over to the counter, glancing down at Weavile. Weavile knew from experience that Alcremie's Sweet Veil Ability made it so that the pastries from this cafe tasted extra sweet. It was one of the main reasons why this cafe was so popular, and as such Weavile found himself staring at the Galette with his mouth watering.

"Oh, hi, Weavile!" said Alcremie. "What, you want one, too? Then you'll have to pay for it…or you can challenge me to another battle, in which case I'll be all too happy to send you as many Galettes as you want free of charge!"

Weavile grimaced. He had indeed challenged Alcremie to a battle soon after Bernard's arrival in Laverre, though admittedly she had practically taunted him into it. He'd promptly learned the hard way that changing the taste of food was far from the only possible use of Sweet Veil. Alcremie could create sweet foods as well - they weren't nearly as tasty as the real versions, but they meant that the cafe couldn't suffer from any sort of food shortage. Not only that, she could manipulate those foods as well - and herself, given that her entire body was essentially one big cake. Weavile hadn't taken the fight seriously at all, and had ended up getting a pie to the face before being pinned under a three-tier layer cake, something Mightyena, Cacturne, and Crawdaunt had spent the better part of the next year constantly teasing him about.

Despite her inoffensive demeanor, Alcremie was most certainly no slouch in a battle. Then again, considering Bernard had once been a Gym Challenger, Weavile should have expected that.

"Maybe when I don't have a sick friend, I'll take you up on that," Weavile retorted.

Alcremie frowned. "So that's why your Trainer asked for Serena's order too…don't tell me it's that plague from down south, or whatever Emma's come down with."

Weavile had heard of the illness running rampant through Southern Kalos, but the news of Emma surprised him. "What, one of the Elite Four's gotten sick?"

"You didn't hear?" Alcremie asked. "Emma couldn't even hold her Elite Four battle for the boy who won the tournament this year. Wikstrom had to battle first instead - there was a pretty big hullabaloo about it."

"Sorry," Weavile apologized. "I guess we were a little preoccupied with adapting to Marcus not being around."

"Fair enough," said Alcremie. "So, I take it Serena hasn't come down with that same illness?"

"I don't think so," replied Weavile. "And besides, it's not Serena who's ill, it's her Tangrowth."

"Oh." Alcremie looked downcast - she'd met Serena's Tangrowth a couple times, and the two had gotten along fairly well. "I hope he gets better soon."

"You and me both," Weavile agreed.

"All right, your order's ready!" Bernard said cheerfully, cutting off Weavile and Alcremie's conversation as he slid a pair of steaming coffees across the counter. "Have a nice rest of your day!"

"Bye, Weavile!" Alcremie waved. "Offer's still open if you ever do want a rematch!"

"Heh." Weavile grinned back as he and Theo walked towards the cafe exit. "Maybe sometime soon."

Shiftry's job was simple. If the clouds ever did break and rain began to truly pour down, she would be released, whereupon she would use Sunny Day, keeping it up for as long as she could while Connie raced back to Laverre to find shelter. So it was that Shiftry was the only one of the team outside her Pokeball, though she knew the others were watching through the cracks as Connie met with the various Trainers stationed on the routes surrounding Laverre and well as the Pokemon living in the areas surrounding those routes.

Now they were heading through the woods towards the last stop of the day. Shiftry had to admit that while meeting with all these different Trainers and Pokemon was fun, she'd be glad when it was over and she could relax and train normally.

It didn't help that these particular Pokemon, while friendly, were also tricksters - nor that the memories of what these Pokemon had done three years ago still stung. Shiftry still remembered that battle on the lawn of the Laverre Apartments - and the pain she'd suffered as a direct result of these particular wild Pokemons' involvement.

So it was that she flinched a little when a Gastly shot out from behind a tree trunk right in front of Connie. "Oh, hi!" the Gastly cried. "Right this way, right this way - Haunter-1's expecting you."

Shiftry coughed. "Don't you mean that way?" she asked, pointing in the opposite direction to where the Gastly was headed. "Because that's the way we usually go to meet Haunter-1…I don't suppose you're leading us into a mud pit or something like that?"

The Gastly's eyes widened comically. "Um…no. No! Certainly not! I'd never do something like that!" The Gastly quickly moved in the direction Shiftry had indicated.

Shiftry scoffed, rolling her eyes. Childish pranksters, all of them. From what Serena had told them, a pair of Phantumps in this part of the forest had managed to get Umbreon with one of their pranks, separating her from the rest of her team before possessing some nearby trees to scare the living daylights out of her. Sylveon and Jolteon had nearly declared war on the entire Ghost-type population before Serena had managed to calm them down, and since then Marcus and his Gym Trainers had all told their Pokemon to keep an eye out for any similar tricks.

The Gastly swiftly led Connie and Shiftry to a large cluster of woven-together trees, their branches forming a ceiling over a small clearing. As Connie and Shiftry stepped into the clearing, a large assortment of Ghost-types became visible, emerging into view now that they had clearly realized the new arrivals were friendly. Connie stepped back and began to release the rest of her team; at this point, the Pokemon would take over the vast majority of this job.

Chief among the Ghost-types was a fairly large Haunter who quickly slid up to the newly-released team. "Ah, I thought it might be one of you Gym Trainers. Any…problems?"

"Haunter-1," Shiftry greeted; at least, unlike the rest of his Ghosts, Haunter-1 was smart enough to understand that Marcus and his Gym Trainers were better to have as friends than as enemies. "Unless you count your Gastly trying to direct us in the complete wrong direction, not really."

She didn't feel guilty about ratting the Gastly out - not only had he clearly been planning something untoward, but Haunter-1 had specifically requested after the incident with Umbreon and the Phantumps that any such attempted pranks be reported to him. Sure enough, Haunter-1 turned to glare at the Gastly, who was trying to restrain a gulp. "Well, well," he said. "Seems someone forgot the rules around here. Haunter-4, Haunter-5, why don't you give him a reminder?"

Shiftry shivered - Haunter-1 could be terrifying when angry - as she watched two other Haunters float into the center of the clearing; each Haunter put one hand on the Gastly, and together they led the smaller shivering Ghost-type away. "One of our newer additions," Haunter-1 explained. "Today was his first day on guard duty - he promised he'd behave, and I decided to give him a chance."

"I bet that's the only chance he'll have for a good long while," Tyranitar growled.

"You'd better believe it," Haunter-1 affirmed. "So, I presume you're here for the usual. Quick tour, talk about how things are going?"

"Sounds good to us," said Skuntank. Haunter-1 quickly gestured for Connie and the half-dozen Dark-types to follow him; they did so, all of them noting the numerous Ghost-types that were watching them closely.

In the three years since the whole fiasco around the Gym Exam, Haunter-1 had rebuilt his gang of Ghost-types in more ways than one. It had transpired after the fact that most of the wild Ghost-types mustered for the battle on the lawn hadn't been part of the group; the group itself had numbered around fifty, and the rest had simply been drawn in by Haunter-1, who had seen a battle coming and had been desperate for numbers. In the aftermath, not only had those Ghost-types fled back into the woods, but about a dozen of Haunter-1's actual gang - nearly a quarter of their number - had chosen to leave Kalos with the Ghost-type Trainer Raymond and the Golurk who had protected them for so long.

So Haunter-1 had been forced to rebuild both numbers and trust. The action had caused most of the nearby wild Ghost-types to view Haunter-1 as a weak leader - he'd already gained that reputation after being forced to serve Heliolisk, but getting fooled by Gholdengo had cemented it - and a few had even tried to challenge him for leadership of his group. Thankfully, Haunter-1 was a decent combatant, even if he was nowhere near the strength of even a low-level Trained Pokemon, and as such he'd kept his position, in the process silencing many of his critics.

Even more important was the support of Marcus and his Gym Trainers. Valerie had been rather hands-off with the nearby wild Pokemon, preferring to let the local Pokemon Rangers handle affairs - hence why Heliolisk had been able to seize control of these Ghost-types for so long. Marcus, by contrast, had made sure to establish relations with the wild Pokemon as well as the surrounding Trainers - from his experiences, he knew full well how dangerous wild Pokemon could be, and how important it was to keep tabs on them. That support had lended even more strength to Haunter-1's position, and before long Ghost-types had started trickling back into Haunter-1's gang.

Now his group numbered around seventy-five Ghost-types - one of the largest groups of Wild Pokemon in all of Kalos ever since the dissolution of the Swarms - and there was no question that the group could be counted on as an ally if need be.

As the Dark-types followed Haunter-1, Shiftry caught sight of Zweilous sticking to the back of the pack, looking fairly dismal, though he tried to wipe the look off his face as he saw Shiftry glance at him. Shiftry sighed; she'd watched Zweilous fall to Theo's Mightyena earlier today, and knew exactly what was bothering him.

She dropped back. "Hey, Zweilous. I get it, but you can't dwell on these things. Sure, you lost, but that's just a learning experience, same as winning."

"Learning for what?" Zweilous retorted. "Shiftry, you don't have to sugarcoat it. I'm still not fully evolved. I'm by far the weakest member of the team. I dragged Thievul down today - he and Connie put their trust in me, and I completely failed just like I always do."

"Zweilous, you're not weak," Shiftry protested. "You're a highly capable fighter even if you're not fully evolved. And once you do evolve-"

"When?" Zweilous cried. "When am I going to fully evolve? Because everyone's been saying the same thing for years, and I still haven't! So why is it so hard?"

Shiftry noticed that the rest of the team was shooting glances back at Zweilous as he ranted. Sighing, she opened her mouth to say something more, but was cut off by a loud cracking noise coming from the right. Shiftry glanced over in that direction and saw two things that instantly made her heart leap into her throat.

The first was a large tree, one of the tallest around, beginning to slowly topple over, its clearly-dying trunk fracturing under its weight.

And the second was a Golett that was standing directly beneath it. Oblivious to the tree, the Golett was waving at the group of Trained Pokemon. "Hi!" it was saying. "Nice to meet you all - why are you looking at me funny?"

"Out of the way!" Thievul cried before anyone else could react. "Run Away!" Energy coursed around him as he activated his Ability and hurled himself at the stationary Golett. His body impacted the small Ground/Ghost-type, shoving it out of the way as the tree tumbled towards him.

"No!" Haunter-1 cried, reaching out a hand as the tree slammed into the ground right where Thievul was standing with an earthshaking crash. A cloud of dust and leaves exploded upwards from the impact point as the noise reverberated outwards, echoing off the surrounding trees as the components of the cloud began gently floating back down towards the ground.

Shocked gasps arose from a few nearby Ghost-types; a Pumpkaboo outright began to sob. Haunter-1 looked miserable. "I…I'm so sorry," he said. "I can't…I can't believe he'd sacrifice himself…for one of us. You have my deepest condolences…I can't possibly imagine…"

His voice trailed off as he realized that Shiftry, along with the rest of the team (even Zweilous), were trying to suppress snickers. "Come on, Thievul," Tyranitar growled, unable to keep mirth off his face despite his gruff demeanor. "You always do this. Do you really have to be so theatrical?"

A sigh emanated from a nearby bush; a second later Thievul loped out, his fur completely unruffled. "You know, the Ghost-types were really into it. Why am I cursed with teammates unable to keep a straight face to save their lives?"

Haunter-1 gaped. "You…how are you still…"

"Run Away," Thievul answered. "It lets me escape pretty much any sort of sticky situation. Falling tree? Please."

Haunter-1, swiftly recovering from the shock, quickly dispatched a nearby Duskull to escort the trembling Golett back to the main clearing. As Connie stepped over to Thievul, her expression promising both a light scolding for putting himself in danger and gratitude for his actions in saving the Golett, Shiftry glanced over at Zweilous, only for the Dark/Dragon-type's good humor to have already faded. "I'm just tired of being the fifth wheel," he murmured.

Shiftry sighed, but could find nothing to comfort him as she watched the rest of the team gather around Thievul.

It was noon by the time Connie finally stepped through the gates and entered Lumiose City. Compared to the peaceful atmosphere of Laverre City and its surrounding routes, the hustle and bustle of Lumiose City was cacophonous, and from the way Connie's steps became slightly more hurried, it was clear she preferred the quieter areas of Kalos.

Tyranitar felt the same way. Ever since he'd been a mere Larvitar, growing up alongside Connie in Spikemuth, he'd found the city comforting. It was empty, sure, but thanks to Piers it was never too quiet, and it always seemed to strike the right balance. Here in Lumiose, voices could be heard coming from every which way. Connie didn't normally travel to Lumiose - it was usually either Marcus or Serena who did that in the event that someone from their gym needed to visit the capital city of Kalos - and so the last time Tyranitar remembered being in the city was when Connie had visited during the Kalos Gym Challenge - once on the journey between the first and second Gyms, and once to return for the fifth Gym. Both times she'd gotten in and out as fast as possible, but even so, Tyranitar didn't remember the noise being nearly as loud as it was now.

Above the many, many voices, a familiar one rose. "Oh, hey!"

Tyranitar glanced out of his Pokeball to see a recognizable figure stepping towards Connie. The dark hair, blue clothing, and red hat, alongside the Chesnaught walking beside him, instantly identified him. "Calem," Connie greeted, clearly having recognized the Trainer as well.

"Connie, right?" At the nod, Calem smiled. "Sorry if I'm bothering you - I was just coming over to get a few supplies for the Professor, and I happened to see you, so I thought I'd come over and say hello."

"Well, I'm glad to have someone I at least somewhat know," Connie admitted, slowing her walk to keep pace with Calem. "Serena and Marcus both mention you, but I don't think we've met all that much…how's it going?"

"Not bad," said Calem. "I'll admit, when I started working for Professor Sycamore, it was more as a side job while I trained up my team. But after a while I kinda got used to it, and now I'm basically his assistant. He's offered to make it official - I've got to okay it with my parents first, but if they say yes I think I'm gonna take it." He laughed abruptly. "Imagine that - me as a Professor's assistant. No way I thought that would be my career path when I started my Pokemon journey."

"Really?" Connie asked. "Where did you think you'd end up?"

Calem shrugged. "Same as everyone else I know. Kalos Champion."

"Figures," said Connie. "I'll admit, I didn't exactly see myself living in Kalos of all places. I was born in Spikemuth, raised in Spikemuth, and figured I'd spend the rest of my days in Spikemuth. I only went to Kalos because it was the closest place I could go to take a foreign Gym Challenge. Get some training in another region…then Marcus beat me in the League Tournament, and next thing I know he intercepts me when I'm about to head back home and asks me to be one of his Gym Trainers."

Calem put a hand to his forehead. "Right, he fought you before me. That's why I remember you so vividly."

"Oh, you fought him too?" Connie asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't see - left the tournament right after I got knocked out."

Calem's face went slightly red. "To be honest, it wasn't my best showing," he said, in a tone that told Tyranitar he was rather embarrassed about something. "I…made a few decisions I regret in that match." He coughed. "Anyway. What brings you to Lumiose?"

"Medicine," Connie answered. "Serena's Tangrowth is sick - she needs a special treatment from Lumiose, and I said I'd get it for her."

Calem frowned. "You're…heading to the Pokemon Center for that?"

"Yeah," said Connie, noticing the change in Calem's demeanor. "Why - something wrong?"

"Well…" As Calem stumbled over his next words, the two Trainers rounded a corner, and Tyranitar's eyes widened as he beheld a specific building in front of them.

The Lumiose City Pokemon Center, which was currently sealed off by security tape and crawling with multiple Trainers that did not look at all like Pokemon Center employees.

"It got hit last night," Calem explained. "Whoever did it was quick - nobody saw anyone come in or out. But fully three-quarters of the inventory was taken. And this is far from the first Center to be hit - Pokemon Centers all over Southern Kalos have suffered similar robberies. The robber or robbers come at night, hit the place hard and fast, get in and out without being seen."

"Southern Kalos?" Connie asked. "Isn't that the area that's been hit by that huge outbreak of sickness?"

"Yeah," said Calem. "And one of the main reasons for the outbreak is that all the local Pokemon Centers simply don't have the capabilities to treat disease in any real capacity. If those centers still had their inventories, the outbreak would likely have already been contained."

Connie clenched her fists. "Stealing from Pokemon Centers…that's just low."

"I know," said Calem. "And after last night…I doubt they've still got whatever special treatment Serena's Tangrowth needs."

Connie let out a muttered curse. Tyranitar couldn't blame her - just one day earlier and they would've gotten the treatment easily, but now…

"Hey, cheer up," said Calem. "Serena's my friend, too - I'm not just going to sit back and let one of her Pokemon suffer because of something like this. If I know the Professor, he'll be able to whip up something similar. Let me take you over to him, and I'll see if we can't find a way to help out."
Connie's smile returned. "That'd be great. Thanks, Calem."

"No problem," the boy said. "Follow me." Turning, he set off towards the south of Lumiose, his Chesnaught following close behind. Connie walked after him quickly, trying to ignore the cordoned-off visage of the Pokemon Center.

With Tangrowth sick, the rest of Serena's Pokemon had been given the morning to pretty much do whatever while Serena, Delphox, and Meowstic took turns sitting by Tangrowth's bedside. This meant Seeker-Of-Endings, for once, had ample time to attend to his other responsibilities, which, naturally, meant answering a call from Bringer-Of-Visions.

It had been easy to slip into the forests surrounding Laverre, and from there he'd gone straight to Oblivion. As he materialized in the realm of darkness, he was greeted by the sight of Bringer-Of-Visions standing alongside a younger-looking Absol, also female. "Ah, good, Seeker," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "My Future Sight told me you had plenty of free time today, so I decided this would be the best time to begin."

"Begin what, Bringer?" Seeker-Of-Endings asked.

"Patience, Seeker," Bringer-Of-Visions admonished. "Firstly, have you been following Marcus's journey in Galar with your Future Sight?"

"As best I could, Bringer," said Seeker-Of-Endings, "but the entire region is enshrouded by the renegades. I can tell he is currently safe, and has met the Trainer he has been assigned to."

"Good, that is what I have been able to ascertain as well," Bringer-Of-Visions agreed. "Now to the matter at hand." She indicated the younger Absol. "This is Finder-Of-Knowledge. She is being assigned to a Trainer in Kalos named Emil next month. You will advise her on the basic principles of her assignment."

Seeker-Of-Endings eyed Finder-Of-Knowledge. The name echoed uncomfortably in his head as he remembered the Herald who had formerly held that name.

He hadn't seen Finder-Of-Knowledge die, only heard about it secondhand. She'd fallen in the failed attempt to kill Betrayer-Of-Kin in Alola, slain by the powerful Nidoking that she'd managed to recruit to her cause. Now here was her replacement. That was how the name of a Herald worked - when one died, their name was put on a list that would then be assigned to various Heralds-in-training.

"Do you accept this role?" Bringer-Of-Visions asked.

"I do," Seeker-Of-Endings affirmed.

Bringer-Of-Visions dipped her head and stepped backwards, vanishing into Oblivion and leaving Seeker-Of-Endings alone with Finder-Of-Knowledge. The young, female Absol's eyes gazed at Seeker-Of-Endings closely. "So you're really Seeker-Of-Endings?"

Seeker-Of-Endings frowned. "Is my name so well known?"

"Of course!" said Finder-Of-Knowledge. "I…" She dipped her head slightly, turning it a little bit away. "I've heard a lot about you. You fought Betrayer-Of-Kin and not only kept your charge safe, but also survived. Older Heralds are using you as an example."

"Oh…" Seeker-Of-Endings felt a growing feeling of embarrassment. He'd never dreamed of such fame. "I…"

"And you're humble about it." Finder-Of-Knowledge smiled widely. "This is going to be amazing! I'm going to learn from the Seeker-Of-Endings! So what are we going to learn about first?"

Seeker-Of-Endings sighed. "Well," he said, trying to think of something. It wasn't like he'd had time to prepare a lesson plan, since Bringer-Of-Visions had shoved this onto him so quickly. In fact, this didn't really make sense. Sure, Seeker-Of-Endings had been assigned to a Trainer, but so had many other, more senior Heralds who were far more qualified for this sort of mentorship. He even knew of one in Kalos - Believer-Of-Peace, he recalled the name was - who was assigned to a Trainer named Magnus and had served well in that regard for much longer than Seeker-Of-Endings had with Serena. He would have made a much better mentor for Finder-Of-Knowledge than Seeker-Of-Endings. So why had Bringer-Of-Visions chosen him?

It was especially strange considering Seeker-Of-Endings' attitude towards Bringer-Of-Visions. He still had not forgotten the leader of the Heralds' horrific treatment of Medicham after the whole mess that had been the battle with the Swarmlord. How he'd confronted Bringer-Of-Visions after that, only to be brutally shut down both physically and verbally - something he didn't expect Bringer-Of-Visions to have forgotten. And how he'd been approached by Teller-Of-Tales, offering him a position in what had now become an outright renegade movement - and how, while he'd declined in order to stay with Serena, he hadn't told Bringer-Of-Visions of Teller-Of-Tales' treason, either.

Even if Bringer-Of-Visions didn't know about that last part - and he had no reason to think she would know - it still seemed highly irregular that, considering their altercation three years ago, Bringer-Of-Visions would choose to assign him of all Heralds to mentor Finder-Of-Knowledge.

Seeker-Of-Endings shook his head - now was not the time to ponder such things, now was the time to do the job that Bringer-Of-Visions had assigned to him. "Well," he began again, "the first thing you need to know is how to ingratiate yourself with your Trainer. You can't just run up to a Trainer and ask to join their team. There will be distrust, and you will need to prove yourself."

"Okay, so what does that entail?" Finder-Of-Knowledge asked, clearly drinking in every word that Seeker-Of-Endings spoke.

"First off, you need to know how to manage your power level," said Seeker-Of-Endings. "As a Herald, you will easily be the strongest Pokemon on your Trainer's team, and quite a bit stronger than nearly everyone else you meet. Now, you can be stronger than everyone else, but you can't be too much stronger. There's a very delicate balance, and you need to know how to achieve that. Here's a trick I often use…

So, now that this chapter has been released, it's time I explain a few things.

Firstly, these 'Interludes' will be positioned at the end of each arc in Season 3, checking up on the various characters who aren't involved in the events in Galar. And, as if you couldn't tell, the Interludes will be connected, kind of forming their own separate arc. I'm pretty sure there are some of you who were worried I was just going to jettison the entire supporting cast from Season 2 - nope, that's definitely not happening.

Secondly, I'm going to say right here that normally after each arc + interlude chapter, I will take a weeklong break, so the start of the next arc would then go up two weeks after I post the interlude. However, I am going to be heading off on a weeklong vacation in a couple weeks, and since taking a break only to immediately take another break seems stupid, I'm going to instead start posting the next arc next week, and then take my break when the vacation rolls around.

I hope you enjoyed this look into the lives of the other characters post-timeskip. As always, please drop a review if you have the time. I'll see you in a week for the start of the next arc, otherwise known as the 'Hunt Arc'!