And it was the day, again. We were inside the gym building once more, and hopefully this would be the last time we would come to this place.

Hey, I remember that man in front of the magic electronic box! It was the administrator guy for the gym. I didn't know what an administrator was or what they did, and I had the feeling Jarque didn't quite know either, but whatever! We were back!

"Do you have an appointment with us?" he asked. Did he not remember us?

"Yes. Jarque Montecarlo."

The man spent a bit of time staring at his magic box, not showing any kind of haste. I don't think this one enjoyed his job, exactly. "Right, found you in the database. Please take a moment to register the two pokémon you will use and their three moves. Then Tute will see you in around twenty minutes." He gestured towards the waiting room, although we already knew where it was.

And so we waited. We were a little early, but that only meant more time to psyche ourselves up. I noticed Valentine sitting by my side. Her legs were not trembling as badly as last time, but she kept her ears low. I poked her shoulder. "We'll make it this time, Val. Jarque has spent a lot of time this last month drawing up a nice plan of action, and you and I have trained a lot too."

She nodded to me, letting out a soft yelp. "Right! We are more than ready!"

I noticed one of Jarque's hands stroking the Fennekin's ears as I felt another patting my head. "We've got this, girls. We have spent a lot of time preparing for this." I felt a slight shake in his petting hand, and I'm sure Valentine noticed it too. I licked his hand. It's okay, Jarque. I swear I'll make you proud of me this time.

"Mr. Montecarlo?" Another familiar man! This one was the referee. "Tute will see you now. Good luck."

The next moments passed as if in a daze. We walked through familiar backgrounds until we found ourselves before a familiar arena. And at the other side — there he was. Unmistakable. Imposing. And very, very tall for a human. But boy was his choice of wardrobe boring. It was a plaid gray shirt today.

"May the challenger reintroduce himself?" the refereed asked.

Was this necessary? This wasn't the first time we were fighting in this gym, or against this man. Although he presumably received dozens of challenges from rookies every day, so it's not like he could be expected to remember the face of every single loser. But he could at very least make the effort to remember the face of the future champion!

"Jarque Montecarlo." My trainer spoke in an impassive tone. I don't think he was scared, but he wasn't overflowing with confidence either. "This will be my second time challenging this gym."

"May the leader introduce himself?"

The tall, burly man coughed. "As you know, my name is Tute, dragon-type leader of Pike Port's gym." He aimed his eyes low, towards me and Valentine. "A Sprigatito and a Fennekin. I do remember you. You were one of a pair of twins, were you not?" Oh! He does remember him! Heh, we must have left quite the mark if he recognized Jarque out of the hundreds of challengers that must have lost to him last month. Or maybe he just identified him because my species was particularly rare in this region. Perhaps both. "When was it that we last fought, mister?"

Jarque was tense, I could tell. But he didn't shrink back. "One month ago, sir."

"A month ago?" He laughed, although I had trouble identifying what kind of laugh it was. "The League's rules require you to wait for a minimum of one month before you can rechallenge a leader, but that doesn't mean you have to do so as soon as possible. Do you know how most rookie trainers defeat me? They lose once, then they train for months if not years until their pokémon evolve, and then they simply overpower my team. I am surprised to see that your pokémon have not evolved."

Oh. Evolution. I don't think me and Valentine were close to evolving just yet. Maybe in a year or so?

"That would set us back for too long," Jarque said, extending an open palm forward and looking at the both of us. We marched onward into the arena. We were already one month behind Mallet and Bera. It was about time we started to catch up.

"I would hate to waste more of your time if that is the case. Let us begin." He held in each hand one of the spheres of red and white, both of which he released at once. I had heard that gym leaders used different rotating teams based on many factors, but it seemed like today we were doing nothing but meeting familiar faces. Except this time they wouldn't catch us unprepared.

The brown dinosaur stood before me with a toothy grin, and the apple-dragon eyed the both of us with caution.

"Last dance was fun, girls," the Applin said. She seemed like the most demure one of the duo, although not by much. "Hoping to get luckier this time?"

The Tyrunt snorted. "Did you both bring three damaging moves again?"

I emitted a low growl as I frowned. "You're about to find out."

This time we knew what their strategy was. The Applin would make herself untouchable by boosting her defense with Withdraw, slowing down foes with Pounce, and potentially interrupting enemy concentration with Attract, although we didn't need to worry about the last one. While she kept the enemies busy, the Tyrunt would become stronger by combining Curse with the deadly Dragon Dance, and then start delivering Bites reinforced by his Strong Jaw ability. It was an insultingly simple strategy, really, but that didn't make it any less effective.

Which meant that the true threat was the Tyrunt. The Applin was more of an annoyance, although that didn't mean we could afford to just ignore her. But this time we were not dancing blind.

"Do the usual! Curse! Defense Curl!"

Uh? I felt my legs freeze for a moment. This was the exact opening we expected. The Tyrunt would up his offense and defense by sacrificing speed, while the Applin would harden her skin to better take blows. A quick glance shared with both my trainer and Valentine confirmed that they both had noticed too. Last time the Applin used Withdraw, not Defense Curl. Did it matter? Those moves were identical anyway. They fulfilled the same role, so our strategy should not change. Still, something felt off about this entire ordeal.

"Hone Claws! Tail Whip!" Jarque shouted. Two could play at that game. Or, uh, four I guess.

My final evolution was meant to be a magician, from what I knew. Well, here's some magic as an appetizer! I began to drag my front claws downward on the floor, loosening and removing the outer husk that covered my claws to reveal nails as daggers beneath. You weren't the only one that could become stronger mid-battle, you big dumb reptile!

I could afford a quick peek at Valentine just to confirm she was doing okay, as none of us was getting physical with anyone else just yet. As Jarque had instructed, she had turned her back to the opponents and was wiggling her tail back and forth in an admittedly adorable fashion. This would normally be a terrible idea, but the hypnotic sway of her fluffy tail tricked your subconscious into accepting that this was a gentle, soft, and completely powerless creature, such that you would drop your defense more easily around her. It was funny how this worked even if you knew the trick. The subconscious was a scary thing! Among stat-lowering moves, Tail Whip was notable because its wide reach allowed it to affect all opponents at once in double battles.

Even the dragon guy leader seemed impressed. Or maybe not impressed — he was hard to read! — but he did raise an eyebrow. "So you brought some status moves for the occasion, how gallant. A single Tail Whip counteracts the defense-raising effects of both Curse and Defense Curl, and your Hone Claws forces me to act fast or face the consequences. So act fast I will. Dragon Dance. Now. And Pounce on anyone that approaches." Goodness! He was bringing out the big guns already? I didn't know if that was good news or bad news, but it was something new for sure.

"Leafage on the Tyrunt! Ember the Applin!"

We didn't know any moves that could exploit the obscure dragon weaknesses, but we could at least achieve neutral efficacy by abusing their secondary typings. I had already approached the Tyrunt in anticipation, much like Valentine was closer to the Applin. I slashed at the Tyrunt with pointed leaves emerging from my sharpened claws while he executed his draconic dance, all while Valentine spread flames all over the Applin's small body, stopping her from pouncing around.

Although the Tyrunt didn't interrupt his esoteric pirouette, he did grit his teeth. His reaction forced a grin out of me. "That must have hurt, uh, lizard?"

"Barely, kitten." He tried to play it cool, but he was mildly bruised. The combination of my Hone Claws with Valentine's Tail Whip had resulted in a very biting attack. Was this that thing they called teamwork? And Valentine wasn't even anywhere near me!

This was going well. A little too well, which was always disconcerting. Out of the two dragons it was the Tyrunt that represented the greater danger, and since those scales where pretty much fireproof it was up to me to take him down. Valentine could keep the Applin busy.

I heard the tall leader man chuckle. That couldn't be good. "Most fascinating. Let's begin the assault proper, then." He extended one menacing, muscular arm, then shouted at the top of his lungs. "Bite! Rollout!"

Waitwaitwait. Rollout? Who? How? Ugh, dear Uxie, I felt so stupid. If Jarque could choose different moves for us than last time, why would the leader be any different? The Applin mentioned last time that Attract was one of her three chosen moves, which was a reasonable choice back then since the leader had no way to know what genders the challenger's pokémon would be. But for the rematch, Tute already knew that our trainer had no males in his team, so it made sense that he would swap Attract out for a different move.

I had not anticipated this. Our only hope now was that at least Jarque had.

"Bite and Ember on the Applin!" His instruction was succinct. We couldn't afford to waste a second. So we were redirecting our attention to the Applin? Why? Was Rollout that dangerous of a move? I feinted the Tyrunt with a short hop to escape his attention and sprinted towards the Applin as Valentine kept spouting flames on her. While the leader urged the Tyrunt to go back to using Dragon Dance, the Applin began to spin around herself like a Hitmontop as she rotated towards Valentine. I jumped in front of her to intercept the attack — it only hurt a bit! — then wasted not one moment to sink my fangs into the Applin. That was a hard surface! Must be the Defense Curl from before.

"What does Rollout do?" I asked out loud as I shifted closer to Valentine.

Although the question was aimed at Valentine it was the Applin that answered. She didn't even stop rotating, although she did slow down. "What does it do? Very little damage. But it becomes stronger and stronger after each use, until it becomes unstoppable."

Valentine hurled another volley of flames at her. "Defense Curl speeds up the process! This can get out of hand if we aren't careful! Plus it's a rock-type move so I don't think I can endure too many of those!"

Well, that was just fancy. Now both the Tyrunt and the Applin were significant threats. If we focused on the Applin, the Tyrunt would buff himself by dancing. But if we ignored the Applin, she would spin faster and faster until she could lay waste to us in a single strike.

Jarque was cheering us on but not issuing any new commands, so the strategy hadn't changed. We still were supposed to prioritize taking down the twirling draconic apple. So we traded blows once more. I jumped on the revolving apple to bite her hardened surface again, hurting my fangs a little in the process — it was like biting into stale bread! — but this way I ensured that I would become the next target of her attack. I couldn't let Valentine get hit by that since she was at a type disadvantage. The Applin sped up her whirling motion, sending me flying before slamming her swiveling body against me. Okay, this was starting to hurt bad now.

Then, another burst of flames. The Applin shrieked, lack of mouth and all. Okay, she couldn't just keep taking our attacks to the face all day. We were actually putting a dent on her. But I spied on the corner of my eye the Tyrunt still dancing, and that worried me. Jarque, were we just going to let the dinosaur bolster his strength and speed as much as he wanted? Shouldn't you redirect one of us towards him?

"Keep going!" Jarque insisted. "You're doing great!"

I gritted my teeth at the thought of plunging my fangs again on that rock-hard Applin, but it was what Jarque had asked of me. He knew what he was doing, right? I had to trust him. I simply had to. Screaming out to scare away my hesitation I lunged at the spinning dragon-fruit and gave her another nip. Wait. My fangs sunk deeper than usual. Had I happened to find a weak spot? The Applin began to slow down, and I made sure not to release her until she had fully stopped.

I jumped away from the Applin, then Valentine paid her with another spray of embers to the face. The Fennekin turned to me, panting hard but smiling wide. "You made her flinch! Good going, Clover!"

Oh. There were certain moves like Bite that aimed to strike specific nerves or muscles in the body to benumb the adversary. While often unsuccessful against moving targets, sometimes you happened to luck out and managed to stun them momentarily, making them go numb and unable to act for a short while. I had heard Jarque and other humans call this process flinching. My fangs must have accidentally scraped some nerve that forced the Applin to stop in place. Nothing permanent. This kind of injury might leave a human paralyzed, but we were far more resilient.

Still, I made her stop. She was rotating no more. The thing about Rollout is that, although it eventually becomes a force to be reckoned with, that takes a long time. It starts out very weak. And I had just reset the clock for her.

"Leafage on the Tyrunt!" My feet began to move as soon as Jarque pronounced the first syllable, since I was already half-anticipating that exact command. The Applin was a threat no more. She would need a long time before her Rollout became a menace once again, but she was too weakened to resist too much abuse. Valentine could probably take care of the grass-dragon on her own, without my help. Which left me free to deal with the still dancing Tyrunt.

"Bite." Tute's voice was firm and imposing, but not aggressive, not a shout. Hearing it, the Tyrunt interrupted his inscrutable dance and stared at me with hungry eyes. I nearly tripped as I ran, but managed not to fall. I could smell my own sweat. I-I was not scared! Get a hold of yourself! I took a brief glance back, to Valentine and the Applin trading attacks. She had her dragon against the ropes. She was doing her part. I would do mine.

"B-Bite!" The same command again, but this time coming from a younger voice. Jarque! Didn't you just ask me to use Leafage? Why the change in plans? I suppose it didn't matter in the end. Both Leafage and Bite were physical attacks, and as Jarque had found out in a book he recently bought, a Tyrunt was a rock / dragon pokémon and so neither grass nor dark moves held any advantage. Still, a grass-type like me was best adapted to use moves of her type. But no matter. I trusted him to make the correct decision.

"Curse," the Tyrunt said as I got closer to him. "Dragon Dance." He had such a wide smile that he probably wanted to display his teeth on purpose. "Plus my ability, Strong Jaw." I was now right in front of him. "Think you can take it, kitty?"

I gave him my widest smile. "I don't have the faintest idea." I bet that made me sound super cool. And I bet that distracted him enough not to notice my shivering legs.

Well, time to do this. I took one step forth. Then I stopped. I kind of really didn't want to get anywhere near those chilling fangs. Just the sight of them made the fur on my tail stand on end. Dances of skill were always fun, but these gym things are on a whole different level. Grim. Tense. Bloodcurdling.

And yet so, so very exhilarating. I didn't know if we were going to win this. But I knew in my heart that the possibility existed, and there was something so deeply enticing about that. Think of the prize! Jarque would get very happy that we won, and he would scratch my chin and pet my tummy and give me lots of kisses!

I heard a stomping coming in my direction, and concluded that there must be better times to be caught daydreaming than when you're about to be assaulted by a tiny dinosaur. The one saving grace was that my species was famed for its speed. I ducked under his larger body and then jumped to direct a bite at the side of his neck. Caught you guardless! How could you be so careless? You should have taken me more seriously! Could this be a lingering effect from Valentine's Tail Whip from the beginning of this dance? And my own Hone Claws got me pumped up too, so I was feeling bolder and biting harder!

How unfortunate that I wasn't the only pokémon around with fangs. I felt his sharp teeth pierce my coat, and the ensuing scream forced me to release him from my grasp as drool started to form in my mouth. It hurt. And yet, I don't know if it was the adrenaline or what, but I wanted to keep going. It was a matter of pride. I refused to fall twice against the same foe. I refused to disappoint Jarque once again. I was earning those head pats, dammit!

The Tyrunt freed me once my squirming and scratching at him became too much for him to bear, and I landed on my side on the cold arena floor below. Sand cushioned the fall, at least. I stood up, not without difficulty, and stared up to the Tyrunt with the most defiant glare I could muster. I'm still in this, lizard.

"Enough!" The sudden voice made me do a little hop. Who was it now? What was it this time? That wasn't Jarque. Was it Tute? No, hold on, that was the referee. "The Applin is out of commission! Leader, recall your pokémon!"

I afforded myself a single second to look back to the triumphant, smiling Fennekin standing in front of a badly scorched Applin. Hah! She looked so happy, that runt, keeping her head raised high while her tail shifted around like a fan! So proud of herself! I made a mental note to tease her about it later.

"Good job," the leader guy said, grabbing one of his spheres of red and white to withdraw his fainted dragon. Did this really happen? Did we just take down one of the leader's pokémon? I mean, it was Valentine that defeated the Applin, but I did help! Now I really had to make sure I was the one to defeat the Tyrunt. I wouldn't want the newcomer to hog all the glory and force Jarque to only give me head pats out of pity. "But this is not yet over. Bite."

Hold on, I'm not ready! One of your pokémon just fainted, the least you could do is mourn her! I would have appreciated a few seconds of respite, but if I acted fast enough I should be able to get a hit in before the Tyrunt did. The sweat on my forehead was starting to feel uncomfortable. I had no idea how I was still conscious after that last Bite, but I couldn't possibly take another one of those. And although the Tyrunt was badly wounded, I wasn't sure if my attacks were strong enough for a single extra hit to make a difference.

"Leafage!" Jarque trusted me more than I trusted myself, it seemed. I was more confident in my grass moves as they felt more natural to me, but maybe not that confident. Was attacking really the best choice here, Jarque? Wouldn't it be better to fall back and regroup with Valentine?

"What type are you?"

The Tyrunt's sudden question made me yelp in surprise. "Uh. Grass…?"

"No. No, you're not. I cannot conceive how you would withstand my Bite if that were the case." What was this all about? Was this just a trick to make me drop my guard? Yeah, it probably was exactly that. "Regardless, I should take you down promptly, before your friend approaches. I know your moveset now: Leafage, Bite and Hone Claws. Nothing that threatens me. But the vixen has only used Ember and Tail Whip. She still has a third unknown move. And I don't like unknowns. No one does, so —"

I rushed to him. I was torn between retorting back with a super clever quip or just interrupting his monologue, but I couldn't think of any cool remark so interrupting it is. As I approached I mentally prepared myself, ready to unchain my retractable claws.

"Howl!" Jarque yelled. It was at that moment that I realized we would walk away with a badge to our name.

Valentine was far from my position, having just thrashed the no longer present Applin. Too far to reach me or the Tyrunt and join the action before one of us fell. But, being a Fennekin, the further away she was from you the more you should fear her, for her kind didn't fight with fang and claw like mine, but with mind and cunning.

"Crush him, Clover!" I heard her cry from afar. "Show him that no dragon is large enough to overshadow your love for our trainer! Bring us victory, leader!"

Leader, uh? That didn't sound half bad. Yeah, I was the leader of this team, the one Jarque loved the most, so it was up to me to take care of our strongest opponent. I glared at the Tyrunt with narrow eyes — he seemed so small all of a sudden. Valentine's words roused me and lifted my spirit, removing any doubt from my mind that victory was at hand. This wasn't merely emotional support or an incitement towards courage. The move Howl, used properly, would pump both the user and its allies full of adrenaline, making muscles more coordinated and robust. Valentine wasn't a physical attacker herself, so a move like Howl would normally be wasted on a pokémon like her. But in a multiple battle, Howl could still shine as a way to invigorate distant teammates — as a mass buff move!

Neither the Tyrunt nor his trainer reacted in any way. It was clear to me why: both of them had become aware that their defeat was guaranteed. Tute could have surrendered there and then, but chose to keep going. Perhaps they wanted to let us savor our well-earned victory? Who knows. It didn't matter to me anyway. I felt sharp leaves projecting from my claws, and it almost scared me how long and keen they were. I slashed in a wide arc with my paws as if trying to slice a piece of fruit, slinging the overgrown foliage at the Tyrunt as a verdant barrage. The first volley couldn't even make him wince. The second volley forced him to take a step back. The third and fourth ones came too fast for him to react, and by the fifth one he had accepted his fate.

The Tyrunt fell on one knee. He was conscious, breathing heavily, but his upper body never touched the sand below. I worried for a moment. He had cut marks everywhere along his scales and could barely keep one eye open, but he had not passed out. He couldn't possibly keep fighting in that state, could he?

"Enough!" Thank goodness. I assumed the voice came from the referee at first, until I raised my head and realized it was the gym leader speaking. "My pokémon is no condition to fight. I concede defeat." He made a pause to add a dramatic flourish. "That was, let's say, an intriguing battle."

I stared in a stupor as the menacing Tyrunt before me vanished into a red gleam until there was nothing left, and I would swear a subtle grin had formed on his face in the last moment. Had we really done it? Had we really overcome our first gym? I didn't want to move, as I feared this was a dream and I would rather not wake up yet. But when Valentine tackled me from the side and began to rub her cheek against mine, I figured maybe this wasn't the world of dreams after all.

I was still in a bit of a daze so I don't fully remember how this went. Jarque came to us and congratulated the two of us — me first! He rubbed both of our heads with his hands. Thank goodness he had two! I wanted to kiss his lips as we often did because that's the main way my species expresses affection, but I had learned that for some reason that's not something you do in public. I really, really wanted to, but I held myself back. I could do that when we were alone later anyway.

The dragon guy approached us, gave me and Valentine a brief glance, and then turned his attention to Jarque. "I can say that your pokémon are strong."

Jarque let out this cute awkward laugh of his. "Yes, thanks."

"People always assume this is a compliment." Tute shook his head in such a theatrical fashion that you could just tell he must have practiced dozens of times in front of a mirror. "A good trainer doesn't need strong pokémon to win. I have seen this happen many times recently — rookies that come challenge me with no understanding of planning or strategy, but still win due to having strong pokémon in their teams. In some cases, they train and train for months or years until they have an evolved team to overwhelm mine. In other cases like yours, they face me with rare pokémon and let their innate traits and characteristics carry them. Tell me, would you have also been victorious if your team consisted of, say, a Geodude and a Taillow?"

I kind of wanted to scratch this dude's face for being rude to my Jarque. Thank goodness I had at least average self-control. Jarque pondered the question for a few moments. "If my team contained a ground and a flying-type? Then I guess I would actually have a type advantage against your team."

"I suppose." Tute stretched out his arms casually, and managed to look threatening while doing so. Was he giving us our badge already or…? "You must think it rich that you are being lectured for using rare pokémon by the dragon gym leader of all people. Sorry. My wrath is misaimed. I'm a little fed up with all the rich kids we are getting lately who were bought powerful, exotic species by daddy and mommy and then overpower me while lacking a basic understanding of the principles of battle. I am the first gym leader trainers face in Baraja, meant to have a weak team that anyone can overcome with strategy, even if your pokémon don't belong to the strongest species. But how do we reconcile this with the possibility of a rookie sending out a disobeying Garchomp they have acquired heaven knows where? Is it safe to give someone so naive and unprepared a badge and send them out to the wild world? Like all others, this region can be dangerous if your pokémon cannot or does not want to protect you."

Okay. Cool. The badge. C'mon now.

But the guy kept talking. "That said, I am aware that is not your case. You would not challenge me twice with pokémon that don't hold a type advantage over my team unless your goal wasn't winning, but rather winning with this specific team. I know not by which means those two rare pokémon ended up in your team, but I can tell that you have the deepest of bonds with the Sprigatito. You would do well to treasure it." I take it back. Keep speaking, wise man. "The Fennekin on the other hand is more distant. Which isn't too unusual for their species, but perhaps you should consider spending more time with this one." Okay, changed my mind, you can stop speaking now. "You are not the worst battler we've had, not by far, but many of your tactics are… questionable. Unorthodox. You have no formal training, do you? There were in particular two decisions during our match that I found bewildering. First, why focus on my Applin with both of your pokémon?"

Jarque began to spin one finger in circles. "When your Applin used Rollout it caught me off-guard, so I tried to figure out how to stop it before it grew out of control. And Bite did the trick."

Tute raised one of his rather thick eyebrows. "So you relied upon luck? I am not sure if I can condone a strategy based on rolling the dice."

Jarque pointed at me and Valentine with a finger. "That's why I sent the both of them after your Applin at once. I was fine with either Bite flinching your pokémon and forcing it to reset the Rollout, or Ember burning it to make it hit less hard. It was unlikely for either of these to happen in a single move, but if I used both moves multiple times then my chances of triggering either effect would be much higher."

The dragon guy closed his eyes as he placed his hand on his mouth. "So you analyzed the odds, to the best of your capacity at least, and figured that the payout was high enough to aim for it. Very well. Not a mere gamble then. You did roll the dice, but they were always loaded. And I suppose luck will always be a part of the game for us." He opened his eyes to take a look at his boring suit as he adjusted his collar. "My second, most puzzling question: why have your Sprigatito use Bite against my Tyrunt? I understand neither grass nor dark-type moves were effective against your foe, but pokémon tend to prefer using moves of their own type. So why use Bite first? Were you hoping for another timely flinch?"

"That would have been too lucky," Jarque said as he stared down to me. I looked up to him, and felt my tail wagging behind my at a slow rhythm. "No, it's… It's kind of hard to explain. It doesn't truly matter."

"Every decision matters, mister. I would appreciate listening to your thought process, even if only to satisfy my own curiosity."

Now Jarque looked away. Aw. He seemed deep in thought as he looked into the distance. "Maybe it's my imagination. But last time we fought she received two Bites from your Tyrunt, and I would have sworn the second time she reacted like it hurt so much more. I thought back to that time and wondered what changed from one moment to the next, and the only thing that came to mind was her last move used. If she uses Bite, she can endure enemy Bites better. But if she uses something like Leafage, she loses that benefit. But again, could just be my imagination."

I felt my ears perking up. How attentive of him! Gauging how much pain your pokémon feels in the middle of a chaotic double dance doesn't sound easy. But I just liked that he was looking at me at all.

"You don't happen to know her ability, do you?" the big man asked. After pondering it for a few seconds, Jarque answered negatively. "I have heard of extraordinary abilities such as Protean or Libero that work in a way similar to what you proclaim, by changing the type of your pokémon to match that of whatever move they use."

Oh! That made sense! Use Bite, and you temporarily become a dark-type capable of resisting dark moves. Use Leafage, and you return back to being a grass-type and lose that resistance. Is that what was happening here? But this sounded like such a specialized ability that it would be weird if neither Jarque nor I ever realized I had it.

… Or maybe not? We were kids, and had spent most our lives in an orphanage. I was young so I didn't have a wide movepool yet, plus I had always been very fast — that's my strongest point! — so I didn't get hit very often. Not many chances to figure something was wrong with my weaknesses and resistances! And the kinds of pokémon I used to spar against at the orphanage were, let's say, not particularly exotic and varied. And they never hit that hard anyway, so it would be difficult to tell apart a pitifully weak move from a slightly less pitifully weak move. But that Tyrunt's crushing Bite? Now that difference was noticeable.

"Luck really is on your side," Tute said as he took two long steps to cut the distance between him and my human. "Certain regions impose limitations on how many times such an ability can be activated per battle. We are not one of those regions. Truly fortunate. And now…" He grabbed one of Jarque's hands and slammed a small item into it with a strong closed fist. Jarque almost fell back. "The Spade Badge." Dragon man reached into his pockets for some kind of red and blue wide ring and slapped it into Jarque's free hand. "And a TM as is customary. This one is for Dragon Dance."

Jarque placed the shiny trinket into his pocket and the ring into his backpack. "Dragon Dance? My team lacked any dragons last time I checked, but maybe I'll check again."

"Not all resources are to be burned as soon as they are acquired. Some bid their time. Perhaps a future teammate might benefit from this TM, or perhaps you can sell it or trade it for a more relevant item. Be inventive. This is just a tool." Tute placed a hand on his own chest. "And I am just the first step. The easiest step. Don't rest on your laurels, mister. Now, goodbye. I should invite in the next challenger."

Thank goodness! We were finally done! I was starting to get sleepy and all, in part because I was a bit tired from the battle. Now I just wanted us to crash into our room at the inn to be pampered by Jarque as he cuddled me and caressed me everywhere! Valentine could watch, maybe. And, ugh, I guess Jarque did have a second hand, so perhaps we could figure something out. Whatever! Let's just get out of this building so that we can be alone!

So we got out of the big building… and we still wouldn't be left alone, because now there was a new middle-aged man approaching us and calling out for Jarque. "Mr. Montecarlo? I just saw your match."

Valentine hid behind Jarque's legs, startled by the man's sudden approach, while I stood by my human's side, my head held high and my eyes narrowed at the stranger. This man was well-groomed and with neatly combed hair, dressing sharp in black. How did humans call this kind of clothing? A suit? I had only seen those in pictures. But even more readily noticeable was the scar on his face running across his nose. That couldn't be good, no? He was smiling wide, but it didn't seem like a sneer to me. Visually I would describe his smile as kind, but that was not the sensation I felt deep inside.

By my side, Jarque began to tap his fingers against his leg. I think he was a little tense too, but not as much as me. "It's me, yes." He stood in silence for a moment as he scanned the stranger, and not even I could tell what was going through his head as he did so. "Who asks for me? Are you, uh, with the press?"

The scar guy let out a jovial laugh, sounding younger than he probably was. "I'm afraid not. I am… an admirer of pokémon battles, you could say. And also a collector of sorts, even if I'm not the best at it. My name is Kendall." He extended a dainty, open palm. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jarque. Uh, may I call you by your name?"

Jarque hesitated for a moment. Understandable. "Sure." But he eventually acquiesced and shook the hand of the adult man. You better clean that hand before you pet me! "So like… I don't know how this goes. Do you want like an autograph or something?"

"Ah, no. No offense, my good boy, but I am more interested in your pokémon," the man said. Upon hearing those words Jarque took a sudden step forth so that he was shielding us, but his friendly expression didn't change. "A Fennekin and a Sprigatito. Those are two exceptionally rare species, specially the Sprigatito. I heard your discussion with the gym leader before. So it has Protean? What an exceptional and uncommon ability! And, forgive me for asking, but this one is a female, correct?"

The tapping of Jarque's fingers on his leg hastened. "And you know because…?"

Kendall directed his hand towards the gym behind them. "I have seen enough fights with rookies to know that our good Tute often includes in his team a female pokémon with Attract — the Applin, in your case — due to how common male starters are. But for rechallenges, if he already knows that the challenger's team only has females in it then he assigns a different move, like Rollout for his Applin. So I take it this means both of your pokémon are female." He waited a short moment, perhaps waiting for Jarque's confirmation, but seeing no answer came he just took that as a yes. "Then I will get to the point. I am interested in acquiring both of your pokémon, specially the Sprigatito. I am willing to offer an advantageous trade for them."

My ears twitched as I pawed at them. I thought my understanding of the human language was as good as it could be now, or was I misunderstanding something? I began to emit a low grunt, but Jarque waved a hand to me as if to calm me down. "Not interested, sorry."

Kendall nodded his head with a smile, as if anticipating that answer. "Please, at least first wait to hear my offer! You are a rookie trainer attempting the League's challenge, and I have a wide selection of strong pokémon that could make that goal much easier to attain." He began to point one by one at the many pokéballs on his belt. "Tyranitar. Dragapult. Metagross. Garchomp. I am willing to trade any two for your own."

Jarque's eyes widened as they became glued to the man's busy belt. I felt my heart beat a little too fast. He is just impressed by the stupid number of colored spheres he has in that belt, right? He is not considering throwing me away, is he? "I-I'm not interested, as I said." I breathed out. Silly me! Why would I ever think he would trade me away?

The man with the scar never stopped smiling. "Then what about money, Jarque? I am willing to buy them from you for… Actually, you name the price. Money should not be an issue. I hope."

"They're not for sale, no. I swear I don't host a bazaar, sir." Jarque raised his tone a little, perhaps a bit more than he intended, but then coughed to calm himself down. "Now if you excuse us, we were leaving to celebrate."

"Could I then interest you in a rare item, perhaps, or…?" I began to growl at this persistent man. Jarque gestured at me to stop. But I kept growling. Even Valentine peeked out from behind Jarque's legs to glare at the scarred man, who just had a hearty laugh. "Very well, very well, I understand. They are special partners for you, aren't they? You should treasure bonds like these."

Hah! What a fool of a man! Fool! As if my Jarque would ever trade me for some stupid overpowered dragon or some shiny metals! I was more surprised that he wasn't trading away the Fennekin, though, since she had been with us for less than two months. Had he gotten so attached to her in so little time? Or perhaps he felt it was his duty as a trainer to not betray his pokémon's trust.

"But I have another offer, Jarque." Please just shut uuuuup. "Because at the end of the day it's not like I want your Sprigatito specifically. It is a very rare species, and all I want is to see more specimens like it happily running around the region with their trainers. Just like you two! And by virtue of being a female, your Sprigatito can — well, not right now since she's still a bit too young, but soon enough she should become of age and be able to have litters. When the time comes, I'll be willing to pay you with a hefty sum or with a powerful pokémon in exchange for lending us your Sprigatito to breed her. She will then be returned to you safely."

I only had a superficial understanding of the things the man was suggesting, but I knew it wasn't anything good. We were in the middle of a city, so he wouldn't dare do anything drastic, but I still couldn't help but feel cold. Although colder than that was Jarque's glare directed at the scar guy. "Dear loving Mesprit. I thought humans that treated pokémon as tools were things of fairy tales. Thought that was pretty uncommon nowadays." He turned sideways towards the residential area of the city, not quite turning his back on the man. "We're leaving, girls."

"Of course I don't see them as tools!" Kendall said in a tone that, for the first time, didn't seem perfectly chirpy. Although his voice was still gentle. "We are talking about a species with very low numbers. What is so bad about wanting to see their population grow? There are certain responsibilities one should assume when becoming the trainer of such a rare species, Jarque. But oh well. You will mature up with time, I'm sure. We can talk then. Do you want my pokégear contact?" Jarque began to walk away, and I followed. Valentine stood paralyzed in a daze for a second before trailing after us. "Very well, Jarque. If you do well in your League's challenge I'm sure I'll hear of you and your team in the newspapers. See you sometime."

Bah. I'm sure we would never have to see that smiling scarred face ever!

So we went back to our inn room. Finally. Jarque called Bera and Mom to tell them about his victory — they were very happy about it! And then we spent the rest of the evening playing and nuzzling and kissing. It was funny how shy Valentine was about it all, and how embarrassed she got whenever me and Jarque kissed. Silly innocent girl! Then at night we slept cuddled up together, me against Jarque's chest, and Valentine near his legs.

I wanted more of this. I wanted more of this happiness. I wanted to win us another of those badges so that we could celebrate again.

I would prove to this region that our team was the best there was. And then Jarque would love me even more!