September 26. That was how long they'd been given to make it to Turffield.

It wasn't any kind of ultimatum, thankfully. Caroline had suggested it after Cassius and the others had stayed behind, fresh off of signing on to Next Level. Her reasoning had been sound, after she'd explained it.

"It's a way for you to build yourselves up without having to rush there early," she'd said. "We get you there on the twenty-sixth, and you get the rest of that day to recuperate. We can use the following day to do a group presser with the three of you, to build up the hype and excitement. Then, for the final three days of the month, we can stagger you all in whatever order you'd like so that we can have three days of consecutive gym battles, one a day."

They determined their order shortly after. Gloria would be first, naturally, beginning their stretch on the twenty-eighth. Hop was second on the twenty-ninth, and Cassius would wrap up the month with his battle on the last day of September. Likely the last battle of the league opener.

"Is it normal for big-ticket trainers to go last?" Hop had asked. Caroline assured them it was. "League prefers it that way, actually. If they had it their way, they'd have all the lesser-known trainers go earlier in the month, and save the big names for primetime slots on the back half. Wouldn't surprise me if they've already talked to the other notable trainers about their willingness to hold off on going early."

It was comforting to know that the league had incentive in Cassius holding off, allowing for him and the others to plan and train in the meantime. They'd have to work to allocate time between gameplanning for the gym leader and general training, but the fact that they had any kind of time to sort it out was encouraging enough.

Caroline had gone to let the league know when they'd be arriving in Turffield—"They have a notice deadline so that they can schedule all of the battles," she explained—and his group had called it a day. Twenty-four hours and a few other errands for the league later, they were packed and leaving Motostoke, heading along Route 3.

They'd elected to bring their Pokémon out to enjoy the morning's weather. Hop had Grookey along his shoulder, with Wooloo following closely. Gloria's Scorbunny looked to be in the middle of a game of tag with her Yamper. Hyla trotted alongside Cassius, the two conversing.

"What do you think?" Cassius flashed the small card in his hand toward his Pokémon. He lifted the black fur covering her eyes to provide her a better look. Hyla was silent for a moment, before lolling her tongue out with a sniff. "Urf."

Cassius grimaced. "Yikes. That bad?"

"Lemme take a look," Hop peered over. His eyes squinted. "Oh, come off it. I don't think it's that bad."

"No, that's bad." Gloria countered. Cassius gave her a frown. "You didn't even look." She snorted. "I was there with you when you took it, halfwit."

He'd gone to make a league card after their chat with Caroline. A necessity, apparently, for serious trainers. Likened to a business card in the world of Pokémon battling. If Cassius had known that, he would have put more effort into his photo—as it was, his hair wasn't straight, his eyes were baggy, and his smile was lopsided, and in all honesty, a little creepy. He looked a few hours removed from an all-night bender gone wrong.

The editor and photographers had tried their best, but there was only so much they could do. At least the background was nice. Still, his card paled in comparison to Hop and Gloria's respective cards, who had not only come in with an idea of what kind of pose and atmosphere they had wanted, but had even brought custom images for backgrounds. It was that serious for them, apparently.

"Real quick," Hop slowed his pace to walk beside Cassius. Grookey gave him the stink eye as he spoke. "You just showed Hyla your card, and that got me curious. How good is her eyesight?"

A valid question. "Well, she isn't blind. She can't see at all past a certain point, and you have to be really close to her for her to see you clearly, but her eyes work."

"I was under the impression all Deino were born blind."

"All wild Deino are, if left alone. Domesticated ones can have the issue mitigated with a procedure, to some extent. Hyla was a purebred born from my grandmother's Hydreigon, so she had access to necessary care. No side effects or anything like that, either."

He eyed his Pokémon, who was listening intently. "Most Deinos' eyesight improve as they evolve, too. They can see marginally better as Zweilous, and have a good chunk of sight restored once becoming Hydreigon. Hyla gets along fine with sound, anyway."

Hop smiled. "You know a lot about the species, huh?" Cassius didn't think it was anything special. "Just basic care, really. I want to treat her right, so I studied up when I got her."

"Ever thought about the next step?"

"What next step?"

"You know, evolving her. Into a Zweilous, and Hydreigon," Hop elaborated. "You've had her for a while. I imagine she can't be that far off from becoming a Zweilous, at least."

Truth be told, Cassius had no idea. "I'm not sure. I mean, yeah, I've had her for a long time, but she hadn't undergone any serious training until I met you all. It takes a lot of time and experience for a Deino to evolve into a Zweilous, even under the best conditions."

That made sense to Hop. That was how most Dragon-types were. "How long would you say it typically takes?"

"Years, at least. I don't remember the specific number, but my grandmother had been with her Deino for most of her teenage years before she finally managed to evolve it."

"You've been with Hyla for most of your teenage years."

"Difference is that she was training her Deino, while I was taking mine on walks." Cassius shrugged. "The reality is that I'm not sure how long it'll take. For now, I'm operating under the assumption that it won't happen during the circuit. And in the off-chance that it does, I'm almost certain it wouldn't be until the very tail-end of the challenge."

Hop hummed to himself in thought. It was good that he wasn't pinning his success on the hope that Hyla would miraculously evolve. But even so, it was something to consider. Battling styles could change dramatically with an evolution, especially in the case of Dragon-types.

"Is it something you want to happen?" Hop followed up. Curiously, Cassius paused for a moment. Their strides were quiet for a moment before he answered. "It's not worth thinking about. Hyla's fine just the way she is."

He bent down to scratch the underside of her chin. "Aren't you, girl?" Hyla barked happily, nuzzling into his hand.

Hop would leave them to it—their dynamic was beyond him to judge—but he would disagree that it wasn't worth thinking about. A Zweilous, while not a Hydreigon, would be a considerable improvement over a base-level Deino. That wasn't a shot at the Dragon-type, but it was simply the way things worked in battling. Evolved Pokémon were more experienced, versatile, and flat-out stronger.

But, Cassius had been right in saying that it probably wasn't a problem for them to think about now. Maybe Hyla wouldn't come close to evolving during their challenge. In any case, it wasn't something they'd dwell on presently.

What was something to consider in the present was the small blockade of emo kids waiting for them at Motostoke's west entrance. Wait, not emo kids—the gaggle of fans that had held up the Budew Drop Inn lobby. The ones that followed that other famous gym challenger. Team Shout, was it?

"Well, well, well," the one in front walked forward. Judging from the tacky mohawk and the... weight, it seemed to be the same hooligan who had led the charge before. "Lookit, gang. The champion's trainers decided to pop up."

"Well, yes. This is the way to Turffield, after all." Hop attempted to be cordial with them. He wasn't in the mood for a holdup this early in the morning. "Can we help you with anythin', lads?"

"Can we help you with anythin', lads?" The portly superfan mockingly imitated. "How's about a big, fat no?"

"Oookay then. Sorry to bother you, we'll be on our way." Hop attempted to sidestep the group, only to find himself cut off. He attempted the other side, and was met with a similar result. The leader sneered, "Road's blocked, I'm afraid."

Cassius eyed the sparsely populated and very functional road in front of them. "Uh, there isn't anything blocking—"

"Ears outta whack? I said road's blocked."

Oh, so they were referring to themselves. Quite the mild annoyance they'd found themselves embroiled in to start the day.

Still, Hop didn't lash out. Not yet, anyway. "Is there anything we can do to unblock the road, then?"

"Sure," the big man smirked. "Make us move."

"... so does that mean I call the authorities, or—"

"It means battle us, you pillock!" He quickly amended. "We don't want much. Just a shot at the best young trainers in the region. Give us this, and we'll leave you alone."

"An' who says we have'ta say yes?" Gloria was frowning, and her accent was getting thicker. Never a good sign for any involved. "Sorry, but we don' fight fa free. No time ta waste on a buncha dopes lookin' fa autographs."

If their leader was at all scared, he did a marvelous job of hiding it. "Then we'll follow you. We can be very persistent."

Hop didn't doubt that. "Look, I'm sure you can understand that we don't really want to reveal anything about how we fight in front of the public. We've our own things to keep secret before our gym fights. Strategies and all that, you can understand. So if we're gonna do this, can we do this somewhere private?"

"Fine with us. Route 3's plenty empty, we can do it there."

Hop sighed. He supposed they were doing this. "Fine then. Gloria, do you wanna—"

"Nuh-uh. Not you." The leader pointed. "Him."

And all eyes were suddenly on Cassius. "M-me?"

"Your eyes must be for show, too. Anyone else I'm pointin' at? You, Hargreaves, are gonna take me 'nd my mates on, one at a time. All four of us, consecutively."

Oh shit. This had just escalated very quickly. "Why the, uh, interest?"

"Reasons," he replied cryptically. "Get your Pokémon ready. We'll start once we reach a quiet spot."

Cassius had to confess, he wanted to battle. Really. He'd been theorizing and reading and watching, digesting all he could about the sport in his free time so that he could have an idea of what to do in the field. Part of his new resolve came with his willingness to at least try, and he'd been eager to set out after the ceremony to put what he had seen into practice.

Only, it was still just abstract ideas. He'd have preferred to test them out in an isolated area with Hop and Gloria, where any failure could be used as a learning experience and not an imminent risk of his secret getting out. There wasn't any comfort to be found in his current situation.

Just him, Hyla, and his unnamed Rookidee that would probably try to kill him. Against four hooligans from Team Yell. Even if they weren't very talented individually, their force in numbers presented a very real danger.

Hop quickly saw fit to intervene. "Hey now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Four against one is hardly fair, even for an endorsed trainer. You lot probably have more than one Pokémon too, yeah? Not very even numbers, I'd say."

"This has nothing to do with you."

"I think it does. You said you wanted a shot at the best young trainers in the region, right? Why stop at just one when you could get the whole package?"

Pudgy eyes narrowed. "What're you playin' at?"

"Just a suggestion," Hop quickly raised his hands. "But if you wanna have a fight, why can't we all participate? There's four of you, so let's have two double battles! Everyone gets to get some run in that way."

He pointed at himself and Cassius. "We can do it like this. Cassius and I against two of you, while Gloria gets to take on the other two by herself. You okay with that, Gloria?"

Normally, the girl would have deigned it beneath her to indulge in a one-sided battle. However, this altercation had stoked a fire within her. One that desperately needed an outlet. "I could use some practice dummies. Haven't done doubles in a bit, either."

"Then it sounds like we have our matchups!" Hop clapped. "Those are our terms, mate. Take 'em or leave 'em."

The Team Yell member thought for a moment. Then, he gathered his posse around him, whispering about something or other. Probably an internal deliberation. Cassius used the opportunity to do the same. "Hop, we don't have to do this, right?"

"No, but it's a good opportunity to get yourself some real experience in a relatively low-stress environment."

What about his first actual battle could be classified as low-stress? Hop noticed Cassius' worry, and continued. "Look, we can't have them following us. That'll invite more chances for them to find us out. It might be a bluff, but I don't wanna have to look over our shoulder every hour."

"Can't we just... I don't know, file a restraining order or something?" Hop gave him a look. Cassius wilted. "Is that a no?"

"We are not filing a restraining order during the circuit, Cassius." Hop leaned in closer. "Didn't you say you wanted to bet on yourself? Well, here's your first chance to do just that."

"I was hoping I could get some practice in against you first."

"Flattering, but that'll have to come later." Still, Cassius looked hesitant. "Look, I'll take the initiative during the fight. You just attack from the rear while I draw their attention. If you get overwhelmed, back away and regroup. We'll go from there. Sound good?"

It was a far cry from what he'd envisioned for his first battle, but he didn't really have much of an alternative. The expectant looks from Team Yell, fresh from their huddle, meant he wouldn't have had much time to think up an excuse anyway.

All trainers looked forward to battles, right? He needed to be excited. To look like he relished the opportunity for a fight. Because he should have, and he wasn't much of a trainer if he didn't.

He mustered all of the enthusiasm he could into what he hoped was a confident smile. "Alright, let's do it."

Route 3 was indeed empty. Their battle would be isolated, and away from the public eye.

Cassius, naturally, had chosen Hyla to fight for him. She looked to be projecting her own fake air of confidence, growling menacingly. Beside her, Hop's Grookey stood at the ready, jumping in anticipation. Cassius thought it a bit worrying for him to send out Grookey, and not his long-time partner Wooloo, but the Grass-type had already taken down an Onix. He was proven.

Opposite of them were two Pokémon that Cassius had never seen before. One was a strange raccoon-looking thing, with black and white fur and an eager look to it. It's tongue hung out almost tauntingly. The other Pokémon resembled a traditional Vulpix, only without the surplus of tails and a bit more of a mischievous appearance.

Cassius took a calming breath. Okay. Hop would take the lead, and he'd be support. Attack and retreat, dodge when they got close. No time to experiment here—the goal was to win, and convincingly. Treat it like a practice exhibition.

"A Zigzagoon and a Nickit!" Hop identified aloud. Probably for Cassius' sake, not that he knew anything about them. "Interested to see how you use 'em. They look tough!"

The two Team Yell members didn't respond. Still, Hop maintained his cheer, apparently raring to go. "Well, ready when you are!"

"Then we'll go first," the leader replied. "Zigzagoon, Tackle Deino!"

"Geh!" The Pokémon snickered. The battle began, and the Zigzagoon rushed in, darting toward Hyla in a zigzag. Cassius didn't have time to overthink—he had to engage fully.

Hop quickly intervened. "Don't think so! Grookey, intercept with Branch Poke!"

The Grass-type quickly cut off the Zigzagoon, stepping before it and jabbing it with its branch. The Zigzagoon reeled, ending its attack prematurely and retreating back to a safe distance.

The other Team Yell member participating wasn't perturbed. "Nickit, Quick Attack on Deino!"

It was fast—way, way too fast. The Nickit was already halfway to Hyla before Cassius even thought of a counter. Before he could yell for her to dodge, Hyla had already been slammed, forced back from the sheer impact with a very audible whimper.

Cassius' breath caught in his throat. It wasn't serious damage from a distant glance, but it still looked painful.

Their opponent yelled out again once the Nickit had circled back around. "Quick Attack, again!" Another charge, right for Hyla. Cassius managed a command this time. "D-dodge!"

He hadn't specified a direction, so Hyla dove to her right, just barely avoiding the attack. Cassius was relieved, but didn't reveal as much on his face. Hop quickly reentered the picture. "Force Nickit away with Branch Poke!" Given how far away Grookey was, it was only able to barely graze the Fox Pokémon with the tip of the branch, but he'd still forced the opponent away from Hyla.

Which provided the leader the opportunity to continue what he'd started. "Tackle Deino!" Zigzagoon returned to its prior course, dashing toward Hyla with intent. Hyla, panting with slight exertion, prepared herself for another dodge, which Cassius quickly barked out once the Zigzagoon was close enough. "Dodge again!" She angled herself to the left this time, avoiding the strike.

Four attacks, all aimed at Hyla. Something was off. Cassius would have liked to call it a coincidence, but their attacks had seemed coordinated and planned from a distance. The Zigzagoon had even drawn away Grookey just to give Nickit a clear shot at a Quick Attack.

Team Yell had been weirdly fixated on him from the jump, even before a fight had been suggested. The battle so far was conveying as much, too. He was a clear target, for reasons he didn't know.

Hop appeared to be aware of this, too. "Grookey, shield Hyla and use Growl!" The Chimp Pokémon dashed in front of Hyla, before emitting a strange, disarming noise. "Grook?" The two opposing Pokémon seemed to release some kind of tension in response, noticeably less wary.

Cassius saw the plot. He was lowering their physical attack power, so that in the event they continued their barrage on Hyla, it would do less damage. A failsafe, in case Grookey couldn't keep the two off of Hyla.

"Cheap trick," the Team Yell leader grunted. "Zigzagoon, Snarl!"

"Add a Snarl of your own, Nickit!" The two Pokémon lined beside each other, and began some kind of coordinated yelling. It was grating on Cassius' ears, which must have meant it was even worse for their Pokémon.

Surprisingly, Hyla looked to be taking it well, appearing more annoyed than damaged by the attack. Grookey was much more incensed, groaning in irritation and beating its stick on the ground in anger. Judging from that, it seemed that Hyla must have had a natural resistance to the attack—was it a Dark-type move?

Regardless, two attacks that hit both of their Pokémon wouldn't bode very well for them. Hop quickly took point. "Grookey, Branch Poke Nickit!" Grookey chased the Nickit, who was ordered to dodge away, zipping backwards.

Hop didn't like it, but he'd have to abandon his plan of hiding Hyla behind Grookey. The formation was useless if both of their opponents could use a move that hit the both of them, regardless of any attempt to act as a buffer. It went against the spirit of doubles battles, but they'd have to divide and conquer. He hoped separating Hyla from the Nickit with the obvious speed advantage would give Cassius a chance to think of a counter. Or at least hold out until Hop could make it a two-on-one.

So, with Hyla sequestered on a patch of land directly facing the Zigzagoon, Cassius' mind went into overdrive. He got the gist of what Hop was doing, but now he was on an island, with only his wit to carry them forward.

Team Yell's head grunt didn't seem to have any qualms. "Can't hide now. Tackle, Zigzagoon!"

Another Tackle, and again, Cassius wasn't very intent on meeting it head-on. "Dodge right!" Hyla again side-stepped the attack, though it was noticeably more sluggish than her previous maneuvers. She was tiring, and quickly.

Cassius had to go on the offensive eventually. But he couldn't go in without knowing what he was up against. He racked his brain for what he thought he could have used against the Zigzagoon. It looked to be a Dark-type, though he wasn't completely sure. He didn't bother thinking about its ability, so he went over the moves it had shown so far. Tackle, Snarl, and—

"Gonna keep standin' around like a muppet? Fine then, all the better for me." The grunt interrupted, not giving him time to think. He was taunting Cassius now. "Tackle again!"

How the Zigzagoon wasn't tired from all that running yet, Cassius didn't know. A difference in conditioning, probably. Still, their opponent rushed forward with as much gusto it had in its first attack, intent on landing a blow this time. Hyla was panting noticeably now—for all she'd done since they'd started training, her stamina still wasn't where it needed to be. He doubted she'd be able to dodge this time.

It was risky, and he didn't really want to go forward with it, but he had to try and get some damage on their opponent and get them off of their game. Hopefully buy them a breather, too. "Meet it with a Tackle of your own!"

The hope was that Hyla's superior size would overpower the Zigzagoon, despite her inexperience. He also remembered her ability, Hustle. It increased her physical power in exchange for an accuracy drawback, if he recalled correctly. He didn't think Hyla would miss from this close in, and Cassius observed anxiously as she charged, gathering speed as she barreled into the Zigzagoon.

Thankfully, Hyla did win the exchange, forcing the Zigzagoon back with her size. Though, she wasn't without her own sustained damage, as she stumbled slightly after bouncing away from her opponent. Zigzagoon had been forced to the ground, but hobbled to its feet and returned to a safe distance away.

Hyla did the same, coming back to near Cassius. "You okay?" He asked, receiving a nod in response. She was still standing, but her legs were shaking a bit and her breaths were labored.

A war of attrition wasn't in the cards if they wanted victory. Especially if they wanted that convincing victory, for their image. It was time to press the issue on offense. "Hyla, Tackle!" She charged forward once more, pulling from a reserve of energy to quickly close the distance.

The roles were reversed now, however. "Dodge, Zigzagoon!" Deftly hopping aside, the Zigzagoon easily watched Hyla skitter by. Their opponent used the opportunity to get an attack in. "Use Lick!"

The Zigzagoon's large tongue revealed itself, and quickly zipped beside the Dragon-type before aggressively running it against Hyla. It looked more juvenile than effective, and Hyla seemed to think the same, growling in annoyance at the action.

Damage looked minimal, thankfully, so Cassius thought to utilize the close proximity to their advantage. "Tackle, Hyla!" She rounded on the Zigzagoon, preparing for another collision. Angling herself, Hyla charged forward...

... and whiffed completely. Cassius couldn't see if she slipped on the return, if the Zigzagoon sidestepped at the last moment, or if she straight-up misjudged where her opponent was, but Hyla missed her target entirely, whizzing by the Zigzagoon without contact. Was that Hustle's bane at work?

The Team Yell trainer looked a bit dumbfounded, but he wasn't going to complain. "The Lick was bait anyway, but this works. Tackle it now!"

With Hyla tired and still attempting to regain her footing, she was helpless against the coming onslaught. The Zigzagoon rammed right into her flank, driving her back a solid few feet. She tried to get up, but was struggling immensely. Cassius started to panic—he had to get her out of the immediate line of fire, now.

He wouldn't get the chance. "Tackle again!" The Zigzagoon charged forward, looking for a finishing blow. Cassius was desperate for a deterrent, before he remembered another of Hyla's moves. "Roar, Hyla!"

Mustering her voice, Hyla roared at her opponent, who was mid-stride. Cassius was prepared for their opponent to come to a halt and grant them a breather, but his heart dropped when the Zigzagoon maintained its course. Why didn't it work? Was it a higher level?

Regardless, Cassius was left helpless as his partner was pummeled by the move, sent sprawling back another sizable distance. This time, however, there was no struggle to return to her feet. Cassius' blood ran cold as his eyes took in Hyla's still body, the realization dawning on him.

Hyla had fainted.