It was a cool autumn afternoon. Weeks had passed since Penny's (or Cassiopeia's) previous 'prank' hadn't accomplished her goal. If anything, it had created a very strange side effect she had not at all planned for – but perhaps should have expected.

"Like... this?" Nemona wondered in a murmur, shifting her stance as she thrust a fist forward. Her training outfit looked like it'd be chilly to wear in the autumn, but all of the work she was doing must've been counteracting the somewhat chilly temperature.

Nemona's mentor for the afternoon clasped a palm against her chin, eyes narrow with discerning study as she scanned Nemona's posture. In that moment, from her spot on the sidelines, Penny joined in on the studying of posturing, though she suspected her motivations were quite different from this trainer from a neighboring country.

The dextrous hands of Bea, the woman scrutinizing Nemona's form, flicked and snapped and pressed at different spots of Nemona's shoulders, hips, elbows, wrists. She was popping Nemona's parts into their proper places. Penny couldn't help but smirk with adoration at the way Nemona's expression jerked with surprise and discomfort at the prodding and rearranging, cycling between sudden changes in an adorably comical fashion, yet her stubbornness held her fast. It was if Nemona embraced the hardships this training was incurring.

'The bitterness of defeat,' Bea had advised her, 'is difficult to swallow, but it's a necessary medicine to cure you of mistakes.'

Bea was the Fighting-type Gym Leader from Galar, where Penny had grown up. She admitted that she didn't follow the very rowdy culture of the different teams squaring off in their enormous stadiums... Galarians had a tendency to go overboard and create a huge scene both with football (the sport involving kicking a ball with your foot) and with Pokémon teams. It was that kind of mob insanity that had caused issues for Marnie, a trainer Penny had admired watching rise to fame, but she wouldn't want to be associated with Marnie's fanbase with a ten-meter poll.

Bea was a stoic, muscle commanding woman, who was being paid under Geeta's direction to give Nemona weekly training exercises. The gray-haired young woman wore her abdominal muscles like a badge of honor, a threat to anyone who would dare oppose her or her Pokémon. Her legs were thick like tree trunks, and Penny found Bea kind of scary, truth be told. All the more so when she knew just how the woman bulked up in the first place: she trained against her own Pokémon! She literally fought Pokémon, in hand-to-hand combat, in order to get stronger. And the results were immediately apparent in how sturdy she looked, even at a glance, despite her somewhat small stature.

It was no surprise, then, that when Nemona found out about this, she begged on her knees for Geeta to pull some strings and make this arrangement occur. Penny could that Geeta clearly had a soft spot for Nemona – back when Cassiopeia had been spying on the League's e-mails, she'd noticed the special treatment, which back then had led Penny to be wary of Nemona at first. Thankfully, that pang of jealousy, or perhaps envy, melted away quickly enough, especially when Geeta seemed to harbor a similar soft spot for Penny, herself, having discovered Penny's talents with software engineering.

Why, exactly, Nemona was so insistent on pursuing physical fitness toward the end goal of fighting Pokémon directly, was not something Penny understood. And yet it was somehow not a shocker in the least. After the first couple sessions, Nemona had started asking Penny to show up, which felt natural enough, given the two spent time together almost every day now, for reasons Penny still felt uneasy and uncertain about.

So here Penny was, spectating on training while juggling both one of Cassiopeia's side projects, a spot of homework, and a social chat.

"More like this," Bea grunted with a nod, taking a few steps back.

"Ergh...-?" Nemona grit her teeth as she thrust her fists at her sides, standing upright. She squinted as she squatted and punched at the air, attempting to recreate the stance Bea had just instructed.

- snap! -

The clicking of Bea's fingers snapping was jarring in the stillness of the meadow they were in. It even got the attention of the phys ed professor warming up nearby. Battle Intructor? Whatever she was. She was a little crazy, Penny thought. Then again, maybe everyone here was a little crazy... And Penny included herself in that, of course.

"Why'd you close your eyes?" Bea demanded in blunt syllables.

Nemona's eyes flicked open, and she blinked rapidly as she fumbled for a response. Penny admired this moment from her spot seated on a blanket to the side.

"I... -" Nemona began, her eyes wandering. "Whuh-?!"

But she was interrupted as Bea stepped forth with surprising speed, swatting a swift finger directly into Nemona's forehead. The slight blow was ironically impactful, causing Nemona to stumble backward from the way her body flinched. She ended up in a cowering pose, her arms guarding her face, her ponytail split in front of her by her left arm.

"Never look away from your opponent," said Bea firmly. "Don't close your eyes. Don't look away. You let your guard down doing that."

"G-Got it!" Nemona blurted out, her body contorting into a stiff, upright pose as she stared Bea down with an overcompensating pout of seriousness.

Penny snorted a quiet laugh to herself from the sidelines, her cheeks flushing with admiration at the things unfolding before her. She resumed her typing on her laptop, continuing a chat she was getting distracted by with the athletic struggles before her. Nemona's form-fitting training outfit was not helping.

( I don't get it. Why are you asking ME for advice on this? ) -

( This is YOUR friend we're talking about, right? ) -

( So it's not like I know them. ) -

Penny replied after some hesitation.

( But it is someone you know... )

( And besides, I thought you were like )

( all about dating )

( or whatever )

Her acquaintance responded in all-caps.

( WHAT? ) -

( You make me sound like I'm obsessed. ) -

( WHICH I am definitely not! ) -

( Uh )

( Look, I asked a certain Champion who I should go to )

( and they rec'd you, )

( OK? )

( If you've got no advice, then nevermind. )

( Maybe I should ask your brother? )

( Kieran, right? )

( He seems pretty into battling, after all. )

( Now hold on! ) -

( I never said I had no advice, I was just clarifying why you're asking ME. ) -

( But I can't help if I don't know who we're talking about. ) -

( Why do you need to know? )

( It's not your business. )

( If it's none of my business then WHY are you ASKING? ) -

At this, Penny's teeth clenched, a groan slipped through her nostrils, and she tapped her fingertips irritably against her forehead. She noticed that Bea was instructing Nemona to do some push-ups, which Nemona had struggled with from the beginning. While she was admittedly mesmerized for a moment watching Nemona huff and grunt and exert herself, Penny noticed something: Nemona seemed to be handling the push-ups a lot better than she had a couple weeks prior, the last time Penny had sat in on one of these training sessions.

Despite the weakness in her arms – the very reason she'd often wore a brace in the first place – Nemona seemed to be doing way better than before... It was awe-inspiring. Penny could feel that fire in Nemona's eyes even if she couldn't see her friend's face from this angle. From this angle, Penny was getting caught up in other features she felt self-conscious about paying attention to...

Her computer bleeped at her – a digitally crunched Eevee's cry – a notification that she'd received a message.

( Wait a minute, pretty into battling? ) -

( Don't tell me.. ) -

"... 18," Bea was counting.

Nemona winced, coughing and sputtering. She paused her push-ups.

"You can do this," Bea stated tartly.

Nemona coughed out, "Ugh, I-... I don't know if-... Hurk-?!"

Bea had stepped her foot down upon Nemona's back, adding some weight to the load Nemona was expected to lift.

"Two more," Bea commanded. Calm but rigid syllables.

( Are we talking about that girl who fought me like a DOZEN TIMES back when you visited? ) -

"T-... Two more..." Nemona eked out. She growled as her arms strained to lift herself, along with the added 'cargo' of Bea's semi-leaning in.

( The crazy one? ) -

"19. Come on." A snapping of fingers.

Nemona whimpered, forehead against the grass.

"You can do it," said Bea calmly, without a tint of favor nor disgust.

"...You can do it," Penny repeated in a whisper, clenching a fist against her chest as she watched, trying to channel her support.

"Mm-... mm-HM," Nemona attempted to hum out agreement, but it came out as a pathetic pained kind of noise. Still, she readjusted her palms against the ground, and she pushed.

A brief roar escaped Nemona's grit teeth, like a Growlithe learning to use its voice in a battle.

Nemona's arms went tight, and she pushed. Bits of muscle visibly flexed from the force as Nemona finished her set.

"20. Good."

Penny was enamored. She'd been metaphorically Headbutted into flinching. 20 push-ups might not have seemed like a lot, but Penny could hardly do a single one, herself, and Nemona had barely been able to do five of them when this training phase of hers had started.

Bea's foot lifted off, and Nemona's body went limp, flattening against the grass with a cough, her cheek against the dirt. After a few moments of gasping for air, Nemona expelled a weak and exhausted celebratory noise.

"... WHHoooOooOoo..."

"Told you you could do it," said Bea simply, arms crossed as she gawked at her worn-out student.

Instructor Dendra cheered from the side, "Aim to push past your limits day by day! Osu!"

Dendra, the fitness-fanatic and Battle Instructor of the Academy, was here with the school's nurse, Miriam. Penny had noticed that Dendra seemed to practically come up with excuses every week to 'be stuck' at the nurse's office. Yea, she wasn't so slick, Penny could tell what was going on there...

But why were they here, today? Apparently, Dendra was an acquaintance of Bea's, and was curious about what kind of training regimen she was having Nemona endure. Nemona was acting as an assistant for the Academy still, even a year after graduating, so it was in the school's interests to invest in their potential future employee. Penny was very sus that Dendra was eyeing Nemona up as a possible replacement for her Battle Instructor title, and was probably also using this as another 'valid' excuse to bring Nurse Miriam along.

( You're interested in dating the CRAZY girl? ) -

( The one you said got into a fist fight with a Pokémon? ) -

( Oof, harsh. )

( Guess you're not wrong, though, she is a little crazy. )

( But everybody's crazy about something, when you get down to it... )

( Right? )

( Nice deflection, nerd. ) -

( Oh my arceus I can't BELIEVE you've got the hots for that dork.. ) -

( No wonder you need advice. ) -

( As if you're not a dork. I've seen the way you get all flustered. )

( Fine fine I'm trying not to judge ) -

( I mean I AM judging. ) -

( But you've got your work cut out for you. ) -

( Tell me about it. )

( Why do you think I'm stooping to this? )

( Now spill it: )

( How do I ask her out? )

( First off. You've gotta figure out if she likes you back. ) -

( Not a requirement but TRUST ME it makes things so much easier if you know. ) -

( Working on figuring that out. )

( But either way, what else? )

( Second. You've got to be 100% clear with your intentions. ) -

( From what I know, she's the type where if you don't make it REALLY obvious ) -

( I mean so obvious a togepi understands ) -

( it's going to go over her stupid head and then you'll feel like an idiot ) -

( and probably backpedal out of the entire thing ) -

( and then run away and cry in the bathroom for like an hour ) -

( and start questioning why you even bothered. ) -

( or why you even thought his eyes were pretty or his hair smelled nice in the FIRST PLACE ) -

( Uhh )

( Yea that's not gonna happen )

( but sorry for your loss? lol )

( Despite how I carry myself, I actually don't have much dating experience, you know. ) -

( Shocker. )

( EXCUSE ME? ) -

( Hey, it's not like I do, alright? )

( We're talking Level 1 Normal-Type levels of experience. )

( Anyway, that's actually helpful. )

( Making it super obvious, I mean. )

( Like I really need to make sure there's no room for misunderstanding, here. )

( I think just knowing that going into this ought to help a ton. )

( Thanks, Carmine. )

( Make sure to tag me on your socials if you two hook up so I can take the credit. ) -

( lmao )

( Sure? )

( g2g, ttyl )

( Byeeee ) -

Penny sighed to herself as she went back to observing the training session going on before her. Despite the advice she'd just received, Penny wasn't really feeling too confident. Cassiopeia, however, still had intentions... And maybe seeing those through might reveal the kinds of things Penny apparently needed to know.

"You sure you don't wanna exercise with us?" called out Nemona, startling Penny from her mind running a loop on her impending plan. On instinct, she minimized her chat window, even though Nemona was on the opposite side of the screen, and obviously too far to even read it.

"Uh..." Penny was aghast at the question.

"You do look pretty out of shape," remarked Instructor Dendra, approaching where Bea and Nemona were preparing to do... exercise. Bleh. Hurting one's body repeatedly to make it stronger... That was the same way people made their Pokémon stronger, too. But at least Pokémon were built for it. Penny was not. The teach added, "It'd do ya some good, don't you think?"

When the prof said this, she looked to the nurse for approval, and the nurse nodded, much to Penny's chagrin. All the school staff always seemed to be working together to undermine Penny's desperate desire to not excel or succeed and just hang by the sidelines...

"I'm, erh... not cut out for physical activities," Penny mumbled, raising her voice partway through the sentence to carry her words to these instigators.

"Ayyy, come on," Nemona goaded, twisting an arm inward as she wiped sweat from her forehead with the other. "It'll be good for you!"

With Nemona's flushed cheeks and sweaty face, black hair strands sticking to her forehead and cheeks, Penny was utterly distraught at the sight of Nemona eagerly inviting her to come closer. Distraught in the way a Pokémon hit by Attract would feel.

As she was egged on by multiple voices in unison, Penny's mind did a quick lap. Given what was about to happen, maybe it'd be a good thing to get caught up in what was to come, at least more obviously. Being right there would make it all the more plausible, mitigate potential suspicion... -

"Pleeease?" Nemona practically sang out, clasping her wrists up, the human equivalent of the move Baby-Doll Eyes.

"Fine," Penny sighed out stingily, still not entirely sold on the pleading, but making this decision for selfish reasons. "Just... gimme me a sec." She fidgeted with her glasses with one hand while saving her work with the other and slapping her laptop closed. "Has anyone seen my Scream Tail?" she asked innocently enough, glancing around errantly.

She received vague, negative responses. Good.

"Didn't she go off on her own a while back?" Nemona checked, bobbing her head off down the hill they were on – of course, she'd been keen on that 'mon, still eager to have her 'rematch' against her.

"I'm sure she'll show herself soon," Penny inconspicuously dismissed the matter. "She's a wild one, she'll be fine."

"Enough babbling," Bea commanded sternly, clapping her hands twice. "Let's. Go."

"Coming, coming," Penny sighed.

"Eyy, that's the way!" Nemona cheered, clapping her hands together and bobbing on her toes.

Penny pulled up her GPS app. The 'mon in question was en route, as intended. She double-checked her backpack – plenty of assorted berries on hand. Cassiopeia was determined to try this again. She was admittedly a little nervous about the X-Factor that was Nemona. But maybe if she inserted herself into the situation, she could help guide things toward her selfish goal.

Penny tore off her hoodie, and found herself relieved that she'd worn plan old cargo trousers instead of her usual leggings. Beneath her hoodie, a Nimbasa City t-shirt had been in hiding, depicting the town's famous Ferris wheel. A souvenir shirt from when her parents had taken her there at one point, a rare instance of family road-tripping from days long past. She kept her pokéballs stored in the spacious pockets of her trousers, and on her way over, she peaked in her right hand pocket: her dusk ball was indeed there, ready for its intended purpose.

"Vamos, vamos," barked Nemona. Her eyes squinted slightly with glee. She grinned wide as Penny warily approached. She chuckled ("Heh heh~") as she wrapped an arm around Penny's shoulders, squeezing their sides together. Penny was flustered by the sudden display of affection and her brain short-circuited for a second at the pressure of the side of Nemona's chest against her own – before she quickly realized she was thrust smack into a group of women prepped for exercise, with even the school nurse Miriam participating, it seemed. Something about the way Dendra and Miriam interacted gave Penny the feeling that she wasn't the only one who'd been teased into this.

"Uh." Bea was a little surprised by the sudden grouping of everyone present. Running a hand against the back of her neck, she glanced at the Battle Instructor, Dendra, and shrugged up her opposing shoulder. "You want to... lead us, then? I guess?"

"Of course!" belted out the fitness-nut, striking a horse-stance. "Since we've got a couple people here on the-..." She glanced slyly at the nurse. "-... less experienced side of things," (Miriam giggled softly at this, Penny totally noticed... ! What was that about?!) "how's about we start with some really basic stuff for them, and the rest of us get things pumping a bit more?"

Penny's gut – and everything she'd seen in anime – would've told her that what was about to transpire was blissful and 'arousing,' and she'd be bleeding out of her nose in the background or whatever.

But instead, the following five minutes were an absolute blur of pain and suffering.

Lifting and stretching and push-ups and sit-ups and auuughhhhHHHhHHHHhh... Even being surrounded by pretty ladies – which Penny had become self-aware of enough to realize was a thing that normally brought her some degree of joy? – it wasn't enough to make any impact in the agony of the exercise. She could barely function even doing the bare minimum. Being out of shape sucked, but that was why she never bothered! Why put yourself through so much pain just to be slowly, slightly better at putting yourself through pain?!

In-between sets, she heard her Rotom phone let out a ringtone – a specific one she'd programmed to play when a specific thing was about to happen... She was coughing on her own spit, and Nemona was rubbing Penny's back with a sympathetic smile, looking perhaps more worn-out than Penny herself was. After all, Nemona was the one doing the real work, here.

Glancing sideways and up at her friend, Penny's chest swelled in a conflicted way. That image of Nemona beaming down at her with pride, sweaty and red-cheeked, the afternoon sun spreading out from the shape of her form, beams weaving between each black strand as a breeze swept by... it was an image that Penny wanted to photograph and store. The physical touch of her friend's hand against her back was encouraging, just slightly rough and playful, but too prolonged and deep to convey anything other than affection. Classic Nemona, that: playful but intimate. Penny just wondered – and doubted, even – what kind of affection it was meant to convey. And if it was even allowed for her to care one way or the other.

"Still standing, eh? Guay..." Nemona sniffed in a deep breath as her patting on Penny's upper back shifted from 'intimate' to 'a bit brusque.' Penny coughed, clearing her throat of stray gunk from the exercising, and Nemona laughed through her nose at this. "Look at us, both pushing ourselves into uncharted territory." Her smile escalated into a closed-eyes grin, and she added quietly, "I love it." Then, Nemona's fingers pinched down – a bit painfully – onto Penny's lean shoulder before retracting her grip.

Penny wasn't entirely sure what Nemona was getting at. From her perspective, this was all some weird waste of time. But... then again, if it meant getting to spend time together with all of this... physicality... maybe it was worth it? But then Penny tried to take a step, and her legs almost gave out beneath her. Maybe it wasn't worth it.

A loud clapping startled Penny as Bea announced, "All right, time for the cool-down."

Everybody else began to clump back together in a circle as they had at the start... and Penny suddenly realized they were getting ready to do stretching again?! What?! WHY?! They'd already done stretching when they started! She wasn't sure she could handle-

-f f f fffffFfFfFFFFFFWWOOOOOMMmm m!-

"GRF-!"

"WAUGH?!"

"Eep!"

"Oof-!"

The circle of people had been broken by a big, blazing streak of pink that rolled from Penny's left to her right, bowling through the group. It skidded to a stop, quickly aligning itself on its stubby feet and glaring at the lot of them with a small roar.

As the training session members recovered from the surprise attack – which Penny admittedly had not been expecting, but thought was a nice touch – Penny reached her hand into her top right trouser pocket.

"What the-... ?" Dendra was scrambling to see what had attacked them.

"HEY!" Bea snarled, stamping her foot and balling up a fist at the creature. "What's the big idea?!"

"Still up to no good, huh?" Nemona murmured. Penny might not have heard this phrase otherwise but she was specifically listening out for Nemona's reaction. "Maybe you're finally ready for a piece of me... ?" Nemona adjusted her training outfit as she cautiously stepped toward the Pokémon, re-tightening her ponytail.

It was, indeed, Penny's Scream Tail – the same ancient Pokémon from Area Zero that had spurred Nemona into all of this 'training to fight' nonsense. Last time Penny had collaborated with her, they'd played a prank on Nemona, and today was no different – at least, in the sense that a prank was about to occur, though one with a more concise endgoal.

"¡Hostia... !" Nemona gasped, leaning forward slightly in shock as the Pokémon narrowed its eyelids at her. Penny slowly approached Nemona's side, her dusk ball at the ready, pinched in her fingers inside her pocket.

"... What the hell's going on?" Bea grunted from behind. She jabbed a finger into Penny's shoulder. "Get you Pokémon under control!"

The full force of Gym Leader Bea's ice-cold glare froze Penny on the spot, those blue-gray eyes blaring the brunt of Bea's impatience upon her.

"Hey, cut her some slack," Nemona immediately defended, stepping up inbetween the two of them.

Penny could swoon at the sight of Nemona so effortlessly coming to her rescue... !

"Penny isn't super experienced with battling," Nemona explained, "Not like us. A Pokémon as wild as that one isn't gonna listen to her as easily."

Bea frowned dubiously, grumbling, "Sounds like an excuse to me... " And there went that Freezing Glare attack of hers again...

"That's one of the Pokémon from Area Zero," Nemona further explained. "It's primeval! Ancient! Rowdy!" She was thrusting her fists with each word tossed out, clenching them before her as she finished, "And the perfect test to show you what I've learned, Sifu!"

Bea's hardened look dissipated into one of utter perplexation.

"What, you mean... you want to fight it?" she balked at Nemona's proposal, tossing her arm at the snarling round ball of fluff while Dendra and Miriam scolded it in the background. "That thing?"

"¡Cómo no! That sneaky 'mon is the one I told you about! The one who got the drop on me and set me on the Path of the Warrior... ! A rematch between us is destiny, ¿No?"

Penny was enraptured by the enthusiasm Nemona was displaying: her words packed with earnesty, her eyes blazing with passion, her fists as firm as iron. Bea's fingertips pressed into her forehead as if to suppress a headache – which made Penny smirk knowingly. This was a side of Nemona the 'Sifu' had yet to truly deal with, eh?

"Wait-wait-wait," interrupted Dendra, waving her hands in front of her and shaking her head as she turned her back on the Scream Tail. She said to Nemona in disbelief, "This is the Pokémon that attacked you? The one you got into a fight with?"

The Scream Tail squished itself down a bit, then inflated slightly, its eyes squinting and then popping open to match its body movement as it attempted to taunt its pray. Nemona whirled around to confront it, stabbing her finger through the air at it dramatically.

"Oh-hoh," Nemona scoffed, shaking her head a bit but not taking her eyes off the creature. "It caught all of you of guard just now, too, didn't it? I'm telling you, this one's sneaky!"

"I... see..." Instructor Dendra sheepishly stepped back out of the way.

Bea was slack-jawed, her brows furrowed as she shoved one set of knuckles against her hip, her fingers dug even deeper into her skull.

She grunted, "This one? Not something... stronger?"

The Scream Tail huffed hot air between its teeth as it growled at Bea, offended by the remark. Penny shot it a cheeky wink, and it winked back at her while Nemona argued with Bea.

"HEY!" Nemona snapped, her tough-act withering momentarily. "I haven't been punching Machokes under waterfalls my whole life, this stuff is still new to me, all right?!"

Bea's expression warped into a mixture of surprise and confusion, and she defensively popped up her hands and shrugged at Nemona's reaction, shrinking backward in similar fashion to how Dendra just had.

"Everybody starts somewhere," Bea conceded. "I just figured, if it motivated you to take up self-defence, it'd be something... -" The Scream Tail peeped out a playful and mischievous sound. "-... a little more intimidating?"

"Don't let it fool you," Nemona said, her voice raised. She was getting back into full-on Nemona Brand Hype Mode (TM). "This one's more clever than you'd think!"

At this, Nurse Miriam palmed at her cheek, citing, "Well, I think it's your friend's responsibility to-"

"Step back, everybody!" Nemona commanded. "This is my fight, it's clearly raring to go against me, so-"

Penny did the opposite of what Nemona requested. She stepped forward. In front of Nemona.

"Uh...-" Nemona cleared her throat nervously. "You did one set of exercises, I don't think you're ready for-"

"Miriam's right," Penny disagreed. "It's my Pokémon, so it's my responsibilty.

Penny pulled out her ultra ball, narrowing her eyes knowingly at her Scream Tail – which, as Nemona had accurately pointed out, was a very clever beastie.

"Scream Tail, return!" she commanded, holding the 'mon's ball aloft.

The Scream Tail closed its eyes, turning its enormous face slightly away with disobedience.

"I said, return," Penny repeated. Had to sell it...

"Rrgh," huffed Bea quietly from behind Penny. "You weren't kidding when you said she wasn't experienced, that Pokémon doesn't respect her at all."

Penny's jaws clenched inside her closed lips at that remark. People always underestimated her... But she had gotten very good at using that to her advantage...

"Fine!" she shouted. "If you won't obey, then I'll have to teach you some manners!"

Penny dropped the ultra ball back into one pocket, and retrieved her her dusk ball from the other.

"Vivillon! Let's go."

"Oh." Nemona sounded deflated. "You, uh-... You sure you don't want me to wrangle it into subm-"
"This is my Pokémon, Nemona. Your... -" She side-eyed Bea, and received as dark a glance in return. "-... teacher teaches you discipline, right? I have to do the same to train this... wild creature."

She refocused her attention on the Scream Tail, who was bearing its fangs at Dendra and Miriam. Dendra pulled up her sleeve and reeled an arm back, ready to fight it, herself, but Miriam eased the woman back down and away.

"But-!" spat Nemona. Penny turned to face Penny as her Vivillon and Scream Tail eyed each other down, preparing to do what they'd practiced. Nemona blinked at Penny's skeptical glance before coming up with some explanation to fit what she wanted out of things. "Ohhh. I get it." She slapped the side of her fist into the opposite palm. "You get better at training Scream Tail, and it becomes a better opponent for me, too! Win-win! You get it trained up, and then it's mano-a-mano, orrrr 'mon-a-'mon, ¿Bien?"

Penny couldn't really blame Nemona for re-framing this into something that made sense in a way that benefited her. For one, Nemona's whole life seemed to kind of be one continuous string of things happening to work out in ways that benefited her, near as Penny could tell. The circumstances leading to this training session, for example. But also, Cassiopeia was the one framing this to benefit Penny in the first place, so how could she expect someone else to not also be doing the same?

"Sure," Penny went along with Nemona's theory. She was flustered by Nemona's excited bobbing – up and down on her toes, fists clenched up against the sides of her chest, eyes sparking with... some kind of mixture of probably good feelings? It was mesmerising in its own right, but Penny had to focus or all of Cassiopeia's planning would go to waste.

"Get out of the way!" Bea cried out, "That weird lookin', disorderly Jigglypuff is charging up another Rollout attack while you two are yapping!"

Penny let out a 'Tch' at this remark, knowing she had things under control. Indeed, the Scream Tail was spinning in place, revving up another Rollout. All according to keikaku, heh.

"Vivillon!" Penny commanded, refocusing herself. She noticed Nemona was too enraptured and distracted to move as Bea had just advised, so she steeled herself as she ordered her Pokémon. She grabbed Nemona by the arm and tugged her aside, out of harm's way – for the moment, at least.

Penny made the call: "Don't let it escape! Chase it down and give it a taste of its own medicine: use Sleep Powder!"

"Oooh, revenge – nice," Nemona remarked with that spicy smirk, her syllables sprinkled with just a bit of attitude: something Penny was wooed by every time.

Penny took in a deep breath, readying herself for what was to come as her Vivillon began fluttering its wings, prepping the chemicals needed.

The following few seconds were a blur that felt like slow motion to Penny.

Vivillon sprayed out a cloud of Sleep Powder, and the Scream Tail went shooting forward to avoid it, narrowly missing its opponent – on purpose – and blasted in-between the crowd of humans, heading back the way it had come from originally. It circled around the group, however, and looped back. The Vivillon gave chase – furiously spraying Sleep Powder all the while.

Bea growled out something, her temper lit. Miriam and Dendra were yelping with surprise and alarm. Penny held her breath, her grip on Nemona tightening as her friend was too dumbstruck trying to follow the action to register was what happening. Penny peeled off her glasses and stuffed them in her pocket, praying they'd be in tact after this.

Coughing, groaning, and yawning ensued as the Vivillon kept changing direction, attempting to land any amount of its anaesthetic on its decoy target. Bea collapsed face first into the grass, while the two school staff members went down by a nearby tree.

Penny had not planned or intended on so many people being here for this – that little exercise session had thrown off the timing – but Cassiopeia didn't care. She'd made plans, and she wasn't backing out of them. It was too late by that point, anyway. Penny may have been able to reign Cassiopeia's mischievous deeds in over recent times, but in this case – the case of Nemona, and Penny's rapidly unavoidable feelings – there was apparently no compromise.

Penny had held in her breath long enough to see everyone else go down, but she did have to breathe at some point – and honestly, that wasn't so bad, since she was about to get what she wanted. The world felt heavier and heavier, but that was in decent part because Nemona, already worn out from training besides, was out like a light, leaning against Penny, who was a bit too short and a bit too weak to support the weight. She flailed and fumbled to keep her friend from hitting the ground too hard, but the powder was another factor working against her.

They fell together to the ground, the soft grass and patches of moss as welcoming as the earth could be. It wasn't ideal, or exactly according to Cassiopeia's plan, but the end goal, selfish as it was, had been achieved.