The phone rang, and Cassius was able to pause the burning in his lungs long enough to answer it. "Hah... hello?"

"Geez, you okay?" Caroline McCullers's voice came through clearly, tinged with trace amounts of concern. "Sounds like you're dying, kiddo. Did I call at a bad time?"

"Caught me in the middle of my run." It was also very early in the morning, which didn't make his mood much better. Cassius whistled at Hyla to stop, who proceeded to do so, welcoming the break with a pant. "What's up?"

"Just checking in, figured I'd see how you three are doing. I like to check in weekly, and it's my job to make sure you're all healthy and happy. That cool?"

Made sense. It'd been only a week since they'd left, but he wouldn't fault Caroline for staying on top of them. That was her job, anyway. "That's fine." He took a deep breath, stabilizing himself. "Anything particular you wanted to ask?"

"Just a general update on where you are, what you're doing. I'll leave any business on my end for after you're done."

"Well, we've parked it in front of the Galar Mine for now." Cassius angled a look at the massive entrance some ways away. "We'll head through it sometime in the next week. I'm just... training myself up, and all that."

Caroline seemed accepting of that. "Good, good. Pokémon all good?"

"Yeah."

"And the other two?"

"You haven't talked to them already?"

"I will. Figured I'd do you first. You're the one new to Galar and all. Not that I doubt your adaptability, but better to be safe than sorry."

"Oh. Well, they're fine." Better than fine, probably. "They're headlong into training. We're just keeping a low profile until our gym battles."

A hum of approval. "Sounds good. I'll leave you to it, then. Anything you wanted to ask me?"

"No, ma'am."

"Please, no need for the ma'am. I work for you, remember? I'm not your mom."

"O-oh, of course. Got it, I'll remember that."

"Please do. Just a reminder, I'll need you three to be in Turffield on the twenty-sixth at the latest for your presser. Call me when you three make it through the mine." She seemed to remember something. "Speaking of, word around town is that there's been some weird activity going on in there. Thought I'd let you know."

That certainly wasn't foreboding. "Weird activity? What, like Pokémon?"

"No. People, if you can believe it. I've heard there are whole excavation teams going in and mining the place, on top of the contractors already assigned there. Factually speaking, the place is a wreck with all the construction. My agent friends are getting complaints from their trainers that the mine is in real rough shape."

Her voice lowered. "Here's the weird part. This is just hearsay, so take it with a pinch of salt, but word is that it's Macro Cosmos' people coming and going."

Macro Cosmos? "You mean, the chairman's folks?"

"Yeah. I have no idea what they could possibly want there when the challenge just started, but it has to be important. Point is, it's kind of a mess in there. People're getting lost, and there isn't enough space for all the passersby. Real fuck-up on Macro Cosmos' end, if it is actually them."

"From the way you're phrasing it, it sounds like a lot more than simple hearsay."

"Only passing along what I know. Regardless of whether it's true or not, I wanted to let you know so that you were prepared in case it was. I'd be a shit agent if I let you three waltz into that mess without giving you a heads-up at the very least." Her tone mellowed out. "In all seriousness, if you're not dead-set on going through the mine, I'd recommend taking the long way 'round. Might be boring, and you'll probably catch some flak for it, but better safe than sorry in my eyes. I can arrange for someone to pick you three up and take you straight to Turffield."

An enticing offer, but he doubted she'd sell Hop and Gloria on it. "The other two might have something to say about that, but it wouldn't hurt to ask when you call them."

"Then I'll do just that. Sorry, Cassius, didn't mean to scare you any."

"You're just doing your job, like you said," Cassius quickly spared her the blame. "Thanks for the heads-up. I'll talk to them about it later tonight. I'll let you know if they've changed their minds any after you talk to them."

"Appreciate that. I'll be in touch." She seemed pleased with their call. "I'll get out of your hair. Be safe, and best of luck training." The phone clicked, and she was gone.

Pocketing the device, Cassius shot one more look at the mine's entrance. It didn't look particularly busy, but he wouldn't doubt Caroline's warning, even if it was just a rumor. She didn't seem like the type to buy into unfounded nonsense. Not if she was as well-connected as he thought she was.

Hyla nudged his leg, an attempt to garner his attention and ask what was wrong. "It's nothing. Promise."

Better not to dwell on it. Cassius warmed himself back up, preparing to continue their run. "Good to go?" Hyla didn't inquire further, falling in step beside him as they continued jogging along the wilderness.

What constitutes "champion's training?" In a word—exhaustion.

"Faster, Hyla!" Cassius called out. She was pushing herself, still giving it her all despite her readily apparent fatigue. And their lack of immediate success. She sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her, changing directions on a dime while maintaining a course that was equal parts strict and unpredictable.

In his hand, Cassius held a simple mechanism—a flashlight. More specifically, a laser pointer feature attached to the tool that provided one small, brightly lit red dot. Buried beneath the other items in his bag, some online studying had provided a solid, if rudimentary, method of training the light could be used for, most notably for improving speed, mobility and stamina for fledgling Pokémon new to battling. It was simple. Have the Pokémon chase the laser for as long as it could, varying distances, directions, and obstacles along the way.

Cassius quickly put together the exercise's purpose. While Hyla had struggled a great deal in their last battle, her biggest problems were still her speed and stamina. She'd been thoroughly outclassed by the Zigzagoon in both fields. But it went beyond simply running in a straight line. She couldn't change directions very well, nor manage her momentum. When she'd been left open to that final hit from the Zigzagoon, her velocity had made it hard to stop and get out of the way. A better feel for her own momentum, an improved ability to quickly angle her way out of trouble, and simply greater overall stamina would have prevented that attack from ever landing.

This would hopefully work to get her used to those kinds of maneuvers mid-battle. Cassius had taken the liberty of adding another wrinkle to the drill in having her dodge mid-sprint. He doubted his opponents would be content to let her chase them around without firing off at least some counterattacks to keep her off-balance.

"Dodge right!" He commanded as she neared the red dot. Not more than a second later, Hyla threw herself out of the way of an imaginary attack, creating separation from her previous spot as she continued her beat on the target. It wasn't pretty, but it was a slow improvement. Any improvement at all would make the training worth it.

This was their new schedule. Stamina and body training in the mornings, and battle training in the afternoons and early evenings. Granted, there was a lot more work to do on the former before they could really dig into the latter, but that would change with time. Especially once Hyla caught up, and once Cassius was (eventually) training more than one Pokémon.

For now, it was a start. Even if it still didn't feel like enough. A way to get into the habit of training like the pros. Not to say that the transition into the workload was seamless—his own lack of stringent exercise in particular meant he was having a rough go of it in his first week—but it had to be done. Again, the hope was that he'd get used to it, given enough time.

Or, he could flub his gym battle and have spent all this time for nothing. A very nice thought as he watched Hyla slip on some wet grass and fall onto her stomach with a grunt. Yeah, a break sounded nice. "Take five, Hyla." Cassius brought her some water as he dropped himself beside her, turning off the flashlight.

Once she was done, Cassius procured another item from his bag—a chewtoy, thick as it was rubbery. Hyla gave the toy a distasteful look. "Ein..." Cassius sighed. "I know you don't like it, but it's either this or the next big stick I find when we're out running."

"Grr..."

"The faster you get it over with, the faster it goes in the trash." Another tense second passed, before the Dragon-type reluctantly took the toy in her mouth, gnawing on it as hard as she could. Cassius did feel a little bad, but even this was necessary in her training.

A shadow cast over the two of them, and Cassius realized it was the growing shadows of the nearby trees. When had the sun started going down? It was already starting to get dark outside. Time felt like it was at an even bigger premium than it usually was, which was saying something.

One week down, less than three to go. Negative thinking would get him nowhere, he knew, but it was hard to find much material change in his past week of training.

"All done?" A voice called out. Hop entered his line of sight, in a similar state of fatigue. "Good work today. Water?"

"I'm good," Cassius politely denied. He did accept the helping hand up though, using it to return to his feet. "How long have you been here?"

"Just a few minutes. Wanted to tell you that Gloria's getting started on dinner. Should probably pack it up for the day." He gestured toward their campsite. "Wanna head back?"

Might as well. They were pretty much out of daylight to work with, anyway. "Sure." Cassius fell in step beside Hop in a slow walk back, Hyla not far behind.

Hop noticed the chewtoy. "Any progress?"

"Not really," Cassius admitted. Not that he liked putting Hyla on the spot, but there was no lying about it. "I don't know how this is supposed to help, honestly. It's just a toy."

"It's one of the most common methods to learning Bite among Pokémon training, especially infant Pokémon." Hop, in his infinite wisdom, explained again. "It's not about the chewtoy itself. It's about getting the Pokémon into the mindset of using teeth as an actual means of attack."

This had been an ongoing thing. Cassius had decided to move forward with having Hyla learn Bite—her first learned move as a Pokémon. She'd been receptive to the idea, and according to Hop, more than capable of learning it. So why was she having so much trouble with a seemingly very simple move?

"Any Pokémon with a mouth can bite," Hop continued. "But it takes training to learn how to Bite."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't need to. It's just how it is," Hop shrugged. "Some Pokémon pick up things faster than others. Hyla hasn't trained formally in her entire life, so she's new to learning how to pick up different moves as she grows and matures as a fighter. And that's okay! It'll just take time to condition her from domesticated to battler."

Cassius didn't like how he phrased that. "I mean, can't she be both?" Hop shrugged again. "Sure she can. There's no denying a Pokémon its inherent nature, especially off of the pitch. But on the pitch, in the heat of battle, she needs to understand that it's a combat sport, you against your opponent, last one standing wins. And until she learns that, learning Bite, much less any other move, is going to be much, much harder."

So basically, she lacked the killer mentality. Was that a fear thing, or something else? Would it change as she accustomed herself to training? Or did she need to battle others for it to finally set in?

Thoughts for later, as they arrived at the camp. Maybe she'd learn it tomorrow and this whole thing could be one unfounded non-issue. And then they could move on to having her master Dragon Stench, or whatever that ranged move was called.

Gloria seemed done with dinner already, helping herself to a plate of curry. Hop was pleased. "Food's ready?"

"Fuck's it look like?" It was the first time Cassius had seen her all day, but she looked no worse for wear. "Rice should be good, but the curry's a little hot. Careful."

"Will do." Hop readied his plate and dug in with a smile on his face. Cassius prepared Hyla's food first before settling himself down. The group of three seemed content to eat in silence to start their evening, calm among the far-off cries of wild Pokémon and other sounds of nature.

Cassius remembered his call from this morning with Caroline. And that he promised to update her on if anything material had changed regarding Hop and Gloria's decision to go through the mine. Better to ask now than later. "So, did Caroline call you?"

"Mhm," Hop affirmed through a mouthful of curry. Gloria did the same with a nod. Cassius continued. "So, what are we thinking?"

"Still goin'," Gloria answered bluntly. Cassius wasn't surprised—he expected as much from her. "Can't be that bad. Walkways also won't be as bloated now that there aren't as many people."

"I'm inclined to agree," Hop concurred. "Assuming Caroline caught wind of those rumors a few days ago, that would have lined up with a bulk of the challengers trying to get to Turffield early. Historically speaking, that's the busiest time of the year for the mine. It probably won't be as bad once we go?"

"And the construction?"

"It is weird, and very unfortunate, but I can't buy into the Macro Cosmos theory. It just doesn't add up." Hop wore a contemplative look. "I mean, from my experience watching the challenge, Macro Cosmos tends to stay out of the public eye when it comes to daily affairs. To schedule construction in the mine during the worst possible stretch to do so, when they would have to know that backlash would be a certainty, would be an extreme oversight on their part. And keep in mind that the chairman has had a hand in helping to plan and run the circuit for years—he'd know not to do something like that."

"But then where would the rumors even come from?" Cassius countered. "Not that I want to believe that it's Macro Cosmos doing this, or that I know anything about their rep in Galar, but for a company as big and seemingly widely renowned as them, why would anyone make something like this up? For some elaborate smear campaign that they could probably readily deny?"

Hop conceded the point. "Fair. I just don't see what anyone, much less Macro Cosmos, could want from the mine all of a sudden. It's been operational for decades."

"Maybe we're just overthinkin' this and they're makin' an underground railway or somethin'," Gloria cut in. "They said it was construction, yeah? Ever thought they're just, I dunno, constructin' shit?" Her insight, as always, was very to the point.

Cassius wasn't persuaded. "Then they'd probably say something like that to the press, right? Tell everybody, 'Hey, by the way, we're making a railway in the Galar Mine during the first month of the Galar League Challenge. You should probably go around!' or something, right?"

"Or it's just not a big enough deal to even announce at all." Gloria was tiring of the conversation. "Look, if you wanna hitchhike around the mine, I won't stop you. But I'm goin', and I'll go it alone if I'm the only one with the stones to do it."

It truly wasn't an argument with Gloria until she called him dick-and-or-ball-less. Balls-less? Whatever. "I'm just trying to make sure that we don't end up stuck somewhere when there's a quicker alternative."

"We could skip it for now, and go in after our gym battles at the end of the month, while we're on the way to Hulbury. Construction'll probably be finished by then," Hop threw out. Gloria quickly shot down that idea. "Hop, Hulbury's on the opposite side of where we are now. Rather not waste time doublin' back to the mine when we'd be better off travelin' Route 5."

Oh, now she cared about getting to their destination quickly? Whose side was she on? Gloria seemed to read his mind. "I have a way that I'm fixin' to do my first challenge. Take it or leave it, I don't care."

There wasn't any point in arguing with her further. "Okay, fine. You're clearly set on the mine. Hop?" He gave Cassius an apologetic look. "Sorry, mate. I trust Caroline, but even she admitted these rumors might be baseless. I'd like to explore a little before our first gym fight." Outnumbered two to one. Yep, he'd lost.

It wasn't like he particularly wanted to avoid the mine. Okay, maybe a little, but he liked to believe any kind of danger along the way far outweighed the benefit of some tourist trap. Especially when they could instead spend that time doing literally anything else. Like training! Which Cassius was in very dire need of!

But there was no convincing the two now. And if Caroline was right about him potentially catching flak for avoiding the mine, then he'd rather not fall on the sword alone. "Alright. Then we go through the mine."

Hop appreciated his acceptance. "Thanks, mate. We'll make it worth your while, worry not." He gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "And hey, it's proper challenge etiquette to walk all the routes during the challenge, when you can help it. The true Galar experience!"

Riveting. "What, is it bad form to just take a flying taxi everywhere?"

"Oh yeah. Especially for first-time challengers. Tradition and all that—you're not a true challenger if you don't tough it out in the wild like the generations before you, and all that."

Well now he really didn't have a choice. He had an image to consider, as did they. "Guess there never really was a choice, then."

Cassius sighed, shutting his eyes to try and relax himself. He felt Hyla nudge his right leg. Probably attempting to cheer him up, or get him to feed her more. Maybe a bit of both. "Not now, girl."

Opening his eyes, he saw Hop's smile gone. Replaced entirely by a very alarmed look on his face. Gloria, similarly, had gone an almost ghostly pale. Worry was not a look he had seen on her face before. It seemed very unsuited to her. "What's wrong?" He asked, confused.

Then, he heard growling. But that didn't alarm him either—it was just Hyla to his left, growling at something or other. First she was hungry, and now she was angry. Maybe she was just cranky from all the working out she'd done. Nothing some good sleep wouldn't—

He felt the nudge on his right leg again. And registered Hyla, squarely a meter away from him. As were Hop and Gloria. Neither of their Pokémon were out, and to his knowledge, he hadn't let the Rookidee out.

A skittering sound rattled his core. Like a kind of tapping, only more controlled. Alive. He felt it next—something crawling along his leg, then his torso, then his arm. He would have ran, jumped, anything, but he'd been paralyzed by fear. Something was crawling on him, and it definitely wasn't human.

Cassius finally turned to his right. And came face-to-face with shard red eyes, yellow pupils, and a very present heat that began to sear into him. It made a noise at him, some kind of rolling tick that shook his soul.

"Trrrrikk, tik, tik, tik..."

Cassius screamed.

A lot of time off for vacation planned this July, so updates will probably slow for a time. Apologies. Enjoy your breaks, guys and gals.

~Slalem