Twin Colors

by tremor3258

Generally getting cheat memories is supposed to be a *bonus*. OCs, Paldea, post-game.

7. First Class

Twin Colors

By tremor3258

Chapter 7: First class

---

Mei wheezed in surprise as she clutched her midsection. Terpsi wasn't that heavy normally, but she was full of water from lunch. The surprise from the sudden attack didn't help. As Mei gathered her wits, the little Bounsweet growled as she stood under the table between Mei and the surprise Hattrene.

Rose ducked down beside her sister, making a shushing gesture with one hand. Azucena sat on her head, arms up in a ready position. In front of them in the courtyard was general panic from the sudden appearance of a Hattrene. The speakers, bass line, and Wigglytuff waving around sparklers to the beat just added to the chaos.

Looking around, the human (presumably the Wigglytuff's trainer) who arrived alongside gave a grin at the confusion. He tapped his scepter against his hand. A ringing noise like a bell temporarily overrode the soundtrack, evidently rigged in some way.

The Klefki dropped back into the courtyard, giggling. They unfurled a broad black banner with a stylized 'S' shaped into a star on it in pink. The music receded further as the young man spoke, amplified through the speakers.

"Greetings, future stars of the Academy, my name is Ortega, head of Ruchbah Squad with Team Star! I'm looking for the best to join our sheer style. Our special Star Training Centers – organized throughout Paldea by our brilliance - provide battle training and help protect its citizens from wild Pokemon! If you're interested in joining – oh FUCK!" Ortega was cut off as a sludge bomb sizzled down next to his foot, and he and his Fairy types jumped backwards as the acidic projectile sizzled

"Hey 'alborotador!' This is an unauthorized presentation!" Nemona said, standing next to an irritated-looking Goodra in one of the archways to the courtyard. "As student council president I insist you provide proper documentation before interrupting a public event! But if you battle me, and win, I can make an exception!" Somehow, everyone heard a heart at the end of the last word.

"Yeah, no, fighting you sucks," Ortega said flatly. "Tactical retreat! Misty terrain!" The Klefki dropped the banner as the Hattrene responded, scattering a pink fog through the area. The Goodra hissed in irritation, raising a foot uncomfortably out of the fog as Hattrene laid domain over the local area. She shot an ice beam forward but one of the Klefki, still giggling, floated in the way to tank the hit. The fog flared briefly, and the ice slid off – no chance of freezing a Pokemon under the fae influence.

The other Klefki ducked down to get the speakers, and Ortega hung on to the one who'd been ice beamed. He winced visibly, even at the twins' distance, at the Key Ring Pokemon's cooled exterior, which just made the little prankster laugh harder. The Hattrene lifted herself into the air with her psychic powers as both Klefki gained altitude.

Ortega waved, with his scepter-holding hand, as he lifted out from view. "Don't forget – sign-ups are open for the Star Training Centers! Don't forget us for your training this term and remember: Hastar la vistar!" His scepter tip glowed and he traced a star in light as the Klefki lifted him back over the roof.

With an irritated sigh, Nemona turned around the way she came, the Goodra stomping after her. Several other students shuffled in silhouette behind her and followed. After another few seconds, the fog faded.

Dead silence filled the courtyard for a while after until the cry of a Corviknight was heard in the distance. The courtyard exploded into noise as everyone began talking at once.

Mei and Rose winced from the sound as they stood back up, Rose offering a hand to her sister. Terpsi hopped on the table, unrepentant and clearly proud of her quick thinking to keep her trainer away from a vicious Fairy. Mei looked at her partner, and after an internal debate, patted her in acknowledgement, getting a pleased chitter.

The two covered their ears and backed out of the courtyard into one of Narnaja's many halls, walking until the noise abated.

"This place is weird," Mei said decisively as she took her hands away from her ears.

"And we were worried about standing out," Rose commented, before the two burst into giggles.

"By the dragons," and Mei brought her copy of her triad necklace to her lips as she spoke, "There's enough weirdness so far I could run naked through the halls and it wouldn't be the gossip topic for more than half a day."

"No bet. Paldea's seemed laid back otherwise, maybe Naranja averages it out?" Rose speculated, leading to more giggles.

"Speaking of running, though," Mei said, looking around before bringing up a school map on the phone, "Where are we anyway?"

---

Even with the head start on skipping dessert, blindly running into the halls meant the twins didn't arrive at their new homeroom of 2-B until after several others. Miriam stood at a podium set to the side of two electronic blackboards. Three rows of tables were arranged as desks with benches behind them. Another table for demonstrations sat next to the podium. Her hand drifted towards her belt briefly as the door opened, but when she saw who it was, she gave a warm smile.

"Sit anywhere today! I hope your lunch wasn't ruined. Mr. Ortega means well but he goes about it oddly," Miriam said brightly. There were a couple muted snickers from those seated. Most of those hogging the back rows were in their twenties or higher.

The two recalled their Pokemon, seeing no others out and belatedly recalling the rules on Pokemon in lectures. 2-B was also Miriam's health classroom, so several posters of human anatomy and standard Pokemon medicine were arranged on the walls along with several decorations of smiling cells of various types.

Rose paused, deciding where to sit but Mei confidently headed towards the front of the classroom. Rose sighed briefly and followed. It was as they cleared the second row Rose saw the ace they'd seen at lunch, without her aide, in the front row to one side. Rose quickened her pace to fall in beside Mei, realizing her plan.

The trainer, dressed in the Naranja summer uniform, but had a gray bonnet folded in her lap, with a small key-shaped purse. She looked over and surveyed them, her face fell a bit as they looked at her questioningly. She had a tablet and stylus out in front of her. Miriam, unnoticed, held her breath at the front of the class.

"I'm sorry ma'am, are you auditing the course?" Mei asked politely. Miriam exhaled loudly and ducked her head, shoulders shaking slightly. The trainer's expression brightened like the sun coming out from behind clouds. She patted the bench next to them.

Mei sat down with Rose on her other side. "No, I'm starting this year at Naranja! It's very exciting! My name's Poppy!" the trainer, Poppy, explained, still beaming.

"Thank you," Mei said, taking the offered spot with an eager expression. Rose settled in beside her, smiling politely.

"I'm Mei and this is my sister Rose. We're starting this year too," Mei offered. Poppy nodded intently.

The two took a moment to dig through bags for their own note-taking equipment. Their memory was good but not perfect. Disinterest tended to make it fuzzier as well, as Rose's grades had shown her first semester at Trainer School before she started taking notes.

"Are you two starting trainers?" Poppy asked and squinted briefly. Mei could feel it, a perfectly polite probe but there was the weight of a mountain on the other end. Rose flinched slightly and offered a smile. A Ranger's job was often to be discrete, and she'd just been tagged.

"Oh, you're starting strong!" Poppy praised. She craned her head to look at their belts. "And you already have two! Miss Geeta would like you to push forward like that. She worries a lot about how many battle trainers Paldea has," Poppy said matter-of-factly. Poppy pulled six Poke balls out of her purse and set them on the desk in front of her.

"These are Poppy's friends for helping Geeta and Hassel. Well, I guess Professor Hassel since I'm at school! And Rika and even Larry at the League! I can't show them in class and we're on the second floor anyway. Rika made me promise not to take them out on second floors unless there's an emer-" Poppy paused, briefly stuttering on the word, "emergency!"

The twins blinked at that, not quite sure what to say. Miriam had gotten herself back under control and decided to explain. "Miss Poppy's starting the term. She's a little small but she's only a few months younger than you two," Miriam clarified.

The twins' heads snapped back to look at Poppy like springs had been released. Poppy's face fell. "You're ten?" Mei said incredulously. Poppy looked at the floor.

"Just short," she muttered sullenly.

"We thought you were fifty," Rose said, eyes wide. Poppy's head snapped back up, and her smile returned, even wider.

"Yay! Everyone's first question is usually 'are you lost?' even at the League!" Poppy exclaimed.

"Poppy, while young, is one of the Elite Four evaluators at the League," Miriam contextualized.

"I thought you were something at lunch but wow," Mei muttered.

Poppy looked between them. "I guess you guys get the same question a bunch too? Your faces look really alike."

"We're identical twins," Rose said kindly.

"And apparently way behind the learning curve in Paldea," Mei said, "You're really younger than us and not a short senior citizen?"

"Oh, Miss Geeta said I'm a savant with Steel types! I'm still working on the others," Poppy said proudly, "She didn't think it'd be safe to have me go allllll over Paldea for the Gyms on a journey, but thought I was strong enough to help her at the league a while ago. We never get people very often, though – so this year I was old enough and decided to come to the Academy like Hassel!"

"I thought we had a strong affinity, but nothing like that. I think Galar held us back," Mei said.

"You do," Miriam confirmed, "Actually Poppy – it's not quite my course of study but La Primera said it was one of the areas she thought you should work on. Can you guess what they are?"

"Oh, that's a lot harder than strength," Poppy complained, then concentrated. She hopped off the bench to move in a semi-circle behind them, the two craning to watch her with interest.

"Waves of something. Not fast enough for water, and Larry's good with fliers, doesn't feel like that either. There's something moving through… forests? Part of it?" Poppy deducted aloud.

The two clapped in acknowledgement and, pleased, Poppy hopped back on the bench.

Mei looked over at Miriam, and continued complaining, "I thought we were making a strong start, but this school is full of prodigies. I think our Mom lied about us being naturals. We met Kieran yesterday and I'd put money on him over Raihan at the end of the Galar Circuit. And now… Elite Four," Mei finished, gesturing at Poppy, who waved, pleased.

Miriam giggled, "Well, fortunately, you seem to be entering during what might be the most talented period in Naranja history. You two are doing fine for day two in your careers. Your color's much better Mei," Miriam noted. Mei nodded.

"Battle class isn't graded on a curve, is it?" Rose asked quietly. Miriam giggled again and shook her head. Rose leaned down past Mei to smile at Poppy.

"Any advice you have to offer we would really appreciate, though I don't know how to repay that favor, unless you want to learn Sinnoh cuisine," she said.

"Aww, I don't mind. A lot of kids weren't interested or got super-nervous with my friends before I went to the League. I hoped people at the Academy wouldn't be scared!" Poppy said, cheerfully.

"If you were in Galar, your face would be on every cereal box in the region when you entered the Circuit," Mei promised.

"Ooh, really! Maybe I can get Rika to have us go visit sometime!" Poppy said happily.

They'd continue, but the post-dessert crowd was starting to enter. Everyone got distracted watching others come in. Kieran waved as he spotted them, then stopped in his tracks when he saw Poppy for several heartbeats. He shook his head in amazement and continued, sitting at the desks behind the twins.

A blonde boy breezily entered the room like he owned it, and looking around, sat next to Kieran, eyeing him with interest. Mei looked at him. Something caught her eye there but she couldn't place what, and she didn't like it.

Rose gave a small wave as she saw Alamy from the roof, who gave a brief smile back. The Kalos girl looked around and then hurried to claim a seat in the front row next to Rose.

"I know no one else here yet," she whispered apologetically. Rose nodded.

"It's no trouble," she assured back quietly.

All told, about twenty people were scattered over the three rows by the time Miriam called for attention as an electronic chime played. A sandy haired boy was the last, entering the room at a sprint. Looking around, he grabbed the last seat in the front row, and ducked under Miriam's inquisitive look. From Rose's quick glance at the boy's hands, something chocolate at the dessert table had held him up.

"Greetings class, and welcome to your home room for the term – the next few years if you're here on a full course! I'm Professor Miriam, and this is 2-B, just in case anyone came into the wrong classroom!" She paused, but no one stood up. She looked around just in case for a few moments more regardless. Apparently, there was some precedent.

"It's a pleasure to see all the full-coursers again after yesterday, and meet the rest of you for the term! I'm sure we will have a great year together! Did anyone have any trouble with the move-in yesterday or this morning?" Miriam asked brightly.

"Just that you'd let us Mesagozans live in town, even if the school's paying for our dorms," drawled a voice behind Rose. The class turned to look at the dull redhead, who didn't look irritated, instead just slumping, propping his head up with an arm on the desk. He was seated on Kieran's other side and shrugged at the attention.

"I understand the strain Trigo," Miriam said with a nod, "But the board's concern was keeping a level board and giving more opportunity for people from outside Mesagoza to meet people who could show them the city. Naranja wants a shared environment for class, regardless of age or geography."

"I get it, in theory, just my family's right there, you know?" Trigo said, resigned. Mirima nodded sympathetically.

Mei spoke up, "We've shared a room our whole lives and they split us up too." Rose shifted at the sudden attention but nodded.

Trigo looked closely at the twins in front of him and did a double-take. "Maybe they did it too late?" he asked, leading to scattered chuckles through the class.

"Okay, class," Miriam said, and looked sternly at the class until it settled back down and faced forward.

The smile returned and she reiterated, "But any problems with move ins, finding their way around? Facility issues? Please let me know through the year as well or the floor wardens, since it's a failure on the Academy's part that affects your learning!"

"What was that at lunch?" came a voice from the back.

Miriam's smile wavered slightly, "I wasn't there but I did send a request when people came from lunch so early. There was a faculty email update. Ortega is one of our senior students guiding a new field training program," she said.

"And in his enthusiasm, he decided on an unauthorized demonstration. I do want to assure, that despite his quirks, Ortega is a skilled veteran trainer. His Hatterene is completely trained and rated safe in large groups," Miriam reassured.

The silence stretched for a few moments, and Miriam looked around. "Any other questions?" she asked brightly, but no one had anything leap to mind. She leaned forward slightly to view her podium and read off.

"Okay, then a couple other broad bullet points. You've all read the rules for Pokemon in classrooms, but I need to reiterate no partners outside balls without teacher approval in class. It's fine in common areas, your dorms, and outside, of course. For newcomers to our region, Paldea has a very strong tradition of carrying on with a deployed partner in casual situations, and Naranja likes to emphasize that," she listed.

Miriam turned to look at Poppy directly briefly before turning back to the class generally. "That's barring some commonsense issues with large Pokemon in interior environments, of course! A Cetitan on a balcony is asking for trouble. You are responsible as a trainer for your Pokemon, but if you have any questions, please ask." Poppy waved back. She was carrying literally over a metric ton of Steel-types and was used to the world not being built for it.

"Matches are not permitted indoors, or on Academy grounds outside the battle fields," Miriam continued, "The online system has sign-up sheets if you'd like to reserve time outside classes on a field. The city's public battle plazas and courts are also available to reservation for non-resident students. The Academy is a multi-disciplinary Pokemon institution, but battle is an important part of Pokemon life. We understand the desire to improve coming from both sides of the partnership."

Miriam stopped reading directly and said, "Personally, I do encourage at least one round of battle electives during your time here. It can reveal a lot of your Pokemon's preferences they keep restrained in an eagerness to please that can really deepen the bond. Even if you aren't planning to enter a battle-oriented profession, regular matches are an important part of Pokemon health."

Miriam returned to the list, "And as a warning to our non-residents, Paldea is blessed with a tremendous density of wild Pokemon. It's one reason the tradition of a walking escort is so prominent. For pet owners, generally mild training is enough to deal with curious Pokemon on the main roads if outside a vehicle. If there's a serious threat in the area, warnings will be posted at town gates, Pokemon Centers, and the League website and media fees until the League can handle it." Several older students took notes at that, their styluses scratching.

She smiled. "There has been an upswing in wild Tera Pokemon since last year, but the odds of encountering an aggressive and powerful untrained Pokemon are still quite low," she assured her students.

"Are there any questions on these points?" Miriam asked to a general shaking of heads.

"Okay, if you have questions later, raise those hands. Now we do have to go over some minutia on class scheduling and how lessons generally work, but I thought we could all introduce ourselves to each other first as a little break! Give a little bit about who you are, major interests, and what you hope to accomplish at Naranja this year!" Miriam said, clapping her hands brightly.

She pointed at herself. "I'll go first," she said, "Again, my name's Miriam! I'm teaching health classes at the Academy for the first time this year. I previously served as the nurse, taking care of humans and Pokemon for several years at Naranja. I was born in Paldea and used to work at a Pokemon Center when I got interested in human health."

"It took a few tries to complete the certification exam to move to faculty, which just shows you must keep trying! This year will be my first full course load, which I'm very excited about! My dearest partner is Toxapex and my battle style is straightforward," she finished, looking around the room, before smiling wickedly.

"Let's start at the back and work our way forward," she directed, causing stirs at the back of the room. Mainly adult students had sat back there and weren't expecting to be on the spot so fast.

The first was a man in his forties, "Yes my name's Ralph – I'm here for biochemistry course on new considerations in alpha proteins in cell membranes in heart cells and-" Rose could feel her eyes glazing over after only a few seconds.

She glanced over and saw Poppy valiantly staring forward to forcer he eyes open. Mei sat on her hands to avoid starting a side-conversation via hand-signal. Looking the other way, Alamy wasn't even hiding look at her tablet, and the sandy-haired boy's head was nodding forward.

Miriam finally cut Ralph off as he was starting to rail at the review board for some biology journal no one else had heard of.

"Courtney, I'm only twenty-three," said the next woman to some disbelief. "I'm a Lampent from Mistralton in Unova; I'm here to take courses on international law. My hobby is ceramics. I've had my Jigglypuff since I was eight!"

The next several were similarly way out of the twins' age range and taking specialty courses. Rose's attention had wandered, and she was reciting Azucena and Ivy's naturally formed moves in her head to stay awake.

Finally, a boy their age reached the front of the classroom, though he'd still been in the (fully occupied) back row. "My name's Arthur. I'm from Cascarrafa, so I chose a Quaxly here. I've been around Pokemon a lot, but I'm not interested in being a battler, really," Arthur said, and shot a glance at Miriam.

She gave an encouraging smile. He ran a hand through his blue hair and continued, "I was in junior flag corps at school in Cascarrafa, so I'm interested in the cheer teams here."

There was a sudden burst of murmurs behind them. The twins and the others in the first row turned to see several kids suddenly shifting with interest in the second. Miriam cleared her throat lightly and people turned back around.

"Oh – I'm not sure where I want to end up yet – my parents work in mining near Cascarrafa," Arthur finished, and moved to sit back down.

The next up was the blond young man at the end of the second row. Under the lights, his hair proved so pale it glistened. "My name's Victor," he said, giving a bow. Mei blinked in surprise. There were traces of south Kalos buried in that Paldean, though he spoke the language better than she or her sister did in this life.

"I'm from Kiloude, the home of professional battling in Kalos," Victor continued, "It's my goal to continue that noble tradition by learning the styles and techniques of the Paldea region to bring home with me. I was granted a Quaxly by the institution but have selected several regional Pokemon already as well. I've done some training for some time but am following the Academy's wishes of using local Pokemon. My goal is to complete the region's famous Champion evaluation."

Mei had brought her hands back up and sat her head in them, sighing a little. Rose glanced over and Mei took advantage of Rose blocking some of Miriam's view to use their private signals. We are so far behind. Rose nodded slightly in agreement while looking ahead.

Victor gave another small bow and marched back to his seat. Mei watched him pass. She wasn't getting the sense of someone like Ortega, let alone Kieran or Poppy. If he'd been training for some time, he didn't seem up to what his speech had said. But even if he'd been catching, that wasn't training, as one of their mom's favorite sayings went. She wondered how much he had to back it up. Something about him rubbed her wrong.

Miriam gave a small encouraging nod to Kieran as he walked slowly up front. "Uh, hi – wowzers there's a lot of you – my name's Kieran. I guess I'm technically an upperclassman but starting this year at the Academy; I used to go to school in Unova. I'm from Mossui Town in Kitakami, though. I did pretty well battling at my old school so I'm planning to do the Gym Circuit while I'm here. But Naranja has a lot more tracks than my old school so I want to see more of that."

Kieran thought briefly, then added, "Oh, I have a Sprigatito from the Academy, but it's a Floragato already." There was a scoff of disbelief behind them from Victor, and Mei couldn't fault him.

Rose nodded in understanding, however. Her old life had seen plenty of Rangers train Pokemon for specific rescue situations, and experienced trainers tended to get quick evolutions. Kieran had sounded like Nemona had several other peers in their friend group. If they'd been battling that night, there'd have been plenty of spillover for a new Pokemon to drink up.

Kieran took Rose's nodding as a good sign and pushed ahead. "My first partner is now a Hydrapple and I'm thinking of joining a professional double battle circuit. My parents are trade lawyers, but that doesn't interest me." Kieran gave a small bow and walked back to his seat

Trigo, the boy who'd spoken up earlier came forward and gave a small wave. "Hi there, I'm Trigo, and I said I was from Mesagoza earlier. My father's a chef and my mother's in accounting with the phone company. My older brother's working to open his own restaurant too, but I don't like the hours. I'm happy to get the chance to go here. I have a Fuecoco and have a pet Lechonk already. Mesagoza's a nice town, but I'm looking forward to getting to see the rest of Paldea with the Treasure Hunt."

"Hi, I'm Vine," came from another girl, with long shiny black (rare a shade as it was, it looked natural) hair done up in some elaborate braiding. "I'm from Dendemille – it's a little farming town in northeast Kalos with a lot of windmills – near the frontier. I have some dance training and hope to enjoy that here. My big dream is… NOT to go back to Dendemille if I can at all help it after graduation." That got some laughs, and she gave a brief bow before heading back

The next girl up gave a couple of v-signs as she stepped forward. She had blue hair and purple highlights – Mei was starting to think a blue base color was more common on the continent than it was in Galar. They and their mother were unusual in Hammerlocke.

"Hiii and bonjour! I'm Zania – from Mesagoza too," Zania said. "My parents own some warehouses here in town – moving electronics mainly – but I'd like to open my own boutique some day!"

"What kind?" Miriam asked.

"Cos-met-ics," Zania said, drawing out the word with relish. "I've always liked my Fidough but I haven't really thought about battling – but I dunno, the last couple years it seems to be getting a lot more interest around town and I've a new Fuecoco!" Zania put up victory-signs again and went back to her seat.

Rose glanced behind and saw Zania give a sigh of relief as she sat. She couldn't fault a brave front, there were a lot of people staring up front.

"I'm Minx, from Ballonlea in Galar," said the next one, an orangehead with long bangs. The twins perked up at a fellow Galarian.

"I'm here on a dance scholarship but I'm interested in medical school – the cheer team here at Naranja's always interested me too! They have a great record! Fairy types have never done it for me, though, if you've heard of Ballonlea," he stated flatly with a shrug.

There had to be some natural antipathy there, Mei reflected. Ballonlea was the center of Fairy-types in Galar and had been for decades before Opal's long tenure. There was nothing wrong with not being a trainer, as their mother insisted. Not having a Pokemon of the type so strongly associated with an area drift into your life anyway almost took effort.

"Kern," said the next one, hands in his pockets once he was up front. He had green hair, but a lot duller than the twins' stripes. Nearly brown, from some angles.

"My parents put me on mixed track; I'm not sure what I want to do, honestly. I'm from Medali in north Paldea," he finished. He shrugged and went back to his seat. That was the end of the second row.

The sandy-haired boy on the other end up front started to stand but Poppy waved her hand eagerly. He shrugged and settled back into his seat, and Miriam gave Poppy a nod. Poppy jumped from the bench over the desk to land smoothly on the front table by the podium. She turned around and there were a few murmurs as others in the class realized her dimensions.

"Can you all see me? Sorry – I'm short for my age," Poppy apologized.

"I'm Poppy! I stay northwest of town, but I turned ten this year so could go to the Academy and the dorms. I'm excited to meet more people close to my age! I'm good with Steel-types; like super, super good. I'm trying to learn more about handling other types so I took a Fuecoco from the academy. My friends said I would get better about teaching people about my favorites if I knew more about other Pokemon," she finished. Instead of jumping back, she clambered off the table and ran around to her seat.

Rose and Mei looked at each other and Miriam. "You can go together if you'd like," she offered. Rose looked at Mei and shook her head, inclining it forward. Mei sighed and went up alone. It was one thing to talk to one new person at a time…

Rose was pleased they weren't being forced together even if she was going to have to stand up there in a minute.

Mei stopped at the front to fold her hands over her chest in greeting – and show off her nails. She took a deep breath and started, "Hi, I'm Mei – also from Galar, but from Hammerlocke, if you've heard of it."

She continued without giving the class a chance to react, "I worked hard to start a Pokemon journey and compete in the Cup there. My sister and I are identical twins. I like reading about old legends, and my favorite color is red. I've got a natural knack with grass, but I took a Fuecoco to expand my talents and I have a Bounsweet partnered. My favorite color is red, and I want to complete the Gym Circuit and see the Ten Sights." She finished in a rush and went to sit back down.

As Mei sat she winced, realizing she'd repeated herself in her rush.

Rose waited before Mei sat down before standing up and walking around. When she reached the front and turned around, she realized Kieran wasn't kidding about the class size. There were a lot of them. Alamy gave a sympathetic tight smile while Mei made brief 'hurry-up' gestures. She felt a rattle at her side. Azucena, reassuring.

She gave a brief bow, hands behind her back. "Um, hello," she said softly. "My name is Rose and Mei is my sister. We were born in Sinnoh, far in the east, but lived most of our lives in Hammerlocke. It's nice to be somewhere wetter. I want to journey and see Paldea. Azucena, a Petilil, and Ivy, a Sprigatito agreed to come with. Let me know if you have trouble understanding me; the quick-learn left a strong accent, sorry. I like the quiet. I take photos and my favorite color is purple."

Rose sat down in a rush and gave Alamy her own encouraging smile as the girl got up to face the class, walking stiffly forward. She ran her hands through her hair a few times as she reached the front before she looked out to the class.

Alamy began quietly and enunciating each word carefully, "It is my turn then. I am Alamy, from Lumiose in Kalos. I apologize if my Paldean goes odd. I have been interested in the stage and streaming so I do a small podcast weekly. I got advised for the general track since the profession requires business management and technical work as well. I have a Quaxly from the school I am learning to befriend, but Papa had gotten me Resistor, a Pichu, some time ago too." She headed back down and let out a breath when she got there. Rose nodded.

The lone boy in the front row got up. Even in a varied classroom, his hair color stood out – straight light brunette. He was lean and lanky. "I'm Teff," he introduced himself, "I'm here on football scholarship from Wyndon, in Galar. The weather's been fantastic compared to home so far. I may want to go pro here instead of there. I hope to join the varsity team and help them win Interregionals. I have a Sprigatito from Naranja but know I'm not going to have a lot of time to train with football practice. That guy was weird, but those Star camps look fun."

He sat back down, smooth and relaxed.

"Thank you all," Miriam said. "With so many of you being international it made me remember a point from the faculty meeting. How many did a computer course for Paldean this summer" Miriam asked. Roughly two-thirds of the hands went up in the room, including Alamy and Vine's but not Victor's.

"Oh my – we do have a lot of people who newly learned about us!" Miriam said, clapping, before continuing, "Professor Salvatore brought up that the language courses are more in-depth than most skills instructions. I'm sure the way this summer's updates left accents is annoying, but he warned not to try pure electronic language learning for at least three months. And be sure to practice so it sets in properly. There was a poor student last term who could only speak in geometry for two days until we realized what happened." Everyone nodded.

"At least we can keep more than four things in mind at a time," Vine quipped.

"I'm going to use that to segue into how instruction works a bit at the academy – critical application of knowledge is the focus at Naranja. For those on the full course, don't be surprised if the tests seem overly simplistic at first to make sure you have basic logic skills. It'll get more complex quickly," Miriam warned.

"Let's see for the other basics– the cafeteria's hours will expand once school starts to serve breakfast as well…" Miriam continued on through the minutia of the school year until the bell rang.

Miriam looked up at the chime. "Okay, I'll see you back here for class after the weekend. You have this afternoon to settle in as well!" she said brightly.

Mei stood up as the class started gathering supplies. "What now? I didn't get a run this morning," she proposed.

"I did," Rose reminded her sister gently. She turned to look behind them and said apologetically, "Sorry to bother. Kieran, you've been to an Academy before. What did you do with your spare time?"

Mei nodded and sat up on the table, looking at Poppy. "It's two masters right here – what do you do to train? If I can ask?" she asked, seeking permission second.

Kieran gave a hmm as he thought. "I don't call myself a master," he said, ignoring Victor, Rose, Mei, and Poppy (and Miriam, eavesdropping) shaking their heads.

"I kept my head down at the Academy for a long while, then my whole time was in battle practice while I worked on a strategy. I've barely been in Paldea so I've only seen the city with Nemona or Florian. How did that go, by the way?" he asked the twins.

"Did you two match Nemona?" Poppy asked, eyes wide. "You two don't seem that good. Uh, sorry."

"No, we didn't," Mei said at the same time as Rose assured, "We're really not." Mei gave her sister a side-eye.

"Anyway, because we ran into Kieran, Nemona offered to referee our first battle, unofficially. Something went wrong with the battle court, so they had to call off the tournament last night," Mei explained.

"It exploded," Rose said softly. Alamy, putting her stuff together, stopped and looked over in surprise. Rose shrugged.

"I don't know why either," Rose said.

"It seems someone didn't connect all the underground lines properly to bleed it off," Mei corrected. "But since that needs fixing, she took us for a battle, and I won against Rose!" She grinned.

"Nemona got excited with battling Florian and didn't say much on what happened when she got back," Kieran explained. "Florian won, of course. Wowzers, he's good. Did you two like it?"

He looked at them intently, "You were looking forward to it a lot but sometimes people get disappointed."

"It was great to get stuck in," Mei said happily.

"Happier than I ever thought," Rose said, faintly.

Kieran smiled at their answers.

"It is that amazing?" Alamy asked, hesitantly. "Excuse me."

"No, you're fine, it was great!" Mei assured her, "I don't see why Mom's so against the professional battle circuits if you get to do it all the time. I know you're a bit disconnected from your partners for an even playing field."

"Ugh," Poppy interrupted, "We had to go to a conf – conference with some of the other regions' Elite Fours – some Legendary moving around, I forget. I tried one of those out. My friends were ok," she said, and gestured to her Poke balls still on display. "But I got a bad headache from it and had to nap."

"Oh," Trigo said, stopping packing, "You're *that* northwest of the city." His eyes were wide.

"Yup!" Poppy said blithely. Mei glanced around. They were attracting a cluster of the other kids in the class. No one seemed jealous of Poppy, though the power she moved with probably prevented that. Mei and Rose were short, but Poppy was tiny.

"Sorry, what?" Victor asked. "What's so important about northwest of the city? Unless you mean the Crater? But no one lives there, I thought."

"Is it okay?" Trigo asked, respectfully now. Poppy nodded.

"Rika said 'we're discreet, not secret'. I'm on the web for it anyway," Poppy said.

"Right," Trigo said, and drew in a deep breath as he turned to face Victor. "Poppy's a Champion-level trainer, and one of the League's highest-ranked officials. One of La Primera's most trusted trainers, as part of the Paldean League's Elite Four," he explained

"Oh, so that's what I keep feeling," Teff said. He'd shifted up his bag but stayed as the talking started. "Sorry," he said, unapologetic, as people turned to look, "There's a bunch of feelings that sort of slotted in with my new cat yesterday." He eyed Kieran. "You too, a lot. And Miriam. No one else as much."

"Yeah, you can hide it or bring it down when you send friends against someone who isn't as good so it's a better match. Otherwise, it's there," Poppy said, shrugging.

"They didn't put a lot of stock at Blueberry in assessing someone else's strength," Kieran said. "With type match-ups and good strategy, it can make a much bigger difference than raw trainer power once you start advancing." Victor nodded agreement at this.

Kieran reflected, and added, "Or if you've not worked with your Pokemon for very long, they can't process it all yet. And Blueberry encouraged trying a lot of battle parties."

"Weird, so it's part of the traomer package?" Teff asked.

"Oh," Miriam said, still at the podium and casually eavesdropping.

"We'll go a little about it in health class; it's not the same phenomenon as people who exhibit Psychic powers," Miriam explained, "That's separate but seems it can feed off it. Connecting with Pokemon starts some neural patterns that lay dormant otherwise. How it all connects with how we empower Pokemon isn't understood, but has to happen first."

"This is one of those points to the 'we've evolved alongside to work with Pokemon' theory, right, with the Psychic mutation coming later?" Mei interjected. Miriam nodded.

"You're not one of those people who goes with the 'we got invited here for a paradise with Pokemon' thing, are you?" Victor said, with some distaste. Mei's dislike of the man was deepening rapidly.

"Actually Teff," Miriam hastily interceded to hold off a philosophical and theological argument, "This part is a big reason why competitive sports don't allow participants to carry their Poke balls on the field during games. There's a lot more of it with battle-sync, but even pet trainers' Pokemon feed some capability back along the connection."

"I saw a few battle-synched circuses and exhibitions," Alamy said, quietly. "A strong trainer can do stuff you'd think was CGI in a movie."

Zania added to the conversation for the first time, startling a few. "Oh. I love those! We get one in Mesagoza every year."

Poppy smiled and jumped in place, going up over a meter in the air. She performed a somersault as she did, then landed on the bench with a light thump, perfectly landing with her hands in the air. The kids and Miriam gave some light applause.

"That's that question people keep talking about, right?" Teff asked, showing more interest now.

"Technically, it's simply a much deeper emotional connection with Pokemon, so both sides can understand each other better," Miriam acknowledged, "But the effects of that clearer link include a lot more energy flow, and the advantages are most obvious in battle." Miriam patted her Poke balls briefly and continued.

"On the human side, some of the physical stuff seems to be the extra awareness with a connection with Pokemon gives a better subconscious understanding of the human body's limits. There are some manipulated physics effects like stamina, and sometimes other manifestations."

"Our mom was sure at some point we'd start seeing flower petals appear around us when we went to battle, we're so grass oriented it just spills out that way," Mei said.

"A lot of trainers deliberately cultivate those small effects and manifestations. Most ghost trainers learn to throw shadows around them whatever the light sources are, as the most common example. But a lot of those influences are an effect from the whole team channeled to the trainer, so even generalists can do a few. I'm out of practice, but I can get a few stars if I channel hard," Miriam said, warming to the impromptu lecture. She put her hands together and concentrated, then winked, a brief glimmer of golden light going past the corner of her eye.

"How does training work if you're carrying Pokemon with you, then?" Teff asked, "If they let me keep going so long, how do you build up muscle?"

"Muscle building just means pushing proportionally harder. Humans are tied much more closely to background physics than Pokemon. It seems to be the tradeoff for out ability to boost. Pokemon physical musculature delivers force in much different ways than ours thanks to their power expression. One reason fighting trainers tend to gather is their Pokemon push them to go past what an augmented body can withstand and they need to spot each other," Miriam said. Teff nodded understanding.

"That's the link, right, how they can push stuff back up?" Zania said, "I can get some of Fue-cutie and Fi-cutie's emotions, but even if they're all… in there, I can tell mine are stronger. It can get a little jumbled in the morning though. And there's the whole dress alignment thing battle trainers end up with," she finished and pointed deliberately to Poppy and the twins.

Teff and Trigo, as completely new trainers, looked confused at this. Victor laughed. "You mean the color thing?" he asked. Zania nodded.

Miriam hastened to explain, "Zania's mentioning something you'll tend to see repeatedly, especially for type or strategy specialists. There's a lot of evidence it's cultural instead of some mental filter Pokemon impose. Fire-trainers are the classic for ending up in red and yellow, but so do fire fighters that usually use water Pokemon. Society has expectations for what fire looks like and that applies some weight."

"And the Dragon Clan mandates purple and the capes, so they're associated with dragons. But most dragon trainers are Dragon Clan members, so it feeds back," Victor said, and looked at Kieran. "You're not a member, are you? You said Hydrapple, yes?"

Kieran shook his head. "I knew a couple members at school that were members by blood, but I haven't applied. I'm more a generalist," he said.

Zania glanced at Kieran's hair and the hat and backpack. "Lot of dark types in there too, right? I don't know if it's the hairstyle peeking free but a weather team? We do get Galar TV here." Kieran nodded, surprised.

"Ooh, do me!" Poppy said, jumping a little.

"You already said you were a steel trainer, so I can just point to the yellow and gray on that cute bonnet with confidence. I do like that custom purse," Zania said kindly. Poppy nodded happily that she'd been figured out.

"It was a present. I keep snacks in it!" the steel trainer announced.

Zania turned to the twins and hummed briefly. "Okay, Mei, you said your favorite is red and I see the nails, but you've still got light-green tights on, and your hair's halfway to a Tangela," she said, somewhat apologetically.

Mei winced and turned to Rose. "I thought you fixed that," she said accusingly.

"I did three hours ago. How are you wearing your hat?" Rose countered.

"… Fair. Anyway, I woke up late and didn't have much time to do makeup or pick out for the big first day as I wanted," Mei apologized.

"Your sister did," Zania observed. Rose turned a little and looked up so Zania could see her clearly.

"You sure you don't have a Jigglypuff partnered in there with the grass? With the hair and ribbons, you've got a Florges vibe. I like the nails," Zania said.

"What are Florges?" Rose asked, "I haven't heard of them."

"Fairy-type," Alamy and Victor answered, and Alamy cringed backward as Victor continued blithely. "Very associated with flowers, even though they're pure Fairy. Their earlier evolutions are common in Kalos's gardens. They're almost as good at making things grow as grass-types but Cycle help you if they decide the weeds are supposed to be there."

Alamy tugged at Rose's sleeve and said softly after she turned, "Mama had to pay last year to get some relocated after a fright." Rose's expression was contemplative, and she made a note to look more up on them.

"You hit it dead on anyway," Zania assured her. She pointed to Alamy and asked, "May I?" Alamy nodded after a moment.

"Yellow headband, and you've got little thunderbolts in those earrings I saw when the light was right earlier," Zania said. "Your Pichu's close to you."

Alamy's hand went to the earrings in surprise. "I hadn't thought in particular when I picked these," she admitted.

Mei said sympathetically, "If I don't think about it, I'll just pull green stuff in a store without realizing it until I get to the cashier." Rose nodded agreement.

"Which of you is the shiny?" Zania quipped, and then gestured to herself, holding out pink and purple bracelets on her arms. "I'd have lace on the uniform shirt if I could, too. But I've always liked cute things, and I have cute Pokemon."

Trigo raised his hand. "Anything yet?"

"Those cuffs you have on could be sweat bands, I mean, something isn't giving the vibe of a fire trainer, so maybe one of the close combat specialists? There's not really a theme there yet," Zania hazarded.

"You should meet our floor warden. She's really fire," Rose added. Zania nodded.

Victor coughed lightly, and Zania glanced over. He was pretty much wearing the uniform straight, no hat or sunglasses to give it away and he'd stashed his bag out of sight.

"Rock? Flying? Sorry, all I have is hair color," Zania said.

"Generalist mainly. Still, you're quite observant," Victor praised.

Zania shrugged, "It's an easy hobby. People tend to partner with what Gyms have in Paldea cause it's easier, but they still spot clothing trends. It's something you have to think about if you want to get into fashion," she finished with a sigh.

"Oh, regionally, it can be mandated a bit too. Most Psychic users in Kalos dress like curse-users, or a gi for the men. An old, old law," Victor said dismissively.

"I have a lot of other Pokemon off my battle team, too, but you did spot where I ended up," Kieran said, to fill some dead air.

"What else do you have?" Mei asked, interested in prying more secrets free.

"Oh, a Furret's one of my best buds I met early. I have a Politoed and Poliwrath I raised from tadpoles. The Applin line is probably my favorite," Kieran reflected.

"Galar's all mad for those, aren't they?" Victor asked Mei. Mei stiffened with regional pride.

"Not mad, they're good partners for a lot of kinds of people," she said, a bit hotly. "And they can live almost anywhere in the region, so they show up in a lot of stories."

"Milo has made one his ace," Rose added quietly.

"Ah, the speed bump," Victor said. Mei stared at him, and Rose bristled silently. "When was the last time he made it past the first round of the finals?" Victor continued.

"On you did not," Mei said warningly and glared.

She walked around the table to confront him, trying to think of a good comeback. She spotted one after she got close. "Hah! You said you had a lot, but you've only got two with you. I knew it!" she declared victoriously. Rose looked like she was ready to melt into the floor and grabbed her necklace rather than cringe looking at her sister.

Zania clucked her tongue sympathetically as Kieran looked back and forth at the two brewing towards an argument. Miriam put her hands up on the podium and looked tense.

"Well, I can show off my Hydrapple a bit? And show a little how we learned to train for power at Blueberry? There are courts here, right?" he asked Miriam, who nodded agreement rapidly, and brought her hands down slowly.

That got the two budding trainers to snap their attention to Kieran. "You wouldn't mind? Even the expert here?" Mei said.

"I'm not fool enough to avoid a lesson from my betters," Victor said, giving Mei a glare. Mei returned it, ignoring her sister's increasingly urgent gestures to calm down.

"Well maybe some target training too," Kieran said, starting to warm to the idea. "There's sometimes competitions on larger fields, where you need to move instead of stay in the trainer box."

"Wild Pokemon don't let you stay still always and it's not always a friendly match," Mei said smugly.

Rose coughed several times, and apologetically pulled a water bottle out of her bag as the staged fit became a real one. The handsign she snuck in meant history and danger and Mei blinked as she realized.

"I've heard, I mean," Mei amended.

"Well, I'd love to see your little dears too, but I have some paperwork first, but I can show you the reservation system, Kieran!" Miriam said. The ace trainer walked over to the podium where they worked.

Rose took headcount. The people on single courses hadn't stuck around and some of the others left as well. It looked like besides Victor and Mei (nearly growling at each other), Teff, Trigo, Zania, and Poppy. Alamy was still present but looked around fretting.

Rose leaned over as she put her water bottle back her bag's cavernous interior. "You don't have to come," she said quietly.

Alamy looked over, surprised. "Oh no," she whispered, "I should, I want to be stronger, for them. I need to stay." She gestured at her Poke balls briefly – Rose realized one was one of those 'limited' edition Premier Balls.

Teff muttered, "Are you okay?" on the other side, making the two girls jump slightly.

Alamy shrugged. Teff said sympathetically, "You're thinking of stepping forward, huh? You've got the look already."

Alamy hesitated and nodded.

"I have an aunt and uncle who have run a Pokemon ranch for decades. They never said yes," Rose continued quietly.

"Everyone seems… happy with it," Alamy said, looking around.

"A champion, a steel-type master, and a veteran ace trainer. And two people who think they should be champions," Rose listed, nodding briefly towards Victor and Mei for the last example who were still fuming. Teff snorted.

"There are people it's not so happy for, especially if you have trouble advancing," Rose said. Rose didn't have any examples from this universe she could use specifically but she figured she could bluff until she looked someone up

"Well, you're full into it too for battle, right? Your two are in your head? You're good with it?" Teff asked. Rose nodded.

"I want to go to Interregionals. Could I do that and give the time I know they'll need? Little Sprigatito's happy so far, but right now I can't do that much for him," Teff noted.

"Okay!" Miriam said brightly cutting across, "I think we got it – there's a few other groups in that courtyard but there's some plaza slots open, so there'll be plenty of people to see at work."

"Looks like a bunch of people want to get to it at the start," Kieran said, fully warmed to the idea.

"Great, it's time to get some training in," Mei declared. She gave Victor a look and hopped on the desk and over, ignoring Miriam's look as she grabbed her bag. Victor took advantage of sitting a row back to take the lead out of the classroom. Mei made a muffled sound of irritation and followed. Zania and Trigo shrugged and followed as Poppy hummed to herself, jumping off the bench.

Kieran chuckled and looked at the three others, questioningly.

"Just a minute, we'll be along," Rose said. Miriam's eyes snapped up briefly, but she didn't say anything until the others left the room.

"I'm sorry, we rushed past an important question earlier, didn't we," Miriam said, after the door closed behind the group. It wasn't a question.

"You have good ears," Alamy said, shifting nervously.

"Being able to hear what your patient's not wanting to say helps a lot in nursing," Miriam said. "But if you want to talk about it one on one, I'm happy to."

Alamy looked back and forth. The two nodded but she shook her head. "No, it's fine with them, maybe they can help. There are the benefits, if the Pokemon see you're willing to work hard enough to… turn whatever it is on. From everyone with it in here I can see it. But also, there were the two of them. Was she like this before?"

Rose hesitated, then shook her head. "No, she's… better able to talk to people than I. But she's not usually confrontational, noise and crowds wear her out too much, especially with a stranger," Rose admitted.

Rose looked down to the floor and fidgeted with her necklace. "And she's more irritating to me than she was before I got partners. I really can't say I'm the me from two days ago," she continued.

It was nice to be able to say the whole truth, even if the people wouldn't understand it, Rose reflected.

Miriam frowned at the podium. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "I'd like to stay it's an accident if we're peer pressuring, but there's a subconscious urge to have more opponents. You said your had your Pichu for months and have been training it?"

"A little bit, when I had time with finishing school or practice," Alamy answered.

"And Teff is new," Miriam stated.

"Galar rules suck," Teff declared. Rose nodded agreement.

"Rose has had the same time with her partners and bonded that Teff has had, maybe an hour on either side. She could take you both on at once without having to work very hard, even at the starting block. It's that much of an advantage," Miriam said matter-of-factly.

"And there I go pushing again, but the other side is we do get more from Pokemon. Pokemon don't get a thrill out of competing with the exact same opponents at the same level repeatedly. So… neither do we. Big grand rivalries don't have matches very often, no matter what the movies show. So even though you aren't a match yet, I'd love if you start working for it," Miriam said, sounding a bit weary.

"It's a problem that itches in your mind a bit when you can't move around much because of obligations, even at Naranja. The Brawl's been a big help for the upper-level students and faculty. But the Pokemon trainer is supposed to pick the fights, not the Pokemon, we're supposed to be a moderating influence," she continued.

"I see your reasons for pushing it, and I want to be a stronger person for them and help them get stronger. But also, I want to be a stronger person," Alamy said adding emphasis.

"I don't want to be La Primera. I want, or maybe need, to be good at training, but I don't want that. I do want to be a great teacher and healer, and have the last part for a long time," Miriam said.

"I don't know if I'll even get there. I don't mind taking care of him and he's great to have, but a whole battle team seems a lot," Teff said.

"It is," Miriam acknowledged.

The room was silent for a little bit in contemplation.

Miriam broke it first, "There's another point – especially with you and your sister, Rose, with how you are saying you feel different."

"As Teff said, Galar laws suck. You both got Pokemon and are legal adults and have the extra power having a partner gives a person. Your personal borders are much wider than they were a few days ago, and that can be a rush too that affects a person," Miriam said. Rose nodded.

"Can I ask when you did, Professor?" Alamy said, still anxious.

"Of course – I was a bit older, but I didn't go to the Academy early on. I met Toxapex later, too. I was at what was the third gym then, and it was the wall it is today, too. It was my second attempt," she explained.

Miriam's eyes grew misty as she reminisced. "They were trying their best for me and I wasn't enough to make their best enough. They were still working hard and taking the hits. There's still some impact feel, even with the protections partners give for matches. They were taking those hits until suddenly I could feel it in front of me."

She took a deep breath before continuing down her memories. "Everything the Gym Leader was as we were facing each other," she said, "I could really see for the first time. I was so small to it, and I could feel it. I could step through to face it and get bigger or fall away. I got the warnings, it would hurt, I couldn't step back away afterwards."

"Hurt?" Alamy asked.

"We get more feedback, how much more varies. Pet trainers get there as an impact – one reason they tend to more bravado than battle trainers. We understand where and how it hurts so that we can work together better – we may get more of it than the Pokemon do since we're not directly in the action, usually. Pet trainers don't get the blackout risk either," Miriam said.

"I see – it's good to understand the risks when you have a match. You're both involved," Teff said. Rose nodded.

"That's how I understood it, that we'd be much closer. I could stay how I was, and maybe we could get through or just stop trying and try to be satisfied. Or we could take each other into ourselves and maybe we'd be able to start growing again. I broke free of what I was and I stepped. And they didn't lie, it did hurt," Miriam said, wincing in remembrance.

"We didn't win, either, that time. The match was nearly over before I reached the point for the question. But we did win next time!" Miriam finished, with a grin much less genial than normal before fading back to her normal pleased expression.

"All I can give is a biased answer that it's worth it," Miriam admitted. "It wouldn't be hard to find someone who walked away from it. To talk to you, or even the class. I could look at the people who I loved and still love and dislike the people I did before. But the love and hate were a different feeling. And my partners were all in my head and heart in a new way too."

"Does it get in the way of being with people? Football's a team game," Teff asked, sounding a bit horrified.

"Professor Salvatore and some of our other staff are married. You can find love and romance, and not even within the 'field' as it were. The commitments of a professional life can get in the way without it including being synched. And battle trainers tend to have strong personalities, which can make it difficult," Miriam said as her lips thinned to a line. The students knew now to press that point.

"I don't know what I would be and I'm afraid I would scare me," Alamy said in a near-whisper, getting to the core of it.

"I don't know what I am either," Rose said, glumly, and blinked. That had slipped out a bit more than she intended.

"A lot of growing up is finding out what you are. And then you must decide if it's right or you have to keep growing. It doesn't take Pokemon skill to start looking, and it can take a long time to spot," Miriam said, giggling at some past memory.

"That helps a little," Alamy said. "I'm still worried if I should say yes or not."

"That's fine – and remember, you don't necessarily get asked once if you need more time," Miriam answered.

"Talk about it with Resistor," Rose advised. Alamy looked over in surprise.

"I know it's more tone than what I can get. And I am insanely lucky how much I can get from non-partners. The odds for Mei and I are small to be what we are. But you and your Pichu can still communicate a lot to each other. It will help Resistor know when the team should offer, if they do," Rose explained.

Rose pointed at Alamy's clipped balls. "I'm sure she's picking up a little in there but a heart-to-heart may help. I'm sure she's not hoping to change you," Rose said.

Alamy nodded, patting the Premier ball. She sniffled a little and looked up and gave a small smile. "Were you born getting more? I know trainers can train a specialization too," she said to change the subject.

"I think it's one in two hundred to have a natural type affinity? Rose and Mei's strength is rarer to have it so clear with wild Pokemon," Miriam said.

"One in two hundred general populace, something like one in fifty in battle trainers. Historically it was one in twenty trainers before Poke balls," Rose answered.

"So even people oriented like you, don't go for it?" Alamy said, sounding relieved. Rose nodded.

"A natural affinity can do a lot to help Pokemon and humans outside battling. Maybe more. She's got some channeling ability to start off a bit stronger than would be generally, but it's a very small margin. The bonding's a little faster but knowing what a Pokemon likes exactly is useful in a lot of husbandry and other applications," Miriam stated.

"We've read up on this – just because I can get aligned with a Pokemon faster, I have the same effort to make a connection with a Pokemon to partner as anyone else," Rose said definitively.

"It's nice to be able to talk to them, but a lot of experienced trainers have no issue. As to why people pick specialties, is it a weak attraction that ends up making you hot-headed, or do hot-headed types just attract fire?" Rose asked, philosophical. She shrugged.

"And we're back to the clothes again," Teff remarked, "I wish I'd phrased the question better like that at the start."

"I'm sorry for not being better aware of your concerns. The bond is just there, a lot of time, and Poke balls make it easier to make contact. And in more violent eras, there was a lot of pressure to get to the question. Our history professor likes to talk about it and it can be a little uncomfortable," Miriam said, looking briefly nervous.

"It's even the question, not that people say choose to be a battle trainer," Teff said, "But even trainers still live and work with everyone else, right? I'm in team sports, and each of you is a team." Rose and Miriam nodded.

"But battle trainers don't have the same rules," Alamy said, looking back and forth.

"Not quite since we're expected to battle, and a lot exists to help support that," Miriam admitted, "But even trainers aren't ruled by strength like Pokemon are. A Champion purely on power doesn't last for long, and the League exists as much to protect Pokemon as support trainers."

"Having people not mind you want different doesn't sound too bad," Alamy said, sounding wistful.

"People did sort of expect it of me. Galar's pretty battle-mad, and if you have potential there, they want to encourage it. Everyone knew where I was going," Rose said.

"Is that why you're trying to make me see both sides?" Alamy wondered. Rose hesitated briefly and nodded.

"It's part of it. I love my Pokemon and I've always loved talking with them. They want to be strong, and I want to help them. But that's me with Pokemon, everyone has a different relationship," Rose said wisely.

"You're pretty well read for your age," Miraim complimented. Rose shrugged awkwardly at the center of attention.

"I have a good memory," Rose said and tried not to think about the other memory. "But Galar having something to stand out can help a lot to get started in the chase for the Cup. I wanted to support it as I could."

She looked around as the other three didn't say anything, "I hadn't really thought of it being forced. I think I need to more, but I don't regret being able to share so much with them. I have a lot to work on after yesterday but it was wonderful to be there with them," Rose said, eyes sparkling in enthusiasm.

"We will cover some of battling and the urges humans and Pokemon get in class, but I hadn't thought how many experienced trainers this class would have. It's a faster concern than the syllabus covers. If you think I'm… leaning the discussion or have concerns, I want you to be able to come to me. Pokemon battling is the most visible part of living with Pokemon, but it doesn't have to dominate," Miriam urged.

"I don't think I could stop class like that," Alamy said weakly.

"Do you really think that? That it's not central, as a battle trainer, I mean?" Teff asked Miriam more pointedly.

Miriam looked at the ceiling and chewed her lip briefly. "No," she admitted, "But that doesn't mean I'm right."

That led to another round of silence, which Alamy broke.

"We should head over – they will wonder what happened. And I do want to practice with my friends," Alamy said. She patted the Poke balls on her belt and looked at Rose.

"I'm sure you do, then," she said. Rose nodded.

"I hope they didn't finish setting up. Late to practice usually means buying drinks," Teff commented.

"I'll be along to check up on everyone in a while. I really do have some paperwork here. I appreciate getting to chat though! If it's outside office hours, send a message and I will try to get back to you! " Miriam said cheerily. The three waved as they left.

---

"I'm so sorry we're late. Let me go buy some drinks?" Teff pleaded, just a few minutes later. Almay and Rose nodded contritely as well.

The court had several groups spread over all four plazas. Kieran had gotten one of them for use and the group was pulling some battered training dummies out of a storage locker set against the edge of the courtyard.

"What kept you so long, anyway? We're getting ready to start," Mei complained, on the balls of her feet. Terpsi was waggling side leaves in imitative shadowboxing at her feet. She was feeling a lot more energetic than yesterday and was looking forward to getting a chance to start in on training. Especially if she could show up Victor. The Kalosian had a Quaxly out who, every time he caught someone looking, smoothed his hairstyle again.

The three looked at each other and hesitated. Trigo broke the silence, "Water or sports drinks aren't a bad idea in this heat. It's looking like it'll get steamy today." Mei shrugged and turned away to go back to dragging one of the dummies. Trigo winked and turned back to work himself.

Alamy had the map app for the school open. "There is a vending machine close by if we take the stairs two floors up. It is much closer than going all the way to the cantina," she reported.

"If it's all cola just get the water," Kieran said.

"No strawberry for me, please," Zania said. She had been tasked with a piece of chalk and was drawing a set of circles to mark the distance around one of the emplaced dummies.

The three nodded and set off. The others shifted the last few into position. Scattered on the grass, court, and running track that made up roughly a quarter of the courtyard were about a dozen training dummies. Kieran had them pull out the tougher ones instead of the puffy ones – heavy tough pieces of wood tied together into a vaguely humanoid shape with bullseye markers over the center of mass on all four sides.

"They shouldn't be long, but we can get started," Kieran said. He tossed a basic Poke ball out, revealing, yes, he had evolved his new Sprigatito already to Floragato. The bipedal Grass Cat Pokemon looked around and spun his yo-yo idly.

"So, I'm not trying to be insulting, but not all Trainer Schools cover theory. You all know the definition of a Pokemon move?" Kieran asked. There were general nods.

"Great – so why target training is useful, then. The same trainer with two different Pokemon species using the same move will seem similar end results – but the expression can be very different. Learning the timing of how your specific partner can use a move, and what its favorites are, gives a lot more effectiveness than what statistics in a TM catalog tells you. Seed Bomb," Kieran ordered the Floragato.

The Floragato stretched lazily and extended his yo-yo flower bud. His fur suddenly sharpened to points as the hard bud glowed with green energy and he spun it over his head. Kieran's classmates reflexively ducked but Floragato tossed the bud in high arcs over their heads, slamming with dull thuds into four of the target dummies set up in turn, before the bud ceased glowing and retracted to his hand.

Floragato's fur softened, and he gave a short bow. The students cautiously clapped as they stood back up. Kieran recalled him and warned, "Don't give him too much of an ego, I want to get him to where he can manage to hit at least six on one expression before evolving again."

Kieran selected another Poke ball and deployed his Hydrapple, which hissed a medley of greetings before most of the syrpents retracted back into his apple. "Switch out Fickle Beam for Seed Bomb for a minute," he directed. The center syrpent nodded, though two other heads poked out with surprised expressions.

"This isn't usually one of the moves we use these days, since Hydrapple's much better at energy attacks," Kieran said apologetically.

Hydrapple glowed for a moment, iridescence shimmering across the Apple Hydra Pokemon's body. The center syrpent hissed readiness.

"Just the twelve with circles – Seed Bomb," Kieran commanded. The syrpents extended briefly and pointed upwards, giving a strong cough as they expelled a series of hard-shelled seeds into the arc. The shells arced around independently, resolving into twelve compact groups that landed with much louder thuds against the dummies, knocking three of them over.

The other action in the courtyard stopped momentarily at the noise, and there were a couple smatterings of applause. A wolf-whistle from the nearby entryway cut across the clapping. Kieran looked over the latecomers were back with the drinks. Both girls leaned away from Teff in surprise at the noise, and he glanced at both, and shrugged philosophically.

"Return back to Fickle Beam," Kieran said, and waited a moment for Hydrapple's swap to complete before recalling his ace.

"Anyway," he continued, "Ignoring the Pokemon's difference in training, you can see they had similar results. A hard-shelled nut landed on the dummies from above, but the Pokemon used completely different methods."

There were general nods at that. "A Pokemon can learn a move quickly with trainer assistance, but mastering, wowzers that's different," Kieran said.

"I've done drills like this in Kiloude," Victor added.

Trigo put his hand in the air. The Fuecoco next to him looked and then copied the gesture. "Do you want us to use one move or switch?" he asked, when Kieran pointed at him.

"Start with one and start with contact moves if you can. I wouldn't want you downrange of each other's attacks," Kieran directed.

Mei directed Terpsi's Rapid Spins, and looking around, reflected on the value of coaching. Her pushed-in memories had plenty of it from Team Flare, to get the return on their investment. There were things you couldn't see tied to your partner that an independent observer could, greatly speeding up refinement.

If you could trust the observer and not mind revealing your strategy to a potential opponent. Kieran was so far above it didn't matter. Same reason Gym Trainer positions were hotly contested, even if the layman saw Gym apprentices' 'day job' was losing ot challengers every few hours.

Kieran was an easy difference from Flare for Mei to hold herself away from the Knight. He kept hopping around, spotting and commenting on issues he'd spotted for each person, then coming back to see how they were improving.

He was much terser than usual, but at least not cold.

He also was much terser than usual doing it. "Still jumping late, time closer to the move start," Kieran said as he went by Mei, "Trigo, your Lechonk is still lowering his head. Bad habit."

This must be how Blueberry does it, Mei thought to herself.

Mei was riding high off her first victory, but that Team Flare experience helped deal with any irritation on how right Kieran was. Terpsi was already getting a difference in the feedback she was feeling from the wood as Kieran's suggestions delivered more power faster.

"Liquidation means more water on the extremities," she heard Kieran say and she heard a determined quacking. She looked around in surprise to where the little Lumiose waif was practicing. Alamy hadn't seemed much of anything in the classroom. Liquidation was an advanced move, powerful and needed strong elemental control to utilize.

Alamy was turned away but felt Mei's gaze – she turned and gave a weak, nervous smile. Mei's sight line dropped to see the Kalosian's Quaxly giving determined round kicks at the dummy – it looked like Pound.

"He's wobbling a little, Kieran won't like that," Mei commented. Alamy blushed and ducked her head to focus back in on her Pokemon. Her Quaxly yelped a little at the attention and Alamy reached out to comfort as the little duck ran behind the dummy to avoid Mei's line of sight.

Kieran hadn't been giving advice on Liquidation there. The girl had plenty of other problems with her duck.

Reluctantly Mei looked further afield. At the dummy as far from Mei as possible, Victor's Quaxly was shedding water off his feathers. Liquidiation looked nowhere near ready to go. Mei felt a surge of advice she wasn't far behind. It was so basic still it could be in-progress Liquidation or a nearly ready Aqua Jet.

Victor glanced up briefly and she grinned at him. Victor took a half-step back, surprised, before turning down to look at his Quaxly with more urgency.

Confident the arrogant tall git was trying to show off by claiming advanced moves, she focused back on Terpsi. The little bulb didn't have much physical power yet, but that would change after evolution. She didn't need a weepy murderer in the back of her head to know what to focus on for the best results later.

She needed to start training Bullet Seed or Grass Knot to give Terpsi something she could use on the attack better. Rapid Spin wasn't terrible but didn't really tap her natural abilities the way a Grass attack would. She'd need something else too – Terpsi had been at Rose's cat's mercy. It was worth practicing, though poor Terpsi wasn't quick enough with moves to really take advantage of Spin's momentum boosting her effective attack speed.

She glanced in the other direction at the dummy closest to her. Said cat was playfully leaping at the dummy to bat it with Scratch. He somersaulted at each one, trying to twist around to be facing the target as he landed, but was still at a thirty-three percent success rate.

"Not Leafage?" Mei asked her sister, who was staring intently at her cat.

Her sister stirred from her concentration and Ivy paused in his tumbling routine to listen. "I thought this would give Kieran a look at my problems, since it's full melee. Leafage is thrown – I can work on aim on my own," Rose explained.

"Fair," Mei said. Still odd to her mind. Leafage hadn't been useful last night, but it was still the Sprigatito's strongest move right now, especially with the natural ease a Pokemon had with moves of its types.

She went back to work on Terpsi's jumps as Kieran came back through on his rounds.

"Too much twisting on the Pound, he's still losing balance," Kieran said to Alamy. Mei smiled briefly at calling it.

"Bounsweet's closing her eyes. No good," Kieran announced and moved on.

"What?" Mei said in surprise, and she felt her cheeks burn. She didn't dare look at what Victor was doing now.

---

"He's hitting harder on the right – see if you can compensate," Kieran said as he walked by Rose. She nodded without speaking. If one was daily life with a partner and ten was battle sync, this was maybe a three on connecting. It was decent for practice without being exhausting as the full power of battle.

The problem was she was having trouble moving her focus between both parts of the duo still. Everything was on Ivy instead of concerns for the human portion. Out catching Pokemon she needed to be able to move alongside her partner in the flow instead of being consumed. This was a dangerous indulgence at best.

She sent a chastising thought to the little starter as she tried to flex her hands at the same time. Ivy's side was bothering him more than he was willing to let through to her if there was that much difference in which paw Ivy led with. There wasn't a direct reply besides some resentment at being found out.

Still somewhat outside herself, Rose heard herself sigh. She and her partners had a good relationship, in her judgement, but they weren't fully trusting each other yet.

It was strange being coached like this too, in such minute details. Without partners, most of what Hannah did were lectures or outdoor skills in the Wild Area. She'd let them try then patiently repeat showing them until she and Mei both had it.

The Ranger didn't have much experience with coaching outside doing some quick Pokemon trades to teach moves and then back. Instead of this kind of minutia it'd been the slow grind.

It was nice someone was paying so much attention to her little group, even if his attention was split seven ways.

It'd be eight, but Kieran had stopped by Poppy three times, nodded, and moved on. The little Fuecoco she was working with didn't seem to be as excitable as Pome, but he was gamely launching tackles.

Rose wished Mei had pulled her out, even if this wasn't the kind of training most useful to Pome. Comparing the two's control and Kieran's comments would help her see what he was spotting. Trigo's as a pet trainer was just too slow to react in comparison to be useful as a baseline.

"Break?" she heard Kieran say.

"Break," Miriam said in confirmation, having arrived on the scene.

Rose relaxed and looked around, realizing the shadows in the courtyard had shifted. They had been training for a while.

Rose hadn't heard Miriam arrive, but Rose realized after a second she wasn't feeling something. Miriam wasn't making small movements either and her brow was furrowed with concentration even as she smiled at her students.

Miriam was deeply masking, probably to avoid being a distraction while they were practicing. That made Rose feel a little better, her track record at sensing Naranja teachers was abysmal. Miriam's Poke balls were absent on her belt compared to the classroom, so she wasn't looking for low-powered sparring either.

What she did have was a bucket of ice with more water bottles, and now that they'd stopped, the thirst from the exertion hit Rose and Ivy, though they were still sweating properly. She made a note to stock a towel in her purse along with her day bag. Her broad-hat was a decent sweatband in a pinch, but now that she wasn't moving, the moisture was distracting. She hadn't thought to bother for a day of course introduction.

Rose took a few steps towards the bucket and Ivy meowed in alarm as she staggered a little. Her legs felt like jelly. She wasn't sure how long they'd been going but it was nearly too long.

The group drew to the ice bucket like fillings at a magnet. The afternoon was heating up, with no breeze from the walls on all four sides of the court. Even Kieran was sweating, and he hadn't been channeling.

Zania flapped her hat in front of her face, "I don't think I've ever been this tired. Fi-cutie and I have only ever worked a few minutes at a time. It's really draining," she gasped. Her Fidough gave a panting yelp of agreement. She'd been made up about as much as Rose but looked intact despite the sweat. Rose needed to ask her what brands she used or if it was her own.

Teff's breathing was much better under control, but he flapped his shirt for airflow. "I had no idea this training as conditionoing like this. No wonder I didn't have a shot at the main team here yet," he complained, and patted his Sprigatito. The little grass cat didn't even look up from his grooming.

Alamy was breathing hard, and her face was flushed, but she didn't seem as tired as the other pet trainers. Her Quaxly was a miserably tired pile of feathers, though. She was stroking him with one hand to try and help him get back in order. Rose wondered how well she'd do with the Pichu she was experienced with.

Poppy wasn't sweating badly when she came up with her new Fuecoco. She dug into her purse and pulled what looked like a small baked treat out into the little crocodile's maw. Then she flopped onto the grass and laid on our back. "This is so hard compared to normal," she complained, and twisted her head wearily.

"I mean for me, you aren't doing anything wrong," Poppy apologized. The little croc patted her head under the bonnet companionably.

Mei looked how Rose felt, which was really encouraging after how bad Mei had bene yesterday. A night of sleep had undone a lot of the damage. Terpsi had her eyes focused on the glistening water bottles in the bucket.

Victor, surprisingly, looked the worst of anyone. He was red in the face and wheezing, and Rose's first-aid training said he was near heat exhaustion. He was still sweating, though, and Miriam handed him a water bottle first. And after a moment's examination, a towel wrapped around a bundle of ice.

"Thank you," he managed after the first few gulps, and handed the bottle to his Quaxly before taking another. His Quaxly was better put together than Alamy's, but the prized 'hairdo' of the species drooped to the sides.

"Wowzers, I didn't realize you were sending that much," Kieran said, looking miserable as he saw Victor's state more closely

"I didn't either. Neither of us realized how bad it was until we stopped," Victor admitted.

"I should have paid closer attention to how you were doing than how Quaxly was maneuvering. Wowzers, I'm sorry," Kieran continued miserably.

"Kieran, can you finish handing out water?" Miriam asked, firmly. Kieran nodded, and anxiously didn't take his eyes off Victor as he walked until he reached the bucket, nearly tripping over Teff.

Miriam walked to Victor and felt his forehead for a moment. "You should be okay but that was getting dangerous. How many were you trying to pass on?" she asked, pulling another towel over.

Victor took his hat off and wiped his soaked hair with it. "Thank you. Four – Aqua Jet and Whirlpool took fast, and Aerial Ace wasn't bad. I felt Liquidation take but we weren't outputting it right." Mei's jaw dropped open.

"Any one move would be a rush. Was this TMs?" Miriam said. Rose pulled her phone out and checked. It was past three, they'd been training for at least an hour.

"Of course not, not in my family," Victor said, filled with pride.

A water bottle landed beside Victor with a thud, causing the two to jump. Kieran stomped over, looking furious. "You said you were just fine-tuning Liquidation! Four?" Kieran demanded to know.

Victor drew back defensively from the ace trainer. "I had, but it hadn't taken last night," he quibbled.

Kieran's hands quivered at his sides, and Rose put a hand on Ivy, in case violence broke out..

"You idiot," Mei's voice cut across like acid, making Ivy jump into Rose's lap. She turned and saw Mei was on her feet, one finger stabbing the air at Victor. Kieran looked over, and the sudden distraction bled the tension from him.

"Even one while training at the same time is too much. And moving on to more without verifying the steps? I thought Kalos trainers were supposed to be sharp? Pathetic!" Unnoticed by Mei, Alamy drew herself inward but said nothing.

"On top of wrecking yourself, your poor duck is going to be making a mess with all that at once for weeks and just end up soggy instead of any of those moves! Moron! Dull! Did you think a starter new to his partner would tell his trainer to stop?" Mei dissolved into ranting in Kantonian, she was so worked up. Kieran could follow and nodded agreement, also looming forward.

Victor picked up on the tone and glanced at his Quaxly.

"I assure you. The move execution is merely a teething issue, we can solve with training and more power. Quaxly is in good health besides fatigue," Victor said, holding his ground.

"Professor?" Mei said, eyeing him with a stare.

Miriam pulled a stethoscope out of her pocket. "May I? I don't have full equipment." Victor nodded and she listened to the Quaxly's heartbeat and breathing, along with some more esoteric diagnosis.

"There's a lot already in there. I can see why you didn't think of putting in more. The pattern structures aren't what I'm used to but I usually can use TMs. Are you sure they'll hold?" Miriam asked.

Kieran peered and shrugged, "It's hazy to me, but my move sessions aren't long when I'm not using TMs."

"You're a school Champion," Miriam pointed out, not unkindly, "You have different capabilities for bonding with partners."

Mei couldn't see any of it in a Pokemon not her own. "Even so, Professor, refining the energy pattern of a move in sync takes a lot of energy," she chided.

Miriam agreed, "Yes, you need to be more cautious. Quaxly is overexterted, but with some rest there should be no lasting damage. I wouldn't train with him any more today. Mei is right you should be more cautious." Mei looked smug.

"My training decisions are my own," Victor said, almost reaching Mei's level of acid, "There is no shame in reaching high."

"That's true to a point where it becomes dangerous to one side of the partnership or the other," Miriam cautioned. "I understand exactly how young trainers are ready to fight, but there's no need to seek conflict outside a match." There was a silky undercurrent to her words, and Rose shivered a little. She'd matched Miriam inadvertently, and Miriam was almost probing them to try.

Both Mei and Victor suddenly hesitated, sensing an ambush predator, and scooted away from each other. Poppy and Kieran merely looked at Miriam with interest.

"Is that why you stashed your partners too?" Rose asked, looking to redirect the conversation.

That smoky aura of menace dissipated leaving a cheerful health teacher. Miriam nodded, "You're quite observant. I thought with your blood up, you might leap to a challenge. A sudden challenge without me adjusting my output first, could risk your partners with the aftereffects," she said, and Rose swore she licked her lips.

She glanced over at Alamy and it looked like the Kalosian had caught it. Given how her eyes were wide, this wasn't a strong argument for taking the step up. Alamy felt Rose's glance and shrugged. Rose displaced Ivy and staggered to her feet to sit in conversational range, putting the water bottle to her cheeks briefly to have her inhalation feel cooler. When she pulled the bottle away, it was smudged with her blush color. She pulled a small dish from her bag and let Ivy have most of the rest of it.

"I must look a mess," Rose commented aloud.

"I can feel my hair has fallen," Alamy agreed. She looked at her Quaxly then took another drink before handing the bottle for the water Pokemon to work on. It nodded gratefully, though cringed when he looked up and saw Rose staring at it. The grass trainer held her hands up peacefully.

"She means no harm," Alamy directed to her Quaxly, and her eyes flitted to Miriam for a moment.

"She doesn't either. She's working hard to avoid it, in fact," Rose said quietly.

"I know, Bandwidth is sensitive. I need to get better at picking it up myself," Alamy said. She studied Miriam, who was chatting with Kieran as the two handed out another round of bottles for Zania and Victor.

Alamy added, "She said she was intense, but I think she underestimates herself when she is in matches." Rose giggled a little.

"I got a flash of it, yesterday. Neither of us intended it and nothing came of it. You can be different things, depending. I think she's a very sweet person, but she's also six others to make up her whole," Rose reflected.

"I am from Kalos, we are no different in terms of duality being important. Forward and backward, Pokemon and human, beauty and progress, the Cycle," Alamy said, touching her heart briefly.

"It is relieving, that someone who can be so fierce when needed is also so sunny. That with the competitive pressure, you can… compensate," Alamy said, considering the last word before speaking.

Mei came over with more water bottles. Terpsi was on her shoulder, working on what was probably her second, the way the Bounsweet could put it away.

Mei gave a glance over to Victor and shook her head, before handing two more bottles over. Rose felt her thirst return and after topping off Ivy's started drinking again. Mei studied her reflection as Rose briefly.

"Maybe it was good I woke up late," Mei said, looking at her sister's face.

"That bad?" Rose asked, fingers going to her cheeks.

"If you brought wipes, you may as well at this point," Mei said. Rose sighed and went into her bag to cleanup.

"Thank you for the water," Alamy said quietly.

"No problem," Mei said, looking over the girl more closely for the first time. "I've got a bit of a debt, karmically. We met Kieran and he's been very generous, even if he was strict here for training."

"Yes," Alamy said, and took another gulp before cupping her hands. "Thank you for coaching," she suddenly shouted. Kieran ducked, blushing, which got some chuckles as other people added their thanks.

Poppy waited for the cries to go down, and still on her back, asked, "Did they teach like that at Blueberry? I haven't seen it here."

"Usually, there were too many people for one-on-ones. How does Naranja handle it?" Kieran asked..

"Dendra usually covers battle concepts and strategies in class and keeps office hours for people working on individual refinements," Miriam said, "She's almost certainly lurking around with so many people sparring. It's like a magnet. Let me send her a text."

Miriam pulled a small metal case engraved with a Poke ball logo out before reaching into her same pocket for her phone.

She noticed the class's interest and explained, "It's a secure travel case for Poke balls so they can't deploy – they're required for long-distance flights. I got this one if I wanted to travel, but it's handy sometimes. There was a Quaxwell who kept trying to 'help' set a splint a few years ago, for instance, who had to go to time-out."

"Are your partners in there?" Trigo asked. He'd not seen one before.

"Ah, yes, the clasp is a little finicky to close or I'd open it to show," Miriam said, she looked around where despite the temperatures (up above thirty at this point), the other three courts still had students going at it at various levels of proficiency.

"So many starting out and eager. Too eager in a few cases," Miriam glanced meaningfully at Mei and Victor, who responded with shrugs. The health professor giggled briefly before her expression cleared.

"It's the first year at the Academy for many people, whether they are young or not. Mine too in some ways, as a new professor. Many people see authority and ascribe a Gym leader order to it, and so I'm more likely to be challenged. The Director would prefer the student body not see the faculty as some battling card they need to stamp while here," Miriam said.

She tapped the case with a fingernail. "So, I'm off the playing field for the moment," she said.

"Couldn't you, just, not battle?" Zania spoke up. She looked around at the battle trainers disproving stares and huffed, "Oh don't give me that. I know the 'eyes meet' tradition you do out there, but you can still forgo a challenge."

"Well, I'm rather fond of it – and been a bit twitchy, with nerves. I'm a little worried if I do, I might go too strong as stress relief, or just habit, on the battle court," Miriam admitted, and laughed nervously.

"Could the school courts take it?" Victor asked. Miriam shrugged.

"Holding back too much is hard," Poppy said in agreement, finally sitting up to drink water.

Poppy continued, "And my friends don't like it when we have to do it. The evaluation's not much down, but Miss Geeta tried me for a Gym battle once. Then she said after I could stay at the League."

"We had a problem like that in Mossui. We were too remote for a Gym so some of the best trainers try to do a challenge every year. But the ogre clan never holds back so almost no one takes it on, and no one finishes… because the best trainers are doing the challenge" Kieran said.

"No one?" Teff said in surprise.

"Mossui Town is either retired elite trainers and in the ogre clan, kids, or apple growers. Most adults move away for better work," Kieran said, with a shrug.

"I'm surprised you didn't pass," Zania said.

"Oh, they hold it around the Festival of Masks and it's in late spring. I wasn't past my block then and knew I wasn't anything. I didn't bother trying," Kieran admitted.

"Six months ago? This year last spring?" Victor asked. Kieran nodded, curtly, still a bit irritated with Victor.

"You're this now," Victor said, waving to take in all of Kieran. "If your teachers let you think you weren't anything, Blueberry is hiring complete morons. I'm glad I'm here."

"He would know," Mei muttered, though loud enough to carry. Victor bristled again and Rose sighed.

"Do we have to spray you two down? There's a hose on the wall right there. Knock it off," Zania warned, sounding tired.

Rose smiled gratefully at the Mesagoza native, who tossed off a lazy salute, and then studied Rose's face, and then, glaring a bit, looked at Mei's.

"You've taken classes. You looked a couple years older than her with it on," Zania complimented.

"And act it," Alamy said quietly. Zania snorted and Rose grinned. Mei overheard and drew herself up a bit.

"Showmanship is important for the Galar Circuit. We both took a course on application. I just ran late," Mei chose to defend herself on the first point.

"You still look great after the workout, Zania. Can you send me what brands you use? Or is it something you came up with?" Rose asked.

Zania looked touched Rose had remembered, "I've dabbled with making pigments from stuff near the city but I'm way too small-time to get it tested for safety on anyone's face," she explained.

"I'm happy to keep an eye out if you're looking for a particular plant or rock during the Treasure Hunt," Rose offered. Zania looked flattered.

"That's not a bad idea," Trigo spoke up, "Pokemon trainers may be all 'eyes meet' but as students, the Hunt isn't a competition. People will be all over."

"Ooh!" Poppy said, "I have to have days at the League but I can be out sometimes. 'Rajah has a great nose for stuff, too!"

"Rare elements often mean rare Pokemon," Victor noted, "I've no issue helping keep an eye out."

"Set up a group chat," Teff suggested, "Pass around your numbers?" The group started in, and Miriam smiled, watching, for a few minutes, before she handed out another round of water.

"Victor, your color's back to normal and your temperature looks fine, but hold off the rest of the day," she warned, her presence slithering out slightly from intensity before settling. Victor nodded meekly and Miriam smiled and handed over three bottles before continuing her circuit.

"I can't believe you were setting so fast. Those high-end moves take a lot more energy to lock in," Kieran warned.

"It's part of a set my family memorizes in our training – to prepare new Pokemon quickly for exploratory matches. It's been part of my education for several years," Victor said.

"Ah, that's it," Miriam and Mei said together.

"What?" Victor asked suspiciously.

Mei and Miriam looked at each other, and Miriam gestured for the young girl to start. "Battle circuit, right? The Pokemon is getting energy from a fixed source with the court taps to even the competition," Mei said.

"Yes, I understand Galar has a few of those off its famous Gym Circuit. Just like it has fire, the wheel, and Poke balls," Victor chided.

Mei growled and Miriam took over. "Helping imprint a move then it's aligned to a general source than your specific bond. That's why you were getting such odd performance. Quaxly is trained to work closely with his bonded partner," Miriam said.

Realization dawned on Victor's face, "Ah yes, Quaxly is a study Pokemon." He turned and ducked his head to his duck. "My apologies, I was inconsiderate." Mei tsked. Zania rolled her eyes again.

Alamy turned to Rose and asked, "Is it something I could do wrong with Bandwidth?"

"No, but it's why Victor is so tired, and also the moves won't work well," Rose said.

Kieran frowned, "I hadn't even thought to think of that. The move Victor has is built to use a matched court, but Quaxly is doing what he was taught when he's taking it in and drawing deep on Victor for things he was expecting to tap lightly."

"That should only be if I fi-" Victor cut himself off. "Habits I hadn't thought about for a journey," he said, sounding apologetic. Mei tsked.

"Wowsers I should have thought of this," Kieran said dejectedly, "Or at least thought to look for it."

"Naranja is a learning opportunity for you too, Kieran," Miriam said calmly.

Victor picked his Quaxly up and sat him in his lap, awkwardly helping smooth his 'hairpiece'.

"Quaxly, I apologize, I hadn't considered the effect such rapid education would have. We will do them slower later," he promised. The duck nodded wearily.

"Hey you did them without materials or TMs, can you show me how-" Trigo began but was cut off.

"Osu! Many new kids! Nine new kids! Wait – eight! Hello Poppy! Miriam, where did you get this crop?" An adult woman with dark hair tied up, almost shining to purple in the light, shouted from behind the tired students across the court the kids were all choosing to avoid to sit on the grass. She immediately broke into a jog instead of waiting for an answer.

Miriam smiled and waved, "Hello Dendra! Students, this is Professor Dendra, a good friend of mine and the battle studies teacher." Poppy waved cheerily.

Dendra bowed, nearly bending 90 degrees at the waist, and popping back up. "Osu! I've never seen so many new kids starting off sparring! It's great. Though looks like you guys are finishing sparring," she commented forcefully. Rose had the impression her 'throttle' had two settings.

"Osu? I think my language teacher skipped that one," Victor asked.

"Karate. She's clearly a fighting specialist trainer," Mei replied, rolling her eyes.

"Don't be so smug. If that's how you say karate, your Kantonian is as bad as your Paldean," Victor shot back.

"I'm going to help you with that hose," Rose said to Zania, exasperated. Miriam covered her mouth briefly.

"I'd say have a match and get it out of your systems if you weren't both wiped," Dendra said. "Where's your Glalie, bring the temperature down a little?" Miriam reached into her pocket and brought out the travel case.

"Really? I told you to enter the Brawl yesterday and take care of that. I don't care if you had paperwork, or it was a minor challenge. These things build," Dendra chided. Miriam crossed her arms and pouted. Dendra nervously rubbed the back of her head realizing she'd overshared. Miriam looked at Rose and smiled awkwardly.

Rose clutched her necklace and mouthed an apology. It sounded like they'd both had a rough day of it.

"I'm supposed to be the responsible senior trainer here. I shouldn't broadcast like that. I'd hoped you hadn't caught it on you, being new. And you were acting calm, and I thought I got away with being foolish. You papered it over well," Miriam said.

"You shouldn't compliment on that," Dendra said drily.

"And you should remember, Dendra, Glalie wouldn't be the best with this class, remember?" Miriam redirected.

"What?" Dendra said, confused, then looked around the class again. She slammed a fist into an open palm in realization. "Ah, the Galar sprouts. We do have a few demos with Ice-types for this year, but don't worry, their trainers are reputable," she assured. Rose nodded. Wild Pokemon were the concern.

"Oh, really?" Victor said, scenting blood.

"Oh, you wouldn't dare," Mei said, face running paler than usual and standing up. Victor did as well, and the two started to circle.

Miriam waved briefly but only attracted the rest of the class's attention. She threw up her hands and pointed at the hose. Dendra grinned and stepped in closer to the pair circling as the others wearily stood up.

"If a trainer has a weakness another trainer identifies and exploits, that's good tactics and strategy. I think I'll call it 'Early Frost'," Victor mused. The two kept at each other but were too tired to go for Poke balls. Mei stared up defiantly despite her height disadvantage, matching his gaze.

"This isn't some gambler's boutique you're weighing the odds, moron. They'll be after blood," Mei said.

Victor scoffed, "Ice always disrupts grass types, your fear is understandable. Especially for new trainers without counters. And all those other Pokemon that can learn ice attacks. I mean, Quaxly evolves can do some quite advanced techniques. Triple Axel's very popular these days in competitive circles. If you bothered to keep up with journals, you'd be familiar with it," Victor said. He looked at his recovering duck.

"Feel like picking up skating?" he asked Quaxly. Mei growled, and a brief scent of dry leaves, that Victor waved away. Terpsi started to angrily squeak in her trainer's defense. Quaxly scoffed and worked on his 'hair'.

"Is this flirting in Galar?" Zania whispered as they uncoiled the hose.

"I hope not," Rose said fervently. Teff just looked ill.

"It's not the attacks," Mei said, paling a bit at bad memories.

"I think given the type chart, little grass-seed, it is," Victor began.

"Osu!" Dendra yelled and clapped by their ears, startling them both. "Mei's safety issue with Ice Pokemon is well documented. That isn't to prevent you from using them on your team, it's tactics, but you have to keep in mind to keep them under control. It's the trainer license, otherwise," Dendra warned.

"They hate me. And Rose too," Mei said, voice hollow. "It's something in me they want to get in and strike down, that it's something to confront. Even trained Pokemon seem ready for it. And I can feel them wanting to get in and ice me and right now with everything else cold the idea of it-" Mei stopped.

Victor swallowed. "I'm sorry, I thought it was an irrational dislike," he said awkwardly.

Terpsi gave Mei's leg a nudge. Mei shook and bloomed back to life. Mei stirred back to life. "Battle me tomorrow, bring your best shot," she demanded, smiling confidently. Victor grinned at her recovery. He was enjoying the spar against the annoying girl.

"Happily, at this point. Do you want to pick a place? I've seen Leon's interviews, so maybe with a guide you might find it."

"Half of Kalos's cities are only connected by air travel and ride Pokemon and you want to do digs about travel? Weak comeback," Mei declared.

"I think both of you need better situational awareness," Miriam called cheerfully from where she was sitting. Dendra stepped out from where she was blocking the view of the chain the training group had made, supporting a heavy-duty hose with the help of their Pokemon.

Kieran grinned cheerfully at the nozzle. Poppy waved from by the wall and turned on the water. Victor and Mei tried to dodge with trainer-enhanced reflexes, but against a Champion's, there was no contest.

---

While the deployed Pokemon of the two looked pleased with the drenching, the two humans had less fun being soaked through. By the time the rest of the class relented and turned the hose off, they'd retreated onto the court itself.

Kieran went to coil the hose as Poppy returned from the pipe connection. "You two finally done?" Trigo asked.

"Please?" Zania added.

Mei just took her shoes off to squeeze out her socks and glared at her sister. Rose smiled back with dangerous levels of sweetness.

"What is with you today? You never have taken such an instant dislike to someone," Rose said.

"I have never seen you take such a dislike to someone," Rose said, "What is with you today?"

"He started it," Mei said sullenly as she squeezed out her socks. Victor, rolling up his pant legs, scoffed. The two were rapidly drying in the afternoon, sun, the droplets hitting the court barely darkening it before they steamed away.

"All he did was mention Applins! What were you going to do if we'd brought up Wooloo?" Rose asked.

"Would that have worked?" Victor inquired, interested.

"Should I get the hose again?" Poppy asked, eager. These people were fun.

"Maybe!" Rose snapped, her façade breaking. Mei backed up a bit, surprised at her sister's reaction.

"Used to her just being your shadow?" Victor asked, noting the byplay.

Mei glowered at him, and instead said, "I was serious about having a match. I challenge you to a Pokemon battle tomorrow."

"Sure, change the subject, but fine," Victor said, "You've got my number, reserve a space and I'll be there."

"I don't know the city," Mei said.

"Pick the west Pokmeon center, there's always a bunch of kids ready to spar there. It's where my Lechonk worked out," Trigo advised.

"Pet owners and stuff?" Teff asked. Trigo nodded.

"And a few better, sometimes," the Mesagozan replied.

"Oh, that on the weekends. So noisy! It's bad for the store owners. They have to have sales to get anyone in," Zania said.

"A whole set of trainers? Great, we can sweep a bracket towards each other," Mei snapped. Rose's eyes widened in alarm.

"Sweep? How long do you plant to take? Mei, we were going to verify that pet store and go catching," Rose said.

"We can do that Sunday. Pet trainers aren't bad money," Mei said dismissively, eyeing Victor.

"Not… really," Rose said weakly. She had so much she wanted to work on without considering trainer strategies still. Wild Pokemon's moves were simple, instead. She didn't want to go solo her first time in the wild as a trainer.

Zania made a show of stretching, "Wild Pokemon matches for training, right? Today showed me I need more practice," she said.

"Show me the store you were at and maybe we can even pick a little café for breakfast," Zania directed, plucking at Rose's sleeve to lead her away from her sister.

"Really?" Rose said hopefully.

"I've been there a couple times for Fi-cutie and it really is noisy. I don't think it's your scene," Zania said briskly. "You should stand up for yourself more, though."

Rose fiddled with her necklace instead of answering until her other sleeve got pulled. Alamy was standing there and dropped her hand to her side like she'd touched something hot.

"That would be fine, I hope you both have fun," Rose said, and Alamy smiled briefly.

"No hose?" Poppy whispered, having come up from below.

"I don't think it'd help at this point," Zania admitted, "Do you want to come catch?"

"Oh! Oh," Poppy's expression faded, and she said, "The Pokemon that would want to compete with my team will be farther in, and they wouldn't want to bother yours if we're together."

"For catching we would have to split up," Rose said kindly. Poppy's expression brightened again.

"Oh! I'm a student now and don't need someone to leave the city! That's right. I could come to the café too?" Poppy said hopefully. Zania stifled a smile and nodded.

"Oh, let me check if Geeta needs me this weekend. I promised," Poppy said solemnly and moved away to make a call.

"I worry what we may be unleashing," Zania quipped. She looked around if anyone else wasn't occupied.

"Kieran, Teff? You want to go catching? Trigo sounded like he was going to hit up that scuffle," Zania asked.

"We were all going to North Province to that big lake there, sorry. Let me know how it goes, though! Nemona thought she might do some battles at the school Sunday with the court closed. I'd be free part of the day if you don't want to watch," Kieran offered.

"I kind of want to see what the pet owners do here in Mesagoza. I'm not going to be able to travel much with the practice schedule," Teff said.

"Girls' day out then," Zania said cheerfully. "I learned a lot though today, thank you." Rose bowed in thanks, Kieran returned it reflexively, setting the others to do it as well.

"Okay, details for breakfast. Any allergies or dietary restrictions?" Zania asked.

"As long as the place has some lighter options. Lots of butter doesn't sit well, and I've seen how much oil the street vendors put on toast in Artazon," Rose said.

"The breakfast sandwiches here are fine, though if the place serves decent coffee, that would be a treat," Alamy said.

"What, not just the tea, the coffee's bad at the school too?" Rose asked. Alamy nodded, face taut.

---

Dendra stood by Miriam as they watched the students quibble.

"Besides the rivalry that sparked, they seem to be doing well," Dendra said, "It is a lot of them though. And they're all over the place skill-wise."

"That's part is your problem," Miriam said. Dendra laughed and nodded.

"I'm not going to see half the class after this term, and barely in homeroom. They're older. And I need to do something for the other quarter," Miriam said.

"Worried about playing favorites?" Dendra said, sitting down as well.

"Pet trainers can travel the roads, but you need battle partners to go any farther. These ones can have grand adventures here and I'm here to hear it. How do you handle it?" Miriam asked with a sigh.

"Badly," Dendra quipped. Miriam glared.

"Really? I'm being serious and really?" she said. Her fingers itched for Poke balls and she was happy again for that case. Being able to properly unleash was going to be harder with the nearby court closed.

"Sorry. You're a health teacher. There's plenty you can teach them that applies just as equally for pets as partners. And themselves. I know we've got more to watch for than they do. And just because their Treasure isn't out in the world doesn't mean it isn't interesting," Dendra assured her friend.

"And you'll get to see them grow up!" Dendra said brightly, making a fist, then dropping it to her side. Miriam smiled at that.

"If they survive, I mean," Dendra said, and pointed. Mei and Victor were circling each other again. Miriam sighed and stood up.

"This was already ridiculous. Even her sister is surprised! This is going to have to be at faculty conference, isn't it?" Miriam said.

"Osu! Everyone's going to need to watch for the two of them. You're lucky they wore out before they started here. He doesn't have a trace of ice, but you think he was a specialist off Glassedo the way they go at it," Dendra reflected.

"Yes, excuse me for a minute," Miriam said as she walked over to break it up.

---

It was a few hours later, and the heat was starting to break. Outside, anyway. Mei was doing her best to keep her room hot, having called her mother to check in.

"And who does he think he is, anyway? I can feel he's flickering. Trains his partners for little set piece battles. I am ready to break in that nothing's smug face. Just to see his expression when I tear through everyone tomorrow…" Mei ranted as Hannah watched, confused.

On the bed, Terpsi and Pome weren't helping. They were chasing each other in excitement at the idea of a bunch of battles tomorrow. Anytime Mei started to slow down for air, they'd chime in with supporting growls.

"But I've got him, oh yes. I know which starter he picked, and I know what his trainer limit is. Oh yes, oh yes," Mei trailed off, cackling quietly.

"So, what happened after that 'filthy stuck-up wannabe Ace' left the courtyard?" Hannah asked, trying to get the timeline straight.

"First Poppy got the hose again after Miriam yelled at us. She sent us out in opposite directions. I think everyone else did some cooldown exercises or whatever. I found a reading room at the library and got to work," Mei said.

"Well, I guess it's good that you've found someone to inspire you," Hannah said, doubtful. Mei was too worked up to notice.

"Hah! He's a speedbump on progress. Kieran, Kieran is the one I'm aiming for. He was the best at his old school, and I've never had a coach so good, let alone keeping track of so many people. Entrance fee or no, there's a couple back then that would have been expelled if Kieran was setting the average for coaching," Mei said.

"Back then?" Hannah asked, concerned.

Mei drew up short. "The other one. Really, it's fine. The only coach 'I' have is you to compare, Mom, and I didn't have partners then," she said. Hannah nodded.

"Were you doing strategy the whole time?" Hannah asked. "Also, have you eaten? It's nearly seven. And what happened to your hair?" It looked like a Tangela nesting, though Hannah wasn't going to bring it up when Mei was already worked up.

"The hair, I don't know. The hose didn't help, and I haven't been able to do anything with it all day. It was too hot earlier to think about food. I get why Paldeans eat late, now. No, writing up contingencies was about an hour. Then there was some group chat to get everyone scheduled to the plaza. Victor was nice and agreeable about showing up before noon to lose," Mei said cheerfully.

"I think your schedule's missing some time," Hannah said gently.

"Oh!" Mei said and pulled a tablet into view. "Once I got done planning, I was looking in what the library had for training manuals. Most of them are on the League subscription and you need badges for, but there's a few and it's cheaper than technical machines. A couple basic moves work nearly like I," Mei stopped and sighed.

"She," she emphasized, "remembered. I've started to get those imprinted. They won't be ready tomorrow but if I don't start, they'll never be ready. I don't want Terpsi and Pome to get caught like Rose nearly got us." The two Pokemon voiced agreement.

Hannah seized the opportunity, "Where is Rose? As shaken as she looked yesterday, I thought I'd try your phone first to see how your day went." A tactical error on Hannah's part.

"Oh, she let herself get grabbed by a couple non trainers to go try and do some catches tomorrow," Mei said.

"She's taking unpartnered people out of the city?" Hannah interrupted incredulously.

"Oh, sorry. Pet owners in our class," Mei clarified.

"That makes more sense."

"She was all miffed I have a full match against another battle trainer, or just doesn't think much of her chances after she lost. She's looking for pet catches. Or she's off the idea of trainer battles after I beat her. She had a lot of stress on it yesterday. She texted she was going over a packing list with them, and then wasn't sure what she'd do for dinner," Mei said.

"Mei, honey, I think you are overemphasizing your next match. Rose is your sister. I know she's not rematch material at the moment but you're being dismissive," Hannah warned.

"Please, mother. The next match is important. Rose lost, but it was closer than I'd like. Trainer battles are the fastest way to push channeling and improve quickly. She keeps saying she has a bunch to work on, and you know how Rose is when she frets. She's going to be dithering," Mei reported.

"Your sister's very quiet," Hannah said, neutrally.

"She talked a big game yesterday morning about charging forward, but she's Rose Mom. She was playing switch-em-up with her partners at lunch like it was training, and Ivy was going through more somersaults than trying to hit the target with Kieran," Mei reported.

"Ah," Hannah said. Trying to filter the Mei out of that report, it sounded like Rose was uncomfortable trying to improve her channeling and was looking busy.

That was a win there, one daughter probably off the Legendaries' radar for good, and Hannah could focus her efforts.

"Well, at least tell me about the match with her. How did it go?" Hannah asked.

Mei's eyes lit up again at that, and she began to describe the beginner match like it was Leon versus Gloria.

---

"Hi Mom!" Rose said to her Rotom phone floating in midair cheerily. She was wearing one of the Grow Sures aprons Hannah seemed to come home with every few weeks, and touched up her face when she got back. She was almost feeling as centered as a few days ago, ignoring the extra grass Pokemon in her head.

"Are you cooking? An assignment already?" Hannah asked, seeing it looked like some sort of kitchen instead of the dorm.

"Oh, I know it's after eight but after today's workout I'm appreciating Paldean eating hours! I'm in the kitchenette upstairs," Rose explained. She held a spoon up in the air as explanation and gestured so that her phone rotated in the air. Azucena jumped in the air to wave.

"Zania and Alamy, this is my mother, Hannah. Mom, Zania and Alamy – they're in my class." The two duly waved. Zania was supervising while Alamy was also working at a burner stirring a bubbling frying pan. She had her phone over the pan and was recording the process. Zania's Fidough was asleep on the table outside the kitchenette, and Alamy had let Pichu snack on an outlet to charge up before the meal.

"One thing led to another and now Zania's teaching us how to do paella properly. We're almost done," Rose said.

"As long as you keep it from settling," Zania directed, "This isn't Levincia and we don't want the rice to burn." Rose nodded and gave it another stir.

"Her job is to eat?" Hannah said, a little concerned her daughter was being conned.

"She provided the protein," Rose corrected. She made a circling motion with her finger and pointed down, letting the phone take in the pot. Hannah swallowed. She could imagine how it smelled and she'd had no time to eat, just getting off the phone with Mei.

"Well now I'm hungry," Hannah said, feeling drool build in her mouth.

"These two thought that everything Paldean was churros or dripping with oil," Zania scoffed.

"I cannot apologize enough," Alamy said, "And this will make fascinating content. It looks quite filling."

"With all we put in, a good choice after all that work earlier. Tomorrow shouldn't be as intense for so long, but hiking gives an appetite," Rose promised.

Rose stirred again and asked, "How was your day, Mom? Mei's not here, sorry."

"Fine, we're doing some process optimization runs to try and improve efficiency. Mainly meetings. I missed both of you," Hannah said.

Rose nodded absently, and opened her mouth to reply, "Miss you too." Hannah wasn't done, however.

"I actually spoke with her before this," Hannah said. Rose looked up at that.

"Has she calmed down?" Rose asked.

"If she hasn't, Poppy is getting pretty good with that hose," Zania commented with a straight face. Alamy covered her mouth to muffle the giggles. Rose stared down at her stew, but a few snorts of laughter escaped. Azucena had no such restraint and fell over, laughing.

"She was still talking about it," Hannah said. "It sounds like she's getting ready to get on the warpath. This boy, Victor, set her off?"

Rose looked at the other two, who both shrugged. "Actually Mom. I think Mei set Victor off. He was a bit smug in class, but he's a battle trainer with more experience. He taught his Quaxly the basic imprints on at least three moves while training. His family's apparently big in the Kiloude arenas in Kalos."

"Ick," Hannah said reflexively.

"I think the first thing," Rose said in a rush to forestall Hannah going off on arenas. Her new classmates looked at her oddly.

"I think the first thing was a comment on Galar that Mei took as mocking," Rose said more slowly, "She insulted his progress, and it got worse from there. They're having a match tomorrow. I've never seen Mei so argumentative in public."

"Mei said they were having a match tomorrow. Maybe it'll settle her down. She got that first win in, she may be looking for more," Hannah said, and smiled, thinking back at her history.

"I was kind of silly about it the first few days, and it was a little schoolyard squabble," Hannah continued.

"I think I did okay for the first one," Rose said stiffly. Azucena stopped laughing and walked over to pat her arm. Absently, Rose rubbed her partner's head.

"Mei walked me through it for an hour. Over and over. It sounds like you did a few tricks with your maneuvering, but you're going to need more move types if you're serious going forward. You got to deliver hits too," Hannah lectured.

Rose stopped stirring. "Yeah, I was having some trouble there," she said.

"Yeah, Mei said as much. She never should have walked into that Stun Spore, but it was the right move to make," Hannah said.

"I knew from Azucena she was still having range problems on Stun Spore but we're going to work on delivery," Rose said. Something about this felt confusing. Azucena squeaked encouragement.

"I understand wanting to swap for an advantage, but you can get too caught up in the perfect combo and left somersaulting around until the enemy can land a solid hit," Hannah lectured.

"It's how Ivy likes to move, Mom. He's a jumper, not bulky. I thought it would be best to move with his preferences until we could train together. He was having a lot of fun during the battle too," Rose said.

"I'm sure you'll get him sorted into shape if you keep your head down, honey," Hannah said, sounding weirdly relieved.

This wasn't how Rose had expected the conversation to go and she was feeling increasingly loss.

"I'm not sure I'm like that Mom," Rose said, worried, "Something with my energy visualization is different." Zania pulled the spoon from her unresisting hand and started stirring the dish. The grass trainer had gone still except for petting her Petilil.

"Oh honey, I'm sure it's not that bad. You'll get it," Hannah assured her.

Rose opened her mouth but Hannah bulled on.

"But it sounds like you're making friends so don't give up! I'm sorry, we'll talk more later. That paella has me starving, and I have to get something. Dig in those heels! I'm rooting for you! Love you!" Hannah assured.

"Love you," Rose said tonelessly. The connection dropped. The room was silent for a bit except for the thickening of paella.

"Would it help if you tell us about the battle?" Alamy offered.

Rose stirred into motion. "Maybe. Don't let me bore you. I'm sorry, I can finish stirring this," she said, taking the spoon back.

Hannah cut the connection and fairly flew to the kitchen. The stews had looked amazing, and she'd barely been able to listen to the last part of the conversation. Rose seemed a little out of sorts, but the first loss would do that, especially how shaken she was yesterday. And if she was making friends, she hadn't dropped any hints to her hitchhiker from how they reacted.

And a bit of a training mess was fine. Good, really. Keep her slowed down and away from a League focus for progressing. She'd be safer.

Rose was always a quiet girl, and she didn't' seem to be getting into trouble with other trainers either. Pet owners would be a bit of a sandbag if Rose had to watch them instead of her own training.

Mei was apparently generating rivals with the fervor of a short action movie, and diving into some sort of brawl. And she'd met and even gotten advice from an elite trainer. That was the sort of thing that dragged you into the orbit of future Elite Four and strange missions.

Hannah shuddered from bad memories. Mei was going to be taking most of her headspace for a while to try and think of something to do about this. Rose would abide, per usual.

---

It was about nine by the time dinner was finished and they were cleaning. True to her promise, Alamy had some pastries she'd brought from Lumiose still that were delightful, and they were munching on them as they washed.

The cream puff's texture was great, but it wasn't very sweet in Rose's mouth.

Azucena was also munching slowly on a cream puff. She didn't seem to be enjoying it as much as she'd like either.

"I'm sorry we can't be more help for your problem," Alamy said for the third time. She covered her mouth and yawned. The sun was down, and the day was catching up with them fast. Resistor was napping successfully on her shoulder despite her moving around scrubbing, half a croissant still clutched in her paws.

"I'm not sure if I'm explaining it wrong, or just I'm not interpreting it right, given what Mom said. There's a feel to it but I'm missing something control. I'm sure Professor Dendra will help, she seems nice. I appreciate you two listening," Rose said again.

"It's a shame Poppy had to go to town and missed this. I know she's sort of innate, but I bet she could at least take a look at you," Zania said.

She rubbed her sleeping Fidough's body. Dessert had just been too much for him. "It's a little frustrating to hear you talk about it. There's a whole world I'm barely touching with my friends you get," Zania contemplated.

"I spent half the meal fretting about trying to figure out how to make my moves better instead of letting us plan our trip tomorrow, too," Rose pointed out, apologetically.

"I spent time worrying about Resistor, too. Just she gets along better than poor Bandwidth does," Alamy fretted again, and absently rubbed her pet on her shoulder.

"I'm starting to get that's just how battle trainers are, Rose. You're always thinking about it on some level," Zania admitted, "But I think you needed to clear your head and actually talk to someone about yourself. You and Miriam, it seems like you're running two thoughts at a time."

She pointed at Alamy, "And you're the one who figured out that café reservation site so the four of us can have breakfast, so don't think you're nothing." Alamy smiled briefly.

"Do you have sisters as well? You've been very helpful," Alamy asked.

"No, but some cousins close to my age. And too much television," Zania said and chuckled.

"And thinking about your two's problems helps me not think about mine," Zania admitted, "Am I going to be strong enough to be able to find my Treasure? And my grades were good, but is that enough for here?"

"I'm willing to help. You've been listening to me a lot – and I'm nowhere near Kieran or the student council president, but I'm not bad in the woods," Rose said.

"I'm happy to have some new friends, mainly," Zania said. "Most of my friends weren't interested in trying for Naranja, so we've been drifting apart. Like I was trying too hard. But we all wanted to be here, so we've got something in common, for the moment."

"I'm glad you do not think I need to be a louder person," Alamy said, looking distant.

"I don't think any of us are broken," Zania said, and there was a dangerous glint in her eye for a moment.

"Nemona didn't think I was yesterday. I'm trying to hold on to that," Rose commented.

"You've met the infamous student council president?" Zania asked, impressed.

"She was quite nice. She's a very good trainer, too, and battler. She went out of the way to help Mei and I," Rose said.

"The Nemona thing is just something I've heard. That she's laid waste to everyone she matches, and she won't let you go until she gets a match in if she sets her sights on you. The only thing she desires is conflict, and she can't be stopped," Zania recited, and shrugged.

"The school staff has many battlers, but they do not want to be a battle school," Alamy said, "The person you described would not be president."

"She had done a bunch of paperwork to get the battle court updated," Rose recalled, "If all she thought about was battle, she wouldn't be so concerned about others' safety, or have the patience for paperwork."

"I haven't met her besides the welcome speech, but I guess these rumors get a life of their own. The rumors make her as this blunt object, but you said she was perceptive. I trust first-hand more," Zania said.

She scratched Fi-cutie again, whose legs kicked into motion in his sleep. "He's just a pet I got to take care of, but I do want to take good care of him. I want us to be able to paint the world someday," Zania said.

"I hope I can be some help with that tomorrow," Rose said and yawned, setting Alamy off again.

"Apologies," Alamy said.

"There was a lot today. We should hit the sack soon," Zania recommended. "So, get up early, meet for breakfast, make sure we have some Poke balls, then take the Taxi outside town?"

Rose nodded, and said, "From what you said, Los Platos sounds like a good starting point. It's close but not right next to the city where it's busy. From the maps the terrain looks walkable and there's a variety of Pokemon that live in the area. And best of all, it's a short flight so our ears won't be ringing.

"Ring?" Alamy asked. The two looked in surprise and Alamy ducked down. "I flew directly to Mesagoza from Lumiose. I have not taken a Taxi," Alamy apologized.

"Oh!" Zania said, "No it's fine! It's fine! You shouldn't have to apologize for asking questions, yeesh, you two. It's not so bad on the ground with the Squawkabilly, but you'll want ear plugs in flight." Alamy nodded.

"Poppy has a digital storage on her purse from what I saw, and the bags you two said are good ones too. There's a basic trainer preparation list I'll send, but the big things are water bottles, some potions, some trail bar or mix you and your Pokemon can eat. And of course, hiking shoes and socks," Rose listed. She'd done this before.

"What makes a good shoe?" Zania asked, "Like these flats?" She held one foot off the ground so Rose could see it.

"Those are nice, but you'll want much better ankle support on hills," Rose said.

"Ah," Zania said, and chewed her lip.

"We can fit in some boot shopping. You'll want nice ones for the Treasure Hunt, bring your other shoes, too. You'll want to break them in for shot bursts, so we can get a start," Rose said.

"I bought some in Lumiose, but I will let you look at them," Alamy said.

"Sorry, I've been to Los Platos and we camped, but never hiked," Zania apologized.

"I'd live out there if I could," Rose said, a distant glint in her eyes.

They finished up and broke up. It wasn't late on the clock, but Rose found herself yawning more and more. Her lousy sleep the day before wasn't helping.

"Maybe I can sleep until my alarm this time," she said, directed upwards to Azucena on her head as they went down the stairs. Azucena burbled doubtfully.

"True, at least the city was pretty before dawn. If I wake up early again remind me to bring my phone to take photos," Rose said. The little Petilil chirped agreement.

Getting into her room had Rose quickly finish cleaning herself off to sleep, but the mirror in the bathroom caught her attention. She'd lopped her hair down less than a week ago after losing that coin toss, and she wasn't used to it.

And with her makeup off again, her face did look young. Weirdly so, like she was expecting she should be several years older and-

Rose jumped backwards, rattling the shower door in the bathroom. She covered her mouth in time to not scream aloud. Her breath rattled and echoed in the small room. The door swung open, Ivy having shoulder checked it. Both he and Azucena looked up at her with worry.

"It's not okay, it'll be okay," Rose said, "I didn't recognize myself." The two looked quizzical. They knew who she was. She gathered them up into her arms and hugged them, letting their scents wash over her for the here and now.

She looked squarely at the mirror.

"Your name is Rose. You're from Hammerlocke, not Solaceon. You're ten years old. Not eighteen. You want to be the very best, but you'll settle for having tried your hardest. You're not a Ranger, you're a student starting at Naranja, and you've got plenty of possibilities. You have a sister who is driving you crazy right now but you love her. You aren't a single child," Rose said, and her breath hitched.

She slid down against the shower. She looked up towards the mirror, even if it was out of sight. "And your mother loves you enough she went to the other side of the world so that he could never, ever, find you again. But it means she has to be busy all the time, but at least she's less sick."

Rose choked a sob back. "And she's not sick, so she can't stay in bed and listen to you all the time. She's busy with your sister and her job but she really loves you and she likes you. And she's still here. Your life isn't so empty you didn't even realize it was loneliness that made you ache for years," Rose recited to herself. She hugged her partners and buried herself against them for several minutes, listening to their heartbeats. She stood up.

"You have two wonderful partners," she told the mirror. "And you'll love each other more and more. And you'll find more and more to be a bigger you! And if you don't mess this up tomorrow somehow, you can make some friends who won't have to leave in a few months for their parents' work."

Then she stood up and left the bathroom to go to bed. She was still here. She had to remind herself she was her, but she had.

Sleep was strange and full of dreams she didn't remember, but mercifully came almost instantly on hitting the pillow.

---

Notes:

Mei on a rampage, and a whole class of people to introduce.
Whew, long chapter. 54 pages on my machine.
Ortega shows off Team Star's flashy side to start things off. Nemona scares him off – but she has a rep. Florian doesn't seem to, oddly, still.
Alamy asking a bunch of battle addicts if they like battle probably isn't the balanced support group she needs, necessarily. The introverts are gathering, though.
Remembering all the athletes in Unova makes me wonder what sports are like in a world where people can jump down cliffs and withstand elemental attacks. Hence, no partners on the field as a rule.

For some reason I'm highly amused by Miriam being a perfectly sweet angel and also a usually well-concealed bloodthirst.
Alamy is complaining about the coffee at the cantina for sale in the room. Saguaro would never allow bad cafeteria coffee.