TRAINER ID
Name: Daniel Ingram
Badges: 2
Account: 12,537 credits
Location: Route 112 (South Fork)

DANIEL'S TEAM
Ralts (Apollo) - Male
Corphish (Duran) - Male
Eevee (Orion) - Male
Trapinch - Female

OWEN'S TEAM
Makuhita (Bronson) - Male
Graveler (Roxy) - Female
Shroomish (Misha) - Female
Slakoth (Omar) - Male

The next morning, I found myself once again reminded of how beneficial meditation could be, particularly when there was a problem that needed to be worked through.

The issue was basic enough; I needed to start integrating Trapinch into our training and quickly prove that I could greatly accelerate her growth, and Orion needed to get better if he was to have any hope of holding his own in our upcoming gym battle. I couldn't afford to neglect one over the other, but I also couldn't give either of them my full and undivided attention.

Honestly, the answer was so painfully obvious that it shouldn't have even taken meditation to realize – group training. More specifically, it occurred to me that I could kill three figurative birds with one stone; Trapinch and Orion could both learn a new move, and Trapinch could begin to feel more like a member of the team.

I'd been wanting to teach Orion how to use Bite for quite some time, I'd just never really had the time nor the clarity on how I might go about doing it. Luckily for me, Trapinch just so happened to be a master of the move. And what move did my entire team know that I had little doubt Trapinch would not only be able to learn as well, but would undoubtedly benefit from greatly while proving the benefit of working with us? Protect.

It was the perfect plan for morning training, apart from the fact that Duran and Apollo wouldn't really benefit. But I needed both of them to participate; Duran's presence helped to ensure that Trapinch was much more amicable, and Apollo provided translation services while also giving me an early heads up for when Trapinch would start to feel frustrated, allowing me to get ahead of it with a short break or change in approach.

It took longer than I had expected, but thanks to constant encouragement and the added motivation of seeing everyone else easily able to perform the move, we finally managed to get Trapinch to perform a very brief Protect. It took a lot of practice and effort to get to that point, yet I could see her eyes shine with pride and excitement when she saw the faint flicker of a barrier form around her. I found it especially amusing that she made sure Duran saw her accomplishment before she decided it was worth celebrating, which ended up being a happy wiggle as her teeth chittered.

"That was a great first step Trapinch," I congratulated with a beaming smile as I knelt in front of her. "It might not seem like much now, but once you get the hang of Protect you'll not only be able to defend against most attacks, but it'll put you in the perfect position to launch a counterattack if your opponent is up close. As you saw in your battle with Duran, it'll be incredibly useful once you get the hang of it."

Seeing her looking so pleased with herself, I decided to take another chance with physical contact and reached my hand out to pet her head. This time though, I decided to be slower and more deliberate, to test the waters and see if she would retaliate knowing that it was coming.

Her eyes narrowed and her body stiffened, but I didn't let it deter me. The entire team was watching, and I was feeling very confident that between their presence and Trapinch's recent accomplishment, I could get away with it.

Sadly, I was mistaken.

Either I grossly overestimated the progress we were making, or I'd severely underestimated just how much Trapinch disliked being touched. Whatever the case, things quickly took a turn just as I was about to make contact with Trapinch.

*DANGER*

Not a moment too soon, I jerked my hand away as Trapinch's jaw snapped shut where my fingers had just been. It took me a moment to process what had just happened, having only instinctually reacted upon feeling Apollo screaming an alarm of impending danger in my mind. I really hadn't expected that to happen with how things had been going, and it took a second for the gravity of what had just occurred to sink in.

Unlike me though, my team was far less stunlocked and didn't hesitate to act. Apollo was the first to spring into action, hammering Trapinch with a powerful Confusion that made her whine and squirm, no doubt instantly regretting her decision to snap at me.

As that happened, Trapinch was sent tumbling as Duran slammed into her with a powerful Aqua Jet, and before she even came to a halt she was being hammered by a barrage of Swift projectiles.

"Stop! That's enough!" I yelled as I quickly got to my feet and ran over to place myself between my team and the downed Trapinch. I stared down my team with my arms outstretched, and couldn't help but notice just how angry they all looked as they glared daggers at Trapinch as she struggled to gain her footing and get to her feet behind me.

Orion's hair was fully bristled and stood on end, his teeth bared with a threatening snarl I'd never seen from him. Apollo's horn was glowing brighter than I could ever remember despite him not actively using his psychic abilities, at least not in any way I could identify, and even from where I stood I could see him trembling. The last time I remembered seeing him shake like that had been from fear, but I was almost positive based on his readied posture that this time it was from struggling to contain his rage. Duran looked the most normal of the group, however he stood ready for battle with a particularly serious look and both claws leveled toward Trapinch ready to blast water, and judging by the sheen of his shell he had already used Harden to prepare for a fight.

"You've made your point, so please relax. I'm happy for you protecting me, but that was my fault," I pleaded with them as they slightly relaxed but refused to break their threatening staredown of Trapinch, who wobbled as she finally managed to get to her feet.

I turned around to face her with a serious look as I spoke firmly, "If you don't want to be touched, that's fine. I can respect that. But you do not attack me or any of my family like that ever again. Do I make myself clear?"

Trapinch grumbled something and refused to make eye contact, instead choosing to look at Duran. I couldn't help but notice a hint of something in her eyes that I couldn't quite place, but Apollo was thankfully able to provide me with a glimpse into what she was feeling.

Hurt. Confusion. Betrayal.

I scoffed, understanding the gist of what she was thinking and finding it laughable. "Maybe I didn't make this clear before, but we are a family, not just some ragtag group working together out of convenience. Any threat to one of us is a threat to all of us, and we don't take threats lightly. If you seriously thought Duran would back you up when you did something stupid like that just because he took a liking to you, you're sorely mistaken. You are a guest, you aren't family, and you never will be if you keep acting like that."

"Corphish!" Duran declared with conviction, causing the Trapinch to flinch slightly and look even more betrayed than before.

I grabbed her Luxury Ball from my belt and leveled it at her, "I guess we're done with training, you're too beat up to continue, and you need some time to rethink things. It's a shame we spent all morning practicing a move everyone else has mastered just for your benefit, and that's how you decide to thank us. Unless you want to spend the next week in your ball unable to learn cool new things like Protect, you need to be more tolerant and communicate boundaries before you lash out."

With that I recalled Trapinch, sighing immediately afterward. I'd hoped that we could keep the momentum going to have Trapinch help teach Orion how to use Bite, but there was no way I was about to try that after what had just happened.

"Well, that didn't end well," I admitted as I rubbed the back of my head and approached my team. "Seriously, thanks for protecting me. I just don't want us to go too hard on Trapinch, otherwise things will never work out. We need to find a middle ground, and I did sort of push my luck by touching her without permission."

I caught Orion as he jumped to my chest and Apollo Teleported onto my shoulder. Orion's hair was still fairly bristled, and I pet him soothingly to calm him down as he leered up at me and barked.

Anger. Distrust. "Not want traitor among family. Try to hurt trainer, unforgivable."

I withheld the urge to groan, not surprised that sentiment had come from Trapinch's actions but still not happy about it.

"It isn't that big of a deal," I said as casually as I could, trying my best to brush it off to diffuse the tension. "This is why I said we need to be cautious around Trapinch. She isn't fully comfortable around us, and I pushed things too far. She definitely shouldn't have snapped at me, and I'm not happy about it either, but she isn't completely to blame. Have some empathy for her situation; she didn't choose to join our family like the rest of you did, she's only a temporary guest due to a series of unfortunate events and misunderstandings. I'd like to turn things around and make it a happy accident, but we can't do that if we all keep holding grudges against each other."

Apollo and Duran both seemed to accept my words, but I could tell that Orion wasn't so easily convinced. He huffed, pawing at my stomach to signal he wanted into my hoodie pouch, which I reluctantly obliged after deciding to say one last thing on the matter.

"You know, Duran tried to hurt me and Apollo when we first met," I reminisced out loud as I tucked him into my pouch. "There was also another incident where Apollo felt the same way as you; that Duran had done something truly unforgivable. Hell, even Apollo has given me a few seriously brutal headaches, although on accident. I've also made plenty of mistakes that either got others hurt or could have. We're all learning and growing, nobody is perfect. Trapinch isn't family yet, but they might be if we can work out our differences, so try not to hold it against her. You'll likely be learning Bite from them soon, but that won't happen if you can't work alongside them. No harm was done, so let's all take some time to cool off and we'll try again tonight."

I didn't hear any response from Orion, but felt him curl up and figured that I'd done enough lecturing for the time being. A quick glance at Apollo and Duran revealed that both had calmed down considerably, and they seemed to have taken what I'd said to heart even if I could tell they were still slightly agitated over what had happened.

"I'm sorry morning training wasn't very useful for you two," I apologized sincerely. "I wanted to make it a team-building exercise, and it sort of worked up until the end. I haven't been giving you two enough attention lately, but that's mostly because I feel like you are both self-sufficient and plenty strong to hold your own in the next gym. I'll try to come up with some new things for you to work on as soon as things with Trapinch settle down, I promise."

To my surprise, both perked up at my promise; I had fully expected that from Duran, but Apollo was usually much more indifferent and willing to go with the flow. I supposed that his enthusiasm had something to do with him wanting to improve as much as possible and hopefully evolve before meeting up with Stella again.

We returned to camp while my team relaxed as I got a head start on packing up, and it didn't take long for Owen and his team to show up, sluggish and worn out from their morning training.

"Woah, packing up already? In a rush or something?" Owen asked through slight panting.

"Nah, just finished training a bit early so figured I might as well get it out of the way."

"You really shouldn't slouch on your training dude, you've got a big match coming up. Don't get complacent on me just because you have a type advantage and breezed through your last gym challenge."

"It's not like that. I had an incident with Trapinch and it sort of killed the mood, so I didn't want to continue training with that looming over everyone. We all needed to cool down, we'll try again tonight."

Owen nodded in satisfaction and took to having a quick breakfast with his team before packing up his items, all as we idly chatted. I learned that he had gone out early before training to try finding a Machop, but still hadn't found any success in his search. We also talked about what happened with Trapinch, and he was of the opinion that I'd handled things correctly for the most part. His only critique was of the fact that I was more than willing to not touch Trapinch if they considered that a personal boundary, and he was of the opinion that a Pokémon not even allowing its trainer to touch them was a barrier that should be overcome.

Although I agreed in principle, I didn't believe it to be a deal breaker like Owen seemed to. I was confident that the issue would sort itself out over time as she warmed up to me, and that restraining myself from the urge to show physical affection was a small concession I could make if it meant we could cooperate.

Soon enough, we were all packed up and resumed our journey. While Owen was paying particularly close attention to our surroundings in the hope of stumbling upon a Machop, I had Apollo and Orion resume their game of stealthfully scouting the area. I even had Owen show them a photo of a Machop on his phone so they knew what to keep an eye out for, but after traveling for hours without finding a single trace of a Machop, it began to seem like a lost cause.

True to Owen's nature, he never gave up hope and remained endlessly optimistic. He was fully confident that he would find one eventually, claiming that they could be found both on the lower portion of Mount Chimney as well as higher up along Jagged Pass. He also claimed that despite really wanting to partner with one, it was also entirely plausible that it simply wasn't meant to be and that he wouldn't lose sleep if it didn't end up working out.

I had a lot of respect for that mindset, however I couldn't help but worry that he might have taken things more slowly if I wasn't around. Although I wasn't in any rush and made it clear that I didn't mind camping out for a day or two if he wanted to look around more, he was insistent that we not halt on his account. Considering he seemed genuinely unperturbed and had been the one who wanted to travel with me, I took him at his word and tried not to let it bother me. But it was plain to see how much he really wanted to partner with a Machop, so I had Apollo and Orion work extra hard on trying to locate one, telling them it would mean a lot to me if we could help Owen out.

Sadly, that didn't end up happening. But having the two working as scouts didn't end up being for nothing, as I was soon alerted to the presence of a human and their two Pokémon up ahead by Apollo.

"Human man ahead, coming with canine. Few minutes away."

I nodded silently and gave Apollo's presence my full attention as I was forced to tune out Owen while he explained why he believed fighting-types were among the most difficult to adequately train. Though he was making some compelling arguments and had me intrigued that it might be an interesting challenge to try someday, we hadn't come across another person in days and I found myself cautiously optimistic that we were about to encounter somebody we might be able to battle.

"Any more info? Emotions, description?" I sent Apollo, hoping for some sort of reassurance that we weren't about to run into trouble of some kind.

"Man eager and hopeful, walk with purpose. Big backpack, many tools and buckets. Companion excited, nervous, restless. Not remember name, but matches Duran story of battle with Preston."

I momentarily froze at the mention of Preston, my mind suddenly racing. I quickly realized that Apollo had never actually seen a Growlithe since he was recalled when Duran had battled against Preston's, but he'd clearly heard about it from Duran at some point and had enough of a description to identify the species.

I resumed walking after getting over my initial shock at hearing Preston suddenly brought up, knowing that it couldn't be him. There was no way he would be in the middle of a route, and Apollo would have instantly known if it was him.

"Something up? You're spacing out a bit, and you froze there for a second," Owen asked with slight with concern as I caught up to him.

"There's a guy with a Growlithe up ahead that we're going to cross paths with soon," I explained. "I was just getting some information from Apollo. Don't think it's anything to be concerned about."

Owen's eyes lit up with interest, "A traveler, coming this way? He must be going to Fiery Path, that's the only reason he'd be out here. Wonder why though, if he already has a Growlithe."

"Might be a fire-type specialist or something? Maybe he's trying to add to his team," I ventured before remembering another key part of Apollo's description. "Actually, Apollo mentioned he had tools and buckets, so he's probably looking for a fire stone for his Growlithe."

"Ah, that makes sense. Quality stones can be crazy expensive, so sometimes you're better off just trying to find your own. Well, he's all yours dude. Good luck."

I cast him a curious look, "Really? You sure?"

Owen grinned, "I called dibs on the Camerupt, so it's obviously your turn. A trained Growlithe is perfect practice for the upcoming gym, you'd be crazy not to challenge him to a battle. If I had to guess, you're going to use Orion? I think Duran and Apollo might be a little overqualified for that battle, unless of course he's a seriously talented trainer."

I hummed in thought, realizing Owen was right on all accounts. I'd be crazy to pass up the chance to get practice battling against a trained fire-type in preparation for the Lavaridge gym, and Orion was the obvious pick for the battle.

"Tell Orion to come back to me. Stay hidden in the trees if you don't mind, just to be safe," I sent Apollo through our link.

It only took a few seconds for Orion to bolt out of the treeline toward me, and I held my hand out to signal for him not to jump up like I knew he wanted.

"Walk beside me buddy. I might have a battle for you here in a few minutes, so be ready," I explained as I felt Duran shifting around on my backpack, clearly interested in what was going on.

"Sorry Duran, but this wouldn't be a good battle for you. You've already beaten a Growlithe, and Orion needs the experience," I apologized over my shoulder as the man in question came into view down the road ahead.

Owen and I gave a friendly wave as we approached what turned out to be a man that I guessed was in his thirties, and I couldn't help but note the surprise he seemed to have at coming across other people. Apart from the fact that we were so far from town and there didn't seem to be many trainers along the route, it dawned on me that it was probably particularly strange that trainers were traveling from Fiery Path toward Mauville. If someone were to be leaving from Lavaridge, they wouldn't be this far in the route as they would have taken the Cable Car, which he must have passed, and anyone coming from Fallarbor likely would have just cut across the desert like we had earlier.

"Howdy! You kids comin' from Fiery Path?" he greeted with a friendly smile as he got within talking distance of us, his Growlithe eyeing us with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

"That's right, we were there just yesterday," Owen replied with a grin as we came to a stop.

"How's it lookin'? Gonna be spendin' a few days there tryna find a decent fire stone for Leo here," he said as he gave a fond look to his Growlithe, who barked at the mention of his name.

"We didn't have much trouble, although we stuck to the path," I explained. "The residents are fairly docile, but plenty will happily accept a battle if you challenge them. There's a Camerupt that will come looking for a battle if it gets word of strong travelers, but it didn't strike me as overly aggressive or dangerous."

The man hummed in thought as he rubbed his beard, "I see, glad to hear it. We ain't plannin' on causin' a ruckus or overstayin' our welcome. Thinkin' we might venture off the ol' beaten path though, check some of the lower chambers an' hopefully find us a real nice stone".

"Hope you've got a good mask and team. We were getting a mild headache just on the ground level, and I'm pretty sure there's stronger, more aggressive Pokémon if you stray off the path," Owen warned.

The man waved it off. "Don'cha worry 'bout us, got all the supplies we could possibly need, done my research. Hopin' to do this with just Leo, but we ain't exactly alone if worst comes to worst," he said confidently as he lifted his shirt and showed off three Pokéballs on his belt.

That confirmed to me that this was indeed at least a semi-serious trainer, and gave me all the confidence I needed to issue a challenge.

"Would you be open to a battle? A Growlithe would be perfect practice for the Lavaridge gym," I said hopefully.

The man adopted a contemplative look and examined me more critically before giving a hearty chuckle. "Wouldn't be opposed, so long as it ain't against that Corphish ya got there. Leo here ain't no slouch, but we ain't in the business of battlin' for profit or badges, so hopin' a low wager wouldn't be a dealbreaker? Workin' as a farm hand ain't exactly got my pocketbook bulgin' with credits, otherwise I wouldn't be makin' this trip."

"No problem at all, we can even do it for a single credit if you want. I just want to give my Eevee some experience against a trained fire-type," I reassured him, which seemed to put him at ease. "We got some decent practice in Fiery Path, but it doesn't quite compare to a trained Pokémon."

The man gave a beaming smile as he nodded at Orion, who I suddenly realized had stepped behind my leg at some point during the conversation and only had his head poking out with a shy expression. I wasn't sure if it was the presence of the Growlithe that was nearly twice his size, that the man and his companion were total strangers, or the fact that everyone's attention was on him, but it served as a reminder that even though we had made huge progress on his timidness it still hadn't fully disappeared.

"Whatcha say, Leo?" the man asked as he glanced down at the Growlithe, who had lost all signs of suspicion toward us and now sat proudly beside his trainer with his tail wagging restlessly. "One last proper battle before yer an Arcanine?"

The Growlithe barked in excitement, and a few short minutes later I found myself in my first trainer battle since days ago at the Winstrate family home, squaring off against the man and his energetic Growlithe.

A few things stood out to me after the first few blows had been traded and the battle heated up.

First were the differences from my battle against Preston's Growlithe, of which there were a surprising amount. Preston's was noticeably larger than the one we were up against, no doubt a result of its impressive lineage and being bred with purposeful intent to make it an exceptional battler.

Despite that size difference, I got the distinct feeling that the Growlithe we were up against was actually older. I didn't have any definitive proof of this, but as the battle went on I got the impression that although the Growlithe was eager and energetic, it was also much more calculated and careful. One of the biggest things I remembered from my battle against Preston was just how aggressively offensive it had been, constantly throwing itself head-first at Duran in an attempt to overwhelm and overpower.

Our opponent took a much more well-rounded approach, not at all afraid to bide time for the right opening to go in for a strike, attack from range, or apply gradual pressure in an attempt to force a mistake. In fact, the first minute or so of the battle felt like it was testing Orion's defenses, reflexes, and capabilities, which was a rather unsettling realization that made me question if we actually had a chance at winning.

General fighting style aside, the attacks used were different as well. Howl and Agility being used as setup moves was very reminiscent of my battle with Preston, but if memory served the attacks his Growlithe used were Thunder Fang, Double Kick, and Fire Spin, and he had mentioned that it knew Bite when threatening to use it against Apollo. I didn't doubt that our current opponent likely knew all those moves except probably Thunder Fang, but it never used them. Instead, it used Ember in a similar fashion that Orion utilized Swift; as a way to apply pressure or trade glancing blows while circling its opponent for a better opening. It also used Flamethrower once to force Orion to back off when going in for a Quick Attack, and when it went in to deal a physical blow it chose to deliver the blow with its body rather than its teeth, slamming into Orion.

That led me to the final, most startling difference. Although I suspected the move might be Take Down because it had more force and commitment behind it than a standard Tackle, I don't actually know what specific move the Growlithe was using when it would launch itself at Orion because the Growlithe wasn't following any orders being given by its trainer. Rather than call out moves for the Growlithe to do, the man said much more general words of encouragement and warning, much more akin to a cheerleader or sideline coach than a trainer. Things like 'atta boy', 'careful', or 'go get em' were all the man said, and even then they were fairly inconsequential and not at all what was driving the Growlithe's decision-making.

The realization that the Growlithe was battling on instinct was startling, frustrating, and a little terrifying. There was a part of me that felt robbed of the opportunity to practice a standard battle against a trained Pokémon, since it felt much more reminiscent of battling a wild Pokémon when orders weren't involved. But the Growlithe was undoubtedly more skilled and experienced than anything we'd encountered in Fiery Path, and I decided that it was foolish of me to think that there was a 'proper' way that a battle should go.

Sure, we were put at a disadvantage by not being able to hear and react to orders being given, but I had leveraged that exact thing before to my own benefit. Communicating with Apollo through telepathy was undoubtedly frustrating for opponents when we decided to use it, and I had occasionally leveraged whistles as a way to give quicker, coded commands to my team that the opponent couldn't react to.

Besides, it reminded me that there was a lot of benefit to letting a Pokémon battle on their own terms. I'd occasionally allowed both Duran and Apollo to run rampant in battles before, but I couldn't recall a time when I'd done so for Orion. Part of that had to do with the fact that he often seemed to be teetering on the edge of panic during battles, and the sound of my voice tended to ground him by giving him something to focus on so he didn't let his nerves get the better of him. Following clear directives left little room for him to freeze up or overthink things, but as the battle went on I realized that it made Orion rather stiff and inflexible.

Apollo had the luxury of adding his own interpretation to my orders. He would Teleport when and where he thought was best, chose where to create his clones and how many he would do, and seemed to always be monitoring the opponent's emotions for any indications of what they might be planning to do next. Duran was more similar to Orion in that he tended to follow my orders to the letter, however he had the power and battle sense to make micro-adjustments in terms of execution to pull things off more often than not.

Orion took things extremely literally, and that became more apparent to me as the battle went on. If I ordered a Quick Attack, he would immediately charge straight at the Growlithe with everything he had, leaving no opportunity to juke or bail if the opening closed. If I told him to use Swift, he would do so from wherever he was and launch a frontal attack unless I told him to circle beforehand, and even then there was very little variance or randomization in the attack.

The most creativity he had was choosing what direction to circle the opponent in or when I would order a 'pivot', when he would get the choice of which side to leap to when flinging soil at the opponent and dodging. But upon closer examination, I realized that even those were predictable; he always leaped to the right side, and he always chose to circle counter-clockwise.

I knew I was likely being overly critical of him; no doubt I could find the same tendencies in both Duran and Apollo if I looked closely for them. But all these little things were adding up to what I would consider a very stiff approach to the Growlithe's flexible style, and I could tell that our opponent was picking up on a lot of the same things I was as he began to take advantage of them and better predict Orion's movements.

That's why, after the Growlithe seemed confident that it had a read on us and began getting more aggressive, I decided to let go of the proverbial reigns and have Orion dictate the course of battle. Despite landing some good hits it was becoming clear that we were going to lose if things kept progressing like they were, and I was having issues giving orders in time to keep up with Growlithe's ever-evolving strategies. Most of it was admittedly my fault; I felt limited by Orion's scarce move pool, and although reverting to whistle commands helped Orion get a bit more creative, it was extremely limited guidance and still felt like I was holding him back from being truly innovative.

"Take the lead Orion! Show us what you can do, you've got this!" I shouted when I finally decided to take a back seat and give Orion room to dictate things. At first he was confused and hesitated, and I began to worry that he might freeze up or take my declaration as me abandoning him in the middle of a tough battle.

But my fears were quickly proven wrong when Growlithe spit an Ember at Orion and he launched a counter-offensive. One thing about Orion that kept proving true time after time was that despite his underlying timid nature and often cagey self-confidence that was prone to being rattled, he never actually froze up when it mattered most. Sure, there was hesitance and doubt that often made me think he might, but whenever it came time to act his instincts always took hold. Like me, he had a tendency to overthink things to the point of being nearly crippling, but when the time came to act he did so without so much as a second thought.

Orion took off toward the Growlithe with a Quick Attack, weaving and juking to evade the flurry of Embers being launched at him. He'd already taken a couple in the battle and had a few patches of singed fur, so he seemed particularly intent on taking care not to let any more graze him.

Just as he reached the Growlithe, he performed another pivot and flung soil at his opponent while leaping to the side. My heart dropped as I noticed he went right again, and although the Growlithe was forced to squint through being sprayed with dirt he clearly saw enough to notice the same. He leapt head-first at where Orion was landing, engulfing himself in flames in what I could only guess was a Flame Charge, and I was almost certain that it spelled the end of the battle since even if Orion used Protect there was little chance that it would hold up against such a forceful attack by a much larger opponent.

Yet Orion seemed to have been developing some battle sense of his own, because in the split second that he had between his landing and the impending impact the Growlithe was about to deliver, he quickly sprang up into the air over his opponent and launched a volley of Swifts down where he had just landed. Likely due to a mixture of overcommitting and being unable to see through the dirt in his eyes and the fire that consumed him, the Growlithe slammed into the ground with some help from the added force of the Swifts pressing his back down from above.

As impressed as I was with that maneuver, it didn't end there. The moment Orion landed, he took the opening and pressed his advantage by throwing his full weight into the sprawled Growlithe with reckless abandon, tucking his head as he slammed into its ribs with everything he had.

I stared in awe, fairly confident that Orion had used something different than a Quick Attack or mere Tackle. Quick Attack was pretty easy to identify and could be best described as staying relatively crouched down and low to the ground, putting a lot of spring in one's step and taking long horizontal strides with the purpose of maximizing speed and mobility while reducing air resistance. It was all in the legs and knees, and while not always the case the blows tended to be delivered lower and were more glancing in nature. It was about utilizing one's speed to deliver a quick blow, although since Orion was often smaller than his opponent he tended to leverage the momentum to drive head-first into his opponents as hard as he could to try to make the hit count.

Tackles were different in that it was more like a short leap into a shoulder-check, but they still tended to be delivered at body-level and were also generally glancing in nature. One could argue that they tended to show more commitment to the attack than a Quick Attack, but they were still delivered in a method that was designed to deal damage still preventing the user from taking the brunt of the impact.

But what Orion did was very reminiscent of what Growlithe had been doing earlier in the fight; fully leveraging every pound of bodyweight at their disposal to deliver as devastating of an attack as they could muster. Though Orion had managed to evade most of them due to his superior speed, he had taken one that slammed him into the ground and sent him tumbling, and although the Growlithe was much larger I could tell that it hadn't been a trivial impact for them either.

It was like Orion had taken note of the Growlithe's attacks and used it against him, fully committing to the attack with little regard for the consequences if it somehow failed.

Being roughly half the size of the Growlithe, Orion's full force only served to knock the wind out of the Growlithe and slide it an inch or so along the ground while Orion tumbled backward from the impact.

Up until that blow both Pokémon had taken a few hits but were still fighting fit, but that exchange was a clear tipping point that signaled the battle was near its end. Both wobbled as they struggled to stand up, and although I was willing to let Orion fight until there was a clear winner, it seemed that I was alone in that mindset.

"That'll do," the man spoke up while waving his hands over his head as he called off the battle.

I blinked in surprise as I watched the man jog over to his loyal companion, kneeling down and affectionately stroking the tuft of fur on its chest while spritzing it with a potion.

"Don' wanna let Leo here get too battered 'fore we even get ta Fiery Path," the man explained as Orion hobbled over to me, still slightly disoriented. I scooped him up and muttered my praises at his efforts before tucking him into my hoodie for a well-deserved rest, vowing to give him a better lookover soon. His fur would need some attention anyway after taking a few Embers, but I considered us lucky that he hadn't taken the brunt of a Flamethrower and still looked to be in pretty good shape.

"That was a great battle," I said as the man stood up and walked over with an extended hand and a huge grin.

"Yer Eevee has spunk fer such a such a little tyke. Good battle sense too," the man complimented as I accepted his handshake and tried not to show my discomfort at his overly firm grip.

"You taught me a valuable lesson," I confessed. "Sometimes, it's best to let your partner take the reigns. I was initially thrown off by your lack of commands, and I just couldn't keep up with Leo acting on his own volition."

The man gave a deep laugh, "Sorry if we threw ya fer a loop. Never been one to micromanage; I give 'em a task, they get it done best they see fit. Works wonders in the fields, but doubt I'd get far challengin' gyms like that."

"I think you'd be surprised," Owen chimed in as he joined our conversation. "I could easily see you having two or three badges if the rest of your team is anything like your Growlithe. Have you never challenged a gym?"

"Once for fun, years ago when I was 'bout yer age. Got myself a bit of stage fright, what with the cameras, crowd, and theatrics of it all. Properly embarrassed myself too, truth be told," the man explained as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Fair enough. It was unconventional, but great practice. Shall we call it a draw?" I proposed, not fully convinced that our victory was assured. I was pretty sure that Orion wouldn't have had much of a chance if the Growlithe initiated another attack, since he seemed too exhausted, battered, and dazed. All things considered, I was quite confident that Orion was worse off than the Growlithe was, it just so happened that we were willing to take things further than our opponent.

"Bah, ain't no way. I conceded, and I couldn't give a damn 'bout my record. Besides, not like we were playin' with high stakes," the man waved it off as he withdrew his Pokédex, punched a few keys, and held it out for me to tap against mine.

I noticed that he added a couple of zeros to what should have been a single credit bet after registering the battle, and thanked him sincerely even if a hundred credits was still quite low stakes. He brushed it off and said I deserved it, and once he saw that his Growlithe was back on its feet and looking spry once again, he indicated that he was eager to reach Fiery Path before nightfall and asked how far off he was. Owen then reversed the question and asked about the Cable Car, and I was delighted to learn that we were only a little more than an hour away.

After parting ways and discussing things with Owen, we figured that we'd be on Mount Chimney by nightfall, likely camp somewhere along Jagged Pass, and could be in Lavaridge by mid-day tomorrow. We theoretically had the option of traveling late into the night so we could rest in the Pokécenter, but I decided that I wouldn't even suggest that unless he happened to catch a Machop sometime today, as I didn't want to deprive him of opportunities to find the teammate he clearly wanted.

The more I brought it up, the more I got the sense that Machop was somewhat of a touchy subject. I couldn't quite tell if that was out of consideration of Bronson, who tended to get fidgety whenever the topic was brought up, or if Owen was just trying to dismiss something he truly wanted as no big deal. Owen normally struck me as the type to wear his heart on his sleeve, so I found it interesting that he never seemed to want to linger on the topic of finding a Machop for long, and that he seemed to be downplaying just how much he wanted to find one.

"I gotta say, you made the right call letting Orion take the lead at the end of that battle, but there's a better middle-ground to be found," Owen commented at one point as we continued our search for the Cable Car. "Providing direction is helpful and all, but when things heat up and blows are being traded too fast for the mouth to keep up with, the winner is often whoever has the best instincts and improvisation. If you had just kept trying to give him orders, he probably would have lost trying to execute them because he took them very literally. If nothing else, he never would have pulled off that maneuver at the end."

"I realized I was holding him back and making his battle style too stiff and reactive," I admitted while glancing down at Orion as he slept in my pocket and I ran my fingers through his fur. "Apollo and Duran don't tend to have much trouble adding their own interpretation and twists to my callouts, and they aren't afraid to do things on their own like Teleport or Protect to avoid an attack."

"Might be best to have a talk with Orion about it," Owen remarked. "But there are also adjustments you can make. Rather than call out specific moves, you can give more general guidance and let him decide on the best execution. Not sure if you're big on sports, but if you pay attention to what the coaches are doing in the heat of things, you'll notice they aren't normally giving out specific instructions. Usually it's a mixture of cheering them on and calling out things that might not have been noticed that could be taken advantage of. Obviously there are differences to being a trainer and some things need to be more directly ordered since there are things only you will know, but I still think there are a lot of parallels and lessons to be drawn."

"I could see how that would be true," I nodded in agreement.

"There's something to be said about a Pokémon that can fight on its own as good as that Growlithe did, but there's also a reason you'll never see someone battle like that at the higher levels. There's a delicate balance between giving guidance and letting your team flex their natural battle prowess, and I've been finding that it changes based on which team member I'm battling with and who we're against. I had a similar moment of realization to the one you just had when Bronson and I were overburdened by communication during a battle against a Linoone, so I'm still working through it myself."

"One of the biggest advantages I have when I battle with Apollo is being able to instantly and discretely relay instructions. It's an insane advantage, but not nearly as unfair as when Apollo just reads the opponent's mind. It honestly feels like cheating, or at least like we're robbing ourselves of what could have been a good battle. So even if it's technically allowed, we only save that for when we really need it."

"Like during your match with Wattson?" Owen asked with a raised brow.

I shook my head, "Believe it or not, we didn't. We probably would have pulled out that trick if things weren't going well, but didn't end up needing it."

"It's pretty terrifying that a psychic can just read the opponent's mind mid-battle," Owen remarked.

"It's surprisingly easy to prevent, at least at a basic level," I explained. "Telepaths know when they aren't welcome into someone's mind, and they tend to respect that under most normal circumstances. That's especially true for Apollo, not only because he's a natural telepath rather than a learned one, but also because Ralts are particularly empathetic and noble. Theoretically, a telepath that really wants into a mind that is closed off can try to brute-force their way in, but that's immoral, dangerous, and illegal. Stella helped Apollo and I learn how to defend against that, although I'd bet an Alakazam could get past our defenses if they were so inclined. Stella refused to fully break into my mind even for practice, so I'm almost positive it would take a life or death situation for Apollo to seriously consider doing it."

Owen clasped his hands together with a pleading look, "Dude, can you teach me and my team? The only psychic I've ever battled was a Meditite when I faced Brawly, and I'm almost certain it was reading Bronson's mind at times. It was so hard to fight against, it's a miracle we even won. I don't ever want to experience that again."

I shrugged, "I wouldn't mind. I should probably teach the rest of my team now that you mention it, so we could make it a group session. Psychics don't seem to be very common, so it hasn't really come up. I actually wonder how far in the gym circuit it takes before we start running into Pokémon that are trained to block out psychics." I paused, humming in thought as an idea began to manifest. "This might be a good service to try posting on the job board sometime. I'd bet there are plenty of people who have simply never come across a psychic and would love to know how to block them out, even non-trainers."

"I'd pay a thousand credits easily, it's a life skill. But we're buddies and I helped you come up with the idea, so you'll do it as a favor right? I'll make it up to you, I promise. You said you wanted to get more physical, so why don't you and your team start joining us in the morning for a workout? We could even start sparring if you'd be interested in learning how to fight. I wouldn't claim to be an expert or anything, but I have some training in wrestling, boxing, and kickboxing. Never got the chance to learn any formal martial arts, but my dad made sure if I ever got into a fight that I'd be able to hold my own."

I hesitated at the prospect of adding to my already jam-packed morning routine. I had already been neglecting meditation and supervised training with the rest of my team in lieu of trying to get Trapinch to integrate with the team, but I could always move that to the evening. I couldn't afford to continue bending over backward to accommodate the Trapinch if she might not even be sticking around, especially with the Lavaridge gym coming up soon and Orion not being as prepared as I'd like.

"That could work, I'd just need to wake up a bit earlier and adjust some things. If we're going to join up early in the morning, you should consider meditating with Apollo and me, especially if you're wanting to learn how to resist psychics. We could feed our teams, meditate, workout, then split off for individual training and whatever else we need to do. It should only take a session or two to teach your team the basics of closing their mind off, but we can do that in the evening."

"I have one slight amendment I'm going to have to insist on," Owen said with a surprising amount of firmness. "Breakfast comes after working out and training, not before. You can get away with eating beforehand if you're focusing on practicing moves, but you can't properly work on physical conditioning with a full stomach. Besides, it helps build muscle if you eat directly after a workout."

"Fine by me. I'm not married to eating before training, I just tend to do it when Apollo and I meditate since he doesn't need breakfast. Gives my team time to fully wake up before training too."

Owen chuckled, "Trust me, they'll be plenty awake after a workout. Sounds like we've got a plan then, I'll hold you to it. You better not oversleep, or I'll wake you up myself. Diligence and dedication are two of the most important aspects of physical conditioning, so I won't allow any slacking or excuses."

"I'd highly advise you not to barge into my tent," I half-jokingly warned Owen. "Duran guards the entrance and takes his job quite seriously, I can't be held responsible for anything he might do to sudden intruders. I'll be up though, I promise."

Conversation continued until we soon found ourselves encountering a split in the path; a small trail jutting to the north with a sign confirming that it led to the Cable Car. Sure enough, after no more than ten minutes walking down that path we reached the base of Mount Chimney, and a metal platform with steel cabling overhead that led up the mountain, suspended by a series of support towers alongside the side of the mountain.

While I was deeply curious at the logistics of how those towers were erected, I didn't get much time to ponder it when I realized that the station was empty; devoid of any humans or an actual Cable Car. Perhaps it had been naive of me, but I'd assumed there would be some sort of lift operator and a few cars patiently waiting for passengers. But all that awaited us was an empty platform and a sign that informed us we might have to wait up to an hour for the next car to arrive.

With his role as our scout at an end, Apollo emerged from the trees with a Teleport and joined us as we settled in to patiently await the return of the Cable Car. I was in no rush for it to arrive, as it was a chance to properly check on Orion while giving my shoulders a break from carrying my backpack, something that I hadn't even realized I'd needed until after taking it off.

With a little luck, Owen would finally find a Machop and we would have nothing holding us back from traveling into the night so that we could finally sleep in the comfort of a Pokécenter bed. But even if that didn't come to pass and we spent the night camping along Jagged Pass, we would be in Lavaridge by this time tomorrow.

That meant that our gym battle was quickly approaching, and while I had confidence that both Duran and Apollo were ready, I was nervous for Orion. After his crushing loss at the Mauville gym, I really wanted him to have a chance to shine. We had a lot of work to do in a short amount of time, and with the massive headache that was Trapinch to contend with I had a sneaking suspicion that my next few days were bound to be eventful, though if that would prove to be good or bad remained to be seen.

A/N: Not my most elegant chapter ending, but this chapter is thicc and I don't want to go too introspective. I would like to express just how painful it was for me to write the dialogue of the man and how much I hate how it turned out, but I wanted to challenge myself and did the best I could. I was very tempted to just scrap it all and have him talk normally because I'm pretty sure it reads like a hot mess, but I want to keep pushing my comfort zone and become more flexible so I had to commit.

I'd also like to note that I realize I've probably been foreshadowing things a little too early, and I apologize if it's been a bit of a tease. I think I first did it at the Winstrate home, and I did it last chapter too. We still have a couple of chapters to go until that stuff starts coming to fruition, and I realize I probably set the wrong expectations of what the next chapter will contain when I do it. Curious on your thoughts – should foreshadowing only be for things that are about to happen in the immediate future, or is it acceptable to foreshadow things that are still a ways off? Should I just stop foreshadowing altogether since it mildly spoils some of what will happen? Can't help but feel I might be doing a disservice rather than adding intrigue or hinting to upcoming major events. I've been overthinking this lately, so help me put it to rest and thanks for bearing with me as I continue to fumble through learning to write XD

Finally, vans3692468 asked how much of the anime and games hold true, and I've answered this in discord but I should note it here too. Consider this an AU with MOST of canon being intact, but you'll never see anybody like Ash, May, Brendan, or Wally suddenly make an appearance because they don't exist - I don't want to include such notable characters, even as a cameo. Nearly all the 'core' characters will be OC, and canon characters will mostly be side characters. Steven Stone is almost certainly the biggest name with the most involved role in this story. I'll also be staying away from Legendaries for the most part, besides occasional mentions in passing. Just not my thing, and I don't want to explore the fallout from the many world-threatening events that have happened in my worldbuilding. This story is set in the future, and I don't want there to be so much baggage that I feel limited. Hope this helps explain my view on things, sorry for such a long author note this time.

Shoutout to Trix and Feanix for beta-reading this chapter.

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