There was a lightness in Nori's step on Tuesday morning. Besides changing his approach, Lux's letter had reminded him of something important. He didn't have to impress people or make them like him, just do what he wanted and needed! Lux was a great example of that, actually. He could've been friends with anyone, but he chose the quiet boy who everyone else thought was weird and girly, and he'd do it again! Nori wished he could fly over to wherever his friend was and give him a big hug to thank him! In lieu of that, he would just have to say that in his reply letter.

So those two screwed things up badly for him, sure. His job was much harder now. But he'd find a way to manage! And the Officials would think of something! Wouldn't they? He'd have to phone Agent Studd whenever he could.

The rest of Monday flew by, as did the next morning. He ended up getting to school bright and early. Just as he intended. There was something he had wanted to do that he was reluctant to try at or near home. But in the fields at school? It was perfect!

The grass was slick with dew, glistening faintly in the sunlight that was trying to break through the clouds. He went to the center of the far edge, a considerable distance away from the school, the parking lot, and the few who were playing with their Pokemon or each other. A fence and thicket protected anyone on the other side. It was the perfect spot! He took off his bag, unzipped it, and retrieved what he wanted: crunchy brown Poke-pellets.

Food was part of how he really befriended Pawniard. It wasn't anything specialized, but it would be his first time feeding her. He simply hadn't had the chance to until now. Heavily lowered metabolism in a Poke Ball or not, she was certainly hungry.

With those in his right hand, he reached into his left pocket and felt around for her Dive Ball. He found it, and after double-checking his surroundings to make sure nobody had come over to see what was going on, he gave it a gentle toss to the ground.

Déjà vu began to set in as she began to wheeze, wiggle, and inflate. It was just like in his and Prema's spot back on Friday. But this time would be different!

"Qwilfish!" he shouted at her, idly catching her capsule as it boomeranged back. She turned to him and puffed out her cheeks. Her eyes were in even more of a glare than usual. He held his arms out at his side. "It's okay! Breathe. Relax!" Aquatic Pokemon could breathe just fine out of water.

His throat clenched as she screeched. He bent his knees, ready to jump aside. That was another reason he was here; people would be there to help if the worst happened. Not that he was intending to let it!

But nothing came. Qwilfish quivered and bobbed around for a bit, and slowly let the air out of herself.

"Relax, relax," he encouraged. "That's it. It's just you and me here. See?"

He stepped aside to show her, and somewhat belatedly, turned and checked again just to make sure of it himself. There were a few heads turned in their direction, but no one was anywhere close.

"Sorry about yesterday," he told her. "I changed my plans. But I want you to know that I have your back. It doesn't matter what other people think of you or think of me because of it! No matter what, I'm going to see your rehabilitation through to the end. That's what I think a good trainer and friend should do!"

The response was one of irritation, but it was not hostile. It came in the form of some of her usual rapid fire complaints. Before she could get too into it, he cut in.

"Sorry for how things have been going until now too!" He bowed a little at her. It was reflexive; he wasn't sure if she'd understand that gesture. "But anyway!" He raised the bag with the pellets and gave them a shake. "I got you food!"

He opened it, took a step forward, and dumped the contents on the ground. The boy gave her some space. She gave it one look before turning back to him, curling her lips and raising her eyes.

"It's fine! Demon and the others eat this all the time. It's made for all Pokemon!" As long as they could actually get it in their mouths, the pellets were perfectly healthy. The taste probably sucked, but still.

She leaned forward while still looking at him. What? Nori tilted his head. The pufferfish flopped and rolled in the grass a little. It took her away from the food.

"It's fine," he started to repeat, until the realization hit him like a slap to the face. He recoiled so much that he slid on the grass, and nearly slipped over entirely. "Ah, oh. You uh, can't reach it, can you?" She bobbed her body in a nod-like fashion. Yes. He slumped, sighed, shook his head, and laughed.

He reached out and, with a shaky arm, shoved the pellets right up to Qwilfish's mouth. She narrowed her eyes as if he'd just given her poison – wasn't she poisonous herself? After pecking at them with her lips, she huffed, leaned forward, and began to eat. Tolerant of the taste, thankfully.

How could he forget that?! He slapped his forehead, then wiped his brow when he felt the sticky wetness on it. It was as frigid as one would expect a day in October to be, but it still felt like he was going to burn up. It was a good thing no one probably saw that. No, wrong! He looked back over his shoulder. His arms flew to his side, and he straightened up as he saw around four people were creeping up to see what he was doing. He cleared his throat and flashed a nervous smile, only for them to scatter as if he was an angry Rhydon.

Nori snorted, standing taller and more natural. They ran from him. Or maybe they ran from Qwilfish? The last time that happened was with the Demon. It was somehow liberating. At least most people were going to leave him alone.

He spun around to see that Qwilfish had finished her meal and was tapping her tail against the ground.

"Don't worry!" He jumped and pumped a fist, which made her leer and momentarily inflate. "If any of them tried to come after you, I wouldn't have let them!" He was sure Pachi and Demon would feel the same. And Pawniard would help too, just for the fun of scaring others.

She shrank back further and sort of squeaked. The pufferfish shifted and fussed about something. He wasn't sure what, as usual.

"Anyway, thanks," he said. "We'll chat more at home after school." He felt comfortable with that now. He aimed the capsule, fired the beam, and pocketed her once more.

Baby steps! It was a marathon, not a sprint. He would get there in time. That was very good progress. As long as he kept at it, he'd get there.


The battling team at Tobari Central Junior High met in a fair-sized office near the school's outdoor battling cages. The fourteen of them (including the absent Anthony) were among the few in the school granted their own clubroom instead of using a classroom. It was where they discussed strategies, made training plans, talked about their rival schools, and hung out. A side room also allowed for basic sparring and practice, although they would have to go outside or to the indoor arena for proper battles.

Chad Shosha was leaning against a wall in the corner of the room with a can of Lemonade, surveying his friends and clubmates as they went about their business. Mia and Richard were browsing on the computers. Four had gathered around the television, where battles from August's Sinnoh League conference. Chad gave it a passing glance. A Joe Stone match was playing. The winner of the tournament was the obvious individual to draw inspiration from, even if he had failed to defeat the Champion in the end. But most of them were at the desks, chattering away about the hottest subject at school for the past day.

"I don't know," Aki said in response to a question. "I really don't know what to think about all of this."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Kiara demanded, pushing herself up with her arms and leaning over the table. "This is simple. If the Officials thought about what those two said, then Tony would still be okay."

"Then why even ask?!" they snapped back while squinting and pulling at their shoulder-length bubblegum-tinged hair. "If it's so obvious, why do you need someone else to say it to you?!"

The question had been open to anyone, Chad included. His simple thought was that maybe this was a blessing in disguise. He didn't call Emi by name, but even she could tell he was referring to her. It was for the best that this happened.

Kiara seethed, leering at the non-binary teenager with fiery pink eyes. Chad knew that look. She only took it on when someone brought up Anthony, even if implicit or imagined. Chad took a step forward, ready to intervene when someone else did it for him.

"ey, don't be that way, Ak," Shig said. The African-Japanese teenager wore tight clothes and had an afro bigger than his head. He took acting lessons along with Anthony, so his intervention wasn't surprising. "We a team, yo. And we all gotta pull our weight. Can't be waverin too hard, know what I'm sayin?"

"Shiggy's right," Kiara agreed, pinching her lips. Most of the club called him by his nickname. "Don't go spreading drama."

"That's not what he said…" Aki muttered while looking down and flicking their gray eyes away from the group. Chad heard it, but if any of the others did, they didn't speak up.

Kate, who was sitting beside them, reached out and patted Aki on the back. "It's fine if you don't want to answer, Aki. We know this is hard for you."

"But yeah, smile!" Shig clapped his hands and turned to the one who'd been silent. "Yo, let'em know the score, Em."

Emi, who was vacantly leaning back in her chair, only vaguely looked up at the dark-skinned teenager. "Whatever."

Chad touched his throat, feeling a sudden chill there. A lot of others acted with similar surprise. For some reason, Kiara took it personally. "Don't whatever us!" she growled, as if expecting more validation. "You're just pissed you won't get to have the battle you wanted."

Emi gave Kiara a bored look and rested an arm on the back of her seat. "And you've been miserable ever since your sweet, precious Tony left."

The scream of metal scraping against the floor drew the attention of Joaquin over at the TV, causing him to cover his ears. What the cobalt-haired girl did next caught the rest of the team's attention. She stomped over and tried to tower over the co-captain of the team. "What the fuck did you just say?"

Emi didn't so much as flinch. "Are you deaf too?" she asked slowly, her voice rising in register. "I said you've become a huge bitch since Anthony left."

"Stop fighting!" Aki got out of their own chair. They hunched over and covered their face, sobbing into their hands. "I'm sorry! I should've just agreed!"

A tightness gripped his chest. Chad took a light sip of the sweet and refreshing drink, savoring the tingly sensation on his tongue. It was a pleasant reprieve from the bitter taste in his mouth.

They'd all changed in some way ever since Anthony had taken an indefinite leave of absence. Some were trying to fill the void. Some had changed for the worse, like Kiara. But they were all stressed. Emi acted the toughest out of all of them, but only now was Chad realizing that she might have had the worst of it. She wanted to hurt Nori right from the beginning. Maybe her challenge to Nori was also part of trying to be strong for everyone else. Deep down, she was probably trying to fix all of this. Chad wished he knew how they could do that.

"Guys!" came a shout as the door flew open and a guy with short white hair came stumbling into the room. Angel wheezed and nearly doubled over while he clutched at his chest. The confrontation threatening to erupt came to a screeching halt.

Kate rubbed her chin. "Uh, Angel, what happened? Did you like, sprint over here?"

"Yes! I'm sorry! I got held up after class!" He bowed profusely. "I got here as fast as I could!"

Chad slumped against the wall. Angel used to slack in his training, but it was also a bad habit to procrastinate on schoolwork. He got up and began to approach him. "Angel, I appreciate that you've been stepping up lately, but you can't neglect your studi–"

"Never mind!" He frantically waved both of his arms. "You won't believe who I ran into before school!"

Emi pushed herself up and quietly scooted her chair under the table. She walked right by Kiara as if she wasn't even there. With a frown and a curled lip, she stated, "The Demon Tamer."

"Yes!" Angel scratched his hip. "Uh, how did you know?"

"I'm secretly psychic," Emi snarked. It made a few of their colleagues laugh, which in turn brought a smile to Chad's face. Anthony used to crack jokes all the time. The team wasn't smiling enough these days, so any little bit helped.

"But yeah!" Angel flicked his white locks. "He was there, and he had that Qwilfish out!"

Gasps rippled through the entire club. Mouths dropped open and eyes widened. Kiara took a step back. Even Chad had to raise his brows. He was a little surprised Nori would do that in public after what happened yesterday, and at school on top of that.

"So?" Emi queried, the only vocal person among those who were nonplussed about the issue.

"So he was right in the sports field?!" Kate ignored.

"Uh-huh." Angel nodded emphatically. "I think he was talking to her, but he saw me and I couldn't get close. He wasn't thinking that someone could get hurt!"

Richard and Mia both looked back from the computers. The latter shook her head. "He's really still trying?" the former mused.

"He's stubborn for better or worse," Hinoki briefly glanced back from the television to quip.

Next to her, Cameron only leered. Nori had been a trigger for him even before the incident. It wasn't uncommon, but to him, it was personal. In fact, it was around this time last year when he challenged Nori out of envy for him getting to have the Demon. He got beaten badly.

Kiara crossed her arms and gritted her teeth. "Someone should bring that up to the principal."

"Why don't you?" Emi countered.

That caught Kiara off guard. She sputtered for several seconds before any semblance of words started to form. "Because I…don't have…hey!" She took a step forward and leveled a finger at Emi. "That should be you or Chad's job! You're our leaders here!"

Emi just shook her head at that answer. "I. Do. Not. Care." she punctuated.

At this, Shig turned to him. "What you say, chief?"

All eyes went to him. Chad sipped his Lemonade, feeling a pressure upon his back as he considered the situation. It was a leader's job to maintain order. He had generally been hands-off with the club. He let everyone train how they wanted, as long as they did so, and didn't care too much about their opinions or hobbies. But this was starting to tear them apart. Maybe it was finally time to draw a line in the sand.

He rose and walked to the center area between them. He turned his head to the left at Mia and Richard, then to the right at the TV area, before settling on the tables. "Look, everyone. Nori Carino trains out in the fields often. It shouldn't be any more of a deal than it was before. And he should know well enough not to battle anyone with his assignments after yesterday."

"How do you know that?" Kiara interrupted.

Chad did not miss a beat. "If I'm wrong, there will be consequences for him. He knows that." He figured Nori would know better, and if not, that everyone else would know better. Word of the paradox of a Pokemon Rehabilitator was already spreading around town and online. The blond periodically turned to everyone as he spoke his next sentence. "That said, I think it's for the best if we take our minds off him for a while. Agreed?"

He felt the weight lift as nods and various vocalized agreements followed. Angel sat down with the others at the table, commandeering the seat that used to belong to Kiara. She in turn took Emi's old place. His co-captain instead approached him with a sigh.

"I need to cool off," she said loudly, her eyes briefly going to Kiara. "I'm going for a walk." With that she spun on her heels and went for the door.

Aki pushed to their feet. "Sorry, me too." They did wait for his approval, and when Chad gave her a nod, they hurriedly followed. They caught the door right a split second before it shut behind Emi and went outside.

When it had nearly closed again, Kiara screamed, "Fanboys!" at the top of her lungs.

Chad tensed. Enough was enough. He jerked towards her and raised his chin. His nostrils flared as he barked, "Kiara, stop antagonizing people."

"They started it," she spat bitterly.

Chad sighed. "I will talk to them about it," he said for the sake of posterity. Anthony was a trigger for her. He was doubtful they could avoid the subject of him entirely. But the promise was enough, and the team got back to their business. He could not say what their discussion was about. It was all a mental blur.

In theory, the best thing that could happen was if Anthony decided to return to the club. But it wouldn't be the same. Anthony just wouldn't be the same after this. It wouldn't be a panacea for Kiara, or anyone else. That's why he feared so much for Emi. It could just happen a second time. That's why he was glad those two from YAMS came in. Who could have thought they could actually come up with something coherent? Maybe it was a sign those two were growing. Maybe Chad and the others needed to grow as a team. After rain, the earth becomes firm. That was an old Japanese proverb.

The captain of the battle team limped to the large desk and slumped into the office chair. He glanced up at the ceiling, envisioning beyond it to the heavens above. Shoshas were winners. That was their family motto, that was what was expected of him. He had to make sure he had a winning team. "Am I doing a good job?" he whispered to his ancestors.


Emi Pikaru marched through the hallway of the school with long strides that rose and fell. Her hands were balled into fists, her brow was furled, her teeth were grit, and a low growl was rising from her throat.

Why were people even listening to those two assclowns? Was she the only one who saw that they brought that up just to spite Nori Carino? It didn't even make sense when you thought about it, when you really thought about it! She hated his guts, sure. She laughed at the horrible irony of an aquaphobe having to learn to train an aquatic Pokemon that wasn't used to being on land. And she wanted to see him suffer like he made them all suffer. But wrecking his career was taking it way too far.

She shoved open the door to the outside and scoured the fields. No sight of him. Where was he? His club kicked him out, so he couldn't be there. Maybe he left the school grounds again. Whatever. She wanted to get the hell away from people right now. She stomped off, heading to nowhere in particular.