Something heavy was resting on my chest.

"Ty! Tyro!"

"...you've got the whole run of the room, just do some pushups or something."

With that, Tyrogue used my chest as a springboard to leap from the bed, rolling as he landed. It was an incredibly painful way to wake in the morning but then again he also beat every alarm I've ever set. I rubbed my chest and sat up, looked around and found Mudkip in the corner, belly up and fast asleep. I let him keep sleeping while I got ready. I took a quick shower and threw on some clean clothes. I began to check my phone when I suddenly remembered something vital I'd forgotten the night before. My Mother.

It was 7:34 AM, so I rattled off a text to her as soon as I could. I knew she'd be panicking but hopefully she was just sleeping right now. I let her know that I was safe and sound and that the Pokemon Center was easy to find, before remembering Mudkip in the corner. I snapped a picture of him sleeping and sent it to her with the caption: "The newest member of my team"

Tyrogue had finished his stretches and morning routine, and I nudged Mudkip with my foot. "C'mon, lazy fish. If me and Tyrogue are up, you gotta be up too. It's time for breakfast." From my backpack, I pulled out a collapsible bowl and Pokemon feed and poured them enough for two. It was still the high-protein blend I'd gotten for Tyrogue, but I didn't think it would matter if Mudkip had some too. I'd have to look into proper nutrition for him as well, Water Types probably needed something different but I couldn't begin to guess what. While they ate, I walked into the bathroom and filled the tub a few inches. I needed to eat breakfast and I figured letting Mudkip get a swim in the meantime would be good for him.

"Don't break anything, I'll be back. And Tyrogue's in charge." I told both of them.

Mudkip looked at Tyrogue, and both had their mouths full of kibble. Mudkip shrugged and went back to his food. "Oh, and the bathtub is full of water if you want to splash around."

I left the room, locking it behind me while I went downstairs to the cafeteria. It was practically empty save for one or two Trainers and the people serving food. They were serving scrambled eggs, sausages and some sort of fruit cup. I thanked the server for the tray of food and took a table by myself. While I ate, I checked the hours for the Canalave Gym, then started looking into nutrition requirements for Mudkip. Apparently there were different blends for this sort of thing, guaranteed to help him get the nutrients present in his native environment. That also brought up the question of how he'd come to be there when I found him. I didn't think it would be possible for him to survive in Sinnoh's cold climate.

I finished my meal and returned the tray. I didn't understand the hate that the food got, I thought it was delicious. Opening the door to my room, I found Tyrogue plonked down in front of the television with the remote in his hands. I heard splashing coming from the bathroom, and found Mudkip kicking around in the water and having a great time. The floor was soaked, and I had to use a few towels to clean it up.

"Come on, I have to recall you but I promise we'll find you more time to splash around later, ok? We gotta get signed up for the Gym and see what you can do in battle." I told him.

"Mud!" he replied before spitting water in my face and laughing. It got a chuckle out of me as well, and I recalled him and clipped his ball to my belt. I snagged the remote and turned off the television. Tyrogue jumped to his feet, and looked up at me, likely happy to be getting out of the room. I knelt down to his level and offered him my fist.

"Gym first, then we get to training, sound good?"

He grinned and bumped knuckles with my own.


The Canalave Gym was a huge building. It had to be, to house the battlefield, training facilities and the office of the Gym Leader, Byron. Stepping out of the dying summer heat, I was immediately met with the chills of an air conditioned building, trying to resist the urge to shiver. At the desk was a bored looking man in his thirties with a buzz cut, steady on his phone before I walked in. He looked at me like I was a Ghost or something as I approached the desk.

"Hi there, I'm here to sign up for a Gym challenge." I told the man.

"That's a surprise, no one's ever here this early in the Circuit. They're usually running for an easy victory from Roark and Volkner." he grumbled.

"Are they actually easy victories?"

"Nope," he snorted. "Most people can get the first badge from them. Hell, Volkner doesn't even battle until the fourth badge anyway, he lets his Gym Trainers handle it." While he spoke, he began looking around for a pen and handed me a clipboard along with it. "Fill that out, we'll get you signed up to take on one of the Gym Trainers here. You beat them, you get to take on Byron." he explained.

I filled out the paperwork. It was mostly asking about my career as a Trainer, had I taken on the Circuit before, how many Pokemon I had, that sort of thing. It actually asked if I had any baby Pokemon but I opted to put a no for that section. Tyrogue couldn't really be considered much of a baby if he had taken on a Dragon and won. It begged the question if that meant he was close to evolution, or if Jangmo-o had just been young. I handed the clipboard back to the Gym Trainer.

"You're lucky you signed up now, slots go fast later in the year."

"Can I take on the Gym Trainer tomorrow? It might be a good way to see if I'm out of my depth before taking on Byron."

He shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Be here at 10 AM."

"Alright, show me Mud Bomb."

Mudkip spun, his tail carving into the earth around him. The dirt coalesced into a crude ball that clung to his tail before he leapt and flipped forward, flinging the sphere of mud roughly thirty feet away. It exploded, flinging bits of liquid earth in a wide vicinity.

We were at that park I'd found outside of Canalave testing Mudkip's moves. I was happy he understood what the moves meant, I couldn't imagine what a nightmare it might be if I had to explain what I meant from every single command. It might happen at some point though, with four more open slots on my team. While I saw what Mudkip was capable of, Tyrogue was trying to work on Low Kick. I knew he was capable of it, but I figured that out of any move he learned right now, Low Kick would be the most useful. He was testing out the move on a tree nearby, but couldn't quite get it to stick.

"That's awesome, Mudkip. I'm gonna throw this tennis ball, try to hit it with a Rock Throw, okay?"

"Mud!"

I tossed the tennis ball high into the air, and as it fell, Mudkip sprung into action. He slammed the ground in front of him with both feet, and a stone the size of my fist erupted from the ground. It slammed into the ball, sending it careening into the treeline.

"Well, not getting that one back but you did great! Now try a Mud Slap, then Dig." I told him.

Mudkip placed a foot in the ground, which melted into the earth before carving it in an arc in front of him. A spray of wet dirt shot forth covering the ground with mud. Then, he dove forward, crawling into the ground like he was swimming through it. The earth liquefied and moved around him as he tore through it and sunk deep under the ground, leaving a hole behind him.

After a few seconds, I called out to him. "Come on up, Mudkip!"

A muddied blue face with orange cheek gills poked itself out of the ground, large eyes staring at me.

"That's enough, come on out." I told him.

He crawled out of the ground before shaking off the dirt and mud. Tyrogue looked back at us from where he was kneeling, rubbing his shin.

"Still no luck, Tyrogue?"

The Fighting Type shook his head before looking down at the ground. He hated not being able to get something right away.

"Let's try a different approach. Mudkip still needs to battle, so you'll try the move with him. It's got to be better than slamming your leg on that tree."

He nodded, before standing up and walking a few feet away to stand across from Mudkip. I knelt down to the Water Type to talk to him. "Tyrogue's going to try to trip you with his attack, think you can handle it?" I asked him.

Mudkip looked at Tyrogue, who was stretching and getting himself ready. He considered for a few seconds before looking back at me and nodding. "Mud!"

I stood up and called out to Tyrogue. "Ready when you are!"

Tyrogue yelled before sprinting forward.

"Mudkip, Tackle!"

Mudkip ran forward to meet Tyrogue, who stopped and swung out with his leg, colliding with the Water Type's legs and causing him to fall forward. Mudkip retaliated with a Water Gun, blasting Tyrogue and sending him sprawling across the gun with the force of it.

"Enough, stop!" I called out. They were both about to attack again, but stopped when they heard me shout out. I waved them both towards me.

"That was really good, but we're gonna do it again. If we get this move down, we stand a much better chance against Byron. And we've got to talk strategy for you, Mudkip."

The Water Type cocked his head at me. "Kip?"

While Mudkip was a Water Type, his main advantage in this fight would be his Ground Type moves, which most Steel Types hated. I could get more mileage out of those Ground Type moves if I didn't reveal them at the start. If I let the battle play out with Mudkip using only Water, Normal and Rock Type moves, it would be all the more damaging once I revealed them as a trump card. Part of the battle with Byron would also hinge on a bit of luck. If he picked Ferroseed against me, it would be a loss on the spot. There was simply no way for Tyrogue to break through it, and Mudkip would be at a disadvantage with no moves that could actually hurt it. On the way out of Canalave, I'd actually scouted another potential threat that could throw a wrench in my plans: Tinkatuff. It was a Pokemon from Paldea, and while I didn't think it would be the first thing Byron would think to throw at me, I couldn't rule it out. Gym Leaders liked to use rare and exotic Pokemon that fit their monotype. As a Fairy and Steel Type, Tinkatuff wouldn't care about Normal or Fighting Types, so that really only left Mudkip's Ground Type moves. If I could avoid playing into that I would, but it helped to be prepared.

Other potential threats were Bronzor and Magnemite. Both could hover and stay out of Tyrogue's favorable range while pelting him with ranged attacks and other annoying moves. Magnemite actually had a type advantage against Mudkip and Bronzor was a Psychic Type, which meant ranged attacks could be potentially thrown back against us. The rough strategy I'd come up for taking them both down was Mudkip. If I needed to, he could hide in the ground and wait out the time limit for the fight, but I wanted to avoid doing that. Not that I cared about winning in a way that was publicly "favorable" but it wasn't the reputation I wanted to garner. The actual "strategy" would be to wear down Bronzor over time and hope to exhaust it. I was mostly banking on the inherent strength and stamina granted to Mudkip by his species. With Magnemite it would be more of the same, but both would require the use of Dig to stay out of danger. I just hoped that neither of them had a way to force him out of the ground. With Bronzor it would be a Psychic attack of some kind, but I wasn't sure how well Byron would have it trained with something like that.

Any other Steel Types, and we would have to improvise. Most others I would have Tyrogue handle, although there was nothing he could do to something like a Honedge. If Byron used Honedge and Ferroseed, I could call the match a loss on the spot.

All we could do now was train and prepare.


At 5 PM, I returned to the Pokemon Center to get my Pokemon looked at and get myself something to eat. The damage they had was mostly superficial, but they'd worked hard all day and the services were free.

I handed my Pokemon over to the nurse and walked into the cafeteria. I was pleasantly surprised to see Damien, Helen and Karl getting dinner there. Damien hadn't touched much of his food, but it looked like the other two weren't turning their noses up at it. Helen spotted me as I was walking to a table, and waved at me to come over.

"Hey, Titus, over here!" she called.

I turned and decided to join them. They'd been nice enough to talk to me back at the ferry port, and it would be good to talk to some other Trainers.

"So, still want to battle me? I could really use the practice before Byron." Damien butted in. He'd been staring off into space but barged into the conversation once I was here.

"Pass. Tyrogue and Mudkip are getting looked at and we're going to the Gym tomorrow."

"Fine." He tossed the spoon he'd been holding where it clattered onto his tray. "This food's shit, there's a burger place not too far from here."

Karl stared him down with an incredulous look. "Are you buying for the whole group? Didn't think you could afford to pass up the free meals here." With that, Karl scraped Damien's tray and divided it between his and Helen's.

Damien huffed, pulled the hair from his eyes and pulled out his phone. He turned it sideways and began rhythmically tapping on it. A game maybe?

"Karl, Helen, what kind of Pokemon do you two have anyway? It must be something good if you think it can take on Byron." I asked them. They seemed too smart to come here without a plan. I couldn't speak for Damien though. Helen was the first to speak up.

"Meditite and Vulpix." she said before taking a bite of applesauce.

"And I've got a Phanpy and Darumaka." Karl said before looking at Damien with a sly smile.

"Houndour." Damien huffed, clearly invested in whatever was happening on his phone.

Karl snatched the phone out of his hand, which got a laugh out of me, and frustrated Damien to no end. Helen also giggled, and it looked like this kind of thing was a regular occurrence.

"Fine, I've also got a Pancham and Wooper." he grumbled.

"Was that so hard? You wanted to beat him so badly you wouldn't even tell him what Pokemon you have. That's a dick move, man." Karl scolded.

"It's called strategy. He won't even battle me anyway." he huffed before grabbing his phone and leaving the cafeteria in a hurry. I suddenly felt like I'd ruined a good time just by being here.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to make him angry." I said.

"Nah, he wants to battle constantly but he never wants to train outside of that. He's just being a dick because he's not getting his way." Karl replied.

"Like a toddler." I added.

Helen and Karl both laughed at this, Helen actually snorted which got a chuckle out of me.

"Who's idea was it to come to Canalave anyway?" I asked.

Helen and Karl shared a look, then back at me.

"You let Damien decide for you?" I asked, honestly kind of shocked.

"I mean. We can probably handle it. Can't speak for Damien though." Karl said, putting his silverware down. Helen was smiling to herself while checking her phone.

"So what happens if he loses, you stick around here with him again?"

"Arceus, no." Helen said, looking up at me. "We drop him like an anvil necklace and keep going. My brother and I aren't sticking around for that bozo to get his shit together."

Brother…?

"Wait, you two aren't…?" I asked, pointing to both of them. I had honestly thought they were a couple and Damien was the third wheel. Both of their eyes went wide and they roared with laughter. While Helen was giggling, Karl puckered his lips and loomed over her making grabbing motions with his hands at her while she squealed and pushed him away.

"Legendaries, no, that would be the absolute worst." Helen managed, wiping tears from her eyes and adjusting her glasses as she did so.

"Brother and sister by marriage. Damien's a childhood friend of mine and he needed people to travel with." Karl explained.

"So if he wants to battle so often, why not battle one of you? You've got enough Pokemon for some interesting matchups." I asked.

Helen looked away, smiling as she found something very interesting to look at out the window. Karl put his hands behind his head and let out a huge sigh, also not looking at me.

"Okay that's not fair, I don't know what that means!" I protested.

"Titus, we don't battle with him because he can't keep up. He might have three Pokemon but it doesn't mean anything when they're hardly trained." Helen explained.

"He only insists on you because he feels like he'll be able to win. Damien's a bit of a sore loser but it's hard to feel bad for him when he doesn't put in the effort anyway. And hey, I'm allowed to say that about him, we've been friends since we were 9." Karl added.

"So he's using me to prop up his ego because he can't beat either of you?" I asked, finally picking up my silverware and digging into my food.

"Yeah, pretty much." Helen confirmed.

That stung a little. I get that he'd been upset about Mudkip and not being able to battle with me, but I thought the point of battling was to get stronger and improve, not to feed the ego. Although, my battle with Alyssa had been proof that not everyone thought the same way.

"I've seen what Tyrogue's capable of. No offense to Damien, but I don't think he'd win against me. Doesn't mean he shouldn't try though." I said before taking another bite of food.

The siblings had gone quiet and they shared a look before looking at something behind me. I turned to see what had their attention.

It was Damien. He'd come back with a fast food bag and drink in his hand. His face was red and angry and he was glaring at me.

"Fuck you. And honestly, just fuck all three of you…" he breathed before turning and storming off to his room. Helen stood up while Karl pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly agitated.

"Well, that's something the two of you have in common," Karl grumbled.

"Oh?"

"Terrible fucking timing." He took his and Helen's trays, emptied and returned them before leaving the cafeteria while Helen was scrawling something on a piece of paper with a pen.

"Here, it's my number. If you ever decide you want to take Damien up on his offer, or you want to spar with me or my brother, shoot me a message." She stood up, and slung her bag over her shoulder. "And don't worry about the boys, Karl's not mad at you and Damien will eventually get over it."

"I hope so. And thank you, it was really nice talking to both of you again, Helen."

She exited the cafeteria, probably chasing after her brother, leaving me to finish my dinner.


A little before 10 AM the next day, I arrived at the Canalave Gym. Tyrogue was actually okay with being in his ball for the time being. I think he was getting more used to it but I know he still preferred being outside of it.

I approached the desk, and the same man with the buzz cut greeted me, this time with a smug grin.

"Honestly, I didn't think you'd show. You ready?" he asked, before standing up.

I nodded, and he led me to the arena.

It was massive. Far bigger than what I'd been battling on in the training arenas in Jubilife. Each Gym Leader had a field suited for their monotype. For Byron, it was a large field of rough stone and earth, strips of raw iron running through the ground and in the boulders scattered about the field. There were bleachers on both sides that were hilariously empty, but I wasn't surprised. I was a no-badge nobody after all, and I wasn't even taking on Byron yet. Around the perimeter of the arena were several Kadabra. They were issued from the League and kept a constant barrier around the battlefield so that audience participation didn't suddenly become an issue.

Another Gym Trainer fitted me with a microphone before I stepped up to the platform. The buzz cut man's voice came in through the speakers.

"Titus was it? I'm Micah,This will be a 1 on 1 with no switches and a twenty minute time limit." he called out.

A referee stood on the outer edge of the perimeter, looked at both of us, then shouted out.

"Begin!"

Micah and I released both of our Pokemon at the same time. Tyrogue emerged from his ball and his opponent appeared on the far end, a squat metal creature on four legs and standing a foot tall. It had bright blue eyes that glared at Tyrogue from under its iron mask. An Aron.

Aron could be a tough opponent. It was slow and rather defensive, but it could take plenty of hits and dish back a decent amount. Micah was the first to act.

"Aron, Headbutt!"

The metal dinosaur began charging towards Tyrogue, and I was content to let it. The Steel Type was slow and heavy, and that meant it had to cross the length of the battlefield exhausting itself to get to him. When it got within ten feet, I called out.

"Mach Punch!"

Tyrogue blurred forward, his fist making solid contact with the flat of Aron's helmet, a resounding thud I could hear from my place on the platform as the attack broke Aron out of its Headbutt. It recoiled but it wasn't going down easily.

"Now back off!"

"Metal Claw!"

Aron's tiny metal foot began to shine as it stepped forward to swipe at Tyrogue, who ducked and rolled backwards creating more distance between himself and the metal creature.

"Headbutt!"

Again, we waited. And right as Aron was drawing just close enough, we struck.

"Low Kick, take it down!"

Tyrogue sidestepped and swung his leg out, sending Aron tumbling forward. It landed on its back, a crater forming from the impact of its weight against the ground. Aron was on his back and struggling to right himself. He was exposed.

"Mach Punch, then Double Kick!"

"Aron, Iron Defense!"

My starter blurred, closing the gap in an instant as his fist made contact with Aron's underbelly. A shiny gray coating was moving over Aron's entire body as Tyrogue jumped and landed two heavy stomping kicks to the Steel Type's belly. It screamed in pain, a sound like steel and stone grinding together that had me covering my ears. I clenched my jaw but we had to keep fighting.

"Keep it going, another Double Kick!"

"Metal Burst!"

Shit. Metal Burst was a move that grew in power relative to the damage the user had taken and it was too late to call Tyrogue back. He leapt into the air again, stomping on the metal dinosaur, who retaliated with shards of metal erupted from his body. Tyrogue screamed as he was struck midair, covering his face as he was slashed with flying shards of metal before landing a few feet away. He stood on shaky limbs, bleeding from gashes and cuts that covered his body. There were shards of metal sticking in him, and it was hard to watch him like this. My starter was in pain, but he was up and I couldn't fail him now. Aron rolled to one side, righting himself and getting ready for another clash.

"Headbutt!"

One more time, we could draw him to us. Tyrogue had been an incredibly quick study to pick up Mach Punch, Low Kick, Swift and even Mimic on his own. But Mudkip had been the key to adding another tool to the Fighting Type's arsenal. We could learn so much more from those around us instead of just focusing on ourselves. And our training yesterday hadn't just been for Low Kick.

"Mud Slap!"

Tyrogue ducked low, carving an arc in the rough ground in front of him as it liquefied, spraying mud in a wave in front of him and blinding the charging metal monster who screamed in protest.

"Now, Double Kick!"

Tyrogue threw two kicks in rapid succession. The first one hurt, but the second one sealed the deal. Aron screamed before collapsing to the ground and after a few moments, the referee called out. My starter was bent over, leaning on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Aron is unable to battle! The victory goes to Titus and Tyrogue!"