In a chilling air-conditioned room of the Ranger Station, I was one of two people taking the Fire Safety Course. I sat at one of the tables with Marshtomp in a chair next to me, his head just poking above the table so he could see the whiteboard.

The only other person taking the course was a girl around my age dressed in hiking gear with a Monferno. No doubt this was in effort to teach her Fire Type restraint and control. I'd heard that the line was often energetic and impulsive, but this one seemed downright calm. The Fire Type sat on the table with his tail wrapped close to him.

A few minutes later, a tall Ranger in his forties with heavy laugh lines and a strong jaw stepped into the room, holding up a clipboard as he looked at the both of us.

"Just you two, huh," the man remarked before looking back at Marshtomp and raising an eyebrow at him. "Son, you do know this is for Fire Safety right? The course to get into the forest is just down the hall."

"Oh, it's for my Pokemon and I," I explained as I patted the Water Type on the head. "Just want to make sure we can keep our campfires in check."

The Ranger smirked as he set his clipboard down. "That's good, wish more Trainers would take that same approach. And you, young lady-?"

"Eliza. I'm here because my Monferno can't keep his flames in check and my group wouldn't take me with them unless I took this course," she replied, with a pleasant tone. "They said it would be and I quote "an unmitigated disaster that could get us all killed" but I have to get to Eterna so here I am!"

"Right. I'm Ranger Charlie. Now, there's not nearly as much to go over as that other course, but we'll get through just the same. There'll be a test at the end, just be ready for it. Now, let's start with campfires…

It took a little over an hour, but the time didn't seem to drag as the lesson went on. We learned plenty, including how to safely put out our campfires, which we hadn't done exactly correctly before. You were supposed to completely drown the fire and remaining wood or burning material, when we'd really only doused it. I didn't bring any of that up to him, but I would be keeping all of this in mind for the future. It wasn't just a lesson on campfires either. Ranger Charlie showed us how to escape from wildfires, what sort of equipment to carry in the event of them and how to treat someone for burns. I noticed that there wasn't a section for treating the burns of Pokemon, but given that medical science for treating Pokemon was a lot further along than that of humans, I guess I couldn't be too surprised. I'd heard stories about Pokemon losing limbs or eyes and having them be regenerated from scratch. There was also a brief mention of which types to keep with you, noting that Flying Types should be recalled with a few exceptions and that Water, Ground and Rock Types were invaluable to have with you. Marshtomp seemed to absorb every word, paying close attention to everything the Ranger went over. I was happy to finally get him on the track to conquering his fear.

After he collected our tests and approved of the results, the Ranger gave us the all clear and mentioned that they give these lectures all the time if we needed the information. As I was leaving, he called Eliza back to talk to him but Marshtomp and I were out of earshot and I didn't want to eavesdrop. I recalled the Water Type, promising we'd hang out later as I headed for the cafeteria. The rest of my group had gone to take the required Ranger course for the forest, and I'd take one later in the afternoon.

I finished my lunch in the cafeteria and went to join the next group taking the entrance course. I hadn't spotted Helen or Damien yet, but maybe they'd gone back to their rooms or something.

Either way, the classroom wasn't full up, so I didn't have to share a table but there were at least a dozen other Trainers around my age. There was a low buzz of conversation filling the room which died as our instructor entered. He had a hard, cold expression and while he wasn't as tall as Ranger Charlie, that didn't mean much. The way he walked, the way he scanned the room, stared at each one of us.

"My name is Ranger Bronn. If you have any reservations about entering the forest, get up and leave now. We lose at least half a dozen of you each year, and over forty end up injured before the end, and that's on the low end with the best instruction I can give you in this short amount of time." the Ranger stated coldly.

I felt the tension in the room stiffen, the Trainers around me shifting uncomfortably in their chairs. Trainer injury and casualty wasn't a pleasant thought, as much I wanted to avoid thinking about it. The forest was a dangerous place, there was just no getting around that.

"We also have a new guideline from the League this year: Nobody is to enter alone. You form a group or you don't enter at all," he informed us. There were a few groans and hushed whispers that were quickly snuffed out as the Ranger continued.

"Now, we'll begin with the difference between the routes you've traveled and the forest. On the routes, you've had room to run and move and the option to run to another Trainer if you needed help. If you engaged with a wild Pokemon out on a route, you'd likely only be dealing with that Pokemon on its own," Ranger Bronn told us. "Eterna Forest does not operate like that. Not only will you find your options for movement hampered, there is no calling for help. Do not pick fights here. If you're in a fight, the Pokemon in Eterna Forest will hear you, and either run from the noise of combat or run straight for it. They're predators, they want to hunt, kill, and eat."

A buff looking teenager I didn't know clad in orange workout clothes and surrounded by his friends, raised his hand, to which Ranger Bronn pointed to him.

"Yeah, but like, what if I see a Scyther or something really good for my team?" the teenager asked before the people around him began to giggle.

"Then I would ask if it's worth you, your Pokemon and the people around you getting butchered for it," the Ranger stated as he stared the teenager down with a cold look. "Because I hardly think a Scyther is worth risking life and limb but feel free to prove me wrong." When the teen and his friends had no responses, Bronn returned his attention to the rest of the class.

"If you cannot disengage, then fight. But remember that you are not in a Gym, there are no rules to these battles, it's simply survival. You are in the preferred environment of these Pokemon, so they may feel emboldened to attack, but many except a brazen few will attack a group of Trainers commanding two or three Pokemon each," Bronn continued. "If you have Fire or Rock Types those are good to have but Psychic or Steel Type Pokemon are the best. Psychics can thwart most would-be attackers and few things in the forest can put a dent in a Steel Type."

"As for what you'll be facing, we'll start with Wurmple. They don't attack, but they'll sting you and spit string to keep you from coming near them. They rely on their parents to keep them safe. If you see a group of Wurmple, there's likely a parent nearby. Dustox are not to be trifled with. They have Psychic abilities on top of the toxins and powders they like to kick around. You see a Dustox, you run or hide. The same goes for Beautifly. It looks cute until you get too close to it. That proboscis," he flicked the end of his nose for emphasis. "Is not for show. It sucks the fluids of its prey, it's a dangerous Pokemon."

It went on like that for a while, and I realized I didn't actually know half of the dangers that lurked in Eterna Forest. Swarms of Paras were known to pop up occasionally and overwhelm groups. Apparently they were an invasive species that was never fully dealt with. Their bites combined with the spores they carried were not a pleasant combination. There were the big threats like Pinsir and Scyther who were known to be incredibly aggressive predators. Heracross was sort of lumped in with them, but they were typically docile unless threatened. Vespiquen was another major threat but Combee were peaceful unless harmed first, and their queen never appeared unless it was necessary. There were also the numerous Grass Types that called the forest home, most of whom also had the Poison Type. Oddish, Gloom, Budew, and Roselia, but Shroomish was not unheard of and even Tangela were seen on occasion. The occasional Flying Type such as Murkrow or Staravia was not unheard of, and given the darkness of the forest even Zubat were seen on occasion.

There was also a section on first aid that had me realizing that I didn't know that much about the topic, but I paid close attention and figured it would pair well with what I'd learned from Ranger Charlie. Unlike him, Bronn was curt and straight to the point, he only had so much time to offload as much valuable information as he could, and it was apparent that he took his job very seriously.

After an hour and a half, which thankfully was sped along by no one asking anymore questions, I passed the test the Ranger had given and was cleared to enter the forest. I stretched my arms overhead as I exited the classroom before heading back to my room. I had left Hitmontop in the room to watch TV while Marshtomp and I went to the Fire Safety Course.

"Come on, we're gonna go get some exercise," I told the Fighting Type. He clicked the TV off and we headed outside to get some fresh air.

Behind the Ranger Station and Pokemon Center was a large wide open yard. The treeline was within sight but there was also a small battlefield where I saw a teenage boy with a shaved head and a round face giving commands to his Buneary. They were facing off against a girl with a blonde braid going down her back, who was battling with her own Glameow. Hitmontop and I watched them battle for a little while before I walked away to work with my own Pokemon. I released my team closer to the woodline away from other Trainers that might be nearby.

"Alright, I need you guys to pay attention. That means you, too," I told them. That last part had been pointed at Sableye specifically, who had begun to play with a rock he'd found. Even Marshtomp was fully awake when I'd let him out of his ball.

"We're going into Eterna Forest," I pointed to the distant woodline and the trail that led inside. "It's going to be really dangerous, there's a lot of threatening Pokemon that live in there so I need all three of you to do your best to listen and pay attention. We're going to be with Helen, Karl and Damien, those three Trainers we were camping with before, remember?" They all nodded in affirmation. Sableye shrugged his shoulders. "You have to get along with them and their Pokemon because we'll be fighting alongside them. There's not gonna be time to do anything fun while we're in the forest but I'll make it up to you once we reach Eterna City, ok?"

Marshtomp clapped his hands and nodded, Hitmontop gave me a fierce look and did the same. Sableye flashed his teeth, which I took as a sign of agreement.

"Um, excuse me?"

I looked up from my team to notice the two Trainers from the practice court had wandered over. The boy's Buneary was peaking at us from behind his legs, while the girl's Glameow did figure eights, weaving between her legs as she walked over.

"Hey, we saw you battling in Floaroma, do you think we could do some practice battles with you?" the girl asked politely. "Oh, I'm Kory, and this is Lee."

"Yeah, sure!"

Over the next hour, we did small practice battles. Sableye had to sit most of them out, as Lee's Buneary hadn't learned any moves that could hit him and it frankly wouldn't be fair. Hitmontop also sat out due to the Type advantage, though it didn't stop Kory and her Glameow from trying. I found out that both of them were from Sandgem Town and had challenged Roark as their first Gym. Neither had earned a badge, so they were traveling this way to fill out their teams and get more experience. They didn't feel comfortable going through Eterna Forest yet, and I'd be worried if they said that was their plan. Lee's Buneary was headstrong but it needed to work on defending itself. Kory's Glameow was impressive with the moves it had but they were lacking in power.

As I was watching the other two Trainers battle, my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I answered it to find a long message from Mom.

Mom: Titus, you are my son and I love you, and I am so proud of who you've become. I'm happy that you're getting to take the journey that you always wanted, and I was overjoyed when you won your first badge.

But I haven't been able to sleep since you texted me that you'd made it to Eterna Forest.

Please, I'm not asking you to abandon your journey but just consider going through Mt. Coronet instead. I know it's selfish to ask you to backtrack now that you're already there but you're all I have left and I couldn't bear it if that forest took you from me.

I found a tree to sit under as I read over the message several times. If she had such hangups about me traveling through here, why hadn't she said anything before I left? Why hadn't she tried to dissuade me before I left Floaroma? It was selfish of her to ask me to backtrack all the way back to Jubilife now, but maybe she was expecting that I'd get cold feet or that I'd decide to go to Oreburgh of my volition.

I tried seeing her side of it though. I really was all she had, her own family cut ties with her long before I was born. I had scant few memories of my father and I knew nothing about his family. They weren't a part of my life, and they never had been. My mother was terrified of losing the only family she had left. She was scared that her only child would become another casualty.

My thumb hovered warily over the screen to begin typing a response…

And I closed the message. I turned the screen off and slipped the phone back into my pocket.

"Sableye?"

I looked up from where I sat to find the Ghost Type staring at me, confused and cocking his head with the sunlight bouncing harshly off of his eyes.

"It's nothing, I'm alright," I lied.

Kory and Lee left after that, leaving me alone with my team. I had to get Hitmontop started on the next move he was going to learn, Detect. While he had a number of options for close range and even Swift for fighting at a distance, he needed a way to stop dangerous moves from hitting him. While the move was exhausting to use, it would pay off in the long run by giving him longevity in fights where he would normally be going blow for blow with his opponent.

The tricky part was actually teaching it to him. While we'd done something similar with sports gear back in Jubilife, it wasn't something I could carry with me now. But I did have one idea that might work, but I needed Marshtomp to help with it.

"Marsh?"

"It's okay, it's part of the training. Hitmontop knows what he's in for here, and you can't hold back either. It'll help you too with getting more speed and accuracy with your Water Gun."

I had set the both of them up about thirty feet apart from one another. Hitmontop had a small circle around five feet in diameter dug into the ground he was allowed to move and dodge within, while Marshtomp was free to try and land hits with Water Gun.

I hit the timer for one minute on my phone. "Go!"

Marshtomp let out a single burst of water, which Hitmontop ducked beneath. When it didn't land, he went for another. Hitmontop leaned and wove between streams of water passing him, but they weren't coming fast enough to pressure him. After a minute was up, both of them were breathing hard.

"Take a breather, you both did really well!"

The Fighting Type plopped down on the ground, while Marshtomp was catching his breath. I approached the Water Type, kneeling down to him.

"Hey, that was really good! Hitmontop's tough to hit, isn't he?"

"Marsh..," he grumbled.

"Well, hey, I'm gonna help you out. I think we can get him this time," I told him.

The Water Type cocked his head at me, a skeptical look on his face.

"You're giving him plenty of time to prepare, and you're only attacking from one direction. You've got room to run around his circle, and you don't have to stay this far back. Plus, your shots are too concentrated and deliberate, but the closer you are the less time he'll have to move and react. You have to try to trip him up by firing quick bursts and aiming where he'll be, instead of where he's at. Quicker shots this time, you can do it," I encouraged.

Marshtomp nodded and stood up, ready to go.

"Alright, here we go. Ready?" I stepped back, and when I got the affirmative from both of them, I hit the timer.

"Go!"

Marshtomp ran left around the circle, while Hitmontop kept a wary eye on him. The Water Type suddenly pivoted and dove to the ground to his right, firing three quick bursts of water before he hit the ground. Hitmontop dove for the ground, as streams of water sailed over his head. The Fighting Type stood up quickly, suddenly aware that Marshtomp had nearly hit him.

The Water Type closed the distance, leaving a little less than twenty feet between them. There would be less time and warning to the attacks now, so Hitmontop would have to react faster. The Fighting Type repositioned to the center of the circle, giving him room to move in any direction. Marshtomp let loose two more bursts before diving forward on his belly and unleashing three more in rapid succession at Hitmontop's legs. He weaved left and right, before stumbling back to dodge the third before the fourth and fifth caught up with him, splashing his feet to push him off balance.

I hit the timer with a little over twenty seconds left, before I walked over to congratulate them both. Hitmontop had stood back up, with a more determined look than I'd seen in a while. Marshtomp had plopped onto the ground, catching his breath again. I guess it was more Water Gun than he was used to using, but his aim and speed with the move were improving. It would help immensely when he needed to step it up to more powerful Water Type moves.

"You both did wonderful, we can do this again another time but we don't want to push it too much before tomorrow," I told the both of them, which got a smile out of the both of them. "Hitmontop, do you want to go practice your stances for a while? You can join him Marshtomp, or you can hang out with me and Sableye."

The Ghost Type gave him a wave from where he'd been hanging out behind me. At first, he was just confused at what we were doing, but as soon he saw Hitmontop dodging, he was instantly amused.

The Water Type had opted to practice with Hitmontop instead, the two of them finding a spot near the treeline to practice. They took up their stances, again throwing punches at the air, though Hitmontop still had to correct the Water Type's form. Either his legs weren't far enough apart, he wasn't bending his knees, or he was keeping his head down. Even if he didn't get it right away though, Marshtomp was still giving it his best effort.

"Come on, Sableye, that leaves you and me."

There was still something that had been on my mind for a while. Damien still had that Technical Machine for Rain Dance. Between Marshtomp and Sableye, they would both find a use for the move. For Marshtomp, he would love the power that the rain granted him, plus he'd find it easier to move around on than normal ground. With Sableye, his Prankster ability would allow him to use the move first, getting the rain into play faster than other Pokemon would be able to. This actually brought up the bigger question of what my team's overall theme was meant to be. In addition to single Type strategies, certain teams were built with a combination of Types or capabilities in mind. A stall team would, for example, make a direct confrontation either unfeasible or extremely difficult through sheer defense or the ability to recover when an enemy was exhausted. Generalists, Trainers that use a wide variety of Types, often began their teams with the trio of Fire, Water and Grass because the combination of moves and strategies inherent to each allowed the others to cover the weakness of the others, then added three more Pokemon to support those three further from there.

For my Pokemon, teaching them Rain Dance would fundamentally set us up to begin fighting as a rain team. Rain teams were more often than not made up of Water Types that made good use of the boost to Water moves but could also use Swift Swim, Rain Dish or Hydration to become truly terrifying. Steel, Electric and Grass Types were often brought into the fold as well, but it wasn't uncommon to see Bug or Flying thrown in too because the rain reduced the power of Fire Type moves and would allow more accurate use of Thunder, an extremely powerful move that only high level Pokemon could pull off.

The hurdle however, was Damien. Even if I wanted to start teaching my Pokemon Rain Dance, there wasn't an Arceus damned chance in hell he was letting me have that Technical Machine. I could offer to buy it from him, but even if I offered him a good deal he'd sooner see it not used at all before he let me have it. That was on top of the cost of the thing putting a serious dent in the only money I had or would have for the foreseeable future. If I had done better in the tournament, if I had held stronger reasons to be a Trainer, I might've been able to do better. Kalani had even said as much, that Rhiannon had a reason to battle while I was just going through the motions. If I was going full circle with this, the hurdle was myself and my lack of conviction. Damien had just been the first thing I was willing to point at and blame.

"Alright Sableye, I have a special task for you," I told the Ghost Type.

The small purple creature cocked his head at me.

"Eterna Forest is going to be dangerous. I'll need your help, as well as Marshtomp and Hitmontop. But you have a special role in this. They need to be in close range, so they often can't stay close to me. That's where you come in," I explained. "If something gets close to me, I need you to keep it at bay. I'm not asking you to throw yourself at it and get hurt for my sake. But you can use Flash, Disable or Confuse Ray to keep them off me. If it comes to it, I might ask you to help one of the others, too."

"Sable, Sableye…," the Ghost Type mused as he scratched the back of his head. He didn't seem too convinced.

"Plus, it'll be more time out of the ball than you've had up until this point," I added on.

Sableye perked up at that, a toothy grin forming on his face before he nodded.

"Good, I'm glad you're on board for this. Now, show me where you're at with Shadow Ball."

Sableye squared his shoulders and widened his stance as he put his tiny hands just a few inches apart. Barely visible, spectral energy appeared in the space between his palms. As it appeared, it struggled to fully coalesce, and Sableye was straining to keep the move together before it fully disappeared and he fell on his butt. He had clearly been trying, but I also hadn't considered that the move might just be too tough for him right now. The Ghost Type looked up at me, waiting to see my reaction.

"Hey, that's alright. You did really well, but I think I was asking too much of you," I explained. "We're gonna take it easy the rest of the day, ok? Everyone's been training really hard, we should take some time to relax."

We spent the remainder of the day resting, and I let my Pokemon do as they liked in the small room we had in the Center, and the night passed by uneventfully. My phone was turned off and stuffed it into the pocket of my backpack.

The following morning, after everyone had eaten and had worked up the nerve, the four of us left the Pokemon Center. I had Hitmontop in tow, Haley was followed closely by her Meditite. Karl's Darumaka was keeping up too and Damien's Houndour stayed near his Trainer's heels, occasionally sniffing the ground or the air around him. As we left the building, we were immediately met with a girl in the middle of the trail, shouting into her phone. A few feet away from her was a baffled looking Monferno holding his tail. The Fire Type was backing away and unsure of what to do for his Trainer.

"Seriously, all four of you are assholes, just fuck all of you!" she raged into her phone before jabbing the screen with her finger several times to end the call.

I recognized her immediately. That was Eliza, from yesterday. Hadn't she said something about her group, about her needing to take that course?

Karl stepped in first. "Hey hey, are you alright? Everything ok?"

Eliza rounded on him, clearly bewildered. "What?" the red haired girl nearly shouted, turning and finding Karl suddenly there. "No, no, I'm not alright and it's not ok. The group I was supposed to be with to get through Eterna Forest ditched me and left this morning. I took TWO," she held up her index and middle finger to Karl "Fucking safety courses so that they'd feel safe having me here, and one of them was optional! I did it to make them feel better about having Monferno around." At the mention of him, her Fire Type waved a hand at us before walking over.

Helen walked past her brother to put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "Hey, it's alright, I'm sure they had their reasons for leaving-," she began before Eliza cut her off.

"Yeah, bullshit reasons. Jackson and Keith have the combined IQ of a Rhyhorn, they were just mad at me because they couldn't beat Roark and I did. Lana was convinced I was trying to sleep with her boyfriend Rico which, first off, ick. And second, Rico hated me because I wouldn't trade Monferno to him. Arceus, I should've seen this coming," she groaned before putting her head down and rubbing her temples.

"Your group sounds like a bunch of assholes," Damien said without missing a beat. I'd been thinking the same thing. It wasn't an uncommon thing to occur. People, especially teenagers, stuck in close proximity with one another for long enough are going to get sick of each other. Personalities clash, relationships form and people break up or drift apart. This was just petty though.

"Thank you, at least you get it," Eliza replied, turning her attention to Damien for the first time. "Now I just have to figure out where I'm going from here."

"You can tag along with us. Besides, I want to see the look on their faces when you show up in Eterna City anyway." the blonde teenager said without an ounce of hesitation.