Twin Colors

by tremor3258

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

3. Which will you choose?

Twin Colors 3

So, which will you choose?

By tremor3258

---

Rose was in her room a few minutes later, sitting on the bed. Her bed, she supposed. The crying had started when she'd closed the door in private. The catharsis was nice, but she was more concerned with her hands. She stared down as Azucena looked on. They were still trembling. She had been shaking in the city, but thought it was just all the strain.

But this was a nice, quiet room now. With just her and her Pokemon. She wasn't hungry or feeling low on blood sugar. This was looking awfully like-

She sighed and forced herself to say the obvious aloud to Azucena. "This is battle withdrawal. I'm in challenge lock," she announced with disgust, "Like I'm a baby-"

Rose stopped, sighed, and cursed her 'donor' again mentally. She was a baby trainer. Who'd ran away from the first trainer challenge she'd encountered, even after their eyes met. Azucena patted her with one of her little arms and flexed a little. She was ready to go, of course, which was what Rose was getting the feelings of. Good trainers were supposed to be coaches of their teams, not at the whim of their partners, and filter this out.

Mei was ready and gung-ho even with getting the same problem. And the Knight had been a Champion.

Rose wasn't supposed to be here, she strongly suspected.

"Yeah, who am I supposed to match? Mei is in trainer shock. If she was awake, she'd faint in a full match sync right now," Rose said in a low voice to Azucena. The little Petilil looked down, downcast.

"It's not I don't want to – objectively. See what we can do, and what we want to improve on," Rose consoled. She stared at her hands, but they still trembled a little despite her gaze.

"Emotionally, sure, let's go. I mean, people are moving in and have new Pokemon to try out too," she started to babble and shook her head. Azucena cheeped.

"I know, I'm talking myself into it," Rose groaned, "I promise, after the floor meeting if not before. We need to consider I'm in shock too." Azucena sighed in agreement. She wanted to get strong, but part of that with a trainer was the trainer battle 'methodology' and fighting to exhaustion was far safer than the fight to the bone for food or safety in the wild.

"And going outside and meeting other people for a battle is… a lot right now, I'm sorry," Rose apologized, clasping her necklace reflexively. Azucena waved it off, and Rose smiled, slightly. She looked at her suitcase.

"Help me decide where to put some stuff, maybe I can run my body down to match my mind and get some sleep," Rose decided.

---

Almost three hours later, Mei knocked on Rose's door, two thermoses under her arm. She was still tired, but the nails had been pulled out her head, and she felt like she could face part of the world, briefly. She tickled Terpsi with her free hand, feeling a distant burst of pleasure come through. That was feeling much more stable too than earlier, but it kept coming and going.

Trainer shock. Yesterday she'd been aware it could be a problem, and then got cocky today with being half an experienced trainer and didn't take any steps after the transition at all.

Mei knocked again, and the door opened mid-knock. Rose stood there, a bit blearily – she was wearing an old T-shirt with the Hammerlocke gym symbol on it and shorts with a towel wrapped around her head. Behind her, she could see Azucena on the counter, head dunked in a glass of water.

"I come bearing… I can't call it a gift," Mei admitted. "You weren't kidding about the tea, but I've done what I can. You don't look great."

"My alarm woke me up from my Rillaboom thrashing Melony's Lapras. Just a whole gauntlet of fights. Did you sleep okay? Hot is good," Rose murmured rapidly, and stood aside so her sister could come into the room.

"Oh you got your Milos out!" Mei observed, seeing the two little licensed plushies and a big one Rose had done as sewing practice. Rose had gone with a Cherrim in sunshine form dancing on his hat. Mei's had him riding his Gigantmax Flapple.

"Most of my unpacking is done. I couldn't fall over for about half an hour," Rose admitted. She looked at her hand. "At least the shaking stopped," she said dully.

"Please take care of yourself," Mei urged, handing over the thermos. Rose took it and cracked it open, letting the steam waft, before taking a sip and making a face. She held up the thermos and regarded it dubiously.

"This isn't a very good start for that," Rose observed.

"I'm pretty sure I know what boiled Treavenant tastes like now," Mei observed. Rose looked at the thermos again and made a face as she took another sip.

"I know I was wrapped up and angry at myself to help you, but you were in a bad way too. What kept you up?" Mei asked.

Rose didn't answer for a second, going over and checking Azucena's progress first as she hesitated. "Angry at myself," she said at last, "That I got worn out right at the start. Frustrated and want to sulk that I feel like such a child even with this 'bonus'. Wouldn't mind hitting something," Rose said.

"It's fitting in my head a little better; me and Terpsi center and it off to the side. Did the nap help you?" Mei said.

"Some, but weird dreams even before I was in Circhester Stadium. I kept getting blown around a lot, leaves and flowers all around. Mom was there yelling something but I couldn't make out what," Rose said distantly. She patted Azucena.

"Definitely getting something… more than before with this one. I really hope after all this I'll like matches. Do you feel up for a try?" Rose said, smiling a bit more. She made one of their signals for Mei to continue as she went to her dresser to switch into one of the school uniforms.

Mei giggled, "Right before getting a chance to do it with two Pokemon, no?" Rose stopped briefly but then continued getting dressed without saying anything.

"No, I sort of expected – here Pokemon, here's the trainer. If the trainer knows what they're doing, they think, and the Pokemon does it, even with Mom's explanations. I don't know if it's because we're new it feels more organic than I thought. Like it's breathing or something in and out with what I'm getting, or I'm not paying attention right. I said before, the Knight's was pretty rigid, but they were trying to keep their distance," Mei said, and tickled Terpsi.

"Yeah, what I'm feeling from Azucena – I know a battle sync from the Ranger's life, but it's constructed differently there. I'm not sure if that's the alternate physics or just I'm not actually her. I don't think just 'punching' it as a battle sync would work well for Azucena or I like it seems to for Mom," Rose said, slightly muffled as she was pulling on a uniform top.

"Yesterday I felt pretty good about her style but it doesn't feel monolithic like she described, for sure. Maybe Mom was counting on her genes too much over that we're really from Galar and not Sinnoh?" Mei shrugged.

"I am looking forward to time with Pokemon that want to be partners with me, even more than before. The Knight and her Pokemon managed technical satisfaction at her progress. Once she actually went out to make contact with something she liked there's like two weeks of insane glee over it that's washing over the filter. This for me, instead really feels great – getting echoes off a couple neighbor Hoppips was interesting, but the communication's so much better even when the 'band' goes weak," Mei said, happily. Terpsi made happy squeaks as well.

"Mom did a good job picking you two out," Rose said, directed to both Pokemon in the room, muffled by a scrunchy in her mouth as she stood by a mirror pulling her hair into a ponytail. Azucena bowed a little as Terpsi continued burbling.

"Yeah I know we made our decision on the trainer life years ago – twice over, apparently. I can't wait until we're prepped for a match to see if that's as exciting as we hoped. Something to be said to just be a full-time trainer though, heresy that may be compared to being Champion," Mei said.

"I'm pretty sure we'd have tried to have a match on the Taxi if we didn't get the extra viewpoint today. We should make sure to check how to reserve a battle field in the city," Rose noted.

Mei sighed, "We had a lot of hopes on being awesome, didn't we? Now we know exactly how much work it's going to be."

Rose sighed and then shrugged as she fitted the scrunchy. "I'm still up for it, and the Academy will be a lot more comfortable than an old tent all the time, though I'm going to be happy to hit the trials. The old Ranger certainly did. But she could have most of her partners out all the time, and it was helping keep the peace for Pokemon and people. And a fair amount of battles, so that was satisfying," Rose said.

"You thinking about that as a career now in between Circuits that you have, er, a preview?" Mei asked.

Rose shrugged. "I don't know. I do better out there and it's probably going to get more so with Pokmeon. But I like to have someone around to talk to even if she likes to lecture," she said.

Mei mock glared but there wasn't any fire in it. "Okay, on the Copperajah lurking in the room then," Mei said.

"That we're going to be spending more time apart going forward?" Rose asked, more as a rhetorical question. She turned to face Mei. No time for makeup but she was at least cleaned up and in uniform to see the professors.

"Was that part of why you couldn't sleep?" Mei asked. Rose nodded.

"Azucena helped but I'm used to hearing your breathing," Rose said.

"We're going to have to get used to it, but that'd be the same on any Pokemon journey, you spent a lot of time with your partners alone. Every bit of literature in both timelines. Not going to b easy. The move and not knowing the language, and while in Hammerlocke people in and out of the apartments every six months at most. And all those people new, every time, in the neighborhood asking," Mei said with a sigh.

Rose shuddered, "Oh yeah, the constant same 'clever' questions from new people."

"Do your parents ever get confused? Do you two normally dress alike? You know you two look really identical? Do you like the same things?" Mei sing-songed and made a face. Rose shuddered.

"I know, I mean, we get along pretty well but I don't want to be you. I'm happy we made our pact, though" Rose observed.

"Maybe that's why separate rooms for everyone, to get used to it. At least we can still cook together," Mei said.

"Right, groceries after we get the study Pokemon – we've got lots of mouths to feed and maybe it'll help you feel better? Hopefully the courtyard isn't noisy," Rose said.

"Yeah, I wonder why kinds of Pokemon they have for these research projects?" Mei wondered aloud.

---

So these are Sprigatito, the grass cat Pokemon, Fuecoco the fire croc Pokemon, and Quaxly, the duckling Pokemon – a water type," said the biology professor, who had introduced himself as Jacq. He didn't look like an esteemed regional authority so much as if he'd just gotten out of bed. Miriam, who was standing off to the side now, clearly respected him a lot when she introduced him, though.

The astronomy recruiters had packed up at some point, and the courtyard was nearly empty. Given the rising heat as the courtyard got the full brunt of noon sun in the later summer, the twins couldn't blame them. Both had made sure to hat up before heading back out. Now, Professor Jacq stood near a small table with three neat piles of Poke balls on it. The twins' current Pokemon were stored at the moment to avoid being a distraction.

An example of each Pokemon was allowed to run around – one of that trio would be the first pick. A little rotund Fuecoco was over by the daylily beds, swaying with the flowers in the small amount of breeze. The Quaxly was going through a determined spinning routine to show off. The Sprigatito was napping under the table in the shade, but Rose spotted it peeking out with one eye occasionally.

"Go ahead and pick first, Rose, you let me last time," Mei encouraged, pulling up her Pokedex app. Jacq brightened slightly on seeing it in use.

"Oh, that's my app – always happy to see a power user. Do you like it so far?" Jacq asked. Rose, looking at the Pokemon, caught motion out of the corner of her eye – though by the time she glanced over, Miriam had arrested whatever she was doing, and gave a twitchy, nervous attempt at an innocent smile instead. Rose suspected she'd been mouthing along with Jacq's words.

"Yes, professor," Mei said, "I didn't have a Pokedex in Galar so I can't compare though. These upload and monitor catch data and other sightings to the League, right?"

"To the League as part of your trainer card for ensuring legal catches. Scrubbed of personal data, it goes to the Academy and other interested researchers," Jacq explained.

Jacq blinked and evidently realized something. "You said Galar was where you're from?" he asked. The twins nodded.

"Lot of distinct Pokemon differences there. My apologies, your accent reminded me of another new student instead. My focus is convergent evolution; separate Pokemon with similar appearances and traits due to their environment. So, I'm curious – you are identical twins, correct? Do you usually use alternate coloration?" Jacq asked.

"Yes my sister and I are identical," Rose interrupted, but politely, "Outside school uniforms we tend to dress in different styles, too." She bobbed on her feet a bit, wanting to hurry up to the picking and then the battling.

"Aw," Mei muttered under her breath, that Jacq hadn't a chance to get going through the whole spiel they were too familiar with.

"I suppose you get asked that a lot," Jacq said apologetically. "Pokemon are often indistinguishable to casual observers but it's far rarer with humans."

"People usually think they're unique when they ask, Professor. Thank you," Mei said with a bow. Then, trying to be polite, she asked, "Is it convergent how there's something small and electric that likes to get in the wiring everywhere?"

"That's a good example – Pachirisu lives in trees and Pikachu is ground-dwelling; but they have similar electric pouches and attack expression through their tails. I have a grant right now to study some of the mushrooms in Paldea that have adopted the exact body structure of the common jellyfish Pokemon of warmer seas," Jacq said. Miriam coughed lightly, and Jacq rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry – I shouldn't get started. I've been accused of getting wrapped up in my own studies over the other parts of my job – which includes managing the study Pokemon. The Academy wants to ensure its students are starting at something of an even level, regardless of prior experience or Pokemon provided from other sources, if any. The 'starters' as they're usually called, are all species with above-average combat potential, easily learn a variety of moves, and evolve easily," Jacq explained.

Rose bent down to look at the starters more at their eye level, still considering. The Fuecoco was still in his own world, apparently. The Sprigatito had somehow endeavored to 'accidentally' roll over to 'nap' on his back, showing off his claws. The Quaxly's dance routine was finished and was spreading water over his wings to smooth his coif. Rose closed her eyes to meditate, seeing if her instincts tugged her any which way.

"They're considered our property by the League after the handover?" Mei asked.

"If you somehow endeavored to be expelled tomorrow, the Pokemon would go with you. It's considered part of your admissions package, on a very pragmatic level," Jacq said.

"We have had a couple students who failed completely to bond with one, and so had to pick another. That's very rare though!" Miriam added.

"I think I would like the cat," Rose suddenly announced, opening her eyes. The Sprigatito briefly opened his eyes, looked very smug, and went back to badly being asleep. The Quaxly shrugged philosophically. Mei noticed now the Fuecoco was apparently whistling.

"Not going for diversity?" Mei critiqued.

"It didn't feel right here – but he's a physical attacker while Azucena is ranged with support moves. We can go give it a try after this?" Rose said.

Mei hesitated. There was a ghost of a headache, and the way Rose's eyes glinted, she suspected her sister was planning something. A battle was starting to sound like a good idea, but Mei wanted to win. "Maybe after groceries?" Rose sighed, but didn't press the issue.

Jacq held an empty Poke ball but cupped it rather than handing it over. "I have to double-check you're sure," he said with a smile.

Rose took a deep breath, glanced at the Sprigatito, smiled and nodded, holding her hands out. Jacq smiled more broadly and dropped the Poke ball into her waiting hands. She closed her eyes, briefly – the Poke ball was linked to the Sprigatito already, and there were waiting tendrils she could fasten onto, at least to start the relationship – definitely a bit more ego than Azucena.

As the basics finished up, she fastened the Poke ball to her belt and held her arms out expectantly. The grass-type 'snapped' awake and bounded into her arms, looking very smug again.

"Oh, you smell nice!" Rose praised, breathing deeply of his fur. "I think you'll be Ivy," she said, petting the Pokemon behind his ears, who tried valiantly not to react.

Miriam giggled as Jacq released another Sprigatito, who sniffed the air a few times and looked around with furrowed eyes.

Arms full of Ivy, Rose bowed to her sister and stepped back out of the way. Mei could feel little flares coming off her as she and Ivy worked on figuring each other out beyond the base Poke ball. If the school had a Hoppip population they'd be popping by to investigate by now.

Mei did her best to put her sister's probing out of her mind and senses as she looked over the study Pokemon. There definitely was a tug from the new Sprigatito, who was tamping a circle in the grass, but glanced up out of curiosity, sensing her gaze. There was an angry rattle from Terpsi's Poke ball and a burst of frustration. There was a lot of overlap there from a battle trainer perspective; Terpsi was ready to defend her niche.

And being purely pragmatic, it'd be a while before any Pokemon of similar inherent power to the study Pokemon would bother looking at Mei in the wild. The problem of how many she could comfortably support at a time early on was a big factor. She already had gone through one bout of trainer shock.

She looked at the other two. The Quaxly went back into his routine on noticing the glance, but there wasn't anything deep leaping out at her. Mei was confident, especially with the extra diversification experience she'd gotten inflicted with from the Knight, that they could make it work though if she wanted.

The Fuecoco was still staring at the flowers and rocking. Curious at this point if the little croc Pokemon was all right, Mei bent down next to him. She realized up close she could hear him whistling; the little fires on his head flickering in time with the beat of the song he'd come up with, matching the sway of the flowers.

"He's been composing the whole time," Rose said, noticing her sister's interest.

"What?" Rose asked at Mei's stare, patting down the hackles of Ivy in her arms as she attracted everyone's attention, including the Fuecoco. "I looked over at all three, it… wasn't my beat though," Rose said. It'd been easier in her head than in words.

"You didn't really look like you were paying attention to the Fire-type, I'd figured it wasn't a mesh from the start," Miriam admitted. Rose smiled and said nothing.

"It wasn't. But as a responsible trainer, I wanted to check," Rose said, continuing to soothe Ivy.

"There's a lot more to this little guy than meets the eye too," Mei commented, looking at the Fuecoco. The croc turned to look directly at her and whistled happily, swaying a little. The Quaxly quacked in irritation, stumbling – he'd gotten caught up in the croc's beat.

"True, the teeth and claws aren't any joke on Fuecoco, but the real power is in that flame patch on his belly, along with his voice. After evolution, the two combine to handle fire spirits," Jacq lectured.

"Yeah I saw that, you go ghostly if you and your trainer light it up, right?" Mei asked. The Fuecoco whistled happily, not quite following.

"Right, too used to grass types just following along – you're doing fine, though!" Mei continued warmly – tone and intent were worth a lot, from Hannah's lectures. Maybe she was too used to grass types. And it was definitely away from the Knight's teams. And, well, given her rival's pick. A little early type advantage wouldn't hurt

Mei glanced covertly over at her sister with the grass cat in her arms and the Poke ball on her belt. Rose caught her gaze anyway and shrugged. "It's absolutely your decision, not anyone else's. Don't make a pick for my feelings," Rose advised with some emphasis. Mei shifted before she could meet Rose's gaze. This still felt a little like taking advantage of her sister.

"And if I manage to evolve Ivy here, he picks up a touch of mischief himself," Rose continued.

"And Quaxly gets fighting, so it's a reverse triangle," Mei noted. The Quaxly quacked happily at being noticed.

"Oh, I do love power users," Jacq said. Miriam gave him a glance.

"A lot of students wait for the surprise, but it is a big decision. A little research consideration to go with the heart doesn't hurt," Jacq said, defensive.

"Would it be okay?" Mei asked in a rush of nervousness as she looked over the Fuecoco again. "Grass types I can hear without trying. But I have… issues with Ice types; my Mom has a fire-type I've gotten along with okay and she has a flier as a pet that's nice. Do you think bonding will be an issue?"

"The nature of one's individual bond with a Pokemon is always, well, individual," Jacq said, "Especially given the various preferences and natures of the humans involved as well. Divvying trainers into 'classes' is more a useful shorthand for organization than a universal truth. There's a broad variety of teams in a 'trainer class'. You could look at four 'hikers' and not see the same Pokemon."

"That was a long way to go to say 'it'll probably be great!'," Mei said. Jacq nodded.

"Give it a try Mei!" Miriam encouraged, "The Academy wouldn't force you to keep a research partner you couldn't connect with at all! That's a terrible thought!" Miriam giggled at the notion. Mei felt dark thoughts rise for a moment and her hands curl into fists. The Fuecoco whistled, again, unsure, and Mei gave a smile. Mei forcibly uncurled her hands.

"It wouldn't be your problem. This is all on the trainer," Mei assured him.

She knelt down next to him and held a hand out, which was duly sniffed. "I'm very lucky, and my sister's very lucky. We've always been able to be close to Pokemon. So, I knew early on what Pokemon want too – and that I'd need to be a battle trainer to bring their best out. And I want to be the best one myself and will only settle for being a very good one. If you come with me, it's going to mean a lot of work on both our parts, and I don't really know where that road leads, but it won't be easy. Do you want to come with me on this future?" Mei asked.

Rose patted Ivy and sent confirmation along their link to the feeling of inquiry. Mei had spent a couple days after unpacking last week working on that speech or one like it. She forced herself to remain patient, and outwardly calm.

The Fuecoco sniffed again, then beat its chest boldly. Mei smiled and walked to the table. "I'll take the Poke ball now," she said softly. Jacq handed it over without a word.

It took a second's probing to find, but then the heat was there, an earnest little flame. It felt so different than Terpsi, and Mei closed her eyes. She refused to be a broken down thing out of a Kalos lab. Mentally, she cupped the flame and blew on it, and the little croc responded with delight, letting it grow. In her mental space, it flared and washed over her – and she nearly yelped in surprise, but any pain and shock was replaced by warmth, and the smell of new soil, ready for renewal. Letting it burn out of control would be dangerous. This would need to be built carefully in the long run.

She opened her eyes and turned to the Fuecoco, who had waddled over, and their eyes met with true understanding for the first time. "It'll be some extra work, but I think we're both good for it, huh?" Mei asked. The little croc jumped, Mei having her arms ready in time – though he was surprisingly heavy. The flame patch didn't scorch her at all in the real world, but she could feel its pulse.

"Okay, here's the list of names I had ready," Mei explained, waving her phone to hover in midair. The little croc looked over them and burbled. "Pome? You do kind of look like a Pome?"

Pome whistled again, happy, as Mei scratched under his chin. The new Sprigatito rolled over to nap as the Quaxly sighed in disappointment.

"I'm starting to feel bad for this little guy," Rose remarked.

"We had three pick Quaxly in a row earlier. His time will come," Jacq assured her.

"Congratulations you two! I'm sure they'll be wonderful partners!" Miriam enthused.

"These Pokemon are yours to keep, courtesy of the Academy," Jacq said, "The main purpose is to ensure you have a Pokemon you can apply the lessons of the Academy at all times, regardless of prior acquisitions. It's also to symbolize your time at the Academy, as one that can grow with you on your personal journey. Evolution can still be quite a surprise, though. I had a research Slowbro from Galar I was working with Calvell on; turned out the Wreath we had to evolve it was a Cuff instead that got dusty. Surprised us quite a bit when it melted the refrigerator, but-"

Miriam coughed lightly, bringing Jacq up short on his anecdote. He started, surprised, and glanced at the twins, who were blinking frantically as their Paldean tried to keep up with his faster and faster speaking pace.

"Anyway – some other time," he said more slowly.

"Take some time to get to know your Pokemon – the term opening ceremony is tomorrow after all, maybe take them into town," Jacq encouraged.

Rose glanced towards the out-of-view back of the Academy, where extra battle courts were, and looked at Mei. She was entranced with the little Fuecoco's flame, not looking for a challenge yet. Rose sighed softly.

"We do need to pick up some supplies that aren't at the campus cantina," Rose said. She glanced over the city. It was still very early in the afternoon and even the dots of the Flying Taxis were infrequent as Mesagoza snoozed under the sun.

"This is probably the least busy part of the day until late evening. The Battle Brawl will be later tonight at the central plaza around six, well before the floor warden meeting," Miriam advised.

"I am curious to see how the Academy's best fight," Mei said, sounding more energetic than she had since before the Taxi flight. Bonding with Pome had knocked some of the worries away – though she could feel there was a strain with two connections, it was mild unless she was dumb enough to jump into double battles. Rose nodded.

The two looked at each other and signaled a brief countdown, before setting their Pokemon on the ground.

"Thank you very much," they chorused together with a bow. Jacq nodded, deploying a replacement Fuecoco, which had apparently been asleep in its Poke ball and was intent on getting back to it. Miriam smiled and waved.

The two wandered off towards the steps, waving behind them. They'd brought day packs so they had plenty of space for picking up cooking supplies. Their new Pokemon followed behind, looking at their new trainers a bit cautiously yet.

The steps were still not very busy, and Rose could see there were dots crossing the battle plaza below – even it wasn't in operation.

"So, how's that feel with Pome? That was quite the speech," Rose asked, pointing towards Pome. The fire Pokemon was waddling along happily, enjoying the heat, somersaulting down with each step to continue waddling. Ivy gave a disdainful glance and a dainty jump with each step instead.

"I was working on something this week," Mei admitted. Rose blinked and feigned surprise.
"It's a big moment, it should have the speech to match," Mei said puffing out.

"Now that we're in place with each other and it's passive, it doesn't feel that different from Terpsi, actually, until I go to look at it. The ebb and flow I have with both makes some sense with the embers though, or however I'm interpreting it. Oh by the way, Pomey, on the way back I'm going to rotate you two," Mei warned, speaking to Pome. The croc nodded.

"The connection felt a lot different, though. Terpsi and I fit but I had to reach out, and the moment afterwards felt a lot different with Pome. I think battle will be pretty different but we'll figure it out," Mei said, confident.

Rose waited a moment if she was going to continue, then said, "Well with Ivy, I could feel him circling a bit, like it's more 'behind' him with some ego than with Azucena, she's all over."

"Sorry, should have asked," Mei said.

"It's fine. Both feel pretty good though, it feels 'normal' now compared to something extra before the nap. Hopefully past the worst of that," Rose said.

"Yeah, you definitely had the shakes. Better now?" Mei asked.

"Some exercise is helping. The shock feeling better?" Rose asked.

"Better but I shouldn't push it yet, especially with getting the feel for Pome. I know a battle right away never looks like much, but it is sort of traditional. Can you wait longer?" Mei asked.

"I think so," Rose mused, then glanced at her hand. Still steady, but she put it to work petting Ivy anyway. Mei giggled, taking it as a joke. Rose was still too embarrassed about it to say anything directly.

"I don't think these two would forgive if I went to bed without it. You're definitely battle Pokemon aren't you?" Mei said. Terpsi and Pome did their deepest bellows. Not much, considering.

"I'm glad it didn't have you still down. I… I think Mom made a mistake, though," Rose said.

"Same. I know Mom's operating with good intentions, but I think she made a bad call here versus doing this before the convention," Mei commented. Rose nodded agreement.

Mei glanced around – no one was close by, but she switched to Kantonian anyway. "The Knight never had a fire-type, so completely new ground for me," she reported with some glee.

"The Ranger didn't have anything with dark typing. They had an ugly reputation in Sinnoh. Really ugly, worse than normal for some reason, even given the tricks they sometimes pull," Rose answered back.

"No Petilils in Sinnoh, either. Nothing Mom or… anyone could have prepared for it. Though I hadn't really heard of the Academy's Pokemon species either," Rose said, continuing in Paldean and drifting the subject.

"I haven't heard of them either, really. But there's a lot of easy-to-handle species that mainly exist on reservations, right? Too easy to wipe out the wild population with their popularity," Mei said. Pome made slightly worried noises about that, with Ivy chittering in a chiding tone.

That had the twins stop briefly to look over. "We don't mean like you guys are too weak for the wild. For instance, Galar has Grookey – they really like humans. Really like humans. If they were on unrestricted grounds, the young ones just leap out at even non-trainers passing by. The species ended up on a protected list to maintain a genetic reserve," Mei explained.

"Professors or other higher officials hand them out so they don't get abused," Rose added. "Not that most people mean badly, but they can get along with trainers they shouldn't." Rose's face went dark for a second.

"Had a couple incidents, huh?" Mei asked, knowing the answer. Rose nodded and sighed.

"There's plenty of trainers who aren't very good, or don't work too hard, as 'bad' trainers. That's… education. I'm sure there's other mistakes I'm going to be making in the next few weeks. That's just where we are but you can learn out of it. The other sort sicken me. Remember that scandal a couple years ago at Spikemuth where Piers had to intervene?" Rose asked.

Mei started, having been wondering what mistakes Rose had time to make. She nodded at the question. "I know modern training has plenty of supplements that help speed up a Pokemon's growth and make it easier, but I remember the first pictures before they started censoring out of that Zigzagoon mill," Mei said queasily.

Ivy meowed a question. "Pokemon and humans bond in a pretty snap decision, and it takes a lot for either side to shake even if they should. The relationship can be toxic, sometimes," Rose said sadly.

"Our little trainer school made sure to give the horror stories from a couple generations ago when Poke balls were newer and more… interfering with the bond's emotional component. Trainers would use whips or beat their Pokemon to try and encourage them. Society wasn't as thoroughly integrated with Pokemon then and so a lot of people underestimated your intelligence, too. That sort of nightmare the Leagues have squashed in modern times, thankfully," Mei lectured.

Fuecoco whistled angrily. "Yeah, I know, Pokemon training was still considered sort of a 'special power' some people had when it was more work to bond," Mei said. "It took a while after the Poke ball to realize how much humans just have that capacity, even if they aren't battle trainers. Almost every job has a Pokemon you can work with to make it easier."

"And without as much experience with human-Pokemon teams, people would look at you guys in the wild for how you fight without trainers, and thought you were all pretty stupid. I know humans are better at long-term planning but there were some pretty stupid takes on humanity's superiority," Mei continued.

"There's a lot of myths how the whole human and Pokemon bond got started. Some of them may even be true," Rose reflected.

Ivy purred a question. "Oh? My favorite is that Pokemon and humans split apart so those who wanted power stayed Pokemon, those who wanted knowledge became human, and the two shared emotion to stay connected," Rose recited, then shrugged.

"I don't think we'll know – I think probably we can't, really," Rose finished.

Mei rubbed her stomach, "Right now my emotion is going to hunger, so let's get off these steps."'

---

"I honestly thought our first match was going to be over a package of sausages," Mei remarked for the third time as they reached the base of the stairs again an hour and a half later. The two paused a moment to, as promised, swap their walking Pokemon around.

"I was so disappointed my first match was going to be a street brawl. I was there and I still can't believe she was planning to go all-out over 450P of sausage. Until she tripped over that can she was grabbing three balls off her belt at once," Rose said.

"I still think the two of us could have taken her. I mean, the Nymble she showed in the pictures seemed well taken care of, but that was obviously a pet bond," Mei asserted.

"As intent as she was, she could have reconsidered her decision and broken through right then and there. Given nothing actually happened, it was nice of her to buy all the canned goods in our cart, though. She was really embarrassed how worked up she got," Rose mused. She turned to Azucena, "You were able to pick up on it right? She really loves her Nymble and those sausages were their favorite." The little Petilil nodded assent.

"She snapped out of it pretty quick when she fell. I can't believe you tried to wave off the coupon from the manager, especially what the prices are like. If those marked down prices are normal, I'm going to want to shed a little blood in a few weeks over a sale that good," Mei said.

"She was the one who knocked the beans over when she saw us standing at the meat counter. She really seemed shocked at herself afterwards," Rose pointed out.

"Yeah, that was actual frothing – maybe the heat had gotten to her?" Mei speculated. "Still, I don't think we can afford to ignore that kind of windfall."

Rose sighed. "I'm trying not to think about it," Rose admitted. "Given what the food prices are like in town, the plans we sketched out for wilderness training before the Treasure Hunt are going to hit problems fast." Trainers could strengthen Pokemon up to 'their level' fairly quickly, but it took a lot of work when both were working to expand those limits. Some power would come from an exercise routine, but a lot of the modern 'quick curve' was utilizing modern medicine to set a pace wild Pokemon couldn't match.

"Yeah, I thought it would be tight with the allowance Mom gave, but there's no way to keep up with the Potions a stream of wild Pokemon training for power," Mei said, "You can't just stick close to Pokemon centers."

Terpsi burbled a statement. "Yeah, I know, most wild Pokemon don't get near them because they're 'trainer' areas – so only the really weak or desperate would be there," Mei said.

"Mom had been ordering groceries, I didn't realize the prices had spiked so far this summer over Galar," Rose complained. "Did you catch what the clerk said?"

"Something about Tera Pokemon being a problem. The Paldean League usually offers bounties for taking them out, but even I know we have to get better first before doing that," Mei said. She twisted her braids in annoyance. She hadn't thought about the non-Potion side of budgeting and she was suspicious about how much Hannah had given if she didn't want them to go pro...

The two started climbing the stairs, the two little 'waddling bulbs' jumping up behind. Rose tapped the side of her head thinking. "I doubt Happiny are going to leap out at us, but maybe we should look into if any pet shops or breeders are looking for wild breeds? There are Pokemon who wouldn't mind getting out of the wild to lay by a fire and have a street match every couple months," Rose suggested. Azucena made a disparaging chitter at the lazier examples of Pokemon and did her little flex again.

"I hadn't looked into it but until we can power up with some practice that's probably the best option if there's anything local. Capturing isn't the worse trainer/Pokemon training," Mei said.

"We have a little bit of an edge on captures that we've both memories of Ultra Balls for how to do precision tosses," Rose said.

Mei shrugged, then put her head back and yelled wordlessly in frustration, as Terpsi bounced against her legs. "Sorry," she said, to the other three's surprised faces. "Get to the Academy, and hit the ground running to zoom up trainer ability so we can catch an easy sponsorship in Galar. Instead, we're going to be looking for extra lazy Fidough," she complained, then hung her head down. Rose started to approach but Mei held up a hand. "Let me sulk a second," she requested. Rose sighed.

"Wowsers, you two okay?" asked a teenager coming down the stairs in accented Paldean. He wasn't much taller than the (short) twins, but his voice had changed, so he almost certainly had a couple years on them and was wearing the updated summer uniform they were. His hair was pulled back, exposing a purple underlayer under a surprisingly deep black if it was natural. A Sprigatito was ambling alongside.

Rose looked over at the voice and made a strangled gasp. "Great dragons that look over time and space," she muttered reverently, and rubbed her trio necklace.

Mei looked up at that and squeaked herself at what she was seeing. "Sorry, just rookie grumbling, I'd hate to waste your time," she said quickly.

The young man looked over himself and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Oh, you're not that rookie if you picked me up when I'm not even doing anything," he assured.

"You're the strongest person I've ever seen this close, by a lot," Rose said, mentally waving away a couple reminders of other timelines from the Ranger.

"Our Mom taught us how to assess and keep an eye out so we wouldn't bully people when we were able to start training. Or be bullied," Mei hastily explained, "It's a trick you don't need Pokemon for to learn."

"Are you from Sinnoh then? I thought I heard Kantonian from you two earlier and was coming to ask. You sounded Sinnoh," the boy asked, "But the Paldean trainers aren't as aggressive about fights as there. I just transferred in from Blueberry in Unova."

"Our mother was and we were born there in Solaceon. We lived in Galar most our lives but that stupid language course this summer knocked our accents back to the mother country. Are you from Sinnoh? Your Paldean sort of sounds like ours," Mei observed.

"West of Coronet, sounds more Jubilife but slower," Rose murmured.

"Wowsers, you have a good ear. Carm – my sister always complained we sounded like Goldenrod's idea of what Sinnoh sounded like. I'm from Mossui town in Kitakami. My name's Kieran," Kieran introduced himself.

"I don't know the town," Mei apologized, "But Kitakami's the region south of Sinnoh? Lot of protected wilderness too?"

"That's right. Sinnoh might be a bit more urban, actually. We got Jubilife programming, but I haven't been in person. It was slow in Mossui growing up," Kieran admitted.

"We haven't been to Sinnoh since we were about four. We've seen it on television a few times," Mei admitted.

"Still surprised to see someone from the other side of the world," Kieran said brightly. He gestured at the cat around his legs. "This is the study Pokemon I got given. I have a few other Pokemon but they insisted, so I'm raising him now too," he introduced the little cat, who purred even louder.

"He seems really taken with you already! My new partner's been keeping up appearances," Rose said.

"Oh, you got yours already and these two?" Kieran asked, observing the little grass Pokemon, and looked at them more closely. They felt a brief probe.

"Wowsers, you two just started. And already going for battle, huh?. You got a lot of training to jump to that question already," Kieran observed. Mei preened a bit. Rose shrugged. The two Pokemon jumped in front of them and puffed out their chests.

"Our Mom wanted us to know what we were getting into and caught some Pokemon for us to start with. And maybe try and get us into something more stable as a career. We're general track. I'm not sure her plan worked very well," Mei observed. She picked up Terpsi.

"This is Terpsi, my Bounsweet," she introduced the little bulb. Kieran nodded.

"My Azucena," Rose said shyly, pointing down, where Azucena curtsied in response. "There's a lot more to it going on than I thought," Rose said.

"Pet connection's pretty surface level, and it's not like TV can bother showing everything going back and forth between a trainer and their partners all the time. My last school was a Pokemon academy but justy battle track, so I've gotten a real concentrated education on how far trainers can control," Kieran said, "I'm general track here, though. My homeroom's going to be with Miriam since I'm starting main track from the start outside battle studies."

"We may be in some of the same classes! We're both in Miriam's homeroom. It's nice to meet someone else before it starts," Mei said. Kieran nodded at that.

"Yeah, I'm not always the best at going up to strangers, but I met some people on field trips who are in the upper classes here and convinced me to transfer. It seems really nice so far," Kieran said. He hesitated a bit, then offered, "When we get to battle class, I'd be happy to give a few tips? My specialty is double battles so it may not be much help?" Kieran braced himself, worried a bit about rejection.

Mei bowed, followed a half-second later by Rose. "Anything from a Pokemon Master would be a big help, and we're grateful for anything" Mei assured him.

"Oh wowsers, I wouldn't say I'm at that level," Kieran said rapidly.

"You are," Rose cut across with absolute certainty. The two looked over in surprise. Her gaze was perfectly level and she didn't flinch, though she was staring squarely at chest level. Mei nodded after a moment.

"Wowsers," Kieran muttered.

Mei spoke up, "We were getting groceries, but Miriam had mentioned the Battle Brawl earlier. Would you mind giving us your perspective on a couple of their matches?"

Kieran smiled, happy the mood was lifted a bit. "That's a good idea – I have to go into town myself. Sure, meet halfway on the steps like… ten minutes to six? A couple of my friends may be participating, I'll introduce you!" he offered. The twins nodded and bowed in thanks. Reflexively, Kieran returned it. Glancing up, his new Sprigatito tried to follow the gesture, nearly face planting. Azucena patted it sympathetically as Terpsi struggled to not giggle.

"Thank you," Mei said earnestly. The two moved over so he could pass, and then waved until his head dropped down below their level as he walked down the steps. Mei gave a low whistle.

"He seemed nice!" Rose said brightly as the four resumed walking. Terpsi started hopping up the stairs backwards, keeping an eye out, picking up her trainer's mood.

"That was a very fortunate meeting," Mei said, a little tightly.

"We go to the same school and are in the same class. It's not surprising he was doing a Pokemon selection around the same time to come across one another," Rose said, a little fast.

"Mom always said high-end trainers seem to run into each other more often that they should. Except, we're… not yet. We aren't ready for that," Mei continued anyway.

Rose closed her eyes and focused. When she spoke again, it was steadier, "That's superstition. Powerful trainers seek each other out to test themselves actively, and when there's issues with Pokemon or other trainers, people seek them out for the crisis," Rose said, trying to reassure. Her fingers twitched though, thinking of another person's team somewhere metaphysically far away.

"I don't know if that's a sign of where we're going or what they were. Did we get put here because some disaster's coming? Mom almost seemed to think so," Mei persisted, trying not to hyperventilate.

"Even Lord Dialga can't see the future, or the Galactic Crisis wouldn't happen," Rose said, tones growing clipped. She stopped on the steps and bent down to pat Azucena.

"You think it's just an… introduction?" Mei said hopefully.

When Rose looked up, her eyes glittered. "I know what those two went through, but there's always something foolish going on. People and Pokemon aren't the same, despite everyone's efforts, and so we live separately. Battle trainers live their lives with Pokemon to negotiate that border, and you don't pay that price unless you're ambitious. There's plenty of people who see power as a means to an end. Even before another trainer got jammed in – we've seen plenty of it on TV or Mom when someone offers to match her. Trainers are different. We're closer and want to compete at something, sometimes pretty strongly," Rose said, a tad sadly.

"Yeah," Mei said, "I guess the Knight got her battles pre-picked more so everything was important. I hadn't thought of just, Elite Four wanting to have matches just to have matches, relaly."

"Even Champions don't fight with their partners alone, and we've got each other to keep an eye on," Rose said. She blinked a few times and took a deep breath. Her eyes were clear as she stood up. "I don't think Kieran's some sort of preview of trouble though. He's very strong, but he seemed nice and just wanting to learn. If anything ,it's a sign how many strong trainers are here at Naranja to learn from."

Rose dusted herself up and picked up Azucena. "I know the bet was a tie, but let me make dinner, okay? This was a busy enough day. Get your strength up so we can do the rest of the trainer thing later," Rose said.

"We should call Mom while we're eating," Mei said, "So we can get to the Brawl after." Rose nodded. Rose started up the steps, and Mei looked after a bit before starting. Terpsi jumped up a few steps and burbled a soft question. Mei scooped her into her arms.

"Yeah, she's always had some of that, but that was more. There's some trainer path she's starting down," Mei answered softly, "I need to find mine."

---

Rose stood in Mei's room, working on what was going to be tamagoyaki, with any luck. Her two Pokemon peered curiously at the pan on the hot plate before going back to their food.

"Sorry I'm used to the bigger pan here, I think I put in too many eggs," Rose apologized, as it wasn't quite solidifying how she was used to.

"You've done two dishes more on that thing than I would have already for dinner. Come eat already, Pome's going to get bored," Mei insisted. She was holding Rose's portion of the three dishes (they'd been forewarned enough to bring a couple small rice cookers as well) on a plate over the little fire Pokemon's head where his flame 'hair' was being a decent chafing dish.

Mei was tossing little tidbits of food into the waiting Fuecoco's maw to keep him entertained with her free hand. "Okay, he likes the sour ones the best, so we're going to need to get more lemon juice next week," she reported.

"That doesn't look like bad energy-control training in general, especially if you start moving the 'hot spot' around," Rose observed as she waited on the eggs.

"Yeah, but meanwhile he's only going to be hungry so long and I don't want to have hold him in place for something like this," Mei insisted.

"We got two Pokemon tied in to feed and support – each, plus climbed those steps twice. Even if you're stressed you burned a lot today – you've eaten three quarters of that plate already even if you're not hungry, so I need to cook more," Rose said without looking up.

"How is your peripheral vision better than mine?" asked Mei for probably the hundredth time.

"In this case? Practice to keep my sister from spiraling. Also probably less reading at night under the covers," Rose said. The Pokemon were working through their portions, plus a few basic nutrition supplements. The stress of the day had them hungry too, since they were working through an unfamiliar cuisine.

"We're glad you like Kanto cooking – we can't do Galar more than about once a week with the grease and Paldean is even heavier," Mei said.

Rose's Pokemon were keeping her company on the kitchenette counter still as they finished up. Ivy mewed a question.

"Mom left Sinnoh but you can't leave the cookbook behind, it seems. It left us all with girlish figures but I can barely look at a plate of chips without feeling queasy" Rose said.

"I half suspect it's why we're short. Beef was business in Solaceon so Mom's never cooked very meat-heavy," Mei added. The twins hadn't broken 130 centimeters yet.

"Okay, this is as rolled up as I'm going to manage tonight," Rose said, flipping the rolled eggs up on a plate and slicing it up. "You want ketchup?"

"Ketchup one, lemon if you have any on the other. I think I've about got Terpsi's favorite," Mei said. While Pome had been volunteered to be handfed slowly, the Bounsweet was messily working through her plate with determination. She didn't have much height off the table so was basically face first into it, leaving about forty centimeters of destruction all around her in a splash zone.

Rose finally stopped starting other dishes and came over to eat. Pome stood in place even as Rose's other dishes were on the table, and everyone ate for a bit besides Mei feeding her crocodile. Eventually the twins stopped after packing it away – watching Terpsi chase choice tidbits around her plate, scattering debris, with smiles.

"Have you tried anything dry? I don't think I had anything specific in that flavor – I have no idea what she's eating right now," Rose said.

"She did sip some of the tea and didn't like it – so I don't think dry. It's probably sweet. What're yours looking like for shopping?" Mei said.

"Azucena ate a whole lemon peel and the hot sauce went first for Ivy, so two sours, a sweet, and a spicy. That should be easy to work with," Rose said.

"And you and I like grapes and astringents but we have quiet natures," Mei joked.

"I'm going to take tea over grapes when we're budgeting, though," Rose said firmly.

"That reminds me we should call Mom… after I wash Terpsi here," Mei said. The little Pokemon looked up, but any attempt at offended dignity was lost under the mess she'd left.

"We'll get some raised dishes so it's easier for you to eat, honey," Mei assured her. Rose dragged her phone out.

"No, no let me wash Terpsi," Mei insisted, picking the Pokemon up gingerly to bring over to the sink.

"No this is just blackmail when she's grown up," Rose said with a grin, taking a quick shot of the retreating Terpsi. Terpsi shrieked a bit, but Mei dunked her under the faucet before she could build much steam.

"Also putting a reminder note to myself– I need to put out some of the soil we bought after the Brawl. Azucena needs to plant herself now and then for best health, like Terpsi does," Rose said. She glanced at Ivy and asked, "Do you need to eat any or just want the grass? You don't really have roots." Ivy shrugged and mewed indecisively.

"I guess feeding grass would be preferable, it sounds like," Mei noted.

"Most of the Pokedex entry is about how good your fur smells. Who wrote some of these?" Rose complained. Mei shrugged.

"I'm not sure I believe half the flavor text numbers from the entries I looked at," Mei admitted, rinsing Terpsi off. Soap wasn't a good idea with her membrane skin, but she at least could be wiped down. The little Pokemon cooed under the water stream as it finished.

"Don't take in too much of it, you're going to overwater yourself," Mei instructed. Terpsi shot her a look but obligingly shook the excess water off her leaves.

"Ooh she aimed that pretty well into the sink," Rose complimented. Terpsi hopped out of it and chittered happily.

"Yeah she's all ready to start really buckling into things more complicated than body tackles," Mei said cheerfully.

"I guess we're about ready to call. How do I look?" Rose asked.

Mei looked over her sister, whose hair was in a quick ponytail, tresses falling down around her neck. She still hadn't gotten around to doing makeup. To cap it off, she was still wearing one of the oversized Grow Sures aprons Hannah had brought home as promotional items.

"That you and sanity are trying a long-distance relationship while stress moves in," Mei judged. Rose gave a thumbs up.

"Great! Otherwise, I was going to throw flour at my face to get the point across," Rose said cheerfully, and then in more strained tones, "Mom's pulling something and I don't know why." Azucena chittered curiously.

"No, the sensory overload was more just the stress – Mom couldn't have known how bad it would be. Also, she likes parties so she doesn't quite get how we recharge. And she couldn't expect the dragons to be giving a 'gift' this morning. And with all that 'experience', added, we didn't think about trainer shock either and take any steps. I'm more suspicious on the money. Advanced education means the usual method for young trainers is out," Rose explained.

"The traditional income source for young wanderers on training journeys is forfeits from defeating city-bound pet Pokemon, to help them get the matches they need in. Later it's working for institutions like Gyms or winning tournaments," Mei lectured the curious-looking Pome. "The school year isn't structured for that."

"I had been wondering why Mom had kept insisting on doing all the shopping, even when she had to leave for a whole week," Mei continued, grousing.

"If we hadn't been so busy unpacking the dining room, we probably would have thought more on that," Rose said.

Mei tsked and looked up for a moment, crossing her arms in frustration, then looked at her sister. "I don't like to lose," she stated.

"I'm… aware?" Rose said hesitantly. "I mean, we can call later if you want a match."

"Oh not right after eating. And it's real tempting to bite Mom's head off with everything else, so I need you to lead the call," Mei said switching over languages. Her cheeks were flushed and she didn't want to bother translating in her head any more.

"Fine, but I'd like to think of why first," Rose said, smoothly transitioning.

"Slow us down, maybe, for how fast we can increase our strength to power up our partners? We only promised a year at the Academy," Mei theorized.

"I don't know. Common wisdom is the Galar circuit is a pretty safe training journey if an endorsement did drop out of the sky," Rose said.

With visible effort, Mei closed her eyes and exhaled some tension, switching back to Paldean, "I really wish I could solve this. Okay – we shouldn't put the call off just because it feels like something's lurking behind. We need to do something on the allowance; we'll be two months on the Treasure Hunt this term, and it'd be best if we have the funds to buy those supplies ahead of time."

Rose said politely, "Hey Rotom phone? We're ready to make a call." A thought occurred to Rose as the phone hovered and dialed itself, "Ooh, I'll bet cleanup that the first thing out of her mouth is we look a fright or something like it, instead of 'how are we doing?'." Mei pointed back. It was on.

Mei pulled a chair out to sit close to Rose. "Right, let's do this," she said determinedly.

---

Hannah was at home, sitting glumly at the dinner table with the also depressed house Pokemon. She missed the girls, and the chatter. Worries about what was up and into their heads wasn't helping. It definitely was them this morning, and that they weren't happy either was a strong point.

She'd done everything she could to try and nudge them from being noticed. Naranja was a blessing. Quiet Paldea wouldn't help jumpstart their careers. She'd not picked up on the Circuit in Galar until the girls got interested, but 'natural talents' like them always got overhyped. And in Galar, hype was money and power. Here, they were students.

She'd missed lunch worrying over it and was now working an early dinner. The only saving grace in whatever was looking out at them is the added memories seemed to be giving them some mature expectations on their trainer growth. They weren't seeming to want to run around insistent they were future champions and attract some sort of attention or have miraculous expectations what they were capable of. Small blessing in such a tainted package.

The twins being better cooks than her wasn't helping her mood either.

The phone lifted off the table suddenly, startling poor Spicy and Sweet to roll off the table. Hannah looked underneath to see if the Oddishes were okay (surprised but not injured) and when she looked up, she saw Yodeller ready to pounce. The Meowth's tail was lashing as he stared with broad eyes at the phone.

"No Yodeller, that's not a cat toy! Rotom phone, over here!" Hannah called. The phone, happy to get the order, zipped through the air as Yodeller's jaws closed on empty air. The little spirit-infested smartphone sighed with relief.

"We're really still not used to the whole possessed phone thing," Hannah muttered an apology to the haunted accessory. The phone bobbed in the air, indicating an incoming call. It was Rose's new Paldean number, and Hannah ran her hands through her hair, sure she was a mess, before tapping the accept icon.

It was apparently the dorms, probably Mei's judging by the Milo plushie bronco-busting a Flapple in the background. Rose and Mei looked small on the screen, having sat back far enough so both could appear. Rose put her hand up to wave, as Mei said listlessly, "Hey Mom."

"You two look terrible," Hannah blurted out of worry, before she could catch herself. Rose looked downright scraggly; strands escaping her ponytail, and pale beside under her light tan. Mei was usually paler than her sister and almost had a pallor as a result.

They'd been downright bubbly yesterday, eager and raring to go, talking over each other. You couldn't believe it now.

Rose ducked out of view, face in her hands, shaking a bit. Mei patted her awkwardly on the back. "Trainer shock first day. Both of us," Mei hastily explained.

Hannah closed her eyes in pain. She'd tried to prepare, but still, hearing that they were in pain or stumbling on their journey hurt. Mental exhaustion as the sensory system got used to the bonding. It wasn't common, but always a possibility, and so mundane. She'd simply not thought of it with planning to surprise the girls before they headed to Naranja. Her intention had never been to affect them with their partners, just… slow them down.

"How are you two feeling then? Did you battle already?" Hannah asked. Self-blame could come later. They were baby trainers who'd jumped right into full bond without thinking. A Pokemon's emotions could come through pretty strongly at first, even or especially without Psychic talent.

"Tired and no," Rose said, voice quavering. She lifted her head into view and her eyes were watery and almost lit, before she ducked back down and her back quavered. Mei gave her a dirty look, then looked at the phone and nodded in agreement.

It wasn't like Rose to wilt like this. "Did it go okay with your partners today? The school program too?" Hannah asked. Hopefully trouble hadn't found them.

"Oh!" Mei said, then reached down to the ground, scooping up the little Bounsweet from earlier – which looked to have a downright sheen - and then again to retrieve a small red reptilian Pokemon. It whistled happily.

"This is Pome, he's a Fuecoco and a great singer! So far, they seem happy, and he seems to be coming through okay – though it's really different than Terpsi. They both ate dinner fine," Mei said.

Rose sat back up, her shoulders were still shaking a little. She made a motion without saying anything. A little green cat Pokemon leapt up to her lap, then crawled up her shirt to stand on both her shoulders. Rose winced a little at the claws but smiled tentatively as the cat started rubbing her head with its own.

The Petilil – she'd thought that had been a good match candidate – then jumped onto Rose's lap.

Rose took a deep breath. "Ivy here," she motioned to the cat, "is happy so far. He and Azucena seem to have their boundaries set up with each other fine." Rose ducked to bend her face out of view again. Mei shook her head.

"We still need to try them out in full battle to see how we'll do but there's some sort of Academy match tonight we're going to go see first," Mei explained. Rose looked up briefly at that, smiling, before ducking again.

Hannah opened her mouth, then closed it. Her trainer experience was busy yelling in the back of her head that Rose looked like she was in battle withdrawal. Rose had a rough enough day without her mother implying she was an amateur though.

Mei looked at her, sighed, then nudged her briefly. Hannah forced a smile. They definitely had natural talent, and if Mei had bonded so well outside her natural specialization so readily, that did speak to her getting some experience from what the dragons were up to. It looked like full speed ahead despite her efforts. Still, there was the battle ahead that could be a problem.

"Maybe be gentle with Rose right now," Hannah cautioned. A little overenthusiasm right away might have them overcorrect and keep people uninterested in usually dull low badge battles.

"She's going to be fine, Mom," Mei said, sounding annoyed, and context switching. That apparently had survived this morning's transition.

Rose coughed a few times and held a hand up asking to wait for a second. When she looked up, her face was set in determination, her mouth a thin line, if quivering a little at the corners.

"We," Rose's voice shot up in pitch and she shook her head and tried again, "We do have some concerns on the allowance for supplies – prices in Mesagoza are a lot higher than we expected." Hannah blinked a few times. The pragmatic problem of money was so far from her fretting on someone swallowing up her girls' destinies it took a bit to process.

"You could eat out in Galar -– at a fairly nice place – for what dinner cost," Mei said, standing up and turning the phone to look briefly at a table set with empty plates, though gleaming with leftover sauce. Hannah's stomach rumbled and she shook herself, back in control by the time Mei adjusted the phone back to viewing the twins.

"I thought we were shopping conservatively but this is really going to literally eat into what we'd budgeted for training. We double-checked the League bounty system but I have to say it'll be awhile before we can do anything that would bring in consistent points for quite a while Unless the dragons wave a wand and make us champions," Rose said soberly. Hannah shivered at the thought, though tried to keep her expression even.

"No base trainer power boost, no moves, we really got skimped on for how these stories go," Mei sighed.

"Just hope they're done!" Hannah said sharply, finally overcome with frustration at the situation. The twins looked at her in surprise. Rose opened her mouth to say something then thought better of it.

"Sorry – I'm not happy about this, obviously," Hannah said. The twins nodded cautiously, not sure why she'd set off.

"On the money thing, budget's going to be an issue for how fast we can acquire new Pokemon and advanced training supplies instead of our physical and emotional limits," Rose insisted, pressing the point.

Hannah cursed inwardly. They'd planned this conversation and their talking points out. She was playing catchup and that was never a good position to be when trying to say 'no' to the twins.

"Give it a week and let me see your bills, and I can think about changing it up. There's a bit of flexibility left with the new job," Hannah stalled. The twins nodded.

"You two do look terrible. I know you said you wanted to see a match but if you have the energy for either battling or seeing one, go with the former. It really is best to get that in especially if you're battle synched," Hannah advised. Rose ducked down again. From the quick sounds the poor girl almost seemed to be in tears.

"Okay Mom," Mei said, shooting Rose a dirty look again. Rose just put a hand in the air and gave a thumbs up.

"Take care of yourselves, you can beat this down. I love you both," Hannah said.

"Love you too, Mom," Mei assured.

"Love you," Rose quavered.

Hannah cut the connection and sighed. They were onto her. And besides that, she wouldn't see them for weeks.

"I'm still worried about them, but there isn't anything more I can do now," Hannah admitted to Yodeller. The Meowth nodded back and made a beckoning gesture at the phone.

"All right, all right, I'll get the lure," Hannah said, rolling her eyes. Yodeller purred with victory.

---

"If you're going to keep winning bets off stuff Mom does, you really need to be able to not burst into laughter in front of her," Mei accused. Rose's lips were still twitching with amusement as she held her stomach, keeping it to quiet giggles.

"I got out of sight in time. You're just mad you lost. You'd have been worse, you cackle," Rose predicted confidently and finally burst into full laughter. Mei folded her arms and didn't deny it, but she didn't join in either.

"She didn't agree to anything," Mei said, changing subjects. Rose sobered quickly at that.

"Yesterday I'd have thought we won more than we had there," Rose said flatly. Ivy meowed denial but Rose shook her head.

"So, I know our big plan last spring to be Champions was to do the wandering trainer journey like Mom did in the Wild Area to get attention and endorsements. The Academy's going to offer a lot. I don't know how they are as teachers, but between Miriam, Jacq, and Kirian we've met so far – the trainers are amazing. We'll learn a lot. And without having to camp all the time," Mei said, leaving the sentence hanging.

Rose wiped her eyes of any remaining laughter tears and waited. "…. But?" she finally prompted.

"But, well, ah, the Knight was high enough in Team Flare she didn't have to think about money. At all. I'm not sure she was paid, so I'm not sure how we're going to fix the funding problem," Mei admitted.

"Rangers and Victory Road trainers get a lot of their equipment, and not much salary. It's more about the good work and prestige and training opportunities in the deep wilds. I don't think the Ranger had an apartment to herself," Rose said.

"Yeah, she didn't burst out of Solaceon a Ranger though," Mei said.

"Three years, usually on the road or in Pokemon Center hostel dorms. A lot of odd jobs like construction help or courier duties. She spent a lot of time trying to track down specific Pokemon in areas. Never, ever decide you want a Munchlax in Sinnoh, by the way. She wasn't mobile enough to encounter enough new towns to always get by on forfeits. There were a few small tournament prizes, but you know – the open sky, your Pokemon, the whole romantic ideal of it all. Even with the fog in the way for how she felt, I can tell it wasn't very easy."

"We really did count on packing in a week's training on the weekend with the help of medicine to keep the pace up while going to the Academy compared to the Wild Area," Mei said. She patted Terpsi on her leaves. "Sorry, girl, we're not going to go as fast as you probably picked up on this morning." Terpsi nudged the hand back, chittering reassuringly.

"Ugh, pace," Rose moaned, recalling something else.

"What?"

"We're bonded with Pokemon. Legally adults in most regions," Rose said.

"What's that on the money situation? I'm still happy to be with these two, I just was hoping we'd hit the top faster. Did you want a longer childhood?" Mei asked.

"Do you remember the biological justification we covered in basic trainers' school as to why Pokemon are usually distributed in this age range?" Rose asked.

"Oh. Right," Mei said flatly. Humans didn't have sudden and huge growth spurts like Pokemon did for their evolution. Why was one of the big biological mysteries that humans had longer and slower growth periods. But what was known was there was something in the pituitary that really started to kick in when the bonding neurons got triggered, even with pets. Technically you could go without a Pokemon and grow up, eventually. No one really did.

"Yeah. I remember. You're a Lass for life without Pokemon, as the saying goes. It usually starts in two years of starting training, pet or battle," Mei recalled. She groaned, "Puberty was hell enough without having any idea how bad it would be. I'm pretty sure the Knight was on mood stabilizers? Those didn't work well at all for a couple years."

"Yeah, I mean, it's a 'who knows when' after that clicks into place, just it'll be happening probably fairly soon. So that again won't be fun," Rose groused.

The twins groaned. Their Pokemon blinked up at them not quite following for once – their maturation cycle was easy in comparison to humanity's.

"Yeah, it'll be fine. I mean, eventually it'll be fine," Mei half-babbled and shook herself. "That's not this year's problem though. Probably. Just something to dread."

"Let's get going towards the plaza. Kieran's experienced, he may have some good ideas on the money front for beginning trainers. Or we're going to be looking up pet stores," Rose suggested.

"Yeah, I hope he doesn't want to get into the middle of the Brawl if it's a big thing. It was noisy enough earlier," Mei predicted gloomily.

"True, I'm going to go freshen up a little," Rose said, and smiled, "You have to do the dishes." She ducked as Mei tossed a dishtowel at her.

---

Ivy and Pome were out again as they headed down the steps with five minutes to go. Since school wasn't technically in session, they'd switched out of uniforms again. The afternoon sun was starting to lower in the sky. The heat was coming to an end with a pleasant breeze blowing from the Great Crater's direction. Mei shook her head as she watched Ivy pounce at each lengthening shadow on the steps in turn, pawing cheerfully at the small darkness before racing back to Rose and doing again. Pome was just somersaulting cheerfully down the steps.

"I can tell you're setting targets for her," Mei observed, "That's pretty good control for non-battle, even given how we're aligned."

"It's just suggestions, but she seems to like me so far. I'm really pleased, and can't wait to try battle," Rose said with a smile, before it fell. "It's really different than Mom described – the Ranger was more bundled too, but that could be the physics thing with the energy? I'm trying to figure it out. You and Terpsi seem on a good wavelength, too."

"Yeah, I want to get those good vibes with Pome – he understands me speaking fine and is in a good mood so far. A couple times I feel like I could almost whistle along to his song, but it goes in and out," Mei said.

"That's great on day one!" Rose said encouragingly.

Mei glanced at Pome, and whispered to Rose, "What if he doesn't like what he sees when he gets in deeper? Like I'm too… cold."

"Oh, Mei," Rose said sadly, and grief battled with a real desire to pep Mei up long enough for her to throw down. "You spotted his song right away," she whispered back, "I'm sure you can work it out!"

Pome whistled encouragingly, even as he kept rolling. "See, he wants to work on it," Rose announced. Mei smiled.

"Sorry, just a lot today," Mei said, bowing to everyone. Ivy held up a disdainful paw in acknowledgement before going back to jumps.

They reached the middle steps' plaza and looked around – they were technically early, and found a bench to chatter.

Mei's idle speculation on which part of Naranja Academy would have been the hypothetical gym was interrupted by Kieran running up the steps in haste. An Applin evolution the twins didn't recognize was hopping up the steps besides him.

"Have you been waiting long?" were the first words out of his mouth – he wasn't even out of breath. The twins shook their heads.

"Thank you again," Mei said, bowing. Rose followed the lead after a second. Pome took the opportunity to tumble forward in a summersault with his bow as Ivy looked at Kieran noncommittally. The gooey Applin-type extended a couple of syrpents to look at the two rookies curiously, before the heads started snapping at each other until a larger center head smacked them.

"Did you find your friends? We aren't keeping you?" Rose asked.

"Oh, they're getting ready for the Brawl, so we'll catch up more later. Florian's pretty booked with League Tera Raids before classes start, so I wasn't even sure he'd be here," Kieran said, "Nemona I was expecting – you two should meet her, she apparently helps organize these, and she loves the match side of Pokemon training. Deeply."

Mei nodded, "Did she suggest a good spot? It looks like there's starting to be a crowd." Looking down the next few tiers of steps, the silhouettes of people gathering around the battle plaza were starting to form a loose ring.

"Nemona's usually in these so she wasn't sure. Florian said the crowd's gotten heavier than when they started at the end of the term. He never saw it this thick during the week. There's some space on the first tier of the steps you can see the plaza at so we can talk away from the action. Sorry, I'm not a crowd person." The twins didn't even need to look at each to give hasty assurances that would be fine.

Pome sniffed the air and bent over towards the syrupy apple Pokemon, tongue extended, only to get knocked back by three syrpents that popped out. Pome tumbled back up, surprised more than any injury. "Pome! That's not an eating Pokemon!" Mei chided, scooping him up.

"Sorry, he's new. I should have paid better attention," she apologized. Pome growled apologetically and Mei sent him back down.

Kieran laughed, "It's fine – Hydrapple gets a lot of attention here in Paldea," he explained. The syrpents seemed to have a brief discussion before they all bowed.

"Is that his name? What's the species called?" Rose asked, "Galar had Appletun and Flapple Applin."

"Oh, Blueberry Academy discouraged nicknames. Hydrapple's Hydrapple," Kieran explained, "There's a really sticky apple variant we grow in Mossui Town that can evolve Applin into Dipplin if they burrow in. Then he powered up with a move to reach Hydrapple." The syrpents bowed.

Ivy who was keeping a distance from the sticky, meowed equitably, and pawed Rose's leg. She bent down and petted but but shook her head. "No, you don't need a trainer boost with a stone or a move. It's just once you get enough power. Of course I'll be helping with that." Ivy growled under his breath a bit.

"Day one and ready to skip to the end, huh?" Kieran said. Ivy puffed his chest up.

"Oh, he got that really well – you're good," Rose said, impressed.

"I'm not bad with grass really, though I wouldn't call it a specialty. Mossui Town put apples in my veins, I guess," Kieran said, playing it down.

He motioned, and the group started down the steps. Mei asked, "What else are you using, if I can ask? I nearly went with a Sprigatito but I'm trying to consider diversity early." Rose rolled her eyes behind her sister but said nothing.

"Oh, uh, I have a lot of partners I'm close to. I know they can say you can with with any Pokemon, but my battle team are my stronger partners, mainly. I've got a Poliwrath and a Politoed I'm switching out, an Incineroar," Kieran paused, closed his eyes, and said, cautiously, "A Dragonite…"

"I've heard those aren't easy to raise even if you can find one! Congratulations!" Mei said.

"I don't know Incineroar but I'm not up on all the Kanto or Kitakami Pokemon," Rose admitted, pulling out her phone. "How do you spell that?"

Kieran spelled out the wrestling cat's name a bit disbelievingly, then added, "That's a pretty even reaction."

"You're obviously a high-level trainer. You've worked hard, and you have the Pokemon to match," Rose said with a shurg, "My hometown's gym is dragons and a lot of people think our gym leader would be Elite Four grade anywhere outside Galar."

"I mean, if you want to show us the Dragonite, I won't say no," Mei said, attempting to be coy.

"How did you think we should act?" Rose asked, looking up from her phone.

"A lot of people think I'm trying to put them down, or don't even want to have a match. That there's no way they can fight a Dragonite," Kieran admitted.

"A lot of people are stupid, if they just look at a Pokemon species and figure that's it," Mei muttered. Kieran shot a grateful look.

"I'm pretty sure I couldn't fight your Sprigatito and win by… next week at the latest if I'm remembering the catch-up rules of thumb right, but I'd be willing to give it a shot," Rose said. Ivy chuffed in agreement.

"Thank you – though I put a lot of people off with Dragonite too. There was a school competition at Blueberry I didn't enter with a lot of grace," Kieran admitted.

"Is that where you met Florian? Miriam said Naranja had a partner school in Unova yesterday," Rose asked.

"Actually, a combined school trip. We started to be friends, but we had an adventure he did better on than me and I didn't handle that well either. Florian forgave me when I got my head a little straighter when he visited Blueberry," Kieran said.

"Gold fever?" Mei asked.

"Sort of," Kieran said evasively, "I had been too wrapped in myself to be a good trainer before, but I was an absolutely lousy winner when I started to get the trainer problems solved. Blueberry uses battle standings for a lot, and… I don't think it was good for me. Naranja doesn't care if you're a battler. Florian's an awesome trainer anyway and a good guy, so I thought Naranja would help me," Keiran said, sounding a bit rehearsed.

"He sounds like quite a guy," Mei said. Whatever Kieran was going through, it sounded exciting, but also intensely personal. Mei might have had a different opinion on pushing yesterday but this morning had upper the stakes there.

"I appreciate this favor, again. If it's Florian's example you're following, thank him for me as well, if you could?" Rose said politely. They'd reached the waist-high partition blocking the edge of the stairs tier. While buildings rose to the east and west, there was a gap to see the battle plaza perpendicular to them.

"This is the kind of thing he'd do," Kieran admitted cheerfully.

The figures were a bit small but distinguishable from here – they'd miss some of the details but also the noise was greatly diminished, and Mei found herself getting excited now that the crowd wouldn't be right in her ears.

Mei fiddled with her phone, and set it to hover over the wall. "Think I got zoom and record going – Rose can you get the east side of the field?" Rose nodded.

"I really need to read through the manual on these. We couldn't get these or XTransceivers in Mossui," Kieran said.

"There's a bunch of filters too but that's not useful for recording battles. Galar's official broadcasts did a bunch of fast cuts between both Pokemon and both trainers the last few years for the best matches, so we got used to watching the long-shot pirate footage," Mei said.

"That and the announcers love to scream. Even after our spoken Galarian got okay, we had to have the closed captioning on for the announcer if we were watching Stadium matches until we were seven. The noise level up here seems much better," Rose reminisced.

"I'm not sure if they have an announcer for these. With all those buildings it must get garbled if they do," Kieran mused.

"Did your friends explain the Brawl format?" Rose asked.

"Six on six full battle single-elimination. Full healing, item and Tera Orb charge between rounds. It'll be single format like most Paldean battles. Nemona was thinking of trying a doubles version but there's no professional battle tower here, so no one's really practiced on it," Kieran said.

"They weren't kidding about it being the Academy best if it's full six on six battles," Mei said, impressed.

"Yeah, I've not seen many of those for public tournaments. I hope the city likes it. A bad matchup can take a while to get done and isn't very exciting," Kieran mused.

"Testing – testing," crackled a voice over hidden speakers, "All right – um! You all asked for its return, with the term not starting yet, we have a short preview. Welcome back to the Battle Brawl – the Academy Ace Tournament! Naranja's best students and faculty show off their Pokemon battling skills for Mezagoza's enjoyment, and their glory!" The announcer voice was quickly warming up to the job.

"Huh, there must be speakers up here, that was pretty clear," Rose said. She looked around but couldn't spot any.

The battle court on the palza was surrounded two-deep by a group of interested citizens and presumably students, though everyone was avoiding their uniforms as long as they could so the distinctive orange wasn't sticking out.

"No judge stand?" Mei noted.

"I can't see that or an announcer table – they must be in one of the buildings. Wowsers, more of an operation than I thought from how Nemona had described it," Kieran said, shading his eyes.

Two figures broke through the crowd – one a taller dark-haired man in a pink shirt, and the other a young woman wearing an orange skit and white blouse with tights – a few grand strands of hair sticking forward from a ponytail. She was visibly, even at this distance, clutching a Poke ball in an arm with a brace.

"That's Nemona on the west side," Kieran identified the younger participant. "She's really good. She'll probably win, though I don't know her opponent."

"Starting up today's match – yours and mine's student council president Nemona, versus the homey and tough king of cuisine, Naranja Instructor Saguaro!"

The two sized each other up momentarily, and then in a blur of motion threw Poke balls forward. The crowd roared as they clicked open, light exploding out of them as the match began.

---

A/N: Ah, finally getting to the battles. Not quite time for the so-called battle junkie to meet someone who kind of needs a fix at the moment.

Sort of a justification why everyone immediately throws your brand new partner before you know anything about it in games would imply that's almost traditional or mandatory in the Pokeverse.

As a universe building, you've got people who have Pokemon as pets (or helpmates for work) and people who they and Pokemon dove deep into each other (usually for battle since the reaction speed boost and not needing to shout commands is a huge advantage, but also for work! Or pets, if you're semi-retired).

Going for the latter generally has you keep going for the latter, and so it's a real decision. You're living, for better or worse, with Pokemon to a much greater degree than the casual person walking their Zigzagoon on the street.

Since humans seem pretty normal and pretty much everything else nowadays in the games/anime/manga are Pokemon, there's got to be some interesting and pretty out there 'how did this happen?' theories in fringe Pokemedia.

Yeah, Rose was trying not to fall out of her seat laughing during the call and the twins' mother wasn't quite picking up on it.

Made a small edit 5/31 near the start on Rose's reflecting