He ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

Every muscle burned. His lungs screamed for a reprieve. The simple act of putting one leg in front of the other was already an arduous feat, and slowly becoming a growing impossibility. Still, he willed himself forward. He had no other choice.

He could hear them closing in behind him. People shouting, tracker Pokémon barking, vehicles and machinery revving and whirring in pursuit. He'd been a fool to think they wouldn't notice him stealing it—it was only their highest priority asset, the culmination of hundreds of millions in costs being sunk for the sake of fostering the perfect conditions for it to have been born.

The egg wasn't particularly large, but its shape and weight made it cumbersome to run with. It would have been vastly easier with an incubator, but he hadn't the time to even consider grabbing one as he fled the facility. As it was, his far below average stamina was dragging them down. His plan had been to grab the egg and run to hide somewhere safe, but that was quickly becoming a non-option. They were going to find him, and if they found him with the egg, then this entire effort would have been for nothing.

It set in that his life was effectively over. But what other choice was there? Endure what was happening emotionlessly, pretend to act like what they were doing was right? The things they did to that poor egg's mother... it was inhumane. Torture, to an extent that had grown well beyond the scope of mere scientific curiosity. Everyone knew what repeated exposure to Mega Evolution did to Pokémon, but no one had cared. That the Ethics Committee had signed off on such experimentation had been the cruelest of jokes; a reminder that their existence was a farce, and their approval a formality.

Even if he was only a low-level engineer, he was still a person. No one, person or Pokémon, deserved the pain they had inflicted. Much less for the sake of some vague "renewable energy source" that no one could give him a straight answer to when he asked about it.

They were getting closer. They were going to catch him soon, and quickly. A matter of minutes. It pained him to do so, and it was a huge risk, but he had to drop off the egg. Somewhere safe, where they wouldn't bother looking too closely. Their resources were vast, but there was a limit to how much even they could look without overstepping the law or making themselves look suspicious. Even better if someone took it in their house, or a similarly private-owned property.

To his knowledge, there were virtually no residential properties along the route. There was plenty of dense forest, but that would only hide it for so long—or even worse, a wild predator might get the idea to eat the egg. His mind scrambled for a place, anywhere, that would work.

As if on cue, a building came into view. It was a nursery—he was shocked he had forgotten it was here. It would have to do. It was ideal, even. Who better to take in and raise an egg than people who had made a career of it?

Coming to a stop, he gently placed the egg by the doorstep. He rang the chime once, twice, and then a third time for good measure. He shrugged off his puffer jacket and draped it across the egg, in part to keep it hidden and in part to keep it warm. He had no idea what such long exposure to the chilly night air would do to it.

He had to leave, now. Despite that, he carefully rubbed the side of the egg, feeling the warmth and life within. Though it was born of pain, through circumstances it would hopefully never have to comprehend, the possibility within this egg was almost limitless. It was why they'd tried so hard to conceive it, after all. But it deserved better than the white walls it would be trapped in, likely forever.

"Please, be safe," he whispered to the egg, tears beginning to stain his vision. "Be healthy, be happy. That's all I'll ever want for you. Whatever you do with your life... make it your own."

He couldn't afford to stay too long. Steeling himself, he stood up with a breath and dashed in the opposite direction of the nursery. If all went well, they'd avoid the place entirely. He'd just have to hope for the best.

The man's figure faded, as did the entourage that was chasing him. Not long after he'd faded away, the door to the nursery opened. An older woman looked around warily. "Who could have rung the chime at this hour?"

When she was met with no answer, she looked down to see a clothed mound by the door. Removing the jacket draped over it revealed a single, lonely egg. Instantly, she understood. "Oh, dear," she cooed softly, picking up the egg and rocking it softly. "How sad. Fret not, little one. We've plenty of room for you inside."

The egg seemed to shake just the tiniest bit in response, surprising the woman. "My, energetic, are we? I wonder what you'll grow to be. Something beautiful and proud, no doubt."

Carefully, she shut the door, taking the abandoned egg inside with her. And the night turned still once more.

"So," Gloria began, arms folded. "What d'you know about fightin' games?"

That hadn't been what Cassius had anticipated hearing this early in the morning. "What, like... the video games?"

"Only one genre called fightin' games, yeah?"

"Okay, okay, let me think." He searched his brain. "You mean like, Street Brawler?"

"Not lookin' for you to name names. How do fightin' games work?"

He had no idea where she was going with this. "Um... you punch and kick until your opponent's health bar is zero?"

Gloria sighed. "Obviously. How is it you do that, though?"

"... by punching and kicking?"

If Gloria's exasperated expression was any indication, that was the wrong answer. "So if I gave you a controller right now, 'nd we booted up Street Brawler, do you think you could beat me by 'punching and kicking' until my health bar was zero?"

Cassius deflated slightly. "Well, no."

"Why's that?"

"Because you're probably better at the game than I am."

"Duh," Gloria flipped her brown hair back. It had gotten longer in recent weeks, Cassius noticed. "Why is it I'm better than you?"

That was easy. "Because you probably know all the combos, and how to counter whatever it is I would do."

Gloria pointed at him with a snap. "Bingo. I know the combos, and I can stop you from using any. I control the pace of the fight. Sound familiar?"

It did. "There's no way you just used training me as an excuse to flex that you're good at fighting games."

"S'the most easily understood comparison," Gloria defended. "And s'hardly my fault that I'm so talented."

She walked into the middle of the secluded clearing they'd claimed. It was morning, traces of dew still evident along the short grass they stepped on. She clutched Scorbunny's ball and released him in one easy motion, the Fire-type materializing with a yawn and a few easy stretches.

"So, here's an easy one Scor' 'nd I did yesterday. Double Kick into Ember." Scorbunny mimicked the motion on cue, Double Kicking a tiny rock into the air before singeing it with Ember. The rock fell harmlessly back to the ground, thoroughly defeated. "Not much, 'nd we're still ironin' out Double Kick, but it gets the point across. Chain one attack into another, so that you can do more damage than you would have done by landing just a single attack. Make sense?"

Cassius nodded. "Yeah."

"Obviously, your opponent willnae stand there 'nd just take it from your 'Mon. 'specially not a gym leader. They'll work to counter 'nd disrupt your attacks, while managin' their own combos. Pace is as much about knowin' when to hold back as it is knowin' when to go in on the offensive."

He thought back to her fight. "Like when you set up those Tail Whips against Milo's Flapple."

"Exactly," Gloria nodded approvingly. "Good on you for payin' attention. Goin' on the offensive all the time makes you predictable. What makes good pace is choosin' when to go all out, 'nd when to hold back and set up, or Arceus forbid... defend." She ground out that word with noticeable disgust.

"I take it you're not a big fan of defending."

"So fuckin' borin'," Gloria bemoaned. "Like yes, please, I'd be pure chuffed to sit around 'nd block for hours while ye get off your shite little attacks or whatever. Drives me 'round the bend when I have to make my 'Mon sit still at all."

"To be fair, that's probably how your opponents feel whenever you're piecing them up," Cassius put forth.

"Yeah, but s'fun for me, so I dinny care. They do it just to fight the inevitable—I'm still winnin' anyhow."

Hard to argue when it was the truth. "I guess."

"But that's enough a'that. I can yap your ear off for however long you fancy, but the only way you'll truly learn is by doin'." She gestured to him. "Go on. Put a 'Mon out here, 'nd let's get to work."

Cassius' eyes widened. "Uh, now?"

"Nae, tomorrow. Yes, fuckin' now," Gloria urged impatiently. "Think I agreed to train you so I could throw words at you? Amnae some fuckin' babysitter—if we're gonna train, we're gonna fight. Simple as."

"I just thought I'd try and figure out what moves I could reasonably combo into first," Cassius argued.

"'nd you figure that out by fightin'. So come on." She nodded toward one of the Poké Balls chained to his athletic shorts. "Reckon you get your Deino out first. She's got the longest way to go."

She had said as much yesterday. With a sigh, Cassius released Hyla, his partner looking chipper and ready for a workout. That was good—she'd probably need that enthusiasm for what was to come.

"To my knowledge, your Deino hasnae learnt Dragon Breath yet," Gloria correctly deduced. "S'gonna make combos harder, since she canny extend pressure with a ranged attack. You'll needty work on that—for now, work with what she has, 'nd come at me."

This was likely to go very, very poorly. But Gloria was right in that the fastest way he would probably learn was if he simply executed what he thought in real-time combat. If he was particularly lucky, the entire thing would all just click in his head, like it had when he and Korvis had been in sync against Milo.

Even if it didn't, he needed to get more used to battling in general. Gloria was taking time out of her own training to help him, which was a tiny miracle in itself considering how much they had hated each other previously. A part of him still couldn't believe it, but he wouldn't jeopardize the chance to learn from who he thought was probably the top challenger in the entire circuit. He wanted to get better—and who better to help him improve than the best?

"You ready?" Gloria asked, hip cocked. Scorbunny looked eager for the chance to kick his ass, chuckling darkly as it idly juggled a flaming ball with its feet.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Cassius readied himself, getting into the battling mindset. "Hyla, we're gonna try and chain a few attacks together today. Think you're up for it?"

Hyla barked, accepting the challenge. "Good girl. Let's do it, Gloria."

"Atta boy," Gloria nodded, before kicking off with gusto. "Charge, Scorbunny." The Fire-type once again rocketed off, sprinting toward them with an eager speed.

"Focus Energy!" Cassius called immediately. That had to always be their first order of business. Hyla had gotten the move down so well that it took her barely a second to focus, her stance firm and taut. Seeing as they had no way of dealing with Scorbunny from range, as Gloria had mentioned, Cassius let Gloria take the fight to them. "They're gonna get in close! Keep up as best you can!"

"Quick Attack," Gloria commanded, and faster than either Cassius or Hyla had expected, Scorbunny was in Hyla's face, before landing a savage kick across Hyla's midsection. Cassius had forgotten Scorbunny had that move. 'Ember, Double Kick, Quick Attack, and... Growl, I think,' he mentally recounted in his head. He should have done that before Hyla had gotten a foot in her stomach, but the issue would only snowball if he dwelled on it.

He'd already burned Focus Energy, and Roar was useless in this situation. Bite and Tackle were his only viable options. How could he chain those two attacks into each other? Admittedly, maybe Hyla wasn't the best option on his team to experiment with, but Gloria had been absolutely right in that she needed the most training to catch up to her peers and live up to the potential Cassius knew she had.

Hyla was a glass cannon—she couldn't take very many hits, but when she landed her own, they did damage. If they could nail this training and really ingrain it into her, she'd be as lethal an opponent as any they'd face during the circuit. The only problem was getting there. How could he best utilize her offensive capabilities while putting her in the least amount of danger possible?

For now, capitalizing on her offensive strengths required getting close to Scorbunny. Luckily, Gloria was either willing or uncaring enough to play that game. "Quick Attack, again." She was apparently content with utilizing that move until Cassius could find a way to avoid or counter it. Coaching him the hard way, it seemed.

If he couldn't space Scorbunny out, he'd have to get creative. 'Use your environment.' Eyeing his surroundings, his brain scrambled for something he could use to throw Gloria and Scorbunny off. Something, anything.

Not fast enough, as Hyla bore the brunt of another kick. Even if he'd ordered a dodge, he wasn't sure Hyla could have gotten out of the way. He bit back a curse—what was he supposed to do in the face of such overwhelming speed?

"I haven't even chained anythin' yet," Gloria said, almost bored. "I'm gonna keep goin' 'till you make me consider otherwise. Disrupt my timin', make your own openin', or lemme kick your Deino's arse. Your choice."

"I know that," he bit back, frustrated. He couldn't let her egg her way into his head—that would only exacerbate the problem. He needed to reset the battlefield. "Run for the trees! Make her chase you!"

Gloria shook her head. "Quick Attack again. Aim for the legs." Again, quicker than either Cassius or Hyla could counter against, Hyla got hit again, this time having been tripped up while retreating. She didn't give him the opportunity to try and correct the mistake, either. "Double Kick up, finish with Ember." Two kicks launched Hyla into the air briefly, and a decently sized fireball blasted her back down to the ground. When Hyla returned to the ground with a thud, she was somehow still conscious, but very clearly unable to fight further, whining softly in pain.

Cassius had no delusions of beating Gloria as he was now, but he at least thought that he could maybe make it somewhat competitive. She'd beaten him in, what, thirty or so seconds? And he hadn't even landed a single attack. "Arceus, how strong is that Double Kick?"

"Not very, but it's Fighting-type. Super-effective," she explained, brow quirked. "Y'didnae know that?"

"No," Cassius sighed, frustrated. Of course he didn't. "Great."

"Gettin' mad won't change anythin'," Gloria spoke from across the clearing, Scorbunny leisurely walking back to her with an unbearably smug look on its face. "Better off findin' solutions than whingein' about it."

"I know," Cassius conceded, coming to a knee beside Hyla with a potion in hand. "I just... I thought I'd turned a corner after beating Milo, I guess."

Gloria didn't say anything in response, leaving Cassius to tend to Hyla in silence. He thought she'd decided to give him space to simmer quietly before she spoke again. "Look, I'm not gonna manage your ego for you. 'nd again, I'm not your babysitter. So if you're expectin' pity comments, you're not gettin' any."

Cassius scoffed, smiling ironically at the thought. "Believe me, I know better than to fish for compliments from you of all people."

"Good," Gloria agreed. Cassius thought that was it, but she kept going a few seconds later. "If I didn't go all-out, you wouldn't learn anythin', 'nd I'd be wastin' my time trainin' soft. I've already told you how important managin' your time on this circuit is."

Cassius gave her an odd look, nodding slowly. "Yes. You, uh, you did."

Gloria's gaze averted slightly. "So, I wouldnae be here if I didn't think it was worth it."

His eyes widened slightly. "... oh."

Maybe he would have been content to wait out the awkward silence, but Gloria clearly wasn't. "Awright, enough gawkin', prick. We're gonna keep goin' 'till you get it right. Or at least land a hit on me."

At the rate they were going, he might have managed to land a scrape on Scorbunny once the sun set. Maybe. Even so, he'd never find out until he tried. "Sounds good."

Huffing tiredly, Cassius sank into his sleeping roll. Somehow, he'd ended up sore after today. Which was a little worrying, seeing as he hadn't been the one to get beat up by Gloria's Pokémon for hours.

As she'd warned him, Gloria hadn't held back. Korvis had managed a little better against Scorbunny than Hyla, especially after adjusting to Quick Attack, but the end result was the same. Whereas he and Korvis could only manage isolated nicks and cuts, Gloria and Scorbunny were landing entire strings of attacks. At a certain point, Korvis had gotten frustrated at her lack of success and gone rogue, attacking of her own volition and ignoring his orders, only to find herself defeated and beneath Scorbunny's foot only a few seconds later. He'd given her a stern talking to afterwards while he'd patched her up.

Gloria never went too far, always stopping just short of knocking his Pokémon out, and after healing and rotating between Hyla and Korvis, they'd gotten into a nice groove for the rest of the morning. Scorbunny would kick Hyla's ass, then Korvis', they'd rest a bit, then he'd send Hyla back out to continue the cycle anew. Eventually, Gloria had wanted to give Yamper a look, and that had simply resulted in the Puppy Pokémon taking turns paralyzing and whaling on each of them, respectively.

In the end, he'd managed some success, but it had become abundantly clear that he was going to need to think long and hard about which of his Pokémons' moves he could feasibly lead into each other. Korvis had enough speed and experience to chain a few Fury Attacks and Pecks together, and even land a Power Trip every so often—she'd technically already done so against Milo's Eldegoss, which Gloria had noted and even partially praised. Sizzlipede (who had been reduced to a very reluctant spectator for the session) could theoretically do a lot with Smokescreen to help obscure her, and Wrap to trap her opponents.

The hardest hurdle to clear, of course, would be Hyla. There was just no way he could make Bite and Tackle work by themselves—and being completely candid, he chose to take that as a failing of his imagination more than anything. With Gloria's counsel, they'd decided that having her get down Dragon Breath would be the best course of action for now. "She's a Dragon-type, so if she hits as hard as Hop says she does, she doesn't necessarily need to chain together attacks to be effective. You just have to make sure the attacks she does know make up for the difference in quantity."

They'd keep working on it. It still felt weird to say that he and Gloria had committed themselves to multiple training sessions together. Offhandedly, Cassius wondered how much of that decision was due to Gloria still soft-shunning Hop. He hadn't seen them interact one-on-one at all—the only time he'd seen them even acknowledge one another was when they were all convened together as a group, either traveling or eating. Even then, conversation was sparse and clipped, like how it'd been at the inn before they'd left Turffield for good.

Cassius huffed, turning over in his roll. It wasn't his business, and he'd always been one to butt out when it wasn't his business. Gloria valued her privacy, and he'd respected that. It wasn't like he didn't have a host of his own issues to worry about in the meantime.

But... fuck, it was so awkward. He was so used to Hop and Gloria's banter dominating the space between the three of them. They were best friends! Fellow trainers! They could talk about something that had happened between them years ago for hours! Now, it fell on him to fill the airspace—him. Known friend-haver and renowned conversationalist Cassius Hargreaves. This entire time, he'd been relegated (quite willingly, he would add) to being the straight-man for a majority of their antics, and now he was supposed to take the lead? Yeah, right.

Deep down, in his heart of hearts, he knew he was genuinely concerned. But a much more vocal part of him simply did not want to be the one to initiate conversation in the group every single time. Sure, they could battle together, and talk occasionally when they had to, but that wouldn't mean much if it would end up being dead silence between them immediately after. Cassius couldn't go on like this.

With a resigned groan, Cassius stood up from his roll and left his tent, beginning the slow death march to Gloria's tent. 'Just... pretend you wanna pick her brain for a bit,' he came up with. Sure, that was believable enough. He'd come up with worse plans. If he got out of it without calling her anything on the level of an alcoholic or a racist, that would have been a vast improvement on his part. Easy, right?

He came to a stop and crouched down outside. Her lamp was still on, so she was probably still awake. Hopefully. With a sigh, he passed the point of no return. "Hey, Gloria?" He whispered.

No response. Of course she was going to make this difficult. "Gloria," he repeated. Still nothing. "Gloria!"

The entrance flap unzipped itself and opened in record time, revealing a scowling Gloria. "Fuckin' what?"

Off to a great start already. "You, uh... are you busy?"

"Doezzit fuckin' look like I am?" She asked rhetorically. "What could ye possibly want a'this hour, ye daft muppet?"

What indeed. "I just wanted to talk. Pick your brain about a few things."

"And ye canny wait 'fore tomorrow?"

"It's important," Cassius insisted. "And I might forget."

She glared into him, long and hard. Cassius could almost physically feel his resolve melting as the seconds ticked by, before finally, she relented. "Fine," she huffed. "Get in 'ere. Amnae freezin' me'arse off for ye."

He hadn't anticipated going into her tent, but he'd have to roll with it. "Thanks."

Following her in, he was surprised by the excess of... feminine charm was probably the right word for it. The interior was a soft pink, and there was a faint, pleasant-smelling aroma. Beyond the aesthetics, Gloria had put every single inch of the space to use. A small, foldable breakfast table was stationed beside her bedroll, which itself was also pink. A small counter was set up on the opposite end of the tent, with a host of what Cassius assumed was makeup and other trinkets efficiently placed upon it. Cassius didn't dare look in the direction of where he presumed her wardrobe was, for fear of potentially laying eyes on her unmentionables, which would almost certainly get him kicked out, or worse. Compared to his own tent, Gloria's felt like an actual attempt at recreating her own room.

Gloria herself donned casual loungewear, a simple light green cami top and similarly colored pajama shorts. Yeah, he'd probably feel cold if he was dressed that light, too. "Awright, what is it?"

"I... wanted to say thanks," he came up with on the spot. "For agreeing to train me. I don't know if I told you that already or not, but I really do appreciate it."

"S'implied, but sure," Gloria replied quickly. "That it?"

"No. Uh... I actually wanted to ask you a few things... about, uh..." he could feel her skepticism growing with every word he spoke. "You," he eventually decided. "And, uh, how you got started."

"Started with what?"

"... Pokémon training. And maybe how you got into pace, I guess."

"You guess?" Gloria's expression was blank.

"I... yes."

"Mm." Gloria hummed, and it was beyond obvious that she didn't buy a word of what he was saying. Just as Cassius was about to fold, however, she turned with a shrug. "Sure."

His mind's attempts at salvaging the situation ground to a halt. "Oh." Before he could say anything else, Gloria tossed something in his direction. Catching it in one smooth motion, he eyed the item. "Is this a controller?"

"Aye." Gloria procured one of her own. "Siddown while I get everythin' set up."

"Set what up?" Gloria jerked a thumb in the direction of the entrance, which revealed a decently sized monitor seated atop a smaller, compact stand. Eyes traveling, he saw a console was already connected to it, Gloria in the process of turning it on. He had no idea how he'd missed that when he'd walked in. "Are we playing something?"

"If you're gonna make me explain the whole thing, may as well have somethin' goin while I talk," Gloria explained plainly.

A bit unorthodox, but he wouldn't complain. Cassius hadn't known that Gloria even played video games. "Can I ask what we're playing?"

"Y'mentioned it earlier."

"Street Brawler?" His lips pursed. "But I've never played."

"Then you're gonna learn how," Gloria sat back against her bedroll for support, patting the spot next to her none too gently. "I told you earlier. The most easily understood comparison to chainin' combos in battles is chainin' 'em in a fightin' game. This'll get you in the habit of gettin' attacks out one after another, so that it translates better when you hit the pitch."

Cassius blanched. "But fighting games have, like... a lot of moves, don't they?"

"Yes."

"And I'm supposed to remember all of them?"

"If you wanna win, yes."

"But Pokémon only have four. And how am I supposed to fight while you're explaining how you started—"

"All great trainers can multitask," Gloria cut off, growing irritated. "Look, you wanna bother me at fuck all o'clock in the evenin'? We do it my way. If y'dinny like it, you're free to fuck off. Your choice."

Either get his ass handed to him in a fighting game and maybe learn something, or leave empty-handed and embarrassed. The choice was obvious, but that didn't mean he had to like it. "Alright, fine." Sitting himself down next to Gloria, he watched her blitz past the main menu and enter versus mode.

As Cassius idly scrolled through the catalog of visually striking characters, Gloria immediately picked hers and spoke. "I'm not from Galar."

Cassius shot her a look. "You're not?"

"Nah. Was born in Freezington, over in the Crown Plains. I'm aware Unovans aren't the best with global geography, but I assume you've at least heard of it?"

"I have." Cassius knew that much. The Crown Plains, though part of the larger multinational United Isles, was its own country, composed mostly of frigid highlands and frozen tundra, with the main draw being the historic castles erected years ago—hence the name. "I've heard it's insanely cold there."

"I wouldn't know," Gloria shrugged. "Moved to Postwick when I was a wee bairn. Got no memories of the place, other than baby pictures 'nd what my mum's told me. Old hag finally grew enough o'a spine to leave m'bastard pa, found the cheapest house she could afford in the cheapest location, 'nd that was that."

He'd heard part of this story from the Victoria matriarch back in Turffield. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. Don't remember the prick, don't fuckin' care to. All the better if he's dead 'nd rottin' somewhere 'nd it gives mum some peace." She sighed, appearing to calm herself down. "S'fine. Made peace with it years ago. S'not the point a'this anyway."

When Gloria didn't get to the point immediately after, and he shot her a questioning look, she gestured to the screen. "You gonna pick someone or what?"

"Oh." He hadn't really been paying great attention to the fighters when he'd been scrolling earlier. "Which one should I pick?"

"Pick whoever looks cool, or whatever. Don't think too hard about it. Though, you can tell a lot about someone's character by who they main in this game." With that in mind, he ended up picking some grizzly-looking man with bulging muscles in white karate pants and a black belt after a brief moment of deliberation. Gloria snorted. "Heh. Figures."

Gloria selected her character not long after—a blonde guy in a leather jacket that looked way too small on him—and then picked a stage. A quick cutscene followed, where afterwards Gloria instructed him to pause the game once the fight started so he could look over his character's moves. Directing him through the pause menu, Cassius drank in the many inputs and commands as best as he could while Gloria looked on, eventually speaking again. "I didn't care for Pokémon battling when I was younger, if you can believe it."

Cassius couldn't. "Really? You weren't even a little interested?"

"Nah. Didn't appeal to me. Too much goin' on, 'nd I didn't like makin' 'em fight each other. Took months of Hop chivvyin' me to at least try it out. He was my only friend after I moved to Galar, so I guess I just wanted to appease him. Or get him to shut up."

She revealed a faint ghost of a smile. "Arceus, it was awful. We'd borrowed a Lillipup for me to use against Hop's Wooloo, 'nd I couldn't get it to do a bleedin' thing. One of the easiest Pokémon to train 'nd use for beginners, 'nd it went out of its way to ignore my orders."

The thought of a younger Gloria shouting at a disinterested Lillipup might have made him laugh if he didn't have any sense of self-preservation. "So something like that happened, but you eventually tried again?"

"Aye. Hop can nag like no other. Second go 'round, I had a better idea of what I was doin'. A lot of it was just not wantin' to embarrass myself again so badly, but somethin' clicked regardless. Got more into it, started trainin' with Hop when we had the time, 'nd the rest is history."

Not eager to test her patience, Cassius took a final look at the input screen and exited the pause menu to begin the fight proper. Predictably, Gloria was on him within seconds, trapping him in combos that juggled him across the screen. All of what he remembered about inputs evaporated as he desperately tried to mash his way out of it.

"How do you block?" Cassius asked.

"Figure it out yourself," Gloria responded leisurely. "Opponents arenae gonna let you figure out how to block in a real fight, are they?" Cassius grumbled, desperately holding his joystick in every direction until finally discovering that holding back blocked most of Gloria's punches and kicks. He let a brief surge of pride course through him, until a low kick from Gloria's character broke through his defense and sent him into another combo.

In a matter of what felt like seconds, Gloria had kicked his ass twice in quick order to win the best two-of-three, her character's health bar virtually unblemished. Cassius shot her an annoyed look. "How do you even find the time to get good at this?"

She gave him a nonchalant shrug. "In my spare time. C'mon, run it back." Resigning himself, Cassius turned back to the monitor, determined to at least land a few attacks on Gloria in succession this time.

Gloria continued steamrolling him, and Cassius felt himself getting increasingly aggravated the longer he went on without any success. For every lucky jab he'd land, Gloria would land ten in return. It was almost enough to make him forget the entire reason he'd come here. Almost.

"I didn't think I was particularly talented at battlin' 'til Hop 'nd I started makin' the rounds on the junior circuit," Gloria said casually between combos. "Hop had always been good, so I guess I'd gotten used to fightin' someone of his calibre after so many years of trainin' together. By the time we started hittin' trainin' camps 'nd U-18 comps, everyone else just felt slower. I'd had the most success against Hop when I overwhelmed him with pace, so by the time I was fightin' everyone else, that kinda style of battlin' felt natural to me. S'where I got pacemaster from, I suppose."

It was a monumental task to listen to her between fighting for his on-screen life, but he managed as best he could. "I remember—how did that hit?—I remember someone mentioning your success in the junior circuits before your fight in Turffield. How successful were you?"

Gloria let out an amused breath. "Was alright. Won two junior tourneys in Motostoke 'nd Hammerlocke. Hop scored two in Ballonlea 'nd Stow-on-Side. Of the folks who were part of our junior class when we started at twelve years old, he 'nd I are locked in a three-way tie."

Cassius' eyebrows furrowed. "Three-way? Who else did you tie with?"

"The bird from Spikemuth. Marnie what's-her-name, or whatever. Didn't even know until I looked back on some old circuit results recently. Apparently, she was cleanin' house in the smaller competitions that Hop 'nd I never went to. Ones in Spikemuth 'nd Circhester." She seemed displeased by the fact. "If I'd've known I coulda broken the tie between Hop 'nd I by beatin' up on some boabies in smaller tourneys, I'd've done so ages ago."

Despite her disappointment, Gloria finished up Cassius with an uppercut to the face. Accepting his virtual humiliation with as much grace as he could muster, Cassius turned to face her properly again. "Even with that, I'm guessing you were still obviously pretty highly-touted as a junior trainer."

Gloria nodded. "Apparently, when I was lookin' back on some old articles, some media folk were callin' us the 'big three prospects', or somethin' or other."

"Figure you'd be all over people hyping you up like that," Cassius thought aloud. Gloria rolled her eyes. "Buncha nobbers tryna profit off m'name. All media's the fuckin' same—s'why I hate 'em."

She gave him a look. "'sides, reckon it's more of a fivesome now anyway, includin' you 'nd that prick Bede in the mix."

The less said about Bede the better, but Cassius felt a little surprised to hear himself mentioned. "Me? What have I done to deserve that kind of buzz?"

Gloria scoffed. "Oh, I don't fuckin' know, got yourself endorsed by the champion 'nd won a fight against a gym leader, I suppose. Thought you said you wouldn't fish for compliments from me?"

"I didn't mean to!" Cassius defended himself. "It's just, you and Hop and the other two cleaned house against Milo, and I... didn't really."

"But you won," Gloria countered. "Dinny care how, beatin' a gym leader is beatin' a gym leader." She eased her posture slightly, but the certainty in her voice remained. "Not sure you comprehend how fuckin' hard this whole gig is, so lemme help you along. Hundreds of thousands of kids grow up wantin' to be pro trainers in this country. Of them, only one percent of them ever get offered endorsements. And of that one percent of trainers, more than half of 'em got dropped by Milo this year. You're part of a select group of trainers that can say, without a doubt, that you earned a win against one of the best Pokémon trainers on the planet—no matter if you smoked him or not."

Hundreds of thousands... well, when Gloria put it like that, it was hard to argue. When Cassius was a kid, most everyone his age wanted to be a trainer. Eventually, they'd all hit their peaks, some way or another—realizing a different passion, losing the drive to keep going, or even something as simple as not being talented enough. That somehow, of all the kids back home and around the world that wanted to grow up to be elite trainers, he was one of the few still chasing that pinnacle? It was nothing short of a miracle.

"You're right," Cassius eventually responded. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make this about me."

"Wee fuckin' late for that," Gloria mumbled, thankfully not in an entirely angry way. "I didn't agree to train you so you could whinge about how you don't deserve it or some nonsense. I decide that. 'nd I'd rather not go the rest of this trip with you moanin' about some imposter syndrome you forced onto yourself."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop," Cassius quickly declared. "Can we get back to you kicking my ass now? I think I'm actually starting to get the hang of this a little."

"Finally, a good idea from your mouth." Reloading the stage, the two reengaged in combat, the sounds of buttons clicking and joysticks flicking taking up the brief silence between them. Gloria would shoot off random pointers and terms every now and again, but otherwise kept to herself. Cassius welcomed the ease in conversation, however short it would end up lasting.

After a few more rounds, Cassius tried his hand at addressing the main issue he'd come to discuss with her. "So, Hop was the one who got you into battling, huh?"

"Mm," Gloria hummed, attempting to bait him into overextending with a heavy attack. Cassius was content to play footsies and shoot fireballs from a distance—he was choosing to act like he hadn't learned both of those terms literal minutes ago.

"I couldn't even imagine how close you two are. I mean, you've done everything together since you were both old enough to remember, right? That's crazy, man."

No response. He wondered if she'd heard him. "Gloria?"

"I know what you're tryna do, prick."

Cassius gave up the facade immediately. "Then you know why I'm doing this. You can't seriously try to do this with him for the entire circuit, right?"

She huffed. "'nd why the fuck should I not?"

"Because guess who has to sit there and watch you two dance around each other?" He jabbed a finger to his own chest, completely abandoning the game. "Me! That's who!"

"So fuckin' what? Get over it," Gloria snarled. "S'nae yer business anyhow."

Maybe in the past, Cassius would have agreed. But these were desperate times they were living in (well, for him, anyway), and for the sake of his immediate future around these two, he absolutely needed to intervene here. "Gloria, I know you like him. I don't even think you believe you can give him the cold shoulder for that long."

Gloria's face erupted in red, and Cassius had a sinking suspicion it wasn't in rage. "I dinnae fuckin' like him, you twat!"

Cassius' face, meanwhile, was a startlingly effective deadpan. "Gloria."

"Fuckin' can it! Are ye at it? Hop, of all people?"

"Gloria."

"Haud yer wheesht! Amnae sayin' shit to ye, nosy bastard!"

"Leon already told me."

"Lee?! That fuckin' prick, why would he—" a look of realization dawned on her face, slowly morphing to horror. "Lee fuckin' knows?"

"Yeah, and I know too," Cassius added on. "I'm gonna be honest, you're right. I don't really care what you two do with each other. That's between you and him. But when it starts affecting the group dynamic and puts me on the spot, I feel like I have to step in. Especially when I know you both care for each other."

Gloria looked like she badly wanted to retaliate, but her embarrassment seemed to be holding her tongue for now. It was such an odd shift in her—she was normally so outspoken, so quick to poke fun and mock. To see her reduced to this after mentioning her crush was a big change, but for the purposes of this conversation, not an entirely unwelcome one. Cassius had to take advantage of it.

"Look, I appreciate you going out of your way to train me. It means a lot, and I'm honored to learn from you." Maybe laying it on a bit thick, but that wasn't the worst thing ever, right? "So, let me help you in return. I'll help you reconcile with him—and afterwards, I'll even help you try to get even closer with him."

"M'already close with him," Gloria argued feebly, lacking the fire she usually had.

"Not in the way I mean. I know you talked about going on this challenge with him before I entered the picture—fighting together, traveling together, all of that. I can imagine that you would have tried to move things with Hop to the next level if it was just the two of you." Even though he really, really didn't want to imagine that. "So, let me help you. Make up with Hop, and I can give you pointers."

"I told you, I don't fuckin' like him," Gloria ground out one more time. Cassius didn't budge, shooting her his best disbelieving look. Finally, she crumbled, slumping slightly. "What do you even know? You've been in a fuckin' relationship? Yeah fuckin' right."

"Nope." No point in even attempting to lie about that. "But I don't need relationship experience for this. You want to get close to him. I'm a guy, and one of his friends—I can give you perspective. Insider information, if you will. What he likes, doesn't like, what he's looking for in a girl. The kind of stuff you can't get him to admit to by yourself."

Baiting her in, while she tried tiptoeing around him—not entirely unlike the game they were just playing, just with the roles reversed this time. Was Cassius particularly looking forward to chatting Hop up about girls? No, especially since that would have included Hop asking him about his tastes. Was Cassius even sure of what to ask Hop, or when to bring it up? Absolutely not. Like most things during this journey, he was flying by the seat of his pants on this.

To his credit, she looked to be at least considering his offer. Her glare remained, however, eventually conveying her ultimate decision. "Fuck off."

Cassius sighed. He hadn't wanted it to come to this, but she was leaving him no other choice. "Alright, fine. I guess it's your call at the end of the day." Gently placing his controller on the ground, he stood up and dusted his pants off. "Well, I'm outta here then. Was worth a try, at least. Thanks for the backstory, and the game, I guess."

Gloria's suspicious look remained on him even as he shuffled to the tent entrance. "Dinny like your tone, prick. Where're ye off tae?"

"Oh, nowhere," Cassius shrugged indifferently. "Just to Hop's tent to tell him you like him, I guess."

She was on him in an instant, gripping the front of his shirt with a grip that would have made a Steel-type envious. "You wouldn't dare."

"I think I would, actually."

"Ye dinny have the fuckin' balls."

Cassius was undeterred. "You have no idea how desperate I am to not be the main initiator in most conversations, Gloria."

Gloria's grip tightened, but Cassius refused to yield. The shorter girl maintained her hold on him, even as Cassius continued to look down on her from this height. For all her bluster and threatening, he held strong to the fact that he was absolutely, one-hundred percent right in this. Even if Leon didn't tell him before they left Postwick, and even if Gloria's mom didn't make a very obvious mention of it back in Turffield, he was sure he would have figured it out by now, even with his lack of experience in romance.

Their brief standoff finally ended with Gloria letting go, slowly pacing back to the center of the tent with a growing scowl. "Fuck. Fuck!" Crashing back into her bedroll, she grabbed a pillow and continued yelling obscenities into it. Cassius was left to wait for her episode to end, awkward though it was for him. It hardly compared to the experience that Gloria and Hop had put him through the last couple of days.

Eventually, she removed the pillow from her face, mustering one more angry huff as she laid motionless in her bedroll. Cassius gave it a ten-count before speaking again. "Look, I don't think any less of you, if that's what you're worried about. Hop's a really good guy."

"Fuck off," Gloria mumbled, and if she was lacking fire before, she was entirely extinguished now. That was enough for Cassius to feel comfortable easing into a seated position without fear of any retaliation.

"I get you're pissed at him. I'm actually on your side on this—I don't think he should be emulating Leon as much as he does, and I do think it's gonna come back to haunt him at some point. But you can't throw away your friendship over this. Not now."

"Amnae gonna throw it away, prick," Gloria murmured, before letting out a humorless chuckle. "We've fought much worse than this before. It'll pass. It always has."

"Then why are you being so stubborn about this?"

"Ye wouldnae understand."

"I won't until you tell me," Cassius continued to prod, before thinking back on something she'd told him not too long ago. "You know, contrary to popular belief, I'm not some heartless bastard all the time."

That actually prompted a snort from Gloria. "You must think you're clever for that."

"I can be on occasion," Cassius shrugged. Gloria didn't respond immediately, leaving him to wait for her to do so. He'd already waited this long—he was fine with waiting a little longer if he had to.

"I just want him to be himself," she broke the silence. "All his life, he's wanted this. He's got the talent, 'nd the character to do it. I really, genuinely believe he can go farther than even Lee has. But... Arceus, I canny fathom why he insists on holdin' himself back. Everythin' he has goin' for him, 'nd he chooses to copy his brother. A part of me wishes that Lee would sit him down 'nd tell him off."

Her voice hitched near the end. Cassius gave her a closer look, and found that tears were starting to well up in her eyes. He didn't dare mention that to her, allowing her to keep speaking. "You're right—Hop is a really good guy. Gets along with everyone, never lets the fame get to his head, the ideal role model. The type of character to hang around some broody bitch to make sure she wasn't always alone. The kind of person that the world is so, so lucky to have." She sniffed. "I just want him to let people see that, instead of some copy of his brother."

The passion with which she spoke stunned Cassius. This seemed to be a little more than some simple crush—Gloria was in love. Well and fully, totally in love with Hop. She recognized his faults, admired his strengths, and wanted people to see the side of Hop that she'd come to know so well. And she'd seemingly felt this way since they were kids. It was like something out of one of those romcoms his mom always watched. The mouthy, unshakable, indomitable Gloria was head-over-heels for her childhood friend.

Gloria was quiet as the tears continued, surprisingly so. A few hiccups here and there, but she didn't look even close to a full-on sobbing breakdown. It was easy to forget, considering her on-field persona, general brash behavior, and how she'd been training him to the brink lately, but Gloria was still a teenage girl who did teenage girl stuff. She loved her nail art, her trendy fashion, and evidently, had her own problems with boys (or singular boy, in her case).

Naturally, she chose that moment to address him once more after he thought that. "Tell anyone about this, 'nd you're fuckin' dead," she managed through sniffles, rubbing her reddening eyes.

"Didn't plan on it," Cassius answered honestly.

"I mean it, prick. Anyone finds out I cried, you'll fuckin' wish I did somethin' as simple as tellin' everyone you're a fraud."

He'd come here with an agenda, sure, but he had nothing to gain from blackmailing her. "I won't, promise." Not that there was even anything wrong with it to begin with, but he wasn't sure she wanted to hear that right now.

"Good." She collected herself, procuring a tissue and softly blowing into it. After taking a quick swig of water, she sighed, thoroughly spent. "Am I really that obvious?"

"... yeah," Cassius slowly admitted. "If we're being completely honest, I'm shocked Hop hasn't noticed yet."

"Well, if it's so obvious that a dope like Lee's noticed, I suppose that's fair." Her gaze found his, tired and a little unsure. "I'm gonna hold you to that promise. Of you... helpin' me 'nd stuff."

"I'll do my best," Cassius vowed. "And I'll hold you to still training me. And patching things up with Hop." Gloria nodded, their unofficial pact sealed. Though it had taken a lot more effort and emotion than he could have predicted, he was content to have accomplished what he came here to do. Even if that wasn't the chief thought in his mind anymore.

"We're gonna get Hop to change." Gloria seemed surprised by the certainty in his voice. "Even if we have to drag him kicking and screaming to do it."

A small smile appeared on her face, one that made Cassius think that she had more than a decent chance at getting Hop to reciprocate her feelings. "Aye, fuckin' right."

With all that settled, Cassius turned... and sat back down beside the bedroll. Gloria gave him an odd look as he retrieved his controller. "What?" He asked innocuously.

"What are ye doin'?"

"Hopping back on the game," he answered plainly. "Should I not be?"

"After all that?"

"All what? We were just talking shop and training a little," Cassius shrugged, eyeing her casually. "Nothing wrong with that, right?"

Gloria was a lot of things, to be sure, but maybe Cassius had been a little unfair in calling her indomitable. That might have implied some air of invincibility and superiority, like she existed above the realm of mere mortals like him. She was a beast in battle, sure, but she was still a person. Maybe a "broody bitch", in her own words, but a person nonetheless.

And hey, Hop had been the one to reach out to her to make sure she wasn't always alone. And if they both agreed that he was the kind of role model to follow, then there wasn't any harm in following his example, was there?

It took her a moment, but before long Gloria was seated next to him, tissues forgotten and controller in hand. "Aye."

This chapter ballooned quickly, but I couldn't really find a really good place to divide it relatively evenly, and I wouldn't have really wanted to anyway. I like treating my readers to long chapters every now and again.

Beyond the main draw of this installment—another completely unrelated segment to begin this chapter. I must have left that in there by mistake, that's my bad. I can't fathom that having any story implications in the future. Not at all.