Twin Colors

by tremor3258

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

14. Unanswerable Ghosts

Twin Colors

By tremor3258

Chapter 14:

Unanswerable ghosts

---

"That is not a Floragato," Mei observed to Kieran. Indeed, a Meowscarada was standing next to him, shamelessly hamming it up by posing like for a photo shoot. Ivy hissed in envy and Rose reached down to pat him.

Kieran and Nemona had popped by the group during their sweep to scope this year's student body. The beginner trainers had been working for a little bit. Mei was setting up an array to work on Grass Knot when the two masters walked by.

The two battle maniacs had left Florian's other friends to recover from the weekend. With classes getting ready to start, the entire courtyard was busy with students knocking off the rust. Kieran had been kind enough to divert over to talk as they had three more courts to hit up.

Mei had asked how Floragato was going, and Kieran had not called out a Florgato.

Zania called over from the folding chair she was sitting in, "You got it Thursday? Do Pokemon masters sleep?" As had been warned, yesterday's burst of exercise she was paying for today. Recovery was going fast, the virtues of modern medicine and youth, but she wasn't standing if she could help it. She was working on fire control exercises with her Fue-cutie, she could do that sitting down. Teff wasn't by, thanks to a team meeting, but most everyone was who'd shown any interest in training.

"I do!" Nemona said brightly.

"Wowsers, I know it was a bit quick," Kieran admitted.

"I'm jealous," Poppy announced. Her Fuecoco sighed. "You're really doing great!" she hastily added.

"I wouldn't even dare dream," Trigo admitted, patting his own croc.

"Does this happen with all your Pokemon?" Alamy asked.

"I don't suppose you would mind giving your schedule for the last few days? Was it direct sync or was this mainly spillover?" Victor asked.

"Yesterday was mainly spillover. We were doing Tera Raids and those really vary wildly crystal to crystal," Kieran said, relieved to have a 'shop' question.

"Arven likes Titan battles, and it turns out Herba Mystica can sometimes be collected. So, he likes Raids, too," Nemona said, sounding resigned, but accepting of her friend's odd quirk of not wanting to battle other trainers all the time.

"Is this a school record for a study Pokemon fully evolving?" Mei asked Nemona.

"'Buena pregunta!' I don't know," Nemona admitted, "I didn't pick up a study Pokemon when I first arrived, I had other teammates. And I was throttling when I picked one up to match Florian. It's very impressive though."

"Evolution really isn't the last step," Kieran said, "It's going to be a lot of work before Meowscarada is ready as an option for my battle team. He still needs a lot more efficiency with power and a lot of practice honing his abilities." Meowscrada nodded in agreement genially. The bipedal cat looked down at Ivy, smirking, and meowed.

Mei winced. Where did a school Pokemon pick up language like that?

Rose looked up, stricken. Ivy hissed, and the Meowscarada gave a purring chuckle.

"What?" Poppy asked.

"I'm not repeating that in Paldean," Mei said.

"I'm old enough," Poppy insisted, who knew very well she was the reason for censorship.

"Wowsers, I only got superiority," Kieran said.

"Is Ivy an old rival of yours?" Nemona asked the Meowscarada, delighted. The big grass cat folded his arms and meowed again, smug.

"You were both raised in the same creche, there's no reason to insult Ivy like that," Rose said tautly. Kieran's Pokemon ran a paw through his mane, smug.

"Okay, you've had your fun, maybe calm down a little," Kieran said, making 'simmer' motions. The evolved starter huffed and looked away.

Ivy rolled his eyes and meowed, sounding awkward.

"Wasn't it random draw though?" Mei asked. Ivy looked down at the ground and made awkward paw-kneading motions, meowing in embarrassment. Kieran's Meowscarada downright laughed.

"Okay maybe you made a bit too much of your luck, Thursday," Rose said, chiding.

"For those of us without a nearly divine connection to an element?" Zania called from where she was sitting.

"The study Pokemon got random numbered for their order to be presented to students," Rose explained, "The caretakers had talked about Nemona's Skeledirge so the Sprigatito were depressed on their chances. Ivy and Meowscarada competed a lot, and when Ivy's number came out lower, he, uh, was unkind."

"Ivy said his chances of getting a trainer so that he would stay out of the creche were a lot better," Mei said bluntly. Zania and Kieran winced.

"We ran into each other on the stairs, your numbers couldn't be that far apart?" Kieran said.

Mei listed to Meowscarada's explanation shook her head.

"They got the order, but not that the numbers weren't far apart. They're cats, and they weren't partnered yet – they didn't care about the exact figures," Mei reported.

"Three people picked Quaxly before we showed up," Rose noted, and patted Ivy.

"Oh, wonder if we just missed each other," Alamy mused. Bandwidth looked at Rose and shuddered.

"Maybe it's for the best, so we didn't start on the wrong foot," Rose suggested, shaking her head. That duck got freaked out by her for some reason.

"Did Florian pick a Fuecoco as well?" Victor said.

"No, he picked a Quaxly. Oh, I should find some more grass and rock partners, then, for fire and water," Nemona said aloud.

"You're going to have to explain how that's a strategic choice," Kieran prompted, after everyone was silent for several seconds.

Nemona sighed, long-suffering. "I know it looks bad. If I just hold back in battle class, people still get mad. I've never hurt an opponent's Pokemon, I don't know why people get scared. Now that I have someone I can go all-out against it's not as much a problem, but I do like some variety now and then. I thought trying Pokemon students are weak against might convince them to try. Matches are fun!"

"You can't possibly still need battle tactics credits," Kieran said, which pretty much everyone was thinking, including the Pokemon.

"I'm assisting as a student instructor for the beginner class," Nemona explained.

"We don't have to beat the teachers to pass the class, do we?" Zania asked, alarmed.

"No," Nemona said, looking downcast about it.

Rose pointed at Ivy. "I guess Nemona's been the topic so long, they forgot the new Champion, then. If everyone knew Quaxly made it, then there'll be some who go Sprigatito for that," she said.

"I just liked him the most," Trigo said, "I wasn't thinking of being Champion." Zania nodded.

"Your starter's type doesn't matter that long. Everyone here has at least two," Poppy pointed out.

"If people are trying to chase an advantage without a lot of extra work, Wattrels may be popular in the pet shops for a bit. They're strong or decent against all three Naranja Pokemon," Victor mused.

"Fliers are a pain to catch unless you've really gotten their attention," Nemona agreed.

"Do you buy your Pokemon, Nemona?" Zania asked.

Nemona fingered her brace. "I'm not very good with Poke balls. I make sure to meet them in person first, but I don't get many catches," she explained.

"Some of my current battle team I bought. It takes more work proving you're a good trainer than if you've caught them in a match. And sometimes, you don't get to meet them. You hope the two of you have a similar personality. I had to give a few away to other trainers since it wasn't working out," Kieran said. Meowscarada scoffed, running a paw through his mane again. The Magician Pokemon had hit the jackpot for 'new' students, and wanted everyone to know it.

"I wish everyone was that conscientious when it wasn't working out," Rose muttered.

"People sometimes think they have to have dragons in Hammerlocke. Some people really shouldn't," Mei added, hastily. She thought her sister was referencing that, but given Rangers had to be called in sometimes when the breakup was ugly, she could be thinking of other timelines.

"See a bad experience?" Alamy asked, knowingly. Rose nodded absently.

"With the Tera Pokemon being weird, there's a lot of Pokemon with high expectations of humans closer to the roads near the Crater," Nemona warned. Kieran nodded.

"I've never seen Pokemon so aggressive without cause in Kitakami or Unova. I can't believe it happens all the time here," Kieran said.

"It doesn't," Zania answered, "Then a lot of Tera Pokemon started leaving their dens instead of hanging around enjoying the power and hoping for a match."

"Poor Professor Sada, may she rest in peace. I'm sure she was close to finding out what happened in Area Zero but got caught in it," Trigo said, folding his hands in prayer.

"Terrible," Nemona said, uneasy, her jaw clicking shut.

"Not that I don't appreciate you guys spending the weekend buying some breathing room on the problem!" Trigo said hastily.

"Oh, did I sound angry?" Nemona asked, then shook her head.

"I didn't mean to! Kieran, we shouldn't keep interrupting their training if we want fruitful battles!" Nemona said loudly, grabbing Kieran's hand. She started running off, dragging him behind. Haplessly, Kieran waved. Meowscarada followed, bowing as he went.

"What was that on?" Trigo asked.

"She said Arven earlier. It must be that Arven," Zania said.

Trigo winced. "Oh, I stepped into it here," he muttered.

"Who?" Alamy asked.

"At least an Arven is Professor Sada's son and goes to the Academy. He was focused on other things for his Treasure Hunt last year. But he was in the news as an Elite level trainer before summer. He and several friends went to rescue Professor Sada when contact was lost. And if it was the Crater they had Champion qualifications, so Nemona was probably part of it," Zania explained.

"What a terrible way to find your mother's fate," Alamy said. Trigo winced again.

"Paldea could use her right now. Tera was her specialty," Zania said sadly.

"Science isn't one person's thing. If Nemona recovered her notes, and I'm sure if anyone could, she could, then I'm sure a new team is trying to fix everything," Mei encouraged.

"Maybe even improve the Tera Orb!" Poppy said brightly.

At the others' look, she added defensively, "They shake around a bunch and are hard to throw!"

"If the energy is stronger now, wouldn't the Tera Pokemon want to be in the Crystals even more? Paldea is where Terastal mostly happens, so I hadn't studied much in advance. It can change Pokemon types, and it doesn't last long," Rose said.

"What do you mean? Fue-cutie is a fire type and terastalizes into a fire type," Zania said, "I checked at the Pokemon Center and everything." Fue-cutie breathed a small stream of embers for emphasis

"Terastalization seems to usually amplify what's present by default, but the type can be altered simply. Lots of exposure to elemental energy does it. Apparently there's an easy recipe you can make using a basic kitchen hotplate if you have some of the shards from Raid Dens. It's never shown any health risks, either," Victor said. His Quaxly stroked his head, considering.

"That is interesting, especially since you're not relying on power spots, or Key Stones to do it," Mei said.

"It's a shame none of the regions it's been recorded in are considered strong battling cultures. It'd get a lot more interregional trainer attention, otherwise," Victor agreed.

"Regions?" Rose asked. Victor pointed in the direction Kieran and Nemona had left.

"Kitakami, among others, has isolated cases of Terastal," Victor said.

"Really? I've never heard of it in Sinnoh," Mei said.

"Legend has it someone brought Crystals to the region – no idea how they've lasted. It's specifically a trainer too, not some legendary Pokemon. Anyway – the battle advantages of Terastal," Victor said, and stood up straight hands behind his back to lecture.

He nodded in the direction of his Quaxly and explained, "Water attacks from a water type are already stronger. A water Terastal adds the same boost again. But conversely, say you know you have an opponent coming up with grass and electric types, and you have plenty of spare cash. So you brew up some grass Tera potion, and have him drink it. When those Pokemon come out, you throw a Tera Orb, and now Quaxly's a grass Pokemon for all elemental reactions instead. You lose some power to the water moves, but they still have their base boost if a fire type shows up to counter that." Quaxly bowed at the end and the girls outside Mei clapped politely.

"I can't wait to start experimenting with that," Mei admitted.

"The biggest weakness is it takes long enough to change it wouldn't take effect in a match, and League rules allow only one Terastal a match," Victor said.

"The nurses can check, so don't try to change in a tournament!" Poppy warned.

Rose glanced at Alamy, and the two nodded at Zania, who grinned. Topic changed successfully.

---

With things moved onto safer topics, Mei went back to setting up her demo. She'd used a piece of chalk to sketch a circle, and her phone to map out the angles for the lines involved. Terpsi was resting in her ball in preparation for her part, and the next-to-last step was placing several bundles of Hoppip leaves at specific locations in the array.

This was fussy and Mei kept putting down a leaf, then looking at it, shaking her head, and moving it minutely. This went on for several minutes, to where almost everyone had resumed practice. Victor was watching curiously, and Zania and Trigo with their Fuecocos were close enough (Zania had offered to share a dummy to save Trigo some cash) to listen in.

"I do not miss move learning," Victor declared eventually when Mei had finished three of the piles to her satisfaction.

"Do you need one of these for the move patterns you memorized to give to your partners?" Trigo asked.

"No, that was primarily move demonstrations and closely watching trainer, partner, and bond. Training arrays were used in the first part. The way most humans think, a visual pattern helps hold onto the energy form and associate it. I spent days working with a Pokemon doing flamethrower over and over," Victor said, sounding exhausted.

"This is specific enough even I don't trust my memory for it," Mei said. She pulled a pair of tweezers out to adjust a leaf a millimeter.

"I guess learning that way saves money?" Trigo asked.

"With mass production of technical machines, learning to move tutor it isn't the cost savings it was a generation ago. But if the trainer understands the move as well as the Pokemon, it helps make up for that on the circuit you change which Pokemon you're partnering a lot. Also – no paper trail for what TMs a competitor bought," Victor explained.

"Refined elemental essences probably use a lot less material, compared to these old methods," Zania said.

"If you have the clean room to handle them already," she muttered afterwards under her breath. Mei and Victor looked over in surprise

"What was that?" Mei asked, pausing her maneuvers.

"Big list of benefits to being battle mad," Zania observed, "Anyway – small incident when I was experimenting with Seviper teeth last year. I over titrated and it was concentrated enough it stopped following background physics," Zania said.

"You're lucky to have a face," Victor said bluntly.

Zania scoffed, "I was set up with proper lab precautions! I had a Steel-charged grounding rod just for that. This isn't the dark ages. It did stay in the tube instead of converting to a poison gas, though. So, I didn't realize until I poured it on the fabric I was trying to dye. We had to get a new countertop. Dad and Papa weren't happy," Zania said. She had the smile you get when you can laugh at a mistake long past.

"And suddenly Naranja advertisements were all over the house?" Trigo guessed.

"It did probably encourage them a lot to get me the help I needed," Zania admitted, "My history scores were too low for the application range without some tutoring."

"Well even if pure elements interacting with the world is touchy, it would be a big cost savings. I'd only need a leaf worth of material for each sector, instead of a pile. And the concentrations would be consistent so I wouldn't be having to fiddle," Mei said.

"So why do it this way?" Zania asked.

"A TM is a more certain and faster than a training array like this, but this is a lot cheaper," Mei said.

The other girls came over, seeing Mei had stopped fiddling, but realized it was only a pause.

"Also, these are only on the more 'classic' moves?" Alamy asked. Mei hadn't been paying much attention to the Kalosian, but she was surprisingly widely read. "Most 'modern' battle moves were discerned from Pokemon or developed conceptually after TMs were invented. No one ever bothered the 'in between' step of a training array for them," Alamy finished.

"No Supercell Slam, Liquidation, or Ice Spinner," Victor noted. Bandwidth nodded in relief.

"Or Leaf Blade, unfortunately. That TM isn't licensed in Paldea at all, but it's only been a few years since they figured out how Grovyles do it enough to replicate," Mei said.

"So, when you're happy with the piles, are you going to do it here?" Trigo said.

"If this isn't just a demonstration, you're missing one of the power circuits into the bottom connector," Victor observed.

"You do Grass Knot too?" Mei asked, surprised.

"It's a simple move to pick up. And if you need to stop a big dumb rock Pokemon, it works great for a lot of partners," Victor said.

"Everyone keeps using it on 'Rajah. And then they brag how they're being unique," Poppy groused.

"Unique is a good key word here. With a strong natural affinity and being able to channel now, I am the bottom power circuit representation in the array. You'll notice I had to offset the two and seven o'clock one farther," Mei said.

Victor frowned and leaned down, then put his head to the ground to peer. "Extra leaves on those two to keep the power up?" he asked. Mei nodded.

"Also, Rose and Poppy and maybe Alamy are going to have to take some steps back before I fire this off," Mei said.

"You are flattering me, for a pet trainer to register as a strong source," Alamy said. Bandwidth quacked firm agreement.

"Even if we're not actively channeling, we're still aligned. It's not the power, it's it as a statement," Rose explained. She got up and brought Ivy with her several steps backwards. Poppy followed, and Alamy sighed and followed as well after a moment.

"Sorry, I did this a couple days ago as a completely poverty-stricken version and I don't want to have any materials burn off fighting influences now that I have them," Mei apologized. Pome's good cheer disappeared briefly as he rolled his eyes, thinking of his pathetic Mud-Slap.

"We'll get you later, I don't have what we need there," Mei answered.

"She has thanked you, I hope," Alamy murmured quietly. Rose nodded briefly.

"So that's how she learned it so badly," Victor said, enlightened.

"It could stand some improvement," Mei acknowledged.

"Terpsi ringed herself out," Trigo said, enjoying the gossip.

Rose looked quizzically at Mei, who looked away. That part had been left out from Mei's tale.

"Anyway, regardless of who launched who in the air," Mei said hotly, "Terpsi's going to try and get a much better feel for how much energy is involved. This will save a lot of practice."

Rose added, "This is something pet trainers can do. The partner does the final activation. It may take a little more material for the same effect." Trigo and Alamy nodded.

"Getting to that," Mei said tightly, then looked up and blushed, "Sorry." Rose bowed slightly.

"Rose is completely right, and most arrays are out on the Internet – the Galar League's website had them in the archives," Mei said.

"Kalos probably does too – most of their budget is covered by inspection and safe handling of elemental materials," Alamy said.

"Really, it isn't the Chateau?" Victor asked, surprised.

"Elite tournies are something of a loss leader for the League directly. The venues make most of the profit," Alamy replied.

"Zania or Trigo, does Mesagoza take most of the court fees or is it the League?" Mei asked.

Poppy shrugged and chirped, "No idea!"

"Me neither, but I thought they were set high enough to keep the main courts clear of the riffraff," Zania said.

"There was this reporter the other – wow, it was yesterday? – yesterday looking into what happened to the city's central court," Mei said.

"Did you watch it?" Trigo asked.

"Too much stuff had come up for me to wait up to see if they aired it," Mei said, looking at Rose. She looked away, uncomfortable.

"They really edited you down on TV, by the way," Trigo said, "But the gist was there. They think someone stole materials and faked inspections when the court was going in. Not like a League plot but some contractor getting greedy."

Poppy raised her hand, "Oh, League thing! Rika told me that Geeta wanted to say hi to Mei, so expect that!" Rose looked back at that.

"She must be greeting all the trainers at battle-sync," Rose said softly. When Mei looked in her direction, Rose signaled caution.

"I hope she's in a better mood," Poppy reflected. Her Fuecoco covered his yees.

"Victor, you too, probably, if she's working through who got hosed," Poppy reflected, "Rika told me about Mei since I was with Rose yesterday." Victor nodded.

"You should still try to get that interview," Rose prompted Alamy. Bandwidth quacked alarm. Alamy winced, and tightened her hands into fists.

"I may need assistants," Alamy asked tentatively, "I do not know if I could face her alone." Rose swallowed but nodded. Ivy meowed support, but he hackled.

"Geeta's usually nice! She worries a lot, though," Poppy insisted.

"La Primera has a lot of hats," Trigo said.

"No, she doesn't like hats. They push her hair down," Poppy explained. Trigo opened his mouth, then shook his head. Poppy burst out laughing.

"I'm teasing!" she announced. Trigo chuckled.

"You've got a good poker face," Victor complimented. Poppy beamed, then her face fell.

"Rika said she met Florian, and how he turned out. She really is usually nice," Poppy insisted.

"How bad was it?" Mei asked absently, fiddling with one last leaf.

"She was radiating intent," Rose said flatly, "She smothered us with it." Zania shivered.

"If I was stronger, I think I would have launched an attack instinctually, but it was too overwhelming," Alamy admitted. Resistor beamed at that, then coughed when she saw Alamy looking.

Mei stopped her adjusting at that point to focus on the trio, with Victor staring as well. None appeared to be joking. Victor turned to Poppy with a questioning expression.

"She wasn't pointing it at me, and I'm a bit closer to her level," Poppy said, and curtsied. She flared out briefly, for an eyeblink. It wasn't long enough to feel the full extent or scope, but it left a metallic taste on the tongue.

Someone shouted in alarm from another part of the courtyard. Poppy blushed as a trainer dived on top of a Tinkatink who had her arms out avariciously in the direction of the pure Steel she had sensed.

"You have a point," Victor managed.

"Wow," Trigo added succinctly.

"Great dragons, to be that," Rose whispered. Ivy was in front of her, brave but trembling.

"Huh?" Poppy said.

"Keeping perspective," Rose clarified. Alamy was rubbing her eyes, with Bandwidth skittering behind her.

Suddenly she yelped and Resistor popped off her belt, ready to fight. The little Pichu looked around expectantly, but Poppy had locked herself back down.

"You just missed it," Rose consoled. The Pichu sighed, but on seeing Bandwidth, grinned cheekily and rubbed her pads, emitting sparks. The Quaxly yelped.

With a sigh, Alamy recalled her duck. "He's not making much progress in learning attack calls. He jumps at almost every attack going off in the courtyard," she said.

"Have you had any luck finding a water specialist?" Rose asked.

"Not right now," Mei directed, "I'm about ready to fire this off." She called Terpsi out who bounced happily and waggled her leaves at seeing everyone. The Pokemon knew what was coming but made an exaggerated show of spotting the array and squeaking in dread.

"I told you it'd be tricky getting in," Mei said, exasperated. The Bounsweet, with an exaggerated hangdog expression, flopped onto her face and somersaulted, as limply as possible, towards the array, with a different negative expression each time she rolled up.

What happened out there? I thought she just tripped near the court line, Rose thought to herself.

"Is your Bounsweet interested in being an actress?" Trigo asked by the time she was sticking her tongue out when she rolled up.

"Mainly she wants to grow up to be a drama queen," Mei said wryly. Terpsi came to a stop near where the lines were sketched, bowed to audiences real and imagined, then carefully and neatly stepped into the center of the array, making sure not to disturb the lines.

"Okay, so that's usually the easy part when your Bounsweet isn't being a ham," Mei said, giving her starter a stink eye. Terpsi grinned back.

"You think she'd be more eager to put this whole episode behind her; it's her own energies, she could have ended up injured," Victor said.

"You're lecturing me on over-exertion?" Mei asked. Victor held up his hands, conceding the point.

Poppy looked a bit disappointed at the de-escalation. "How long until you two are ready to match again?" she asked.

"You may need to trade Fuey out for a water Pokemon if you want to keep hosing them down," Zania said, giggling.

"If the Elite Four did Gym-style evaluation, I would get a Pelipper for my Terastal," Poppy said in all seriousness, "But this is on training myself, so I wanted something I'm weak too. I'm a Pokemon trainer, I can befriend other Pokemon." Her lip quivered briefly but she otherwise held it together.

Poppy adjusted her visor as a cover. "The Pelipper would probably also be tricky," she admitted.

"I admire you stepping outside your specialty," Mei said, doing a final check.

"You did," Rose said to stick up for her sister.

"That's right, but it's not really a specialty until I can use them in battle as well as I can talk to them," Mei clarified. She sat next to the array between the two bottom circuits and pressed her palms to the ground.

"Okay, if everyone can be quiet, I need to concentrate on Terpsi," Mei asked. People nodded and leaned back.

Mei took a deep breath and closed her eyes and linked up with Terpsi as much as she could without a present opponent. The energy of the trophies her sister had gotten gleamed in her inward eye. She could feel the trainers around, though outside the aura of the leaves. Zania and Trigo were flickers, but Mei's caution was correct. Alamy had enough sparks to be noticeable.

Her sister was a bouquet of short, growing shoots, seemingly in all directions without a seeming core. Poppy gleamed, even sheathed, solid metal. Victor's felt like something constantly cracking and reforming, even with him still holding back.

All of them paled before her partner. Terpsi was the center of her vision, life surrounded by more light, connected by spindly (but not frozen, never be frozen) branches. They didn't have leaves, but their cores were green and vivacious. She focused in on the pattern, the sense in the real world and the energies that would resolve – as the materials' stored power flowed into Terpsi as she built the pattern in herself.

Her energies, her trainer's will, the connection between them, the extra power that would be added with her trainer. All were pieces to consider in understanding the attack, and how it grew from the power Mei would add.

Why four at a time for trainer battles? Why gravity? Whole superhero franchises had come with the conceit of a trainer who could keep five moves active. Terpsi rebuilt the 'pseudo-Grass Knot' in one of her active slots to reassociate it. She could remember plenty of patterns. Rhyhorns could retain plenty of patterns, it had turned out. People just asked badly. It was like riding a bicycle, though it could take a little time to shake the rust off an old one.

Even with her eyes closed, the green glow as the materials were consumed was visible to Mei. She opened them as the glow faded, in time to see dust swirling away from where the expended piles had been. These bounty gifts from Pokemon didn't have a lot of background matter holding them together.

"Lot of a light show," Trigo said, rubbing his eyes.

"TMs don't do that, either," Victor commented.

"What we give up in the name of efficiency," Zania mock moaned.

"Did it work?" Rose asked, "That felt right."

Mei stood up and dusted herself off. "Let's give it a try," she said, and started to take a step back before Terpsi fixed her with a glare.

"You spent a minute pretending to be entering a horror show," Mei reminded her, but did take a step forward.

"Battle trainers can't bluff their partners, huh?" Trigo asked.

"It works the other way! Tinkie likes to be goofy sometimes," Poppy said brightly.

"I think, theoretically, yes," Rose said, "But you would need to exert tremendous emotional control and be willing to consider your bond with a partner as a falsehood. Even if you were a sociopath, why would you?" All the trainers, pet or battle, nodded reflexively at that.

"Zania, you mind if I use your target?" Mei interrupted. The Mesagozan girl shrugged, and Fue-cutie pulled back a bit from where he'd been lobbing Embers before the conversation started.

Mei walked past the cluster of battle trainers with Terpsi to line up her shot. They took a step back, except Rose who smiled encouragingly. Mei glanced at Rose's cat, who made a show of washing his face. There weren't any visible signs, but having just come off a heightened channeling experience, she could see her sister had prepped the bond if she needed to tap in to leap clear of danger.

Well she's being publicly supportive, but now I don't dare mess this up. Mei thought at Terpsi. The Bounsweet burbled in amusement. Despite her antics, she trusted her trainer's competence – Mei had indeed warned the first one might not take well. Still, best to make sure. Mei breathed deep and held her hand out, before pushing as much as she could to Terpsi.

Terpsi glowed briefly, before a set of rapidly growing green tendrils popped out of the ground in two lines to the dummy, wrapping around each other at the height of their growth. They reached the dummy and wrapped around the base. The padding squealed from the pressure before the glow faded, leaving tightly knotted 'mere' grass. There was a dutiful round of applause. Terpsi smugly squeaked.

"Not to give all my secrets away," Mei said grandly, "But this move isn't great for how Terpsi battles. You have to stay still during the attack unless you're extremely confident in reading your opponent. But it's simple, takes little energy, and it can give time to escape if you make something big angry off-route. It's not a full trap move – it doesn't push things to a location, but it can buy a little time. Low Kick works similarly but you have to be up close, and Terpsi doesn't have the legs for it. What I want to really teach next is Bullet Seed now that I'm sure this worked."

Mei (and Rose, if Mei was honest) had several moves memorized in their previous lines, but a first couple attempts had gone nowhere. The array worked out the same here, so the natural laws weren't different from Mei's last life – Rose was out of luck.

That did add extra weight that they were different people entirely even with the memories. No trainers were identical. Mei wished she didn't feel identical sometimes.

Victor spoke, shaking Mei from her ruminations.

"Still went a little chaotic, but solid use, and good demo for cheaper training," Victor judged.

"That was a perfectly straight line for the attack!" Mei said as Terpsi added protests.

"It should only sprout by the target optimally," Victor said, "You're wasting energy."

"I guess we overdid it on the growth still," Mei said after a pause.

Rose trembled, and Mei realized she'd had her hand up since before Victor was speaking. Mei winced internally but merely nodded.

"I thought you were doing it so you could angle the attack if someone moved farther. You're good at raw power, and that left a chain of Grass manipulation back to Terpsi to let it propagate," Rose said, without looking at Victor.

"Oh, that's clever," Mei said, then bit her lip, "I wish, but no, I just put a lot in. Good idea, though, Rose."

"I'm writing that down, actually," Victor said, who started doing so, "That's a relatively simple way to modify a move, if energy intensive."

"Move's a move, isn't it?" Trigo asked.

"This isn't a hard-coded video game. Every move construct has certain fixed parameters, you can't make a Flamethrower restrict a partner from a recall. They do bend. A Flamethrower will always be stronger than an Ember from the exact same Pokemon, but Ember's particle nature may hit something the line of a Flamethrower would miss," Victor said.

"It takes some practice by both parties. Some people on the Galar Circuit have made all their attacks have the same color as part of their brand," Mei said.

"One reason odd makers favor old hands at the battle circuit is that extra experience in energy manipulation, even if people are held to the same power," Victor said.

"Type matchups are a lot, but they aren't everything. With enough moves, you can cover your weaknesses," Mei said happily.

---

That was enough to prompt people to get back to work after the demonstration. Zania sat back and had both her Pokemon out, playing tug-of-war with a rope as strength training, while Fue-cutie recovered from all his fire-slinging. Trigo was using the running track with his Oinkologne, to work on his stamina after Zania's report on how bad she had done out in the woods.

With the area now safe downrange, Rose motioned Alamy to follow. The court was standard size, there wasn't enough room to do full sparring. But without worrying about errant Embers, there was some space now to maneuver.

"Are you going to train Resistor now? I saw something yesterday I wanted to suggest," Rose asked.

"I think Poppy intimidated Bandwidth," Alamy said with a sigh.

"He's so skittish," Rose said carefully.

"It would have been something," Alamy admitted, "I don't know if he seeks excuses or there is some trauma."

"Did you find a water specialist?" Rose asked again, now that Mei wasn't interrupting.

"Not yet. There were a few people who had profiles indicating experience, but no replies yet this weekend. Perhaps during the week. What did you want to show me?" Alamy said.

"I wish I had gotten this recorded, but I had a match that included a Pikachu this morning. He was a pet Pokemon, but he had some good moves to try and maximize static going off offensively, which I haven't seen," Rose said.

Resistor chittered. "Now why are you nervous?" Alamy asked.

"He wasn't as good as what I saw you do yesterday, and you're not even as mature," Rose consoled, making a guess. Resistor preened. Alamy grinned at the reaction.

Rose ducked to look at her phone so they couldn't see her face. You two are so, so close, she thought.

"I know Resistor favors getting in close for her thunder shocks. I think he was twisting to avoid getting held in a clinch while maintaining a charge, but I'm not an electric user myself, but I can make a rough sketch. Terpsi got the worst of it," Rose said.

"Are you two using each other's Pokemon?" Alamy asked. That was something Rose didn't bother to hide her expression for, and Alamy drew up short at it.

"Just, you two are so close," Alamy said hastily.

Resistor angrily screeched.

"She's right, I was thinking because you're twins you just could," Alamy said.

"I'm sorry, I overreacted," Rose said hastily, starting to move backwards. Alamy snatched her hands to hold Rose in place and Rose flinched. Ivy meowed and Rose relaxed.

"No, you did not," Alamy said firmly. "Thinking a partner or a trainer is swappable like a piece of equipment is wrong. Resistor was right to yell."

Alamy looked down where she was holding on to Rose but didn't let go.

"I know that apology you made by rote. It is a new place. We do not know anyone well, why take risks?" Alamy said without looking up.

"It was a Multi Battle. They're not common. You were just asking. I know you didn't mean anything ill by it," Rose said.

"It still hurt you. You do not mind me. I would like that to still be so, if we can try to avoid the walls we usually use," Alamy said.

"I'm not sure what sort of person I really am, or if I'm rnice" Rose said honestly. That got Alamy looking up with a giggle.

"I did three weeks on development. No one knows themselves at this age," she explained.

"I wish it were that simple," Rose said and stopped.

"Small spaces, louder people. Easier to keep the quiet around yourself by avoiding as much as you can, even if it hurts," Alamy said, looking down to the ground.

"Both of us flinched right back, didn't we, rather than even think about fixing it?" Rose said.

"Thank the Cycle for keeping Pokemon with humans," Alamy said. Resistor buzzed leadingly.

"I did not think, and I was rude, and then I tried to cover it instead of apologizing. I apologize and will try to do better," Alamy finished.

Ivy meowed for Rose's prompt. "He's right. I shouldn't react that strongly. It was an honest question, and I do want everyone to ask those," Rose said, "We're paying a lot to learn here. I can help some, and I'm sorry."

"You help a lot," Alamy said, and let Rose go. Alamy rubbed her hands together briefly.

"So, let us talk about this technique you saw," Alamy said.

"He was sort of rolling with the hit to maximize trying to send a charge over," Rose began, and pulled a stylus to sketch on her phone.

---

"You are not bad with a stylus," Alamy complimented, looking at the rough pudgy Pikachu, twisted around from a few angles.

"I scribble sometimes, and I have a good memory," Rose said modestly.

Resistor was all for giving it a try, though Alamy was a bit more hesitant.

"This is not going to bankrupt you with paralysis heals, is it?" Alamy asked.

"It could, even going light contact, but the nurse's office isn't far" Rose said cheerfully, "But I want some experience against faster opponents. Ivy has had a speed advantage on our matches so far, and we need to work on defense when we don't have initiative." Ivy meowed in determination.

"Even training me you are training yourself," Alamy observed. Resistor chittered appreciatively.

"I would hope both people could always get something from a spar," Rose said. Ivy jumped forward and crouched, ready to go.

"You have seen Ivy move, Resistor, so your best judgement for the fine adjustments," Alamy consoled. The little Pichu nodded.

The two Pokemon bounded forward, Ivy raising a paw to lightly tap. Resistor spun, letting a spark of lighting build on her tail, brushing the Sprigatito with her tail for a physical Thunder Shock as Ivy brushed her with his claws. Resistor just didn't have many inherent moves until she was out of the baby stage, with about the only physical one being Nuzzle.

She did cheekily pat her cheek pads after the touch was done, and Ivy nodded. The two Pokemon communicated for a bit.

"She is right, maximizing contact while avoiding hard hits is useful for static on the defense. But for offense, we have a better move we should try to get used to, if we seek paralysis, instead of dancing around it," Alamy said, frustrated with herself.

"Are defensive abilities okay in this philosophy from your parents?" Rose asked carefully.

"Hard to avoid since it is part of Pichu, a necessary corruption. I cannot imagine my parents would be happy if they saw me practicing using it as best we can. But it would be hard to prove in battle," Alamy said, blackly amused.

"Do you want to practice it offensively then?" Rose offered cautiously. Resistor's ears stood up straight, and she looked hopefully at her trainer, holding her breath. Rose found her hands going for her necklace and forced them to her side.

Alamy looked around. "I expect my mother to just appear if I say yes," she admitted, looking very small for a moment.

She stared Rose straight in the eyes for a bit, and Rose was surprised to feel a bit of a jolt from the intent there. Alamy continued, "But she did not yesterday, so lead away into temptation. Resistor, you can prep for Nuzzle." The little Pichu squealed happily.

---

The two practiced for about half an hour before the Pokemon were ready for a break. Ivy was mainly practicing his pacing – as a cat he hated to show weakness. He was trying to keep moving smoothly even if slowed down, which Rose was finding worked better with her style.

"You creche Pokemon really did get trained to help new trainers," Rose praised. She was running her fingers through his fur, to try and help break the Paralysis charge.

"I have some brushes that could get that in the room. The grooming kit is too big to fit in the purse," Rose apologized. Ivy raised a paw stiffly and waved it, not worried. She did get out a pouch of snacks, which was appreciated.

"Once I stopped thinking and did it, that was more fun than I had thought," Alamy admitted, and picked up Resistor to hug her, who hugged back, cheerful.

"That was a beautiful combo using the active cheek pads to keep a higher base charge for Thunder Shock near the end," Rose complimented.

She hesitated a moment.

"What? Please, no walls" Alamy prompted.

"You need to practice having multiple approach patterns. Resistor defaults on Nuzzle if you don't specify wherever Ivy was. Three steps, dog leg to the left, four steps cross-angle, and then lunge." Ivy looked up from the food and nodded.

"A downside of a pet trainer, pre-memorized patterns," Alamy said. She patted Resistor sadly.

"You can fix that with practice, adding more, as you get more comfortable with the move," Rose said quickly.

"It is very cute how you are trying not to push me into it," Alamy said and laughed.

Rose said nothing even as Alamy finished, wiping away a few tears.

"I appreciate it, though, that you are keeping my wishes and letting me make my decision," Alamy said gratefully.

"It's a very big one," Rose acknowledged.

"That you rushed into. If I was strong enough to have rushed into it then, perhaps I would have," Alamy said, and she patted Resistor.

"I can feel something like a storm on a horizon. Nuzzle has helped, we are pushing to it, moving more in sync," Alamy said distractedly.

"You're improving whether or not you take that step. How did it feel out there?" Rose asked.

"Natural," Alamy admitted, "It flowed much better with Resistor, both what little I can give her and just how the commands lined up. This is her style." Resistor's pouches sparked and she mimed a couple one-two jabs.

"Thank you for pretending not to be there yesterday," Alamy said softly, "It let me call it in front of someone for the first time. I could not have done it today, even with no one paying attention."

"I'm glad I can help. I see how you move with Resistor, what you're doing and trying to do. I don't quite think like that," Rose said. The Ranger hadn't used electric types, so no stolen well of experience.

"Yes – you with Ivy or Azucena, your eyes move all around. You move to envelop, not just striking in. Resistor is fragile, so we must strike hard. How did you decide what to pursue?" Alamy said.

"I've been told grass, talked to grass, been with it. And I have a lot of time to read. Grass was one of the first identified energies, it's easy to understand. Petals, spores, and leaves – it's diffuse, in a lot of its fast attacks. I looked at those. I was surprised by channeling visualization set up the same way, but I've gone with it," Rose admitted.

"I still need some work on the timing. It is difficult for Resistor to handle storing a charge," Alamy said.

"Poppy may be more help than me – I'm not happy with my timing," Rose said.

"She is figuring out how to make her steel molten," Alamy said poetically. The little Elite trainer was running laps with her Feucoco around the perimeter of the reserved court. She waved cheerily when she saw them looking and they waved back.

"She's doing something right, that little crocodile's getting great stamina to keep up with her," Rose said, "Professor Dendra probably has good advice. I have some questions there to ask myself. And, oh – Victor's looking to be taking a break." Rose stood up and waved to get Victor's attention. He shrugged and walked over, alongside a Flamigo.

"She looks like you're getting along well," Rose complimented. The Flamigo squawked and ducked her head at the compliment.

"Well enough, though time for a cooldown" Victor said, "Did you two need something?"

"We would like to ask your experience if we could," Rose said politely, "On electric attacks at speed."

"Did the electrician here convince you to get a combat Rotom?" Victor asked, "I'm not sure what advice I can offer her."

"You have much more experience in battle theory than I do, and have done more training," Alamy said, "I'm having a bit of trouble getting the charge ready for a contact move." Resistor slapped her cheek pouches for emphasis.

"Timing issue? I can see why the Oddish here couldn't help," Victor acknowledged.

"Am I that obvious?" Rose asked in dismay. Alamy shook her head. Ivy planted his head against the ground, lacking hands to facepalm.

"You just spent half an hour working moves over and over – it's not hard to see the problems after a bit. Even considering paralysis, there are fits and starts on your side. You aren't flowing smoothly yet while channeling, and you're adding some advanced maneuvering for a new trainer. And physical attacks tend to be a bit harder on the timing for peak energy," he noted.

"New? You've given up this wild notion my sister and I are recovering ex-trainers?" Rose asked hopefully.

"I watched you spar, and I've fought Mei. I can see you two studied and studied, and how you two are trying to get away from what your teacher taught you on channeling before you could do it practically. You should probably get your money back. You know the steps, and you've read up, but you haven't actually done the dance," Victor said.

"So, what is Rose doing wrong that I cannot see?" Alamy asked. She smiled apologetically at Rose.

"Don't feel bad, we are at a school. If you were spying on private training that would be different," Rose said.

"Rose is clever enough she's throwing her moves together lightly and quickly, to make the problem less obvious. Power delivered after a strike or too early and it bleeds off. Hard to spot in battle, but she's probably still losing a quarter of effectiveness. With battle trainer eyes, you can see her catching herself and having to redistribute energy. Her other problem is no experience, so she has to think before starting each move. It's a small hitch, but especially if you did a switch-in, it'd be an opening to exploit," Victor lectured.

"I appreciate you offering that freely," Rose said honestly. His tone was a bit rough, but that lecture could have been delivered after a thrashing.

"Your teacher should have gotten an idea how your channeling and bond would be before you partnered," Victor chided, "Mei's like most people in a multi-channel. You're diffuse for a grass type, but it's still not exceptional. Your teacher obviously was a monobloc and told you that was how it worked."

"A lot of the literature there is philosophical," Rose said.

"It's very individual," Victor said guardedly. He was still keeping his defenses up against casual observation.

"I do feel like I am tossing energy to Resistor than a single channel," Alamy mused, "It is a bit strange with Bandwidth."

"Oh, most of them are off, but you're multi-part," Victor answered.

"At close range, they're still visible looking your lightning branches. It's weak, but there."

"Does it make a difference?" Alamy asked.

"Theoretically, no?" Victor said, "So yes. People tend to end up favoring different moves. Some of it is probably personality affecting visualization, like how outside the orange we're all forced into, you're in yellow and Rose is in cool colors."

"Any three of us could set up moves and train Pokemon to fight defensively and wear down their enemies with poison or slow effects, but we wouldn't be happy," Victor said, gesturing.

He pointed at Rose, who jumped a little. "There's plenty of grass type trainers who are like that. Big tough walls that slowly uproot their opposition, but aroma girl picked a starter for set-up. And that diffuse set up makes it easier to fine tune status conditions to heal or harm," Victor said.

"Azucena and I are still practicing powder distribution," Rose said.

"All your life," Victor predicted. Rose giggled.

"What is Mei like, since they had the same teacher?" Alamy asked, curious.

"Flailing right now a bit – she doesn't have as much a style as 'hits things really hard'. She's better than how she fights. Don't tell her that last part," Victor added at the end.

"Mei's much better with non-Grass attacks than I am. You've seen her Embers, I'm sure," Rose protested.

"She's fighting like a movie, where it all hinges on one strike. That only actually works if you massively outpower your opponent. She's more a tree than you anyway, heavier strikes naturally. She's burning a lot of sap in each go, and if any of them backfire, she's done. It may be she doesn't have the moves she really needs to express herself, or she's just too fond of some Galar style to bully over focusing on her own," Victor decided.

"How the two of you bicker, I am surprised you are giving so much advice," Alamy said.

"She's dripping with natural talent. Her swaggering around and fighting so she can only beat weaker opponents is a huge waste. I'd rather I have to think a bit fighting her," Victor said.

"She would probably double down if you told her," Rose admitted.

"Well, Rose avoided it somehow," Alamy said.

"I did try to force the power on one connection our first match, but I could feel it straining, so then I had to improvise," Rose recalled.

"Mei's can, at least for now, so you avoided that pitfall," Victor said, "So what's Alamy's problem?"

"It may be mental – the build-up is bad when I try one of Resistor's moves, compared to Thundershock or Sweet Kiss," Alamy said.

"Was Sweet Kiss a problem earlier?" Victor asked.

"It took some work getting to where we could do the form quickly, but the power was fine," Alamy said.

"New trainers often have some trouble channeling energy that's off a Pokemon's type," Victor said, "But it sounds like you've moved past that with your Pichu." Resistor puffed up her chest.

"Is it a move you taught then?" Victor said.

"No, it is one that developed," Alamy said, hesitant again, "I am trying to Nuzzle, but it forms in the mind, the power slows."

Victor looked at Alamy, then up and down. He sighed and sat down, his Flamigo folding up to take a nap.

"You did say Lumioise was where you're from, didn't you?" Victor asked. Alamy nodded.

"Status conditions being impure? You're wrong to affect the other person's power in battle?" Victor prompted. Alamy looked down, and Victor grimaced.

"Big push up until a few months ago on that. Suddenly a focus on claims of corruption or Pokemon abuse in lower income areas. Wild rumors being declared for 'investigation' into the battle circuit," Victor listed off, sounding angry.

"Oh, Alamy," Rose said. She reached out and risked patting her hand.

"My parents were terrified for us when they realized they and their whole profession was on Team Flare's list, and we didn't realize until too late," Victor said darkly.

"My parents were not in Team Flare. They knew some people who were and were horrified. Thank the Cycle they were not so foolish themselves," Alamy said.

"What is it they do?" Victor asked.

"Papa works at the Taxi company in logistics. He started as a driver. Mama is a banker," Alamy said.

"They sound like the sort Flare would drain dry, from the news we got, in Galar," Rose admitted.

"What are their hobbies?" Victor said, now curious.

"Prep me for 'society'," Alamy said grimly, then sighed. "They do like the theater, so they do not mind me wanting to act. Mama is on the board of a small one. And they always go to art fairs, and a few gallery openings."

"I've heard of Lumioise's street art fairs. And probably newer plays at a small theater, not the old classics?" Victor asked. Alamy nodded, and Victor stood again, looking relieved. His Flamigo popped her head up, but he motioned she could keep napping.

"Not the 'right' beauty for Flare, then, most likely. All that modern 'ugliness', Victor said. His hands were trembling.

"Thank all right-minded trainers and the good of the world it didn't fire," Rose said, hand touching her necklace.

"I had not thought of them that way," Alamy said, but then looked down again.

"But still, they believed in a 'beautiful' way of battling," she said, and drew a finger through the clay of the court.

"Pet trainers?" Victor scoffed. Alamy nodded again.

"Feel free to ignore them," he advised, "I know that doesn't make it easier. It's easy to believe something's the only right way if you hear it enough. If you don't, the problem is with you." The last few words came at a rush. He blinked and looked around.

"Well back to training!" he said loudly. Now his Flamigo popped up her head and Victor nodded. Rose wasn't sure what to say, and Ivy hopped in her lap.

"I am sorry, Victor, that I did not fight back better," Alamy offered. Resistor chittered, nodding at Victor.

"You're trying to push through it. It says a lot about a Kalos city girl than I thought. You just have to keep at it," Victor said, voice steady again. He bowed briefly and walked off.

Rose reflexively stroked Ivy with one hand and kept one on her necklace. Alamy patted Resistor's head, hard enough she buzzed and Alamy drew her hand back.

"It truly is easier when it is other people, than trying to fix yourself," Alamy said softly.

"There's a saying about good intentions, that may apply to parenting," Rose said.

"I know this is about a third of the class, but it may be suitable to be our homeroom motto," Alamy said.

"You're not impure for finding something that you and your partner are comfortable with. I'm sure your parents meant well. You've spotted the problem," Rose assured.

"It sounds, if I may be forward, your mother worked hard to teach both of you. Even if it was not quite… accurate," Alamy said.

The two sighed.

---

It was a few minutes of staring in the distance while their Pokemon ate treats, when Trigo came over with four cold bottles of water.

"You two look like you needed something to do with their hands," he said.

The two blinked a few times. Rose hadn't really thought she was thirsty, in the cooler weather, but seeing them made her throat seem parched. She pulled a dish out of her purse, and took the two bottles, cracking one and pouring one for Ivy.

Resistor had enough dexterity she could just handle the bottle once the top was off.

"Thank you," Alamy said, with a duck of her head. Rose nodded agreement, already drinking.

"Victor didn't say something to put you both down? I know he's haughty, but he didn't seem cruel. I mean, if Mei needs to try and crush him again, she probably could," Trigo said anxiously, waiting until after the first gulping was done.

"We asked him to come to help," Rose clarified, water running down her chin.

"But we just have growing to do," Alamy said. Trigo looked confused, waiting for clarification.

"The examples we get, and what we have to get away from," Rose said. Alamy nodded.

"Sounds heavy for a weekend," Trigo commented. His own Fuecoco nodded sagely.

"It's been quite a week," Rose said dryly, grossly understating.

"I get that, it makes things seem worse. But hey, we all made it here, so that's something positive," Trigo advised.

"That's good advice," Rose said quietly.

"This class is amazing. There's an actual Elite Four member running breathing exercises with a tiny crocodile over there," Trigo said, pointing. Indeed, they were doing squats.

That got some smiles, and Trigo relaxed.

"And she isn't even the strongest one in the class," Trigo said, "But when she let herself go all out for a second, I could taste it. Imagine the power Kieran and Nemona hold bac-"

"HEEEEYYY!" came a voice across the court. Trigo never finished his statement as he looked over, seeing Nemona and Kieran waving. Trigo looked down at his hands.

"You have a terrible and mighty power, apparently," Alamy said, impressed.

"I vow henceforth to use it only for justice," Trigo said solemnly, before the three burst out laughing.

---

When two Champions show up twice at your 'hang out and train' day, everyone pays attention. The courtyard was nearly silent as the two approached. Nemona's Skeledirge lurked behind her, grinning as only a crocodile can. Kieran was still working on his Meowscarada, apparently, or was sending a message with the quick evolution. Mei hadn't decided which was more likely.

"Kieran I was worried I had given a bad impression," Nemona said, still sounding cheerful.

"I hadn't realized you went to rescue Professor Sada," Trigo said quickly.

"Oh, on the leaving," Kieran said, realizing.

"Multiple items related to Professor Sada's research are still confidential," Nemona said, flatly like she was quoting, before her face came back to life.

"Sometimes when I talk, it's things people want to be discrete," Nemona confided.

"That wasn't the part I thought where the problem was when you asked," Kieran said.

"Oh, I was being too… dismissive?" Nemona turned to Kieran for confirmation who nodded.

"Too dismissive to new trainers, on how many handicaps I was giving. I want people to catch up in Paldea! You can really do it! Really! 'Por favor'?" Nemona finished, pouting.

"Of course," Mei said. It'd be like kicking an Eevee to say no with those eyes.

"Yay! But just to help show I'm not bullying anyone," Nemona glanced at Rose, who kept a steady gaze back. Nemona nodded respectfully at that.

"Kieran wanted to do some more coaching and I thought it would be a good idea to get some practice in, since he had so much fun last time. And if I can't find trainers to battle, make 'em, right? It's worked before!" Nemona said enthusiastically.

"Wowsers, we're not talking about me here," Kieran insisted, blushing.

"Be the mentor you want challengers to overcome, huh?" Zania asked.

"Oh, I like that. I haven't had one. I admire La Primera but she's always busy. Florian didn't need it, but he did help Arven and Kieren. They're pretty amazing now," Nemona said, reminiscing out loud.

"Is that why you decided to be an instructor this term?" Alamy asked.

"I got asked, and sparring is close to a match. And it lasts longer," Nemona admitted, "But then Kieran and I had a conversation watching the senior students. He had a good point! He wanted to make sure I wasn't making people feel… small?" Nemona turned again for confirmation. Kieran nodded again.

"Small, then. If you want to go back to it or have any questions, it'll be a nice palate cleanser to rest up until my match!" Nemona said, a brief shadow again.

"Who did you challenge?" Trigo asked.

"Oh, I was challenged to it. He was off and missed the start of the Academy Ace Tournament," Nemona said, "He's pretty strong!"

"Someone challenged you?" Zania said, disbelieving, "The word in town is no one challenges Nemona. Instead, you're like a human Diglett they can't escape from, forcing battles."

"Aliquis does challenge me!" Nemona said, ignoring most of that, "And he's getting better!"

Mei glanced, but the Mesagozan people just shrugged, no name recognition there.

"This is recurring?" Rose asked, intrigued. Victor pointed at her, seconding the question.

"Well, he uses different Pokemon. And… unusual moves!" Nemona said, pausing then rallying.

Kieran shrugged. "This is the first time you've brought him up," he added.

"He's really strong!" Nemona repeated.

If you can't say anything nice? Mei wondered to herself.

"If Nemona challenged everything, she would be beating me into the ground right now," Rose said quietly.

"Oh, theory question then for the instructor!" Mei started, "You said you've been raising Paldean Tauros on the side. But you have that Skeledirge there and your Dusknoir absolutely was a titan during your battle against Professor Saguaro. How do you handle the different types?"

"Oh, that is one I wish I knew better when I was starting," Nemona praised, "Even most dabblers end up focusing on a type – or sometimes a body shape or biome. It's easier to feed and understand to train when they're similar. There's a lot more the same between Electrabuzz and Pawmi than it looks on the surface. If you're trying to be a generalist as a battle trainer and keep it, it's a lot of work. You need to learn a lot more on different type and species, and how each type's energy handles the interaction with each other. On top of all the other stuff."

She patted Skeledirge behind her, who crooned, a deep note that somehow was uplifting rather than disturbing.

"I'm sure when I have more training it will be easier, but I have an easier time with some body types, and up-close action," Nemona admitted.

"You do tend to battle with bipedal types," Kieran interrupted. Nemona nodded.

"Even Lycanroc has a bit of it with the extended forelegs, less than the other form but I wanted speed for my current team," Nemona said.

"Battle circuit trainers often focus specific tactics since they don't build up relationships with most of their partners," Victor said. Nemona nodded.

"Energy-wise, fairy and flying have been trickier for me to get the most out of. I channel slower and don't covert as well. I do try to keep my channeling unaligned, but mentally those types don't click the same. I've even learned Kantonian so I could read up their literature - they kept a clan structure longer than Paldea, so they have more written down," Nemona reminisced.

"Isn't it just the Dragon Clan?" Trigo asked.

"They're the last ones left from that era. Dragons tend to be loyal to stay in family lines and live long enough through generations of trainers," Kieran said.

"The Apricorn killed off most of them," Mei added. Seeing some confused looks, she clarified, "The clans kept training inside them, but with the Poke ball aiding the connection, it proved every human can be a trainer. Not just the 'chosen'." Alamy winced here for some reason.

Mei pressed on, "More trainers trying more things hurt their power, and when there were so many trainers the routes were permanently established, the extra money from commerce moved money, then power outside the old structures. Dragon Clan hung on because their normal territory tends to have one business in mining, and it was easier to control."

"We don't mine much in Paldea. You see purple at least once a day, though?" Trigo asked.

"A lot are tourists here for training. You guys have a lot of wild Pokemon here," Kieran said, "I get their newsletters because I evolved some dragons and got made an associate after some battles."

"I raised a Dragapult and a Baxcalibur last year, and they still wouldn't let me copy their texts to take with me," Nemona complained, "But I got a lot of notes from other trainers there! The best thing I found to work for me is based on how sub-types work with the energy of a main type in Pokemon. Now this requires some battle style specialization to be really smooth, but…" Nemona happily began a lecture.

---

Fifteen minutes later as Nemona finished her overview, even Kieran was taking notes.

"I see why people usually end up specializing," Zania summarized. Alamy shrugged.

"Even trainers aren't Pokemon, but we still orient to energy with frequent use. Even pet owners tend to lead to it, even with the channeling they have available. I need to mediate on keeping centered for an hour each day, at least. Otherwise, my partners pull me over to them," Nemona said.

"Re-centering exercises to maintain energy," Victor muttered, considering.

"I know a Steel-type gym leader who switched completely from Rock," Poppy offered.

"Oh! Jasmine. Her Pokemon gained types when she evolved so she retrained and followed," Nemona said.

"She's a Coordinator too, isn't she?" Rose gambled that the time-lines weren't that far off. A Johto Gym Leader visiting Sinnoh had been news.

"Very bendy for a steel-user," Poppy said.

There was a pause. "Flexible," Victor said after a moment's thought.

"Oh, that's a good word!" Poppy said.

"But she followed her partners. If I was solely a grass user, and decided I wanted to become a fire master instead, that would mean you were trying to push your partners away by changing your channeling so much," Nemona said bleakly, and rubbed her Skeledirge behind his fire bird.

Trigo looked around, at the battle-users reflexively went to pet their Pokemon.

"You and Kieran said you switch Pokemon around," Trigo said, "And there's the electronic stabling and everything to help take care of larger teams."

"They're all still here," Kieran said, patting his chest. "You need a bad mental state to rip yourself apart like that. Even I-" He stopped, shaking his head.

"You talked a lot about sub-types, and I need to read those sources you mentioned because great dragons you covered a lot. But talking about switching, I need to bring up my hometown. Raihan is Galar's dragon master, but he uses other types at full power in battle too," Mei said, worried after the discussion. She thought she had been reaching out mentally to another type, but if that was impossible.

"I would love to battle him! Paldea doesn't have many weather specialists, let alone multiple weathers. You think with Leon retired he will come to Paldea sometime in the off-season?" Nemona asked but rushed without waiting for a reply, "I haven't met him to know exactly what he's doing, but in Paldea, you train your Pokemon to handle the 'flavored' channeling. The teachers do that."

"Really?" Rose interrupted, and groaned, "If they're masking that, no wonder they sneak up everyone. Stealthy."

"Nemona keeps insisting Paldea doesn't have a ninja tradition," Kieran said, also suspicious.

"We really don't! The teachers keep themselves under wraps since they said they can teach about Pokemon or battle Pokemon. Only Clavell and Raifort are genuine generalists by the way," Nemona said.

"Raihan isn't Dragon Clan, either, so he may be doing it in a way that isn't 'the way of doing things'," Kieran said, "One of Blueberry's top battlers had a natural ground inclination – she grew up around them – but loved fairy types. She made it work well she can support a psychic/poison type on her battle team, one of those Galar Slowbro."

"Blueberry does put some work on moving outside established trainer class stereotypes. Lacey's a good example," Nemona said, "I couldn't figure out how they made it work so well when I visited last summer. A lot of their people are specialized, but their teams are set up like true generalists."

"Did you ask Florian?" Kieran asked. The two burst out laughing.

"I don't get it," Mei complained. Victor nodded.

Nemona was bent over, so Kieran explained as he wiped away tears. "Florian has the easiest time bonding with Pokemon I've ever seen. You can't even feel his channeling, it's so smooth. He doesn't seem to understand people have trouble aligning with individual Pokemon, let alone whole types. You bring up working on energy or focusing on connecting before throwing a Poke ball, and he just smiles blankly and nods," Kieran said.

"He's like a tidal wave," Nemona said admiringly, "My greatest rival. He works hard and has talent. He's even surprised how trainers tend to accessorize when they trend to a type. He would think you two are a bit silly with the clips." She directed the last to Rose and Alamy, who were elementally accessorized with blue flowers and storm cloud hair clips, respectively.

"It does pretty much happen," Mei said, fingering her hair. She still couldn't get it to go straight, and had clipped on some green-stitched red ribbons to give a sort of mossy tree look before she'd felt acceptable to be seen in public.

"I'd say fighting trainer looking at you, Nemona. With the uniform pieces you've picked," Zania said.

"I do have a lot of them! And I need to be able to move," Nemona agreed cheerfully.

"Your lecture was pretty good. You'd make a good professor here. It was a lot to take in, but I think I got most of it," Zania said.

"This is incredibly helpful as a base to think going forward for me," Victor agreed, giving a bow.

"Or for starting to teach off-type moves," Rose said. Alamy nodded agreement.

"Thank you very much," Mei said, bowing, but when she popped up, her eyes were glistening. "Can Pome and I pet your Skeledirge? He can't use ghost yet, but I want to start the feel," Mei asked.

"Mei thinks we have some type affinity buried under the grass expression, but it was easier training us as a matched set," Rose explained.

"It's just a theory," Mei mumbled as people looked at her.

Poppy trotted over and stared hard at Mei. "Oh, I thought there might be something under there."

"I haven't looked at the other flower power as closely, but Mei's training is both over- and under- developed for a few days," Victor said.

"Or just a natural training knack that's more obvious now that you're bonding. Neat! Here, I've some scale-care tips too," Nemona said, gesturing that Mei was invited with one arm.

"Question for you, Kieran. I'm reteaching Liquidation to get some adjustments made. For fine-tuning, do you recommend physical water moves have the Pokemon focus the energy above the skin, or directly on top? It's more feather care for my Quaxly in the latter case but seems more logical," Victor asked.

"Okay, let's start by seeing how your Pokemon manage both…" Kieran said as things turned back to practice.

---

Alamy and Rose ran Resistor through trying out some new attack patterns to come up with a couple Alamy could just verbally call – which gave Azucena some target practice on a moving target, trying out different Stun Spore methods.

"Less teardrop shaped if you can, this time, I think," Alamy suggested. Getting the longer-range packets to break up was still a problem. Alamy's dabbling on airplanes was coming in handy to try some bad airflow designs to make the spore 'crash'.

A sudden hot wind swirled around them, making them stop and look over as it lingered. The day had been pleasant so far. Pome was standing, smiling more than usual, as Mei waved. Nemona cheered.

"Okay, except for having no power, that's exactly right, but the best I can teach without some Torkoal coal around," Nemona was saying.

"Is that Fire Spin?" Alamy identified.

"Technically," Mei said, "We've been working on ground moves too but I promised to Pome with Grass Knot working on Terpsi to start teaching him a better fire move. Turns out, Nemona memorized a bunch of move arrays in her studies."

"You're going to have to go shopping for trophies if you keep teaching partners like this," Rose observed.

Mei grimaced. "Yet another expense, but I can at least practice to get some more energy behind them, maybe do wild Pokemon next weekend. Or go beat up the trainers in Mesagoza West again," she said, shadowboxing and grinning.

Rose took a deep breath. "Maybe do some trainer work? Gardening or metalworking? It sounded like all four of you did fantastic, and we don't have the app unlocked to find decent matches that way."

"That one's not my fault," Nemona assured, "The League's been doing it on the school's behalf since before I started. Too many people skipping class."

"How do you work on power during the school sessions, Nemona?" Rose continued.

"I mainly maintain. When I was starting out, it was much easier to schedule matches for the weekend, with school schedules. The Ace tournament was a big help, since people could schedule it around homework and clubs, but I haven't heard yet when we can do those again."

"So, a lot of move training?" Mei said, sounding dismayed.

"And conditioning. You can't forget that. Kieran's got a Meowscarada, but it's downright flabby right now compared to one that had more training before it evolved," Nemona criticized. Rose put a hand to her belt as Ivy's ball shook in laughter.

"I should give you two some sparring, too!" Nemona said, noticing the stance. She walked over, and pointed at Rose, who took a step back.

"Look at you, trying to start a battle earlier too," Nemona said more quietly.

"My partners don't want to lose, but I know watching you take me apart would be a big help," Rose said quietly. Ivy meowed support for the idea. Losses, Ivy had realized, meant Rose would pamper them.

"Don't apologize! Good attitude, you can't just look for weaker opponents," Nemona said. She looked over Alamy, and down at Resistor.

"You've put a lot of work in here," Nemona said. "Are you looking for the question? Because sometimes stress will bring it on, so if you want me to go full power." Resistor chittered noncommittedly.

"I am not sure. She has practically turned me into an electric trainer already, though," Alamy said fondly.

"What does it feel like, holding back?" Rose asked.

Nemona made a mopey expression. "'Feo!' Take the feeling of being with your Pokemon, feeling all that strength you've raised together and the energy coming into you and your beloved partner… then choke it all off," she said, making a chopping gesture. Alamy and Rose made a face.

"It gets more battles, and it's good for teaching," Nemona continued, "But it isn't much fun."

"I am more impressed the Gym Leaders do it consistently," Alamy stated.

Nemona gestured at Poppy, who's Fuecoco was doing a passable Mud-Slap. "They get everyone coming to them for battles, though. Poor Poppy can go weeks," Nemona said, shuddering.

"There's trainers in Galar who hit the finals consistently who have never considered having a Gym, even with all the advantages in training a Gym gives," Rose said.

"Still, you two don't mind if I beat you? Just because I'll be weaker and slower doesn't mean a pushover," Nemona asked anxiously.

"You really love Paldea, don't you?" Rose said.

"To stay here, she means," Alamy added.

"I do! It's beautiful and has interesting Pokemon and I've learned a lot! And I hope to have better and better rivals! So!" Nemona said, holding up a Poke ball for emphasis, "Show me what you can do!"

By the time Nemona called it, Rose felt almost as worn out as her hiking yesterday. Alamy and her hadn't managed to get a single fall in, alone or together, against Nemona. It'd been an enlightening half hour.

Rose had dashed off to get water this time, and everyone took a brief break. Mei looked the happiest she had in a week when she took the bottle.

"How was Nemona's Skeledirge?" Rose asked.

"Fantastic! Pome got some good tips on voice work. And seeing an evolution up close helped a lot for feeling out where that energy is going to grow out from. It's not there yet though. Compared to Shuppet, it's more purely a spiritual ghost type than coming from being vapor," Mei said. Nemona grinned.

"That thing with the Shuppet could have been sheer willpower in stress. Did you get anything else?" Rose asked.

"There's something going on that feels right when I sense it. Something with how his fire felt and the energy circulated just felt comfortable. I can't quite put it in words yet. And Pome doesn't have it yet either," Mei said. Pome whistled sadly.

"But he'll get there! And I couldn't talk directly to Nemona's Skeledirge like a grass type, even with Pome being bonded," Mei said.

"A lot of times it's personality first to powers. Most people aren't aligned naturally," Alamy reminded Mei.

"Right, you're so deep in the look I keep forgetting you weren't born there like us," Mei admitted. Rose sighed loudly.

"Sorry," Mei said reflexively, then closed her eyes. "Sorry. It keeps bubbling up like that," she said as follow-up.

"Oh, early training, on battle-sync, getting that Pokemon confidence built in, those were the days," Nemona said nostalgically.

"You're not that much older than us," Mei said.

"A few years is a lot at this point! A few losses will help settle it down. Once you hit opposition you can't just beat up and start having to plan again, the human part in the partnership gets back fully at the helm," Nemona said, speaking mainly to Mei.

Resistor sighed. Alamy giggled.

"Is your Pichu the planner for you two? Oh, right! She's trying to break you through?" Nemona asked, bending down without waiting for answer.

"Pichu have energy storage problems, but she's recovering great from our sparring," Nemona complimented.

"It's me, not her, on the delay" Alamy said, disgusted with herself. Resistor nodded.

"Oh?" Nemona said.

"All the outward aggression usually being temporary is gratifying to know. Why is Rose not like that?" Alamy asked.

"I'm right here," Rose said, but amused. Alamy giggled.

"She lost," Mei butted in, then grimaced, "Sorry. Also, her talents have been more the receiving side. She's always been quieter, more self-control." Rose grasped her necklace, thinking about the gap in her recollection.

"I think it's more the latter, but the first probably helped," Rose said, "And Mei's more the power hitter type right now."

Pome whistled uncertainly. "You're not doing anything wrong. Just partners being partners. Pokemon love battling," Mei assured him, "I'd sooner yell at the sun for shining during the day." Pome sighed in relief.

"You're a great little teammate and friend, don't worry," Mei said warmly.

"Also, I think Terpsi's the really match-happy one," Rose put in.

"She's a future queen and she knows it!" Mei said cheerily.

---

Rose wasn't sure if it was being around Champions, but she felt like she'd walked to Los Platos and back by the time Nemona's challenge was taking place. She couldn't put her finger on anything extra she was doing under their suggestions, so she put it down to coaching mainly keeping them moving.

Mei had apparently anticipated the workout being intense or was taking steps to give people a good impression. She'd run her rice cooker an extra round at lunch and was distributing rice balls made from the leftovers. By Paldean customs, dinner was hours away and the food was greatly appreciated.

Even Zania looked like she had just finished a long workout, and she'd been sitting down. Poppy had her Magnezone out so Zania wouldn't have to walk the whole distance to Nemona's battle. Even the little Elite Steel trainer was looking flushed from two masters.

Alamy hadn't been in the proper shape to really study the Magnezone the previous night, but she was orbiting it as it floated patiently, waiting for Zania to pack up. It was following the Kalosian's progress with its sub-eyes, but genially. She and Rose had finished disposing of destroyed dummies and had some free time.

Alamy had Bandwidth out and at least convinced him to spar a bit with Azucena using light contact, and her avoiding concentrated Stun Spore puffs. He was keeping his distance from the big electric Pokemon though.

"You need three Magnemite and a Thunder Stone for one of these, right? It's very comfortable," Zania joked after she sat down.

"Magney's got Sturdy, so it's smart about moving to take a hit. You start with one Magnemite if you want one Magney," Poppy said.

"Don't they need to link up with others to get to Magneton?" Alamy asked.

"They do, but you need some wild Magnemite for that. Maybe in the wild friends link up, but with a trainer they're all friends to the trainer first, and won't link with each other," Poppy explained, "I was so surprised! Rika helped me find trainers for the other two. You can't use a phone or a tablet around three Magneton."

"Oh, I get it. The one that turns into the center keeps its personality?" Zania theorized, "If they're partnered, they wouldn't want to lose that."

Magney buzzed and its side-eyes turned to up-turned half-circles, in pleasant agreement.

"Oh, it's a sweetie!" Alamy said, delighted.

"They're all-over East Province. Between Zapapico and Levincia mostly – they eat ore from the old mines there and Levincia has a big tidal generator they like the vibes of. Voltorb too," Nemona explained.

"I've only heard of Voltorb. Pranksters that move fast and like to blow up? We didn't have them in Galar. I don't think Mangemite are native either, but you heard more about them," Rose said.

"Iono uses little drone Magnemite as part of her image, is how I know about them. Kalos doesn't really have either species, even with the big Poke ball factory," Alamy said.

"Electrode are fast and fragile, Magnezone are tough and slow for an electric type. In Paldea they live in the same areas," Nemona listed, and shrugged.

"Not punchy enough?" Alamy asked. Nemona grinned.

"Thank you again, Poppy. This is a very smooth ride," Zania said, delighted.

"How are your legs doing?" Rose asked.

"A lot better, but my feet are still sore. Medicne and time helped a lot, but it's going to be a bit more. I'll be a bit slow for classes tomorrow, but I should be able to walk around," Zania said.

"Here you are then," Mei said, dashing up with Terpsi, who was holding a plastic container over her head. Zania took one and took a cautious bite.

"Saltier than I thought. Fish filling?" Zania said after chewing for a bit. She kept eating it.

"They keep unrefrigerated thanks to the salt. Mom kept us in the habit of making them from leftovers," Rose said, who'd helped with the filling at lunch.

"Tomorrow for class I'm getting doughnuts. Well, whatever they have for pastries," Mei promised.

"Doughnuts to rice balls is a wide range, are you making those too?" Zania asked.

"I don't have a fryer to do those. I think the best dessert I could do is crepes, but I don't have fifty people's worth of fruit and custard," Mei noted.

"I haven't had handmade onigiri in a while," Kieran said, who was eating his slowly to savor it.

"You want another one?" Mei offered. The champion nodded and Mei handed over two.

"Corruption just runs in your family," Alamy teased Rose. Kieran chuckled, but he still took the rice balls, storing one for later.

"We're half Kalosian, so be careful," Mei reminded Alamy.

"So, you come by your corruption honestly," Victor shouted from where he was raking the dirt back into shape for the court with his Nacli. Mei threw a rice ball at him, which he snatched out of the air and took a bite triumphantly out of.

Bandwidth looked at Alamy and then cringed, hiding his face with his wing. "No, we're not all going to throw food. I've eaten mine already," Alamy said to her duck kindly.

"He is really jumpy still," Poppy said.

"Maybe it is just worse because he is tired," Alamy said optimistically.

"Was he shy when you picked him out? Pome was off in his little world, singing," Mei said.

"He was showing off his feathers. He got very excited when I complimented how good a job he was doing grooming," Alamy said.

"They have a lot of pride, normally," Trigo said, "Usually you see them strutting by Naranja students." Bandwidth ducked again.

"Trigo, maybe we can spar after Nemona's match? Resistor has been taunting him. Rose is all grass, and he would only fight Nemona once. Maybe he needs a fight he has the advantage in for some confidence," Alamy said. Bandwidth shot her a look at that.

"Well, I guess he doesn't think he's weak. That came through on expression," Mei said.

Victor had finished up and joined the confederation near Nemona, gulping his snack down. "We did try a bit ago for my Quaxly to talk to him, but Bandwidth isn't being forthcoming," he explained. His Nacli sighed, sounding a bit like a sad rock tumbler.

"Paldea has such cute mushrooms," Rose said, jumping a little when she realized she said it out loud from people's reactions.

"I know he's a rock, but he's still a cute mushroom," she rallied. The Nacli bounced a little at the praise.

"Yeah, it's a shame about all the weaknesses the type has, but this one has a great ability and has been a hard worker," Victor praised. The Nacli made happy mini-avalanche sounds and started rubbing his leg. Victor coughed, embarrassed.

"You're pretty hard on rocks," Zania said and grinned.

"I do plan to go back to the battle circuit one day. When everything's on an even level, the type's vulnerabilities leave it brittle, and they're usually too slow on moves to hit well, and without a power advantage, that's no good. It's not worth considering specializing in a vulnerable type," Victor said. The Nacli made sad noises.

Mei coughed into her hand and pointed to her and her sister.

"Wow. Subtle. You got set as sprouts before you had a choice. And grass has more moves designed to incapacitate to level the playing field. Sooner or later, some trainer's going to make a Burn Powder work," Victor predicted.

"Well, you don't need a whole team of the type," Mei said.

"Did you used to want to be a rock specialist?" Rose asked.

"No, I didn't really want to be," Victor said tightly, "Shouldn't we be moving on? We want good positions." He started walking towards the other courtyard. Nacli gave a pleading look and stumped after him.

"Oh no, I just went through this," Rose muttered, to some visible confusion around her. She recalled Azucena and threw Ivy's ball as far forward as she could and dashed after it. Alamy realized after a moment her intentions and recalled Bandwidth to job. Resistor popped out of the Poke ball on her belt.

Victor paused as a tiny grass cat appeared in his path and hissed, hackles rising. His Nacli bravely bounced forward to interpose himself.

"Whichever of you lost control of your – Rose? Really?" Victor's anger at being surprised gave to shock.

"Listen, I'm not asking what happened, but I know that reaction. I didn't mean anything malicious by my question, and I don't want you to leave angry because of me," Rose said, holding her hands up.

"It's the easy route after you get shocked, but not a good one," Alamy said, having run up in time to hear the last part.

Victor looked back and forth at the two. "Oh, you two are that kind of quiet type. I should have guessed for Mei's sister," he said. Rose tensed but didn't look away. Alamy gave a deep breath.

"I don't have a reason to get angry with you," Victor said after a few moments, "But don't ask, okay? You're right, a trainer who loses their temper is on the way down." His Nacli sighed in relief. The two nodded, and the group and Pokemon walked back over.

"Sorry, something dumb I did once. I shouldn't be embarrassed about it, but it caught me by surprise," he said.

"You look better when you run towards problems," Mei said.

"You shouldn't have to have your sister look after your rival," Victor countered, smiling again.

Zania relaxed a bit, and added, "I didn't really mean anything by it."

Victor waved it off, and apologized, "I'm too rigid sometimes. I'd like to blame the workout, but that would be a disservice to our teachers. I'm looking forward to seeing your match, President," Victor said politely to the champion.

"We should get moving, though," Kieran said anxiously around a mouth of rice ball.

"Once I get Fuey figured out for better how other people do with partners, I can't wait to have 'prentices," Poppy said longingly.

"Rose, can you help me pack this up?" Mei asked. Rose nodded as people started to gather packs.

"Why did you stand it?" Mei asked quietly.

"Victor? He deserves his pride, and he's willing to share his knowledge. He's honest with his pride too," Rose said. Mei grimaced.

"No, not you covering over that – thank you, by the way. That would have been uncomfortable later. You obviously want the Kalosian to break through, but why put yourself through losing so much too if trying to stress her?" Mei asked.

Rose stared at her sister for a few seconds, still packing automatically.

"I hadn't thought about that when I asked Nemona for pointers," Rose admitted eventually.

"I'm not sure I see your strategy," Mei said.

"Alamy is a friend. Nemona is amazing and perceptive enough in battle to give good tips," Rose said.

"Why encourage her to train if she's not breaking through?" Mei asked.

"Because she likes doing it, and I like talking to Alamy. She loves Resistor, but being a battler is her choice," Rose said simply.

"So why did you want to lose so much?" Mei persisted.

"Well it was sparring. I didn't put my partners through a dozen knockouts. It was good practice. Nemona has some combos she doesn't usually get to bring out, so she had more fun than she thought," Rose said and shrugged.

Mei stared at her sister and shook her head.

---

The group generally got into motion.

"We are hitting each other's landmines a bit, aren't we?" Victor said after a moment's walking, looking up at the afternoon sky.

"Is it Naranja or is it just this class for having histories?" Zania put the question aloud several had been thinking. Kieran coughed, awkwardly.

"Kern still seems pretty straightforward," Alamy said.

"I'm not sure, he and Vine are in my floor unit. There's some sort of power struggle going on in the color guard and the cheerleaders are having to pick sides," Trigo said.

"That explains why the club keeps sending in budget request revisions," Nemona said, in realization.

"You still have friends in Mesagoza, Trigo? Maybe you should get out when you can if it's contagious, before you end up some secret heir or something," Zania said.

"Oh no! I like Trigo. You're nice," Poppy said.

"My dad's got a chef on the other shift they've been stealing a knife set back and forth for years. Something about a cooking competition years ago," Trigo said, "Neither of them went to Naranja. Everyone's got something important going on."

"That's good advice," Kieran said, "That doesn't mean it's not worth dealing with it, though. Which is easy to say."

"If you're getting close enough to upset each other, you're learning about each other!" Nemona said cheerily.

"Pushing past that is the hard part," Kieran said, sort of agreeing.

"Well, we're near Nemona. She's all hard work, and maybe it rubs off," Mei said, with studied carelessness. Rose rolled her eyes, privately, at such blatant buttering up, but Nemona smiled.

"Oh, please, let the Cycle take me now," Victor said, not having Rose's need for discretion.

"It's true," Mei protested.

"Shameless toadying," Trigo added, "But true."

"Do you two want doughnuts tomorrow or not?" Mei threatened.

---

The courtyard was… identical in layout to the one they had left, except more crowded. It was quieter, however, there was a sense of anticipation in the air and people weren't doing much active practice, instead keeping an eye out. A murmur went through when Nemona appeared.

The court Nemona had reserved only had a few people near it. People seemed to be keeping a wide berth. There were a few exceptions at the midfield. Miriam and Dendra, along with a male professor Rose didn't recognize from the back were standing chatting.

He had darker hair and short cut hair, and when he turned to see the group approaching Rose had a face she could put a name with. Professor Salvatore, from the language department.

"Bonne après-midi Nemona!" Salvatore called out. Nemona waved back briskly. He looked at the rest of the group briefly, and continued, still smiling.

"And new to the school as well, bienvenue!" he called. He raised a finger and counted.

"All from your home room, Miriam?" he asked.

"That's right, how is your first weekend going? How are your feet, Zania?" she asked kindly.

"No blisters, but very, very sore, even after medicine. I was not ready for off-route. I didn't even know I was so badly prepped," Zania said flatly as she bobbed on Poppy's Magnezone.

"I'd like to talk later about that. We have a lot of people leaving to the wilds for the first time and you may have some tips we would otherwise miss," Miriam said. Zania nodded.

"Alamy, you were worried yesterday, how are you?" Miriam asked, changing people.

"The power of science is amazing. A muscle relaxer and a night's rest covered a lot of it. I would not want to do it again today, though," Alamy said. Bandwidth quacked agreement, then ducked down when people looked at him.

"When did you run into Professor Miriam?" Trigo asked, curious.

"She was at the Taxi stand when we came back," Poppy said.

"You two are okay, still?" Miriam asked.

"The benefits of practice; I'm only a little stiff," Rose said. Poppy and Rose stared as she finished – Professor Salvatore had a horrified expression on his face, suddenly transfixed.

Both battle trainers looked down at Azucena, who shrugged, she hadn't done anything.

"I'm sorry, Professor?" Rose said politely. Salvatore's jaw worked but no sound came out.

"He's the language professor, Rose," Mei said grimly.

"Oh dear, this is the first time you've met people from Galar that took this year's quick-learn course?" Miriam asked. Salvatore nodded, barely, still frozen in horror.

Rose's brow furrowed rather than apologize. "It was mandatory that we speak Paldean to go to school here," she said. Alamy nodded.

"My homeroom is third years this session. Great Cycle, you poor girl, what that bug-ridden disaster did to your phonemes. I'm hearing some… no, not even Jubilife. Eastern Sinnoh? How badly did they write that program that most of your accent is from the wilds of the other side of the world?" Salvatore.

"[Because it messed up all my secondary languages just as badly! I don't sound like me in Galarian either]" Rose exploded into rapid-fire Kantonian. Salvatore took a step back, evidently, he spoke it fluently to keep up with an angry near-teen.

"I nearly could fake tourists into thinking that I was born in Hammerlocke," Mei fretted, still in Paldean.

"Rose and Mei are the Sinnoh expatriates who lived in Galar?" Miriam reminded Salvatore gently.

"Oh, so that's why you two with all your head-start are here on the first year of Circuit eligibility instead of courting endorsements before next season starts. I was wondering how someone like Mei was patient enough for formal study," Victor realized.

Rose took a deep breath and said nothing. Alamy winced.

"With the Champion shakeup, everyone's looking for experience, and a lot of people are trying the Circuit that haven't in years. Even Mom's company didn't want grass potential without training. We're not from one of the old colonies, to be weird but familiar. We're half-continental, so there's a whole section we're not exotic enough for even coming from Sinnoh. We still have mild accents so we don't have that 'down-home' vibe. Naranja should open those doors," Mei listed all off, frustrated. She'd been through it in her head.

"[Though I wonder which way Mom pushed Grow Sures now]" Rose muttered to herself, still stuck on Kantonian.

"Sorry?" Salvatore asked.

"I said I'm grateful I can at least be understood still," Rose lied, switching back. From the glance Alamy gave, Rose was going to have to explain herself later.

"Paldea's great! I mean, I wouldn't mind more battles," Nemona enthused.

"Between two close regions the language program should never have been released in such a state. I've been deep in trying to get it properly fixed ever since it came out. That it should be done to people who were just expanding their horizons," Salvatore said.

"You should hear Teff in our class. He drawls, and he's from Wyndon," Zania said. Salvatore clutched his chest but managed to recover this time.

"It's really a travesty," Salvatore said.

Mei could tell Rose would rather move on as she looked at Miriam. "You still aren't wearing Poke balls," Rose identified, apologetically. That'd been embarrassing for everyone involved. Mei was still irritated she'd been so far gone her sister had somehow hidden being in match-lust.

Dendra and Miriam shared a look and Miriam blushed. "Oh, Dendra helped me with that issue, but I had three challenges right after that battle. I had to lock them back up for the day if I wanted to get any paperwork done," she said, "And there is a lot of that." For some reason, she stared at Mei for a few seconds before smiling again.

"This is a little break to see Nemona in action," she finished.

There were light purple sparkles in her eyes, Mei could tell they weren't just highlights from experience with her twin and from what Nemona said, she could recognize. Miraim really was poisonous at her core, as genuinely as kind as she was. She was hear to see a beat-down.

"Osu! Seeing our top students' improvements give me ideas for lessons," Dendra said, "And also Miriam and I have a bet on it for who pays for dinner." Miriam put a palm to her forehead, exasperated.

"We're supposed to be impartial on student battles," Salvatore said, amused.

"Aliquis is in your homeroom," Dendra countered. He merely grinned.

"What did you bet on?" Poppy asked innocently. Dendra just held a finger to her lips.

"I'll tell you afterwards," she promised.

"It's fine to record these?" Mei asked. The professors nodded.

"This is just a school court. It's barely clay. Can it handle Nemona going all out?" Alamy asked.

"It'll probably be a mess," Nemona predicted.

"I think she was worried about the spectators," Kieran said.

"It's not as durable for re-use as the Mesagoza courts are. Well, as the Mesagozan courts are supposed to be," Dendra said, "But a lot of Pokemon shielding for battle courts was developed at Naranja, and those prototypes go into these first."

"It will probably be a mess though," Miriam said gleefully. Mei could easily picture her front row at Hammerlocke with a foam finger.

"Who's your favorite for the Cup this year?" Rose asked.

"Oh, Gloria, among the stranding entrants. Especially with Leon retired and Raihan still reeling from it. A new poison gym leader is exciting, but I don't think Klara will make the major circuit this year. Who are you rooting for?" Miriam responded instantly.

"Mei, in a perfect world," Rose said. Mei and Pome grinned, touched.

"If I would put money, it would be one of the challengers through the Circuit. There's plenty of people who were convinced Leon was unbeatable. Five new gym leaders in one year are just a sign of how much of a shakeup the League has," Rose predicted.

"I was sure you would say Milo," Miriam admitted.

"He's sweet and great to Pokemon and genuine and everything a Gym Leader should be, but not a Champion," Rose explained. Mei nodded.

"I think he could pass the gyms here," Nemona said.

"Not what Paldea uses for Elite ranking," Mei interrupted, "Champion. A League's ultimate symbol of authority over human-Pokemon relations. It takes a certain gravitas that Milo doesn't have."

"Oh, Geeta," Poppy identified. Mei hesitated, then nodded.

Miriam blinked a few times. "Ah, that reminds me – Mei and Victor, can you come by before class tomorrow? The Chairwoman is trying to meet with new trainers," she said. The two nodded, having been forewarned.

"You're new?" Salvatore asked, peering.

"I've been training for a while," Victor said, "Hydrangea and enflamed double hollyhock are what, Thursday?"

"How do you have so many of these?" Mei asked.

"Which is which?" Poppy asked.

"Mei's hollyhock with that nest of hair. Hydrangea are blue and purple when they're in corrosive soil," Victor said patiently, before turning to Mei, "And there's something called the Internet, it doesn't take long to get a list together."

Mei thought for a second. "Quartz-headed Kalosians should be careful which stones they throw."

"Not bad, going a little deep but I deserve it," Victor judged.

"Oh, do you think Florian would appreciate for our rivalry if I added insults, Salvatore? He's from Wyndon, so you think I could adopt rhyming slang to Paldean?" Nemona asked.

"I think he's happy with your good relationship, Nemona. There are plenty of friendly rivalries," Salvator said hastily.

"Though for a few days you two are quite developed," Salvatore judged.

"We did a lot of prep before getting Pokemon, and we have amazing tutors," Rose added quickly, bowing to Kieran and Nemona.

"Wowsers, I haven't done much," Kieran mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"Your advice on Friday was a bigger help than you can imagine. I would be stumbling around for weeks, otherwise, without you and Poppy," Rose said. Poppy preened.

"Rose is selling herself short. She did an amazing job helping us go catching yesterday," Zania heaped praise. Rose looked down at her feet, blushing.

"You should be proud. Not everyone can transfer their skills," Alamy reinforced.

"I had good students," Rose mumbled. Kieran smirked a little at seeing the complimenter fail as the complimentee.

"She helped Zania get boots to protect her feet and we stopped a robber too!" Poppy added.

Miriam said, "I hadn't heard about that." She was about to add more but Rose looked about ready to dig into the ground if it kept going. She changed tacks.

"Would you mind a short primer on footwear I could hand out along with Zania's notes? We have a lot of new people, and every term I saw a lot of blisters at the nurse's office," Miriam said.

"I can help with that, Rose," Mei leapt in, feeling left out. A bit overwhelmed, Rose nodded.

"Are more people coming?" Alamy asked, changing subjects.

"Not many for a Champion-grade fight," Poppy agreed.

"Aliquis isn't here yet," Salvatore explained.

"Do they think he won't show up?" Trigo asked.

"They don't want to bother stopping training if he doesn't show? They're dedicated," Mei praised.

"They're worried about being challenged," Salvatore said, and coughed, awkwardly.

"Did you want a battle, Nemona? I know I was busy with Fuey earlier. You hardly come by the League, it's been since before summer. You haven't even met Basti," Poppy offered.

"Wow, has it? 'Notable!' Can you hold that thought a couple hours though? The nurses at the Center do their best for stamina, but it still takes time to rest back to one hundred percent mochi, and you deserve nothing less than my best," Nemona said. Poppy nodded genially.

"Yeah, I'm the steel wall, Nemona, give me everything you've got," Poppy cheered. Nemona grinned, but Mei frowned.

"So, who is this 'Nemona' everyone's scared of people seem to see? This crazed berserker filling the Centers with casualties, utter disregard for her opponents?" Mei asked her teachers.

"A lot of my friends, at the time, warned me about this mythical hellbeast, rampaging through the city" Zania added.

Alamy added politely but tinged with acid, "Is she in the courtyard with us now?" Nemona looked around, confused.

The teachers looked away awkwardly.

"No, you don't," Mei muttered, and strode forward. Rose realized what was going on and, blushing, followed. Nemona had been generous to them.

"Professor Miriam, Nemona has been nothing but helpful to us to help us get our careers started. She gave the introductory speech for the term! What is this bizarre…." Mei stopped, seeking words, "Mythology around her? She's skilled and doesn't deserve this disrespect!"

Miriam stammered, words not coming out as Mei stared, until suddenly a hand interposed itself.

"Another few moments and that would have forced a match," Dendra said, surprisingly quietly for her.

"That seems a lot easier to lock in lately," Salvatore said.

"Since this summer?" Rose interrupted, startling Mei who hadn't realized she was there.

"Lot of that going around," Trigo muttered.

"Getting off-track. Why is the Academy letting this stand?" Mei asked again.

"I don't know," Miriam stammered, then blinked. "I don't know," she repeated, slowly. "It's completely against the Academy's principles," she said firmly, "And Director Clavell's personal policies against bullying. Is someone telling this on campus Nemona?"

"But I like battles!" Nemona protested, "That's true!"

"Are you viciously going around forcing people into challenges?" Kieran asked, speaking up.

"Well, Arven thinks I could wait a little longer between challenging everyone, but I've really been making an effort! I only ask once a day lately. I mean, who would be mean enough to just throw a Poke ball down if they say no? I mean, a battle's a battle, but holding back just feels like having a sopping wet wool blanket over you. And then they usually blame you for not holding back enough," Nemona said.

"Boy I get that," Poppy muttered.

"It's a different kind of control, but it does cut down the exhilaration," Victor agreed. Trigo and Mei gave him a look.

"Wait, even if their friends are evolved too? Rose or Alamy or my Fuey they're just not going to be as strong, but then?" Poppy asked. Nemona nodded.

"Well, that's not nice," she declared.

"I'm sure some if it is an excuse," Dendra said resignedly, "I've talked with Tulip on it." A shadow briefly passed over Miriam's face but then she nodded.

"Paldea is loaded with Pokemon seeking trainers! More live close to human settlements than almost anywhere. We should be drowning in battlers, and pet owners with four-plus teams."

Mei glared, not accepting it, and Dendra nodded. "We're not, though. It's Tera Pokemon getting in the way, or not getting into Naranja, or the expense of having partners, or now it's Nemona, but there's still enough trainers in Paldea she doesn't need to repeat that often," Dendra finished, and frowned. Nemona nodded in agreement.

"I wish there were more tournaments, though," Nemona said, reflecting.

"Why is it Nemona then?" Dendra pondered, growing worried.

Mei sighed, and shook her head, "Okay, you're at least thinking on it now. She really deserves better. Pokemon trainers challenge all the time, you can't expect never to have stronger trainers."

"You're absolutely right," Salvatore acknowledged, looking concerned.

"So, I did do something?" Nemona asked, a bit overwhelmed.

"You're easy to blame," Kieran said, resigned, "You make it look easy because you've worked so hard, so people put off working hard and think it's just natural to you because they don't know how much work it is that you put in."

The professors looked at Kieran in surprise and looked down.

"I've been there. Wowsers, I've been there," he mumbled.

"Professor Miriam, did you upset someone to get this homeroom?" Zania asked, "Because I think we're cursed."

"This is fairly normal, actually," Salvatore said, amused, "You don't come to Naranja if you're perfectly happy with where you are in life."

"Call me Miriam, please," Miriam insisted, "I'm happy to have met you all and hope to help. But… I can't think of why. I've heard the rumors. You hear a lot in the nurse's office but I thought it was exaggerated. But you've all heard it already whether you're from Paldea."

Mei bit her lap, getting more angry, not less as the teachers dithered.

"Rose, can you talk about what happened before our first match?" Mei prompted, gritting her teeth, but ready to concede to a different argument style to keep this moving forward. Pome spat a tiny bit of flame.

Rose nodded and moved forward gracefully, knowing what Mei meant. Alamy coughed to hide a grin. Not everyone did anger in the same way. "That was a rough day," Rose began sympathetically, "I'm not surprised it blurred together. Professors," she said with a deep, and fast bow, and continued as she popped up.

"Would the locals say Mesagozan traffic laws are strongly enforced?" Rose asked.

Zania snorted. Trigo shook his head in amusement.

"It's a rush of bikes, Cyclizar, and trucks out there. You have to fight for your spot in a lane. Good fun," Dendra remarked.

"When we reached the East battle court, the Mesagozan police were waiting with a written ticket for Nemona for bad merging. She jumped a roundabout on a Ride Pokemon. Perfectly smoothly into traffic. It wasn't the first time either, from what she said." Nemona nodded, caught up in the story.

"Was a very smooth landing, I remember that through the terror," Mei said.

"Really? Was a beautiful ride. Graceful," Rose mused. Mei shook her head, exasperated.

"Nemona, I'm sorry, this happens often?" Salvatore said, sounding angrier than about the bad program.

"Oh, no," Nemona assured them. Salvatore looked confused, glancing at the twins.

"Usually, it's loitering if I wait too long at a battle court in one place for a challenger," Nemona said, "It used to be littering so I record when I eat lunch and I was able to start getting those thrown out. I get my Pokemon checked a lot to confirm their records and their health, but that caught a smuggler, so that's nice." Miriam and Salvatore's faces were dark, Dendra was just punching the palm of one of her hands repeatedly

"Oh, if you're getting your license and team checked a lot, you really can't trust the global system," Rose broke in, "The scans are mainly punched in and easy to fake if you own one corrupt nurse. Set it up for a time release into the trade system and it is nearly impossible to trace back. And not all treatments reveal a hacked location id, and Pokemon aren't good at describing legal zones until they get tied into a human nervous system, so they can't tell they're poached or it was just a rough capture. Usually. Best to go intraregional if you can't do in-person. More accountability," Rose listed off casually.

That brought silence, besides Nemona pulling out her phone to make an enthusiastic note.

"…. That's right. How do you know?" Victor asked finally.

"You must have seen Furfrou on the Fringe?" Alamy asked, delighted.

"The graphic novel version based on the film and the movie. The novel never got translated to Galarian," Rose said.

"Oh, the movie is much better. Less gratuitous violence. The poachers are hideously stereotyped obnoxious Galarians in the book. They actually tie someone to a Rolycoly track," Alamy said, disgusted.

"Is that why Umber disappears after chapter 3? Ugh," Rose said.

"Getting back on subject, merci," Salvatore said fiercely, "Nemona, that isn't normal. I had no idea."

"It isn't? I'm not normal though," Nemona said matter-of-factly.

"Scraps seem like a feast when-" Rose muttered and stopped, looking away, her composure wavering. Miriam looked at Rose, concerned. Alamy just nodded in understanding. Mei winced.

"Nemona, we need to talk to Clavell about this, this week. We really had no idea," Dendra said, appalled.

"You're Galarian, it's okay for you to shake things loose, Nemona" Trigo agreed.

"What?" Kieran asked.

"Kitakami, too, or Kalos," Trigo added politely. "Everyone's been asking 'why not' do something and I keep realizing they are right."

"Same, at least once my feet finish recovering," Zania added.

"All these cultures coming together," Mei offered, after swallowing. Pome whistled sadly.

"Osu! You kids are doing good. Though I imagine it'll be a headache for Professor Raifort," Dendra said cheerfully.

Mei blinked. She was almost certain she'd heard Miriam say 'good'.

---

It was almost time to start, and Dendra directed them towards the trainer box. Rose and Alamy lingered out of the press. Dendra was asking questions to Nemona, and from her face, she wasn't happy.

"Did you really watch Furfrou?" Alamy asked quietly. Resistor buzzed, also inquiring.

"I heard it was beautifully shot. Wilderness filming permits are hard to get instead of just CGI, so I wanted to see it. And it was set in Kalos, so Mei was on board so that was our movie for the month. The artist did a great job on the adaptation, too," Rose answered.

"You are not surprised I asked," Alamy observed.

"It's been a very strange weekend, and it was an easier answer than 'read up on the perils of international Pokemon trading'. What if I really wanted a Galar-only partner at some point?" Rose asked rhetorically. She looked down at Azucena.

"I'm so happy to have met you. You know why I'm fond of Budew but I would never get one to replace you. You're amazing," she said warmly. The little Pokemon waved it off, soaking up afternoon sun and secure in her starter position.

"I just wanted to assure you I do not think you were a former smuggler," Alamy said, giggling. Rose took the point seriously.

"I know, progress is all at weird points for a new trainer. I'm stronger than I hoped – then I should be – after a few days," Rose admitted.

"It must be what it's like being a Gym apprentice," Alamy said, pointing at Kieran. They waved when sensing it, he looked over. He shrugged, waved, and went back to talking to Victor.

"A lot of my education has problems for the practical," Rose said, "I've gotten some of it settled but it's a lot of work going forward." Azucena cheeped exhaustedly.

"It would be anyway," Alamy said. She bit her lip.

"Can I ask for a bit of a skip on one of my problems?" she asked. The Kalosian picked up Resistor and smiled, but not happily.

"There should be people at Naranja who examine the bonds between partners that could tell you exactly," Rose warned. Alamy nodded.

"But I trust your judgement," she said. Resistor nodded.

"They can get specific. It… you really want to know?" Rose hesitated.

"Please. There is something inside of me that is ugly and wrong, and I have hurt Resistor so much. Does knowing why the anger is there help?" Alamy pled.

Rose cautiously patted Resistor, who took it without even an electric tingle. "It helps," she said, "But it is Resistor's choice when she trusts you completely."

"I do not want to be this. I will stop," Alamy promised, reflexively scratching Resistor's cheeks. Resistor purred.

"Will it be worse, if I get the question? You react much faster than me. Will I just react with that horrible philosophy?" Alamy asked.

"Your parents were trying to do right by you, they weren't in a murder cult," Rose said bluntly. Alamy recoiled.

"It could have been, so close. The look on Victor's face was something I was a small part of," she whispered, fiercely. She closed her eyes and continued.

"I feel so sick of it. How does it stop?" she asked.

"We haven't known each other that long," Rose began, and then took a deep breath.

"But anyone who runs toward an unknown evil to fight it is a rare and good person. Even most truly virtuous trainers wouldn't immediately," Rose praised. Azucena and Resistor nodded.

"I think a righteous career is not always a long one," Alamy joked blackly, and giggled, some of the tension leaving.

"I wish I had better answers for either of us," Rose said, "I feel I should."

"You make an excellent sounding board. Can I ask what you thought of the movie?" Alamy asked.

"Well, my mom thought the Pokemon battles were overwrought, too much spirit overcoming types. I think she's old-fashioned. Started on old Poke balls, battles were just throwing attacks back and forth? Bijou did a great job acting as the lead Furfrou, Giselle, you really felt the drama," Rose praised.

"That Pokemon has been in several other movies, but they are comedies. Those don't always translate well overseas," Alamy commented.

"Then she's got range too!" Rose said, and the two fell to talking.

---

"A battle does make a lot of noise, so I can see how Giselle's owner spotted her," Rose was arguing as they reached discussing the climx.

"I know, I want to like it so much, but I live near that plaza. Anyone spotting or hearing anything on the other side at lunch is a true miracle, let alone looking right down an alley and spotting their Pokemon from behind," Alamy said.

"Wel,l you've already pointed out battler propaganda a few times in there, so this would be another one I think. Giselle broke her owner through at the right moment, and suddenly her trainer is making attack calls like an Ace. She takes over the battle against the thief and it's all over, and they nearly lost to that domesticated Gogoat at the film's start," Rose said.

"It is uplifting enough I can look past some-" Alamy stopped, realizing the courtyard had suddenly become silent. In the trainer box, the others moved back and Nemona's face grew determined, cracking her knuckles.

The courtyard shifted as if a wave, students of all ages being drawn out of a straight line from one of the doors and moving to fall in from curiosity. It only took a minute for crowd to part enough the two got their first view of the challenger.

Aliquis looked a bit younger than Nemona, moving with a swagger that matched a Meowscarada moving at his side. He was chatting with a boy and a girl about his age also (of course) in uniforms.

"That is the third person I have seen this week with their hair having an undercolor instead of the more usual striped or fading at the tips," Alamy noted. Aliquis's hair had some gold strands visible, but mostly it was visible on the underside of his blue front bangs when he turned his head.

"Maybe it's something common in Terastal regions? If Kitakami has it too," Rose theorized.

He was getting close enough, Rose risked reaching out to probe, though keeping her eyes low. Mei had one forced challenge, and nearly another. And Rose had pushed her luck with Nemona.

"Oh, he's quite strong," Rose said, surprised.

"Is it something you can quantify? I can get an impression of an aura, but unless they are actively channeling, I cannot get more," Alamy said.

"It just takes practice. Now, remember raw power isn't everything," Rose said. Alamy nodded.

"Maybe just a bit below Kieran, if Aliquis isn't trying to push it out to show off. I didn't look that closely," Rose judged.

"I would tell if he was pushing, if not how much. I remember Geeta," Alamy said decisively, "We should go get spots near Nemona's box. I am more curious than ever why Nemona does not consider this young man a rival."

---

"It's been a while, Aliquis!" Nemona called, "I hope you've been training for a great battle!" She held a Poke ball up, ready to go. Salvatore had moved to stand as referee.

"Oh, don't worry, Nemona, I have a whole new set of tricks to play out," Aliquis assured her.

Dozens of Rotom phones floated around to record the battle. The previous silence had stopped and there was general murmuring through the crowd. Given Nemona favored physical, Mei had Terpsi out to see the battle firsthand.

"Let's have a great battle!" Nemona said, and Mei would put money her voice quavered.

The two threw out their firsts, Nemona's Lycanroc and a big giant, with peaked white cubic shoulders.

"Garganacl. Nacli's final form," Victor said, gesturing at his rock mushroom.

Nemona held her hand out and her Pokemon almost immediately had her 'collar' glow, sending a set of Stealth Rocks go out into invisibility.

"And there's the set-up," Mei murmured.

"Fast off the mark for her," Rose said.

"She came to me asking for some tips on not being reactive Friday. I thought she did it as an advanced counter-based battle style instead of a flaw," Dendra said.

"She's pretty self-taught, isn't she?" Mei said.

"She learns so fast on her own, but the last battle teacher made a lot of mistakes. The real trick will be keeping it up once the battle gets going," Dendra said.

Nemona's bond and speed were impressive, as the Garganacl started to glow as his move firmed up, her lead already was spinning in midair, launching into a spinning Drill Run that closed the distance. Most of the observers covered their ears as the high-pitched grinding noise as a side effect of the impact wasn't occluded by the barriers.

Finally, the Lycanroc broke away and went into an easy lope as she readied her next move. The Garganacl glowed, then there was a brief crackle on his surface before he slumped, tired, but still standing as the glow faded.

"Grab her," Victor muttered, but the Garganacl was prepping a ranged attack. His shoulders glowed, cubes of glowing white energy tumbling out and through the air. The Lycanroc turned at Nemona's mental shout, and jumped over the first few. Aliquis bounced two off the barrier – which barely glowed, so Dendra had been accurate on its strength – landing against Nemona's partner, who yelped. The white glowing cubes resolved, as sparkling salt crystals stuck on. Nemona tightened her fist briefly but gave no other reaction.

The Garganacl made chewing motions, and revealed he had Leftovers in one of his hands, to regenerate health.

Mei frowned. The court's nature helped make things more even (flying Pokemon couldn't just be out of range) but actively using its limitations wasn't considered good form for a trainer to abuse the format.

Nemona's Lycanroc launched another drill run, this time along the ground and up along the 'chest' of the Garganacl rather than directly impacting, before flipping away and starting to charge up again. She yelped, sizzling slightly as the salt worked at her body. Nemona held a Poke ball briefly but shook her head, holding off on recalling.

Nemona's Lycanroc was starting to spin up again before the Garganacl got another shot off – this time launching a wave of mud. It was shot wide so Lycanroc couldn't dodge; wide enough the barrier had to catch it again. With the Lycanroc already in a spin, the tarry mud was thrown away rather than sticking onto the speedy Wolf Pokemon.

Mei clapped briefly at an excellent counter, before having to cover her ears again from the impact. When it stopped, Mei looked over at seeing Rose grumbling as she was putting her ear plugs in. Mei debated, but she wanted to hear any commentary.

The Garganacl didn't manage to charge up another move before Nemona got a third Drill rRn in, and the massive Rock Salt Pokemon's stamina finally broke, the rock-type slumping to his knees before he was recalled. There was a brief lull and Aliquis debated. Nemona merely bounced on the balls of her feet, ready to continue.

Her Lycanroc was still up, the salt having eaten away a chunk of her stamina, but she was ready to continue, pacing back and forth.

"That was an expression of the sturdy ability, on the first hit?" Victor asked. Dendra nodded.

"At max stamina, the Pokemon's health barrier won't collapse from a single attack," Mei quoted.

"Surprised he didn't just grab her. It would have sped up getting a hammer arm or a heavy slam in. Lycanroc aren't durable at all for rock-types," Victor said.

"Is that some rock Leech Seed? Combine with leftovers to keep Garganacl going?" Mei asked.

"Salt Cure's only on the evolutionary line, though Nacli can't learn it. It sticks around and damages like poison or burn, except it's worse for water and steel types," Miriam said, frowning.

"But Lycanroc is like Resistor, all offense?" Alamy asked. Victor nodded. Alamy shook her head. That hadn't been a great call.

"And you don't poison Pichus either," Dendra said conversationally. Nemona glanced back and Miriam put a finger to her lips, staring at Dendra.

"That Lycanroc has come up really well, Nemona! But can you handle my next Pokemon?" Aliquis challenged.

He tossed, overhand, a Net Ball, an Azumarill emerged that slammed her paws together. She then gasped in surprise and flailed as the Stealth Rocks jabbed around her.

"She's sweet looking," Rose complimented, pulling her ear plugs back out.

"She's a lot fiercer than she looks," Victor insisted, "Most battle Azumaril are trained with huge power for an ability, their strength in battle is on par with species like Scizor."

As Salvatore's hand came down, Nemona's Lycanroc immediately moved into an Accelrock, jetting forward to slam into her opponent. The Aqua Rabbit winced but stayed up as Lycanroc jetted away with the remnants of the move to desperately avoid a clinch.

"Pick her off, Azumarill!" Aliquis called. The water/fairy nodded confidently and blew a stream of bubbles that popped across the court, the barrier shimmering again. The salt seemed to soften and run, the wolf Pokemon grimacing as the caustic salt ate at her. Her stamina finally ran out, Nemona called her back before her last howl of defiance trailed off.

Victor's jaw dropped open.

"They aren't native to Galar. What's Azumarill's other ability?" Rose asked.

"Thick fat. With a lot of training, sap sipper," Victor said tonelessly. Thick fat boosted existing resistances, sap sipper would give protection if a grass attack hit and then boost Azumarill.

"So not nearly as useful, to keep to ranged attacks," Trigo judged. Victor nodded, still shocked.

Dendra looked at his expression. "Aqua Jet would have caught up fine, as a physical attack. It's easy for the species to learn," she whispered to the classmates conspiratorially, winking excessively.

"Professor, Paldea customs have been the subject of some criticism, but they do hold to the general international custom of modern trainers that shouting advice to a trainer in battle is the worst insult to their skills?" Victor asked, stiffly.

"Oh, absolutely. Grounds for a follow-up challenge, no question," Dendra said. She paused.

"Of course, you aren't from the region and not familiar with our customs," she prompted speculatively.

"Dendra!" Miriam hissed, appalled. Dendra held her hands up placatingly. Zania and Mei giggled.

"I'm going to go over to the shade and meditate," Rose said, adjusting her hat. This was hard to watch. Nemona was trying to anticipate the right counters, so she was just having to slog through the wrong ones. It was an ugly fight. She pointed to a tree back near the wall behind Salvatore, who was gamely refereeing.

Mei nodded, waving Rose off. Joining in on the riffing wouldn't hurt open some doors with the Champions and teachers. And hearing expert commentary on even a bad high-powered battle could be useful.

Nemona after some consideration, brought her beast of a Dusknoir out. The big ghost growled menacingly, pulling her hands to her side in a ready stance. The crowd stilled, the feeling of the Pressure falling over the area. The less experienced trainers in the classmates gasped in surprise, though Victor merely nodded.

"We saw her in action on Thursday," Mei said, who'd been exposed to it before.

"Coverage punches?" Victor asked. Kieran nodded.

Azumarill spat another stream of bubbles as the juggernaut pushed forward. They popped ineffectively against the ghost's wrappings as the mighty Dusknoir didn't even bother to actively defend herself. Right fist crackling with energy, she punched downward into the Azumarill, intent on reducing her to a stain on the court.

There was a flash of light as the little rabbit brought her arms up in a counter. The lightning still ran down the Pokemon. Alamy clapped appreciatively. After another moment, the rabbit shoved, pushing the Dusknoir with enough force she stumbled back a few steps. Victor gasped.

Nemona tensed, caught off guard, and the Dusknoir sluggishly tried to bring her guard up. The Azumarill jumped forward and… smooched the Dusknoir on the cheek. There was a flare of pink light, and the Azumarill jumped back triumphantly, some of the surface damage vanished. Dusknoir rubbed her cheek disbelievingly.

Nemona made a small verbal moue and Dusknoir brought her arms together overhand. Thunder flashed from a clear sky to surround her arms, and she brought them down in a grand flash of light.

Mei tensed, remembering the central court, but Azumarill absorbed most of the energy before she collapsed unconscious, the rest dispersing harmlessly into Paldea through the court.

"That was a physical move at least," Trigo said.

"That was no Play Rough I've ever seen," Zania contradicted.

"It was hard to see from this side," Mei said neutrally. She suspected, however.

"Draining Kiss," Miriam said, hands balled in fists at her side, though her expression was still genial, on the surface – she could give Rose lessons on appearing calm.

"It runs through their energy powers, not their physical form," Dendra said, "We'll be covering special and physical moves in the first session. Though since it makes contact, can be useful with certain abilities, like static." She said the last with a nod to Resistor.

"Such skill at raising Pokemon absolutely wasted," Victor said. Mei was certain he was grinding his teeth. From the way his Nacli was tugging at his pant leg, so was he.

---

Alamy shook her head, this was starting to put her in mind of Lumiose gossip, and she was just going to get angry again. Alamy looked over towards the wall. Rose was sitting with Azucena in her lap, the grass faintly gleaming around them. The Kalosian looked down at Resistor. The Pichu shrugged and scratched her ear. Alamy walked away from the commentary.

"They aren't identical skill sets," Mei said, meanwhile, partially to distract Victor before he had a dentist come after him.

"Ultra ball," Trigo said, almost at a hiss. That drew attention away from the current moral struggle.

Aliquis was indeed holding a black and gold ball in his hand. Poke balls advertised to help reach the feelings of almost any Pokemon, put only in the hands of the best trainers. They took skill to use, which helped keep them to that ceiling, and that most Pokemon were caught and raised from their earliest stages.

Nemona and her Dusknoir took a half step back, shocked.

"For your ghost, I think it's time to show off my secret weapon!" Aliquis called. "This Pokemon was tough when we met, and it's one I never heard about before. It wanted the best challenges from the strongest opponents, and when I told it about you, it knew it was destiny we'd come across each other to train together!"

Nemona took a step forward, intrigued. "Well don't leave me, waiting, Aliquis! I'm happy to take on whatever partner you brought!" she called.

"I'm sorry I don't even know its name yet, but I wanted to let you see it first before I took it to Jacq! Go!" Aliquis called, tossing the ball.

The crowd leaned forward, and then a general sigh of disappointment went through as the Pokemon emerged, giving a cry. It wasn't a huge Pokemon – only a meter and a half. That didn't preclude it being strong, but it wasn't physically impressive. It was a small vaporous ghost, a ring of beads around its neck. Its 'hair' was longer than most of kits kind, admittedly.

"That's a Misdreavus with a star-cut hair style," Victor said flatly.

"The spikes are a daring look," Zania said.

Trigo looked around. The teachers had taken a step back, and Nemona had brought both her hands to her mouth in shock.

Mei was practically rigid, her eyes danced, there was something hungry in there.

The power Rose was practicing with dispersed around her and her eyes opened in shock. Azucena squeaked angrily.

"Are you alright?" Alamy asked, who had just finished timidly approaching.

"That Pokemon shouldn't be here," Rose declared.

---

Paradox Pokemon! And they're still pretty much an urban legend.

Yeah, the League went with a 'cover story' version of the Great Crater, that an accident happened to Sada due to the dangers of the strong Crater Pokemon.

It was easier than explaining the 'Paldea's most important researcher in a fit of solipsistic madness started introducing ecosystem-destroying Pokemon and also created a robot to carry on her mad work that disagreed with it'

It also let Arven publicly and legally get some closure. He owns the Tera Orb patent now, among others.

Nemona doesn't have much of a filter and is naturally helpful, so she took a little bit of coaching to follow the cover.

She does have a Ribombee in some versions of the player character where she had to work a bit harder to overcome her lean away from flying and fairy, but not this timeline.

Kieran is sort of brushing past the whole 'beat up the grandson of the Unovan Dragon Clan head' since it's not his favorite period of history.

I'm still greatly amused by the scientific method and establishing basic physics in a world where 'hey this Clefairy just doubled gravity' must have had a precarious journey.

Kalos must be having a fascinating time at high levels as pervasive and corrosive Lysandre's influence was. Post-game Kalos would probably be a darker story than post-game Paldea.

Gloria (female MC from Sword/Shield) took last year's Championship, with my running the Circuit spring to fall. The remaining challengers are starting to hit near the end of the circuit (Marnie and Bede retained major league status, but with being new are in the fourth/fifth slots – Bea and Melony are this year's challenges below Raihan).

Five new gym leaders are Klara and Avery as the Isle of Armor rivals, Marnie, Bede, and Peony picking up the Steel gym since his brother's no longer running the League. He made his decision in time to join the Star Tournament, but not be part of this year's major circuit.

Furfrou on the Fringe is of course that award-winning Kalosian box office hit, subbed and dubbed almost everywhere. While the classic 'Pokemon and trainer partners trying to reunite' is almost a dead horse trope, the acting and emoting on the leads (who weren't bonded, so were genuinely acting) elevated it, and its depiction of the state of poached Pokemon while their wills are being worn down helped improve Kalos's wilderness protection laws.

Since it's socially expected, a battle is shoehorned into the last act (Alamy is right about that pro-battler propaganda) to give closure, where the poacher somehow comes on the Furfrou, who has made it back to Lumiose from the Kalos wilds, before trainer and Pokemon are reunited and use the TM the trainer had bought right before they were separated to end it with a satisfying Giga Impact.

I'm dunking on Aliquis a bit, but he had some truly interesting ideas on move selection for his ace in Paldean Winds. I don't think his Pokemon choice were his real problem in his episode, frankly. Anyone who runs dark pulse on a Meowscarada has interesting tactical ideas.

A Flutter Mane really doesn't have physical moves in its set (I think there's about four, two of them being some of the most powerful physical ghost moves) so let's see if Aliquis can mess this up.

At some point you can no longer resist a rice ball/doughnut joke, so I've ticked that box this chapter.

This one turned out massive, over 23k words by my word processor's count. Not sure how that happened.