A/N: Just a quick aside: finally got the rest of the fic drafted out! Good thing I had a backlog built up, because I was badly stuck on one part until I decided to get creative. It should be obvious what when we get there.

After classes ended on Thursday, Nori went to the front of the school. It was where he could usually find Yumi waiting for her ride home. Sure enough, his friend was standing around. She was staring off into the distance with her hands folded. He hustled over as quickly as he was able to.

Yumi turned her head slightly and sighed as she noticed him. "Hey, Yumi," he greeted her. "What did your parents say?"

Her expression and body language gave him part of the answer from the start. But he wasn't about to make assumptions. "Well, there's good news and bad news," she eventually answered after around three seconds.

Huh, really? "Let's hear the bad news first," he requested without hesitation. Get it out of the way and end on a high note.

"I can't help you train. I'm sorry, Nori." She made a small bow. "Maybe if we planned this more in advance, I could've convinced them. But they want me home right away as usual today." While she was otherwise apologetic, there was a bit of a frustrated edge to her last few words. She had likely expected it as much as he had.

Nori simply shrugged that off. He didn't think they were going to accept that anyway. "This was out of nowhere, so it's understandable. I sort of saw it coming." He nodded and clapped his hands. "So what's the good news?"

"They said Touya and I can come and watch you on Friday," she monotonously answered while looking away. She even slouched a little.

"That's good to know." Her tone was peculiar. With the way she said it, it felt like that was the actual bad news. He questioned her about it: "But why do you sound disappointed at that?"

"Oh." Yumi stood upright. Her expression widened. "Just…residual…disappointment, since I can't help."

What kind of a flimsy excuse was that? He almost shouted that at her. Nori curled his lips, although kept his expression neutral. Did she not want to come and watch? Was this just her shyness? Or was there something more to this he wasn't seeing?

The girl with light brown hair shrank away from him. It was almost imperceptible, and Nori might not have noticed it at all if it did not contradict her subsequent words. "But hey…" She brushed her bangs with her fingers. "If you need me to be there with you…"

Nori smiled at her as she trailed off. "We'll see if they allow it at that place. I might feel better if you were beside me," he assured.

She hummed and looked away. That settled things. He expected some sort of positive reaction to that. This wasn't nervousness. Something was wrong. Nori wasn't about to stay quiet while his friend was this troubled.

"Yumi." He said her name with firm clarity and looked her right in the eyes. His chest tightened. "Something's bothering you, isn't there?"

She slowly turned to face him, wearing the longest, saddest frown he had ever seen her with. Her eyes darted from side to side as she grappled with something. "I…" she started to say, before seeing a red kei car. The sight of it made her slouch and groan. "There's mom. Sorry. I'll talk to you tomorrow," she hastily brushed aside.

Saved by the bell, so to speak. All Nori could do was wave. "See you, Yumi," he said as she hurried to the car, although he wasn't sure if she heard him or not. Actually, her mom gave him a small nod.

He was sure something was bothering her. Were her parents coming to watch the battle as well? It might make sense if she was concerned about her mom and dad seeing him in person for the first time. And they weren't going to see him at his best, to put it mildly. That was his best guess. He could only guess, and he wasn't about to stress over it himself. There were his own problems to worry about.

Nori had seen through her. She had almost told him, and might've if mom hadn't arrived at that moment. She wasn't sure if it was a bad thing or a good thing that she had interrupted. Her ankles ached as she walked over and climbed into the back seat. It took Touya half a minute after to arrive. He sat beside her, but it was like a stranger had come in. This wasn't the brother she knew.

He greeted mom and gave her a fleeting glance. Yumi did her best to keep a neutral expression. Touya really thought their parents hated them! Even Reiko was stunned to hear that. Maybe he was right about the worst case scenario looming, but she was going to suffer short-term consequences even in the best case. And he didn't seem to care.

There really was something bothering her. Touya had cemented his plans. He and Sanae were going to run off on their journey on Friday during the battle. What could she do?!

Nori arrived at the park near Crescent Hills Elementary to see Agent Studd at the usual spot. He waved to the man and motioned for him to follow him over the footbridge to the school. The young official felt all business today.

"Good to see you, sir!" the scruffy man greeted him as he caught up. "I must say I was quite surprised when you asked this. We do not meet on Thursday."

"We met on days beside Sunday before," he pointed out. Namely, that one Friday when Pawniard had nearly killed Anthony's Pokemon.

"Yes, but there was an extranating circumstance behind that time."

"Extenuating circumstances," he corrected. He wasn't sure why he corrected the agent. Maybe he was in a good enough mood to do so. "But yes."

"Ah, so that is the word. Thank you for teaching me." The man saluted in appreciation. "If you want to learn a word in my language, just say so!"

Nori paused. An impulsive thought jumped into his mind. "Can you say a swear?" he said with a cheeky grin without so much as second guessing it.

That made the agent stutter and physically stumble. He eventually found his footing and words. "I-I should not be teaching boys your age to say bad words!" he protested, raising his palms.

"What's a good age to learn them, then?" he asked. He was genuinely curious. What did this guy consider the right age to start swearing? He rarely did. Like, he knew some kid from Unova in elementary who swore his head off as if it made him look cool, whenever they weren't around teachers anyway. And sometimes when they were.

"Uh. Well." The man frantically rubbed the side of his face. "Not yours!"

They stepped into the school. Nori said a brief hello to the receptionist, who nodded at him. He had the sense to come here and set things up ahead of time. They were more than happy to accommodate Nori Carino, the Demon Tamer. The gymnasium was going to be in use, so they instead had a classroom to themselves. He already knew where it was and began to lead his handler there.

"So I will teach you to say…basketball? No, uh." Was he thinking of trying to mess around with that again? The man glanced around as if searching for something. As he looked behind him, an idea visibly manifested in his eyes. "Tree instead! Árvore! That means tree!" He raised a finger.

The boy shrugged as he opened the door to the classroom. "Okay. Thanks, I guess." If he was serious, wouldn't hello or goodbye make the most sense? Though if he was really interested, he could just look those up. "But anyway, I asked you to meet because I needed to ask you some questions."

"Ask away!" Agent Studd said, rushing over and hijacking the teacher's chair before Nori could do so. His shoulders dropped a little. He wanted to sit there! "It is a part of my job to be helping with explaining matters, after all."

Nori momentarily moved to sit down at a desk, before catching himself midstride. That would be way too weird. Instead, he walked to the far wall and leaned against it. The boy crossed his arms, more for his own comfort than anything. Where to start with this? There was a lot to go over.

"So I'll admit, things have sucked lately," he let out. He slid down the wall a little, keeping his feet firmly planted. "A lot of people hate me because of Qwilfish. It doesn't bother me too much, and some of it's worked out, but I do want to know. Don't the Officials have safeguards in place for this? Like, what if they go too far?"

"Oof, I would not want to be you, sir." Agent Studd remarked, resting his arms on the table. "With sadness, I do not think they do. It is one of the responsibilities you have taken on when deciding this path."

"But can they do something?" Nori asked, straightening up. He had rehearsed this bit in his head at the very least. "It is proving disruptive to my work, and I am unable to properly focus on Qwilfish's rehabilitation because of it. Moreover, there is the risk that these individuals might escalate their grievances."

"You do not need to speak formal, sir," the scruffy man said. "I get you loud and clear."

Nori winced. Okay, he had a habit of that, sure. But the fact that it was Mr. Martins of all people calling him on it stung.

He tapped the desk with a finger for a few moments. "I think it would have come up, and they will be dealt with if they do too much bad. If not by you, then the Officials. Reformation is possible sir! But we cannot control the masses! They will do and think what they will." The man motioned with his palm, sitting tall in the big black swivel chair. "But you are you. I was not expecting you to be stressed. You didn't take the crap from Kallisto Keravnos!"

That was a lot more than he was expecting out of Mr. Martins. He actually chuckled a little. If only a positive mindset was enough to put all his worries behind him. He looked his superior in the eye and bluntly said, "Some of my friends turned on me over this. That's what's hurting me about all this."

"Oh." The scruffy man leaned back and scratched his cheek. "Well, you will manage."

With that, he fell back against the wall and almost did slump all the way down that time. "I know," he droned. The guy didn't get it. Just because he could manage and was ready for it didn't mean it couldn't still hurt. That was part of what he didn't say to Reiko. "And I guess it's proving who my real friends are." Mitsu wasn't one of them. Well, Nori could still coexist with him. As long as Mitsu could do the same.

"Ah. É na dificuldade que se prova a amizade!" Agent Studd recited. Nori blinked and looked up at him before he clarified. "It is a saying in my language. In difficulty, friends are proven."

Nori could agree with that. He even knew similar proverbs in English and Japanese. But that was just part of the problem. "More importantly, I'm sure you also heard about what happened with people questioning if the legal agreement thing is right or not."

"Do not fret there at least," the man assured. "The Officials are cooking a thing up."

"Okay." Nori nodded. He trusted that. Agent Studd was a lot of things, but he wasn't a liar. On that note, it felt like a good idea to ask him what he thought. "What do you think about it?"

He waved a hand. No, an entire arm. "Bah! It's the spit of an Oinkolonge!"

"Any reasons why it is?" Nori took a step forward and asked, putting his left hand on his hip. Just saying so wasn't making an argument.

"Because they are foolish! It's just how it is!"

Nori could only grumble. Maybe Agent Studd's instinct was just talking to him, too. Though instinct didn't make for a compelling argument. And he didn't think some people would buy talking to your Pokemon about it like Emi did, even if he thought it did.

"Well, maybe I'm just thinking funny things," he pushed it out of his mind with a shrug. On to the next question. "Anyway, what happens if I can't rehabilitate a Pokemon? To me and them?"

"It is dependent," Agent Studd explained while leaning back. "The consequences for you might not be bad if you did your best. But the Pokemon might be put down, sealed away, or set aside for another. It is depending on what happened, like I said."

That got Nori to go over to the desk and put his hands on the front of it. "More Pokemon Rehabilitators?" That would help a lot! He leaned forward. "When?"

"It could be years! Hahaha!" Ugh. Way to take the wind out of his sails. He dropped his shoulders as he sighed. "Do not dismay, sir. I am meaning there are few like you out there. You are like a shiny! Rare! Even after they are found and volunteer, they will need training like you!"

Nori stared at the floor. On one hand, he didn't like that answer. On the other, it made sense. He only became a Pokemon Rehabilitator because he was in the right place at the right time and someone important in the Officials' hierarchy happened to invite him. It sounded like the idea was there for a while, they just hadn't found the right person until him. Even if someone did have the mindset to be one like him, they might not want to put up with the problems.

He looked up finally. There was still more to ask. Something he never actually had explained to him, probably because of Mr. Martin's negligence. "I guess most importantly, how will I know when a Pokemon is rehabilitated? Like, what's the process there?"

"You are the rehabilitator, sir. You are parcel to judgment there."

Nori took a step back. "Wait, really?" Was it that easy? "I can just say when I've rehabilitated a Pokemon?" Because it seemed to him that Qwilfish never needed fixing in the first place. At least, not the kind he was supposed to give.

"Haha! Of course not!" That was a long shot, but Nori still stomped quietly. "You and your assignment will be subjected to a test by an Official to see if it truly is readied. It is your discreeting when that takes place. But once you pass that, you are plated gold!"

"And then what?" He leaned over the desk again. There had to be more. "What happens from there?"

"Well, it is depending on what. I bet you there are some Mons who will do good with only you. But others can be freed or passed into appropriate care."

"And there's nothing special or weird I have to do with Qwilfish in this specific case? Like make the public see she's really good?"

"That isn't a prerequirement as far as I know, sir. But who knows!"

Nori stepped back and pressed a finger to his lip. It was simple, yet a lot to take in. He would have to think about it some more. "Okay, that should be all the questions I have. Thanks."

Agent Studd saluted him. "Just doing my job, sir!" The man stretched and sighed happily. Then he slid the chair and put his feet up on the desk. He kicked a mug with pens, pencils, and other desktop supplies in it. It would have fallen off the desk if Nori hadn't snapped forward and grabbed it.

"Mr. Martins!" he yelled at him, firmly putting it back down on the desk. "You could have broken that!"

The man eeped. "Sorry, sir!" he sniveled, hastily pulling his legs down. "By the by, how went it with the chick who wanted to fight you?"

Nori grumbled at the sudden change in subject. "It's happening tomorrow. Actually, that's another thing I came here to tell you." He tensed up whenever he thought about it. What was he getting himself into here? It would all work out. He kept telling himself that. He exhaled before he said, "She signed the agreement and everything. I accepted because I respected the fact she would, even though that's a touchy subject right now." And, for other reasons.

Agent Studd grinned profusely. "And you wanted to invite me to watch, I take it?" He leaned forward, eyes gleaming.

"I mean it's open to the public. But…" A realization struck Nori. He froze for a second, hands in front of him. This was perfect! He waved an arm, then pumped it. "But yes, please do! This will be a show you don't want to miss! I guarantee it!"

The agent laughed. "An eageral Bibarel, are we not? Let me guess. You are wanting me there in case there is wrong? Well, it shall be done! I will be there, not square!" Something like that, yes. The man suddenly turned away and asked, "Uh, where is it again?"

An understandable question. "I didn't tell you, sorry. But it's at Mynwest Court."

"Which one?"

"Veilstone's only got one." In the south-central part of town. Actually, not that far from his school.

"I will be there, not square!" the man repeated.

That settled it. With this, everything would hopefully work out. The chat helped. Nori still had that dread clawing at his mind, but he felt more at ease. "That's everything unless you have something to talk to me about."

"Nothing except for one thing!" There was something? Agent Studd got out of the chair. Nori braced himself for whatever news it might be. Until the man said, "Good luck, sir!"

Oh. "Thank you."

The man went for the door. "I'm going to go buy my ticket right now! Later!"

"Bye."

Nori stretched his legs behind him. He eyed the seat at the teacher's desk for a few seconds before sitting down on it. All the desks being empty ruined the view he was hoping to see. It was comfortable enough, at least.

He collected his thoughts. There were still things to take care of today. Meeting with Mr. Martins was the easy part. Meeting with Prema was going to be far more difficult. He really needed to see her, and he had his doubts that he could. The threat of being rejected wasn't enough to dissuade him from trying. You never know unless you try.

His fingers were crossed that trying didn't make things worse.