Although we'd gone to sleep relatively early, I found myself sleeping in. It was likely the result of my sore body as well as being behind on sleep due to the encounter with the Rocket the previous evening, but it was almost noon by the time I awoke.

When I glanced around the room, I felt much better about not waking up earlier. Both of my team members were still asleep, with Apollo hugging my ankles at the foot of the bed and Duran sleeping right in front of the door, facing inward as usual. I still didn't know if he did that out of a desire to protect us from any potential intruders, or if he just wanted to know if we tried to leave, but I found it endearing.

I managed to sneak out of bed and into the bathroom without waking my team, extremely eager to enjoy a long shower. I hadn't had this luxury in… well, ever. The cheap apartment my mother raised me in had extremely limited hot water, and I was lucky if I got a full five minutes before it started to lose its steam. The orphanage was much the same; although it had a much better water heater we were limited on our shower time to ensure everybody could take one. This was my first time having a shower with a healthy supply of hot water I could use to my heart's content, and I was going to make full use of it.

As I stepped out and dried off I took a good look at myself in the mirror, my first time doing so in a long while. My dark-brown hair was getting a bit long, now at a length that it was gaining a bit of waviness as it flipped off my ears and just out of the way of my eyes. I realized that similar to Apollo, it looked a bit like I had a helmet of my own. If I straightened it I'd likely look like I belonged in a boy band, but currently I looked more akin to a skateboarder or surfer. I never really cared much about my hair, only getting it cut once it began obscuring my vision or getting annoyingly long, which I was soon approaching.

My eyes were hazel; green on the outside and fading into brown towards the center. They reminded me of my mother, as did my nose. Whereas my mother had much more rounded features in general, I had a reasonably defined jawline and cheekbones as well as a slight chin cleft, which I assumed were from my father.

My mother was a stout woman; on the shorter side and bordering on what some might call chubby. She had always joked good-naturedly that she was big-boned, and while that might have been true it certainly didn't apply to me.

I could only assume that my father had been a tall and slender man, as I was able to grab around my entire wrist. While I had skinnier arms, my legs and torso were more average. If I had to guess, I was probably around 150 pounds and just under six foot; taller than your average person but not exceptionally so.

I certainly wasn't what I would call good-looking, but I knew I wasn't ugly either. Probably my worst features were my slightly bulbous nose and thicker eyebrows, but I had never felt insecure about either. Puberty was gifting me with a bit of peach fuzz, but nothing overly noticeable or worth maintaining. I'd always thought beards and goatees looked good, but it seemed I was still a ways off from getting to experiment with that.

My left side still had a massive bruise, courtesy of the Rocket's Mightyena tossing me into a tree. It didn't hurt me much doing basic activities, but if I applied pressure to it or bent the wrong way it would flare up a bit. It seemed to be getting better, as were the bite marks on my arm. They had scabbed over and I didn't see the need to treat it any further, time would do the rest.

I grabbed my clothes out of the dryer and got dressed before taking one last look in the mirror. I frankly looked a bit ridiculous; I was wearing a dark-gray hoodie with a front pouch I was fond of keeping my hands in, and my sleeve was now pretty torn up. It had a zipper and drawstrings, and beneath it I simply wore a white undershirt. I had on brown cargo pants, which I liked due to the large pockets on them and the ease at which I could run or do other activities. My shoes were faded black sneakers, and what were once white soles were now stained green.

I realized I looked a bit like a bum with how worn and in need of replacement everything was, although my hoodie more so than the rest. When I finally got around to it I'd likely just get newer versions of the same thing, but it couldn't hurt to try matching my clothes and getting a more modern, properly fitting outfit.

Shaking my hair dry, I stepped out of the bathroom to find my team was now awake, seemingly deep in conversation. Apollo seemed to be taking the lead, as I saw him gesturing with his hands as Duran would offer an occasional short response.

I couldn't be sure, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Apollo's telepathy was a bit more advanced when it came to talking to Pokémon. Perhaps it was because their minds were more similar, or because they natively spoke the same language whereas he had to interpret my English, human mind. Regardless, I was happy to see Apollo being more social.

"Hey guys, ready to start the day? We're a bit late, but we still have plenty of daylight to burn." I said with a grin, and both seemed eager to do something productive.

"Hey Duran, quick question for you. Do you like the ocean, or strictly freshwater?" I asked curiously, trying to decide if we should go south or north for the day.

He crossed his arms and huffed, seemingly offended by the question which surprised me.

"Phish Cor Corphish Cor." That was by far the most I'd ever heard him say, and I glanced to Apollo for a translation.

"Salt… stay bad… fun big."

I furrowed my brows as I tried to decipher that. "...So you wouldn't live in the ocean because of salt, but you don't mind visiting for some fun?" I questioned, a bit impressed with myself when he relaxed his posture and nodded.

"I think I'd like to go north to the beach for the day. You'll get to swim and scavenge for a bit, does that sound good?"

"Cor!" He exclaimed, nodding happily.

Our destination set, I grabbed my Pokédex and the Net Ball. I didn't feel like carrying around the backpack today, and those seemed like the only things I might possibly need aside from the pepper spray and utility knife I now always carried on me.

"Hey Apollo, it's Duran's turn to be outside of his Pokéball today. You don't mind being recalled until we get there, do you?" I asked with a heavy heart, regretful that Apollo wouldn't be able to experience the day with me. But fair is fair, and it was Duran's turn to experience the city.

Acceptance. "Fair fair."

I chuckled, amused that he had picked up on that particular thought. I informed him of the correct phrasing before returning him with a smile, happy to see his personality beginning to show more in his communication.

It was then that I realized I didn't actually have a plan on how I would travel with Duran. He typically rode on my backpack due to his size and weight, but I wasn't bringing that today. I was almost positive I wouldn't be comfortable with him on my shoulder, but perhaps he could ride on my head if I flipped my hood up. I did so, then gently picked him up and set him on top of my head.

"Let's see if we can make this work. Hold on, but not too hard." I informed him as he took a moment to adjust, his legs clamoring for purchase. Surprisingly he was able to pull it off; it felt a bit odd having his legs squeezing the side of my head, but he seemed to be able to hold on without using his front pincers and I didn't find it too uncomfortable.

Satisfied, I grabbed the keycard and left the room for the day. I stopped by the front desk, sure that Nurse Joy would know how I could get Duran rehoused into the Net Ball. I hadn't actually told him about it yet; I wanted it to be a surprise so I was planning on keeping my questions intentionally vague.

"Mr. Ingram, can I help you?" Nurse Joy asked cheerfully, glancing up at the Corphish on my head with a warm smile like it was a common thing to see.

"I was wondering if you knew how I might transfer a Pokémon to a new ball."

She hummed, gaining a thoughtful look. "That's typically done using a specialized machine we don't have here. Devon Corp definitely has them, but you'd need to be sponsored or pay to use it. The simple way is to release the Pokémon and recapture it, but that can be a bit… risky."

I nodded, thanking her for the information before I left. I had no doubts that I would be able to do the second option with Duran, so I was going to do that at the beach.

As we walked north I could feel Duran looking around, and I soon realized he was paying special attention to the various Pokémon we were passing. I wasn't sure if he was agitated or just curious since I couldn't see him, so I decided to make conversation to help ease him.

"This is a city. People and Pokémon live here in peace, so don't go picking any fights. It has lots of homes, stores, activities, all kinds of stuff. I grew up in a place kind of similar, but much smaller." I explained as we passed a woman sitting on a bench brushing her Skitty, seemingly enjoying the day.

"Cor." Was all I heard, and I really wish I had Apollo to translate. I was still getting used to Duran, but my guess was that the tone was thoughtful, as if he was simply responding for the sake of it while his mind was elsewhere.

On my right, I was able to see a large domed building come into view that I knew must be the gym. I pointed to it, "See that? That's the Rustboro Gym. It's a rock-type gym, so they'll be masters of defense. You should be able to take it though, since water does so well against rock. Think you're ready?" I asked cheekily.

"Phish!" He declared confidently, seemingly up for the challenge.

"We'll check it out soon enough. We probably only have a couple of training sessions left before we take it on, so let's do our best to make them count."

We soon found ourselves outside of the city limits, no longer passing mobs of people as I encountered a crossroads with two signs pointing to routes 115 and 116 respectively. We kept going straight and within about fifteen minutes, we found ourselves at a beach full of people. It was much more crowded and well-maintained than the one outside Petalburg, and I began to worry if we'd be able to find a secluded area.

I made my way to the shoreline and continued north. It took a bit of walking, but soon the crowds thinned and I was able to find a spot with only a few people in sight. This seemed to be the area for trainers, although I doubted many were journeying like me. Most were simply enjoying the day but a few were doing various exercises, and I saw some had multiple Pokémon out which told me I was good to do the same.

Before releasing Apollo, I decided that now was a good time to try getting Duran into his new Net Ball. I picked him up off my head and set him down, and almost immediately he quickly scuttled toward the water in excitement.

"Wait! Come back Duran! You can go in just a minute, I want to talk to you first." I called after him, causing him to stop and come back begrudgingly.

I sat down in the sand and grabbed his Pokéball off my clip, holding it in my hand and looking at it. "I wanted to say thanks. You didn't have to come with us; you had a pretty cozy spot at that pond. But I'm glad you did. I got you a gift, both as a welcome to the family and a thank you." I explained as I pulled the Net Ball out of my pocket. I set both on the ground in front of him, and he eyed the Net Ball curiously.

"This is a Net Ball. It's designed for water and bug-type pokémon; I think it's supposed to simulate a pond or lake with some trees, but I can't say for sure. If you don't mind, I'd like to release you for a moment and recapture you in this new ball, something more fitting for you. Is that alright?"

"Cor!" He declared, raising his claws with a sharp nod.

"I'm going to have to release you for a moment. Please don't go running for the ocean or try to break out when I recapture you. This is my only one, so if we break it we're pretty screwed." I pleaded, suddenly wishing I'd brought an Ultra Ball or two. I pulled out my Pokédex, finding the page detailing the standardized Pokéball operation all modern balls shared.

"Alright… Hold for five seconds, then click twice to confirm. Seems easy enough." I muttered, picking up Duran's pokéball. "I'll need to recall you for a moment. When you come out, just stand still."

I recalled Duran, then held the button for five seconds before a yellow ring appeared and it vibrated. I clicked it twice, and the ring turned red as it snapped open. The ring then faded but the ball didn't close which struck me as odd. I tried to close it but it wouldn't latch, and I realized that this Pokéball was now inoperable.

I took the opportunity to get my first look inside. I'd seen diagrams online, but it was quite different to see it in person. There were probably close to a hundred small, square mirrors uniformly placed all around, and I could see a little bit of circuitry around the center edge and behind the button.

"Huh… Cool…" I couldn't help but mutter as I set the now defunct pokéball aside and grabbed the Net Ball.

"Alright, I'm going to recapture you. Just relax and let it happen, please don't break it. It was expensive."

Duran nodded, closing his eyes and relaxing his posture. I took a deep breath and pressed the Net Ball against his shell before he was sucked in and it began to shake. It shook once, twice, three times and I was really starting to sweat. Thankfully, the shaking stopped and the capture was successful, and I felt immense relief wash over me.

I waited for a few seconds, just to ensure the capture was fully complete and to hopefully give Duran a little time to see his new home. I then released him, and I could tell he was thrilled by his demeanor.

I grinned, "Better than the last one?" I asked as I clipped the ball to my belt clip, and he nodded happily.

"You can go play in the ocean now, try to scavenge some food if you can. Don't go too far, and don't pick any fights. If you get attacked you can defend yourself, but come back here in fifteen minutes or if things get dangerous. We're doing training soon so don't wear yourself out. " I warned, and he took off towards the water excitedly. I realized he probably had no idea what fifteen minutes were and silently cursed myself, but he was already diving into the water.

Sitting by the water's edge, I released Apollo. I probably could have done it sooner, but I kind of wanted to spend a little alone time with Duran, especially for the pokéball swap.

"Ocean. Peace." Apollo sent me telepathically as he took in the ocean view, taking a seat beside me.

"Yup, Duran went off to have a bit of fun. Once he's back we'll do some training, but for now we can just enjoy ourselves." I informed him as I looked out at the water.

"Duran."

I turned and gave Apollo a proud smile. "You're getting really good at talking buddy, and I really appreciate you translating for me, it's really helpful. Keep it up, and we'll be having full conversations in no time."

Pride. Appreciation. "Buddy. Helpful."

I laughed; he reminded me of a child who was repeating what he heard. I didn't have any complaints though, whatever helped him learn English was fine by me.

"Is that a Ralts?!" I heard from behind me, startling me. I jerked around to find a woman in her mid-twenties jogging in place, staring at Apollo with wide eyes.

"Not for sale," I informed her, turning back to face the sea.

I heard her laugh from behind me, and I felt my anger rise a little.

Calm. Kindness. Curiosity.

I took a deep breath, realizing that my starter had just chastised me for assuming the worst, and rightfully so.

Turning back to face her, I apologized. "Sorry, didn't mean to be rude. He tells me you are coming from a good place, guess I am just getting a little jaded. When most people see Ralts, bug me for information or a price."

Still jogging in place, she gave a warm smile. "It's fine, I probably shouldn't have opened with that, so let's call it even. I was just wondering; what's telepathy like? Can't Ralts like, read emotions and thoughts and talk to your mind and stuff?" She asked with genuine enthusiasm.

I chuckled, "Yeah, he's still learning but he's getting better every day."

"Can I try? I've always wanted to try!" She said excitedly, still jogging in place.

Taken aback by the request, I glanced down at Apollo.

Uncertainty. "Rules."

"It's fine Apollo, she's given you permission. Its going through memories that is really bad, but you can't do that yet anyways so no need to worry. Just read her thoughts and tell her what you see. It'll be good practice."

He nodded, seemingly put at ease. I looked back up at the woman, "Think of something, and he'll do his best to tell you what he can pick up."

Still jogging in place, she closed her eyes, and I could feel Apollo leave my mind, but only because I was paying close attention to it. I was pretty sure that he was getting better at connecting and disconnecting from minds; I had initially thought it was just me getting used to it, but these days I could hardly even notice his presence unless I actively tried to, and only because I knew what I was looking for. It wouldn't surprise me if this woman didn't even feel anything.

Sure enough, I saw no reaction from her for about five seconds, when she jolted and her eyes snapped open, and for the first time she stopped jogging. Her mouth hung open and she looked like she'd just seen a ghost.

"Arceus above! That's… scary." She said, looking a bit pale.

I tilted my head in confusion, looking between her and Apollo.

"What do you mean? What happened?" I asked worriedly.

"Just… the voice. It's unnatural and… weird. And your Ralts was right. I was thinking of a warm glass of moo-moo milk when I get home, and I heard 'warm, drink, home'. I uh… I gotta go." She quickly jogged off with a hand waving behind her before I could respond, and I looked at Apollo in confusion.

Guilty. Remorseful. "Scare... Sorry."

I sighed, rubbing his helmet reassuringly. "You didn't do anything wrong buddy. She asked and we obliged. She just wasn't as ready for it as she thought. It can't be helped."

Apollo was feeling a bit gloomy, so I pulled him into my lap and we sat looking out at the ocean as I tried to cheer him up. I told stories of my childhood, explaining things he had questions about, and soon his natural curiosity had made him forget all about the encounter, or at least I hoped.

By the time Duran came to shore, he seemed to have at least gotten over it for the time being, although I didn't doubt he'd remember it for a long time. A small part of me wanted to be angry at the woman but I could understand her reaction, and thinking about it or getting angry would only make Apollo feel worse so I pushed it from my mind.

With the return of a rather pleased-looking Duran, we began training. I had Duran practice his Harden while looking at Apollo, who was instructed to try to use Hypnosis to put him to sleep. I decided to put a time limit of five minutes on the exercise that I kept track of using the Pokédex. It had a clock built in, but I suddenly found myself wishing I had a stopwatch.

I could see that Duran was giving his all to stay awake, staring down Apollo with a look of deep concentration as he kept using Harden to keep his mind occupied, but after about three minutes he was noticeably drowsy. He refused to give up though, and although I saw his eyes close a couple of times he pushed through it.

After five minutes I called it, congratulating Duran for resisting it and praising Apollo's efforts. Duran seemed exceedingly proud of winning and Apollo was clearly a bit disappointed, but I reminded him that he'd master it after some practice and he got over it quickly enough. I also promised them both Pokéblocks when we got back to the Pokécenter lately, which seemed to cheer him up.

I suspected multiple reasons why it hadn't worked. Duran hadn't sustained any damage to wear him down and had been exerting great willpower to resist it. The first time Apollo used Hypnosis successfully was when Duran was confused, pretty damaged, and hadn't been expecting it. I was willing to bet those things all made him much more susceptible to it, and being in the heat of battle probably had an effect on how strong the move was.

Next, I had Duran stand still and use a quick Bubblebeam as far as he could. I noted where it ended and took a couple of steps toward him before using my foot to make a large circle around Duran. I then instructed Apollo to only use Teleport and Double Team, and to try his best not to get hit by the Bubblebeam. I decided against timing it or declaring a winner, just telling them both to do their best until one of them got tired. Duran had a gleam in his eyes that told me he was determined to blast Apollo, and my starter simply had no desire to get hit.

It ended up being amazing practice, and both really got into it. Apollo was able to avoid the Bubblebeams for the first minute or so, and although Apollo heavily relied on Teleport he did manage to trick Duran into blasting his clone a couple of times. While he wasn't able to take the place of a clone, he did manage to Teleport and use Double Team quickly before Duran caught sight of him. Duran's frustration fueled him and he impressed me by holding both claws out in opposite directions and holding Bubblebeams while scuttling in a spinning rotation, which landed and pushed Apollo out of the circle.

I praised both of them for their clever strategies and gave them time to rest, as they were breathing heavily and clearly tired. We took a fifteen-minute break, where Duran went back into the ocean while Apollo and I practiced his English. He was slowly getting closer to full sentences, but he still had some trouble picking the right tense when speaking. By the time Duran returned to us, he was starting to get the hang of the difference, because when I asked what we were doing he said 'training'.

I had Apollo practice not only holding his Double Team, but spacing out the clones as far as he could, and while he did that I gathered a handful of pebbles and stones and tossed them at Duran, instructing him to not let them hit him and to Vice Grip them as hard as it took to break. I started off with underhanded tosses, but when those proved too easy for him I began to throw them with more force. He got hit a couple of times, but for the most part he was able to shatter them with impressive accuracy and strength.

I was really glad nobody saw us doing that, because after I'd done it I realized how bad it might look to somebody.

More importantly, Duran seemed to really enjoy the exercise so I promised we'd do it more in the future. I needed to figure out more creative ways for him to practice his Vice Grip, as it seemed to be his favorite move by far and he loved any excuse to use it.

Wrapping up our training for the day, I had Apollo give me one final display of his Double Team. He was able to space them out about as far as my arm span, and he held the clones for three full seconds. Although he still wasn't able to seamlessly swap himself with a clone, I felt as though he had a good grasp of the move and congratulated him on how far he'd come. Only a couple of days ago he had been getting a bit disheartened at how difficult it was, but he was quickly on his way to mastering it. I could tell that Double Team was something we'd be working on for months; it seemed to have a very high ceiling of mastery, as I had seen Pokémon make six clones and hold them for much longer.

Feeling very satisfied with our day of training, I praised both of them before returning Apollo and helping Duran onto my head as we walked back into town with his claws hanging at his side tiredly.

We made our way back into town and I purchased a bowl of ramen before going back to my room and feeding my team their well-earned Pokéblocks. While Duran seemed to not care whatsoever about the taste of what he ate, I finally got a genuinely positive reaction for Apollo on a green-tinted Pokéblock I was pretty sure had been a Rawst berry. I noted it in my notebook and vowed to try to take a more methodical approach going forward, figuring out which berries my Pokémon preferred and acting accordingly.

The sun was beginning to set, so I took Duran and went to explore the city a bit. I let Apollo stay in the room with the promise that he didn't leave or damage anything, and I felt confident that he would behave when he informed me he would simply relax and rest.

I wandered the city with Duran, and eventually on the eastern outskirts I found an area with a series of small arenas. There were four of them, and I saw a small crowd gathered around one spectating an ongoing battle. It was a Seedot fighting a Lillipup, and although the cute canine put on an impressive showing it was soon knocked out. They tapped Pokédexes afterward and I heard 'three thousand' mentioned by one of the bystanders, and I realized that this could be a good way for us to make some money and practice.

I waited around for a few minutes, but the sun was now finishing setting and it didn't seem like any more would be happening. I decided to come back tomorrow after my team had rested, and headed back to the Pokécenter only to find Apollo attempting to stash away my notebook and pen, apparently having been scribbling nonsense on one of the back pages. He must have sensed that I was getting close and tried to hide the evidence, but I just laughed it off and told him I could get him one if he wanted. He declined and seemed embarrassed to have been caught, but I assured him it was fine and thanked him for not damaging the room or leaving.

I gave my team their vitamins and we enjoyed each other's company for a bit before calling it a night. Today's training session had been a bit more demanding than typical, but if everything went well we would be challenging the gym soon, so we needed all the practice we would get.

Tomorrow we'd attempt to do some battling and I'd likely go check out the gym, perhaps even the trainer school if time allowed. I felt like I could spend the next month training and still feel like there was more to do, so I needed to man up and just do it sooner or later.

Worst case, we lose and head on to the next city. It wouldn't be that big of a deal, and I felt absolutely no rush to complete the circuit. We were making good progress and bonding as a team, and that was all I could really ask for.

TRAINER ID
Name: Daniel Ingram
Age: 16
Badges: 0
Account: 1,102 credits

POKÉMON
Ralts (Apollo) - Male
Corphish (Duran) - Male

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