Needless to say, I went with Samantha to the gym. Not only was she the nicest person I'd met in the city, but Apollo seemed to have taken a liking to her.

There was also the small fact that she was a Stone.

I did my best to fill Apollo in as I followed her to the gym, running through everything I knew about the Stone family in my head. I knew that Joseph Stone was the man that founded the Devon Corporation, and his son Steven Stone had been Champion of Hoenn before I was born, although he hadn't held the title for long. I knew that Devon Corp was still in the Stone family and that last I'd heard Steven was still running it, but truthfully my information was likely to be out of date as I hadn't kept up with things like that for years.

The Stone family was extremely wealthy and influential, with lots of different investments and philanthropic ventures. I seemed to recall that they had a hand in the Apollo mission that went to the moon, and had brought back moon rocks that Steven Stone both added to his collection and donated to various museums. I wasn't sure if it was a family-wide obsession, but I knew that Steven in particular had a propensity for doing whatever he could to expand his collection of various minerals and stones.

"Has anybody ever told you that you're a bit weird?"

Snapping myself from my thoughts, I looked up at the girl who was leading me through the streets a few paces ahead.

"What makes you say that?" I asked curiously, picking up my pace to walk beside her.

"Well, first of all you're staring off into space as you walk. I know you're probably having a telepathic conversation with your Ralts, but frankly you need to work on how you look to others when you do it, because it's a bit creepy and unnerving. Secondly, you're walking with not only a Stone, but also a beautiful young woman if I do say so myself, yet you're a few paces behind and completely uninterested in talking."

I snorted at that, and she shot me a glare before continuing. "Thirdly, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but for a skilled trainer who's surely won their fair share of battles you dress like complete shit. How old are those clothes? I'm thankful you at least shower and wash your clothes, but come on. I know you have at least two thousand credits, probably a lot more based on the battle I saw. I also noticed you have a Net Ball for your Corphish, which isn't cheap. Would it kill you to buy some new clothes? You could go for a haircut too, y'know."

Amusement.

I shot Apollo an unimpressed look, unsure if he was relaying Samantha's emotions or his own.

I glanced back at Samantha, who was waiting patiently for me to respond. I hummed as we continued walking, "Well I'll give you the first point; I've got no rebuttal to that and will try to work on it. For your second point, I'd like to point out that you decided to drag me to the gym, and I'm only going along with it because Apollo wanted me to, although I'll admit you are the first friendly person we've met in the city. But if you're expecting me to suck up because you're a Stone or a girl, you'll be very disappointed. As for your last point… Well the truth is I've just had better things to spend my money on and haven't gotten around to it, so you can have that one too. Message received though; be less weird, get new clothes, and consider a haircut."

She nodded, seemingly pleased with herself. "Good! Two out of three points, so I win." She stuck her tongue out playfully, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Truthfully, I'd missed this kind of banter. I'd been able to experience it when I was younger and had people I could call friends, but it had been years and the closest I'd gotten since had been a few brief instances with Apollo, but his sense of humor was still developing.

"Now hold on a second, it's my turn," I said as I gave Samantha a devilish grin. She nodded happily, seemingly up for her game to be turned around on her. I didn't think I'd be able to roast her quite as well as she had me, but I had made a few observations in our short time together I thought worth mentioning.

"First, you have two Pokéballs and hang out at the battle courts, yet you seem content playing referee rather than battling? You don't even have a Pokémon out to accompany you. A bit strange for someone who I assume calls themself a trainer. Second, if you're as popular and attractive as you seem to think you are, why is it that you were there completely alone? Surely a Stone would have some groupies or bodyguards or something. Last point; if you were really a Stone, why does Preston seem to not want you around? Surely someone like him would be extra nice and suck up to you, but he seemed to want nothing to do with you."

For a brief moment, I thought I'd maybe crossed a line, as her playful demeanor had shifted into a blank stare. But after a moment she just burst out laughing.

"Wow, that's a lot to unpack. Let's see… The first one is pretty simple; I do battle sometimes, but it's not my passion. I go to the battle courts for inspiration, since I want to be a coordinator. I find it easier to analyze interesting uses of moves when I'm not the one doing the battling. Your Corphish's 'obscure' was really clever by the way, easily the most interesting thing I've seen all week. As for why I don't have a Pokémon out, it's the same reason I don't have a bodyguard. It would attract unwanted attention and I don't need to be protected like some sort of princess during all hours of the day, especially in my own hometown. My parents aren't a big fan of it, but I put up with it my entire life so once I was an adult I drew a line in the sand and they thankfully respect my wishes."

I hummed, wondering what kind of Pokémon she might have that would draw that kind of attention to her, but she continued before I could give it much thought.

"For your second point, I'm alone because I prefer it that way. Most people annoy me, and because I can be a bit… harsh to people who pester me. Most have learned to leave me alone, and those who haven't learn really fast. To address your last point, Preston… Well if I'm being honest I think he prefers to feel like he's a step or two above everybody else, so he doesn't really appreciate my presence."

"Did you used to be friends or something? Why did he call you Sammy?"

Samantha shot me a warning glare, and I put my hands up placatingly.

She sighed, losing her edge and staring straight ahead as we continued walking. "When we were younger, we found ourselves at a lot of the same fundraisers and what not that our parents would go to. I wouldn't say we were ever friends, but we got along better. My family has always used Sammy as a nickname, but he's only started doing it since he became a jerk a few years ago."

"So you don't hate the nickname, you just don't like him using it?"

She shrugged, choosing not to answer. I decided to drop the topic, as we were now approaching the steps of the gym. It was quite similar to Petalburg's gym, however it was an earthy brown and had brick steps leading up to the front door that matched the rest of Rustboro's streets. I was beginning to think that the exterior of most gyms in Hoenn were likely to be nearly identical, just slightly altered to match the town or city it was in.

As we stepped through the entrance, I was unsurprised to find a lobby nearly identical to Petalburg's. There was a woman in her mid-twenties with a blonde ponytail sitting behind the desk who had her arm propped up and was resting her head against it, and she looked incredibly bored as she scrolled through her phone with her free hand.

As Samantha and I made our way toward her, she finally noticed us and quickly straightened her posture, putting her phone down and clasping her hands together on the desk while putting on a friendly smile, her professionalism on full display.

"Welcome to the Rustboro gy– oh, it's lovely to see you, Miss Stone. How can I be of assistance?" She apparently recognized Samantha mid-sentence, as her eyes widened slightly and she seemed to suddenly be a bit nervous to have been caught slacking.

"Please, Samantha is fine. We're here to schedule a match for my new friend here." Samantha said, gesturing towards me as I gave an awkward wave. Apollo seemed to be immune to the awkwardness of the situation, as he gave a much more friendly and heartfelt wave in greeting.

The woman brightened up, turning to me. "Of course! We can get you in now if you'd like; it's been a pretty slow day and we don't have anything scheduled for the rest of the day."

I shook my head, "Thanks for the offer but I'd like to schedule it for a couple of days from now. Is that possible?"

Samantha rolled her eyes and I could see the receptionist begin to sigh before catching herself. She nodded, "Of course, let me check our schedule. One moment please."

Although this was my first time visiting a gym with the purpose of scheduling a battle, this felt a bit… weird. After a moment of awkward silence while the woman was clicking through screens on her computer and Samantha just sort of glared at me, I decided to break the silence.

"Is something wrong with scheduling? I get the feeling you both expected me to fight right now, but wouldn't you prefer challengers didn't come in demanding a match immediately?"

Samantha snorted in amusement and the receptionist looked appalled at having been called out, but she quickly corrected her shocked expression and resumed her friendly smile.

"Nothing wrong at all, it's just that things have been exceptionally slow this year, and people who schedule in advance… well there's a good number who never show up because they get cold feet."

"Ah, well I assure you I'll show up," I confirmed, nodding in understanding as she finally got to the screen she was looking for.

"I can schedule you two days from now, first thing in the morning at nine. Just as a warning; not showing up is considered a loss, and in both cases you'll have to wait a week before you are able to rematch."

"Sounds good to me."

She beamed, "Great, may I please see your Pokédex for a moment?"

I complied, handing it over as Samantha watched the proceedings with arms crossed. After plugging my Pokédex in and punching a few things into her computer.

"Alright… Looks like this is for your first badge, so you should expect to battle against two Pokémon. You can use one if that's all you have, but you'll find it to be a fair bit harder than if you have two of your own. Your appointment is booked for nine in the morning the day after tomorrow, and if you're more than five minutes late it's considered a loss, which will go on your trainer record. Any questions for me, Mr. Ingram?" She asked as she handed my Pokédex back to me.

"Nope, thank you." I turned to Samantha, gesturing towards the door. "Happy now?"

"Yup! Thanks Rebecca!" Samantha chirped, waving goodbye to the receptionist who seemed a bit shocked that Samantha had remembered her name before smiling brightly.

As we walked down the steps of the gym, I couldn't help but be a bit bothered by something in that conversation. "Isn't that a bit… contradictory?"

Samantha tilted her head in confusion, "What do you mean?"

I shrugged, "The fact that they record your loss on your record. I can understand not wanting somebody to throw themselves at a gym day after day, it's bad for the gym and the challenger's pokémon. But telling them their loss will forever be noted on their record is a bit off-putting. Yet they complain about nobody challenging the gym. Just seems contradictory."

Samantha stopped walking and leveled me with a disappointed look, surprising me. "And here I thought you were a smart guy."

I furrowed my brows, "I don't see what I said that was wrong. I understand the wait time to rechallenge, I just don't see why they have to put losses on your official record. Surely the gym could just keep their own list of recent challengers without putting it on your League profile."

Samantha sighed and palmed her face, and my brain was scrambling to piece together what I was missing here.

"Daniel, don't you ever spend any time online? Haven't you ever wondered why you get free treatment for your pokémon at the Pokécenter, and why they give you free temporary housing? Or why you get paid pretty handsomely if you win gym badges?"

"Uh… Because the League takes four percent of anything commercial that relates to Pokémon, and they have their own pipelines for revenue like the Ever Grande Conference and League TV. There's merch, breeders, third-party television shows and movies, tournaments, companies like Devon Corp, things like that. I assume they also get funding from the Hoenn government to help foster trainers in case there's another war."

"Alright, so you aren't hopeless. But the way you phrase that, it makes me think you are under the impression you aren't making them any money right now, which is wrong. In fact, your battle in two days will earn them money, even if you lose."

I scratched my head, trying to figure that one out. In terms of the winnings you got for beating a gym, I was pretty sure that cost was shared by the League and Hoenn government, although I couldn't guess the split or how exactly the taxes on that worked. But how on earth would losing earn the League any money?

She grabbed my shoulders and shook me in frustration, breaking me from my thoughts. "Daniel, you're killing me! Have you or have you not ever gone online?"

I pushed her arms off, getting a bit annoyed. "Of course! I spent the last two years of my life online preparing for my journey. I still don't see how losing a gym battle earns them money, or why keeping track of losses matters."

Frustration. Bewilderment.

Samantha looked about two seconds from slapping me in the face, and I could tell that the emotions Apollo relayed were hers. I took a step back and leaned away, trying to put a bit of distance between us.

She must have noticed that Apollo and I were growing uncomfortable, because she took a deep breath and did her best to calm down. I waited patiently, not wanting to upset her further as I tried to think of what she was getting so upset about.

"Daniel… Have you never pulled up a trainer profile on PokéNet? Or been on PokéTube?" She said slowly, talking to me like I was a child.

"No… I spent most of my time on forums and wikis. I never kept up or cared about famous trainers, and I didn't have good enough internet for videos."

She gave me a look like I was a sick puppy, and I felt my anger begin to rise. "Samantha, quit beating around the bush and get to the point."

"The point is, normal people like to keep up with trainers and watch their battles; even a lot of non-trainers do it. The moment you became a trainer, you got a League profile. Every gym battle you do, the League posts online. Even unofficial battles often get recorded and posted online. Every video and profile has ads, just like everything else on the internet. Just because you're a nobody with no badges or fame doesn't mean you aren't earning the league money. There's people out there constantly combing through random profiles and battles, looking for the next up-and-comer they can root for."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a smartphone, and a few moments later she showed me my profile.

TRAINER PROFILE

Name: Daniel Ingram
Username: N/A
Hometown: Petalburg City, Hoenn
Last Seen: Rustboro City, Hoenn
License Issued: April 12th, 2030
Age: 16
Badges: 0
Gym Stats: 0/0/0
Trainer Stats: 5/0/0
Affiliations: None
Notes: Journeying. Travels alone. Low wagers. Battled a member of Team Rocket(?). Creative and decisive. Seems to train more than battle. Currently undefeated.

KNOWN POKÉMON (2)

Ralts (M) AKA Apollo(?)
Ability: Synchronize.
Held Item: None
Known Moves: Confusion, Growl, Disarming Voice, Double Team
Notes: Starter. Caught near Petalburg(?). Skilled with Teleport.

Corphish (M) AKA Durin(?)
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Held Item: None
Known Moves: Harden, Leer, Bubble, Vice Grip, Bubblebeam
Notes: Caught on south Route 104(?). Uses Bubble to obscure vision.

MODERATOR COMMENTS (0)

USER COMMENTS (6)

[ZiggyZags] First! Dude is going places, rocked Ziggy in his first hour of being a trainer!

[Marcus116] Completely broke, only bet 500. His Ralts is awesome though, and the Corphish is pretty solid.

[Crazy4Bugs] His Ralts used our poison against us… Never seen that before!

[M0n3yM0v3z] Lies, fights dirty, abuses type advantages, goes for blood, smells like trash. His Corphish should be put down, went way overboard fighting my friend's Growlithe.

[Peekatchuwu] M0neyM0vez I watched that fight; Preston Livingston was way out of line and deserved that thrashing. Daniel's got a fan in me.

[Moonica_S] Peekatchuwu agreed. Recorded the battle, see attached. League should take Preston's Growlithe away imo. Reported him. Crazy4Bugs then his Ralts has Synchronize as its ability. Added to profile.

VIDEOS (1)

- Preston Livingston berates his Growlithe after crushing loss

LAST EDITED: Today by Moonica_S

I was absolutely baffled that nearly everyone I had battled cared enough to take the time to find my profile and comment, even some bystanders. The only one I could think of that was missing was the lady at Pretty Petal flower shop with the Linoone. Was this considered common courtesy, or did most trainers just have too much time on their hands?

I shook my head and pushed the phone away, "Well that's disturbing… And also inaccurate."

Samantha shrugged, pocketing her phone. "Well, that's what happens when you don't keep your own profile up to date and other people have to try to fill in the gaps."

"I can understand misspelling Duran's name and a few other things, but I've lost a trainer battle. I'm not undefeated," I stated as I thought back to the Linoone.

She hummed, "Well that's interesting… There was money involved right? You paid up, I assume?"

"Oh… No, she paid me. It was a completely unfair fight and she practically bribed me into it." I admitted, now understanding what happened.

Samantha snorted, "Well I think that's something you should probably keep to yourself."

"Is there any way I can get information removed? Or comments and videos? Not really happy about having so much information about me and my team online, and I'm not a huge fan of all the Preston stuff being tied to me."

She shook her head, "Nope, when you became a trainer you agreed to all that. Moderators can remove stuff if it's egregious, so you might be able to get the Preston video and comments off, but everything else is there to stay as long as it isn't inaccurate. Even that note about you being a cheapskate." She grinned, seemingly amused.

I rolled my eyes, not really wanting to visit the topic. I then realized that I had no idea why I was still following this girl. I had been on autopilot since leaving the gym due to our conversation, and just now noticed that she seemed to be leading us somewhere.

"Where are we going anyways? You accomplished your mission, I signed up for my match."

"We're going for brunch, duh." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I groaned but decided not to protest since I could actually use some food. I didn't particularly mind her company; she could be a bit aggravating and demanding at times, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Truthfully, I was enjoying having a human to talk to and banter with, but Apollo had been unusually quiet and I sort of wanted to do some training, or perhaps visit the Trainers' School.

"Friend good. Try."

I gave Apollo a flat look, letting him know just what I thought of him telling me I didn't have any friends. It wasn't that he was wrong, but the same could be said about him unless Duran counted. Plus, I wasn't really sure I wanted to get too close to a Stone. It struck me as something that would clash pretty hard against my poor, introverted orphan self. Acquaintances maybe, but friends?

I'd also made it a point not to mention being an orphan or being ridiculously poor. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep that up, especially if she went somewhere high-end for food. I think she got the impression that I was frugal, but not full-blown poor.

Shockingly, we went to a normal cafe with reasonably priced food. For being a member of the richest family in the region, she often surprised me with how normal she was.

Less surprisingly, her bossy side came out and she not only ordered for me, but paid for me. I tried to protest, but the look she gave me told me this wasn't up for debate, and I decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting.

We sat at a small, round table outside that had an umbrella to provide shade. In front of me was a coffee and a salad, and although I don't particularly have anything against salads this one had no meat in it, which I found a bit disappointing until I tried it. I wasn't sure what was in it, but rather than a typical dressing it had some sort of oil that was incredibly good.

Speaking of things I'd never had before; coffee. Miss Augustine used to down cup after cup of the stuff in the morning, but she was extremely adamant that no kids were allowed to have any. I knew coffee had caffeine in it, so I could see why a woman running an orphanage might not want all of her kids to be running around more than they already did.

Unlike the salad, I really didn't like the coffee. I took one sip of it and nearly spit it out, my eyes bulging as I felt my tongue and teeth get assaulted by sugar.

Samantha must have taken note, because she burst out laughing and nearly fell out of her seat. I started to wonder if she was playing some sort of weird joke on me as I set the cup down and sorely wished I had my toothbrush handy.

"What, not a fan of coffee?" She managed to get out as her laughing died down.

I gave her a glare. "Are you messing with me? There's no way it's supposed to be this sugary."

She rolled her eyes, taking another sip of her own coffee which I knew to be the same as mine. "It's a Mocha. What did you expect?"

I shrugged, "I dunno, maybe something that–"

Hostility. Anger.

I stopped mid-sentence, looking around for any sign of trouble as Samantha gave me a questioning look.

"Hey asshole! Some people don't like having their minds violated, return your damn telepath!"

A couple of tables down, a man who I would have guessed to be in his late thirties was glaring daggers at me, now pointing a finger at me accusingly.

"You're being paranoid, he didn't do anything." I countered firmly, relaxing a bit as I realized that the situation wasn't as bad as I had feared. Apollo was holding onto my neck tightly, and I gently rubbed his helmet to soothe him, sending over our connection that we'd be fine.

The man stood up, slamming his hands down on his table in what I took to be a mixture of actual anger and performative outrage, as a handful of other bystanders and cafe patrons were now watching the scene.

"I'm not stupid! Telepaths can read minds without you even knowing, and that's definitely a telepath! I don't want some psychic digging around in my head, that's an invasion of privacy!" He accused, and to my dismay I actually noticed a couple of spectators nod a bit in agreement.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my rising anger as I thought of how to approach this. I could explain how he'd likely feel if Apollo had actually read his mind, or how the Ralts line had a strong moral code and respect for privacy. But it felt like too much effort for somebody who seemed to have no interest in listening, and I figured it was probably best to just walk away.

I cast Samantha an apologetic look and a shrug before standing up and turning to walk away–

"Are you willing to put money on it, sir? Or your freedom?"

My eyebrows shot up in surprise as I realized that Samantha was the one who said that, calmly taking a sip of her coffee as she watched the man with narrowed eyes.

"Excuse me?!" the man asked incredulously.

She shrugged, "Your accusation is very serious. If you're sure this Ralts was rooting through your head, you should report it immediately. They'll get a League telepath to check the memories of Daniel here, his Ralts, and you to see if there was any foul play. If there was, Daniel will lose his license and Ralts will be taken into League custody and rehabilitated. But if you're wrong…"

She gained a devilish grin, "Well you'll be responsible for two innocents having their memories checked under false pretenses, and you'll be the one responsible for compensation. Not only for Daniel, but also the time of any League officials, the telepath, and any local law enforcement that were involved, not to mention a fine for false reporting. I doubt it would be cheap, and if you were found to have purposely lied about it for some reason, well I'd imagine you'd probably find yourself in jail." Samantha shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the seriousness of what she was saying.

I was seeing a new side of Samantha; a ruthlessness and mastery in navigating tense social situations that she must have built up as a consequence of being a Stone. I suddenly found myself a bit more intimidated and wary of her, but also far more interested in being her friend.

"Are you threatening me? Do you know who I am?!" The man asked Samantha incredulously, and I heard a bystander suddenly start doing a faux cough. Clearly somebody here knew who Samantha was and was trying to warn the man, but he refused to break his glare with Samantha and didn't catch the hint.

"No, but I'd love to know. I'm sure Daddy would be interested in knowing which local business has employees who are harassing traveling trainers with false accusations so he can make sure Devon cuts ties with them," Samantha ended with a sweet smile that gave me chills. I wasn't a big fan of her tossing around her family's weight like that, but even I had to admit that it was extremely effective when I saw the man grow pale as he seemed to connect the dots.

The man muttered and stammered out a string of incoherent words I took to be an apology of sorts and quickly excused himself, abandoning his steaming cup of coffee as he left like a man who had just realized he'd left the oven on at home. The scene now over, bystanders went about their day and Samantha resumed sipping on her coffee, acting as though nothing had happened.

"Scary."

I fully agreed with Apollo; that was a sobering experience and not something I would have expected from the girl. I slowly sat back down, staring at her in disbelief for a moment before she looked at me and arched a brow.

"What?" She asked, a bit challengingly.

I gulped, briefly considering calling her out on using her family name like that, but quickly decided to take a more subtle and less confrontational approach.

"You didn't need to do that."

She waved her hand dismissively, "Oh please, you were about to leave. We weren't done having brunch, and let's just say I take personal offense to locals who bother trainers that are just passing through."

"I appreciate you sticking up for me, but you didn't have to throw your family name around like that." I said delicately, deciding I couldn't help but bring it up.

She shrugged, seemingly unbothered. "He started it. I wouldn't have said anything if he didn't pull the whole 'do you know who I am' routine, but at that point it was just too easy to quickly end things by using my trump card."

"Still not a huge fan of that, but I guess he did ask for it. Wouldn't a local know you were a Stone though? I still don't get how you can just walk around without being bothered by others."

"I've made it a point to stay out of the spotlight. If I'm going to be famous, it'll be because of my work as a coordinator, not because of my name. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of locals who know who I am, but Daddy pays good money to have Porygon keep me scrubbed from the internet and most of the locals who know me don't want to get on Daddy's bad side, so they don't bother me or go around telling people who I am."

"Help me understand… Wouldn't you being a Stone be a huge boon for your coordinator career?"

She rolled her eyes, "Well duh, but I don't want to ride my family name to the top. It would be too easy, but also very messy. If I started winning contests, people would say it was only because I was a Stone and that judges wanted to be in my family's good graces. It also wouldn't really matter how well I did for myself; no matter how popular I became as a coordinator I would never be as famous as I could be simply existing as a Stone."

"Wouldn't a secret identity fix all of that? Like a stage name and a disguise? It's not all that uncommon." I asked, knowing that I had definitely heard of some coordinators doing that.

"Yup, that's the plan! But it's not like I can always wear a disguise. I still need to travel to different contest halls, and I don't want to be bothered whenever I'm out in public. Plus, just look at me. I already take care not to stand out."

I hummed, "I'll admit you don't stand out too much, but your hair is pretty damn unique and I wouldn't exactly call an outfit that trendy 'low-key'. If you really wanted to blend in, wouldn't you dye your hair brunette, actually wear your sunglasses on your face, and dress a bit more… Casually?"

She huffed, seemingly offended. "This is casual, thank you very much. I'm wearing jeans and a flannel, it doesn't get much more casual than that."

"Yes it does… You're wearing white skinny jeans with fake holes in them that look straight out of a catalog, and your flannel is bright purple and white plaid with the sleeves rolled up neatly. And what in Arceus' name are those on your feet? Ever heard of sneakers?" I pointed to her shoes, having just now given them a good look.

"These are clogs! They're comfy and go with the outfit!" She snapped.

"They're heels, and I can see your toes. If you're going for the 'inconspicuous' look, maybe don't match your entire outfit? Even your sunglasses look designer!"

She snorted, "You clearly don't know the first thing about girls. I'd stand out if I didn't match my outfit or accessorize. Hate to break it to you Daniel, but most people don't just grab the first raggedy outfit they can and throw it on before they go out in public like you do. Your clothes don't match at all and look like they should've been retired years ago, and your hoodie sleeve is literally falling apart." She pointed out, drawing my attention to the torn sleeve of my hoodie where the Rocket's Mightyena had bitten me.

I sighed, leaning back in the chair and taking another sip of the coffee before quickly setting it back down. I really didn't like it, but it felt rude not to drink it when she had paid for it.

"See! Even your Ralts agrees with me!" Samantha suddenly proclaimed, pointing to my shoulder where I noticed that Apollo was holding his hands over his mouth and doing his best to suppress a giggle.

What a little traitor! He should know that there were good reasons for all of that!

I threw my arms up in exasperation, "FINE! I'll get new clothes soon. All I was saying was that you could blend in a bit more. Normal blue jeans, a band t-shirt or a solid sweatshirt, cheap sunglasses that you actually wear to help cover your face, some normal shoes, maybe dye your hair and put it in a ponytail or something? Just saying, your current 'disguise' is like a four out of ten."

"This isn't a 'disguise', and I'm not really trying to hide who I am until I leave the city. But since you've accepted my criticisms, I'll accept yours. You do have some valid points." She conceded, and I sighed as I took another sip of the coffee, happy to be done with the topic.

We finished our meals and coffee without much fanfare and I finally managed to excuse myself from her company on the condition that she was allowed to come watch my gym battle, which I didn't have a problem with. Apollo seemed exceptionally reluctant to part ways, but I wanted to go train for the rest of the day and was honestly feeling pretty exhausted after being around Samantha and could use some peace and quiet on the beach.

I definitely didn't dislike my time with Samantha, I had to admit that it was draining. I was an introvert at heart, so talking and bantering that much completely emptied out my social reserves for the day and almost felt as tiring as spending a day walking through Petalburg Woods. I knew that it was something I needed to work on, and I was grateful to Apollo for pushing me to do it, but I really hoped that he didn't make a habit of pushing me to befriend everyone who gave me the time of day.

I was happy that Apollo was becoming more opinionated though, and felt like his sense of humor really shone through today, even if it was at my expense. I didn't mind at all; it was a style of humor I could get behind and was glad to see growing.

We made our way north to the beach, and after releasing Duran to go have some fun in the ocean while Apollo and I relaxed on the beach to enjoy the view for a while, we spent the remainder of the evening training. I ran Apollo through some Teleport drills, wanting to get him to be as fast as possible and build up his stamina. He was getting very proficient with the move, and no longer took any noticeable time to set his orientation. He could Teleport back-to-back in a little under a second, and that was including a change in which direction he faced.

I knew we'd need Duran's Bubblebeam for the upcoming gym, so I had him focus on that. The move was sufficiently powerful, however it seemed to take considerable effort so I also had him working on his stamina as well, first by holding it for as long as possible and then by having him shoot pulses of it repeatedly.

Eventually I made a game out of it. I drew a circle in the sand, had Duran stand in the middle, and instructed him to do his best to hit Apollo, but to not make the move very strong. The point was to work on his reflexes and speed with the move and not to deal actual damage.

Considering he could shoot it from both claws independently, he was able to hit Apollo multiple times despite how quickly he could teleport, but to Apollo's credit he incorporated Double Team into his strategy and was able to avoid being hit on several occasions. Although this game was much more difficult for Apollo than it was for Duran, he took to the challenge and stuck it out until I had to call it when he became too sluggish to consistently avoid the attack.

Duran was exceedingly pleased with himself, and after some praise Apollo seemed content with his efforts as well.

We wrapped up training when there was no more light left, and after giving my team their vitamins and cooking myself some ramen we quickly found ourselves drifting off to sleep, ready for whatever tomorrow might hold.

TRAINER ID
Name: Daniel Ingram
Age: 16
Badges: 0
Account: 2,102 credits

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

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Shoutout to TysonG for beta-reading this chapter.

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