I woke up fairly early and before any of the rest of my team, likely due to the intensive training session we had last night. After a quick shower, I decided that it was the perfect opportunity for me to do some research and note-taking; something that I had been putting off for far too long.

After grabbing my notebook and the notes that Nurse Joy had printed out for me on my team members, I quietly recalled my team as they slept. I really hoped that it wouldn't wake them, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving them in the room to wake up and realize that I was gone. I could see them busting down the door or tearing up the room in a moment of panic, so it seemed like the best call.

Gaining access to a terminal was as simple as plugging in my Pokédex to confirm I was a licensed trainer so random people didn't treat them like some public commodity. I was immediately presented with a sort of 'setup wizard' that I hadn't been expecting.

The first thing it prompted was for me to connect my existing email address and PokéNet account or to create a new one, neither of which I had. PokéNet was the official League website, and I had browsed plenty of its forums and wiki pages at the orphanage. I had never bothered to make an account or email considering it was a shared computer and I didn't really care about sharing my opinions with strangers.

I decided to just use the handle 'Daniel_Ingram' for both. I didn't expect I'd use my PokéNet account much, but the email address would serve as the primary way that people could get in contact with me if needed. Although I had no use for it now I was sure it would come in handy someday.

The last thing it asked me to do was to confirm the information on my trainer profile. I didn't have access to edit any of the notes others had left and didn't really care to anyway. The only information that I felt compelled to confirm was my team's names and capture locations, since the misspelling and question marks annoyed me. The rest of it could be crowdsourced for all I cared; they seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it anyway, and I didn't see the point of willingly divulging details about my team.

The setup finished, my first order of business was to write down the list of moves that my team's species were known to learn naturally, since it should help give me some ideas on what to train towards and what I can expect. After that I did a bit of research into Pokémon growth, and quickly learned that Nurse Joy was right; there was a ton of factors that went into it, many of them theories and speculation.

What I did learn though was that trainer bond, diet, fitness and battle experience against 'tough' opponents were the widely agreed-upon main factors when it came to growth and evolution. I was a bit surprised to learn that age didn't seem to be much of a consideration, it was well-documented that a young Pokémon could quickly grow and evolve in a matter of weeks or months under the care of a trainer whereas it would often take years for wild Pokémon to evolve, if ever. While it was technically possible for Pokémon to evolve without a trainer, it took a particularly strong member of its species and lots of experience fighting tough opponents to do it. The definition of what made a 'tough' or 'strong' opponent was unclear, however it had apparently been proven that having a powerful Pokémon sandbag against a weak opponent didn't aid in growth. The leading theory was that it was a matter of how hard the Pokémon had to push themselves in battle and that it didn't matter if they won or lost.

There was apparently some sort of link between a Pokémon's growth and the bond it shared with its trainer. There was a lot of discourse around the topics, but the consensus was that the more your Pokémon trusted and felt close to you, the faster they grew.

After understanding the gist of it, I moved on. My brain didn't do very well with abstract, theoretical topics like that, and it seemed like a huge time sink to delve further into the topic. I already had full intentions of getting as close to my team as possible, considering I wanted to make us into a family of sorts, and strong opponents were going to be a given as we journeyed and took on the gym circuit.

My main takeaway was actually that I needed to focus more on diet and general exercise. Our training sessions may be helping them build stamina and mastery over their moves, but I had largely neglected the physical aspect of training other than working on Duran's claw strength.

I was sure that as far as diet went the vitamins and Pokéblocks would be a big help, and was reminded to do a bit of research on Pokéblocks.

The topic was far more in-depth than I had expected. Pokéblocks apparently were extremely popular among coordinators, with many swearing that they won contests in large part because of the effect feeding the right Pokéblocks to their team had on their physical appearance. They could improve the health of fur, scales, feathers and the like due to the nutrients that they could carry, and many people claimed that even the consistency of the block matters, such as how firm or smooth it was.

I quickly learned that there was no 'proper' way to do it, and you just had to experiment and find out what worked for your Pokémon. There were people who would swear by certain blending rhythms or combinations of berries, but it was largely conflicting and anecdotal.

I sighed in disappointment as I decided to once again skip on researching the topic further. The fact that so many people claimed that how you blended it mattered so much turned me off of the topic. It didn't make any logical sense to me; the makeup of what was actually in the berries didn't change depending on how fast or hard you blended it. It honestly sounded like a bunch of superstition to me, and I found myself lacking interest in researching it further. All I had wanted to know was which berry combinations would be good to mix, but apparently that was entirely up to my Pokémon's preferences, so I'd just need to take notes and do some trial and error.

I wanted my Pokémon to be healthy, but I was no nutritionist and had no plans to become one. As long as they were healthy and happy, I wasn't going to nitpick the details too much.

Grabbing the papers that Nurse Joy had provided me, I quickly realized that most of the information was far above my head as well. It was largely vitals such as temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, checking for common ailments and diseases, and testing things like vision, respiratory function and reflexes. They had apparently gotten a blood test done, and there was information on things such as glucose, electrolytes, and all sorts of other readings I didn't understand. They all had green checkmarks next to them though, indicating the levels were fine.

I couldn't help but wonder how in Arceus' name Nurse Joy and Chansey managed to collect and review all of this information each time they healed a Pokémon, but it was extremely impressive and thorough.

The only things that I could find that were useful were their weight and ages. Duran weighed nearly 26 pounds and was marked as being approximately half a year old, whereas Apollo was just over 14 pounds and estimated between one to two months old. My guess was that they somehow determined this through the bloodwork they had done, but I wasn't about to question Nurse Joy on her expertise.

Apollo's age was a bit of a shock to me. I had thought he'd only been in that forest for a few days, possibly a week or two. It seems he had been there for quite a bit longer than I had imagined, all alone and simply trying to stay out of sight of his many predators.

The thought made me sad. Similarly, I wondered how much of Duran's life he had spent in that pond. I sort of doubt that he was born there, but I supposed it was possible. Had he really been holding down his little pond for nearly half a year, all alone? I felt less sad for him than Apollo, as I knew that he likely didn't mind the solitude and had seemed perfectly content with where he was, but it was still strange to think about.

Suddenly reminded of Duran's upcoming molt, I did a bit of research on it. True to Nurse Joy's words, you could tell when a molt was about to happen by the shade of their shell getting darker, and when I saw pictures of Corphish that had just molted I was struck by just how much lighter it was than I was used to seeing with Duran.

Something revealed to me was that after a molt, Duran's shell would be soft and particularly vulnerable, and it was recommended to keep crustaceans out of battle for at least 48 hours after the process. Molting itself was apparently a pretty simple affair; you just had to leave them alone once they started to wiggle out of their shell, and it usually only took about thirty minutes for them to do so. After that it was just a matter of resting and eating properly while the new shell hardened.

Suddenly curious, I checked to see if there was any indicator I could use to know when Apollo would be getting close to evolution, but there wasn't. I was tempted to look into telepathy, but I knew that would be a huge time sink that I could easily spend hours on. It struck me as a topic that I would rather try to get solid information on at the Rustboro Trainers' School rather than having to sift through what I was sure would be a bunch of conflicting information online.

Deciding I'd done enough research for the day, I grabbed my Pokédex and logged out of the terminal, realizing that it was now almost noon. It was a painful reminder that I had a problem when it came to researching things online; I could easily get lost in it for hours and not even realize it.

With one of my to-dos now checked off, I had three things left I wanted to accomplish today. I needed a new hoodie, I wanted to visit the Rustboro Trainers' School to try getting some information on telepathy, and I obviously wanted to get in one last training session before my gym challenge tomorrow.

I remembered the brochure I had been given when getting to Rustboro had mentioned night classes for non-students, so I figured I'd save that for last. That meant clothes shopping first, then training.

Releasing Duran and setting him on my head since it was his day to be out with me, I set off on the town in search of a cheap clothing store; but not before grabbing myself a burrito from one of the street vendors and giving a bit to Duran.

Buying a new hoodie was a quick affair. I simply found another one that was a solid dark gray, had the hand pouch in the front I was so fond of and made sure it fit. I decided against getting any other clothes; although my brown cargo pants and faded black sneakers were a bit worn they weren't tattered to the point of needing replacement like the Rocket's Mightyena had left my hoodie. Another to-do item checked off.

As I made my way out the northern exit of Rustboro towards our usual spot on the beach to train, I noticed that Duran was unusually restless. He seemed to be doing a lot of squirming and repositioning while clinging to my head, and at first I thought it might have something to do with my new hoodie but that didn't make sense. It was considerably softer and he had a shell; it shouldn't bother him at all.

Then it hit me. Nurse Joy had mentioned he was close to molting, and it seemed it was going to happen sooner than I had expected.

This presented a serious problem. I had a gym match tomorrow, and if he molted before then he would be too vulnerable to use during the fight. As much faith as I had in Apollo, I wasn't about to set the entire weight of the first gym on his shoulders; it would be completely unfair of me.

I'd either need to somehow have Duran hold off on molting until tomorrow after the gym match, or I'd need to skip the scheduled fight. That would be an official loss on my record and a week that I would be unable to challenge it. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would be a bit disappointing. There was no way I was hanging around Rustboro for another week, so I'd have to come back to rechallenge it later on.

"Hey Duran, you seem a bit… Uncomfortable. It's because you're close to molting, right?"

"Phish. Corphish!"

Although I didn't have Apollo out to serve as a translator, I was getting familiar enough with Duran's tone and cadences to know that was a confirmation.

I lifted him off my head and set him down on the sand, now at our training spot.

Crouching down, I rubbed his shell soothingly. "I know you probably feel a bit cramped, but do you think you could hold out for a day? You can molt right after our gym fight tomorrow, then rest for as many days as you need. But if you can't wait we can just come back another time, it's not a big deal."

"Co Cor!"

I could tell he wanted to see the fight through based on the determined look on his face, and I felt relief wash over me.

"Thanks buddy. Go have some fun and scavenge in the ocean for a bit, but come soon for some training."

I released Apollo as Duran disappeared into the sea. I decided to do a bit of experimentation with Apollo's Teleport before Duran came back and we began training in earnest, wanting to see if I could push the move to the next level.

The first test was to see if Apollo could make any progress Teleporting without looking at his destination. The need to look at his destination seemed to be one of the main things stopping him from being nearly untouchable in a battle, so I wanted to work on removing the limitation.

I started by having him close his eyes and Teleport a few steps in front of him. He was able to do this without much trouble, but I suspected that the only reason he had been able to do it was because he saw the target location before closing his eyes.

For the next test, I had him keep his eyes closed before picking him up and walking in a circle a few times before setting him down a few feet away, facing another direction. The idea was to throw off his spatial awareness and see what happened, and the only reason I felt comfortable doing this test was that we were on a completely flat beach with plenty of space all around us. I asked if he could Teleport a few feet in front of him and face the ocean, however this time he was very hesitant.

Nervous. "Danger."

I assured him that he would be fine, but it took a bit more convincing to get him to actually try. After asking him to trust me and just do his best, he finally Teleported; however he ended up several feet away and facing a random direction. He did manage to face the ocean though, but that was likely due to the sound of it.

I found this extremely interesting, so after praising him for his bravery I had one more thing I wanted to try. I had him look at a location and told him to remember that spot, then I had him close his eyes and did another couple of circles before randomly placing him again. I asked him to try Teleporting to the spot we had set, but he once again ended up in a random location a few feet away.

That told me everything I needed to know; he could only Teleport properly if he knew where the target was in relation to his current location. He was guessing where I had placed him down and trying to Teleport accordingly. The fact that he had specifically used the word 'danger' earlier told me that he probably ran the risk of Teleporting into something if he wasn't careful, and I shuddered at the thought of what kind of consequences that might have.

It would also explain why he wouldn't Teleport to locations he couldn't see, such as behind a tree. He technically could do it, but if he wasn't absolutely certain his target was clear he likely ran a high risk of dying a horrible death. If he misjudged the distance or location of something based on his memory he could also easily meet the same fate.

Duran returned from his ocean excursion and we began training. I had them start off with a pseudo-staring contest; having Duran practice his Leer on Apollo and requesting Apollo to try putting Duran to sleep with Hypnosis.

Duran glared at Apollo with shining eyes, and although I could see faint shivers from my starter he didn't avert his gaze. His horn glowed and they maintained eye contact as each used their respective moves over and over again.

After about a minute of this, Apollo was trembling pretty badly and I was about to call the exercise off, however I noticed that Duran was starting to get drowsy and Apollo still seemed determined so I let them continue. About twenty seconds later, Duran was no longer able to keep his eyes open and slumped to the ground, successfully put to sleep.

It had taken a long time to perform and I didn't see us being able to use the move anytime soon at the start of a battle, but perhaps toward the end to finish it? Especially if Apollo did it from a mental command and the opponent didn't see it coming, but we definitely shouldn't rely on it for now.

"That was great Apollo, your Hypnosis is getting a lot better." I praised as I gently shook a sleeping Duran, trying to wake him.

Pride.

My attempts to wake Duran up didn't work; he was sound asleep and clearly needed a bit of time before he would wake up. I suddenly regretted leaving my backpack at the Pokécenter; I was pretty sure I remembered seeing a Chesto Berry or two in the bag I had been given, which Survive & Thrive taught me could wake from a deep sleep like this.

After about five minutes of enjoying the view with Apollo, Duran eventually roused from his slumber. I could tell he was a bit down about having 'lost' to Apollo in his eyes, but I assured him he did great with his Leers and had lasted for a really long time before letting Hypnosis get to him, which seemed to mollify him.

Still, he took to our resumed training with extra gusto. I had him shooting Bubblebeams as hard as he could while alternating which claw he used, and they seemed particularly powerful today. At one point I had him test trying to 'merge' the two Bubblebeams by holding both claws together and attempting to unify the vortex of bubbles into one, but it didn't work and they conflicted with each other.

All well, didn't hurt to try.

For Apollo, I decided to give another go of the idea I still couldn't let go of; using Teleport and Disarming Voice in rapid succession to keep away from and slowly poke down an opponent. It wasn't anywhere near the potential I imagined we could get it to, but by the time the sun began setting he was making noticeable improvements. He was getting better at releasing shorter quicker bursts of Disarming Voice in the same breath, now able to do about five Teleports and Disarming Voices with one breath in the span of about three seconds. Unlike before, I could actually see the pink waves of the move, and I applauded him for his increasing control and mastery of it.

I knew that this combo had a lot of room for improvement, but deemed it battle-ready and dubbed it 'harass'. I saw a lot of benefits in having short codewords for combos and strategies we could use in the heat of battle that were like Duran's 'obscure', and vowed to keep coming up with more.

I remembered Duran's track record of latching on behind an opponent while attacking them. I informed him that we would call that strategy 'lock', and that the whole point of it was to get him to hold a position where the opponent couldn't easily reach him while he landed blow after blow. I told him where he latched onto and what moves he used after doing it was largely a judgment call he'd have to make, but advised him that generally getting the back of the neck or above the shoulder would be the best way to keep him out of harm's way while still allowing him to land attacks, preferably the head.

This reminded me of the need to work on our non-verbal commands, so after a quick refresher course of what we had already come up with I expanded by teaching them a few more; near, far, and behind. My hope was that I would be able to mix them, such as 'far attack' to indicate a ranged attack or 'move behind' to try to get behind an opponent. I didn't want to overwhelm them with things like specific directions or moves, and wasn't even sure if these would end up being used much, but I felt good about their potential utility regardless.

The sun now fully set and the moon out in full, I decided it was time to head back into town and see if I could find any information on telepathy at the Rustboro Trainers' School. I doubted that they would have a class on telepathy specifically going on tonight, but perhaps I could borrow a few minutes from one of the professors who knew something about the topic.

"Hey Duran, Apollo and I need to go learn more about his Telepathy. I know it's your day to be out, but you don't mind going into your Pokéball for an hour or two do you?"

He didn't, likely due to his ongoing discomfort with putting off molting, so I thanked and returned him as Apollo and I made our way back to town.

"Learn moral?" Apollo suddenly asked, seemingly reading my thoughts of what I hoped we'd be able to get out of the trip.

"Morals with an s. It's plural since it's more than one. But yeah. I can find general information on telepathy and how yours will progress looking online or in books, but what I really want to do is talk to somebody with some first-hand experience. At first I thought I'd be alright with you having full access to my mind, and for the most part I still am. I just want to know if there are some sort of guiding principles or advice on how to handle our connection as it deepens. I don't want to end up getting spiteful, or for you to get hurt by some of my thoughts."

"Mark lines."

"Set boundaries. Maybe, maybe not. We'll see how it goes." I shrugged as we stepped through the archways marking the entrance of the Rustboro Trainers' School campus.

Hostility. "Annoying boy."

I groaned, knowing who was surely about to grace me with their presence.

"What do we have here? Seems city sanitation forgot a particularly unsightly pile of trash on this morning's route."

I couldn't help but snort in amusement at the strangely formal insult but kept my gaze straight ahead and kept walking, really not wanting to deal with Preston right now.

He stepped in front of me, his hands on his hips as he glared. "What's wrong Danny boy? Meowth got your tongue?"

I sighed in exasperation, "No Preston. I just have better things to do than banter with weak trainers. Why are you even here?"

He sneered, "That's cute, considering you cheated with a type advantage. As for why I'm here that's none of your business, but if you must know, I stayed late to study for final exams with my girlfriend. Something you'll never have, looking and smelling the way you do."

"I meant why are you still in school? I'm pretty sure you're older than me, get held back a year or two? Funny, considering I finished school a year early. Guess that's just another thing I beat you at."

Preston scowled, and I knew I'd gotten under his skin. "Unlike your crummy public school, graduating here is no small matter, and I'll have you know I chose to take another year. Pokémon are nothing more than a mere side interest to me; I'm much more concerned with my family's business and courting my soon-to-be fiancé. Some people actually have potential, unlike you trailer trash."

I hummed performatively, unable to help myself from taking the obvious opening. "Arranged marriage huh? I feel sorry for the girl. Correct me if I'm wrong Preston, but if you're an adult and your 'girlfriend' is still in school, wouldn't that technically make you a ped–"

DANGER!

Preston swung at me, and I only barely managed to lean back in time to avoid it thanks to the warning Apollo had given.

I continued backstepping to create distance as Preston seethed, his fists clenched and a murderous look on his face as he shook in fury. I hadn't expected that kind of reaction from my quip, and my guess was that the arranged marriage comment had hit a sore spot.

Although I had gotten into a couple of light scraps at the orphanage, I was in no way a fighter. I also wasn't about to try to beat up somebody who was as rich and connected as Preston, in their hometown with me being an outsider nonetheless. I was sure even if I somehow managed to beat him in a fight, I'd lose in the long term. Any police or judges would surely take his side over that of some random orphan with a troubled past, and there wasn't a witness in sight.

At least, that's what I thought.

"What's going on here?!" A woman's voice grabbed our attention, and I turned to see what appeared to be some sort of teacher marching toward us with an angry look on her face.

I stood a bit dumbfounded as Preston immediately relaxed his posture, straightening his suit and acting as though nothing had happened.

"I tripped, that's all. I was just talking to my old friend, he's visiting from Petalburg and we were catching up." He said smoothly, and I felt disturbed by how quickly he had been able to do a complete 180.

"I'm not stupid, Mr. Livingston, I can see how anxious this poor Ralts is. Leave now, before I'm forced to get your father involved." The woman said sternly, and I watched in awe as Preston quickly made himself scarce without so much as another word, although he did glance back and send me a look that I took as 'this isn't over'.

Relief.

The woman turned to me, and I braced as I expected to be scolded or told to leave.

Instead, her expression softened and she gave a genuine smile. "Hello young man. What brings you to our academy this evening?"

I blinked, unsure why I was being spared or why she seemed so willing to drop what was an obvious confrontation.

"I was hoping to get some information on telepathy," I admitted a bit lamely.

She frowned regretfully, "I'm afraid that's a rather advanced topic we don't cover during our public lectures. Was there something specific you wanted to know?"

I fidgeted a bit nervously, not really sure how to phrase it. "Well… We've been using telepathy pretty much constantly, and the more Ralts has access to my mind, the more it feels… Unfair? I want to be as close as possible to Apollo, but I don't want to get spiteful, or hurt his feelings, or..." I trailed off, unsure of how to finish the thought.

The woman grew a determined look, holding up a hand to stop me. "Say no more young man, I understand perfectly. It's a delicate subject, and I happen to have some free time. We can talk in my office, if you please."

I sighed in relief, giving a bow. "I'd appreciate that very much, ma'am. Thank you."

She gave a slight courtesy, taking me aback. "Please, call me Roxanne. I'm the Lead Instructor here at the Rustboro Trainers' Academy. It's nice to meet you Daniel."

As she straightened I could swear there was a hint of mischief in her smile, and my brows furrowed as I realized something was off about what she'd just said. I was also almost certain that neither Preston nor I had said my name in her presence, so how in Arceus' name would she know it?

"Sorry, but how do you know my name?" I asked cautiously.

She looked at Apollo, giving a warm smile. "My daughter spoke rather highly of a traveling trainer and his Ralts, so it wasn't hard to put two and two together."

The pieces had already clicked into place and I was almost positive I knew the answer, but I had to confirm.

"Your daughter being…"

If only Apollo's danger sense worked for situations like this, I could have saved myself before uttering those words.

I hadn't wanted to feed her the answer; I'd thought it might have been one of the bystanders at the battle court, or maybe even the receptionist at the gym. I didn't want to start throwing around the name Samantha Stone if there was even a slim chance I was wrong, and truthfully I didn't see much of a resemblance. This woman had brunette hair, and although she did have delicate features nothing in particular screamed at me that this woman was related to Samantha.

I'd thought I was being smart, but what I hadn't thought of was just how bad my choice of words could come across if I was right like I assumed I was. She looked genuinely peeved at what I'd just said, putting her hands on her waist and giving me a disapproving look.

"You don't remember the name of the girl who helped you sign up for your gym challenge tomorrow, who you had an entire meal with, or who defended you from false accusations of telepathy abuse?"

I wanted nothing more than for Arceus to strike me down, or for Apollo to be able to Teleport me away. I wanted to disappear so badly that it hurt.

I was indeed talking to Samantha's mother, and I'd just made a complete jackass of myself and ruined what had been an initial good impression. Not only that, I'd probably just tanked my chance to learn what I wanted to know about telepathy.

Sometimes, I amazed myself at just how terrible I could be in social situations. Even more amazingly, I was apparently talking to yet another Stone.

My luck was either at an all-time high or low, I couldn't quite tell which yet. What I did know is I had some groveling to do.

TRAINER ID
Name: Daniel Ingram
Age: 16
Badges: 0
Account: 2,002 credits

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

AN: Classic Daniel. I'm considering moving the Trainer ID and pokemon list to the start of chapters instead of the end, thoughts? I've also been avoiding doing author notes, but mostly because I don't like when they respond to comments, apologize for chapter delays or spoil what's to come. It has come to my attention many people appreciate author notes, so I might start adding them. I know things started a bit slow but it's picking up; I enjoy the training, growing pains, decision-making processes, and world-building too much to gloss over it. One chapter to go until the gym battle, and lots of juicy drama in the next few chapters. Surely Daniel won't do anything to make things worse, right?

Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, or reviewed.

Shoutout to TysonG for beta-reading this chapter.

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