After a fair bit of explaining and groveling, I somehow managed to get on Roxanne's good side, and soon Apollo and I found ourselves walking through the halls of the Rustboro Trainers' School trailing closely behind her.

"Telepathic relationships can be a very delicate thing. You've done the right thing, seeking help. Many trainers think they can wing it, and they end up doing irreparable damage to their relationship with their Pokémon. Once trust is damaged, or resentment reaches a boiling point, or irreconcilable differences are discovered… well it can be very hard to fix."

"That's exactly what I want to avoid. We've already run into that a little bit, but I'd like to think we've worked through them for now. But I can definitely see a bit of resentment building up, and we do have some differences that haven't been easy to work through."

She nodded knowingly, opening a wide double-door and ushering us into what seemed to be some sort of Pokémon recreation area. It was a huge room with an open roof, lots of dirt and grass, plenty of trees and a massive pool.

I cast Roxanne a look of confusion, having thought we were going to an office.

"If it's alright with you, I'd like to split you and your Ralts up for separate lessons. You and I need to have our own conversation, and your Ralts would best be served spending some time learning from a more experienced telepath who can offer guidance in ways I simply wouldn't be able to."

I nodded in agreement and placed Apollo down on the ground as Roxanne released a Pokémon.

Instantly recognizing it as a Lunatone, I was stricken by just how imposing it was. Although not that big at roughly three feet tall, it levitated what I knew was hundreds of pounds in weight a few feet off the ground with ease and exuded an aura of strength I hadn't ever felt. I could instantly tell that my team was no match for this Pokémon, and likely wouldn't be for a long time to come.

"This is Lunatone. While not a natural telepath, it is an exceptionally skilled psychic and has been training in telepathy for over a decade, and is at the upper ends of stage four. It was trained by a very wise and powerful Medicham, and I have no doubt that Lunatone has plenty of knowledge it can impart upon your Ralts."

"Stage four?" I asked in confusion.

Roxanne gave a weak smile, "I see we have much to discuss. Let's head to my office, I assure you Lunatone will take good care of your Ralts."

Nervousness. Inferiority.

I bent down and rubbed Apollo's head soothingly, "I promise you're in good hands, Lunatone won't hurt you. Do your best to learn from it and ask any questions you have about telepathy or psychic powers in general, I'll be back before you know it."

Apollo still struck me as a bit reluctant, but he nodded in understanding and cautiously approached the Lunatone, who lowered itself, and as I felt Apollo leave my mind I was sure they were beginning to have a telepathic conversation of sorts.

I nodded in satisfaction and followed Roxanne out of the room and down the hallway, and soon found myself sitting in her office as she immediately launched into lecture mode.

"Only a select few species of psychic-type Pokémon are innately capable of using telepathy. Those who aren't can learn it through intensive training, but it can take years to be proficient at it and they will never have the capabilities of a natural telepath."

"You mentioned 'stage four' earlier, could you explain what the stages are?" I asked curiously.

"Stage one is called surface sensing, and doesn't actually require connecting to the mind. Think of it like looking at someone and seeing an aura of color around them. It's an entire sense on equal footing with sight and smell. For a Ralts it's the primary way they experience the world, but for non-telepaths it is extremely difficult to not only access but decipher."

Suddenly wishing that I had brought my notebook, I asked if she had anything I could take notes with, and she happily provided me with a few pieces of paper and a pencil that I graciously accepted. After giving me a few moments to take notes she continued.

"Stage two is conceptual communication. This actually requires connecting to the mind, and it allows for emotions and general concepts to be exchanged telepathically. The Ralts line is actually born at this stage, although they tend to stick to emotions due to their natural predisposition for empathy."

I nodded in understanding; that had certainly been my experience so far, and it made sense when she put it like that.

"Stage three is active thought transmission, and it's where surface-level thoughts are able to be communicated. The level of clarity can vary greatly depending on the telepath's abilities as well as how the target's mind works. Think of it like watching a movie; you get a glimpse of what's currently going on in the person's mind but it can be difficult to interpret. The movie might be grainy or abstract, black and white, and there might be foreign subtitles with no audio, you get the idea."

"We've definitely entered that stage," I supplied.

Roxanne nodded before continuing, "Stage four is latent thoughts. This is where the telepath has access to thoughts and memories that aren't even in the person's mind. This is more akin to browsing a library and picking a book to read, but the telepath may find some areas are off-limits or that the book is hard to decipher. Once again, the degrees of this stage can vary wildly based on both the telepath and the target's mind."

I raised a brow, "How could some areas be off-limits? Is that something you can control?"

"That's a rather advanced topic, but yes it is possible for a person to restrict areas of their mind. Depending on how much control a person has, the effectiveness of it could be equivalent to putting up caution tape and asking politely that telepaths not proceed, or it could be like building a barrier they would have to force their way into. I won't go too in-depth, but let's just say a powerful telepath is unlikely to be stopped by any defenses a non-psychic could muster if they really tried."

"Would a non-telepathic psychic have stronger defenses than a non-psychic?" I asked curiously, picking up on her phrasing.

She nodded, "Psychics come in a variety of forms, but they all stem from a mastery of controlling their own mind and how it interacts with the world around them. This could take many forms such as telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, and precognition. A telepath will obviously know best how to defend against another telepath, but all psychics have a level of control over their mind that will far exceed any non-psychic."

I hummed, "That makes sense. Is it entirely up to the individual on how they protect their mind, or could a telepath help protect somebody else's mind?"

"A telepath can certainly bolster another mind's defenses if they've reached at least stage four, but only a stage five telepath could erect defenses that don't exist."

I flushed a bit, realizing that I had accidentally sidetracked the conversation before she could finish what she was explaining.

"Alright, so what's stage five?"

"Stage five is a full telepathic link. It's where two consciousnesses are deeply connected and can share senses, memories, thoughts, and feelings in complete totality. Rather than simply knowing what the other is thinking, they are able to understand the morals and reasoning behind it. They can feel what the other feels, see through their eyes; it's like the other mind is an extension of their own. It's extremely intimate and requires profound levels of trust to perform properly, and as usual there are varying degrees to it based on both of the minds involved."

"Is that one-way?"

Roxanne hesitated, rocking her head back and forth in a 'somewhat' manner. "A lot of this depends on the strength of the telepath, as well as how receptive the target's mind is to their influence. It's harder for a telepath to send the same level of information it can sense. Say a telepath can understand an entire train of thought with relative ease; that same telepath might find it extremely difficult to send even a single concept. You also have to remember that telepathic Pokémon have the added difficulty of not only having to parse things in a way the human mind can understand, but a telepath sending information to a non-telepath is more difficult than between two telepaths. So it's technically possible for you to be able to see what the telepath sees, but the level of mastery and effort involved would be incredibly high, and that's without considering how accessible you make your own mind to the telepath's influence."

I sighed, "So there's no way we can ever be on equal footing?"

Roxanne shook her head. "No, not unless you happen to be a telepath yourself which I assume you aren't?" Roxanne asked with a raised brow, and I immediately shook my head no since I was quite sure I had no psychic powers.

She shrugged, "Then it can't be helped. You can't learn to be psychic; you're either born with the ability or you aren't, and even then no human telepath can reach anywhere near the level a Pokémon telepath can. I've never heard of a human ever reaching stage five, and you could count the number that have reached stage four with your hands."

I slouched, feeling disappointed but not surprised. I knew it was dumb for me to think I could possibly ever have access to Apollo's mind the same way he did with me, but it was still a tough pill to swallow.

"This doesn't mean you're helpless. There are two ways you can make it easier for your Ralts to send you information; the first is to work on making your mind more open to influence. Your Ralts would surely know the answer to this, but do you know the second?" Roxanne gave me a hopeful look, but I was drawing a blank.

She looked a bit disappointed but continued, "It's trust. It ties into opening your mind, but if you don't fully trust the presence you'll subconsciously be more defensive."

I wasn't sure if it was possible for me to trust Apollo any more than I already did, but I knew I could at least work on making my mind more available.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. This is all good information, but truthfully I came here looking for advice on ethics, and what was common practice for trainers with telepaths. I want Apollo to be able to stay in my mind as much as he wants, but at the same time there are some thoughts I can't help but have that I know will hurt him.

"I'm afraid there's no one right answer. You could obviously ask your Ralts for some privacy when you needed to think, but as it develops its powers it'll be harder for it to disconnect from the minds around it. It's something that telepaths do naturally, and asking a natural telepath not to use its telepathy is like me asking you to close your eyes and cover your ears. It's uncomfortable and unnatural, and it's why telepaths aren't forbidden from using it on strangers; just given limits not to dig through their mind. I'm guessing your Ralts can only maintain one link at a time with how young it is, so you could just have your Corphish keep Ralts occupied, or you could simply return it to its Pokéball for a bit. But that's just a temporary solution, if you really want to build a close bond with Ralts you'll just need to trust one another and talk through any issues as they come up."

I cast her a confused look, "How do you know I have a… Oh right, Samantha."

She gave a smirk, "From what I've heard and seen, you're a genuinely good person whose heart is in the right place. Young telepaths often make the mistake of viewing things in binary; right or wrong, good or evil. As they grow they learn that very few things in this world are black and white and that there are many factors to consider in any given situation. Any experienced telepath knows that an individual makes decisions based on their underlying morals and values, even though past experiences do help influence them. Tell me Daniel, why are you a trainer?"

I blinked, a bit caught off guard by the question.

"I want to grow strong with a team I can call family. Live life, explore the world, push my limits, that sort of thing."

"Why do you seek strength or crave family? What drives you to want to explore, or push yourself? Don't answer, I'm just running you through a thought experiment. Chances are you can probably answer those, but if you keep drilling down you're going to reach some instinctual, unconscious things you can't identify or explain no matter how hard you try. While it's true that our lived experiences shape us, our unconscious desires play a much larger role in driving why we do what we do. Some claim that each soul is unique and that they can wildly differ, and that it explains why some are able to justify great evil while others would never dream of it."

She flushed a bit as she noticed the blank look on my face. Although she was doing a very good job of explaining things, I'd never been very good at abstract and theoretical topics, and was beginning to have trouble keeping up.

"Apologies, I got a bit carried away. To answer your earlier question about Ralts' issue with some of your actions and ideas, all I can really say is to trust each other, keep communicating, and have empathy and understanding. If your Ralts ever seems sick or unhealthy then you'll know there's a real issue between you two, and if it can't be resolved you'd need to part ways before Ralts dies. Your Ralts appears to be perfectly healthy, and if you're truly a good person like I suspect, then you just need to be sure to trust one another and work through your issues the best you can."

"Are you telling me that any Ralts being trained by a criminal will eventually die?" I couldn't help but ask.

Roxanne nodded seriously. "The Ralts line in particular values honor, and their very life depends on living in a positive environment. I wouldn't say it's impossible for a Ralts or one of its evolutions to live in the company of a criminal, but it would have to truly believe that what they were doing was honorable, and there would still need to be plenty of good in its life to offset any of the negativity most criminal activities would introduce. It would be especially difficult to convince one to rummage through the mind of somebody it perceived to be innocent, let alone hurt them."

"Isn't there some sort of… Telepathic code of conduct against invading people's minds without their consent? I know there are definitely laws against it."

Roxanne shrugged, "Sort of. There is technically a law against stage four and five telepathy on an unwilling subject, but it's almost impossible to prove. Telepaths at that level can be almost impossible to detect, and the League will only apply their own telepaths against criminals who have been convicted of a violent felony, or if they give consent. Forcing your way deep into the mind of somebody who resists it can cause serious damage. Let me ask you a question Daniel, have you had Ralts read somebody's mind without them knowing?" she asked without accusation.

I shrugged, "Just passively for emotion and intent. The only time Apollo has actually connected to a mind other than mine was with my Corphish and with a woman who requested it out of curiosity, but it was obviously just her active thoughts. She quickly got spooked and ran off though."

Roxanne nodded in approval before leveling me with a serious look, "That's very honorable of you, do your best to keep it that way. It can be tempting to use telepathy to get an advantage in social situations, but trust me when I say that you'd make enemies and ruin relationships by doing it. The presence of a telepath is enough to make plenty of people suspicious, and if you start navigating a conversation perfectly it can be easy for them to know you're cheating. There's a large portion of society who is outright afraid of telepaths, both from a lack of understanding and general distrust of others. Surely you've encountered some of this by now."

I grimaced, "A man started accusing Apollo of reading his mind while I was having a meal with your daughter. I was just going to leave, but Samantha actually stood up for me and got the guy to back down. Based on what you told me she actually lied to the man; she threatened that if he reported my Ralts had read his mind that the League would have a telepath rummage through our minds, and if he was lying he'd be held responsible."

She gave a hearty laugh, "Sounds like something she'd do. Speaking of Samantha, it's not often she takes a liking to people; you must have really done something special for her to give you the time of day."

I snorted, "Not really, she just wanted to ask me about a run-in with a Rocket I had. Then I mentioned that I hadn't issued my gym challenge yet, and she decided it would be fun to make me sign up so she could watch."

Roxanne's gaze hardened and she furrowed her brows seriously. "Tell me about this Rocket; if they are setting up operations around here I'd like to know about it."

I spent a few minutes recounting the tale to her, and she seemed relieved to find that it had just been a wanderer who was now in League custody.

"That's a very interesting story, but let me offer you a couple bits of advice. Firstly, you should never underestimate a Rocket, even a lone one. It sounds like you know you were lucky to make it out of that situation, but don't go thinking you can take on criminals just because you got away with it once. They don't play by the same rules as normal trainers, and will often overwhelm their opponents with their numbers. They also aren't afraid to play dirty; they'll often target the trainer or maim your Pokémon if they feel truly threatened, as you experienced with the Rocket pulling a gun on you. The second bit of advice I have is to keep your encounter to yourself; there are more Rockets than you might think, and they pride themselves on their ability to blend in with society. There could have been one at the battle courts who overheard you, and if they put two-and-two together and realized you were responsible for locking one behind bars, you'll quickly find yourself the target of some very unwanted attention."

I paled at the realization that she was right; I had been careless when I accidentally let it slip. I nodded seriously, "You're right, I'll definitely keep your advice in mind."

Roxanne nodded in approval before standing with a stretch, "It's quite late, I need to be getting home. Unless you have any further questions, I think this is a good stopping point for the night."

"I can't thank you enough Roxanne. You've really helped me a lot," I stood and shoved the notes I had scribbled into my pocket before giving a deep bow, feeling truly grateful for all that she had taught me.

"Oh please, it was hardly a hassle. You were a very engaged and thoughtful student, it was my absolute pleasure," she dismissed with a wave of her hand and a kind smile.

Roxanne dug around in the drawers of her desk before handing me a thin black book, Telepathic Tendencies. It was well worn and had definitely seen years of use; there was some light water damage and many page corners were folded, and quickly flipping through it revealed tons of highlighted portions and scribbled notes.

"This book helped me a ton, however I no longer have a need for it. Just promise me you'll never sell it, alright?"

I couldn't help it; I snorted, "Not sure who'd pay for a book in this kind of condition, and I can't guarantee it won't get ruined during my journey, but I'll try my best to bring it back."

Roxanne gave a mischievous grin and waved a finger, "I don't need this back, just keep it until you feel you no longer need it, then give it to somebody else who could use it. But I'll be very upset if I ever see it being sold or auctioned, so make sure you pass that along to anyone you happen to give it to."

She gave me a warning look and I gulped, nodding seriously. I wasn't sure why she was so adamant about that, but I had no issue respecting her wishes.

As Roxanne ushered me out of her office and began leading me back to where we had left Apollo and Lunatone, Roxanne suddenly began to ask questions that were a bit more personal.

"So Daniel, my daughter tells me you are an exceptionally skilled battler for someone with no badges. Do you feel ready for your gym challenge tomorrow?"

"As ready as we can be. We could train for weeks or months and I'd still think we had more we could improve, but worst case scenario we lose and come back to try again later."

She nodded in approval, "That's a good way to look at things, and very true. Training is a never-ending pursuit; there are always ways improvements can be made with those who have the right mindset, which it seems you do."

I could definitely see that being true. Training familiarity and skill with moves aside, there was always physical conditioning and coming up with strategies to counter specific scenarios we might run into.

"If I may ask, what are your impressions of my daughter?"

"Can't say I know much about her," I admitted truthfully. "I know she wants to be a coordinator, finds most people annoying, and that she isn't a fan of Preston. Not that I can blame her, he hasn't exactly been the most welcoming to me since I got here."

She sighed, "Preston is a complicated topic. I'm not sure what you did to get on his bad side, but let me know if he causes you any more problems during your visit. I'm probably one of the few people who can actually get him to back down. But I wasn't asking what you knew of Samantha, I wanted to know what you thought of her."

"I dunno…" I shrugged, "Nice enough, but a bit abrasive and out of touch. Considering her upbringing I'd say she's doing pretty well for herself. She's no Preston Livingsto–"

I froze in horror as I realized I had just said mostly negative things about her to her own mother. While I had a largely positive opinion of Samantha, I had a bad habit of being overly critical of people's faults, and it had shown through in my thoughtless answer.

Roxanne stopped walking and looked back at me before covering her mouth and giggling, clearly at my expense.

"You should see the look on your face! It's priceless! Don't worry Daniel, I won't tell on you. I actually appreciate your candor and agree with everything you've said. I actually have a bit of a request for you, if you'd be open to it."

I relaxed my posture, glad I hadn't put my foot in my mouth too badly but gave her a suspicious look.

"What kind of request?"

"As you know, Samantha wants to become a coordinator. Her father and I have tried our best to ensure she was prepared before setting out and traveling to the contest halls; we even managed to convince her to take a few months to prepare. In that time she's beaten the gym, been training and practicing with her Pokémon, and has been working on a disguise to help keep the Stone from affecting her career, but I believe meeting you has made her quite antsy to begin. She wants to travel to Verdanturf to take on her first contest, but refuses to accept a teleport there and won't permit a bodyguard to accompany her, so I was wondering if you'd consider allowing Samantha to accompany you on your travels, at least for a little while."

My heart dropped as I immediately began thinking of ways I could decline. Norman had recommended that I find a traveling partner, but I wanted to focus on my relationship with my team and figure out things on my own for now. Not only that but when I thought of a traveling companion, few attributes matched Samantha.

"...Doesn't she have some friends who could go with her? I'm also pretty sure she's a better trainer than me, she already has her first badge and has been training for far longer by the sounds of it."

"She has a couple of friends, sure, but none of them are true trainers like yourself, and they don't have any interest in journeying. You have experience traveling, can help keep her safe, and actually get along with her, which is a rarity."

"I'm also a boy both of you hardly know," I stated plainly. Although I could admit that Samantha was conventionally attractive, I had no interest in her romantically. Not only because I had too much going on in my life to worry about a girlfriend, but I was also extremely put off by the idea of dealing with the baggage that would come with dating somebody as affluent as a Stone. But I was desperately reaching for reasons to worm my way out of this gracefully, and it seemed like a valid point to me.

Roxanne snorted, something that struck me as out of place for her refined, scholarly persona.

"I'm quite certain that what you're implying won't be a concern."

I tilted my head in confusion, "How could you possibly feel like you have a good read on me after only an hour or so together? I could be a complete psychopath, and considering Samantha apparently talked about me so much she might even have a bit of a crush on me."

I was grasping at straws here and knew that wasn't the case, but I really didn't want to be stuck playing babysitter to some spoiled rich girl if I could help it. I wanted to focus on my team and my journey, at least for the time being until I felt like we had found our groove.

She shrugged, "A mother's intuition is a powerful thing Daniel, and mine tells me you're as good of a traveling companion as Samantha could hope for."

I groaned, having no idea how I could possibly argue against something so vague.

"She might not even want to travel with me, and in case you can't tell I'm not super keen on the idea myself. Not to mention we have completely different goals and paths we need to take. I'm doing the gym circuit and she's doing contests, which means I'd be going to Lavaridge when she'd need to go Fallarbor, which I have no reason to go to. Same story for Slateport and Lillycove; they don't have gyms so why bother?"

I was stretching the truth a bit; Lilycove was one of the places I was most interested in visiting. There was a very prestigious museum, an absolutely massive department store, and an assortment of other attractions that made it the top tourist destination in the region. Slateport somewhat interested me because of its famous market; a year-round bazaar next to the sea with a wide variety of unique and interesting items sold by vendors. The only reason I could see myself going up to Fallarbor was to visit Meteor Falls, a place famous across the region for not only its beauty but also for housing rare Pokémon of all kinds, including dragons. But you could technically reach it from here if you had a Pokémon that could fly you over the steep cliffside.

Roxanne hummed in thought, and for a moment I thought I'd found the winning argument.

"What if you parted ways on Route 111? By then she should have a good feel for traveling and might have found somebody else doing contests she could continue on with."

I raised a brow, "I'd have to stick around in Verdanturf until she won a contest, and who knows how long that could take. I also don't see how I benefit from any of this, in fact it sounds like a pretty heavy burden."

Roxanne cast me a warning look, "Exactly how is traveling with a friend a burden?"

"I think the title of 'friend' is being applied a bit loosely here. We've spent maybe an hour together. I'd call us acquaintances at best. You're basically asking me to play bodyguard for a freakin' Stone. Surely that puts me and my team in more danger than we would otherwise be in."

"And surely traveling with somebody who could very well be on the radar of Team Rocket adds some danger to her," she retorted.

I threw up my hands in exasperation, "Fine! We both endanger each other, so that's the end of that."

Roxanne grew quiet at that, and we continued walking in an awkward silence. I felt bad for my outburst because of all the help she had given me, but at the same time I knew that I had valid points and the conversation was honestly a bit exhausting.

Just as we arrived at the door to the room Apollo and Lunatone were in, Roxanne put her hand on the door as I went to open it, and I cast her a confused look. She seemed tired, and I couldn't help but notice a bit of disappointment etched on her face.

"You know Daniel, my daughter had excitedly come home and told her father and I all about the new friend she'd made. Somebody who didn't bend over to affluent people like Preston Livingston, somebody who didn't treat her like a Stone hoping to gain something, and somebody who was witty enough to hold interesting conversations with. She has a hard time making genuine friends, especially with people who don't share her upbringing. I'll admit I'm more than a bit saddened to learn that only goes one way, but I still think you're the only person she'll accept as a traveling companion, and perhaps with a little more time you could see her as a friend too."

I suddenly felt like a complete asshole when she put it that way. Now that I thought about it Samantha had mentioned being friends on at least two occasions I could remember; both when she introduced herself to me as well as when she had introduced me to the woman who scheduled my gym match.

The truth was that Samantha was the closest thing I had to a real friend, at least as far as humans were concerned. I'd just been so desperate to find a way out of this that I'd spoken a bit carelessly. I had a tendency to keep people at arms-length, and the thought of traveling with a Stone had triggered warning flags in my mind when it came to self-preservation and independence. These were my own hang-ups that I needed to work on, I knew that. I just couldn't help but feel some resistance to the idea, and it felt hard to argue that it would undoubtedly make my life more complicated.

"You are right though; you have your dreams and she has hers, and they only align as far as Verdanturf; Route 111 if she is able to get her first ribbon promptly. You're also right that traveling with her increases the risk you and your team are exposed to. So I'll offer you this Daniel; travel with her, and her father and I will ensure it's worth your efforts. Get her to Verdanturf safely, and if she manages to get her ribbon on the first try and hasn't found another traveling companion, travel with her up until the split in the road on Route 111. Regardless of if you take this deal or not, just promise me you'll never speak of this to her. It'll break her heart, and she may never forgive either of us. My daughter's dreams are important to me, but her safety even more so. If I have to dangle a carrot for you to consider keeping my daughter company at the start of her journey; to help ensure her safety, show her the ropes of traveling, and give an opportunity at building a real friendship, I'll do it. Name your price."

I felt dirty, and I was immensely glad that Apollo hadn't picked up on my presence and re-established a connection with me because I knew he wouldn't like what was happening here.

But I knew what I had to do. Preston was right; I am trash. A complete nobody who has to claw their way up in the world, somebody who has to take every opportunity within reach and make the most of it. I was dealing with the Stone family; I could have probably asked for heaps of money or a top-of-the-line space-tech backpack, but I didn't need any of those things. There was only one thing that I could think of that I absolutely needed, something I knew the Stones were more than capable of getting and that I had no idea how to acquire. It was also one of the only things that could probably go unnoticed as being a massive favor done for an orphan who had next to nothing.

"A Dawn Stone. The best quality possible."

She nodded as she removed her hand from the door, "Consider it done. I presume you're in no rush since your Ralts hasn't evolved yet, but it'll take a bit of time so keep an eye on your email and we'll sort out the details. In the meantime, I'll inform Samantha that you've invited her to travel with you for the time being, which I have no doubt she'll accept. I'll tell her about our chance encounter and that when you mentioned wanting a traveling companion, I had brought her name up and you had enthusiastically extended an offer for her to join you. If you ever utter a word of this to Samantha you'll get the attention of people far more troublesome than Team Rocket, do I make myself clear Daniel?"

I nodded as I felt chills running down my spine, realizing I'd just made a deal with the most powerful family in the region. I had no doubt that, unlike Preston, the Stone family actually had the power to make my life a living hell. They held close ties to the League and had their hand in nearly every pot conceivable, not to mention they were behind most of the technology trainers used on a daily basis. If they decided to blacklist me I doubted I'd ever be able to compete in a tournament, gain a sponsorship, or maybe even win a gym badge. It wouldn't surprise me if they could convince gym leaders to go extremely hard on me, and they may even be able to work out a way to get my license revoked, make it so I couldn't use any of their tech, make all my Pokéballs fail to capture, restrict my bank account, the list went on and on.

Perhaps I was being a bit conspiratorial in my paranoia, but I was stricken by the seemingly endless ways they could get at me and didn't doubt there were plenty more I couldn't even conceive of.

I gulped, vowing to myself that I'd do everything in my power to uphold my end of the deal and keep this a secret. I wasn't terribly concerned about Samantha finding out, but Apollo was going to be difficult.

Roxanne seemed to pick up on my train of thought, "There are many methods of hiding a memory from telepaths, but the simplest for a novice is to think of the memory as being locked away behind a door only you have the key to. As long as you are completely convinced that the memory is only for you and is inaccessible to all others, telepaths will at least know that they shouldn't pry. Whether they attempt to break in is another matter, and I'm sure your Ralts will respect your boundaries, but with practice and that book you can strengthen its defenses over time. Just don't make a habit of keeping secrets from your Ralts, lest you find your bond deteriorating because of it."

"What if I accidentally think about it?" I couldn't help but ask.

She shrugged, "Then that's on you. You have to have the mental control to not think of something you've locked away. Telepathic Tendencies outlines techniques to help identify your thought patterns so you can redirect your mind when you're getting dangerously close to a thought you don't want to think. In general, if you quickly think of something else the moment you start having thoughts you don't want to, telepaths won't pick up enough to decipher it."

I nodded, taking a few seconds to do as she instructed and lock the memory of this conversation away. I didn't like hiding things from Apollo and wouldn't be surprised if he found out someday, but this seemed like as good a place as any to start building my mental defenses and learning how to keep a secret from a telepath.

After a moment I took a deep breath, calming myself and thinking of how grateful I was to know so much more about telepathy, as well as excitement to see how much Apollo had learned during his session with the Lunatone.

I opened the door with a forced smile, clutching Telepathic Tendencies tightly in my hand as I stepped through the doorway and did my absolute best to believe Roxanne and I had been having a pleasant conversation since leaving her office, and that I hadn't just made a deal that could ruin my life.

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

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

AN: Bit of a slower chapter, but a necessary and fun one to write. Hopefully Daniel doesn't come across as a major asshole, he's just got some trust issues and a high sense of self-preservation. He's trying to work through it, but old habits die hard and Apollo wasn't there to help nudge him like usual. He realized he was defaulting to distancing himself and was about to fold, but he's an opportunist and couldn't help but take advantage of the deal Roxanne presented. Sure hope it doesn't cause any drama in the future. Up next we've got the gym battle, and regardless of the outcome Daniel has a new travel companion for a little while which will surely be interesting.

Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, or reviewed.

Shoutout to TysonG for beta-reading this chapter.

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