TRAINER ID
Name: Daniel Ingram
Age: 16
Badges: 1
Account: 6,522 credits

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

I awoke with a stretch; at least I tried to before quickly realizing that Apollo was clinging to my upper arm rather than my ankle as usual and that I'd just ripped away his pillow and woken him up. My attempted stretch had also been enough to rouse Orion, who had been sleeping curled up on my chest, and I scratched his head with one hand while rubbing Apollo's helmet with the other.

"Sorry buddy, didn't realize you were there. I'll try to be more careful next time," I said apologetically.

"Try new spot. Better, awake same time."

I chuckled, remembering that I did have a habit of trying to slip out of bed without waking anybody. I usually liked to let them sleep in as much as possible, and they tended to wake up from the sound of my shower when we were in a Pokécenter, but if Apollo wanted to be closer and use me as his personal alarm clock, I was more than fine with that. I just hoped there wasn't some sort of jealousy of Orion sleeping closer, not that Apollo seemed to be the type.

After showering, I contemplated giving Orion a bath but settled with simply brushing him after feeding my team breakfast. He wasn't too dirty, and I was pretty sure he would be getting professionally groomed with Stella soon enough since Samantha had mentioned it was something he needed to experience. That thought led me to wonder if I should be doing anything to keep Apollo and Duran clean; neither seemed particularly dirty, but I hadn't given either of them much thought since they lacked the long fur that Orion had. It was plain to see when Orion was in desperate need of grooming, but perhaps the rest of my team was simply less obvious.

Something I took note of was that although I could feel Apollo's presence in my mind, he didn't seem to be fully present. I'd been noticing him chiming in on my thoughts less and less recently, with the usual reason being that he was focusing his attention on talking with Stella, but she wasn't around.

I contemplated this as I sat on the bed brushing Orion while he purred in my lap. Glancing to Apollo curiously, I saw that he was sitting at the edge of the bed oddly still. Historically when he sat, he would slightly sway back and forth or gently kick his legs, but I wasn't sure if I'd ever seen him dead still like that. He also seemed to be staring off into space, and I found myself getting a bit worried that something might be wrong and I hadn't even noticed. Had he been doing something similar while on my shoulder recently? I honestly couldn't remember; since I was so used to him being there that I didn't even pay attention to it anymore.

When I looked over at Duran, it finally clicked. He had a similar far-off look as he sat by the door, and I realized that they were actually having a telepathic conversation. I'm not sure why I was so surprised, considering I knew that my team talked on occasion, I guess I just hadn't realized that they had long, telepathic conversations. It made me wonder how often they talked, and what all they had talked about.

In fact, I realized that a team meeting was long overdue. I had the huge advantage of having a telepath on the team, and yet I hardly leveraged that all to talk to each of my team members about things like their thoughts, concerns, ideas, and whatever else they might have to contribute. I'd taken the role of team leader, which was fitting to a certain extent as the trainer, but I wanted us to get to a much more collaborative, democratic place now that everyone was settling in and feeling comfortable around one another

I added 'hold a team meeting' to my mental list of to-dos, which instantly reminded me that I didn't really have time to sit around like I currently was. I needed to meet Samantha at the café soon, and I still needed to hold a morning training session before that.

Setting the brush down, I gathered up my team and set off in search of a place to train just outside of town with Duran accompanying me. Last night we had trained in the recreation room, and although they had some useful facilities and equipment, in truth it was a sub-par location to host training. You couldn't properly practice attacks, and it was so crowded that we were getting constantly distracted by other Pokémon and their 'trainers', with the term being used extremely loosely. Come to find out, citizens who only had one Pokémon and no license could actually pay to access the recreation room, and considering most people in Mauville weren't too keen on traveling outside the city, it made for an extremely busy and chaotic room.

Frankly, we stood out like sore thumbs and drew far more attention than I was comfortable with. People kept approaching me to ask about Orion and Apollo, which I could tell annoyed Duran nearly as much as it did me. It was too crowded for Orion to properly focus as his nerves got the better of him, and Apollo couldn't focus under all the eyes on him. The only one who was getting in a decent session was Duran, who seemed extra determined to prove himself after being constantly snubbed in favor of my two more exotic members. I had to end training early when I realized we weren't making very much progress and vowed to never step foot in the recreation room of another big city again, at least not as a substitute for team training.

I was still quite nervous about our prospects of beating the upcoming gym, at least in a way that didn't rely on Apollo to carry us to victory. After Duran's disappointment with his first gym battle, I was determined to make sure he had a chance to shine in his next one, no matter how difficult that task may be.

For that to happen, we needed to do some serious training.

"Oh yeah, this is the one."

"Dark chocolate mocha, huh? A respectable choice, although when I gave you a mocha in Petalburg you said you hated it," Samantha remarked with an amused look.

I nodded as I took another sip, "This one tastes way different, and the 'extra shot' makes the bitterness cancel out most of the sweetness. It reminds me a lot of hot cocoa, and it doesn't have whatever that white crap was on top."

Samantha gave me a blank stare, as though she couldn't comprehend what I'd just said, then after a few seconds she blinked herself back to reality.

"Whipped cream, Danny…"

"Yeah, that. Not a fan, it gets in the way and is too sweet."

"You're telling me you've never had whipped cream before?"

"Guess it wasn't in my mom's or the orphanage's budget," I deadpanned.

"You make it sound like we're talking about some sort of exotic delicacy. It's fucking whipped cream, Daniel. It's on pies, cakes, sundaes, pudding, milkshakes… you just said you've had hot cocoa, for Arceus' sake! You're messing with me, aren't you?" she stared at me with a look of skepticism and disbelief.

"Hot cocoa was the delicacy. That stuff isn't cheap," I remarked as I took another drink of my coffee.

She leaned back and sighed before taking a sip of whatever concoction she'd ordered before setting it down and giving me a look of pity. "The fact that you've been alive sixteen years and have never had whipped cream is easily the saddest thing I've ever heard."

"Don't be such a drama queen. I've had some of that stuff before, just never with whipped cream. Not everybody has a sweet tooth, or money to throw around for all the extra add-ons. and I bet there are plenty of things I've had that you'll never get to try. Have you ever had mystery mash, a bean and rice sandwich, or Sunday slosh? Didn't think so."

She gave a look of disgust for a brief moment before adopting a thoughtful expression. "Coffee and sushi isn't that strange of a thing for somebody to have never tried, but now I'm wondering just how much you've been missing out on. You said you've only had some of what I said? Which ones?"

"You should stop, you're making an ass out of yourself right now," I commented as I glanced to Oddish, who was sitting in Samantha's lap completely ignoring our conversation in favor of looking around curiously. We were currently seated at the patio of Crooner's Café, so Oddish had a front-row seat to the street and was completely enthralled by all the new sights.

Duran was now comfortably in his Net Ball, not having been a fan of how crowded and hectic the city was. He hadn't been scared or overwhelmed, more so annoyed, so I had Orion nestled into my pocket keeping me company. He was peeking his head out and discretely watching the people and Pokémon who passed by, still not overly comfortable with the city. That was perfectly fine with me though, since it meant we were much less likely to draw attention and the slow exposure therapy would help him overcome his fears.

"Right, sorry. That was insensitive… I guess when you said you grew up poor, I didn't know you meant that poor," she sighed as stared down at Oddish and mindlessly played with his leaves.

"There's a difference between not being well-off and being poor. Sometimes my mom struggled to keep us in our apartment and feed me dinner, especially after an unexpected expense. We almost ended up homeless on a couple of different occasions. But she always managed, it just took a lot of hours working and occasionally opening up a new credit card to pay off the old one before interest kicked in, to buy more time."

"Your mom paid off credit cards with other credit cards? That's…."

"Genius? I know, she was very resourceful. Thank Arceus I was still a minor when she passed, otherwise I would have been on the hook for that. Apparently there's some sort of law that says they can't just drain her bank account, since it instantly became a beneficiary account for me due to my dad already being dead. So I did get her meager savings as an inheritance, although they did clean out the apartment. The bastards."

Samantha had a far-off look, and as I glanced up at the clock hanging on the Café exterior I realized it was time to get going for our first telepathy job of the day. I would have stuck around to help bring her out of her introspective slump, but I needed time to find the address or risked running late. Besides, it dawned on me that letting Samantha stew on this particular topic might do her a bit of good, especially considering she'd done it to herself.

"Speaking of money, I need to get going," I broke the silence as I stood, deeply thankful that my coffee was in a travel cup to take with me. "Apollo and I have a couple of telepathy jobs lined up for today, and the first one scheduled is for eleven. I need a bit of time to find the place and make sure I'm not late."

Snapped from her thoughts, she glanced up at me for a moment before nodding and standing.

"I'll help you find it. We can drop Stella, Chase, and Orion off at the groomer's on the way, too. It's just around the corner, and usually takes a few hours for them to be ready for pickup."

I raised a brow, "Chase too? I guess that makes sense, given the fur. Let's go; I actually want to pick your brain about if I should be doing more to care for the rest of my team."

Even after paying a good handful of credits to get Orion professionally groomed, the two telepathy jobs Apollo and I had performed had earned us roughly three thousand credits, which was a huge boon to the amount of money at our disposal. I frankly found it absurd just how profitable having a telepath as a companion could be.

Although I wouldn't have had access to the job board and wasn't even allowed to own a Pokémon when living with my mom, I couldn't help but think about just how different our life could have been if I'd had Apollo when she was still alive. The rational side of my mind knew it was a dumb thought; there was no way I would be finding telepathy jobs without the job board, and we would surely have been caught and evicted for having an unauthorized Pokémon companion, but I couldn't help but imagine a reality where we all could have lived happily and much more comfortably.

It was a strange realization that simply befriending a telepath could be enough to set somebody up for life. I had no idea how many jobs a month somebody might be able to get, or how long telepathy jobs tended to stay listed before being fulfilled, but I was reasonably certain that I could afford a decent apartment in Mauville by only doing odd jobs with Apollo. Although I'd always been a bit uneasy with the thought of humans leveraging their companions for manual labor, telepathy jobs were more like a quick therapy session or message translation and weren't very demanding. Apollo genuinely seemed to enjoy helping people and their Pokémon resolve problems, and after leaving the day's clients with a smile on their face I had to admit that it felt good to help others, especially when you got paid generously to do so.

Satisfaction. "Talking solves much," Apollo commented from my shoulder as we walked toward the groomers to meet Samantha and pick up our Pokémon. I'd decided to simply have Apollo accompany me through town since Duran didn't want to and Orion was currently busy, and although we were definitely drawing some eyes it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been in Petalburg or Rustboro. As the region's hub, Mauville's citizens were likely used to seeing a wide variety of Pokémon, and it probably didn't hurt that we'd put some distance between us and the natural habitat of Ralts.

"Speaking of talking, I want to have a team meeting here soon. Just to get a feel for how everyone is feeling, if there's any concerns or ideas, things like that," I informed Apollo. "I saw you talking to Duran earlier, which I'm really happy to see by the way, but it made me think I should probably put in an effort to do the same. Having you be able to translate is a huge advantage we haven't been utilizing that as much as we should. I want to make sure we're all on the same page, and everybody feels heard."

"Agree, is good thought. I try keep Duran appeased, but hard. Restless, anxious. Orion still little shy, but get better. Happy, hopeful."

I gave him an impressed look, "Glad to see you're stepping up. I've been hoping you'd eventually take a bit more of a leadership role among the team, considering you are my starter. Think you'd be up for leading the team meeting? You could guide the discussions, keep us on track, and make sure everyone has their say. I think it's a great idea, and would help cement you as someone the team can talk to when they have something on their mind."

Hesitance. "Not think make good leader, but do like help."

I smiled warmly and rubbed his helmet as we entered the groomer's, "I'll help you, of course. All you need to do is ask the right questions, make sure everyone goes one at a time, and help translate. You'll do great, just give it a shot."

Acceptance. Trust. "Will try."

I nodded happily as we entered, and was immediately met with the sight of Samantha gushing over all three of our freshly groomed Pokémon. I had to admit that Orion looked much better than I'd ever seen; his fur had a sheen and buoyancy to it that I hadn't ever seen, the hair around his feet and face had been neatly trimmed, and he sported a small black bowtie tied around his neck that added a certain air of elegance to him.

Not to mention, I could instantly tell from the way he held himself that he was immensely pleased. As soon as he noticed me, he pranced around me proudly, showing himself off from all angles before finally leaping up into my arms. I was amazed by just how soft his fur was as I pet him, and I could smell a subtle yet extremely pleasant aroma from whatever hair products they had used on him. I also noticed that they'd trimmed his nails, as well as cleaned his teeth and ears thoroughly.

"You look quite dashing, Orion. Did you enjoy yourself?"

He trilled happily as Samantha returned an unusually content-looking Chase and approached with Stella, who honestly didn't look much different than usual apart from a purple bow on the tail. I took it as a credit to how well Samantha usually took care of her team, as well as the quality of products she frequently used.

"He's right Orion, you clean up well. You should be careful not to get dirty, and stay out of Danny's pocket for a day or two. It'll probably be a while until you get another chance to feel as fresh as you do now, so enjoy it."

"I'll have you know my hoodie is clean, I washed it yesterday," I remarked.

"It's not about it being dirty, it's about not not getting knots or mats in his coat from the friction of the fabric when his fur is so pliable. It'll also make it more oily by pushing his fur up against his skin, especially if he's warm enough to sweat. Just give it a couple of days so he can really enjoy how he feels right now."

I glanced down at Orion, and we made eye contact for a moment as if considering that before I pulled my pouch open in invitation and he happily wormed his way in without a moment of hesitation, causing Samantha to sigh with a slight smile.

"Figures. He's really gotten attached to you; Eevee usually take a while to fully warm up to a new trainer."

"What can I say, we have a lot in common. We both really like hoodies, for one thing," I commented with a smirk.

"If you got a haircut, you'd have even more in common. Let me take you to a barber, please? You're getting shaggy, I'll help you pick out a hairstyle that suits you," she added hopefully.

I shrugged, "It's close to needing it, but there are a lot of other things I need to do. Maybe another day. Speaking of, wanna head to the gym? I should schedule my match, in case there's a long wait."

She sighed in resignation and nodded, and after Apollo graciously offered to be returned we made our way to the Mauville gym. Stella saw fit to do a surprise test of my mental defenses just after we left the groomer, which I personally thought was a bit of a cheap trick, but thankfully I passed with flying colors. I don't think I even flinched enough for anybody to notice what was happening and managed to withstand it with only mild discomfort, although I had no doubt Stella took it easy on me and was more testing my preparedness than anything.

Interestingly, it was easier to remember to keep my mind closed when Apollo wasn't with me. I was so used to his presence in my mind that when I didn't feel it, I felt strangely alone and vulnerable; a feeling that I leveraged as a reminder to stay vigilant. I wasn't convinced that I had yet built up the habit well enough to keep my mind closed all the time, such as when I slept, but I was certain I was getting reasonably close to making it my default state.

This isn't to say that Apollo and I hadn't made joint improvements. We had worked out a system of sorts that helped us keep each other on our toes. I was able to tell when Apollo was reinforcing my mind, and he was able to tell when it was wide open. He would nudge me if I needed to close it when I forgot, and I would nudge him if I ever felt his reinforcement wane, both of which were becoming increasingly rare. I was pretty sure that we had the general idea down pat, and that it would just come down to practice and self-policing to make it something we both did unconsciously.

Upon reaching the gym, we were met with a sea of people funneling out of the front doors, something that surprised me. My immediate guess was that some sort of high-profile match had just finished, but as we waited for the area to clear up Samantha informed me that this was normal attendance for the Mauville gym. Apparently, the city's citizens simply loved Wattson, and the fact that most challengers were trying for their third badge meant they tended to be much more interesting than what you'd normally find in Rustboro. Wattson was also a bit unique in that he held gym battles every hour on the hour, which would mean he took on eight challengers a day and had plenty of time to rest and heal his team in between matches.

The consistent schedule tied into another important factor, which was that Mauville was one of the few gyms in the region to have implemented season passes for spectators. Rather than making spectators pay for each match they chose to watch, Samantha explained that roughly half of the stadium's seats were held by season pass holders, who often made liberal use of the nearly unlimited entertainment it afforded. They still had to pay for food or drinks, for somebody who enjoyed watching battles buying a season pass was a no-brainer.

Once the crowds had largely dispersed, we made our way to the front door before Samantha suddenly stopped shy of entering.

"Actually, I probably shouldn't go in…" she hesitated, "I'll wait outside for you, alright?"

I looked at her confusedly and noticed Stella nod in approval as her gem faintly glowed, telling me she had probably been the one to warn her against going in. Before I could even give serious thought as to why she wouldn't want to go in, the answer made itself known.

"Samantha, what a shock it is to see you on this fine afternoon! Did you enjoy the match? Truly electrifying, wasn't it? Wahahah! Love the new look, and this must be Stella if I'm not mistaken. Evolution suits you, my dear!"

I glanced back at the door to see a jolly older man who was shorter and on the rounder side holding the door open, giving Samantha a beaming smile. While the white hair on his head had nearly completely receded and only remained in the back half and a small patch on top, his beard was full and thick. He had shockingly nice teeth for his age, and his deep crows feet combined with his overall demeanor gave me the impression he was a man who laughed a lot and didn't take life too seriously. Although he dressed very casually, wearing a basic knit sweater and cargo pants, it didn't take me long to realize who this was and for my heart to start pounding in panic.

It was Wattson, the Mauville gym leader, and he'd just recognized Samantha. Not only that, but such an eccentric greeting from the city's gym leader had drawn the attention of everyone who still remained outside the gym, and all eyes were now on Samantha. All the pieces clicked into place in the blink of an eye, and I now desperately wished I had Apollo on my shoulder so I could have him attempt to quickly and stealthfully tell Wattson that Samantha was hiding her identity as a Stone.

Thankfully, Samantha had the right idea and acted quickly. She hid the very brief look of horror on her face before adopting a smile that almost seemed natural and ran over to give Wattson a hug, which I could tell genuinely took him by surprise. I saw her whisper something in his ear, and his look of confusion soon morphed back into his previous jovial state as he understood the situation.

"So nice to see you again, Wattson," Samantha said as she released him and took a step back and gave a slight bow of respect.

"Come, come! In you go; we've got plenty of time to catch up before my next challenge," he said cheerfully, holding the door open and ushering Samantha inside.

"Mind if I bring my good friend Danny? We actually came to sign him up for a challenge," Samantha said, swinging an arm around my shoulder, much to my chagrin.

I'd never wanted to disappear more than at that exact moment. With a group of people watching in interest and the sinking realization that I was yet again being robbed of the opportunity to challenge a gym as a random nobody, I sighed and followed the pair into the gym, trying my best to keep my creeping disappointment from showing.

It didn't take long for me to understand why people seemed to like Leader Wattson so much. Samantha had been right in her earlier description of him; he was a friendly and cheerful man who I could easily tell was a genuinely good person. His lighthearted persona was a stark contrast to what I imagined most gym leaders to be like, yet there was no denying that he carried himself with an air of confidence befitting his position. It wasn't born of arrogance or pride, but many years of experience and a genuine drive to be a role model for all who crossed his path.

As we all sat in his 'office', which I would best describe as more like a lounge with a computer in the corner, I was perfectly content to sit quietly and pet Orion as he napped in my pocket while Samantha and Wattson chatted. They'd dropped the charade and were now talking freely, and although it initially made me a bit uncomfortable knowing somebody could possibly hear, both assured me that the League did frequent bug sweeps and that gym leader offices were designed with privacy and soundproofing in mind. I took their word for it, and for the last five or so minutes I'd been sitting in silence, hoping Arceus might bless me by letting this conversation end without requiring my participation.

I knew it wasn't Samantha or Wattson's fault, but I couldn't help but feel a little jaded over how events had played out. I'd gone into my first gym battle already being known by the gym leader, and I still wasn't fully convinced Leader Georgia hadn't researched my team and planned around it. While I knew the likelihood of Wattson doing anything even remotely similar was slim to none, I found myself sad that now the possibility existed for things to swing in the complete opposite direction.

Even if Wattson didn't seem like the type to go easy on me just because we had met before the match, or due to me being friends with a Stone, it sort of soured my excitement for our upcoming battle. I knew myself well enough to know that no matter how the match went, there would always be some lingering thoughts wondering if things would have gone any differently had we never met beforehand. I didn't want to battle gyms that were exceptionally friendly, tough, or anything in between due to outside forces; I wanted a fair shot and to be treated like any other trainer. I wanted to know that my opponent and I both had our head in the game, and were giving it our absolute best to come out on top.

Then again… the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was chasing an idealized fantasy. It was an impossible ask, considering Gym leaders already selected their teams and tactics based on the number of badges their challenger had. To say that there was any reality where Wattson would do his best to win during our gym battle was a completely laughable thought. He might ask the Pokémon he selected for our battle to give their all, but he himself would still be holding back the advanced tactics and strategies developed over decades of battling.

As Preston would say, I was trash and an absolute nobody. At least, for now I was. I had full intentions of fighting tooth and nail to earn my place in the world. As I began to idly wonder if it was socially acceptable for trainers who earned all eight badges to redo the circuit to challenge each gym leader's true team, I was snapped back to reality.

"Earth to Danny!"

I blinked, finally realizing that both Samantha and Wattson were looking at me. I'd completely zoned out after introducing myself and exchanging pleasantries while Samantha caught him up on why she was hiding the fact she was a Stone, and it appeared I was now being drug back into the conversation.

"Sorry, kind of spaced out," I apologized as I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly with one hand, my other petting the irresistibly soft Eevee that slept in my pocket.

Wattson gave a hearty laugh in amusement as Samantha sighed before soon gaining a look of excitement, "Wattson was offering to squeeze you in later, isn't that great?"

I hesitated, feeling very unsure of my preparedness to tackle the gym so soon. I still wanted to do more training, and Duran had hardly done any battling since his last gym battle so I wanted to spend some time at the battle courts.

"I'd rather just schedule the match for another day," I admitted, "I want to get some more training in, as well as hit the battle courts. We've only had like three battles since the last gym."

"If you hadn't zoned out, you'd know the next opening isn't for four days. You're more than ready Danny. Arceus, I'd bet a good chunk of credits that Apollo could solo the badge at this point."

I gave Samantha a glare, "I don't want Apollo to carry the battle. Duran needs redemption after the last gym, and we need a little more time to prepare."

"Why not save him for Lavaridge, where he'll really shine? Just use Orion; he may not be as seasoned or strong, but you've been training hard and I bet he'd have a better shot at taking down an opponent than Duran would with his type disadvantage."

"Can we not do this in front of my future opponent?" I growled, relieved that Orion was still sleeping in my pocket and wasn't hearing this discussion.

Samantha huffed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair as Stella watched the proceedings with amusement and Wattson chuckled.

"You're getting the chance to skip waiting in line, and since it would be between two scheduled matches you wouldn't have to deal with a stadium being full of spectators. You should go for it, I think you'll surprise yourself with just how ready you are."

"I don't want special treatment just because you're with me. I'll take the match in four days," I said resolutely, causing Samantha to sigh and shrug as she finally conceded. "If you're worried about missing the next contest, I won't fault you for leaving me behind," I added, realizing she may be trying to rush me so she doesn't have to wait around in Fallarbor.

"Nah, there's a contest tomorrow. My journey is important to me and I don't need to rush it, so I don't want to book a Teleport. I'll have more than enough time to make it to the next one, even if we hang around here for a few days."

I nodded and turned to Wattson, "Sir, what's the format if this is my second gym? Is it twos or threes?"

He hummed in thought, "Can't remember the last time I had a challenger for that level, but I'd say either would work. Usually I'm the third badge trainers are going for, and for those I do a three-on-three. For the locals who have a trainer license but just want a badge for bragging rights, it's a two-on-two, to make sure they're serious and don't win on a fluke. So I'll let you pick which you prefer."

I bit my lip, feeling extremely torn. I was sorely tempted to ask for threes, knowing it would be a valuable experience for Orion. But I also didn't want to push him to do something he simply wasn't ready for, and didn't know if four days would be enough time to do so.

"Can I pick on the day of our battle?" I requested, "I have a newer team member that I know isn't ready yet, but if I can fix that in the next few days, I'd like for him to participate."

"Wahaha, that's the spirit! I can already tell our battle is going to be electric. You've got that spark in you, I can see it."

After a quick visit to the front desk to officially schedule my match, we said goodbye to Wattson and decided to hit the food court to split a pizza before evening training, which Samantha was interested in joining much to my surprise. The meal was great and I was enjoying chatting with Samantha, that is until we were suddenly interrupted.

"I knew I recognized you!"

Glancing up from sneaking a pinch of cheese to Orion as he hid in my pocket, I saw a guy who was a year or two older than me wearing a tight button-up shirt and slacks giving Samantha a beaming smile. He had shorter, lightly gelled black hair that was tastefully styled and an air of casual professionalism that gave me the impression that he worked in an office.

I glanced to Samantha to see if she knew this person, and got my answer when I noticed the mixture of concern and confusion on her face. She opened her mouth to respond, but excitement got the better of our visitor.

"You're Sammy Morgan, I just watched your performance on PokéTube. You were exquisite."

I relaxed and watched the proceedings in amusement, feeling immensely relieved that this person seemed to have good intentions. I'd initially been worried it was going to be another situation where Samantha Stone was the one being recognized, similar with Wattson, and wondered just how many people might recognize her. With her hair now much shorter and a completely different color as well as wearing much more casual clothing, my guess was that not many people would recognize her. Still, her face and minimal makeup made those who knew her face able to pick her out, and although I got the impression that list of people wasn't particularly long, it was still a risk. The only thing that could really save her were her sunglasses, which I realized were once again on her head.

As I watched her quickly regain rebound before signing an autograph and chatting with our visitor, I wondered just how long she planned on keeping up the charade. Perhaps I was being pessimistic, but I simply couldn't see her making it to the Grand Festival, let alone participating in something so widely televised, without somehow getting outed even if by accident. It could have easily happened with Wattson if he'd just chosen different words, and I had no doubt she would encounter similar scares in the future. Just how long was she planning on being Sammy Morgan, and what would happen when she dropped the act?

"Hey, I recognize you too! You're the guy who got busted with two Pokémon out, right?"

I sighed and gave a nod as Samantha giggled in amusement, "This is my brother Danny. He just got a little carried away with supporting me, that's all."

"Brother, huh? The matching names are cute, but you two look nothing alike. No offense," he commented.

"None taken, we have different parents. It's complicated," I shrugged, deciding I didn't want to argue with being called Danny by a stranger who I was likely to never see again after this conversation.

"Did you get your Eevee at the same time, then? I can't help but notice only one has evolved. Arceus must have graced you with exceptional talent on top of your stunning beauty," he remarked, flashing Samantha a charming grin that I found exceptionally creepy.

I felt Orion tense in my pocket and pet him soothingly, surprised he had been brought into the conversation when he wasn't even visible before remembering that he'd been on camera. I'd been rubbed the wrong way by a couple of things he'd just said, but I was trying to uphold my earlier promise to Samantha and be less confrontational. I also highly suspected he hadn't meant it as a slight to me but rather an opening for flirting with Samantha, so I didn't see the need to cause a fuss over it even if I was tempted to stick up for Orion.

"I had a head start, to be fair to Danny," Samantha replied with a chuckle I could tell was forced, but only because I knew her well enough.

"Ah, the older sister then. In that case, I can ask you out on a date without the risk of drawing a protective older brother's ire?" he said with a grin that sent shivers down my spine.

"You could certainly try, but coordinators are the busy sort. Always preparing for the next contest, too focused on their career for distractions, and constantly on the move. You'd be taking a long shot," she remarked plainly, surprising me with her response. I was almost certain she had no interest in this guy considering she had told me she was into girls, yet she seemed reluctant to flatly turn him down.

"Career oriented; a woman of my own heart. Love can be a wonderful thing, but cultivating it takes time and can be such a distraction. Yet I think you'd agree that even the most driven among us surely need to set aside time for fun, no? If you find yourself wanting a night out on the town, I'd be happy to show you around and can promise you a good time. I also have an exceptionally cozy apartment, if the cramped Pokécenter rooms get too dreary for you. Here's my number, you can save me as Travis. Feel free to reach out, I'd love to get better acquainted," he said with a wink as he handed her a folded-up piece of paper, making me wonder if he just walked around with those in his pocket or if he'd seen us and done prep work for this.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Travis. I'll definitely keep you in mind, and thanks for being a fan," she said with a kind smile as she daintily took the paper, and a quick glance at Stella revealed that although she was slightly guarded, she appeared amused more than anything.

"The pleasure is all mine. I can't wait to see your next performance, I'm sure it will be just as stunning as your first. Enjoy your stay in Mauville, I look forward to hearing from you," he said with a wink and a wave as he finally excused himself from the conversation.

As soon as he disappeared behind a crowd of people, Samantha groaned and leaned back in her chair as she crumpled up the paper and tossed it to the side.

"Not interested, huh?" I asked as I resumed eating.

"Fuck no. Although the attempt wasn't too bad if we're being honest; I'd give him a six or seven out of ten," she shrugged.

"You took that shockingly well," I commented, "but couldn't you have just told him you weren't interested from the beginning? Or, better yet, that you weren't into guys?"

She chuckled before giving me a look I couldn't quite place. "It's not that easy, Daniel. If a coordinator wants to be really successful, they have to present themselves in a certain way. Ever noticed how top coordinators pretty much never have a boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse?"

I gave her a curious look, "I don't keep up with any coordinators, so no. Surely plenty of them do, though?"

"For sure, but not publicly. It's bad for business if people know you're completely unobtainable, you'll lose fans and people will be outright nasty to whoever you're with. Rumors, harassment, you name it. Hell, even just being caught having a meal like we are right now can be a PR disaster, although it can also be a publicity stunt if done right. It's all the same stuff idols deal with, if you're more familiar with that."

"Not really, but that sounds terrible," I admitted.

She shrugged, "It comes with the territory. It happens on both sides too, for guys and girls. It's also why I'm not exactly advertising to the world that I prefer girls. I'd lose a lot more fans than just that guy if that got out."

"You're acting like it's some sort of taboo for a coordinator to be anything but straight and single. Surely that's not actually how things are. Hoenn is way more progressive than most places in the world, I seriously doubt many people care."

"You'd be surprised. Being rich and famous is hard enough as is, Daniel. But with some professions like being a model, coordinator, singer, actress, things like that… It's extra hard, and you don't only have to deal with people on the street either now that the internet is so commonplace around the world. No point in making things even harder if you can just put up a front, keep certain things private, and lie a little."

I couldn't help but look at Samantha with some pity as she resumed eating, acting completely unbothered. I was struck by just how much of her life she was destined to spend putting on some sort of mask. Layers upon layers of lies, playing the part, behaving the way she believed people expected her to… From the sound of things, she'd been doing it long before we met too, and was likely to continue long after we parted ways.

I liked to think that I knew Samantha, but she'd been doing this her whole life in one way or another. She was an expert at putting on whatever show people wanted to see from her, and I couldn't help but feel sad at the realization that she had seemingly come to terms with the fact that this was just how her life would always be.

I'd been critical of her decision not to wear a disguise for her debut performance, but could I blame her? Even as the daughter of the ex-champion and Devon's owner, Samantha Stone she still had a part to play and expectations that she felt compelled to meet. Add onto that Sammy Morgan the aspiring up-and-coming coordinator, could she be faulted for not wanting to add yet another layer of lies and deceit?

It was so easy to be envious of Samantha. She had vast amounts of money at her disposal, an influential and loving family, powerful connections, and was not only highly educated but possessed the potential to do whatever she wanted in life. She was smart, attractive, wealthy, and talented; yet despite all this, I couldn't help but feel like I was the lucky one. Nobody knew me or expected anything of me, and any mistakes I made were mine alone to bear, with the only exception of those being my team, of course. But they had chosen to be by my side, just as I had chosen them.

While I could claim the same in some ways, it was hard to argue that Samantha was largely a victim of circumstance. She had no choice of the life she was born into, the name she inherited, the baggage that came with it, or how the rest of the world expected her to be.

I was living my dream. I was free, had no responsibilities other than those that I chose, and I was exploring the world and bonding with my found family while we all pursued our goals alongside each other.

As we finished eating and idly chatted while walking outside of town to the secluded area I'd found for training, my mind was largely preoccupied with one nagging question.

Would Samantha Stone ever truly be able to be herself, or did her name and career choice destine her to forever live behind a facade?

A/N: Happy new year! Hope it's been good so far for you all; I've been sick but it seems to finally be getting better. I would have liked to polish this chapter a bit more, but I've fallen behind on writing and only have two more completed chapters in the pipeline, so I can't be too nitpicky. There's quite a few interesting things happening in this chapter, so hopefully I didn't botch the delivery.

No beta reader this chapter. Thanks to all who follow, favorite, and comment; you are very appreciated.

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