TRAINER ID
Name: Daniel Ingram
Badges: 3
Account: 38,859 credits
Location: Dewford Town

DANIEL'S TEAM
Trapinch - Female

OWEN'S TEAM
Shroomish (Misha) - Female
Vigoroth (Omar) - Male

As I sat under the shaded picnic table at Paulo Pokes and ate my first poke bowl, I came to a few conclusions.

The first and most obvious was that although the poke bowl Owen had raved about was indeed delicious and refreshing, it was essentially just sushi that nobody had bothered to roll. I wasn't sure that Owen would find this observation as amusing as I did since I knew he had high opinions of the place, so I kept that particular thought to myself.

The second conclusion that I came to was that the first session of 'rehabilitation' that Warren had put me through, although extremely aggravating and mildly headache-inducing, had begun to help me out of a rut I hadn't fully realized I'd been in. I was already vaguely aware of the fact that I was somewhat traumatized from what the Claydol had done, both to me and Apollo, but I hadn't understood the extent until Warren so helpfully brought it to my attention.

Apparently, it was a commonly known phenomenon that somebody subjected to a telepathic assault would find themselves with something of a sensitivity to even the most minor mental prodding, which Warren assured me was all he'd done.

That's right – a light probing of my defenses was all it had taken to make me fold like a lawn chair.

I'd argued that I wouldn't have done so if I wasn't aware of how powerful his Alakazam was and if I'd had Apollo around to help, to which he followed by asking me if I'd rather experience a 'brief period of unpleasantness' or a lifetime of being somebody's puppet.

Apparently, such a thing existed. A powerful psychic could implant a mental suggestion into the mind that might forever change the way someone would perceive and react to things, such as making them inclined to view Rockets favorably. When I'd unexpectedly let him in, he'd taken the opportunity to check for any signs that I'd been left with an unconscious mental suggestion or a psychic marker that would allow them to track me, which I wasn't surprised to learn hadn't happened given how things had transpired.

What was surprising to me was Warren's near-certainty that the Claydol had never actually gained access to my mind, and his very out-of-character compliment of my mental defenses. Though it had been nerve-wracking and difficult to stay calm while enduring, I'd reluctantly agreed to let his Alakazam take a more thorough examination of my mind for tampering, as well as review my memory of the event, which only cemented his belief that I'd never actually had my mind intruded upon. He complimented my efforts and mental fortitude, telling me to keep that level of determination if I ever found myself in a similar situation in the future.

We moved onto what he called 'rehabilitation', which was extremely reminiscent of my previous lessons with Stella – gradually increased tests of my mental defenses. The point wasn't to improve my defenses, but to essentially serve as exposure therapy to help me get over how skittish I'd become.

And if there was any doubt that I was indeed in need of help, it was fully convinced by the end of that first session. I was afraid of telepaths, period. Even knowing that his Alakazam was only trying to help, I still felt crippling anxiety and deep-seated fear when I felt its presence brushing against my mind. While it was true that I didn't have nearly the same level of trust in Warren's Alakazam as I did in Apollo, even after a couple of times to get refamiliarized with the feeling, I was still unable to remain completely unphased by its presence despite my best efforts, which made me exceedingly grateful that Apollo hadn't been the first one to enter my mind after my experience in Lavaridge. I could easily see his presence feeling different than before after evolving, perhaps even scarily so, and wouldn't have wanted to flinch or reach adversely when we finally reunited.

My session with Warren was relatively short, because I soon got a text from Owen telling me to meet him outside the Pokécenter. Personally, I felt like I'd made great progress since I wasn't nearly as flinchy at his Alakazam's presence toward the end, but Warren told me I needed a couple more sessions and that I should 'go on walks more often', chiding how annoying it was that I was always with Owen.

Though it might sound like Warren and I had begun getting along better, that was not the case. I'd always remembered the early days of Samantha and I spending time together as having been rather rough, but they paled in comparison to Warren. Owen had given the impression that Warren had once been a rather popular trainer, but I couldn't see it. How anybody could idolize someone as abrasive and jaded as him was beyond me, especially when he took every opportunity he could to slide in a snarky remark or outright insult. Though it was possible he'd become that way after the spotlight left him, I still found it hard to believe he'd ever been likable.

By the end of our session, my opinion of him hadn't changed much. Though I wasn't exactly looking forward to the next time I'd see him, I could at least acknowledge that he was indeed helping me. I was still debating if I wanted to complain to Samantha about the fact that Warren was still hanging around, but decided it best to leave it alone for the time being. I hadn't even noticed him lurking about like Owen had in Lavaridge, so I could only guess that he'd wanted to be seen as some sort of deterrent, but was now content to have his Pokémon quietly keep an eye on me.

As I ate my poke bowl and listened to Owen talk about how Omar's review had gone, another thing I realized was that the League's review process for restricted species wasn't quite as stringent as I'd initially imagined, which put me at ease. Owen and Omar had passed, which had come as a surprise to him as he hadn't felt they'd done too well.

Owen explained that although Omar listened to most of his commands, he was incapable of getting him to sit still and was occasionally ignored when Omar's short attention span got the better of him. But apparently the tendencies of the species were taken into consideration and he was deemed to be a capable trainer with suitable control. He speculated that he was given a fair amount of leniency for being a registered trainer, having four badges under his belt, and having a Graveler registered to him, which likely proved some competency in his ability to train stronger, evolved species.

But that was all speculation on our part. For Nurse Joy's part, she had simply congratulated him and Omar on the evolution, instructed Owen to keep up the good work with Omar, and reminded him that the species wouldn't be able to accompany him in most cities and towns where restricted species were prohibited in public.

According to Owen, Dewford wasn't one such place. Lockdown restrictions aside, he still didn't think he would be letting Omar walk the streets with him anytime soon, possibly not even until he evolved one final time and calmed down.

I agreed with that decision wholeheartedly, as I could easily see Omar losing his temper at something trivial and causing havoc. I was still wary of how things might go in a situation where we traveled together and Omar was allowed to hang out around camp as we lounged around the campfire, but only time would tell. It wasn't entirely clear if I'd even be traveling with Owen after the lockdown ended, and I didn't want to push the subject. He seemed to be doing relatively well given the circumstances, with his morale largely intact apart from possibly leaning into training and exercising a bit too much as a distraction to avoid dwelling on his missing team members.

I was basically doing the same, so who was I to judge? If training and staying preoccupied served as an adequate distraction while we both waited around hoping that time would resolve our issues, I didn't see much of a problem with it. But unlike Owen, I was sure to get my team back, and although I wouldn't say it out loud my personal opinion on the chances of Owen getting Bruno and Roxy back were… low, to say the least.

Despite that, and the fact that he still had a swollen lip from the punch I'd delivered to him earlier in the morning, Owen seemed to be in high spirits. Part of it was surely due to Omar's evolution and getting through the restricted species review, but he was also clearly excited to be back in Dewford. He had apparently decided to take me to the place to eat lunch, because the longer we sat and ate on the shaded patio, the more people showed up. It was starting to get properly crowded, as if half of Dewford was flocking here for their lunch break, and as much as I was trying to enjoy myself despite the lingering headache from my encounter with Warren, I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

In what I could only describe as a Dewford custom, random people seemed to have no qualms about helping themselves to our table without asking. It wouldn't exactly be accurate to call them strangers though, since Owen seemed to vaguely know who they were and would receive some variation of 'good to see you again' or 'glad you made it home safe', but apart from that it was clear that they weren't particularly close to Owen and were only interested in finding a place to sit and eat. It wasn't just our table either – all the tables seemed to be free reign, and as more people helped themselves to our table I was beginning to feel eager to finish my meal and leave.

But Owen seemed to be having a great time, and for the most part everyone was gracious enough not to pester Owen about Lavaridge or who I was other than a few quick mentions, so things weren't so bad – it was a beautiful day and I was enjoying great food, after all. But soon, a certain somebody decided to squeeze in between Owen and the elderly gentleman sitting beside him, and things quickly took a turn.

"Hey little dude! I'd heard you caught a wave back into town, you should'a dropped by!"

Hearing anybody refer to Owen as 'little' was kind of baffling to me, considering he was rather stocky and only slightly shorter than me, which still put him close to six feet tall. But compared to this guy, 'little' wasn't exactly an inaccurate description either. The broad-shouldered man who had joined us had a large frame, was closer to seven feet tall than six, and was probably twice my weight. He had a set of goggles on his head and wore a wetsuit underneath some swimming shorts and a t-shirt despite the fact he couldn't currently go out into the ocean, yet it did wonders to emphasize just how muscular the man was. He had rippling forearms and calves that looked like they could have been carved from stone, and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that his shirt was hiding a set of chiseled abs.

Equally interesting, he had a full set of Pokéballs on a belt hanging loosely from his hips that did nothing to hold up his swimming shorts. He somehow managed to be even more tan than most of Dewford's residents, and had hair that was even spikier than Owen's, although his was sky blue. He gave us a brilliant smile with teeth so white and perfect I couldn't help but wonder if they were real, and as soon as I saw Owen's starstruck expression I felt reasonably confident I knew who this man likely was, which was confirmed almost instantly.

"B-Brawly! I thought you'd be busy, so I didn't want to bother you," Owen stammered.

Brawly chuckled and ruffled Owen's already messy hair. "Nah, it's been pretty chill here, and I'd always make time for you, little dude. Heard about what you did – that's pretty rad, you did us proud."

Owen flushed in embarrassment in what was probably the first genuinely positive reaction to somebody bringing up Lavaridge I'd seen, yet he still didn't seem to want to talk about it and changed topics.

"Brawly, this is my friend Danny," Owen said while gesturing to me. "He's also a journeying trainer, so we've been traveling and tackling gyms together."

"Great to meet ya, Danny!" he said with a charming smile as he reached across the table for a handshake that ended up nearly crushing my hand.

"I prefer Daniel, if you don't mind," I said as nicely as I could, not wanting to let Owen get in the habit of introducing me with a nickname I didn't want to become commonplace.

"Easy, consider it done! Daniel, Daniel… What's your last name, little dude?"

I couldn't help but sigh at the realization that this was going to be yet another gym leader who already knew me before our battle, not that I was surprised.

"...Ingram."

"Sick name! It's unique, I like it! I'll remember that!"

I glanced up to see a bright smile, and although I was pretty sure he was just quick on his feet and being nice by pretending he'd never heard the name from the other gym leaders, I found myself appreciating the gesture and oddly felt more at ease.

"I gotta ask though – if you're surfin' the circuit, why haven't I seen ya?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"Mostly because I'm from Petalburg, and I didn't want to backtrack through the woods after Rustboro," I admitted, deciding not to bother mentioning that I'd also hoped to someday travel the seas with the help of my team rather than by ferry.

"Totally fair! For a young dude eager to set off into the world, the last thing you'd want to do is sit around on a ferry all day. Since you're here now though, I hope you'll challenge me when the gym reopens! The initial wave of trainers has settled down, and with all that's been going on I'd be stoked for a good battle."

"Hopefully I'll take you up on that. I just need to make sure my team is alright when I get them back. They all got infected, so…" I trailed off, deciding I didn't want to go into it.

"That's gnarly, sorry to hear that little dude," he said sympathetically. "We've got it good out here – hardly any infections, and those goons have left us alone. Sounds like they didn't have the stones to do anything against gym leaders who had their teams, damn cowards. I've been keeping my eyes peeled and my team at the ready just in case they try somethin', though."

I nodded silently and tried to focus on my food as a young woman probably only a few years older than me came over and shyly tapped on Brawly's shoulder, thanking him for helping her little brother with his Wingull before retreating with a blush. She wouldn't be the last one to find a reason to approach Brawly throughout the course of our meal, and I quickly got the impression that he was very popular among the local ladies.

To be fair, it turned out that he was just popular with everyone. Kids were drawn to him, an elderly couple gave him a one-armed hug, nearly everyone gave him a nod or wave upon seeing him, and our table quickly became the most crowded one, much to my displeasure. It almost felt like one huge family reunion, not that I'd ever experienced that, but I was convinced that nearly everyone knew one another at least vaguely.

It only made me feel even more out of place, but I was slowly able to relax as the focus shifted from me to Brawly asking Owen how his journey had been so far, what he thought of the gym leaders he'd battled, and just generally catching up. Brawly seemed deeply interested in what journeying was like these days, and had an almost whimsical look on his face as he listened attentively to Owen as he described his travels so far. I got the sense that if he wasn't a gym leader, he'd be doing a lot of traveling, likely along the beaches if I had to guess since everything about him screamed avid surfer.

It took some serious self-control to stop myself from bursting out laughing when Owen described a scene where he had also challenged a tree of Joltik in hopes of getting some experience against electric-types to prepare for Wattson. I felt vindicated upon hearing that, and found it interesting that as different as Owen and I were in some ways, we were also remarkably similar in others. Unlike me though, he didn't have anybody around to help him when he was paralyzed, and that had apparently been the moment when he decided that he wanted to find a travel partner, which ended up being me.

I couldn't help but find some humor in that, and wondered if we might have even challenged the same horde. Considering it was along the designated route, I wouldn't have been surprised.

When Owen's story got to our encounter with the Rockets at Lavaridge, there was a very noticeable shift in the atmosphere. All conversation at our table dithered out, many of the nearby tables got quieter as people tried to listen in, and newcomers no longer came to greet Brawly due to the grim look on his face as he listened to Owen's retelling of the story.

I considered excusing myself from the table, not exactly wanting to listen to the story again and suspecting that I was soon to become the target of some unwanted attention, but it would have been rather noticeable and disruptive so I resisted the urge.

Thankfully, Owen told my part of the story rather than leaving it to me, which I was extremely grateful for. He wrapped up rather quickly after the attack on the Pokécenter, omitting a lot of the finer details like who had brought us here or the fact that he'd received his gym badge from Flannery after losing to her. He essentially concluded the story by saying that as soon as I was cleared for release from the hospital, we managed to get a teleport home so we could spend the lockdown somewhere more comfortable.

I found it a bit strange, but supposed that after recounting the Pokécenter attack he just wanted to be done talking about it. I wasn't going to complain though, considering I felt the same way and wasn't keen on him explaining why he had a fat lip, but thankfully most people didn't seem to find it particularly interesting or noteworthy for a young man to be sporting an injury or two.

As the story drew to a close, conversations began to resume and the atmosphere once again slowly regained its earlier liveliness. I found it interesting how things bordered on being chaotic, yet people still seemed to be largely respectful of ongoing conversations, not interjecting themselves. I'd have thought Owen would be bombarded with a slew of questions, but people seemed content to resume their own meals and discussions now that they'd gotten to hear a bit of gossip.

"That's brutal, dude. I've heard about that task force, it sounds like they aren't messin' around. There's a good chance you get your two partners back, so keep your chin up. When the water gets choppy, you just gotta keep paddling, bro."

Owen nodded like what he'd just been told was some profound universal truth of life, yet I couldn't help but notice a hint of doubt in his eyes, a sentiment I shared.

"You're comin' along nicely," Brawly pivoted smoothly. "Bronson sounds like he's become quite the beast, I can't wait to see what he can do after he evolves. Hariyama, Machamp, Breloom, Slaking, and Golem – that's some serious muscle you'll be packing. I'm still looking forward to the day you're ready to challenge my true team like we promised. Man, I can't wait!"

Having spent about fifteen minutes observing Brawly by this point, I couldn't help but notice just how similar he seemed to be to Owen – social, friendly, likable, spirited, and just overall positive. I could definitely see Owen being a good successor to him someday, yet I couldn't help but wonder if Owen had always been like this or if he'd adopted some of Brawly's personality traits, knowingly or not.

"What about you Daniel?" Brawly suddenly asked, drawing me back into the conversation as Owen worked on recovering from the high praise he'd just received.

"My team? Kirlia, Corphish, Eevee, and maybe Trapinch," I answered, belatedly realizing I'd possibly just made my upcoming gym challenge harder by revealing my team.

"Oh, nice! You should seriously consider Gallade, they are a terror on the battlefield," he remarked before leveling me with a surprisingly serious look. "But that's not what I was askin' – I wanted to know about your dreams and ambitions."

I could only offer a blank stare in response as he elaborated, getting increasingly passionate as he spoke. "Owen is pushing to be a fighting-type specialist and the future gym leader of Dewford – to take on the responsibility of protecting, teaching, and leading. Some want power, money, or fame, and some just feel like they have something to prove, to themselves or others. So, what about you? No wrong answers!"

I blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift in demeanor. Considering just how imposing of a man he was physically, it only made his expectant stare that much more intense.

"Uh… I don't have anything as concrete as Owen. I don't think I'd want to be a gym leader, and I'm a generalist anyway. Not a Ranger either… Well, maybe someday in the distant future I could see myself being on reserve like our friend Vito, but I'd probably have to do a bunch of training and work full-time for a while to earn that privilege, and I just don't think I'd want to do that anytime soon. I wanted to be Champion when I was younger, just like every aspiring trainer has at some point, but the older I've gotten the more that sounds… overrated, and I don't think I'm cut out for the spotlight in general."

He nodded knowingly. "Some people are born for it, others not so much. Believe it or not, I used to be terrible around crowds and cameras. I've always loved battling and showin' the world how strong my team was, but when the focus shifted to me I'd clam up. I've always been good with people one-on-one, but things like public speaking and leading didn't come naturally to me. Being a gym leader sort of fell into my lap, and at first I didn't think I'd do well or like it. But I gave it a shot, got used to it, and now I love what I do!"

"You didn't want to be the gym leader? How'd you end up doing it then?" I asked curiously.

He chuckled. "Funny story, actually. I was just livin' in the moment and goin' with the flow – I only cared about catchin' some waves and finding killer battles. I'd always had something of a knack for battling and was lucky enough to train under a seriously awesome fighting-type expert for a summer, so tough battles became hard to come by at a certain point. So, I started takin' on gyms I came across while chasin' the big one – did pretty good too, so I started goin' out of my way for them. This was in Kanto where I was born, by the way. I say that 'cuz I eventually had to take on Sabrina, and let's just say she was a little rough around the edges in her earlier days. Long story short, I couldn't overcome the type disadvantage and she sorta had it out for guys like me, so I hit a wall. Decided I'd travel to Johto for a change of pace, and 'cuz I heard the surf was top-notch."

He leaned back with a fond smile as he reminisced. "Johto has some tough gyms and is gorgeous, I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance. Anyway, I was havin' a good amount of luck until I hit Cianwood, a small island with a fighting-type gym not too dissimilar from Dewford. The gym leader there, Chuck, really put me through the wringer just to show me what's what after I proclaimed myself a fighting-type specialist. I guess he saw somethin' in me, 'cuz he decided to mentor me, and since Cianwood had stellar waves I stuck around for a bit. It was a sweet gig – I got to work out, train, battle, and surf all day, every day. And the babes…"

He cleared his throat, seemingly realizing his audience. "I eventually resumed journeying, conquered some more gyms, and even went back to snag my Marsh Badge from Sabrina. Wound up here, and I loved the surf and vibe so much that I stuck around. Just so happened to be known as the strongest trainer on the island when the Hoenn League was reworking the circuit and decided to put a gym in Dewford to increase tourism, but at first I turned the offer down. My buddy Steven called in a favor I owed him and wanted me to at least do it temporarily, so I reluctantly did. Ended up growing to like the position, and since Dewford has the best surf and nicest folk of anywhere I've ever been, I settled in."

I couldn't help but snort in amusement, wondering just how different things must have been a decade or two ago for the job of gym leader to be handed out like that. Then again, I supposed it was fairly hard to find a suitable gym leader on short notice. I still hadn't heard about anyone properly replacing Georgia, only that Roxanne had been temporarily filling in.

"My point is, sometimes you just have to go with the flow and let the water take you where it will. I never pegged myself as a gym leader, but now I can't imagine what I'd do with myself if I wasn't. Well, other than eatin', fightin', and surfin'," he let loose a hearty chuckle.

"I'm pretty much already doing that. I mean, I have some goals and motivations for sure, but honestly… I just want to be Daniel Ingram," I said truthfully. "I was stuck in Petalburg my whole life, and becoming a trainer gave me an out. I wouldn't quite call it a means to an end since I've always been interested in it, but it's not entirely inaccurate either. I want to see what the world has to offer, find something that feels like family, and have the strength to make my own destiny. Being a trainer is kind of perfect for all of that. Sure, I'd like to finish the circuit and someday participate in the Ever Grande Conference, but beyond that…" I trailed off, suddenly feeling baffled that I was talking so deeply and openly with a man I'd just met. But he was shockingly easy to talk to despite his imposing presence, and his story had taken away any of the remaining edge I'd felt.

"As long as you keep an open mind and follow what feels right, you'll find your calling," he said as nodded sagely. "It doesn't need to be a job either, just–"

A scream rang out, and everybody stopped eating and chatting to look in the direction of the noise, which didn't sound far away. Brawly instantly got to his feet, and I was able to see a younger woman frantically running with what appeared to be an angry Pelipper giving chase, swooping in and pecking at her repeatedly.

There was a flash of light as Brawly released a Pokémon without hesitation, followed by a heavy thud as a massive Hariyama appeared.

"Focus Blast!" he roared, pointing at the attacking Pokémon. "Get down, Lynn!"

Though I didn't have any doubt that Brawly was more than capable of handling the situation, I couldn't help but question his decision. Hariyama was extremely bulky while the attacker was still a fair distance away, and calling for a fighting-type move against a flying-type didn't strike me as optimal.

The Hariyama's eyes locked onto its target as it planted its feet and bent slightly at the knees, readying itself. It cocked an arm back and opened its palm, and as it concentrated a swirl of brownish-orange energy began to visibly condense.

Then, just as the terrified woman dropped down and covered her head, the Hariyama thrust its palm forward and the built-up energy shot forward, spraying wide and completely encompassing the Pelipper mid-flight.

The move fizzled out as the Pelipper fell from the sky, apparently not able to take the move despite the type resistance. My heart dropped at the sight of it hitting the ground with a heavy thump, completely unconscious, and I had a brief moment of anger at the fact that Brawly made no attempt to cushion the fall.

But that didn't last long as I pieced together the situation. Brawly clicked his tongue as he approached with his Hariyama, offering a hand and helping the rattled girl get to her feet but never taking his eyes off the downed Pelipper.

"Freshly evolved, based on the size of its bill and the wingspan…" he observed after the girl thanked him profusely and ran over to hug a couple of family members, who had unsurprisingly been eating at Paulo Pokes.

As the sun disappeared and I found myself suddenly standing in a shadow, I glanced up to see a dark figure flying in on some sort of Pokémon I couldn't initially identify. But when it landed and I could get a proper look at it, I realized it was Owen's father riding a huge Tropius. I recognized it from some of my pre-journey research online, but I seriously doubted that all Tropius were nearly seven feet tall and easily able to carry a full-grown man on their back like the one I was currently looking at.

"Jason," Brawly greeted with a nod, which Owen's father returned.

He flipped open his Pokédex and scanned the fallen Pelipper before developing a deep frown, and I knew he must be using the new instant screening update that he had mentioned would be available to Rangers starting today. But rather than say anything, he pulled a Pokéball out of his pocket and easily captured the fainted Pokémon.

"Show's over people. Back to your meal," Owen's father announced to the murmuring crowd, briefly making eye-contact with Owen but not lingering. "Brawly, I'll need you and Lynn to come with me so I can make a report. Good work, by the way."

Brawly visibly deflated, glancing back at his largely untouched lunch due to engaging in so much conversation with Owen and I. He gave a sulking nod in acceptance, casting us an apologetic look as he recalled his partner.

"Sorry to cut our talk short. Glad we could catch up Owen, don't be a stranger. Was great meeting you too, Daniel. I look forward to our match."

Then, before we could even offer a response, he cupped his hands around his mouth and began bellowing towards the man behind the register who had been watching the scene with wide eyes.

"Paulo! I need a to-go box, buddy!"

I awoke the next morning with a headache and a fat lip to match Owen's.

After seeing Brawly in action, even if only for a brief moment, Owen had been buzzing with excitement and renewed determination all day, even more than he already had been. That had made our first sparring lesson particularly brutal for me, although I wouldn't exactly say that Owen took things too far either. My fat lip was on account of Owen teaching me one of the core tenets of fighting – keeping your guard up, especially for your head. I didn't make that mistake again, so I considered a fat lip as a small price to pay for a lesson learned.

In fairness, he'd reminded me repeatedly before deciding that I needed to learn the lesson the hard way, but I was so focused on everything else that it was easy to forget. It was a lot to keep track of – posture, stance, controlled breathing, not staying stationary and maintaining light footwork, closing and creating the proper distance at the right times, remembering your form when throwing a punch out and not putting yourself off-balance, the list goes on.

Needless to say, there were a lot of things to remember and juggle. He also wasn't exactly what I would call a 'good teacher', at least not for my preferred learning style of understanding something before seeing how to apply it. He was much more of a 'do-er', showing me the 'right' way to do something without going into why it was needed. Sure, he'd explain the best he could when I prodded him on certain things, but that only got me so far. There was a certain point where I realized that despite loving fighting-type Pokémon and knowing quite a few techniques himself, Owen was by no means an expert in the subject, something he readily admitted.

Still, I learned quite a bit and felt a lot more confident by the end of our first session despite the swollen lip I ended with, which admittedly helped reinforce why Owen had been so adamant we have mouthguards and gloves, and his claim that 'pain is the best teacher'.

Not that I agreed with his adage, but I was sure that next time I would be a lot more conscientious of keeping my guard up. We agreed to do it nightly, which he claimed would be necessary if I was going to leave Dewford with any level of proficiency. Though he was content with my progress, he was determined to teach me the basics of wrestling and kickboxing, as well as some other various techniques he knew from other disciplines, and some exercises that would help me passively hone my skills whenever I didn't have anyone to practice with.

I was tempted to ask him why I never saw him doing any of said exercises, only general conditioning and workouts, but after he said that last part I got too distracted thinking about the very real possibility that Owen wouldn't be continuing to travel with me after the lockdown ended. I didn't ask him about it directly, but I had a bad feeling like he'd already made up his mind, despite him still training and trying to remain positive. I decided that I wouldn't try to push too hard if he did decide to split up or take a break from journeying, I just hoped that it wouldn't mark the end of his ambitions altogether.

After my first session of combat training, which wasn't nearly as tiring as our morning workout, there was still the small matter of getting Trapinch a meal with the help of Owen's father, which thankfully went surprisingly well. We went just a short distance down the path from Owen's home into a large patch of trees and shrubbery, and I felt a little useless sitting around watching as he had his Swellow seek out wild Pokémon to corral into Trapinch's hole. It ended up being a Rattata to my surprise, which were apparently famous for hiding aboard ships to feast on the food supply before letting themselves loose on whatever land they happened upon.

Needless to say, they were extremely invasive and about the best thing we could have hoped to run into. Thanks to Owen's dad having access to the new Pokérus scanning capabilities on his Pokédex, something only Rangers had but was supposed to be available to all trainers soon, it was easy enough for him to scan the Rattata as his Swellow gave chase and brought it close enough for him to confirm it was safe for consumption.

After that, nature took its course. Despite being airborne and having to deal with the Rattata weaving through trees and thicket in an attempt to escape, Swellow was quite literally made for the task they'd been assigned. It had startling eyesight and maneuverability, and it made me think that Owen's dad must allow some of his Pokémon to go hunting from time to time due to the practiced ease it displayed.

Either that, or its predator instincts hadn't faded even a bit after what I could only assume were many years of domestication.

Surprisingly, after Owen's dad gave a sharp whistle to confirm to Swellow that the Rattata was clear of Pokérus, the bird dive-bombed and snatched the Rattata in its clawed feet before flying over and quite literally dropping it into Trapinch's trap.

That hadn't been what we discussed, and I immediately got worried that Trapinch would feel a certain type of way about that, or even outright refuse to eat. Yet interestingly, judging from her content look after climbing out of her hole a few minutes later, she didn't seem to mind.

I wasn't going to say anything or complain, and I supposed that it wasn't so much different from what Orion had done last time, or what I'd thought Swellow was going to do, just much more direct. Rather than emulating a Pokémon 'stumbling' into the trap and falling victim to Trapinch as it would in the wild, it was like tossing a Magikarp into a pool of Dewgong.

Still, I found myself with mixed feelings about it. I was relieved that it'd been so easy and hopeful that it meant that she wasn't quite as picky and stubborn as I'd thought, but also a little worried that she might have been losing some of her will to push back or stand her ground. It made me concerned that perhaps she was just putting up with whatever she felt she needed to until she could return home, and had lost the drive to stand her ground on things important to her.

It made me nervous – like she was distancing and detaching herself. But she seemed content enough, and there wasn't anything I could really do about it anyway, at least not immediately. I had the distinct feeling that the situation with Trapinch wasn't one I could talk my way through, and that trying to get too sentimental or friendly with her would be counterproductive.

No, it was best just to do what I could to keep her happy, and the key to that seemed to be training. She was undoubtedly making some progress, but it felt like she had a ways to go until she would be ready for a real battle – not that she could have one during the lockdown anyway. It almost felt like I was on a time limit to get her capable enough to start winning battles when we inevitably made our way back toward her home. I could tell she was eager to actually battle, but at least she seemed to realize that she was improving and that she needed to train to hold a candle against a competent opponent.

So that's exactly what we did – we trained. You'd think that after the incident with Owen using training as an unhealthy escape from his problems, we'd have been more cautious about overdoing it.

In some ways we were, but overall we trained more than ever before.

I made early-morning meditation sessions mandatory in the hopes that it would help prevent Owen from being self-destructive, and it seemed to help quite a bit. He also adopted a new motto while training – rather than encouraging us to push ourselves and keep going, he started constantly reminding all of us to 'pace' ourselves, something that was extra important given the fact that our training sessions were much longer than normal.

Historically, we'd always done two training sessions while traveling, one in the morning and one in the evening, which gave us the day to travel or do whatever else we needed. But our routine changed in Dewford, not only because we were putting more emphasis on physical and combat training, but also because there honestly wasn't much else to do.

With Dewford in a relatively weird place despite it being mostly secluded from the wave of Pokérus gripping the region, there wasn't much else we could do besides eat, sleep, socialize, and train. It didn't take long for us to burn through all the sights that the town of Dewford had to offer, and even Owen had to admit that a good majority of what he was most excited to show me were places we couldn't even go. Secluded beaches, coves, lagoons, Dewford Falls, the coral reefs, the forest, the rock cliffs, Granite Cave, the docks and pier – it was all closed off to the public, and we were stuck staying in civilization. As nice and quaint as Dewford was, there was only so much to see in the town proper.

So we trained – every day until the end of lockdown, training was the main focus of our days, both for ourselves and what remained of our teams. It helped the time we spent serving lockdown go by much faster, and there were a good handful of interesting events that happened in the meantime.

Most notably, some rather interesting developments with Owen, Warren, and a certain team member currently in quarantine.

A/N: And so comes a close to the single longest day in DotD. I really couldn't split it across different days for various reasons, don't even get me started on it. We've got a little time skip / training arc action going on though, and some interesting developments in the next chapter, so don't worry – we'll be back to journeying and battling in no time.

On an unrelated note, last week's chapter broke a personal goal I've had for months: Over 1k views in a single day on FFN! When I started writing DotD, I didn't expect many would enjoy it due to some of the more niche approaches I took, and I mostly did it to offer my own meager contribution after having enjoyed so many pokefics over the years. Yet here we are, and my next goal of 1k follows seems very doable.

I'm extremely grateful for all of you that read this, and want to encourage you to write your own fic if you have any desire whatsoever. You'll get occasional hate from people upset you didn't write what they wanted, you'll sometimes worry you're wasting time or writing to the void, and you'll want to pull your hair out writing a particularly difficult to depict yet necessary part of your story. But if you put effort into writing decently, have a story you want to tell, and some free time, you'll surely find it rewarding. Even a single supportive comment can make it all worth it, and it's both fun and rewarding to see an idea come to life. I put it off for years, and I'm sure some of you have been to. This is me encouraging you to give it a shot – don't leave that story you've always wanted to read unwritten.

Anyways, enough soapboxing. Just wanted to say thanks, and to hopefully inspire somebody to give writing that fic you've been putting off writing a shot.

Shoutout to The Muffin Rat King for beta-reading this chapter.

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