TRAINER ID
Name: Daniel Ingram
Badges: 3
Account: 37,953 credits
Location: Dewford Town

DANIEL'S TEAM
Kirlia (Apollo) - Male
Crawdaunt (Duran) - Male
Eevee (Orion) - Male
Trapinch - Female

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

Our relatively peaceful first day back together concluded with a massive celebratory dinner courtesy of Owen's mom.

Despite having been a guest at Owen's house for about a week, I hadn't yet gotten a proper look at the Pokémon that Owen's dad trained, apart from the Swellow that had helped get Trapinch her meal and the Tropius he'd arrived on during the unfortunate incident with the infected Pelipper attacking a woman. I'd always opted to take a shower after dinner time when Owen and his father would feed their teams, knowing that it would only make me miss my team even more.

But seeing Owen's father's team first-hand impressed upon me the fact that he was no pushover. His Pelipper was hands-down the largest I'd ever seen, yet it paled in comparison to his Crobat, which I was both amazed and disturbed to discover wasn't much smaller than the Tropius. I'd seen first-hand that Golbat were scarily big, but the Crobat was even more imposing, roughly my size and disturbingly reminiscent of Warren's Gengar in appearance.

More impressive was that despite its size, it somehow managed to be even more agile in the air than the Swellow. No doubt it helped that the Pokémon essentially had two sets of wings, but seeing something as big as me be able to zip around in the air and stop on a dime was surreal. The only Pokémon I'd seen move like that was Samantha's Masquerain, yet it felt much more natural to see the small bug-type doing those sorts of aerial acrobatics.

Perhaps due to their age, or maybe because they were used to behaving 'professionally' on a daily basis while performing ranger duties, the flying-types that Owen's father trained weren't particularly social. After getting their fill of the Pokéblock buffet that Owen's mom had graciously prepared, Swellow and Crobat quickly departed from the group to stretch their wings and survey the surrounding area, soon followed by Tropius and Pelipper after taking a few minutes to catch up with Bronson, happy to see their friend. This came right after whatever conversation they were having turned morose, where Apollo helpfully informed me that the topic of Roxy missing had come up. It was a reminder that both Bronson and Roxy had been with Owen before starting his journey, so it made sense that they would have done some bonding with Owen's family unlike his newer captures.

This was especially apparent when it came to Owen's mother, who was very close to Bronson as it turns out. Though she was always in a cheerful mood, she was overjoyed to see Bronson for the first time and absolutely swooned over how big he'd gotten, seemingly feeling no hesitancy whatsoever over just how massive and imposing he now was.

By the end of the night however, Orion had stolen her heart. It probably helped that he could fit in her lap and was the fluffiest Pokémon she'd ever met, by her own admission. As friendly and loveable as Bronson was, it was hard to compete with a cute, bashful little Eevee.

Unfortunately, Orion didn't have that same effect on Owen's dad. In fact, I got the distinct feeling that he disliked my team, a theory that Apollo's read on his emotions supported. I caught him observing Duran as if he were some sort of pest whose presence he was being reluctantly endured, he was wary of Apollo and declined to grant access to his mind, and he had a pained look in his eyes when his wife was smothering Orion as if he he was going to be dealing with hair all over everything for the next month.

Viewed in isolation, I could understand his reasoning. For a ranger, a Crawdaunt was probably one of the more troublesome species you might get called to deal with, and even before evolving Duran's species did have a certain reputation for causing trouble to natural habitats. I wasn't in a position to judge anyone for being wary of psychics, and I'd never try to argue against the fact that Orion did indeed shed quite a bit of hair that had a tendency to stick to things, especially my hoodie.

I'll admit that these conclusions were all speculation and assumptions based off of nothing but hunchs and little bits of information from Apollo. Still, I couldn't help but find myself unreasonably annoyed even if he never said or did anything that could be considered rude. I tried not to let it get to me, since it wasn't exactly fair to cast blame based on feelings he tried his best not to outwardly display.

One thing that I was a little nervous about was if I was going to be able to have my team with me indoors. Throughout my entire week at Owen's house, I hadn't once seen a Pokémon indoors, and I was beginning to think it was something of a house rule. Thankfully, Owen's mom disproved that theory without me needing to ask by carrying Orion inside with her a couple of times, which gave me the courage to eventually ask if I could sleep with my team when the night was coming to a close.

Owen's mom looked extremely torn, like she wanted to say yes, but I didn't miss how both she and her husband cast glances at Duran in particular. I wasn't sure if it was his size or the fact that he had the potential to cause serious water damage, but I felt obligated to quickly amend my request to Apollo and Orion in particular. I knew Trapinch wouldn't want to join us, and although I felt a little bad about Duran I knew he wouldn't mind too much.

Owen's mom instantly regained her cheerfulness and agreed, although I could tell Owen's dad wasn't exactly thrilled. I promised that they would be on their best behavior and I'd take care of any hair that Orion left behind, and that was the end of it. Owen later informed me that his dad had a weird hang-up about hair and fur in the house, but revealed that he did have Misha sleep in his room with him, and Bronson before he evolved. Omar was too hyperactive and hairy, and Bronson was now far too big and clumsy to risk it, both of which were understandable.

I definitely didn't want to impose any more than I already was, but I felt it would be rude to leave and go stay at the Pokécenter after all the hospitality they had extended me. Duran would just have to spend a few nights in his Net Ball until we resumed our journey, which I truly hoped would be soon.

I never thought I'd miss sleeping on the ground, yet there I was – laying in a comfy bed fantasizing about my sleeping bag and tent. I wanted to get back to journeying, but having Orion and Apollo sleep beside me once again was more enough to hold me over for a little longer, I supposed.

There were no rocks digging into my back, no gentle breeze rustling the surrounding trees to lull me to sleep, and no crustacean sentry dutifully guarding the door. Despite that, having Apollo cling to my lower leg through the sheets and Orion rhythmically purring as he slumbered on my chest was a wonderfully comforting return to normalcy, though there was still a little ways to go.

Even so, it was hands-down the most restful night of sleep I'd had since the events in Lavaridge.

The next morning, we were back to training in full force.

This wasn't exactly by choice, at least not mine. I'd wanted to take things slow and steady to get them back into the swing of things, but my team clearly had their own ideas.

It started simple enough – a quick group meditation that was reasonably successful thanks to Owen wisely keeping Omar in his Pokéball, then some warmup exercising and running. Apollo seriously struggled with this due to the difficulty of running on sand coupled with his already questionable coordination as he tried to acclimate to his new legs, but he refused to break from the group by going on solid ground and was stumbling a lot less by the end of our run.

Clumsy as he was, Apollo was undeniably a lot faster on his feet than he'd ever been as a Ralts. The same could not be said of Duran though. When I first noticed how slow he was, I chalked it up as a result of him being so much bigger and didn't think too much of it, since he wasn't struggling to keep a steady stride and didn't appear nearly as unsteady on his feet as Apollo.

I'd soon feel like an idiot for not paying closer attention to Duran, but I was focused on my own workout and wanted to put in as much effort as everyone else was, so my realization wouldn't come until a few minutes later when we started actually training.

Orion made us all look like amateurs to nobody's surprise, and Trapinch did the best that she could. Though she was the slowest in our group, even slower than Misha, she had begun to develop quite a bit of stamina and was sure-footed in keeping a steady pace. Not long ago she had been quite uncoordinated above ground – not as bad as Apollo currently was, but not at all practiced at running, and it was clear that her week of training was paying off since she now had a consistent stride.

After seeing how slowly Duran had run, I had him work on his Aqua Jet to ensure that his evolution hadn't fully cost him his impressive mobility in battle, and he was able to dispel my worries after some practice and making the necessary adjustments. He initially had issues properly propelling himself with Aqua Jet, instead flooding the ground with a slew of water but not getting enough lift to get off the ground, yet after a little troubleshooting I began to fully realize the issues his evolution presented.

Not only did he have to deal with increased size and weight, but upon closer inspection and reflection I realized that Duran's legs had completely changed, and not just in appearance. Where he once had six evenly distributed legs that were more than capable of giving him enough spring to do a respectable hop off the ground, he now had two massive back legs that were fully responsible for moving him around and a pair of vestigial limbs in the front that seemed to only be good for helping to keep him balanced.

It explained why he was having issues moving as he once had, and why he suddenly found himself unable to propel himself forward with Aqua Jet. He struggled to run, and he wasn't able to leap anywhere near as effectively as he used to be able to do. It became apparent that until his legs got stronger, he'd have to rely much more heavily on the lift from his water than previously.

It took some practice for him to get used to pressurizing the water he dispelled from the thin creases in his shell enough to lift him, but by the end of training it was passable. He could cover ground faster by using Aqua Jet by running, but it was a far cry from the massive boost in mobility it had once been. It would be more accurate to say that he was 'hovering' over the ground rather than launching himself like a cannon as he'd once done, so we eventually had to incorporate the use of his claws to Water Gun the ground for the initial lift, which wasn't ideal and caused him to fall on his face more than once.

My hope was that if he built up his leg strength, got more used to them, and figured out how to better control his water so it was one quick and massive burst, we could hopefully get it somewhere near its former glory. Duran seemed entirely on board with that goal after I gave it to him, clearly a little disappointed in his showing despite how incredible I found it that he could even manage to lift himself given his weight.

Apollo was completely transfixed on practicing his telekinesis, which suited me just fine. Though I found myself curious how much evolution might have affected his ability to Teleport or the strength of his Psybeam, he felt inspired so I let him do his thing. It worked out well for me, because I didn't want any of my team pushing themselves too hard and I couldn't give him enough attention to run the Teleport tests that I was already scheming up, such as what kind of distance he could now cover and if he was powerful to bring others along for the ride.

I did gently remind him that while his ability to lift rocks was great and all, the end goal was Magical Leaf, and that he needed to focus on his finesse and eventually towards controlling multiple objects at once. Clearly intent on making sure he surprised Stella thoroughly after they reunited, he went back to focusing on leaves rather than rocks, and I left him to it.

Orion and Trapinch's training was much more standard. I had Orion brush up on his Swift, since I imagined it would probably be the most important move in his arsenal for our eventual challenge against Brawly since he was unlikely to last long if one of the fighting-types got their hands on him. I subtly observed Orion out of the corner of my eye while I helped coach Duran through his Aqua Jet troubles, since he was the only infected member of my team that might show noticeable after-effects. It was impossible to tell what differences in strength Pokérus might be affording Duran and Apollo due to their evolutions, but Orion was the perfect test subject.

Somewhat disappointingly, but also immensely relieving, I didn't notice much of anything. I couldn't say for sure if I'd ever seen him do three projectiles at once, since he tended to do them in quick succession, but he was pushing himself hard and it didn't strike me as too abnormal. I also found myself a little surprised by his stamina given he'd essentially been completely sedentary for over a week, but it wasn't enough that I felt I could pin it on some sort of benefit being provided by Pokérus as Walker had claimed. It made me wonder if I'd been too willing to take the Rocket at his word, and to dismiss the natural strength of the Pokémon we'd battled.

I decided I'd keep an eye on my team to see if I noticed anything that stood out over time, but truthfully it helped drive home the fact that normalcy was returning and everything was going to be alright.

Trapinch was exceedingly familiar with what we'd been working on and knew that I wasn't going to be able to give her much attention given the circumstances, so she trained on her own terms, starting by practicing Bulldoze then moving on to Sand Attack at some point. I did note that in both cases, she seemed to be quite comfortable with the motions and was exhibiting great control of the sand, no longer sometimes digging her head into the ground too shallow or deep resulting in varying degrees of success. She was not only more consistent, but loose and confident, no longer displaying stiffness when doing the moves as she had not so long ago.

In some ways it was a refreshingly normal training session, at least on the surface. Yet the more I observed not only my team, but also Owens, it was clear that everyone was putting in extra effort.

Duran seemed to be having a contest with himself over how fast and far he could maintain his Aqua Jet, using so much water that I caught him quickly soaking in the ocean twice to replenish his already massive water reserves. Not to mention, he was tearing up the beaches by displacing sand and leaving miniature trenches in his wake from jetting back and forth so much.

Orion seemed to be trying to do something with his Swift similar to the 'waterfall' that Stella had once done for us, now conjuring four projectiles and experimenting with shooting them straight up as high as he could. Trapinch decided to work on her Protect at some point and was tiring herself out trying to hold it as long as possible, and Apollo decided that trying to manipulate multiple leaves in sync was preferable to practicing his fine control on one target.

It wasn't anything overt, but it was impossible to miss when I was keeping such a close eye on my team. I didn't want to keep being an overprotective killjoy and tell them to stop, but I gradually felt more uncomfortable with how hard they were pushing themselves, and I was getting very near the point of calling for a break.

I didn't need to though, because Owen called for one instead. From what I observed of his team as most of our group found a place in the shade to rest and a few like Duran and Omar scattered, it was plain to see that his team had been working just as hard as mine, likely inspired by my team's vigor and Bronson's return.

Yet not too long into our break, we were disturbed.

"Found ya! One of you has got to be Owen Adler, right?"

I glanced toward the voice to find a guy jogging over toward us, completely unconcerned with the slew of Pokémon surrounding us. I'd been in Dewford long enough to instantly recognize that this person wasn't a native, because they were nearly as pale as me and wearing all the trappings indicative of a tourist, including a wide-brimmed hat to shield him from the sun, a fanny pack, and a camera hanging from his neck.

He was roughly our age, probably a year or two older if I had to guess. Curiously though, I got the sense that this person might not actually be from Hoenn, due to the slight hint of an accent and tight shoes I'd never seen that conformed to his feet in such a way that his individual toes were visible, though they looked thick enough that stepping on a rock wouldn't be a big deal.

Though he definitely looked the part of a tourist, my eyes were glued to the five Pokéballs that adorned his belt as he approached, which instantly made me a little wary. I wasn't alone in this either – Owen held a suspicious look on his face, and the Pokémon in our presence instantly became guarded, with Omar bounding over and audibly snarling in warning as he put himself between Owen and the approaching man. Owen put his hand on Omar's shoulder to signal to him to remain calm, but I could tell that Owen himself was rather suspicious as he addressed the man.

"I'm Owen Adler… What do you want?"

The boy stopped once he reached talking distance and surveyed our Pokémon with interest, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he was being carefully watched by so many Pokémon. He gave a feral grin, then pointed at Owen dramatically as he raised his voice and shouted unnecessarily loud.

"I challenge you to a battle, Owen Adler! I've been looking for a good battle since the gym is closed, and your name keeps popping up when I ask around. Show me what Hoenn trainers are made of, because so far I've been sorely disappointed!"

I frowned but relaxed, feeling reasonably certain that this person wasn't coming with bad intentions. I had Apollo give me a check on his emotions just to be safe, and felt reassured when told that he felt excited, determined, and prideful, which seemed to hold true to his claim that he was only looking for a good battle. I'd been a little worried that it might be somebody who was seeking Owen out due to the video of him subduing the Rocket, but thankfully that didn't seem to be the case.

Owen seemed to relax as well, and I saw a challenging grin grace his face as he recalled his team, preparing himself for a battle. "Sounds fun, I've been itching for a battle. Three on three, let's do it."

As Bronson's knees finally buckled and he fell face-first finally sucumbing to the onslaught of Thunderbolts he had just been subjected to, my heart ached for Owen as I reluctantly raised a hand and called the match in favor of the challenger.

I'd like to say it was close, but that wouldn't exactly be an accurate description of their battle. Owen was a good sport about it, but I could tell that his loss hurt.

I knew that he was going to struggle when his opponent started things off by sending out a Fearow the same time he sent out Misha, which was honestly a novice mistake from Owen because he should have been the second to send his Pokémon out as the one challenged, but he was eager and confident. Unfortunately, that mistake resulted in Misha being quickly dealt with, as she didn't have much of an answer against the flying-type. Omar had slightly better luck after taking a few hits, managing to ground the bird with a well-timed pounce to counter an attempted Drill Peck followed up with using Fury Swipes as the bird flailed beneath him.

Sadly, Owen's luck ended there. His opponent followed up by sending out a Magneton, and neither Omar or Bronson were able to withstand the onslaught of electric attacks that it hurled while keeping its distance. Omar managed to land a Fire Punch that definitely looked like it did some damage, but ended up getting paralyzed in the process and went down soon after, while Bronson simply couldn't close the distance fast enough to land a single hit. I hate to say it, but the battle was a showcase of Owen's current biggest weakness, at least in my opinion, which was that he currently lacked many options to deal with opponents that kept out of range. It was especially unfortunate to realize that if he'd had Roxy, the Magneton wouldn't have been nearly as big of a problem.

Honestly, if Owen hadn't suffered the misfortune of starting out with Misha against a flying type, if he had Roxy, and if Bronson wasn't still struggling with controlling his recently engorged body, it probably would have been a solid fight. But as things stood, the three-versus-three was remarkably one-sided, and we never even got to see what his opponent's final pick would have been.

Though the Kantonian was a solid battler, I felt like Owen had more skill and that he just wasn't given the opportunity to show it off, though that could just be my personal bias. Considering the challenger still had three unknown Pokémon judging by the balls on his belt, it might not have mattered as much as I'd like to think.

I'll never know though, and to this day that bothers me more than I'd like to admit.

"That was a good battle, man. Really got my blood pumping," the boy said with a wide grin as he shook Owen's hand before tapping Pokédexes to confirm the thousand-credit wager they'd agreed upon. I could tell that Owen's smile and tight grip were strained and that he didn't believe he'd put up a good fight, but he was putting in genuine effort to be a good sport and I doubt the victor even noticed.

"Yeah. I think Bronson is probably going to have a grudge against Magneton, he lost to one against Wattson too," Owen joked with a pained grimace.

"If I had to guess, your Hariyama just evolved recently? I was fully expecting to lose that matchup, to be honest. Magneton aren't exactly the most mobile Pokémon, so I thought for sure we'd be done for after you managed to close the distance. It looked like your Hariyama was struggling against his own body before the paralysis even took hold."

"Recently evolved, so we're still working on his coordination... He hits like a truck, but that doesn't help much if he can't get a hold of his opponents. We also need some ranged options too, that's become abundantly clear. I've never seen a Fearow before, you have some neat Pokémon," Owen complimented sincerely. "We mostly get Taillow, Wingull, and the occasional Pidove here in Hoenn. Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Kanto. Viridian City, more specifically. I've been doing the circuit over there, but stalled out after my fifth badge. I've battled Sabrina three times, and I haven't gotten close even once. Then they closed down the damn circuit because of all this virus nonsense, so I figured I'd take a little break and go somewhere that things have already calmed down until things blow over."

"Viridian City… Isn't that where…" Owen trailed off, seeing a flash of annoyance cross the trainer's face for a brief moment before he caught himself and schooled his features.

"Yeah, yeah… It really sucks being known for that. I like to think of Viridian as home of the strongest gym in the region and the gateway to the Indigo Plateau, but everyone just knows us as the birthplace of Team Rocket. There's actually some talk about possibly changing the city's name, if you can believe it. I guess we all have our problems though. Hoenn is sort of the birthplace of Pokérus, after all."

As he chuckled, I couldn't help but feel annoyed. Though he wasn't being openly disrespectful, I couldn't shake the sense that he was taking subtle jabs at us. In his eyes, he'd just wiped the floor with the trainer that everyone in Dewford praised as being skillful, and I took issue with Hoenn being designated as the source of the world's current biggest issue, even if it were true.

I'd never been one to be overly prideful in my hometown or region, but then again I'd never interacted with foreigners much. From what I knew of Viridian, which admittedly wasn't a whole lot, it was sort of the Kanto equivalent to Petalburg. It was barely big enough to be considered a city, similar to Petalburg, and although it was one of the very first settlements that a new trainer doing the circuit would encounter, most saved the gym due to a mixture of tradition and badge minimums. In Kanto's case, this was because the city served as the gateway to the Indigo Plateau, where trainers with all the badges could battle against other highly skilled trainers while waiting to participate in the Indigo Conference and potentially challenge the Elite Four.

Still, between him so casually dismissing Owen without knowing the full extent of the handicap he'd had, him giving off the aura of Kanto trainers being better, and our hometowns being twins in a sense, I felt obligated to speak up, and Apollo sent his support and agreement at my unspoken request.

"You said you were stalled out at Sabrina, right? If you're up for it, my partner here might make for some good practice against a psychic type," I offered as casually as I could while gesturing to Apollo, who had been silently observing the proceedings by my side.

Owen looked surprised as the boy gave us a considering look. "How many badges do you have? I've been asking around town, and the only two names I've been given of people I should battle are Brawly and Owen Adler. I take it you're a tourist like me, judging by your attire?"

"I guess you could say that. I'm from Petalburg, but I'm journeying and doing the circuit. I have three badges, but it'll be four once Brawly starts accepting challenges. How does two thousand credits sound – a double or nothing for you?"

He seemed to consider the challenge for a moment, but then shook his head. "I think I'll pass, two badges is a pretty big difference. If you had another badge or two, your Kirlia was fully evolved, and I hadn't just battled, I'd definitely be interested. Cool Pokémon though, I've never actually seen a Kirlia before. We don't get those in Kanto, you know. Aren't Ralts pretty rare, even here?"

I frowned at his dismissal as he pulled out his Pokédex and scanned Apollo, and watched as his eyebrows shot up. He took a step back, suddenly looking extremely wary, and Apollo slightly slumped as he sent me the emotions he was feeling from the Kantonian.

Distrust. Fear.

"You have an infected Pokémon just out in the open like that? What is wrong with you?" he said accusingly, glaring daggers at me.

I scowled. "He's already been quarantined and cleared. He's not infectious, if that's what you're worried about."

"And I'm supposed to just take your word on that? No thanks – better to be safe than sorry. I'm going to go get Fearow checked out and see what kind of food Dewford has to offer. Thanks for the battle, Owen. Nice meeting you, maybe I'll see you around."

With that, the boy excused himself in a hurry, leaving Owen and I standing there watching him with distasteful expressions on our face.

"I'd prefer not, that guy was kind of a jerk…" Owen mumbled as I knelt down to soothe Apollo, who I could tell was feeling insecure after the guy's comments.

"Wonder how he'd feel if he knew that he already battled a Pokémon that was 'infected'," I remarked, thinking of Bronson. "They really need to add an update to those scans that differentiate between Pokémon that are infectious and not. It's stupid to show them the same way. I can see this becoming a recurring issue."

"...I barely even put up a decent fight against that guy," I heard him mutter.

I glanced up to see that Owen was clenching his fists tightly and scowling, looking genuinely upset. I hesitated, not sure if telling him that he probably could have won under 'normal' circumstances was the correct way to console him, since it would be reminding him of Roxy's absence yet again.

"You just got unlucky. Everyone loses once in a while, it's no big deal," I said as I hesitantly stood and walked over to pat his shoulder in consolation. He tensed up a little, but didn't withdraw.

"Maybe… I should probably go get my team looked over, just to be safe."

"Probably a good idea," I agreed with a nod. "I'm sure they weren't hurt too bad, but paralysis can be really annoying to wait out. I'll go with you, I just need to find Duran…" I trailed off, looking out at the sea for any sign of him.

"It's fine, I'd actually prefer to go alone. I'm meeting up with some friends for lunch too, so let's just meet up later for evening training," he said with a smile I could tell was forced.

"Oh, alright. See you later…"

I watched Owen as he walked back towards town, his shoulders noticeably slumped, and knew that he was beating himself up over that loss. I didn't need Apollo's help to know that he felt like he'd let his hometown down after they'd put so much faith in him to humble the slightly cocky tourist, but he hadn't even had an audience to witness his defeat.

I doubted that mattered to him though. He knew he'd lost, and the context surrounding it only made it a harder pill to swallow.

Still, I hoped that the slump he found himself in was a temporary thing. Owen was a great trainer with big ambitions, and I had no doubt that if he stuck with it, he was capable of someday achieving his dream of being the Dewford gym leader.

Yet about a minute after he disappeared through the dense layer of palm trees, Wingull and Taillow scattered from treetops in the direction that I heard a distant yell that told me Owen was taking it even harder than I'd imagined.

"FUCK!"

I felt my heart drop, and Apollo shared in my concerns over our link. It wasn't only at the confirmation that Owen was indeed still struggling with a lot more than he let on, although that was a big part of it.

No, my biggest concern was that Owen was at a tipping point in his career as a trainer, and that when he inevitably demanded that I finally make good on my promise to battle him, it would be the final straw to make him call it quits.

I wanted to go after Owen – to talk to him and try to help my troubled friend, but I knew that this was something he both wanted and needed to handle on his own. It felt so far beyond my control, and there was a growing fear that I wasn't just being cocky or overconfident, as much as I wanted that to be the case.

But based on what I'd observed of Owen and his team over the past week, the current state of his team, the capabilities of mine, my gut instinct, and Apollo's silent melancholic agreement... I knew I had it right.

Short of throwing the match, we'd almost definitely win if we were to battle Owen – and that terrified me.

A/N: Hey, we're back. Hope you liked the chapter – I'll be honest, I didn't think writing out that battle would be particularly interesting and I got far too addicted writing the upcoming chapters. Hopefully you aren't too disappointed, I know we're all itching for battles and action, but we've got some coming very soon don't you worry.

Speaking of what's coming, the chapter queue is nearly restored to ideal levels and the next few chapters are bangers, at least in my humble opinion. Sorry I skipped last week again, but things look like they might actually stabilize soon, so fingers crossed we return to our regularly scheduled programming soon.

Shoutout to The Muffin Rat King and Faefox for beta-reading this, and to all of you. Stay cute!

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