When Cassius went to sleep that night, he thought he'd made peace with whatever it was that would happen as a result of his spat with Marnie. That resigned feeling had gone completely out of the window by the time he woke up the next morning.

After a restless few hours of sleep, he immediately checked his phone to see the extent of the damage. He saw no front-page breaking news stories, video commentaries exposing him, and most importantly, no worried texts or phone calls from his parents. There was nothing from Caroline either, which was probably as good of an indication as any that no news had dropped.

Still, he had to be sure. The night prior, he'd finally taken the plunge and crossed the line that could never be uncrossed—he had joined social media. Chatotter, to be specific, the posting-slash-chatting town hall half-news outlet social media app (or whatever it was the app store had advertised it as). He'd made a burner account of course, to hide his identity, and had made it purely to monitor any news regarding him, the league, or his fellow trainers.

The only way to be certain he was in the clear was to search his name in the algorithm. Taking a breath, he typed in his name as the key words in the search tab, and hit enter. The timeline automatically sorted itself by the most popular posts in the last few days, so if Cassius' secret had been revealed, he felt it was safe to assume it would be one of the top posts. Instead of an exposé, he was met with a series of posts revolving around his win over Milo.

"Hargreaves does it!" Read the first line from a post by the official Galar League account. Attached was a video clip from what Cassius assumed was the television broadcast from the match, showing Korvis dealing the finishing blow. "Rookidee takes down Eldegoss to secure a WILD victory in the first leg of the circuit for Cassius Hargreaves!"

There were plenty of other posts, too. All revolving around his fight, of course, but much more... varied in audience.

"That's CASH for CASSIUS! Big Pete's PokéPicks Lock of The Week™ CASHES for the Hargreaves moneyline (+200)! Drop your winnings below, and LIKE, RECHAT AND FOLLOW for more winning picks for your parlay!"

"Exactly what I anticipated seeing from Hargreaves this week. A strong showing, against one of the strongest first-leg gym leaders in league history (per pWAR). The composure, creativity, and everything from the advanced scouting metrics say what I've been saying from the jump—Cassius Hargreaves is gonna be a stud in this league. Thread below of Hargreaves' best moments, broken down."

"Guy fights like a fucking pussy. Anybody could win if they stalled. Doesn't pass the eye test, gonna get waxed by Kabu—no way the female in Hulbury can get the job done sadly."

That last post drew a frown from him (for multiple reasons), but Cassius chose to focus on the positive, that being there was nothing airing his dirty laundry out to the world. Just to be super safe, he changed the sorting options in the timeline to most recent, in case he had maybe started checking a little too early and the secret had only just been revealed, but again, nothing. It seemed that he was well and truly in the clear.

Cassius released a sigh he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. Somehow, his words had done enough to convince Marnie to hold her tongue, for now. Granted, that continued silence would be dependent on him continuing to win, but that had been his intention even before this entire debacle. The important thing was that the idea of him winning the circuit apparently wasn't so far-fetched to Marnie that she would disregard it for the opportunity to immediately snitch on him and try to get him disqualified.

Or maybe she was just waiting a day or two for maximum humiliation. Who could say?

Exiting his tent, he walked to the center of camp to find Hop and Gloria looked at him. "All quiet?" Hop asked.

"All quiet," Cassius confirmed. Hop exhaled in relief. "Phew. I didn't see anything out of place on social media on my end, but I wanted to make sure. That's one crisis avoided, thankfully."

For now. "Definitely." Procuring a protein bar from his pocket, he sat beside the duo. "Though, I'm not sure if I'll be able to relax until a few days have gone by and nothing's happened."

"Could be she's sittin' on the decision," Gloria said between bites of her own breakfast. "Though, she seemed steamed enough to phone it in right away before you said what you did. I canny fathom why she'd purposefully wait to do it later, but who knows?"

Something Cassius hadn't foreseen was Gloria taking in the situation much more calmly than Hop. Granted, it was his brother's reputation on the line, so Cassius could certainly understand the worry on his end, but it was still a weird reversal of roles. Gloria had been just as determined as Hop to keep his experience under wraps when they'd all first set out. Now, she seemed almost casual about it.

Hop, meanwhile, had definitely been frazzled upon hearing the news. Not quite hysterical, but definitely concerned. Gloria had managed to talk him down from the worst of it, but Cassius could tell it was still affecting him a little. The guilt Cassius had already been feeling compounded upon seeing how his blunder was distracting Hop from his usual self, and more importantly, his training.

But, to Gloria's point yesterday, what was done was done. And she was also right in saying that the easiest way to ensure the secret never got out was to just keep winning, and force Marnie to keep her mouth shut.

"One thing I canny wrap my head 'round," Gloria spoke up. "Why would she care that much? You said she talked 'bout more-deserving folk gettin' the endorsement—did she have anyone in mind? Or was she just speakin' broadly?"

"How would I know?" Cassius muttered. "Not like I know anything about her personally. She was pissed regardless."

"Well, 'coz from what it sounds like, it was personal to her."

"I mean, I can see where she's comin' from," Hop tried to rationalize. "But, I mean, there'll always be someone more deserving, I think. Like, even me, I definitely benefitted from my brother bein' the champion, regardless of my genuine talent as a trainer—does that make me any more or less worthy to be sponsored? I don't think there's any way to quantify 'deservedness' and then hand out endorsements to the up-and-coming trainers who fit that criteria. That probably speaks to a larger problem altogether, between folks with the resources and financial stability to pursue training seriously as a career, versus those who can't."

Cassius supposed that made sense. But still... "I mean, I feel like she was more upset that someone who wasn't even a trainer not too long ago got an endorsement for a good deed over, say, someone who had been working to be a sponsored trainer for years. And that, I can understand, but..."

"You don't wanna give up your sponsorship," Gloria finished for him. He nodded. Probably not a better way to put it than that.

The trio was quiet for a moment. That prompted him to say something that had been on his mind since the argument. "Does that make me a bad person?"

Hop's brow quirked. "Does what?"

"I mean, I don't wanna phrase it in a way that sounds bad, but even though I get that there probably are people out there who could really use the opportunity a sponsorship from Leon could bring, I just..." How was he supposed to put it?

"Don't care?" Gloria offered.

"Gloria," Hop chastised.

"What? Am I wrong?" She threw her hands up, looking back at Cassius. "Is that not what you were tryna say?"

"Not like that." The wording was definitely bad, but the sentiment wasn't completely divorced from the point he was trying to make. "I feel bad for the people she was talking about, but does that mean I don't deserve my shot? Even when it's what I want to do, and I think I'm good at it?"

Gloria scoffed. "See, you're lettin' her mess with your head. Fuck what she has to say—if she has such a problem with it, she can give her endorsement up to someone she thinks deserves it. Be the change she wants to see, or whatever."

Cassius expected another reprimand from Hop, but he was instead met with a half-nod. "I mean... it's not how I would've put it, but there's always an inherent selfishness to this kinda thing in this sport. There are only so many endorsements given out every year for the circuit—earnin' one means takin' someone else's spot, indirectly or not. It's an unfortunate fact of the business. Sure, we could all give up our endorsements to someone who really needs one, but we have aspirations too, yeah? Are those not important? Does it become a game of whose dreams are more legitimate? Of course not."

He leaned forward in his seat, closer to Cassius. "Look, I get the feeling. Definitely wrestled with it a bit when I first started out. But you're here, you have the chance, and I personally think you deserve it. It's selfish, sure, but that's part of bein' a pro, and part of bein' human. No one goes through life completely ignoring what it is they wanna do."

Cassius hummed, taking in Hop's words. It was a fair point, and he wouldn't lie, it definitely did make him feel better. He belonged in this league—and Hop and Gloria thought so too.

"Plus, I woulda killed you if you made me train you for all that time, just to throw it all away at the first sob story you heard," Gloria added encouragingly. "There's charity, 'nd then there's wastin' my time."

Cassius rolled his eyes. "Yes, thank you. I'm glad that I haven't inconvenienced you at all."

"As you should." Setting down her plate, Gloria got to her feet. "Now, if we're done whingin' about that emo jobbie 'nd the ethics of Pokémon endorsements, I believe we've some trainin' to do."

Cassius similarly stood. "Alright. What's on the docket for today? Same as yesterday?" He'd anticipated more work with chaining moves together, so he was surprised when Gloria shook her head.

"Nah, gotta move on to gym prep," Hop answered in place of Gloria. Cassius supposed he'd be training with them today, if they were gonna start moving on to preparation against Nessa. "To that end, we're gonna be doing something a little different today."

"Like?"

He retrieved something from his bag—a bullseye. "Target practice."

Cassius probably should have assumed as much beforehand, but there was no way he was going to beat Nessa with the same strategy he had used against Milo.

"Nessa presents an interesting contrast," Hop explained. "Unlike Milo, there's multiple ways she can win a fight, and she doesn't rely on one Pokémon to solely get the job done—for the most part. For now, we'll focus on how she operates in battle, and how she goes about winning her bouts.

"Part of her strategy involves out-speeding her opponents, using two of her three available Pokémon—a Goldeen, and an Arrokuda. Goldeen has the ability to use Agility to grant it higher speed, and is usually deployed to snipe enemies from a distance with special attacks like Water Pulse and Whirlpool. It does know Horn Attack, so it isn't completely defenseless in a physical fight. Arrokuda, meanwhile, is the opposite. It'll use Aqua Jet, Bite, and Fury Attack to pick away at physically weak opponents, and its superior speed means it doesn't have to buff itself to immediately put opponents on the back foot."

The film supported his findings. Arrokuda especially seemed to blitz past its opponents with ease, nicking them with a well-placed Bite or Fury Attack. "Unless you can stall it or paralyze it, it'll virtually always move first. It trades its attack and speed for a low defense, but don't let that fool you. Get sloppy, and it'll end the fight in seconds."

And that was only half of their worries. "The other part of her game is her finisher, Drednaw." The Pokémon in question was a large, quadrupedal Pokémon, with a shell made of rock. "Extremely high physical attack power, and an equally strong defense. Hitting in the shell won't even tickle the thing, even less so once she Gigantamaxes it—which she absolutely will do. You have to aim for the tiny chinks in its bodily armor, at the legs, neck, and head. Outside of hitting it square in the head, it's the only way you'll do any meaningful damage to it."

Which brought them to their training exercise—homing in on tiny targets, and managing to hit them dead on. For ranged attacks, that meant standing a sizable distance away and landing hits on a target less than a few inches wide. For physical attacks, that meant rushing and landing a clean strike as quickly as possible with nothing but an eyeball for the target. Their opponents wouldn't be kind enough to give them time to pinpoint exactly where to strike. They would have to pick a spot quickly and commit to it, lest they get hit with a counterattack.

They had divided the training into two sections. One with stationary targets, meant to simulate the stationary weak points on Drednaw, and one with moving targets, meant to simulate the speed of the moving targets like Arrokuda and Goldeen. The training was divided into two groups—Hyla, Scorbunny and Grookey were tackling the stationary targets. Korvis, Wooloo, Yamper and Stufful were attempting to pin down the moving targets.

The three starter Pokémon lined up at one side of the clearing, in a ready stance. Hop held a hand up in waiting. "Ready... go!" Dropping his hand, the trio of Pokémon rushed across the clearing as quickly as they possibly could, dashing toward the stationary bullseye. On the other side, Cassius laid in waiting. "Left!" On command, all three Pokémon rolled to their left, before continuing their stride. Scorbunny reached his target first, landing a savage kick against a thick tree. Grookey followed a half-second after, slamming his stick against a similar tree. Hyla brought up the rear, biting into her target.

"Time!" Hop called, tapping on a stopwatch on his phone right as it hit five seconds. "Well done! Let's see who got the cleanest hit."

Each of the targets were barely more than a couple of inches wide. While the surface area would be more forgiving once Drednaw Dynamaxed, training on a smaller target would theoretically give them more breathing room if they could master the precise strikes before that point. Hop and Cassius angled themselves for a look at the targets, seeing which ones were closest to the mark.

The winner was perhaps a bit of a surprise. "Hyla wins this round," Hop declared. Hyla barked triumphantly, ignoring the incensed squawks from the two starters flanking her. It was close, but the hardy electronic target registered her bite marks right near the bullseye. Scorbunny and Grookey both had managed to land their own attacks within the inner circle, but Hyla had still managed to beat them out.

"Atta girl," Cassius preened, not even attempting to hide the pride for his partner.

Not too far away, a small line of eager Pokémon formed beside Gloria. Sizzlipede, the only non-participant, wrapped herself around a decently-sized Substitute Doll, which was currently serving as their target. Gloria, with her arms crossed, nodded toward the dual Fire-Bug type. "On your ready."

Hissing, Sizzlipede tightened her hold on the doll, before launching it to her left. Korvis, first in the line, dashed in that direction, a Peck at the ready. Just as the doll began to lose momentum, Korvis met it head-on, drilling it right in its faux belly.

"Hit," Gloria confirmed. "Not bad, bird."

Korvis snorted, offended that she would expect anything less. Sizzlipede clicked as she retrieved the doll, eyeing Gloria as she did so. Gloria tensed slightly at their closing proximity to each other, clearly without much in the way of lingering love for the Radiator Pokémon. "What, you wanna medal for throwin' a trainin' dummy?"

Sizzlipede clicked rhythmically, the sound almost similar to a snicker. "Fuck off," Gloria grumbled. "You're doin' this on purpose." Sizzlipede didn't confirm or deny that, continuing to titter all the way back to her starting position, where she readied herself to throw the doll again for the next Pokémon in line, Yamper.

The group at large had settled themselves into a nice rhythm, the specific blend of training helping to better hone their Pokémons' general instincts as well as help them visualize and prepare for the specific opponents they'd be facing against Nessa. Another thing, though Cassius hadn't really anticipated it; it helped him get a better feel for the differing styles and strengths of the Pokemon that weren't his own. He somehow felt that he understood Scorbunny and Grookey more than he had prior to the session. And, bold as it was to say, he felt like the two starter Pokémon respected him a little more in turn.

"It means you're getting better with Pokémon," Hop said when he brought it up to him. "Remember when that Sobble rejected you, way back at Postwick? I feel fairly confident in saying that won't be happening again. You've gotten more accustomed to Pokémon, and have a better grasp on how to handle yourself around them, especially in training and battling. Pokémon are smart creatures—they pick up on things like that. If someone's trying to earnestly help them get better and has even a general sense of what they're doing, Pokémon will at least be willing to give you a shot nine out of ten times."

Now that he thought about it, neither of the two Pokémon seemed all that displeased with him anymore—a far cry from where they'd been at the start of their journey. "Honestly, compared to Korvis, they're much easier to get a read on."

"That they are. I suppose if you can train a Pokémon like Korvis up as a beginner, you're pretty well-equipped for most others," Hop laughed. "Keep that confidence. As a trainer, you'll meet many other Pokémon during your time traveling and training. Knowing how to handle each and every one is essential not just for fighting them and keeping yourself safe, but also for potentially convincing them to join your team."

Cassius blinked. "You come up with that yourself?"

"Ripped that one from Lee, actually," Hop smiled sheepishly. "But who needs to know that, eh?"

They continued on with their drills, Hop's words lingering in the back of Cassius' head, even as the two groups rotated. He noted the way the Pokémon moved, listened to his commands, and heeded his advice every now and again (even Korvis seemed more receptive than she usually was). In his own opinion, Cassius didn't feel confident so much as he did more knowledgeable about the strengths and limitations of Pokémon. He had helpful things he could say, tips he could count on, trends he could notice. It perhaps hit him hardest when he pointed out something to Wooloo, who nodded attentively to his advice on dodge-rolling while Hop looked on, nodding along with what it was he was saying.

Maybe it helped that he had traveled along their trainers for a while now. Even the Pokémon that weren't his seemed at least a little receptive to what it was he had to say. And perhaps part of that was because he had learned to deal with his own Pokémon and knew how to better relate to others.

When they finished up their early session for a lunch break, he went a step further and provided all Pokémon present with a little treat—some berries he had purchased from the Poké Mart before they'd departed Turffield. He divvied them up between them all, each of them eager for a treat after a long morning spent training. He had apparently underestimated how popular the berries suddenly made him, especially among the other Pokémon. Wooloo bleated joyfully, Yamper happily nuzzled his leg, and even the newly-introduced Stufful gave him a near reverent look in appreciation.

They were so popular, in fact, that some weren't content with just one. After inhaling her berry, Korvis snuck around Grookey's backside, before short-hopping into the air and nabbing the Grass-type's portion right before he could eat it. It took Grookey a second to realize what had happened, but after he did, he grabbed his stick in preparation for war.

"Woah, woah, woah," Hop quickly intervened, Cassius doing the same with an exasperated look at his Pokémon. Korvis looked unusually pleased with herself, shooting everyone her version of a smug look.

"Just couldn't help yourself, could you?" Cassius sighed. "Seriously, one of these days we're gonna sit down and work on your manners."

"Was that a move?" Hop asked, placating Grookey by providing a berry of his own.

Cassius shook his head. "Nah. We haven't worked on anything recently."

"You sure?" Gloria looked on. "Looked like a move to me."

"Pretty sure." Cassius turned to Korvis. "Hey, berry-snatcher. Was that a move?"

Though she sniffed haughtily at the nickname, she nodded. "See?" Cassius looked back to the group. "She hasn't—wait, was that a yes?"

Pulling his phone out, he found his Pokédex and quickly scanned his Flying-type. "This Rookidee is Female, and knows the moves Pluck, Fury Attack, Hone Claws, and Power Trip."

Wait a second. "Pluck?" Unless he was finally going crazy, it should have been Peck.

"Pluck is a physical Flying-type move. The user pecks the target. Additionally, the user will attempt to steal the target's held berry. Accuracy: 100%. Power Points: 20."

Cassius looked up from the Pokédex, back down, and then back to Korvis. "You're telling me that you got so good at stealing other people's stuff, that you learned a move out of it behind my back?"

After that comment, Korvis finally got so fed up that she took to hovering in the air and pecking (plucking?) at Cassius' hair, her trainer attempting to swat her away. Any fear Cassius would have originally felt at her aggression was taking a backseat to his sheer disbelief at her audacity. "You're just mad 'cause I'm right!" He defended himself.

"Cassius, it's a good move," Hop stressed, smiling at their exchange, for whatever reason.

"I'm sure it is," Cassius conceded, finally getting a hold on Korvis, gripping the feisty bird with both hands. "It's the going behind my back and not letting me know part that I'm hung up on."

Hop shrugged. "Fair."

"Were you ever planning on telling me?" Cassius interrogated, staring into the Pokémon squirming in his grasp. The angle at which he was holding her prevented her from making any contact with his skin with her beak, but she was proving more slippery than she looked. "Surely you weren't gonna hide this from me and then suddenly whip it out in the middle of our fight against Nessa?"

"Caw!" Was her angry response, as she finally wriggled her way out of his hands. Rather than continue her assault, however, she returned to the ground, turning her body away from him with an indignant harrumph.

Cassius took a second to calm himself down. He didn't think either of them would have had so much energy after the morning's training, but they both seemed to have a separate well of stamina to draw from when it came to butting heads with one another. Hop and Gloria seemed content to let him deal with this on his own—and he was completely fine with that.

Sighing, he bent at the knees to bring himself to her eye level. Or as close to the eye level of a foot-tall bird as he could manage. "I'm not actually mad at you," he clarified. "I just wished you would've let me know once you had it down, is all."

She didn't turn back toward him, but her body's rigid posture slackened marginally. That was a good sign. "I will say, I do appreciate you taking the initiative in trying new stuff. I've been spread a little thin these last few days." Between the combo training, helping Hyla with Dragon Breath, and now the Nessa-specific training, he hadn't had a ton of opportunities for any one-on-one training time with her.

Still, Korvis was putting up a defiant front. Cassius pulled out the big guns—the Flying-type supplements from Diane. "Learning a new move is something to celebrate, isn't it? I'd be happy to reward you with something like this after you manage to pull it off. Especially if I could help you along with it."

Korvis gave it a valiant effort, but he knew as well as she did how much she loved the supplements. Slowly and reluctantly, she turned toward him, eyeing the treats with thinly-veiled hunger.

"They're yours," he promised. "Every time we master a move for you. Together. And every time you help one of your teammates master a move of theirs, too. Hyla's close to learning Dragon Breath. Maybe you can help her out with that." He was sure she'd appreciate the help, especially after receiving Sizzlipede's assistance with Bite. "You think you can agree to that?"

Incentive provided—Diane really knew what she was talking about. Korvis made a show of seeming to mull it over, but Cassius had a feeling he knew what her final answer would be. Sure enough, after a moment, Korvis turned back fully toward him, nodding silently.

"Atta girl," Cassius smiled, popping open the supplement container and dumping a few gummies into his palm. "For you. Congrats on learning Pluck." Korvis tore into the treats with the ravenous fervor of someone with the mindset that someone was going to steal them if she didn't down them quick enough. Given the wide berth the rest of the Pokémon were giving her, she didn't need to worry about that.

"Nicely done," Hop complimented, looking on. "You've gotten quite good at handling her."

"Well, I'd hope so, given how long I've had to work on it," Cassius huffed, content to let Korvis eat her fill. "Still a little bit to go before it's perfect, but I think we're a lot better off from where we started."

He turned to his other Pokémon. "That offer goes for you two as well. Any moves you wanna try out, let me know and we can practice them. If you get 'em, we can celebrate." They seemed more than amenable to that, Hyla barking in agreement while Sizzlipede wriggled happily.

He smiled, watching his team interact with one another. He was quickly coming to enjoy moments like these. The downtime, relaxing with each other over a meal or after training. Initially, he'd been happy just for Hyla to get some new friends that weren't him, but as he'd looked on, he'd found himself talking with them, and learning about them beyond their strength on the battlefield. Korvis came off as a disciplined fighter, but she had a short fuse, a soft spot for praise, and a big weakness for food. Sizzlipede was a free spirit, but she was equally curious, and willing to help out when she could. He was sure there was even more to them that he hadn't learned yet—and that thought excited him.

There was still so much he didn't get. Though he vehemently disagreed with virtually everything that Marnie has asserted about him yesterday, the one thing he'd be willing to concede to her was his inexperience. There really wasn't any making up the large gap between him and the other trainers when it came to the practical knowledge. That would be his disadvantage for as long as he was still alive in the circuit.

Even with that in mind, what did she know about his team? She'd seen them battling, but she hadn't seen them beyond that. She couldn't tell him a thing about his Pokémon. He'd been the one to train them, learn alongside them, and win with them. And, despite the bumps early on, he liked what they had so far, and where they could all potentially be going if the wins kept stacking.

If they were allowed to. All that being said, it made him nervous to think about if Marnie did eventually decide to snitch on him and get him disqualified. He wouldn't take it lying down, of course, but he'd prefer to avoid that problem altogether if he could. The only thing he wanted to deal with right now was Korvis' rogue move-learning stunt.

No sooner did he finish that thought did Korvis finish her last gummy, scarfing it down into her tiny body. Immediately after, she hopped up beside him, refueled and full of energy, and retrieved his phone from his pocket using her beak. She presented it on the ground, urging him to unlock it with a crow.

Cassius did so, though not without a resigned sigh. "Seriously, how did you learn to do that?" Once the phone was unlocked, Korvis quickly found the Pokédex app, and tapped on the Pokémon registry. Using her beak to swipe down, she scrolled until she found a picture of her species, clicking on it and bringing up the wealth of data on her.

After being briefly overwhelmed by the amount of foreign words, she found and pressed on the tab that Cassius had last been on when looking through her biology—the Rookidee line's moveset.

"You wanna learn another move?" Cassius asked. Korvis nodded eagerly, scrolling through the moves until she found one in particular, pressing on the audible description before Cassius could inquire further.

"Drill Peck is a physical Flying-type move. The user executes a corkscrewing attack that strikes the target with a sharp beak acting as a drill. Accuracy: 100%. Power Points: 20."

Cassius gave her an exasperated look. "Alright, I know I said any move, but there's a limit. You haven't even mastered flying yet, and you wanna learn one of the most advanced and complicated techniques your species can handle? Yeah, I don't think so."

"Cccrrraw!"

"Because I said so, that's why. Fly on your own for more than thirty seconds and maybe I'll consider it."

A tap on his arm drew his attention, from Sizzlipede this time. While he'd been going back and forth with Korvis, she'd changed the page to her species and found her moveset tab. "Fire Lash is a physical Fire-type move. The user strikes the target with a burning lash, potentially lowering the target's defense. Accuracy: 100%. Power Points: 15."

"Yeah, when you evolve, maybe," Cassius snorted. "What, are you too good for Flame Wheel now?"

Before she could answer, a third auditory description sounded from his phone. "Draco Meteor is a special Dragon-type move. Comets are summoned down from the sky onto the target. The attack's recoil harshly lowers the user's special attack. Accuracy: 90%. Power Points: 5."

Cassius shot an annoyed look at a coy-looking Hyla. "Very funny. You wanna learn Hyper Beam while you're at it?"

"Splash is a status Normal-type move. The user flops around, to no effect."

"Hilarious."

Hyla certainly seemed to think so, barking out a laugh, Sizzlipede clicking in amusement beside her. Even Korvis seemed to find a bit of humor in her stunt. And, despite the sudden bout of mischief on display from all three of his Pokémon, Cassius found himself smiling too.

Yeah, Marnie could say whatever she wanted. She didn't know a damn thing about his team.