I think Larry would approve of the chapter title.

The next week passed without any major events. Even at school, Juliana had an average time - flunking Mr. Salvatore's class, acing Mr. Hassel's, and passing the others. She chose to battle the Gym Leader Larry next, and, reading that he preferred Normal-type Pokémon, brought Fighting-types to come along.

Armed with a Quaquaval, Talonflame, Daschbun, Pawmo, Tinkaton, and a Zangoose she'd caught while Tera raiding, she eventually made it to Medali. It was a beautiful, busy city, but there were few sculptures that Juliana could see, and only one mural - oddly enough, Staraptor seemed to be the city mascot.

It was storming by the time she found the Gym, and it seemed she wasn't the only one who had taken shelter there.

"Hey, Juliana!" Nemona turned and smiled. "Nice to see you here!"

"You knew it was me before you turned around?"

"I recognized your footsteps." Nemona laughed. "I'm not following you, I swear! But since you're here..."

"You want to battle?"

"I do, but I was going to say you might as well get behind me!" She struck a pose, smiling more widely at her friend's giggles. "I'm already signed up to take the..."

She stopped, looking back to the door. Juliana turned, too.

"Hey, Florian," she said, as the soaking boy shook himself off like a dog. "Training again?"

"I didn't know you were taking the Gym challenge, too!" Nemona did another happy arm flap. "Let's battle! You and me!"

"I'm not here for the Gym," Florian protested, to Nemona's disappointment. "I'm just here to hide from the storm."

"Training again?" Juliana asked again, and he nodded.

"It's getting harder to take on those Titan Pokémon," he admitted. "And Arven isn't that good at battling."

"I'll say," Nemona said, suddenly grouchy. "I asked him to battle once. Even promised to hold back so I wouldn't crush his Skwovet. He told me I was a battle-hungry maniac and refused to even speak to me. When he battled with his dog, he seemed pretty chill! What happened?"

The younger students stared at her in silence. Then Florian changed the subject.

"How's your art going?"

"Pretty well!" Juliana bounced in excitement. "I talked to Brassius, and learned the definition of avant-garde, and I talked to Mr. Hassel. He's left-handed too, did you notice?"

"I'm surprised you did," Florian answered honestly. "What about your Gym quest?"

Juliana stopped bouncing. "Eh," she finally said. "It's going. I've been spending more time training all my Pokémon and catching even more." She smiled. "Did I tell you I have a shiny Nymble? I named her Sparkle."

"That's cool," Florian said as Nemona's jaw dropped. "I didn't name my shiny. Maybe I should."

"Hold it," said Nemona, and her friends turned back to her. She pointed at Juliana. "You both have shinies? How long did it take you to find them? Why wasn't I told?"

"Well, we're usually a little preoccupied with battling when we see each other." Juliana bounced again. "I can show her to you, though!"

"Maybe next time." Nemona turned to the door. "The rain's slowing down! I'm going to go to the Treasure Eatery. Enjoy your Gym test, Juliana!"

Giggling like she had a secret joke, Nemona ran out into the rain.

She hadn't lied. It was slowing down. Florian hadn't noticed.

Florian and Juliana headed out to the Treasure Eatery as soon as Juliana registered for the Gym test. The test was to order a special combination of foods, and her only clue was that there was a regular at the restaurant that would give her part of the answer.

So, naturally, after getting the clue from a man who looked like he hadn't left the building in days, Juliana went right to ordering various combinations of food, ending each with "lemon."

"Um...grilled rice balls," she started, looking over the combination list for the third time, "with...um...lemon...Flamethrower style..."

"And what size serving?" asked the waiter/Gym employee.

"Medium?"

The waiter nodded. Then he retreated back to the kitchen.

He returned minutes later with a plate of grilled rice balls with lemon.

"This test is stupid," said Juliana, taking an angry bite of one of the rice balls. Florian took a rice ball for himself and tossed the rest out the window, where Koraidon was waiting for it.

"He cracked when you said Flamethrower," said Florian. "And only then. I think you got the rest right."

"Ok, then. Ember or Fire Blast?"

"Flip a coin. Heads for Ember."

Juliana did as she was told. "Ember. Let's try this again."

The waiter barely suppressed his laughter when he saw her again. "Come back, then? Did you get the other clues?"

"You know very well that I didn't." Juliana crossed her arms over her chest. "This time, let's try grilled rice balls with lemon, Ember style."

"What size serving?"

"Medium."

As she looked down at her fourth meal, she didn't even bother taking any of it for herself. Koraidon was happy. So was Florian.

"So we've narrowed it down to Fire Blast," he was saying as he followed her back up to the front. "That's good, right?"

Juliana paid as much attention to him as the waiter did. "I want grilled rice balls with lemon. Medium serving. Fire Blast style."

This time, the waiter didn't bother to write it down. "Medium rice balls with lemon, Fire Blast style!"

A man in the back of the restaurant stood up. He had a tired face, much like Brassius did. Dark hair with strips of gray was breaking free of its professional style. Juliana didn't process Florian's shock until he spoke.

"The guy who gave you your clue was the Gym Leader?"

The center of the restaurant's floor parted, sending complaining customers running to tables, grabbing their plates.

Larry didn't seem to care. "You finally got it right," he observed.

Juliana stuck out her tongue. One corner of Larry's mouth lifted in a small, exhausted smile.

"I don't have time for small talk," he said, like she'd said something. He nodded toward the battlefield that had emerged from the restaurant floor. "Let's get to work."

Larry led with a Komala. Juliana led with Talonflame. Talonflame opened with Acrobatics. Komala followed with Yawn, but another Acrobatics took it out of the match.

Larry's next Pokémon was Dudunsparce, and thanks to Juliana forgetting that Talonflame fell asleep, the round went to the Gym Leader.

Juliana called Daschbun next, and within three Play Rough attacks, Dudunsparce was out.

Surprising no one, Larry's next Pokémon was a Staraptor. Surprising no one, he chose to Terastallize it, though it did take some encouragement from the chef and customers. And surprising no one, the attack took down Daschbun.

"You want to Terastallize?" Juliana asked, holding her head high. "I can Terastallize without even using a Tera-boosted move. I caught this one in a Tera raid battle. Never used her in anything but helping me catch new Pokémon." She nodded at the Pokeball in her hand. "I choose Zangoose!"

Larry nodded. "So you didn't bring any Fighting-types."

"I did, but I learned from the first four Gym Leaders that you guys come prepared." She pulled out her own Tera Orb and switched it on. As she launched the charged projectile at Zangoose, the crystal energy it absorbed turned purple. A bluish-purple. The Dragon-type Tera Jewel appeared seconds later.

"Now," Juliana called, "use Crush Claw!"

"That's not a Dragon-type move," Florian objected, but Zangoose was fast, and Crush Claw took out the Staraptor.

As the scattered Tera Shards were scooped up, Larry focused on Juliana. "You're pretty strong for a kid your age," he commented.

"I get that a lot," Juliana agreed.

Larry held out a TM. "This is a TM for Facade," he explained as she put it with the others in her bag. "Life isn't always about being true to yourself, but let's hope you never have to put on its namesake."

Juliana looked back at the bag, then at Larry. "I'm fourteen. I've learned not to take life lessons from strangers."

"And my kid joined a gang. I need to let out this pent-up fatherhood stuff sometimes."

Larry's description in the Gym Leader roster said nothing about him having a child. Juliana wondered who this kid was.

Then the thought disappeared from her mind when Larry handed her a piece of paper.

"What's this?"

"The bill for your incorrect orders."

Juliana looked over at Florian. Florian cringed.

"Don't make me pay for it," he said, getting Larry's attention for the first time. "My dad's a lawyer."

"I wasn't going to run around town in the rain!" Juliana protested.

Larry almost-smiled again. "You just might be the smartest challenger I've had all year."

By the time they returned to the Gym building, Nemona was back. This time, she was with Geeta.

"You were awesome in that battle, Juliana!" Nemona cheered, proving that, yes, she was waiting for them. She turned to Geeta. "See? I told you she was great!"

"I've seen her strength before," Geeta reminded her. Juliana was surprised - she had no memory of this woman. Geeta continued on, not seeming to notice. "However, to beat Larry on your first try..."

"It was down to dumb luck for me!" Nemona finished.

"So you have your Gym badge, then?" Juliana asked, and Nemona proudly showed off a badge just like Juliana's newest one.

Geeta smiled. "So, girls. You've each beaten five Gym Leaders. That's more than most people."

"Well, I did promise Mr. Hassel a battle," said Juliana. "I have to make it to the Elite Four at least."

"Make it through the Elite Four," Nemona corrected. "Mr. Hassel is the last one, and -"

"Let's keep her surprised at the rest of the lineup, shall we?" Geeta's smile didn't disappear, but Nemona's did.

"Oops."

"She'll probably forget as soon as she leaves Medali," said Florian, surprising Geeta but not Nemona with his presence.

Nemona's smile returned, and she did her arm-waving stim again. "And a good battle will make her forget what she already knows!" she declared. "You and me, Juliana! What do you say?"

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"

"I want to fight your Zangoose!"

Geeta interrupted before the match could begin. "Zangoose, and the rest of Juliana's team, likely need to be healed. At least let me do that."

"Fine," Nemona sighed, before looking to Florian. "What about you?"

"I think Juliana's more your level," he protested. "I'm surrounded by prodigies, give me a year to catch up."

Nemona's face fell at the word 'prodigies.' "I could help you get stronger," she objected, but Florian shook his head.

"You two are awesome. I'm...competent," he decided. "But right now, I need to battle for Arven."

"What are you guys even doing together, anyway?"

Rather than tell Nemona about the Titan Pokémon, Florian just grinned. "We're making sandwiches."