The previous day in the clubroom was probably one of the best days she's had in the academy so far. The temptation to ask for seconds became too strong to ignore, but thankfully, Crispin was more than happy to oblige.

When she departed from the clubroom that afternoon, her belly was comfortably full and her spirits were rather high. They remained so when she returned to her dorm for an evening study session, settling down at her desk with her supplies and a drink bought from the cafeteria. That night, the feelings of bliss persisted as she went to bed, watching her Mimikyu and Clefairy play with their toys on the carpeted floor before slumber claimed her.

The following day, her day started out normal. The girl found her thoughts often wandering towards the League Clubroom and its normal occupants, to the point she was actively craving another visit – this time of her own volition. She frankly felt it was embarrassing and a dash pathetic, wanting to be around individuals who were acquaintances at best because they were just...nice.

The Elite Four members were so far the closest people she had to friends. It was a persisting tug that directed her to the clubroom later on, during downtime between classes. Her Mimikyu trailed behind, one hand grasping a pant leg.

It's interior contained just one person: Drayton, who was naturally at the table. Interestingly enough, instead of the table's surface being bare, there were documents spread around the teen with a pen lying close by. The teen showed no interest in the papers though, lying with his head down in the usual position.

His eyes opened at the sound of the doors sliding open.

"Hey." His greeting was simple by itself, but the inflection of it mixed with his somewhat dopey grin made it anything but.

"Hi."

Drayton didn't comment on she sitting down near him at the table, though she could bet he was curious. Alysa couldn't fathom why, but the awareness of he and only he being in the room made her feel that much more self-conscious. Even when Drayton laid his head back down, she was concerned over possibly being a pain in the neck. She tried removing her homework material and writing utensils with as little noise as possible. The movements done while seated where controlled and precise.

Seconds of contemplation passed, an idea coming to Alysa when she noticed Mims staring at her from down on the floor, and spotted certain coloring books in her bag. Trying to mentally quell a passing ripple of anxiety, she took a chance.

"...Drayton?"

"Hm?" He opened an eye.

"Can I put my Mimikyu on the table?" She remembered he doing so with her Clefairy when she first came to the clubroom.

"Sure." He permitted it with no hesitation nor any confusion, which was oddly calming. Mims appeared more excited, as she reached down to gently pick him up by his base and place him next to her textbook. Then, she pulled out the coloring books and plastic pencil box containing crayons and color pencils.

Smiling at Mims' eager vocalizations, she observed him open one of the books and flip to a random clear page. He picked up one crayon and started immediately scribbling.

"What's that? You got an art assignment?" Drayton watched her Mimikyu, interest piqued.

"No. Mims likes drawing, is all." She answered whilst opening her notebook and textbook. His subsequent chuckling spurred an almost uncontrollable smile on her end.

"That's real cute. Too bad Lacey isn't here, she'd be over the moon."

Maybe that was a good thing. Alysa bet her squeals of delight could break glass if they got strong enough.

For the next 10 or so minutes, the place was quiet. Alysa tried to focus on her homework, but shortly into it recognized that her headspace was not clear. Doing anything that required concentration was nigh impossible with her thoughts so scattered, on a multitude of things. It helped to watch Mims color away, filling in the outlines on the page or doodling his own on the edges that struck his fancy in the moment. She had always been fascinated by his fondness of drawing, since it was like a hobby any human could have.

Over time, Alysa came to understand that while Mims understands basic things like that trees generally are, he sure didn't color them in with the typical color scheme. If they physically appeared differently to his eyes, or if he just had a wonderful sense of imagination, she couldn't pinpoint but was content to enjoy the unknown.

She had peeked at Drayton without being fully conscious of it, seeing he had again closed his eyes. She could tell he wasn't sleeping though, despite how easily one could believe it. She spied the documents on the table again, her curiosity growing strong enough to get his attention again.

"Hey, Drayton? What are all of those papers for?"

"It's League Club stuff." He sat up, and did a through stretch of his arms and back. "Lacey wanted me to fill them out. Said something about how I haven't been pulling my weight."

If he lazes about in here as much as she's starting to believe he does, she could believe Lacey's claim.

"...What do all of you do outside of battling anyway, as elites?" The question slipped out, and she mentally reeled. She looked away.

"If...it's ok to ask."

"Yea, of course. Nothing we do is like, classified information." He chuckled. She fought her lips' urge to smile.

"We help our supervisors in the school oversee the entire club. Keep track of rankings, regulate supplies, organize our tournaments...stuff like that."

"Tournaments?"

Now, Alysa made no attempt to hide her interest. The corners of Drayton's relaxed smile curled inward.

"We host ladder tourneys out at the school's entrance, as an easy way for our clubmates to battle each other. Losin's rough of course, but whoever wins the whole thing gets a big boost to the upper ranks. They get BP and some sweet items as additional rewards too."

Interesting! Such a system makes perfect sense, but this is the first she's heard of it. Then again, she wasn't 'in the know' when it came to the club yet.

"That sounds fun." A more jovial look crossed Alysa's features. "How often are tourneys hosted?"

"We used to do 'em every three weeks, but lately..." His head tilted, expression dropping its serenity. "Our champion has been against 'em. Says they're just hand-holdy and a waste of time."

Ah. Why wasn't she surprised?

"They helped promote a great sense of competition and community in the club. Now, things have been...kinda gloomy, to be honest." Drayton's brow furrowed. "No one's havin' as much fun as they used to, or even coming by the clubroom here anymore. Then again, our numbers have tanked since last year."

"By how much?" Her eyebrows knit together.

"...40-ish? We used to have close to 60 members, but it's about 20 these days."

She couldn't control her resulting grimace. That was a massive loss.

"We're probably going to keep losing more. If our numbers get too low, our supervisors will pull the League Club's plug; maybe by the end of this year."

Drayton rested his head on his propped up arm, frowning. Alysa couldn't tell what bothered her more in the moment: knowing the League Club was on its last legs, or the level of disappointment she could feel coming from Drayton. She recalled Amarys speaking of him having been the champion before Kieran. He must've seen and experienced the more glorious days of the club. What it's become is surely a sad sight to witness, especially if you were unable to do anything about it.

Drayton didn't say it out loud, but the implications that Kieran was like a slow poison that was killing the League Club were crystal clear. He had such a nasty bearing the other day; if he treated more members with the same coldness he did Crispin, it's no wonder people have dropped out. Maybe that's why it's like no one else aside from the Elite Four even come to the clubroom.

In the midst of her pondering, Alysa watched Mims grab more crayons and continue to draw in a carefree manner. She figured the biggest goal of the League Club was for its members to have fun pokemon battling, as it was its lifeblood. A negative environment stifles motivation and passion. The only way to counteract it, is to try and foster a positive one.

Having a small idea, she cleared her throat.

"Is Kieran's word...law, or something? Do you guys need his permission for a tournament?"

"Pssh, he wishes we did." Drayton laughed, audible bitterness teeming from it. "No, we don't need it. It's more annoying to get it set up though, without it. He can be a little tattletale and start up a dispute that'll need to get solved first – make the adults play peacemaker between us."

Not ideal, but that wouldn't be a massive roadblock if it came to it.

"I think...you all should host one. I have nothing to go off of, but..." Her fingertips played with one of her books pages.

"I bet a lot of people would like that. Especially if there hasn't been a tournament in a while. Could breathe in some excitement and get people to participate. "

"... ... ..." Drayton scrutinized her, making her quietly panic and fret over having said the wrong thing. Yet, there was nothing ill in his gaze. It was neutral, save for a glint of something she couldn't name.

"I think so too." His smile returned. "Speaking of - I'm surprised you're as interested in the club as you are. Still wondering if you should hop into this mess?"

She absolutely was. And as she sat there, thinking of something as fun on paper as a pokemon battling club getting snuffed out because the person at the top was weighing it all down, Alysa had started to...dream, in a way.

Dreaming was a bold thing for her to do, as she learned long ago. But here, in a place like Blueberry Academy, things didn't have to go the same as they always did. This place was no gym, no pokemon league with the formal champion title to be taken, but she could be battling to accomplish something meaningful regardless. Most importantly, perhaps there was a chance she could do something to help. She had been going through academy life mindlessly so far, not actively attached to or engaged with anything...but this?

This felt like something to get invested in.

"...Yeah."

Alysa nodded, specifically to herself rather than the elite, but her acceptance was elaborated on.

"I've been thinking about it since Lacey asked me, I do enjoy battling, but now...it's like something's telling me to join. And...I'll admit, I have a habit of overthinking. Maybe I should just take the jump and not worry about it." Or try to not worry.

"Heh!" Drayton's eyes sparkled. "Not sweatin' the small stuff is the Drayster way, so I agree. If your gut is saying you should do it, then we should go get you registered asap!"

"Eh? Right now?" She tensed up. Had her attention not been re-directed, Alysa would've laughed at how silly and cutehis self-given title was. 'The Drayster'.

"Sure! Why not?" Drayton stood up, and stretched to pop his back, then straightened out his black jacket.

"Let's get you up to the entrance. The receptionist there is one of our supervisors; she'll get you taken care of."

"O-Ok."

Cue Alysa's scramble to gather her belongings into her bag, while Drayton patiently waited with a closed eye smile. Mims was visibly sad by his drawing time coming to an end, but she promised she'd get out his coloring books again soon before returning him to his pokeball.

She was really doing this! Knowing her luck, the girl just hoped it wouldn't go south in a way she wouldn't be prepared for.