Chương 71: Chapter 57

The Techne Dojo. I hadn't thought I'd ever be inside the venerable building. Not after being diagnosed with synergy sickness. And yet, in spite of all the odds, here we were.

"Are you sure it's okay for us to come with you?" I asked my best friend as she led us into the building. I didn't need to worry about anyone overhearing my question, Ink the Zoroark was still covering us in an aura of inattention. Even when the lobby's automatic doors slid open to admit us, not a single eye in the room so much as twitched towards our odd group.

"Don't worry about it," Alyssa replied with a shrug.

"I've got a private training room rented out on the regular every Tuesday and Thursday. No one will bother us." … that didn't answer my question. I decided not to beleaguer the point, however, in favor of taking in our surroundings. The dojo was bustling, even this close to dinner time, students and instructors and Pokémon alike hurrying through the austere halls.

The floors were made of a lacquered wood I couldn't identify, and the walls were covered in heavy-duty shelves displaying innumerable awards and trophies. The front desk was manned by a busy-looking secretary churning through a line of claimants, but Alyssa led us right past it without even sparing a glance. She pushed through another door, leading us out of the lobby and deeper into the building's bowels, trainees and tutors unconsciously making way for us as we stepped through the busy halls.

"So is this like your guys' equivalent of a gym or something?" Mr. Gima asked, vague curiosity in his tone and expression as he surveyed our surroundings. I wasn't really familiar enough with foreign gyms or local dojos to comment either way, but Alyssa gave the man a so-so gesture with her hand.

"Sort of," she told him, before elaborating.

"It's a place where more experienced Battle Trainers teach younger competitors, but it doesn't have the same political capital like one of your gyms, and Ferrum doesn't have any sort of gym circuit, we've got leagues instead."

"Leagues?" the suited man asked, clearly familiar with the term, but unsure about the context.

"Yep. Think of them like… a conference that's happening all the time, with every battler in the region being involved at various levels." The Dark-specialist gave us an exaggerated shudder.

"Truth's gaze, what a nightmare. I can't even imagine trying to organize such a thing." That was interesting. The man thought about a region-wide tournament more from the angle of 'organizing' than 'participating.' I wasn't exactly sure what to make of that, but I faithfully took a mental note. Information about the mysterious 'Mr. Gima' was sparse, and I had no doubt that Alyssa was just as curious as I was about this foreigner's whole deal.

"It's complicated, but the Ferrum League manages well enough," Alyssa asserted.

"Anyway, we're here," she gestured us into a side room, a sparse training space with a small gaia generator providing energy for a barrier and an arena.

"Like I said, I've got the room rented out for the whole afternoon and evening, so no one should bother us."

"Bit small, isn't it?" Mr. Gima complained. I tried to suppress a grimace as the man unknowingly echoed my own thoughts. He wasn't wrong though. The whole room couldn't have been more than ten meters across, and the arena itself was maybe seven.

"This is the smallest legal arena size in the region," Alyssa replied with a shrug.

"It's a bit cramped, but it's big enough for official battles, so I don't see why it wouldn't be big enough for this." To my increasing annoyance, Mr. Gima and I shared a look. The Unovan Dark-specialist offered me a wry grin, but refrained from needling me further, turning to Alyssa instead.

"I guess it'll do. I'll give the two of you a few minutes to get ready, and then we'll get this show on the road." My best friend blinked a couple of times, nonplussed.

"What do you mean?"

"You two were going to impress me right? Only way that's gonna happen is if you prove you can battle." The sharply-dressed man reached down to his belt, and lazily tossed two Poké Balls out onto the field revealing a familiar Scrafty and Liepard. The former I recognized from that night last month at the underpass, when I'd first met Mr. Gima. The latter was almost certainly the same as I'd seen in the video the Dark-specialist had shown me, demonstrating the use of Sucker Punch and Upper Hand.

"You're gonna be facing off against these two, no instructions from me. You'd better show me what you can do, or this whole 'working together' thing's not gonna work out." Alyssa's face hardened, and before I could get a word in edge-wise, she retorted.

"Oh yeah? Well you're on. Don't go regretting that decision now!" I felt my palm meet my face as Grimsley offered a predatory grin. Based on what I'd seen of his experience relative to ours, he wasn't going to be the one coming out of this confrontation with regrets. -"Alyssa, remember that I told you he was strong? Maybe close to Drake's level?" To her credit, my best friend looked Mareepish.

"I uh, might have gotten a little bit heated," she admitted, "but can you blame me? He's totally looking down on us. Not even giving his partners commands? That's a crazy handicap in a non-Ferrum battle, right?" I winced.

"I uh, don't think he is, actually. We're going to need every advantage we can get to have a chance here." My words finally seemed to get through to my best friend, and her confident expression gave way to uncharacteristic uncertainty.

"Is it… was he really that strong?"

"His Pokémon certainly were," I confirmed.

"And they're the ones we're fighting. We can't underestimate those two." Alyssa took a steadying breath, and her expression hardened up.

"Okay, what are we dealing with Fe?" I focused in as well, wracking my brain to remember what the PokéDex had told me after I'd looked up the foreign Pokémon.

"The orange one is called a Scrafty. They're a Fighting and Dark-type that battle primarily using kicks. Their loose skin makes them tough to get a hold of and naturally resistant to status effects. Plus, they're perfectly willing to fight dirty, unlike a lot of Fighting-types. Liepard I'm sure you're familiar with?" My best friend nodded, so I continued.

"I've seen videos of that one in action. She can move fast enough that she's hard to keep track of, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's good enough with something like Feint Attack or Aerial Ace to just vanish from view entirely."

"Got it," Alyssa nodded seriously.

"So what's our strategy?" I stared at her, a bit surprised to be given the lead so uncompromisingly, but Alyssa just offered a shrug in response to my implied question.

"What? You're the one who knows how to do non-Ferrum battles. I'm gonna be counting on you for this one." Right. Alyssa was counting on me, on my partners and I, to win this. And we needed to win this, so that the mysterious Mr. Gima would teach us how to defend ourselves from the dangerous Pokémon stalking my best friend. A slapping sound rang out, and my cheeks stung as I pulled my hands away from them.

"Right, first things first, we should figure out what we need to watch out for." -"Finally, your three minutes were up like ten minutes ago," Mr. Gima complained as we stepped into the training arena.

"Well you didn't say anything about it," my best friend snarked back, as her hand went down to Pikachu's Poké Ball.

"Now are we doing this, or what?"

"You're the ones who need to release your partners. I'm just going to be refereeing this thing," the Dark-specialist replied with an easy-going grin.

"Whenever you two are ready." With one last look at one another, we both took a Poké Ball off our belt and hurled our partners out in front of us into the field. Mr. Gima stepped back as our Pokémon appeared in a spill of light, facing off against the two powerful Dark-types. And these two were strong, of that I had no doubts. The Scrafty's muscled legs were covered in a thick layer of shed skin, and a cape of it trailed down his back like a heavy coat.

His forehead crest so vibrantly crimson, it almost seemed like it was glowing. The color promised blood and violence, and the perpetual grin on the Dark-type's face was turned up in a savage snarl. Neirah the Liepard was equally impressive. Her beautiful purple fur almost glistened under the dojo's artificial lights, as if she were coated in water. Every step she took, every movement she made had an almost preternatural grace that made something in my hind brain sit up with alarm.

Her tail flicked one way, and then another, but even as her body wheeled and turned, her eyes were always focused on our partners with unceasing intensity. The arena's barriers flicked on, activated by the Unovan Dark-specialist, separating him from the rest of us.

"This is going to be a double battle," he announced, projecting his voice over the hum of the arena's protections.

"On one side, we have the good guys, Scrafty and Neirah." At the mention of their names, the two Dark-type's made a production of themselves. Scrafty broke off from his glaring to throw poses and winks to an imaginary crowd, while Neirah licked one paw with forced nonchalance, affecting complete boredom. Their trainer turned an exasperated (but amused) expression over to our side of the field.

"And meeting them are our dastardly challengers, Alyssa and Fione, along with their partners Pikachu and Falinks." I resisted the urge to contribute to the nonsense, focusing instead on my analysis of the upcoming battle, but my knights did let out war cries of their own, and Pikachu visibly sparked with electricity.

"Countdown is starting everyone, get ready!" The truth of the matter was, we were definitely outmatched here. Just looking at our opponents could tell me that. Still, overpowered didn't mean outplayed. If they were stronger, we'd just have to be smarter. Their trainer wasn't giving them commands, which meant they'd fall back on three things: their natural responses, their reflexive reactions, and the strategies they'd trained the most.

The barrier began flashing, and each of the panels that made it up showed a countdown, starting at three. Alyssa and I tensed, as did all of the Pokémon in the arena, and as soon as the timer hit zero, we all burst into motion. -"Okay, first thing we're going to need to do is keep an eye on Liepard right from the beginning of the battle. I'd bet just about anything she starts the match with a Fake Out."

"Fake Out? What sort of move is that?" I shot a covert glance over at the prowling feline.

"It's a priority-speed move that only works right at the battle's beginning, when it can catch you by surprise. It doesn't do a lot of damage, but it stuns its target for a little bit, and I wouldn't be surprised if she could really take advantage of that opening." - Alyssa and I shouted orders, but they were perfunctory. Our partners had already been briefed on our plan before the battle even began, and were in motion the instant the countdown hit zero.

I wasn't sure why Alyssa had taught her partner to use Light Screen, I'd never seen the move used in Ferrum Battles before, but I was glad the little Electric-type knew it right about now. Off-yellow barriers sprung up between the Dark-types and our partners, immediately weakening any special attacks, while my knights let out furious war cries. They glowed with energy, a reaction to the horrifying glare Scrafty was giving my them, his attempt at Intimidation triggering their Defiance.

Even as the Fighting-type transitioned his ability into a full on Scary Face, Neirah the Liepard blurred forwards, her paws slamming together in a wave of force that would have staggered Pikachu and my knights, had the latter not been ready for it. A brief lattice of protective energy erupted in front of the attack, deadening the assault, blocking Scrafty's Scary Face, and buying precious moments for the back half of the formation to start a No Retreat.

Fake Out, just as we'd expected, and sure enough, the attack was so fast, I couldn't even track it with my eyes, in spite of the prior warning. My knights would have had no chance of defending themselves as a reaction, but the barrier made by Lance, Percy, and Kay had been going up before the Dark-type had even been fully in motion. With a growl of annoyance, the prowling feline vanished, fading away before our eyes in a deceptively gradual motion that put me on edge.

-"I've seen video of that Liepard before, she knows Aerial Ace, and has fought Falinks in the past. I bet she's clever enough to prioritize supereffective moves. Even if we stymie her first assault, she's going to be able to get in close." Alyssa frowned, her face thoughtful.

"Can your knights defend themselves against it? Aerial Ace is hard to dodge, right?"

"Yeah it always strikes in your blind spot, so it's almost a sure hit, but it doesn't come out very fast because of the travel time, and it's also not particularly strong. I bet my knights can rally Protects to defend against it while they set up, but if she mixes in other, quicker moves too, we could be in trouble."

"Don't worry, Pikachu can cover them. Especially if they can defend her as well with their Protects." -"Swap cover!" I shouted at my knights, interrupting the rear of the formation's attempt to boost up before they could finish completely. Immediately they Wartortled up together, creating a Protect just in time to defend themselves from Neirah, who appeared behind them in a flash of light, only to have her Aerial Ace stymied.

Before she could try to press her assault, a Thunderbolt from Pikachu forced her to dance away, the nimble Dark-type narrowly avoiding the shocking attack. She let out a growl of annoyance, but began vanishing once more, leaving behind a faintly fading image that I was beginning to think was a very light Substitute, projected to obscure exactly when she disappeared.

Scrafty wasn't idle during all this, he'd been using Brick Breaks to kick through Pikachu's light screens, and as the last barrier faded away, he chambered a roundhouse kick that shot out a pulse of sickening darkness. I was able to warn my knights in time for them to react with another Protect to deflect the move, but our reaction was exactly what the canny Dark-type had been waiting for.

He clapped his hands together in a faux-applause while dancing a little jig, and I saw the Encore visibly take hold of my knights. -"What about Scrafty? What do you think he's going to do?"

"Well, I can't say for sure, but I think they learn Brick Break pretty early. I bet if Pikachu sets up some Light Screens, he's going to stop to smash them, even if both he and Liepard are physical attackers. It's just the reflexive thing to do."

"Okay, so that could buy us a little bit of time, but after that?" If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"We'll need to be adaptable. The most important thing will be avoiding a pitched battle. If we're just trading hits, we're going to come out behind." - Against most enemies, Scrafty's strategy would have been very effective. Protect was too intensive a move for most Pokémon to use over and over, and forcing an opponent to repeat the maneuver would usually result in it failing, creating a long opening. My knights, however, got to cheat a little bit.

After all, half of them could focus on defense while the other half recharged, and vice versa. It did disrupt our boosting moves, but it wasn't crippling either. Barriers made by only half of the formation weren't quite as strong as when they all worked on them together, but Protect was our most practiced move for a reason, and using pure force to overwhelm even the weakened version of the move was a risky proposition when Alyssa's partner was rampaging around the field.

And that was an appropriate description for the little menace. The Electric-type sparked with electricity, before unleashing a veritable barrage of Thunderbolts that put Neirah the Liepard to frantically dodging and kept Scrafty from closing distance safely or firing off more than a perfunctory Dark Pulse. -"Just remember, Mr. Gima is strong. I bet most of his partners' abilities are well-trained."

"I know Liepard's, but what are Scrafty's?" Alyssa asked, sneaking a peak at the two Dark-types.

"He probably has Shed Skin, which lets him shrug off status conditions faster than usual. If he's really well-trained, and he probably is, he can deal with them almost instantly." I thought for a few moments longer, trying to remember anything else, "he might also have Intimidate or Moxie, but we can't really do anything about those so we probably shouldn't worry about them."

- The attacks were powerful, and while neither Dark-type had to worry too much about being paralyzed, they still instinctively shied away from the electric barrage. It almost looked like Pikachu was corralling them together, her bolts forcing them into closer and closer proximity on the other side of the arena. With the time that bought us, I focused on the connection I shared with my knights, barking commands to help them break free from the Encore.

Lance and Tristan even got a chane to finish their No Retreat after divesting themselves of the effect. If Mr. Gima had been commanding his partners, I had no doubt they'd be more decisive, but as it was, they seemed a bit reticent, probably because they'd been so thoroughly stymied from the start of the fight. But these were experienced fighters, and I was glad that I'd kept that in mind, because when they did put their plan into action, I almost missed it.

I probably would have, had the two not shared a quick look that put my hackles up and my brain into overdrive. Time seemed to slow, as different parts of my attention chimed in with their analyses of the battlefield. Encore had expired on most of my knights, but not all of them had shrugged it off yet. A Thunderbolt was flying at Neirah, projected by a mid-air Pikachu who'd leapt upwards for a better angle. The Dark-type looked flat-footed, as if she was about to be hit, and Mr.

Gima's Scrafty was already in motion, hunched low, seemingly about to launch a frontal charge in the opening. And it was all a trap.

"Four sac!" I shouted at my knights, "behind you!" The formation whirled. Galad, one of the two knights still afflicted with Encore, leapt backwards without even looking, even as brothers wheeled to face him, shields chambered and glowing with energy. Pikachu's Thunderbolt connected, but not with her intended target, Scrafty turning his breakneck charge into an intercepting leap, tanking the powerful move for his partner and deflecting it off his shed skin cape.

For a second, he seemed to seize up, but he immediately tore off a small chunk of the hanging skin from his cape and hurled it away. The discarded scales visibly crackled and sparked with electricity, and the Fighting-type regained full range of motion almost instantly. Neirah vanished in a whirl of motion, before reappearing behind my knights, glowing with Flying-type energy.

The Aerial Ace plowed into Galad, sending him sprawling away from his brothers, clearly knocked unconscious, but the rest of my knights charged into the gap, their prepared Reversal catching the wily Dark-type by surprise. She tried to get a Protect up. If she'd had a half second longer, the flickering barrier might have stabilized in time to take the hit.

Instead, Neirah took the Fighting-type move on the chin, the supereffective attack knocking her up and away from my knights, into the air, just as we'd asked of them before the battle began. -"This is tricky. If we can't paralyze them, and they pressure us too much for our partners to boost up to equal them, how do we win?" I chewed over the problem for a few moments, before a bolt of inspiration struck me.

"Okay, hear me out, I think our best bet is going to be isolating one of them in a juggle."

"A juggle?" Alyssa asked, her expression confused.

"You can't do a juggle without synergizing Fe, moves take too long to come out. It'll be super easy for Mr. Gima's Pokémon to break free."

"That's true for one Pokémon, but we have seven. If my knights get one of them up into the air to set Pikachu up, how many moves can she get off before she needs them to set up again?" Alyssa visibly thought it over, obviously warming to the idea.

"I bet she could pull off two. If your knights can set things up after each sequence, we might be able to keep it going," as she thought about it more, however, a frown overtook her face.

"This sort of thing would be really hard to coordinate though, Fe, how are we going to pull it off without practice?"

"Just leave it to me. Tell me what moves Pikachu would use, and I can handle the rest." -"Pikachu, Thunderbolt into Iron Tail!" I shouted, communicating the intent of our combo through my syn. For a brief instant, I was worried that the ornery Electric-type wouldn't listen to my commands, but Alyssa's request that she be cooperative paid off. My best friend's partner glowed with energy as she fired off a blinding bolt of power that tore through the airborne Liepard before the latter could react.

Unlike most Pokemon, the Dark-type didn't seize when being struck by the electricity, and she visibly twisted her body to look towards Mr. Gima even as the current ran through her. Uncertainty flashed in her feline expression, and her hesitation cost her dearly. While she failed to react, Pikachu boosted off my knights, using their heads as a springboard to take to the skies, tail aglow with power. The Electric-type swung it down like a hammer, and the impact sent Neirah crashing back towards the earth.

Unfortunately our other opponent wasn't content to stand around idly while we Poké-handled his partner." Intercept," I shouted urgently, directing Tristan to throw Bers in the way of an incoming Dark Pulse from Scrafty, who was blitzing forwards in a high-legged run that would have been comical if it hadn't been so damn fast. My hardiest knight took the attack with a roar of defiance, deflecting the distorted light off his shields with a crash, before falling to the ground once again next to Tristan.

As he was falling, I bellowed another order at the front of the formation, " Move D2, Reversal again!" Lance, Percy, and Kay took off at my instruction, sprinting to the exact spot I directed them into without even bothering to look up. The breakneck run put them right beneath where Pikachu was spiking Liepard towards the earth.

Their retreat (advance in the other direction) left just Tristan and a winded Bers to face off against the charging Scrafty, but they met the threat boldly, battle cries on their lips and shields aglow. I could feel my attention fraying, my mind struggling to keep track of all eight active combatants as I shouted a flurry of syn-enhanced orders, but I wasn't past my limit yet. -"Okay, so even if we pull off our juggle, we are going to need to be careful still because I'm pretty sure Mr.

Gima has his partners specialize in the perfect move to interrupt it."

"Protect?" Alyssa asked, unsure where I was going.

"Well, that too I'd bet, but I was thinking about Sucker Punch, actually. It's a priority-speed move that-""I'm familiar," Alyssa interrupted, her expression focused.

"What makes you think it's something they focus on?"

"When I first fought them, my knights and I caught Mr. Gima's Bisharp with a surprise attack after a feinted Bulk Up, but before we could land our move, he launched two Sucker Punches almost instantly. They came out before his trainer even said anything. It was totally on reflex, and it was fast.""" Stagger!" I screamed at Lance, Percy, and Kay as they rushed to get under the falling Liepard.

And sure enough, Neirah twisted in mid-air, her paws glowing with sticky, malicious intent as she hurtled towards the arena floor. She lashed out, but instead of catching all my knights, Lance ate the whole attack, his boosted status and stronger physique as the brass letting him take the hit without falling unconscious. He couldn't get his Reversal off, the Sucker Punch knocked him away, but Percy and Kay both rammed their shields up, drawing energy from their defeated and weakened comrades.

The move popped Neirah into the air once again, the feline letting loose an indignant yowl as she found herself temporarily divorced from gravity without her consent for a second time, and Pikachu didn't miss a beat as I shouted another pair of commands. The little Electric mouse whirled as she fell, spiking Neirah up even further with another Iron Tail that sent the two spinning away from each other.

Pikachu was heaving as she slammed into the mat below, taking in great gusts of air, but she somehow found the energy to fire off another Thunderbolt right after she landed, the move crashing into Neirah once again before the Dark-type could collect herself. The Liepard hung, suspended for a moment by the glowing current, and I shouted another order, " Launch and Smash!" My knights sprung into action once more, Kay rolling back and retracting his feet.

Percy hopped atop him, and the two sprung apart, sending the formation's second hurtling into the air, where he slammed into Neirah just as the Thunderbolt petered out. His shields were aglow with Fighting-type energy, and he rammed into her like a comet, sending both of them flying up onto the ceiling. They slammed into the arena's upper barrier, and crashed off in different directions, Neirah propelled towards her side of the field, and Percy drawn back to his brothers.

The formation's most loyal knight landed on two feet while Mr. Gima's partner slammed into the mat in a heap. The Dark-type struggled to stand, but I couldn't spare her more than a single thread of attention, because Scrafty was in and amongst our partners. He'd been dueling Tristan and Bers, just moments before, and while my knights had done their best to make an account for themselves, they'd been outmatched by the stronger Pokémon.

The part of my mind that I'd directed to watch and call orders out for that fight had winced as another Sucker Punch had finished the pair off, leaving them sprawled and unconscious. Scrafty had barely spared his downed partner a glance before charging towards his remaining opponents. Somehow, if anything, his ever-present grin seemed to stretch even further across his yellow face. -"Say we do defeat one of those two, both our Pokémon are probably going to be exhausted afterwards. What do we do then?"

Alyssa asked me, tapping a finger on her cheek as she thought through the problem.

"Well, if we still have a numbers advantage, we should probably leverage it. The worst thing we can do is surrender our lead by trading unnecessary blows."

"So we should try to take the tempo of the fight down, play the rest of the battle carefully?"

"Exactly." - The fight immediately dissolved into a savage melee. I tried to shout orders at my partners and Pikachu, infusing syn into my commands, but Scrafty was having none of it. In between every Low Kick and Brick Break was a Swagger or Torment that kept our partners off-balance and aggressive.

My remaining knights were really boosted up by now, and their attacks were more powerful than if all six of them were still up, but Scrafty weathered their supereffective blows and retaliated with haymakers that hit just as hard. Pikachu blasted off bolt after bolt, but the Dark-type deflected most of them off his loose, hanging skin, and shrugged off the moves that did hit with nary a grunt. Like I'd feared, the brutal battle of attrition didn't favor us.

Percy fell, and then Kay, and with only Lance and Pikachu left, it was really uncertain whether they'd be able to win the desperate melee. And then, an alarm bell in my fatigued mind finally caught my attention, several threads of my focus breaking off from calling desperate, futile orders to hone in on the disturbance. The prone form of Neirah the Liepard was slowly dissipating, the substitute she'd made at some point finally expiring. -"I think the most important thing is never giving up.

No matter how the fight goes, we have to give it our all."

"We always do Fe. Pikachu and I will fight until we can't anymore.""" Mate!" I screamed a warning just in time. With a roar of displaced air, Neirah appeared behind Lance, her Aerial Ace slamming into the single Falinks. He was braced for it, however, glowing with defiant energy. The Endure kept him rooted, and he wheeled, shield flashing out with the highest power Reversal he could possibly manage.

And just like last time, before he could land it, a flashing paw coated in Dark energy sent him sprawling, the Sucker Punch laying him out unconscious. Pikachu wasn't idle during this, she'd turned to the speedy feline and had a Thunderbolt charging in her cheeks as Lance got knocked out, but before she could fire it off, Scrafty was on her, his Low Kick more like a punt that sent her careening into the arena's barrier.

Before she even had a chance to peel off the glowing wall of light, Scrafty crashed into her once more, his High Jump Kick catching her right in the gut. And still Pikachu wasn't out of it, clasping onto the Dark-type's leg as they both fell and letting out an unconstrained Discharge that shocked both of Mr. Gima's partners. The stream of electricity continued until they crashed into the arena floor, where a final knife-hand Brick Break from Scrafty knocked Alyssa's partner into an insensate heap.

We both recalled our Pokémon, and with a flickering whine, the barriers powered down, leaving the room quiet for a few moments as Alyssa and I shared a moment of shocked silence at the sudden reversal and loss. Our brief bouts of introspection were almost immediately interrupted by Scrafty, who was pointing and laughing at Neirah. The prim feline's hair was sticking up on all ends, and parts of her pelt were obviously charred and burnt.

She tried to lick down some of the staticy fur, only to let out a yelp as a small yellow spark danced across her tongue. Scrafty, for his part, looked better than the other Dark-type, but I did catch him surreptitiously rubbing his knee and hiding a wince, which he tried to play off as needing to bend over to catch his breath after laughing too hard. Mr. Gima didn't miss his Pokémon's subtle reaction either, and I could hear him clicking his tongue as he walked over to his two partners.

"You two know we can't really use the Pokémon Centers around here right? Why the hell did you let yourselves get so beat up?" His two partners gave him betrayed looks, before letting out a bevy of complaints and excuses. I was just about to come to their defense (and by extension ours, since it sounded like he didn't think we'd be able to push his partners so far), but before I could, the man continued.

"If they get you, they get you. The only stakes here were your pride, which shouldn't be a good enough reason to push yourself after your stamina is depleted," that he directed to Liepard, who fell silent and looked away, seemingly abashed. Scrafty pointed again, but before he could get out more than a single chuckle, Mr. Gima whirled on him.

"And it's also not a good enough reason to risk a dangerous move like High Jump Kick, especially in an arena as tight as this one." This time it was Scrafty's turn to look ashamed, as he turned his head down and scuffed his shed-skin covered foot on the training room's reinforced floor. The Unovan man waited a few moments, staring sternly at his partners, until finally, they both offered what were probably murmured apologies. With a sigh, he recalled both of them and whispered some words.

Then, he turned to face us.

"Alright, I'll admit, you pushed Neirah and Scrafty further than I thought you would, but you couldn't beat them, even without me giving any orders." I pursed my lips, and out of the corner of my eye I could see my best friend making a similar expression.

"We were close though," Alyssa retorted, after a few moments of silence.

"We almost had them."

"Close only matters in Horsepowers and Heat Waves," the sharply-dressed man retorted.

"Should I be impressed because you almost won?" I saw my best friend's face harden up, but she didn't have an immediate retort. Something came to me though.

"Not because we almost won, but because we could have won," I told him, stepping forwards a little bit. The Dark specialist's eyes fell on me, and I forced myself to meet his gaze, even though it was devoid of the man's habitual good cheer. It felt… strange, seeing the Unovan's expression so focused. So judging. But I didn't wither under that gaze. I held my ground, and made my point.

"If we knew just a little more, if we just had the right training, we could have won. It's possible."

"And why should that matter to me?" Mr. Gima asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Because it means we're close enough to stress your partners." Alyssa chimed in.

"And I bet they've been feeling a bit lackadaisical recently, right? Getting a little bit rusty, here in Ferrum?" That question seemed to knock the man off-balance, and in the moment of distraction, I caught the mirth hiding behind his stern facade.

"Maybe they could use a bit of work," he admitted while steadfastly ignoring the rocking balls on his belt.

"But would you two really be able to help with that?"

"Not right this second, maybe." Alyssa asserted.

"But in a week? Two? And what's your alternatives right now with the city cracking down on back-alleys?"

"What even makes you think I'm going to be here for that long? I could catch that Zoroark tomorrow and be out of here the day after that," the Dark-specialist asserted, though he didn't really look all that confident about his chances.

"Maybe? Or maybe you're going to be tracking them and trying to bait them in for another week. Or a month," Alyssa replied.

"Are you really going to let your training languish for that long if that ends up being the case?" The man seemed conflicted, and my best friend must have picked up on it as well, because she made one last push.

"How about you hedge your bets. Say you manage to catch the Zoroark tomorrow? Then we didn't need the training anyway. And if you don't, then maybe helping us will allow us to help you." I could see the very moment amused indecision gave way to resignation.

"Alright, alright, you've got me. I'll help you two bring your Pokémon up to a more respectable level. Just don't expect me to go easy on you." We both grinned. Neither of us would have had it any other way.