Fallarbor isn’t exactly what Lee expected it to be.

In the pokemon games, Fallarbor is a small, barren town on account of the volcanic ash from Mount Chimney. Much of central Hoenn is subject to a north-blowing jetstream, so once Mount Chimney’s ashes are free of the volcano’s updraft, they should be blown onto Fallarbor. That wouldn’t make for a sustainable settlement in real life, though, constantly living in a downpour of soot.

In the anime, Fallarbor is just another town surrounded by lush green forests on all sides, as geography was never really accounted for. Why would it be? The mostly-child audience wouldn’t care one way or another.

The reality is quite a bit more interesting.

As Lee, Brendan, and Zinnia begin their final approach into town, Lee looks up, finding the sky clear and blue. High, high above, wisps of gray and black soot flit in the air, only to stop as though hitting a wall around Fallarbor’s southern perimeter. More ash builds up along the invisible wall, persisting against the unseen barrier for fifteen minutes at a time, before it’s suddenly pulled down to a distant place on the ground, hidden from view by the forestry. It’s as if a giant vacuum cleaner has sucked all of the ash up.

“The Grumpig Glassmakers on the southern side of town are the ones keeping the place clean,” Zinnia says, answering the unspoken question on Lee’s face. “Whenever the volcano acts up, they use a big psychic net to catch all the ash that would fall into the town. Then they compress it, melt it, and make all sorts of stuff out of it. The place is regionally famous for its glass wind instruments.”

Ninetales perks up, though with her being in her ball, only Lee notices. ‘Truly?’ she asks. ‘That sounds as if it might make an interesting stop.’

‘We’ll have to swing by, then,’ Lee sends back.

“How far away is your tribe’s land, Zinnia?” Brendan asks, giving the Dragon Tamer a sidelong glance.

Zinnia looks up at the wispy soot above. “Not far. The main village is situated outside of Meteor Falls to the west of town, and it’s a three-hour walk. With a pokemon mount, it's way shorter.”

“The main village?” Lee questions. “You mentioned a while back that we were actually going to a ‘stronghold’. I take it that the stronghold is within Meteor Falls itself?”

Zinnia nods, her usual smile absent. It’s been absent for the last several days. “Yeah… It’s only accessible by air. It’ll be a good place for us to hang out and train in peace.”

“And they’ll be okay with outsiders like Brendan and I?” Lee continues.

A frown finds its way to Zinnia’s face. “If they aren’t, then I’ll invoke my powers as Lorekeeper and declare you guys are necessary for the continued survival of the Draconids. I know I told Lee that I had some things to share– ” she turns to Brendan, who stiffens under the intense stare “–and if you want to hear it Brendan, then you can too. Just be warned that, once you hear what I have to say about the Draconids and my mission as Lorekeeper, you’re going to be involved in something big. Once we’re safely in the stronghold, I'll tell you guys everything.”

Oh shit. Lee nearly forgot. He said he would tell Zinnia about his origins. Now the exchange is actually upon them, maybe less than a day away. ‘What do I even say? ‘Hey, this sounds crazy, but I’m from a parallel universe where pokemon are just children’s entertainment?’ I’m sure that will go over well.’

‘You have Grovyle, Corviknight, and I to vouch for you Beloved,’ Ninetales silently soothes. ‘If Brendan and Zinnia require proof, then I can give them whatever you wish me to.’

Ah. Right. Lee did forget that Ninetales can actually use telepathy with other people if she cares to. He sighs in relief. That makes things so much easier…

“It’s good to see that the secret dump is still on,” Lee weakly jokes. “I’m still thinking about the best way to explain my life before I became a pokemon trainer. Ninetales might need to join in with some telepathic assistance. A couple of the things I have to say might be hard to swallow,” he says, looking between Brendan and Zinnia.

Zinnia accepts the warning with a cool nod, but Brendan looks away, his face twisting into guilt at the mention of a ‘secret dump’. Neither Zinnia nor Lee miss it.

“Brendan?” Lee begins gently. “Something has been bothering you ever since we left Lavaridge. I know you said it was nothing, but now we’re all starting to get worried. What’s going on?”

The young trainer doesn’t meet Lee’s eyes. Biting his lip and nervously fingering his belt right next to his pokeballs, Brendan doesn’t answer right away, forcing Lee to hold up a hand and forestall an interrogation from a disgruntled Zinnia. After a long minute, Brendan finally begins to speak.

“So, uh…” He gulps, still unable to look at Lee or Zinnia’s faces. “Back up on the volcano, when I went with Courtney, you all remember that, right?”

“Duh,” Zinnia answers, her face losing its annoyed edge in the wake of Brendan’s uncertainty. “That was a slick move you pulled, getting in close to wreck that machine.”

Brendan nods weakly. “Yeah… Uh, about that…” He finally looks up. “I wasn’t going to double cross Magma.”

‘What?’ Lee's eyes widen, wondering what in the world the kid is talking about. He shares a glance with Zinnia, but she seems equally clueless. ‘Nine?’

‘I haven’t any idea what he’s speaking of, either,’ the vixen sends.

“You weren’t going to double-cross them?” Lee questions, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

Brendan nods again, his voice growing weak. “I… I was going to join them for real. I was this close—” he raises a hand, his thumb and pointer finger a centimeter apart “—to actually doing it. I tried to get Courtney to say that she wasn’t in on it, or that you were wrong, but…” He lowers his hand and trails off, distraught. “After all we’ve done together, I was about to throw it all away because I’m gullible, and it came down to a split-second decision! I can’t keep it to myself anymore!” he cries. “I don’t want to hear what either of you have to say, or whatever secrets you have! Someone might trick me into giving it all away!”

All at once, it strikes Lee just how critical a mistake it was not trying harder to discern Courtney’s motives. It never occurred to him that Brendan might have been her ultimate goal all along.

‘Stop. Don’t pin all the blame upon yourself,’ Ninetales is quick to jump in, her mental tone biting. ‘I did not see it, either. We know better now. Magma and Aqua will not be allowed to work such schemes around us anymore,’ she says, audibly bitter about the failure.

It takes a moment for Brendan’s words to sink in for Zinnia. When they do, her face twists itself into fury, and her hands clench into white-knuckled fists. She marches forward towards the guilt-wracked boy, practically stomping on the ground.

Three of the four pokeballs on Brendan’s belt wiggle in warning, a very clear message to the approaching Zinnia.

Zinnia cares none, and keeps walking forward to…

…pull a shocked Brendan into a hug.

“That bitch…” Zinnia’s growl is downright animalistic, but her snarl is mostly hidden by Brendan’s hat, thanks to how close she holds the boy. “That bitch! Kid, why are you apologizing when she is the one who manipulated you?” the Dragon Tamer demands, pulling her head back to stare at a speechless Brendan. “What? Why are you looking at me like that? Did you think I was going to be mad?”

Lee finally finds his own words and clears his throat. “I have to agree here, Brendan,” he begins, drawing an incredulous look from the boy. Stepping closer, Lee puts a comforting hand on the young trainer’s shoulder. “We’re the adults here, and some of the blame is on us. We were the ones who let Courtney even get close enough to you to pull her stunts, and it was all just to try and get her to slip and reveal some of Magma’s secrets.”

“That cunt didn’t lie about the part where we were on to her from the get-go,” Zinnia mumbles into Brendan’s scalp. “You’re a real honest kid, Brendan, so Lee and I didn’t want to let you in on everything and potentially have you slip up, spooking her into doing something unpredictable.”

Brendan seems beyond stunned, at this point. He shakes his head slowly, as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “You guys aren’t mad?” he asks, the words weak, fragile, and hopeful above all else.

‘Am I mad that a twelve-year-old got manipulated by a high-ranking member of a cult who probably had infiltration training?’

Lee almost shakes his head.

“No.” Lee’s reply is as quick as it is firm. “It takes a big man to own up to his mistakes. You could have said nothing and we would have been none the wiser, so I think I can speak for both Zinnia and I when I say the sentiment is appreciated.”

“Damn straight.” Zinnia smiles and finally releases Brendan. “Just… don’t be offended if Dolittle and I keep an eye on you for a while, okay?”

For the first time in weeks, the gloom around Brendan lifts, and his bright smile returns. He looks between Lee and Zinnia, as if seeing them in a new light. “Thank y –”

“Besides,” Zinnia interrupts, a smirk forming on her lips. “I heard the verbal ass-whooping your old man gave you over the phone. Sheesh, I knew a broad-chested guy like that probably had some lungs on him, but I could practically hear the speakers on your phone blowing out. You don’t need any from us.”

Brendan visibly cringes, his cheerful smile straining to remain on his face. “T-Thanks…”

‘Let it never be said that Zinnia does not have a talent for ruining a moment,’ Ninetales dryly observes with only Lee to hear her.

‘And what do you think, Love? About how Zinnia and I handled this?’ Lee asks. He can already feel the vague disapproval in Ninetales’ emotions, but he wants to hear her put them into words.

Ninetales is silent for a moment, long enough for Lee, Zinnia, and Brendan (who is now chattering away, making up for two weeks of silence) to get back on the road towards Fallarbor.

‘I think…’ Nine begins, the minor turmoil within her settling, ‘that, given the circumstances, forgiveness is the correct course, even if part of me is frustrated to admit it.’

Even if part of me is frustrated to admit it. Is that the predisposition for grudges that Ninetales as a species seems to have, perhaps? It’s heartening to see that Ninetales can work past such emotions. Hopefully, things will go the way Lokoko said they would, and Nine’s control of her instincts will tighten.

“So, boys…” Zinnia crosses her arms behind her head as she walks. “Anything that needs to be done while we’re in Fallarbor? The Draconid village outside of Meteor Falls has a general store and a clinic, but anything more specialized than that, and you’ll have to come back to town.”

‘I’m going to have to come back regardless,’ Lee muses. ‘I’ve canceled on Mable far, far too much over the last month, and I need to meet the Psychic specialist Nigel wants for that study. Who knows, maybe the specialist will have some insight on the deeper parts of what is bothering Ninetales.’

Lee apparently didn’t bother to keep his thoughts private, as Ninetales radiates a wave of displeasure as he thinks that. The displeasure dissipates as Lee wraps her in the telepathic equivalent of a hug.

“I’m going to visit the PokeMart for some supplies,” Brendan answers Zinnia’s question. “My Potion bottle is about empty, and I need to get a pokeball to replace the one I broke while catching Mawile.”

“Another pokeball?” Zinnia seems surprised, then her surprise transforms into a grin. “Thinking about getting a Dragon in the falls?”

Brendan makes an undecided noise in his throat. “Maybe. I think Marshtomp is on the home stretch to evolution, and once he’s there, I’m really gonna consider who I want for my fifth and sixth slots.”

“Well, if you decide on getting a Dragon, Meteor Falls is the place to do it!” Zinnia smiles. “I can show you the little lagoon where I got Goomy. If the breeding cycles of the falls are still synced up, then there might even be Dratini there.”

Damn. Dratini? The precursor to Dragonite? Lee silently feels his reservations about acquiring a Dragon-type begin to waver.

Zinnia turns to Lee. “What about you, Dolittle? Got anything to do in town? And since Little Hero here brought it up, any ideas on who your sixth pokemon will be?”

“I need to pick up a bunch of TMs I ordered from the PokeMart, and probably audit all of my current gear just to be safe,” Lee muses aloud. “As for a sixth pokemon, that’s still up in the air. I’ve been looking at various breeders while we’ve been on the road—”

Zinnia seems both amused and exasperated as Lee mentions breeders. Brendan simply nods along as if he was expecting the answer.

“—and I’ve got a few promising ones picked out that I want to visit,” Lee continues. “If I can’t get my hands on either a bulky fighter or a healer, then I might have to ask you to help me hunt a Dragon, Zinnia.”

Zinnia grins in reply, and it’s positively feral.

“What kinds of TMs did you get?” Brendan asks, looking at Lee with a raised eyebrow. “Since you know how to make moves, I figured you wouldn’t need TMs.”

Lee hesitates and looks to the side of the road, watching a Dustox flit and flutter in the shade of a distant tree. “After all the unpleasantries back on Mount Chimney, I decided that there were some gaps that need to be closed immediately in my team’s repertoire. On a more long-term side, this also introduces them to new forms of TE, which makes learning more moves later on easier.”

Brendan nods slowly. “Makes sense. Heck, I might see what TMs the Fallarbor Pokemart has on hand now that you mention it. So, what did you get?” When Lee recites the shopping list, Brendan’s eyes are wide long before the last TM is named. “Jeez. How much did that run you?”

When Lee remains silent, Brendan’s face twists into pity. “That bad, huh?”

“Arm and a fuckin’ leg,” Lee mutters. “I’m going to have to fly back to Mauville and give Silph another new move to cover the tab.”

Before long, the trio enters Fallarbor proper, and the well-trodden dirt road transitions into asphalt and sidewalks. The town is on the smaller side, without much in the way of distinguishing features, so the trio hurry along down the main street, swiftly finding the PokeMart.

Upon entering the shop, everyone scatters to grab what they need. Lee himself sticks close to the front of the building and finds a wall to lean against. Pulling his backpack off and placing it on the ground, he unzips it and peers at the disorganized mess within with a critical eye.

Ninetales apparently takes the stop as her cue to release herself. On Lee’s belt, her ball shakes, then pops open in a flash of light, depositing the fox at his side.

‘Ah ah! I won’t hear any protest!’ Ninetales heads Lee off before he can turn his head towards her. ‘The air is not filled with soot or anything that may bother my lungs, and I have spent most of the last week within my ball. Two weeks of recovery is enough.’

Lee grumbles. He sucks in a deep breath himself, and Nine, already knowing his intentions, synchronizes her breathing with his, letting him compare his own breath with hers. The disembodied feeling of Nine’s sternum expanding and contracting is as easy as can be expected. She’s not yet back to where she was before the volcano, but she’s in a better place, certainly.

With a mental sigh, Lee gives in to Nine’s demand. ‘Okay. Tell me if you get winded, though, alright?’

‘Beloved, you can tell when I am hungry before I do these days,’ the vixen says with a roll of her eyes. ‘But yes, if it makes you feel better, I promise to speak up.’

‘That’s all I ask.’

After spending a few minutes taking stock of his supplies, Lee, with Ninetales in tow, explores the PokeMart for a bit. After grabbing a Mart basket, Lee stops by the Flying aisle and grabs some goggles along with a face scarf, which will make flying on Corviknight that much better. After that, they move to the Electric aisle and get a new multimeter for Shinx, who has outgrown her current one. The little kitten is now pushing over fifty thousand volts at forty milliamps, enough that a multimeter rated for ‘weak’ Electric-types is topping out.

‘My baby is growing too fast.’ Lee gives the cartoonish Raichu on the multimeter packaging a bittersweet smile and drops it into the basket. ‘Maybe I should see if I can find a battle for Shinx before we leave for the Draconid village.’

After gathering a few other things of a more mundane variety, Lee and Ninetales walk over to the front of the store, where all of the locked displays are. Behind the glass displays are the usual expensive things, like pokeballs, high-end medicine, a few middling-grade evolution stones, and a handful of the things that Lee is really interested in.

Held items.

The various Leagues around the world all have their own rules on special equipment that pokemon can take into battle with them, but many of the general guidelines are the same. Typically, a pokemon can only enter an official match with a single item, be it a berry, a tool, or a weapon. The rule is good to have, and was implemented after some goober gave his Bewear a whole sack of Sitrus berries in an official tournament back in the day, but the rule is less important than most think.

Many items that passively enhance the performance of pokemon, like Grovyle’s Miracle Seed, do their mysterious work by radiating Type Energy in sync with their wielders. If two items are in too close proximity to each other, then the TE radiated by each item will conflict with the other, causing a greatly diminished effect. This isn’t the case with all items, but it affects enough that most trainers don’t see the point in experimenting.

Lee learned all that from a recent delve into the world of held items, and he also learned that a number of the more outlandish held items simply don’t exist here.

Leftovers, something Lee abused rather egregiously in the video games, isn’t a real item here much to his chagrin. Same with the Shell Bell. The Eject Button, Lucky Punch, Ring Target, Rocky Helmet, and a number of others also have no analogues.

Fallarbor’s PokeMart doesn’t really have much in the way of desirable held items. Some cellophane-wrapped Power Herbs, White Herbs, and Mental Herbs, a few Smoke Balls, and an empty display where there was apparently a Flame Orb.

‘Looks like I’m going to have to suffer through online bidding wars if I want anything for my team.’ Lee sighs. Making a mental note to start watching auctions, he makes his way over to the PokeMart checkout.

“Must be quite the order!” the elderly lady manning the cash register comments as she rings Lee’s items up and produces a cardboard box labeled “Silph Co.” from behind the counter. “The deliveryman had me sign for your package in triplicate.”

Lee offers the grandmotherly woman a smile as he hands over his debit card. “Hah. Pokemon training supplies just seem to get more and more expensive, don’t they?”

“For certain.” The cashier clicks her tongue. As she finishes ringing Lee up, she reaches into a transparent tub of bone-shaped biscuits by her cash register. Taking one, she leans over the counter and offers one to Ninetales. “For you, dear.”

The fox screws her face up into a mixed expression, like she’s not sure if she should be offended at the pet-like treatment or impressed with the elderly woman’s bravery. Regardless, Nine takes the offered treat so as to not appear rude. She croons a low, half-hearted thanks as she crunches into the morsel.

‘That biscuit tastes better than I would’ve expected,’ Lee thinks to himself, looking at the brand name on the tub before bidding the cashier farewell. ‘Better than what the work dogs back at the zoo were trained with.’

‘I still don’t understand why you felt the need to try your animals’ food, Lee.’ Ninetales rolls her eyes and licks her lips, cleaning up any errant crumbs.

‘I wouldn’t feed anyone or anything in my care any food I wouldn’t eat myself.’

Outside the Mart, both Zinnia and Brendan stand, having finished their shopping before Lee and Ninetales have. As the man and fox approach they pick up what the other two trainers are talking about.

“...It doesn’t really matter to me.” Brendan shrugs. “It would be nice to rest since we’ve been walking all day, but a few more hours won’t kill me.”

Zinnia withdraws her phone from her pocket, unlocks it, and opens up her browser. “Let’s rest and finish off the trip tomorrow then. Hanging with the Draconids can be pretty exhausting for outsiders, and the last thing you want to do is appear vulnerable around a bunch of Dragons.” She looks up, finally noticing Lee and Ninetales. “There you guys are! Little Hero and I were just discussing getting a hotel for the night. Like I was saying, you might want to be rested up. It will also give me some time to give you guys an idea of what to expect.”

Lee nods easily. “Sure. I was hoping to try and scrounge up a battle or two for Shinx, anyway.”

With Fallarbor being on the small side for a town and in a part of Hoenn without a Gym, the town isn’t well-equipped for accommodating traveling trainers, forcing Lee, Zinnia, and Brendan into a two-bed room in an older inn. A grumbling Brendan loses the three-way rock-paper-scissors game for the beds, and is forced to take up residence on the pullout couch.

Once their things are situated in the room, they venture out to a nearby park with several packed dirt battlegrounds scattered around. Claiming a corner of the park to themselves, Lee, Zinnia, and Brendan release their pokemon for a late lunch. Once all the various food bowls are passed out, the trio of trainers all sit down at a nearby picnic table and dig into their own lunches. By the time they’ve sat down, Ninetales and Shelgon have both finished their food. Each pokemon returns to the side of their respective trainers to better listen in on the coming conversation.

“Alright, let me give you boys the rundown of how things work in the Draconid tribe!” Zinnia exclaims, twiddling the last bit of a sandwich between her fingers. After wolfing down the last bite, she continues. “First and foremost, don’t take shit from anybody. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but I’ll point out who to avoid as we encounter them.”

“Don’t take shit from anyone, huh?” Lee asks, raising an eyebrow. “Zinnia, if we’re guests in the tribe, shouldn’t we not rock the boat?” he asks, Brendan nodding along next to him. “Starting fights seems counterproductive.”

Zinnia shakes her head, making her dark locks bounce. “No. That’s where you’re wrong. Most of my tribesmen won’t bother you, but it’ll reflect poorly on you if you don’t rise to a challenge, or at least call them out. If someone wants to get in your face and be rude, challenge them to a pokemon battle, and don’t pull your punches. Fuck their whole day up,” she insists.

‘Perhaps this visit will be more fun than expected if that is the first rule.’ Ninetales’ eyes shine.

Zinnia’s voice then shifts, and it sounds as if she’s chewing on rocks. “Go ma rok ja gan, taz tu ke ganzha. Yor skol, vaz belkan gan'hrus,” she recites in a tongue that sounds as if a human mouth shouldn’t be able to speak it. “Most everyone in the tribe speaks Galarian, but if they don’t, or if they’re being a jerk, hit ‘em with that and they have to agree to a battle to save face. I’ll write it down later, along with a couple of other phrases for you guys to practice.”

“Your tribe’s first language isn’t Eng—Galarian?” Lee corrects his slip-up at the last second. He goes to reach for his notebook, but when he reaches into the backpack leaning against the picnic table, the cardboard box of TMs gets in the way. Already, the foreign words he’s heard only once are a chore to recall, but he can feel Ninetales snatching up the info into her steel-trap of a mind for later.

Zinnia shrugs and makes a ‘so-so’ gesture with her hand. “Spoken Draconid has a ton of loanwords at this point, so it really depends on how you look at it. Back to the topic at hand, though, don’t let anyone push you around, otherwise everyone will think they can push you around. A Draconid Tribesman can smack down a regular trainer without any issues, but you boys shouldn’t have too worry about much. Like I said, I’ll point out the exceptions when we come across them.”

“What’s the phrase you told us mean?” Brendan asks, leaning forward in open interest.

Zinnia thinks to herself for a moment. “If you’re going literally, it means, By my right as a warrior, I challenge you to a duel. Raise your head, or be known as a coward!” she recites with a dramatic flair of her cloak. “Kinda lengthy and corny, but that’s how the Draconids have told each other to nut-up or shut-up for generations.”

A guffaw escapes Brendan’s mouth, and Lee can’t help the amused smile that plants itself on his face.

Nut-up or shut-up, bitch! Said a Dragon Tamer to another once upon a time. What a thought.

“Next up, if someone decides they have a problem with me, don’t step in. Just let me handle it,” Zinnia continues, a frown finding its way to her face. “I… It’s the right of the Draconid Lorekeeper to pick their successor, but it really ruffled a lot of feathers that Aster picked me over anyone else, so it’s entirely possible that someone might decide that they have a problem with me,” she admits, rubbing a fray in her cloak with her fingers. She looks at the fray with eyes that are suddenly wistful, then returns her attention to Lee and Brendan. “Since the Lorekeeper is supposed to be the most resilient member of the tribe, it will look really bad if I have someone jump to my aid. No matter what gets said or what you want to do, let me handle it.”

What? Lee furrows his brows. He shares a glance with Ninetales, then with a deeply frowning Brendan. He then sends a look to Shelgon, who stares back with narrow, serious eyes. ‘I can understand the reasoning, but…’

“Are you suuure?” Brendan asks, dragging out his words as if Zinnia will reconsider.

“A hundred percent sure.” Zinnia crosses her arms. “I’m a big girl, Brendan. I’m not going to get upset if someone says something mean to me. If they really get out of line, I’ll trash them in a battle and they lose their right to complain.”

Brendan looks none too happy, but doesn’t complain further.

Once she receives no more protest, Zinnia clears her throat and continues on. “Okay, next on the list are our laws.”

Zinnia leads Brendan and Lee through a number of other rules and things worth knowing, like how the tribal land has its own sovereignty and that many of Hoenn’s laws don’t apply, how fully-evolved Dragons should be verbally referred to as a superior regardless if they are around to hear it or not, how the handful of tribe elders should be addressed, some Spoken Draconid phrases, and a smattering of other things, all delivered with such enthusiasm that Brendan begins to nod off.

After Zinnia promises to give them a refresher before they leave in the morning, Brendan gets up and makes himself scarce, off to scrounge up a battle. Before Lee can rise and leave, however, Zinnia stops him.

“Hey, Lee?” Zinnia begins, slowly grinning. “How about a battle? Swablu needs just one more solid push to evolve, and I don’t think any of the local trainers are going to cut it,” she says, throwing a look over her shoulder.

Lee follows her gaze, taking in the sight of a young boy and his Makuhita, who are embroiled in a clumsy match against a teenager and his Zigzagoon. ‘It’s not really fair to compare one of Zinnia’s pokemon to pokemon raised by casual trainers, but yeah, I get where she’s coming from.’

“Swablu, huh?” Lee rubs his chin. ‘I wanted to see if I could find a rookie to use as a first challenge for Shinx… Buuuut it has been quite a while since Zinnia and I had a battle.’ He looks down at the box of TMs within his bag. ‘It would also be a good excuse to get started with our new moves.’

After a moment of thought, Lee slowly nods. “Sure. I’m down.”

Zinnia’s reply is a feral grin. She turns on her heel and calls to her pokemon. “Swablu!”

The little cotton-winged bird looks up from her lunch bowl, which she is just polishing off.

“Get ready for a battle! We’re evolving you today!”

Swablu’s eyes light up, and she takes to the air, quickly finding her way to Zinnia’s shoulder with an excited trill.

As Zinnia and Swablu go to secure a battleground, Lee looks over his pokemon, who are all either finishing their food or are already done.

“Humor me and get another few days of rest before you return to battling, okay Nine?” Lee says aloud, stroking Ninetales behind her ear. “For me?”

The fox huffs, visibly displeased even as she leans into Lee’s touch. ‘Very well…’

Lee looks over Corviknight, and the giant crow stares back without bothering to step forward, likely already knowing Lee’s decision. ‘Yeah, Corvi is a really bad matchup for Swablu. That wouldn’t be a very fair match.’

Grovyle pretends to not care as Lee’s eyes skip over him, but the downward turn of his lips is obvious to anyone who looks. ‘Sorry, Grovyle. I really want you to recover a little more, and walking into a match with a type disadvantage like that is counterintuitive to that goal.’

Shinx, who is sleepily basking in the sun after her meal, is also discounted. ‘She might have a type advantage, but Swablu is simply too experienced. That just leaves…’

Octillery slithers forward on his tentacles, standing ready.

“Already figured it out, huh?” The zoologist gives Octillery a smile. “Swablu is going to be a pretty harsh fight, but if anyone can figure out a new move on the fly, it would be you, wouldn’t it, bud?”

Octillery’s eyes widen as Lee reaches into his backpack and withdraws the Silph Co box.

While all of Lee’s pokemon were excited by the news of new moves on the horizon, Octillery was by far the most fascinated. The very concept of TMs seemed to amaze him, and he’s been the most impatient of them all, waiting for the group to finally make it to Fallarbor.

All at once, Octillery’s carefree self is replaced with a laser-focused machine, one locked on to the box of TMs. He breaks his staring contest with the cardboard to give Lee an irritated glare, as if asking what he’s waiting for.

“Geez, I can feel the daggers coming out of your eyes,” Lee jokes, holding the box out and letting Ninetales hook a claw into the tape sealing the cardboard shut. Once the top pops open, he stares down at the neatly packaged disks within, each one devoid of its cringy outer box and secured in labeled plastic cases.

“Let’s see…” Lee leafs through the TMs with his fingers, stopping on a case of translucent purple. Picking it up, the label reads ‘Psychic.’ “Here we are! Okay, let’s get this show on the road,” he says, taking Octillery’s pokeball from his belt and pointing it at the narrow-eyed octopus. “Return!”

In a flash, Octillery is sucked back into his ball.

Opening the TM case, Lee slots the center hole of the disk on the pokeball button, gives the button a tap, and holds his hand clear as the disk spins up on a thin cushion of TE. After a few seconds, the disk whines, then cracks and crumbles away, turning to dust before it hits the ground. Some of the dust finds its way onto Ninetales’ head tuft, and the vixen shakes herself vigorously to be rid of the filth.

A grin rising to his face, Lee brushes the TM dust off his shirt, opens the pokeball, and lets Octillery back out in the grass. When the light of the pokeball fades, the octopus’ eyes are as wide and disbelieving as can be. He looks down at his primary pair of tentacles, as if seeing them for the first time.

“…?” Octillery lets out a mystified breath and shakes his head.

‘Do you feel any different?’ Ninetales questions aloud, her words coming out as a foxy croon. ‘If you do not, envision Psychic as a limb you cannot see.’

Octillery blinks, then focuses on the empty TM case lying on the picnic table. With a hesitant gurgle, he raises a tentacle.

The case lifts up in a corona of violet and floats into his grasp without so much as a dip.

Lee can feel his wallet suddenly hurt, as Octillery’s eyes take on a positively voracious light.

“Ready?” Zinnia calls from the other side of the battleground.

Around the battleground are a handful of spectators, no more than five excluding Brendan. The locals took a single look at Zinnia and backed off, unwilling to act as the referee which left Brendan with the duty.

On Zinnia’s side of the field, Swablu is already hovering and lets out an eager trill.

“Ready!” Lee calls back staring at Octillery’s back. In a quieter voice he says, “Remember, bud. If you can’t manage to use telekinetic locomotion safely, then save it for some calmer training.”

Octillery waves him off with a tentacle. ‘Great. Didn’t listen to a word I said…’

Looking between Lee and Zinnia, Brendan grins and raises a hand. “If both battlers are ready…” He chops his hand down. “Begin!”

“Octazooka!” Lee immediately starts on the offensive. ‘Octillery’s ink is heavy and stains like a motherfucker. If we soak her wings with it, Swablu will be a sitting duck for a follow-up… Or a sitting Farfetch'd? Sitting Ducklett? Agh!’

“Mist!” Zinnia orders a split second later.

Octillery sucks in a breath, puckers his lips, and then, with a sonic crack, fires a screaming bolt of ink at Swablu.

The blue bird tweets in alarm and ducks out of the way with inches to spare. At the same time, she rapidly flaps her wings, which produce a thick, white mist. In no time at all, a dense cloud begins to overtake Zinnia’s side of the field.

‘No, you don’t!’ Lee narrows his eyes, already knowing how effective this particular strategy is. “Lock-On!”

Octillery goes still, his eyes shining a bright blue. If one were to look close enough, they would see red rings in the blue glow that rapidly flit across Octillery’s field of vision.

“Take Down!” Octillery’s sudden lack of movement isn’t lost on Zinnia, who grins and orders a rush down.

Swablu bursts out of the mist with a snapping cloak of white energy enveloping her. Like a vengeful meteor, she shoots down towards Octillery, intent on hitting him with the force of a cannon shot.

‘Please let this work!’ Lee says a prayer in hopes Octillery is as much a genius as he seems. “Strafe right!”

Octillery’s entire body suddenly shoots to the right, as if the ground beneath him has turned to slick ice, letting Swablu’s Take Down miss by a mile. At least, that’s how it would look to an outside observer.

No one but Lee and Octillery know about the cushion of telekinesis that the octopus is sitting on, letting him maneuver with a magnitude of freedom his tentacles alone would never afford him.

“What the fuck?” Zinnia’s grin falters, and Swablu aborts her failed Take Down to stare at Octillery in befuddlement.

Octillery, meanwhile, drags a pair of tentacles along the packed dirt of the arena, slowing his rapid slide to a stop. The look he gives Swablu is almost diabolically smug.

‘Definitely have some work we need to put into it.’ Lee looks at the skidmarks left behind by Octillery’s tentacles. ‘Particularly the stopping part. But I’ll be damned if that wasn’t an amazing first attempt.’ He shakes his thoughts away and gets his head back in the battle. “Octazooka!”

Another bolt of supersonic ink blasts from Octillery’s maw, aimed squarely at the wide-eyed Swablu.

“Cotton Guard!” Zinnia doesn’t bother ordering a dodge after Octillery’s Lock-On.

Swablu crosses her wings in front of herself as they puff up to twice their size providing a downy layer of armor. When Octazooka smashes into her, drenching her wings as Lee planned, Swablu is thrown spinning through the air with a pained cry. She spreads her wings and struggles to right herself, but even flapping as hard as she can, it’s all she can do to maintain altitude with her sullied wings.

“Back into the Mist, then use Refresh!” Zinnia is leaning forward now, her face hardening into focus.

‘Refresh? That heals status conditions like poisoning, burns, and whatnot. Can it clear off contaminants like ink as well?’

“Charge Beam, don’t let her go!” Lee pushes the offensive.

“Dragon Pulse, counter!”

Octillery narrows his eyes and, with minimal flourish, throws his head forward, shooting a crackling stream of electricity as thick as a man’s arm at the retreating bird.

Flying backwards as best she can with her ruined wings, Swablu opens her beak and, with a furious screech, expels a whirling beam of blue.

Charge Beam and Dragon Pulse meet at the halfway point in the field, pushing against each other for only a moment before both destabilize and explode with a bone-rattling Bang! In the wake of the explosion is a rain of sparks and hissing wisps of Dragon TE, obscuring Swablu from sight. When the aftermath fades away, Swablu is nowhere to be seen.

Lee’s eyes shoot to Octillery, and he’s pleased to see that the Water-type is already re-casting Lock-On.

Octillery looks over his shoulder towards Lee, waiting for a signal.

‘Zinnia has to realize that Octillery is Locked-On again, so she’s going to counter with another attack, likely Dragon Pulse, and probably try to close the distance. Ice Beam would beat Dragon Pulse in a stalemate, but is Octillery’s slowest beam attack, so with that in mind…’

“Aurora Beam!” Lee orders.

“Swablu, Dragon Pulse!”

Octillery’s eyes track something in the dense mist that Lee cannot see and, fast as can be, the octopus spits a flashing beam of rainbow-colored light into the wall of white.

A raging Dragon Pulse flies out to meet Octillery’s attack, but unlike with Charge Beam, Aurora Beam plows through the Dragon-type attack, dissipating it with some difficulty to lance through the mist.

Cra-Boom!

Aurora Beam hits home, and Swablu’s shrill shrieks draw winces from both Lee and Zinnia.

The Mist rapidly clears without Swablu consciously holding it together. As it does, it reveals Zinnia’s little bird panting harshly, barely able to stay aloft. Refresh cleaned off Swablu’s wings but she now sports several spots of cracked, frostbitten skin from Aurora Beam.

Swablu looks down at Octillery, who stares back up dismissively.

A furious trill building in her throat, Swablu spreads her wings and shrieks in anger. Just as she does so, however, a bright light begins to envelop her.

‘This is it!’ Lee smiles and pulls out his Pokedex to record everything.

Swablu’s downy cloudlike wings grow, expanding across her body until she practically has a full-body covering; her egg-like body morphs, her neck lengthening into something long and graceful, and her tail feathers lengthening with new feathers forming a regal-looking fan.

As the light fades, Swablu is no more, and in her place is a glowering Altaria. The newly evolved Altaria puffs up her chest and releases a nails-on-chalkboard screech.

Lee cringes at the sound. Ugh! She’s not even using an attack, and the sound is deafening.

“Yes!” Zinnia’s feral grin is back in full force. “Altaria, baby, I knew you could do it! Let’s rock!”

Altaria, fresh once more, trills in agreement. Unlike her prior form, the trill is practically musical in nature, as though the sky blue bird might break out into song at any moment. She turns her beady black eyes to Octillery, and within those eyes is an aggression that Swablu never had.

“Take Down!” Zinnia orders, her manic grin growing ever wider.

Where Swablu was fast, Altaria is fast. The bird-shaped Dragon closes the distance between herself and Octillery in a split second, and Octillery can do nothing before he’s struck and thrown end over end.

‘Shit!’ Lee grimaces. “Octillery, back on your feet! She’s swooping again!”

Altaria’s cloud wings flare out, slowing her damn-near instantly and allowing her to turn towards Octillery, who is shaking the stars from his vision. With a borderline sadistic hiss, she shoots forward like a missile.

Thwack!

Octillery tries to strafe on his telekinetic cushion, but is slammed with another Take Down. This time, he grips the ground with his tentacles and remains upright as Altaria surges past. Octillery lets out a watery groan, his side already beginning to turn into a giant bruise.

‘C’mon man, think!’ Lee frowns, watching Altaria take to the sky again. ‘How do we…’ He pauses, eyes drawn to the most vulnerable part of Altaria’s anatomy.

Her long neck.

In both his studies and in nature, Lee has seen what happens to long-necked avians who let something get at their most defining characteristic, and it’s never good.

I feel a little bit scummy gunning for the obvious weakness, but I owe it to Octillery to try and win this.’ Lee grunts. He’s yet to net a substantial win with the red cephalopod, though not for a lack of trying. As Altaria again stops on a dime and turns to re-engage, Lee puts his plan in motion. “Octillery! Wait until she gets close, then grapple her! Her neck is her weak point!”

Octillery’s eyes narrow, and he holds his main tentacles ready.

Zinnia, however, is having none of that. “Altaria, pull back!” the Dragon Tamer barks.

Altaria doesn't seem to hear Zinnia and keeps charging forward, eyes burning with the desire to harm. She slams into Octillery with another brutal Take Down, rocking the Water-type with a painful impact.

Narrowing his eyes vindictively, Octillery doesn’t give Altaria any chance to escape and wraps two of his tentacles around her windpipe, squeezing as hard as he can.

Altaria immediately gags and chokes, desperately flailing to free herself.

“Altaria! Listen to me, dammit!” Zinnia bellows at max volume, frustration plain in her voice. “Fury Attack! Free yourself!”

Altaria continues to struggle, heedless of the words of her trainer.

‘What in the world is with this sudden aggression?’ Lee wonders. ‘Something with her evolution?’ Then it hits him. ‘Oh shit. Altaria gained Dragon typing with her evolution. Did it mess something up in her head?’

Off to the side of the arena, Ninetales subtly flinches.

Altaria hisses as best she can and snaps her beak almost mindlessly at Octillery, who is visibly straining to keep her from overpowering him.

‘Let’s not drag this out.’ Lee looks away for a moment. “Ice Beam, point blank!”

Octillery takes a deep breath, and then from his nozzle-like mouth comes a beam of pale blue cryo-energy that strikes Altaria directly in the face. Frost crawls over the body of the bird-dragon, who screams and thrashes harder in Octillery’s grip. Since she’s both Flying and Dragon-type, and both types are weak to Ice, Ice Beam is hitting her four times harder than usual.

The newly-evolved Dragon wavers in Octillery’s hold, shivering like a leaf in a windstorm from the brutal cold. Finally, she goes limp and Octillery cuts off Ice Beam, dropping the frostbitten and unconscious Altaria to the ground.

Brendan, still playing the part of the referee, raises a hand and makes the call after a long five seconds. “Altaria is unable to battle! Lee and Octillery are the winners!”

Zinnia sighs and raises her pokeball. “Looks like this is my loss… Altaria, return,” she mutters recalling her nearly-frozen pokemon in a flash of light.

“Excellent work, Octillery,” Lee praises his pokemon, rubbing a hand on an unbruised bit of Octillery’s head. “Damn fine job with your telekinesis. You’ve only had it for twenty minutes and it’s already combat-viable. We’ll work on fine-tuning it later.”

Octillery nods tiredly, raising a tentacle to lay over Lee’s hand.

“Get some rest, bud.” Lee smiles, raising Octillery’s ball and getting a grateful look in return. “Return.”

Like Altaria, Octillery vanishes in a flash. His pokemon secured, Lee walks over to Zinnia, who is staring down at Altaria’s ball with a frown. As he walks, Ninetales retakes her usual place at his side.

“Great battle, guys!” Brendan interjects, skidding to a stop before Lee and Zinnia. The boy conspicuously looks at Altaria’s ball, but doesn’t comment on the blatant disobedience he saw.

“I’m going to guess suddenly becoming a Dragon… did something to Altaria?” Lee gently asks, slipping his hands into his pockets.

Zinnia nods and shrinks the pokeball into its travel form, clipping it to her belt. “Yeah. I knew that she was going to be really testy after evolving but I didn’t expect her Dragon aspect to be that strong.” Zinnia’s smile returns. “Sucks that we lost, but evolving and immediately getting knocked off her high-Horsea probably did Altaria a lot of good in the long run, so thanks for not throwing the match or something because you wanted to spare her feelings,” Zinnia smirks. “Knowing you, you probably considered it, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t, actually,” Lee admits, getting a surprised look from the tanned woman beside him. “I thought surrendering or sandbagging would upset you, and I hadn’t had a solid win with Octillery yet, so I pulled out all the stops.”

“Well, I hope one of you is up for another battle!” Brendan interjects with a wide grin. “Breloom and I managed to get a battle in before you guys started, but it was against a rookie that we had to take it easy on. After watching Octillery and Altaria duke it out, we’re all raring for a good one!”

Marshtomp’s ball suddenly snaps open on Brendan’s belt, materializing the mudfish next to his trainer. As if to punctuate Brendan’s statement, Marshtomp lets out a rumbling croak and punches a fist in the air.

‘This is what I signed up for when I agreed to travel with battle junkies, I guess.’ Lee rolls his eyes and shares a glance with a rather amused Ninetales. “Sure, sure. Do you want to pick your poison, or should it be a surprise?”

Brendan and Marshtomp’s identical smiles only grow when Corviknight’s ball rumbles, then pops open of its own accord.

They would all later be chased out of the park by a groundskeeper, furious about one of the battlegrounds being rendered unusable.