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MATURE: Nori Carino: Official In-Training [COMPLETE!!]

Fair point. I was never one of the cool kids so I'm deaf to that sort of thing.
You and me both, dude.
I personally was A cool kid, even though I wasn't one of the cool kids, if that makes any sense. Idly, that's where Nori's social status was partially inspired from: someone just about everyone likes, although he has few (if any) real friends and about the worst luck in retaining any due to external factors

That aside, I did mention in a reply that image is a theme of the fic!

I was afraid he'd just run away on his own.
I'll abstain from answering this one just yet. :)
 
GAIDEN: Démarche of Lux
Lux Blomgren had made a mistake.

He had realized this minutes after running away from school in his depression. He should've gone back. He knew this, even at the time, yet he did not. Instead he decided there was no going back after how he'd acted. Better to go home and wait for tomorrow.

He had no way of knowing his mistake at the time. He told himself this repeatedly. But...

##########​

GAIDEN: Démarche of Lux
February 26th, 2015

It took Lux almost a whole hour to get home. He didn't have the energy to get there any sooner. He was thankful his mom wouldn't be there. He hoped his dad would be. His van was in the driveway, but that didn't mean anything - he could be at a client's. He would have to face his parents. It would be far easier to explain things himself first, before the school told them about it.

He stood on the doormat for half a minute, mentally preparing himself. Lux reached out and gripped the handle. He slowly turned it, finding it wasn't locked. The boy quietly opened the door, for a moment hoping he could sneak inside.

"Hey, son!" his dad greeted immediately with a hearty wave and wide smile. He was a short, slim man with tawny hair in a crew cut. He was wearing his blue and white flannel work shirt and his black jeans, as he often did when repairing vacuums. "School get out early?"

"N-no, dad," he admitted.

"Then what're you doing back here for?"

"I...um, well..." His dad wasn't angry at him. Yet. Knowing that didn't make this any easier, because his reasons could make him mad. How was he supposed to explain this?

To his relief, his dad walked over and patted his back. "I understand, champ. We'll talk about it. Come in, I just fixed lunch."

The living room was a mess. His dad's toolbox was on the black couch, various pieces were lined up on the coffee table, more were around it, and there was a beast of a vacuum cleaner in front of the television. It was twice as thick as any other vacuum he'd seen. The handle at the top was in the middle, and seemed more a broomstick jutting out. It had a thick hose attached, which at least looked similar to other vacuums.

"Got an antique to restore!" His dad clarified what he suspected. "Not my usual forte, but I couldn't pass up the chance when they called me and brought it over. It's an old Baby! Company that made this isn't even in business anymore. Always wanted to work on one of these, not to mention own one, heh. Turned down my offer to buy it off'em, though."

"An...old baby?" Lux had heard of many types and brands before, but he'd never heard of this one. Its name was an oxymoron.

His dad nodded. "That's what it's called, a Baby Daisy!" That made more sense. "One of the first vacuums ever made. Don't even need power to run it, just another person to pump the air."

Lux always liked hearing about his dad's work, even if he couldn't understand all of it. It was interesting learning about all different kinds of vacuums and how different even modern ones were from each other.

The aroma of a thick soup was wafting from the kitchen. "Come on. Food's waiting."

---​

While he already had lunch with Nori and the others, the split pea soup his dad had made smelled really good. He couldn't help but try some, and soon found that he couldn't get enough of it.

"This is really good, dad!" he praised.

The slim man beamed with pride. "I'm glad you like it, son. It's called ärtsoppa. A traditional dish from back home." His dad came from a region in Sweden, although he rarely spoke about it. Its name even escaped Lux right now. "I've been trying to get your mother to try it, but you know how she can be."

He did. His dad may have run the household, taking care of the cooking and cleaning, but his mom was in charge of it. If she wanted something, she would get it. If she didn't want something, that was the end of it. It was nigh-impossible to get her to concede even the tiniest things.

"Is the sandwich good?"

He nodded. Simple ham and cheese. "It is. Thanks, dad."

"You're very welcome, son!"

His father tried, oh how he tried, especially when it came to him and his brother. Lux could count the number of times he'd convinced her of something with just two fingers, three if you count her conceding his friendship with Nori, which external reasons played a larger role in. Lux had become something of a small hero for saving Nori's life at Tonsen Land. She gave him a harsh scolding for lying about still being friends with him, but she knew it was best to back off from the issue given the publicity.

Father and son finished eating. Mr. Blomgren put their bowls and plates in the sink, gave them a quick rinse, and sat back down at the table. "So want to tell me what happened?"

And here it was, the moment Lux was dreading. He was already wishing he hadn't run away from school, and not just because he now had to explain it. The boy gulped down what was left of his lemonade. He took a deep breath, and got into it. He explained Jamie, what happened that day, how he was feeling leading up to it.

Towards the end of his story, his father interrupted. "You like him, don't you? That friend of yours?"

"No!" he protested with a shout. "I don't!"

His dad laughed. "No use hiding it, son. Can tell by your face and the way you talk about him." Lux winced. He wasn't going to say anything about his feelings for Nori, but his dad saw right through him. "Now, there's nothing wrong with it, Lux. It's fine if you like other boys. There's nothing strange or unnatural about it. Some people are just attracted to the same gender."

Hearing this came as a small relief to Lux. His dad didn't care. He knew, so there was no sense denying it to him. "I don't know if I like other boys," he confessed. "But, I do like Nori. He just...I don't know how to describe it." He probably could, but he was too embarrassed to say it. "We hug all the time. He doesn't mind, it was just as friends. But..." Lux paused. He groaned, taking a deep breath. "I'm worried what he'd think if I told him how I feel. Just because you're okay with it doesn't mean he'll be."

The two things Nori had mentioned was not wanting to hug out in the open, and not wanting people to get the wrong idea about them. That gave Lux all the more reason to be concerned.

"I'm more worried about your mom," his dad mused. And that was the other thing. His dad accepting it was one thing, but his mom was the one who mattered. "She's always talked about wanting grandkids someday, and with your brother gone, that leaves only you. I'll fight tooth and nail for you if it comes to that, though. Promise you that, son."

Even though he was saying that, Lux wasn't sure it was a promise he could keep. His mom could be more stubborn than a Mudbray.

"But for now," his dad continued, "I think you should be honest with your friend. You never know unless you ask, right? And you might not get another shot."

His dad was right. Jamie might finally win his heart. Or someone else. Then he would never have a chance with Nori. Yet even knowing that, he remained reluctant. "But what if he's creeped out?" he protested. "What if he doesn't want to be friends anymore?! I don't want to lose him!"

"You really think he's the type to throw it all away over something like that? He's stuck by you so far, hasn't he?"

That...that was true. Nori had stayed with him. No matter what. If someone else wanted to invite him to something, Nori always made sure that he got to come along too. When his mom didn't want them being friends, he didn't accept that. He took a stand against his bullies, and never minded they targeted him too because of it.

"I think the worst he'll do is say no. And you never know. He might say yes."

Lux closed his eyes. Maybe? He considered this for a long time.

---​

The more Lux thought about it, the more he realized. His dad was right. Nori wasn't going to stop being friends with him. Nothing bad would happen if he told his friend his feelings. And he might even say yes! Then they could hug a lot more, and maybe even kiss! And if he said no...he was fine with that, too. As long as they could stay friends, which he was sure they would be, always.

His dread gave way to excitement as he made up his mind. He was going to tell Nori at lunch tomorrow! In their usual spot, where it would just be them. No one to interrupt them. As he went through the possibilities in his mind, Lux couldn't help but blush and giggle. He couldn't wait!

Just before 3pm, he heard a car pull into the driveway.

"Looks like mom's home," said his dad.

Lux had been daydreaming, being ripped back to reality on this news. This was going to be the hardest part of today, one he had tried to avoid thinking of. His mom had likely gotten a call at work about what happened. No doubt he was in for a tongue-lashing.

The door of the station wagon opened, and slammed shut. She didn't even go into the garage. Seconds later, the door banged against the wall as his mom stormed inside. Lux turned just in time to get a vicious smack right in the face.

The Byzantium-haired boy's vision blurred as he was knocked off the couch to the ground. He cried out, clutching where he had been struck.

"What is the matter with you, Lux Blomgren?" she chillingly asked. "I get a call at work saying you left school. And here you are just sitting with him." She also addressed his dad.

Lux grasped the side of the couch, managing to pull himself up. He opened his mouth, but his mom cut him off before he could even begin to speak, thankfully without further discipline.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. Go to your room. Now."

Tears flooding his eyes from pain both physical and mental, Lux ran upstairs. Minutes later, he heard the lock click from the outside.

---​

Day turned to evening, and into night. Lux hadn't been allowed out, not even for dinner. He was so hungry, and so scared. He expected a harsh reaction from his mom, but never in his wildest nightmares did he think it'd be this severe. He contemplated at one point jumping out his window and running away. But if he made it down safely, his mom would be on him in a heartbeat. He wasn't sure where he'd even run to.

His mom and dad had a screaming match for the first five minutes. He overheard them talking again just after 8pm. Lux threw the bedsheets off, got up, and pressed his ear to the door.

"Don't you think you're being a bit harsh on him, dear?" He hadn't heard the first part of their conversation, but it appeared he hadn't missed much.

"To be frank, I feel this was lenient. He absconded from school, skipping not only his classes, but an important assembly regarding his future. He needs to understand that is unacceptable behavior, no matter the reason. Punishment is the only way to make him understand. And when he doesn't listen to words..." She let her words hang in the air.

"Hikari, you need to stop controlling Lux's life."

"How often must I repeat myself? It's my job, our job to raise our child to be a proper, functioning member of society. To raise him so he'll have good-paying job, good health, and a good family. I don't want him ending up like that other son of ours. Or worse."

There was a pause. His father mumbled something, but Lux was still able to understand. "This is exactly why Calix left home."

Calix. His older brother, who had left several years ago to journey and hadn't returned since. The sudden noise of flesh smacking flesh and his father's pained grunt made Lux jump.

"How dare you," his mom droned. Her words were slow, deliberate, and threatening in tone. "Do you want me to throw you out again, Felix? This time, it'll be for good. And I'll take everything you have."

"...no, dear. I'm sorry."

"Good. Now just sit at home, look after the house, keep your mouth shut about how to raise our son." His mom paused for a moment. "I have settled on a decision I've been contemplating, however. We're moving."

"What?" Lux whispered, his words echoed by his father downstairs. Moving? Did he hear that right?

"An acquaintance of mine has had an abode set aside for us for a while. A little home in a rural border town to the south." He did. And his mom was completely serious about it. "We need to depart this city, Felix. There are too many negative influences present, not just for us, but for Lux. That brat who's always bullying him, that Gym, and that Noro Carini or whatever his name is. He...no, we all need a fresh start."

"We can't just decide to move, honey! Even if we have a place to go! What about your job? My business!"

"Quite frankly, I'm not that attached to it. Too many incompetents, and they've made clear where my ceiling is. I can get a better job anywhere else, easily. And you can keep up your hobby in any town or city."

His mom started to walk off, coming upstairs. His dad called out. "When?"

Without stopping, she stated, "Within half a month. Start packing now."

##########​

February 27th, 2015

Lux went to sleep that night pondering his parents' argument. Sometimes his mom would get in moods where she'd say a lot of things, but everything would be fine in the morning. He held out hope that this was one of those times.

In the morning, the first sign that something was wrong was how his mom wasn't in her usual suit. She was sitting at the kitchen table in a simple traditional dress, the type of clothing one would wear casually at home.

"G-good morning, mom," he nervously greeted. She briefly glanced in his general direction. It was always hard to speak with her, especially as of late. "Um, sh-shouldn't you be dressed for work?"

"I quit my job last night," she stated, without even looking up from the newspaper she was reading. "I'll be cleaning out my office over the weekend. If you didn't hear last night, we're moving within a month."

It was true. Lux closed his eyes. Within half a month, his life would change. He would be uprooted and thrown into a new city, just like that. At least, there was time to say his goodbyes. But a question lingered in his mind. Should he still tell Nori? Maybe he should. And maybe Nori could find a way out of this. For him, and maybe, for them.

He nodded. "I should start getting ready–"

"You're staying here. I've already called your school."

The boy was aghast. "But I have to see Nori–"

"Don't even say it. I know everything." Lux froze up as his mom leered at him, with an expression that could make an angry Gyarados think twice. "You're never seeing him again, young man. You've already lied to me about him once, and I'm making sure you don't this time. He's a bad influence, and not the type of friend you want to have."

Internally, Lux breathed a small sigh of relief. At least, it seemed she didn't know everything. With how bad she punished him last night, he couldn't even imagine what she would do if she found out he liked another boy.

"But..." he protested. "I have to go to school! There's tests soon!" Not even his mom could stop that! She had to send him to school!

"I've arranged you to write them at home."

With those eight words, Lux completely deflated. He fell to his knees in despair. His mom went that far? He wasn't going to be able to go to school? Not be able to see Nori? It was all over, just like that?

The light became dim as his mom towered over him. "I suggest you start studying. An instructor will be arriving on the 6th and 7th for your exams."

##########​

March 6th, 2015

For the next week, Lux was not allowed out of the house, not even in their backward. It was the longest week of Lux's life. In a contradiction, it was also one of the fastest. The moving process started at the beginning of March, a couple days after his mom had made that fateful decision. It was initially just packing, but the deal for their new home was made final last night. His dad wasn't here, taking the couch and a few other things there in advance. His mom, meanwhile, was attending to other business, though promised to periodically check in.

His tests were today and tomorrow, at his kitchen table. A teacher he didn't recognize was overseeing them, Mr. Chans. The slim suited man with a tiny black mustache and beard was all-business and made no attempt to hide his displeasure, at his mom or at him.

"You'll be given an hour and a half on each test," explained the teacher. "Pencil down when I tell you to. Thirty minute breaks in-between each. Start...now."

It was Social Studies to start off with. His least favorite subject. Worse, he wasn't sure if he could keep his focus. His thoughts were preoccupied with how quickly his life had been turned upside-down, and Nori. His beloved friend.

With a reluctant sigh, he got started. He was at a table taking a test, that much was familiar. Yet every time he turned his head to the right, he was expecting to see Nori right there next to him.

##########​

March 8th, 2015

There was no relief for Lux in the wake of his tests. The day after, his mom wasted no time in sending him off. Not even an hour after waking up, he was in his dad's truck, driving to their new place. They were bringing a few of his belongings, including his bed, most of his clothes, and thankfully, his radio.

"So how'd you do on the tests?" asked Felix Blomgren. They'd been on the road for a while now. By Lux's watch, it had been nearly five hours. They just left Pastoria Town and were heading southwest. He hadn't heard where they were moving to. Would they still even be in Sinnoh? His mom said a border town, but...

"I don't know," he replied to his dad's question. "They haven't been graded yet."

"Ah. Sure mom'll get them back to you."

Lux's real answer was, he hoped he had done well. He wouldn't hear the end of it from his mom if he'd done poorly. His mom, the person who decided to up and move on a whim.

"Sorry, son," his dad said, no doubt noticing his anguished expression. "When her mind's made up, not even God can stop her."

A god. His mom went to a shrine, his dad to a church. One that said there were many gods, one that said there was only the one. He had been to both places of worship, and was disinterested in both religions. But the past week, he had gotten to thinking about them some more. If there was a god or gods out there, did they hate him?

"She'll be at the old house for a while longer, until the rest of our stuff's ready. I'll be heading back tonight to help her out, so it'll just be you for a few days. Think you can handle it, son?"

"I don't know..."

"I'll introduce you to the neighbors when we get there. Just call one of them if you need help."

Help. He badly needed help. But none of them could provide the help he so needed.

##########​

March 21st, 2015

It had been a couple weeks since Lux moved. He'd still not gotten used to the new neighborhood. All the kids in it were either much older or much younger. Plus, there were barely any radio stations out here. Just a couple music stations that weren't even genres he liked, and a news channel that had sports on it half the time.

It was late afternoon. He was sitting in their kitchen, over a cold bowl of ramen, when there was a knock at the door. His mom was upstairs, and his dad was out at a client's. Thankfully, neither of his parents had trouble finding work. He got up and opened the door.

To his utter shock, it was a chestnut-haired boy with eyes like cherries. Dressed in a green t-shirt and jeans. "Nori?!"

"Lux!" greeted his friend. His friend, who he thought he'd never see again!

"Nori!"

Lux jumped into his friend's arms. Nori spun him around and pulled him in. They hugged tighter than they ever had before. Lux held Nori as close as he could. He missed this. He didn't want to let go, ever.

"Nori, what are you doing here?!" he asked, snuggling in tighter still.

"To see my friend, duh!" Nori broke it off. Lux did so too, with some reluctance. He wished they could've held each other forever. Or more realistically, until his mom found them. "It took forever, a whole week of nonstop work," he explained. "It's a long story, too much to explain here. I even had to get the guys' help, all of them, much as I didn't want to. Even Ollie. He helped the most." That was a total shock to Lux. The really big rude guy helped? "But it was all worth it to see you!"

Lux couldn't help himself, and hugged Nori again. His friend returned it, comfortingly stroking his back as he did so.

"Why didn't you tell me you were moving?" Nori asked.

Lux heavily sighed. He found out about the move, but not about the circumstances. He elaborated, "It was sudden. Mom decided on it the day I ran away." He pulled back, still holding his friend, but now looking in his eyes. He had to stop himself from getting lost in their warm depths. "I'm really happy to see you, Nori. But you probably shouldn't stay here too long. Mom–"

"YOU!"

The two were violently separated by Hikari Blomgren. Lux fell over, banging his head against the side of the building. Nori managed to keep his balance, exchanging furious glares with his mother.

His mom pointed. "Get out of here immediately or I'll phone the police. Never show your face here again."

Lux was expecting his friend to start screaming right back at her. He was prepared to step in. To tell Nori it wasn't worth it. To tell him he wasn't worth it. Not for getting arrested. But instead, Nori started to laugh.

"And what is so funny, young man?" Hikari Blomgren was not impressed, crossing her arms.

Nori grinned smugly. "I already called the police."

On cue, two muscular officers and a blue-haired woman in a red sweatshirt walked out from behind the bushes. His mom's jaw dropped, seething at them. Nori watched her reaction, laughing a bit more.

"Well, child services," he composed himself. "They talked with your husband. He told them everything!" He mimed her arm-crossing. "Lux is being removed from your custody!"

The officers advanced, causing his mother to lash out. "No. NO!" She roughly grabbed hold of him with one arm, trying to haul him back inside the house while fending off the officers with the other. "He's MY son! You can't do this!"

"I just did it," Nori calmly boasted.

"You can't take him! I won't let you!"

At this point, the social worker spoke up. "Mrs. Blomgren, unless you want to find yourself in legal trouble or jail, I suggest you back down."

With this, she looked to the officers. She looked to Lux, and back to them. With a discretionary grumble, she shoved him towards them. "You'll be hearing from my lawyers," she threatened. Lux shuddered. His mom could really yell, but when she was extremely angry, her voice became low and cold. "This isn't over. I'll expose that no-good husband's lies for what they are. I'll take all of you for everything you have."

"Honey, eno–"

"And you," she said to his dad, who had overheard the commotion and run over. "We're getting a divorce."

Lux and Felix Blomgren exchanged glances. The latter gave him a sad smile. He was doing this for him? His mom was going to rob his dad blind if he ever left, and he saved him anyway? He didn't have time to dwell on it or even say goodbye before the door was closed.

He was left with very mixed feelings. On one hand, he was free. On the other hand, his dad was going to suffer for it. And what about his mom? He hoped everything would work out for her, too. Even if she was being abusive, she was still his mom.

The officers were on their way to a red sedan. The social worker kneeled down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We're sorry about everything, Lux. It's going to take a while to take care of this situation. We'll talk more about it at the station."

He solemnly nodded, and gazed at his friend. He was standing there, evidently wrestling with some dueling emotions himself. There was so much Lux wanted to say to him. He never dreamed he would get a chance to. In fact, he feared this might be his last chance.

"Can I say bye to Nori, first?"

To his relief, the social worker nodded. "Of course."

She stepped back as Nori sauntered up. Lux wanted to say so much. He wasn't sure how much of it he'd be able to say. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say first.

He started by again hugging his friend, a quick tight one. "Nori, thanks so much for this!"

Nori didn't return it. He glanced away, and shuffled his feet. "Are you...really okay with this?" he asked, suddenly self-doubting. "I kind of interfered with your life, maybe even messed it up. You're not mad, are you?"

"I'm not mad. I'm..." He hesitated, suddenly feeling unsure. "I don't know what to think about some of this. But I am happy. Mom didn't want me seeing you ever again, we moved because of it. I never should've run away from school. I only realized how much I'd miss you when you were gone."

His friend softly turned to him, a vague smile on his lips. "I'm glad to hear that. I missed you too, I was so worried."

"I'm so sorry for worrying you. I don't know what's going to happen, but..." He turned to the social worker. There was one important question on his mind. "Can we still see each other?"

"Well, you'll most likely be getting assigned a foster family. We'll try to make sure your friend can come by anytime and visit."

The two friends nodded. It wasn't perfect. But it was the best they'd have. And something would be better than nothing.

"I'll try to do that when I can, then," said Nori.

"I wish I could live in Sunyshore."

"It'd be easy if your dad could just move back, but sounds like he won't be able to."

He wished that could happen, yet like Nori said, it seemed so unlikely. His dad had always been good to him, He'd always been supportive. Even when his mom was being assertive, he'd always done his best to stick by him. He gave Lux advice when he needed it, and always made time for him.

"I guess this is goodbye for now, then."

Nori nodded. "Yeah."

They hugged again. A thought fleeted through Lux's mind. What his dad said to him, the advice he gave last month. Should he? Maybe. What if? No. He might not get another chance. It might be his only chance. Yet...

"Nori, I..." He let go and started to speak, yet tensed up. "Um..."

"Yes?" He flashed a comforting smile.

"Well..."

He tilted his head. "Uh?"

"I...th-there's...s-something..."

As he took a step closer, Nori snapped to. "Uh, Lux..." he nervously asked. "D-do you..."

Did he know? Did he figure it out? He had to have. He was making it so obvious. Lux wanted to run off into the social worker's car and never look back. In fact, he almost did. His brain was saying to get out now, while there was still time. Yet his legs refused to obey, feeling like he was wearing heavy boots in a meter of thick snow. His heart was pounding, screaming in opposition.

He wanted to say words, yet no sound came from his mouth. Lux shut his eyes. Maybe this was a mistake, but it was the only thing he could do. He moved his face to Nori's. Slowly. His friend didn't stop this, given the opportunity. It was just a light peck on the lips. He tried to make it as quick as possible.

It didn't even last for half a second. Yet it felt amazing. Like a surge of blissful electricity coursing through him. Lux recoiled, silently gasping in surprise.

"Y-yes," he whispered, in awe. "I do."

There, he'd said it. And...it was surprisingly liberating. He couldn't help but beam, and not just at the euphoria. He told Nori how he felt. He'd told him and gotten it out there! Now...what would he think about it?

He wasn't saying anything. "Um, was that...okay?"

"It's..."

Nori remained still, processing what just happened. He didn't react with disgust, which Lux already counted a huge win. But...was this too much? Was he just being polite? Was he trying to figure out how to gently turn him down? He stayed quiet for what felt like forever. A painful eternity. Soon, Nori spoke again.

"It's...fine, I guess?"

It's fine? Did that mean...he didn't mind? It took a moment for it to sink in. Nori was fine with him. Even though they were both boys, he didn't mind. Lux couldn't believe it.

"Yes!" He jumped into his friend's, maybe now boyfriend's arms. He was beginning to cry. "Nori, I love you! I love you so much!"

"I, uh...guess I love you too, Lux?" Nori was completely flustered, his face beat red. But he said he loved him! Nori really wanted to be his boyfriend! Lux couldn't be happier.

He wished the moment could last forever. If only he didn't have to go to the station. "Can we..." Lux glanced away, suddenly feeling shy all over again. "Er, one more? Before I go?"

Nori silently nodded. In sync, the two moved together for a more proper, mutual kiss.

##########​

March 10th, 2015

Lux woke up. He turned over, pulling the sheets a bit closer as he groggily reached for his watch. It was 5:36AM. He was in his new house, in his new room, with just his bed, his radio, his plush toys, and a small bag of clothes. He was sweating, breathing heavily, and his pyjamas were tight just under the waist for some reason. Like he'd grown down there overnight. It was all a dream. A cruel, cruel dream. But he wished it wasn't. Or that he could've dreamt forever.

Because in reality, he was alone, in a new town, in the middle of nowhere, with no friends, and no hope of making any.

##########
=========
##########

This effectively ends the first 'act' of the fic. A fun behind-the-scenes side-note: everything at the school, including Lux, wasn't in the original plan. Kallisto was also originally called Spike Caras before I wildly changed his concept. Spike became his own character at school with the original personality, with Eddie also inheriting a lot of traits. Tono in turn became Kallisto's closest friend.

Much as I liked him, Lux was too incompatible with the rest of the fic. How he left changed in development (to the point of where several scenes later on got changed), but I still ended up stabbing Nori in the heart with no closure. I did come up with a plot thread for keeping him around longer but...it would've caused problems, both with the present fic, and future works he'll show up in. So, look forward to more of him in the future, eventually!

As a Bulbagarden Exclusive, here's my rough outline of how the Nori+Lux relationship would've gone if I kept him around longer.
- There would be no incident with Jamie. Nori would quickly decide 'no' to her in any case, and he wouldn't be attacked.
  • I'm not sure exactly how it would progress or start. One way or another, Nori would figure it out. Cue awkward shyness from Lux, and Nori being very confused and conflicted. He'd eventually figure, Lux is okay, there's nothing wrong with it, and it helps Lux is girly. Lux would want to keep it a secret, more from his parents.
  • Awkward/adorable/funny scenes follow, because that's how (pre)-teen romance tends to go; one scene I had in mind was Lux missing Nori's lips on the attempted first kiss. If I wanted to go for drama, Lux would be clingy.
  • The guys would soon find out. They would give Nori a similar speech and request, but would treat the situation far more delicately, not rudely at all except on Ollie's part. Nori would get even more pissed at them than he did in the original draft of M3-1, and ultimately nothing would happen.
  • That is, until Kallisto tips off Lux's parents (I hadn't yet separated his mom and dad like I did in this chapter). Still want grandkids, can't have those with another boy. They would show up at the Gym, and drag their son off and away, but in thanking Kallisto would let slip he told them.
  • Cue Nori trying to assault him and ending up with a broken arm or leg. Kallisto would just claim self-defense here and openly get away with it. Not even sure how he'd justify telling them, beyond saying 'they were going to find out eventually'.
  • Lux's family would move away shortly thereafter. It's over just like that.

Obviously this way has MAJOR consequences. Kallisto is more irredeemable, the relationship having briefly happened taints anything future, it messes with a thing near the end of March (that was delayed from the end of February, actually), and interestingly (and this is a character spoiler on one of the guys, you might guess who anyway): Eddie would have to be much more amiable. Just like he didn't approve of the attack in the actual fic, he would even more strongly disapprove of what could be construed as homophobia.
 
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*Lux's dad seems pretty great.
*His mother not so much.
*Saw the dream coming. I've had a similar experience of a wonderful dream leaving an empty feeling after waking up.

Well, we have answers more or less what I was expecting after the previous chapter. There isn't a ton for me to say, I'm afraid. Certainly a strong first act.

Thanks for sharing those behind the scenes notes! It's something I'd like to do with my fic (there are a lot of things that have changed over the writing process, per usual, even some scenes written out that won't make it in but exist in text form).
 
Copied from FFN: Called it. Totally called it. I absolutely KNEW that Lux wouldn't have spent that much time away from Nori for that long of his own volition. I knew his mother was an overzealous control freak, but to actually lock her son in his room for a whole day, confine him to the house, and basically keep him prisoner. Would unlawful imprisonment of a child be considered endangering the welfare of a child? Because it's pretty clear Hikari is an abusive bitch, not just to Lux, but to her husband. I know there's an actual real life case of a guy imprisoning his daughter in his house for her entire childhood that happened back in the 70s, and this admittedly gave me flashbacks to that, though not nearly as severe, but since Lux's case isn't anywhere near that level, I am concerned about what this will entail for his future. Plus, the foster care system in and of itself isn't perfect, and I hope to Arceus that Lux isn't stuck with an abusive family. The kid deserves a break for once! Also, what exactly did Hikari tell the school? Did she convince them that Lux was in the hospital or on vacation? Because a child being absent from school for a whole week without a valid explanation is considered a huge deal.

I'm also wondering just how the hell Nori managed to find Lux and convince the gym trainers to help them. Considering that I still absolutely don't trust them at all, I'm honestly hoping Nori wasn't forced to do anything really humiliating or degrading to achieve everything that he did. Though you'll probably address this later, so I'm both eagerly and dreadfully looking forward to it. Also, as you showed with Hikari, domestic abuse isn't just limited to a husband beating his wife, as women and wives can be abusers as well. Another great chapter as always! I can't wait to read more!
 
*Lux's dad seems pretty great.

He is! He went in a completely different direction than I expected him to.

*His mother not so much.

She is! She also went in a very different direction. See some of my response to Juliko for that.

*Saw the dream coming. I've had a similar experience of a wonderful dream leaving an empty feeling after waking up.

It was a minor scene that I ended up getting carried away with, but I liked the result. And yeah, know exactly what you mean. Sometimes the dreaming world is much more pleasant than the real one.

Well, we have answers more or less what I was expecting after the previous chapter. There isn't a ton for me to say, I'm afraid.
Well then I'll point out a couple tiny details you missed or didn't mention:

- [Nori] glanced to the left by habit, once more seeing an empty seat. He was going to keep doing this by reflex, and be reminded of his friend's absence every time.
- [Lux] was at a table taking a test, that much was familiar. Yet every time he turned his head to the right, he was expecting to see Nori right there next to him.


They did the same thing.

- It's called ärtsoppa. A traditional dish from back home.

This is in fact a real thing. It's usually served on Thursdays. Guess what day it is on February 26th, 2015? This was actually a semi-coincidence, the real point was as a way to confirm Lux's half-Swedish background his surname only suggested.

Thanks for sharing those behind the scenes notes! It's something I'd like to do with my fic (there are a lot of things that have changed over the writing process, per usual, even some scenes written out that won't make it in but exist in text form).
No problem, glad you enjoyed them. Reminds me I should read the second part sometime.

Copied from FFN: Called it. Totally called it. I absolutely KNEW that Lux wouldn't have spent that much time away from Nori for that long of his own volition. I knew his mother was an overzealous control freak, but to actually lock her son in his room for a whole day, confine him to the house, and basically keep him prisoner.
Now this actually ties into Daren's comment from earlier. Lux actually DID do so in the original draft, provoking his parents into moving through some way for Nori's sake. Then I thought that was too severe. So I made it his mom's doing, amping her up from "selfish and controlling yet not completely unreasonable" to "actually evil" in the process.

Would unlawful imprisonment of a child be considered endangering the welfare of a child? Because it's pretty clear Hikari is an abusive bitch, not just to Lux, but to her husband.
You mentioned Caiseal from your own fic a couple times. Earlier things weren't intentional, but in this case I very much WAS with him in mind and actively thinking how I could top his parents. Most of which is in the future, but one thing: Hikari is very much in control of her actions, compared to Caiseal's mom who implicitly (my interpretation at least) went insane.

(Speaking of, more than once I typed Hikaru. I almost called her that. Her name comes from "light" just like Lux's name does.)

I know there's an actual real life case of a guy imprisoning his daughter in his house for her entire childhood that happened back in the 70s, and this admittedly gave me flashbacks to that, though not nearly as severe, but since Lux's case isn't anywhere near that level, I am concerned about what this will entail for his future.
Yuuuuup.

Plus, the foster care system in and of itself isn't perfect, and I hope to Arceus that Lux isn't stuck with an abusive family. The kid deserves a break for once!
Heh heh heh. Please choose your response.

A. The gods seem to hate him.
B. Remember, not even God can stop Hikari Blomgren.
C. Prayer doesn't help, action does.
D. Ah, a Ceuristian?

Also, what exactly did Hikari tell the school? Did she convince them that Lux was in the hospital or on vacation? Because a child being absent from school for a whole week without a valid explanation is considered a huge deal.
It's implicitly implied that Hikari has some sort of influence or connections. Or maybe she's just that annoying to deal with and they'd rather not. And yes, they didn't cave to the League, but they did to her. Over something more minor than telling them how to run their school, but it stands out. Maybe because the League won't make their life a living hell if they won't listen?

Also, as you showed with Hikari, domestic abuse isn't just limited to a husband beating his wife, as women and wives can be abusers as well.
A very sad fact. There's actually a line addressing this in mid-April, pointing out that not only can they be just as bad, those incidents tend to be overlooked because of an assumptive standard. And although I don't go into this part about it - even though it fits theme of image - a lot goes unreported by men because of potentially compromising their masculinity by it being revealed a woman is taking advantage of them.

I'm also wondering just how the hell Nori managed to find Lux and convince the gym trainers to help them. Considering that I still absolutely don't trust them at all, I'm honestly hoping Nori wasn't forced to do anything really humiliating or degrading to achieve everything that he did.
You uh probably missed or forgot the last scene where it was revealed it all just a dream. Nothing on March 21st actually happened. Nothing changed about Lux's situation, with only despair and some arousal* to show for it. Extra surprised you had nothing to say on the relationship "starting".

In the context of the dream, who knows? Probably nothing that bad, because to Lux, the incident at the start of the month didn't happen. So he was still on good terms with Kallisto, at least. If it actually did hypothetically happen, well, one thing to remember you might've glossed over last chapter: Ollie was VERY concerned about what happened. He definitely would've helped any way he could. And the others aren't ACTUALLY evil, so he could probably have swallowed his pride and convinced Kallisto and Tono. Not to mention Volkner would help. It's one of the details I put in to make it seem more plausible. It was hard to design, something that made sense in both the context of reality with what we know from Nori, and what Lux is still under the impression of. I settled on what was in there, especially because Nori being reluctant to get help from them makes sense both before and after.

*Not even kidding, "his pyjamas were tight just under the waist" after waking up dreaming about kissing Nori. >_>
 
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Month 3: March of Flux (fourth part)
March of Flux (fourth part)
March 15th, 2015

An obese man in orange overalls ran through the darkened corridors of a massive fortress. Bursting through a door, he took a moment to relax and assess the situation. He was right in the heart of enemy territory. It had taken a lot of work and effort to make it here. He and his brother, waiting outside, had more than a few brushes with danger along the way, and they weren't done yet. But their goal was in sight. Just a little further. With a deep breath, he took a few steps forward onto the brick floor...

...only for the ground to shake beneath him. A massive reptilian monstrosity came crashing down from high above. It had sharp horns, a spiky green shell, and an orange face and underbelly. With a roar, it began spewing flame at the man. He ran, jumping out of the way of the fire with a deftness that defied his weight.

The creature barred his way. He had to defend himself or die. He chanced getting closer and started blasting at it point blank. The reptile didn't even flinch from this, continuing to breath fire and forcing the man take cover.

Suddenly, it launched into the air. He barely escaped as it stomped down where he had been standing milliseconds earlier. It struck with so much force, that it actually made a noticeable dent in the floor. Bricks went flying everywhere; the man considered it a miracle none struck him.

The creature looked down, hoping to see its prey squashed beneath its feet. Seizing the moment, the overall-wearing man rushed in and unloaded on his enemy with everything he had. The shelled monster looked about and spotted him. It continued to endure the many rounds hitting its body. It reared back, taking a deep breath to incinerate the human.

But with one last burst of shots, it was all over. The creature flipped and fell down with a massive thud that sent the man off-balance.

He had to pause compose himself after that battle. It was over. The door that the creature was blocking opened, a glowing light coming from the other side. He triumphantly stepped through it...

---​

"And that is gg."

"Nice one, man. Thought you were a goner for sure."

"I was counting." The glasses-wearing teenager nodded. "Thirty shots. I had enough time."

Kallisto Kervanos was in his apartment with his best friend, Tono Takuma. His fellow Gym Trainer had brought over an old video game console, and the two had spent the better part of the afternoon playing it. While he didn't play games as much as Tono or Ollie, he did his best to enjoy them. He was actually fairly good, it was just that he didn't have much time for them between his training and hobbies.

The red and white box that was the console was unusual, to say the least. The controllers were attached to the machine itself. His controller was even stranger: it didn't have a start or select button. A microphone port was where they should've been.

"Guess this makes it my first Famicom game completed," he remarked with a chuckle as the ending sequence unfolded.

"There is nothing quite like the classics," Tono said.

He would be lying if he said this wasn't fun. "I do have to admit though," the teenager stated, "That felt a bit clunky. What with only being able to run, duck, and jump." He'd played a few games in this series before, but its eponymous plumber had more techniques at his disposal in those - all sorts of different jumps in particular. Tono once demonstrated you could wall jump in this game, but it was an abnormality. A glitch, as it were.

"True, it does lack the features that came to the series after," Tono said. "But that is no reason to dismiss it. The series would not be where it is today without the innovations in this game."

"I'm not saying it's bad."

"I know you are not. I am just venting about those who do."

Kallisto huffed. "Had an argument online recently?" He could make that guess.

"Yes, with a fool named BigJimmy69 or whatever." Tono was an avid gamer. He even nicknamed all his Pokemon after video game entities. Mothula the Mothim, Gracie the Girafarig, and his signature and strongest Pokemon: McCloud the Jolteon. To say he was passionate about gaming would be an understatement. One time he even slapped Eddie for saying gaming was for nerds.

"You really need to not get, ‘baited,’ as you say, by these people." If Tono had one flaw, it was that he could get drawn into petty arguments easily. "They aren't worth your time."

"Oh, and like you don't try to make others see what's right?"

He chuckled. "Guilty as charged." There was a distinct difference in how Tono's instances of this tended to be opinionated, but he chose to leave it at that. "So what was this person complaining about?"

"The old Pokemon games."

Those of all things? Kallisto had played them a couple times, but they didn't really compare to the real experience. He found their history more interesting: they were invented by a Kantonese man whose paraplegic daughter couldn't go on a journey. He thought up the idea of a virtual adventure as a way to sate her. He conceptualized everything and took it to a company. Despite its barebones nature and sometimes questionable programming, it proved an unexpected success.

"Why would they hate it, though?" Who could hate a father's gift to his daughter?

Tono pushed up his glasses. "They say that it is old and dated," After the original game's success, it became a series. Each one more expansive than the last. It was especially popular with kids and adults who couldn't go on a real journey like his daughter couldn't. "They also say that it inspired Kanto elitism."

"I mean, to be fair, that's a real thing." They themselves had met a couple Kantonese challengers boasting about their region. Yet even Ollie was more than capable of taking them down a peg or two. "But I think that game's not a reason for it."

"And now you see why these people frustrate me so much. That is what they actually believe." He shook his head. "Furthermore, I have never heard anyone say that the original games were the best. These people are far more prominent and more obnoxious than any of those supposed Kanto or Kanto game elitists could ever hope to be."

Most of this was going way over Kallisto's head, but he took it in as best he could. "It's a generational thing. Those who live through something can appreciate it more," he stated. That original game came out before their age group was born. "Plus, remember that guy who came into the Gym the one time complaining about modern training techniques? He was just ten years older than us. Ten years from now, kids might be doing things that confuse us, too."

Tono shook his head. "There are three problems with what you just stated, my friend." He raised a finger. "Firstly, we're talking about two different issues. You're talking about people who can't adapt. Which is the second issue," he spoke as he raised a second. "And that's a matter of not being able to adapt. I am talking about those who can't respect the past. Most of these people hate old things simply because they're old. To them, there's no sense in bothering with anything but the newest."

Yes, that was a real problem. He'd even seen it in certain trainers. They'd focus so much on catching new Pokemon, they forgot to train their partners who'd been with them longer.

Tono raised a third finger. "And lastly, we can look at those just a few years beneath us to see examples. Case in point, Nori Carino."

Kallisto blinked. He wasn't expecting Nori to be brought up here and now, of all places. He shrugged. "I think he's just someone who thinks differently."

"Too differently."

"That's true." Kallisto sighed.

"What's on your mind?" his friend asked.

"Oh, just worried about him." Even Kallisto was surprised he was saying this, to say nothing of Tono. "You've noticed how he's shut down completely the past couple days, right?"

His friend snickered. "Is this genuine regret I am hearing from you?"

"Just a little." If he could do things over again, he wouldn't have hit Nori. He acted in the heat of the moment. He didn't feel bad at the time, he was trying to justify his actions to himself, but guilt had quickly caught up with him. "I can't take back what I did. But I didn't think he would be affected this badly."

There was a brief pause between them. "Volkner sent me to talk with him," Tono said. "His current attitude is primarily related to his friend. He apparently moved away, and he somehow blames himself for it." He shoved up his glasses. "It's ridiculous. You said so yourself. He needs to get over this."

"Well if it's just that, you're right." That was being a little ridiculous about this. Getting worked up about something out of his control and blaming himself. He could understand the pain; if Tono left, it would sting for him too. But it wouldn't be the end of the world, and he'd know his friend would be headed to new heights elsewhere. "Not being on good terms with us anymore isn't helping, though." Maybe it was simple pity he was feeling there. Nori was pitiable.

"Are you suggesting we try to make amends?" Tono asked. He seemed indifferent to the idea, one way or another.

Kallisto shrugged. "It's up to him at this point." He could try to extend the olive branch further, sure. But whether or not Nori knew it, Kallisto knew him well. He'd ask for him to confess everything, and that wasn't going to happen. People might not even believe him, or say Nori somehow forced him to do so. It'd make things even worse for the future Pokemon Rehabilitator, in a way neither would like. This was for the best.

Tono looked at the screen, which was now showing a red curtain and ‘THE END’ on-screen. He turned the console off and placed the cartridge back in its container.

"By the way," the head Gym Trainer spoke up. "I've been meaning to ask you something."

Tono had taken out two more games and was mulling over them. "What is it?" he asked, without looking.

"Why did you beat on Carino? I was expecting Ollie to after I hit him. I wasn't expecting Eddie not to. But I really wasn't expecting you to." Come to think of it, perhaps it was that which spurred him into acting more drastically.

To this question, Tono went quiet. He actually put the games back in his bag and stared up at the ceiling. He only did that when deep in thought.

"If it's personal, you don't have to say."

"No," Tono shook his head, still looking up. "I trust you enough. But don't tell the others."

Kallisto gave him a thumbs up as his friend looked back down. He had a dark look in his eyes.

"He reminds me of Radovan." Kallisto blinked. That was Tono's former bully in grade school and junior high. "He's belligerent, stupid, violent, pretends to be cunning, and he has that Nidorina. Just like his Nidorino. He also gets far more respect than he deserves from others. He even has red eyes, same as Radovan." He clenched his fists. "I despise him. Of late, every time I look at Nori Carino, I see the spitting image of that bastard."

"Just remember, Carino isn't Radovan. It's not right to take out your frustrations about other people on him." He could understand if Tono hated Nori because of those similarities. But it wasn't right to live out his revenge fantasies through him.

"Perhaps. I will admit, he is far more sensitive than Radovan, and he has shown a capacity to learn at times." Tono shrugged and nodded. "In any case, I can't wait for the day Radovan's journeys bring him back here." He had moved to his relatives in Kanto to travel there, but made a promise he'd be back some day. His friend's brow furrowed with uncharacteristic fury. "Once he walks through our Gym's doors, he's mine!"

"I know," Kallisto chuckled. They had an agreement about that one, no matter how strong a trainer Radovan turned out to be.

Tono rubbed his hands with sinister glee. "I have a special place in my Glory Book for conquering him." He wrote down all of his major accomplishments in life in that journal of his. He said it was his way of keeping good memories. Worryingly, it included his exploits of hacking activities, although Tono did not care about the risk.

As Kallisto was about to reply, his cell phone started to vibrate. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. It was Volkner.

He swiped to confirm the call. "Hello?"

"Hey," came the terse reply. "Come to the Gym as soon as you can."

Kallisto glanced at Tono. This was supposed to be a day off for them. "Did something come up?"

"Flint's coming tomorrow. We need to get ready. Bye."

Volkner hung up, leaving the two to exchange worried expressions. Flint Donaldson contacting their Gym Leader never led to anything good. And him actually visiting always meant trouble.

##########​


March 16th, 2015

Nori and the Gym Trainers were called to the arena first thing in the morning. They and the Gym's staff had spent all of yesterday polishing the Gym clean. This ranged from the mundane such as washing the floors and dumping the garbage, to the excessive such as scrubbing the ceilings and making sure the cushions in the lobby had no wrinkles in them. The Leader even closed the Gym early yesterday.

Presently, the five were lounging in the arena, made to wait there by Volkner. The Gym Leader was restlessly pacing, cell phone in hand, and more than once he stared at his watch.

His mind was consumed by thoughts of Lux. Whenever he wasn't doing anything, Lux was all he could think about. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, Nori groaned. He had to think about something different. He whispered to the others. "With all he made us do, it's like he's trying to impress Flint."

"He's just trying to be better than him," Kallisto remarked.

Tono affirmed. "He is this way all the time when it comes to that man."

The Gym Leader's phone buzzed. "He's here. Stand in a line, all of you, right there."

"Always fuckin' dumb," Eddie muttered, making no attempt to be quiet. If Volkner overheard this, he didn't care.

The challenger side entrance opened. In walked a man with an oversized red 'fro, nearly triple the size of his head. He wore white boots adorned with fleece, thick dark red work pants, and a log-brown shirt. Over top was a snow jacket; the bottom third was all the colors of fire, a gradient from yellow to dark red. It gave way to black with a smoky gray pattern.

"Hey, V! Good to see you." Flint Donaldson spoke casually to his fellow Gym Leader. "I see you cleaned the place up, as usual. Haha! You know, you don't have to do this much for little ol' me."

Volkner coldly glared. "It's proper Gym maintenance. Nothing more."

"Sure, if you say so." Flint winked and made a lip-zipping motion. "So did you hear that Byron's son's being considered for the next Gym Leader position?"

"Hmph."

"When an opening pops up, he's likely going to be running a Gym out of Oreburgh."

"It's going to be me." Volkner's words were flat.

"Hey, might not be either of us! Warutsu's thinking of shuttering the Celestic Gym soon. Wants to focus on his duties at the shrine full-time." At this, Volkner's lip twitched. It was just for a moment, but reflected his surprise and confusion. It did not go unnoticed by his fellow leader. "Come on man, you should've known about that. You've been closing yourself off the past few months. The other leaders are worried about you. What's up?"

The blond man went deadpan. "You know what's up, Flint."

"Heh heh. I guess so." Flint pirouetted and gave a V-sign, compounded with a prolonged wink and grin. "Just so you know. The Heat of Snowpoint doesn't intend to lose to you!"

"If you have a reason for coming here, get to it."

"What's their deal this time?" Ollie rasped.

"I can't say for sure." Even Kallisto seemed at a loss.

Nori, despite how he was feeling, was paying attention. "Um," He was a little hesitant because, well. It was Kallisto and his friends he was talking to. "It sounded like one of them's not going to be a Gym Leader anymore?" Did he get that? He wasn't sure.

To his relief, Tono concurred. "They must be in contention for promotion to Elite Four, in that case."

"That'd make sense." The head Gym Trainer tapped his chin.

Eddie nodded. "Gotta fill that opening before the League happens."

"You. Over here." Their conversation was interrupted by Volkner's booming voice. He was pointing straight at them. No, at him.

"Me?" the boy asked.

"Yes, now."

Even the Gym Trainers were confused. Nori sulked over without much enthusiasm. What was this all about?

"So, the Demon Tamer himself, eh?" Flint mused aloud. He stuck his hand out. "Nice to meet you. Heard some great things about you from Gasha."

What? That's all? "Um!" Nori hurriedly accepted it with a smile. "Nice to meet you too!"

They firmly shook. "Heh heh! And you got a positive attitude, too. I like it!" Positive attitude? Well, right at this second, yes. It was a pleasant distraction from Lux, and what little else remained of his life. But it was good to meet a Gym Leader who was normal! Not overly serious and awkward like Volkner, or overly theatrical like Gasha!

His mentor immediately shut this interaction down. "Don't fraternize with the enemy."

The red-haired man turned his attention back to his seeming rival. "Well, the higher-ups certainly gave you a future legend to train. But don't forget, they gave me one too." The redheaded man suddenly got a determined twinkle in his eyes. "Want to meet her?" When Volkner shrugged and muttered a whatever, he hollered. "You can come in now!"

On that cue, a young woman in her late teens or early twenties entered from the right side. She wore a black tank top and jeans that looked like they had holes intentionally cut into them. She had two different wristbands; a black one with spikes on the left, and one with an orange skull that Nori recognized as a Scrafty Bastards band on the right.

"Holy tits..." Eddie blurted under his breath. Nori spared the Gym Trainers a side-glance. They were all slack-jawed, surprised, or wide-eyed over something.

"Those are bigger than..." Ollie huffed. "Well."

Kallisto patted his fellow Gym Trainer's shoulder. "It's fine, Gooch."

Her gray eyes were bored, almost empty as she walked inside. Until she caught sight of Nori. The young woman sleeked over with interest, making the boy uncomfortably shuffle back. She ran her gaze up and down his entire form. She flashed a wry smirk; she was wearing dark red, nearly black lipstick and shadowy eyeliner.

"Wow," she remarked in amusement. She flipped her flowing hair, which was mostly black except for a red streak running down the the front right side. "Wasn't expecting the Demon Tamer to be so cute."

"C-c-cute!?" At once, all the blood rushed to Nori's face.

She leaned in. "How old are you?"

"I'm twelve, why?" What kind of question was that?

"Damn." She tapped her right foot.

Nori awkwardly looked to the others. The Gym Trainers remained stunned at this exchange, even more than before? Volkner was dismissively shaking his head. Flint just looked bemused. He outstretched his arm fully and held out his palm. "Meet Sofie Shadden!" he presented.

"Oh! Ohhhhh!!" Nori heard that name before, last October! "The one who stood up to that street gang in Jubilife?" he asked.

"The very same!" Flint replied. Nori was relieved at that reply. He didn't want to have asked that and be told no, what are you talking about.

"So you know me." Sofie nodded her approval. "Nice to get a little respect for once."

"Yes, but do you know him?" The Gym Trainers suddenly sprang into action, led by Tono as the head one remained standing in place. "He is a fool who doesn't know the first thing about Pokemon training."

"He's also a baby who cries over any little thing that upsets him," Eddie exaggerated. He complained a lot, but he only cried a couple times!

"And he wets the bed at night!" Ollie completely fabricated. "All the time!"

After staring them down, Nori yelled in protest. "They're lying! They're making it all up!" It was just like them to try to make him look bad in front of others. Sofie laughed and patted him on the head, ruffling up his hair. Did she believe them or not?! It was hard to tell!

"All right, enough of that." He wouldn't get a chance to ask either as Volkner interrupted with irritation. "Get to your positions."

"What?" the boy asked.

"You're battling each other," said his mentor.

"Badass." Sofie grinned in a slightly unnerving way. "Just what I was hoping for, a chance to face the Demon."

"Nope!" Flint corrected. "You'll be using the Pokemon we gave you."

Sofie crossed her arms. "That's bullshit. We come all this way for a nothing fight?"

The red 'froed man shrugged."It was his idea, not mine." This did nothing to help the punk girl's mood. Girl would be better than woman, right? She was like nineteen or twenty if Nori remembered those news reports right. "Come on, now. There'll be time for that later. You need to relax more, enjoy things. Even battles like this can be fun." Sofie complied mid-sentence, muttering bitterly the whole way.

Being honest? Nori already liked this Flint guy. Why couldn't he have been the one to train him? He was way nicer, and he wouldn't have to put up with the stupid Gym Trainers here. Sure, living in Snowpoint would suck, but he'd get used to it.

"Ca–"

"Don't screw this up." Kallisto had moved to speak, but Volkner cut him off with a cold order. So much was it that even the head Gym Trainer shuddered. Tono lowered his head. The other two appeared outright terrified.

"Y-you better win, man," squeaked the hefty one, the fear palpable in his tone.

The boy sighed. "I'll try."

"No trying. Just winning."

Nori motioned, and Pachirisu came and followed him to their side of the battlefield. The boy was swiftly reverting to his depressive state. Why did they have to have a battle now of all times?

Sofie grabbed one of the two Poke Balls off her belt, covering the lower part of her face with the elbow. "Hellbiter, let's kick ass and take names." She swung her arm sideways, casting the ball away with a flick of the wrist. Out came a black canine Pokemon with bones on its body and horns. A Houndoom.

"Okay, let's go." The blue and white squirrel fearlessly hopped into action. Electricity crackled around his cheeks. It was good his Pokemon was into this, because Nori wasn't.

His opponent was unimpressed. "Seriously? A Pachirisu?"

"Ugh. I know, I know." He may have been fine with the squirrel himself, but that didn't mean he was still sometimes self-conscious about people's perceptions of him over it. "It's not a cool and awesome Pokemon. I didn't get a choice about this."

Sofie laughed the same way as before, yet it transitioned into a sad sigh. "This'll be way too easy."

Yeah, it probably would be. His Pokemon noticed his total lack of enthusiasm, sauntering up with concern.

"I'm fine," he lied, telling the truth under his breath. "No, I'm not." He checked around. The Gym Trainers were calmly watching. The leaders were engrossed in conversation. There was no way out of this. "We'll just have to do our best."

Flint waltzed up to the side. Nori supposed he was acting as the self-appointed judge. "Alrighty then! This here's a one-on-one battle between ‘The Demon Tamer’ Nori Carino of Veilstone and Sofie Shadden of Jubilife." He clapped his hands. "Let's get started!"

"Get its scent, Hellbiter!" The black canine started off by leering unnervingly as it sniffed in Pachirisu's direction. Strange.

"Okay," Nori softly spoke. "Get in close with Quick Attack."

A nod, and the squirrel charged. The impact was strong enough to send Houndoom staggering back. Somehow.

"Big mistake! Bite it!"

The boy hummed. "Back."

Pachirisu tried to avoid, but the Houndoom caught it anyway. It held onto his Pokemon, squeezing with its jaws. Nori sighed.

"Well. Discharge."

The electricity arced everywhere. "Damn it!" screamed Sofie. Maybe some of it went down Hellbiter's throat? From how it was convulsing after releasing its grip, it seemed that way.

"Smog, Hellbiter! Make a smokescreen!" While straining, it breathed a thick purple smoke. This didn't reach Pachirisu, but it created a barrier between them. Nori did nothing, gave no orders. So Sofie gave another, "Now, Flamethrower!"

A jet of flame shot out from the cloud. It hit, precisely. Pachirisu squealed; the attack must have hurt a lot.

He couldn't focus at all. He didn't care to, either. There were too many other things on his mind. Although he was curious. "How'd it hit through that?"

Tono answered from the stands. "It used Odor Sleuth at the start of the battle." That made sense.

"Now, come through with Body Slam!"

Nori closed his eyes. "Grass Knot. When you see it." He heard a surprised yelp seconds after. Pachirisu must have hit perfectly. For what it was worth.

"A waste of time!" called Sofie. "Burn it away with Flamethrower!"

And there went that. He just couldn't think right. His thoughts were on Lux, the Gym Trainers, his life, his future. This battle. What was the point of this battle? What was the point of anything here? Tomorrow, it would be the same routine. His friend wouldn't be here. The Gym Trainers would still be jerks. The training would still be hard. There would be impossible expectations upon him. And there was little to look forward to. He might not even make it out of this long tunnel towards being an Official.

"There!"

He slowly opened his eyes. Hellbiter had indeed freed itself. Pachirisu looked back at him. He could only whisper, "I'm sorry," to his Pokemon. His eyes pleaded with Pachirisu to figure something out on his own, but this only made the squirrel freeze up in panic.

"Now finish it off! INFERNO!"

Nori looked up at the ceiling. Why did things have to be like this?

"Welp. Seems like little Pachirisu's out," said the red-haired Gym Leader. "That means Sofie and Hellbiter are the winners."

"I was expecting more a fight," the dark-haired girl remarked with disappointment. "Guess you aren't my type after all."

Whatever that meant. He went to collect his unconscious Pokemon, only for Volkner to start screaming.

"How the hell did you screw that up?!"

This caught the boy's attention. He'd never seen the Gym Leader that angry before. Nori picked up Pachirisu and gently held the squirrel against him. He started to speak, but Volkner interrupted.

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say! You had her right where you wanted her! And then you kept screwing up! Then you just gave up and did nothing! Have you learned absolutely nothing since you got here?"

The Gym Trainers and even Sofie went wide-eyed at this outburst. Flint spoke up. "Don't you think you're being harsh on the little guy?"

"I run my Gym and raise my student the way I want! You had your fun, so get out of here already!" Without looking to see if they were going, which they weren't, he sneered at Nori. "As for you. Wipe that empty look off your face. You should feel humiliated. What's more, you humiliated me. You're going to make it up. Starting right now!"

##########​


March 17th, 2015

Nori was put through the wringer as a result of his loss to Sofie. He was ordered by Volkner to clean the entire arena floor. This came in the wake of the leader having a battle with a challenger; between the mud moves the challenger's Gastrodon used and Volkner using his Octillery, there was a lot to clean. The Gym Leader went to the back room, leaving the Gym Trainers to watch over him. He hadn't been looking, but was sure they were watching like a Staravia for any slacking. But it was getting to be too much.

"Ugh!" the boy shouted, his anger overpowering his sorrow. "I'm tired. And my back hurts! And I can't hold this mop right with this arm! And I'm not even a third done!"

"Yeah, this is pretty fucked," Eddie commented. They'd been silent up until now, speaking with each other low enough not to be heard.

The head Gym Trainer sighed. "We're sorry, Carino."

Nori shot them a death glare. "Really!?" That wasn't what he needed right now. He wasn't sure how angry his visage was, but it was enough for Ollie to hastily clarify.

"We mean it, man!"

"You're sorry. Really? If you're really sorry, why don't you help me here?"

Eddie dismissed this. "We'll get in shit if we help you. But we won't rat you out if you need to rest for a bit."

All four compounded it with nods. They seemed sincere, at least. Or maybe they were just pitying him. Or they could just be lying to get him into even more trouble. Ugh, which was it? Nori's throbbing back compelled him to reluctantly accept their offer.

"This is stupid!" he growled, throwing down the mop. "Why do I have to clean the floors all by myself? That's what janitors are for!"

Tono harrumphed. "How about you use your brain to figure that one out?"

"As far as I see, this isn't helping me at all!"

"That is it," he said, pushing up his glasses. "This has nothing to do with training. It is simple humiliation."

Kallisto shrugged. "As far as we can tell, anyway. He's made us do some things for making him mad, but he's never gone this far."

Humiliation?! He didn't want to think that, but it was the only thing that made sense. He was so, so wrong about Volkner. Nori thought he was just someone who had trouble expressing himself so generally chose not to, but no. He only seemed to care about certain things. And this? All this from losing a battle because a stupid feud with his rival? What was wrong with him?!

Nori stamped the floor. "Can't you guys do anything?!" If they were really sorry about everything, including earlier this month, they would!

"I tried," replied Kallisto. "He wouldn't hear it, sorry."

He huffed, collapsing and sitting down. He actually didn't doubt Kallisto genuinely tried, even after what they'd been through. "Why do you guys bother with him..." the boy lamented. If he had it like this now, they probably have gone through some bad things themselves.

"In my case, I was sent here to learn, just like you were." Nori already knew that. Kallisto smiled. "Of course, difference is you're going to be a Rehabilitator, and I'm hoping to make it as a professional trainer."

Tono went next. "I have a personal reason for wanting to be a Gym Trainer."

Eddie arched an eyebrow. "First I've heard of this."

"Yes, and it is none of your business," the bespectacled teen said. Eddie stared at him in annoyance, which Tono coldly returned. "I will say that tolerating that man's antics will be worth it. Remember that."

"For me, it's because I like Electric-types!" Ollie chimed in.

"My case, 'cause it's fun. Good way to get stronger, too. And yeah, Volkner can be a pain in the ass sometimes. Wish we could do something for ya, kid." Well, it was good to see there was still some solidarity between them. However much that meant. Eddie stretched. "Reminds me, I'm taking a week off starting tomorrow. Family's going on a trip, and I don't want to miss it."

"Oh yeah?" Kallisto asked. "Where are you going?"

"Around the Mt. Coronet area."

Tono placed a hand on his hip. "Why that remote location, of all places?"

"Use your brain you're so proud of," Eddie retorted, mockingly. Tono lowered his gaze. "Mom and pop are geologists."

The dark-skinned teen gave Nori a glance as if to excuse him from this. "Oh..." Yet he actually had an idea what Eddie was talking about. He heard something about Mt. Coronet on the news recently. "That discovery they made there?" He forgot what it was. It was vague in his mind.

For the first time since they met, Eddie appeared genuinely impressed at him. He whistled. "Damn. See? He gets it."

"Uh, I don't!" Ollie spoke up. Eddie shook his head in annoyance, turning to Kallisto to explain. The heterochromic teen did so.

"A spelunker recently found a previously unknown section of the cavern. People have been speculating it may hold one of the plates believed to have a connection with the Original One." He scratched his chin. "The Mitsutri Clan's addressed the possibility, but not the Kannagi Clan or any of the others. I'd love to come see it for myself, actually."

"Heh, you and everyone else." Eddie stretched. "My folks are more interested in the cavern. Sticks out since it's not natural or made by any burrowing Pokemon."

"Hope you have a safe trip," said Kallisto. Nori nodded in concurrence. He certainly wouldn't object to this. Eddie would get to have fun, and he wouldn't be here. Tono turned his head away.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Ollie, before recoiling in realization. "Wait! Dude! If you go now, you'll miss exhibition day!"

"I know. But I couldn't miss this opportunity." He chuckled. "Got another reason for going there, after all."

"What the hell are you doing?!"

All five turned to see the Gym Leader in the doorway breathing angrily, his eyelids twitching. "Fuck," cursed Eddie.

"You were supposed to be making sure he's working!" the blond man screamed.

Kallisto tried to speak up. "Volkner, we were–"

"No excuses. I'm docking your pay for the month." The four flipped out, Nori in particular hearing a string of curses from Ollie and Eddie, but Volkner was having none of it. "And you. I want this floor spotless. Get to it."

Nori wanted to tell him exactly where he could shove the mop at that moment, but his better judgment kicked in. If he wanted to be a Pokemon Rehabilitator, he had to ride through this. And hope that this didn't last.

##########​


March 19th, 2015

Anger at the Gym Leader was grappling with his sorrow about Lux. However, this only worsened the boy's mental condition. Now he couldn't think of anything but his problems, no matter how hard he tried not to. There was even one point where he went downstairs to tell Volkner he was quitting. Only Pachirisu's begging stopped him, when he was halfway down the stairs. He still had his Pokemon. There was that much consolation. Still, they weren't the same as people.

Late afternoon on the 19th, Nori was made to battle Tono in a one-on-one match. He was thankful he was able to chose the Demon to battle the Raichu. He was still in no condition to battle, but his Pokemon was more than capable of holding her own - much to his opponent's frustration.

"Tactics, Munchie." Tono spoke with a haste Nori had never heard from him before. Likely as his Pokemon was again seconds away from being throttled. They barely got away twice before, unable to keep the distance they'd been wanting to. "Flash copies, now."

Nori was half-looking away. When he heard Flash, all he had to do was shut his eyes to avoid being dazzled. His Pokemon was not so fortunate. As she squinted and blinked away the light, she found there were now uncountable Raichus surrounding her. A Double Team attack.

Unfettered, she charged towards them. She sliced three times, revealing three copies.

Tono let out a superior, "Hmph!" He pointed. "We have you now. Munchie, Thunder!"

The real one was a ways behind her. The orange mouse Pokemon raised its tail, tensing all the muscles in its body. An ominous cloud materialized over the battlefield. But the Demon was much too fast. She cleanly avoided the lightning crashing down and closed the distance. The surprised Munchie reared its fist back on instinct for a Thunder Punch, but before it could even crackle, the Demon rammed into it.

She nearly embedded her face in the Raichu's belly as she ran it through into one of the pillars. The Demon bucked her head, throwing her opponent over her. Munchie hadn't even landed when it was violently kicked in the face. The orange Pokemon went tumbling across the floor.

"Get up, Munchie!" its trainer urged, actually a bit of anger in his tone. "Do not let this brute defeat you."

The electric mouse strained to do so. However, its attempt to sit up from its back ended before the Demon even got to it. Nidorina skidded to a stop before their fallen foe, punctuating her victory with a snort.

"Well," Nori said, speaking up for the first time since the battle began. "We beat you."

The Gym Leader had been scowling almost the entire time. His eyebrows furrowed further. "The Demon beat Tono. Not you."

"Yes," Tono spat, bitter about the outcome. "You did nothing, while your Pokemon got the victory. And you call yourself a trainer?" The bespectacled teenager marched up to his Pokemon, placing a hand on its head. "I apologize for allowing this, Munchie. It will not happen again." He said these last words to Nori and his Pokemon as he recalled it. "If this were a proper battle, things would have turned out different."

Nori sighed. "I just haven't been in the mood lately." Tono's excuses aside, this was the Demon's victory. He hadn't been participating, but he was paying attention. He would've spoken up if there was a need to, but there wasn't. What was the point?

"Get over it," Volkner said. "Your friend's gone and not coming back."

Nori gasped at those words. How could he say that?! How could he be so insensitive? Was all that kindness from before just a lie? Or done out of selfishness? Nori wanted to run over there and deck the Gym Leader, and would've in a heartbeat if he could get away with it. He actually had to raise his hand to stop the Demon from doing something similar.

"Exhibition day's tomorrow. I expect you to accept all challenges, and I expect you to do so properly." The Gym Leader briefly paused. "Better yet. It'll be you against Kallisto tomorrow."

Nori looked down with a sigh. The only good part was the head Gym Trainer was upstairs, so he wasn't subject to anything of his lectures. Yet.

Tono laughed. "He will enjoy that. Mind if I come to break the news to him?"

Volkner was already on his way. The glasses-wearing teen took this as not saying no, and followed in behind.

The moment they were both gone, Ollie rose from the bleachers. He pointed and laughed at the boy, ignorant to how the Demon was still out. "Hahaha! You're such a pussy."

"And you're going back on things!" Nori snapped, stomping over to the large boy yelling at him the whole way. "Hypocrite! You felt bad for me when I told you what happened. What happened to that?"

Ollie's eyes went wide. "Not saying it ain't shitty!" he said, putting up his hands and shakily backing away. Nori seethed. He looked down to see his Pokemon was right at his side. Ollie, noticing this, reached for one of his own Pokemon. "B-but dude. Letting your friend being gone get you down this much?" His voice broke, but with a gulp, he continued. "Think he'd still want to be friends with you seeing you whine like this?"

"That's...!" Stupid? Thoughtless? Ridiculous? No. "That's right." Nori had to admit, that was right. "He would still want to be friends, but he wouldn't want to see me like this."

Nori inhaled deeply. He was getting so hung up on Lux being gone that he couldn't focus on anything else. There was no mistaking that it hurt deeply. It still would hurt for a while. But Lux wasn't his entire life. Even if he was, Lux wasn't in his life anymore. There was no changing that. All he could do was try to keep moving forward.

He exhaled. The boy was surprised it was Ollie of all people who got him to realize this. Whether it was by accident or consciously didn't matter. For the first time in days, Nori gave a smile, if a melancholy one. "Thanks, Ollie. That somehow made sense."

Ollie dropped the Poke Ball he was holding, causing something that looked like an upside-down Poke Ball to appear. What was it called, Electrode? "Uhh, okay?" He was almost as confused as his Pokemon.

Nori sighed, sitting on the floor next to his stoic Pokemon. "I just miss him. I miss having someone nice to talk to, who likes me for me. He was..." The boy trailed off, unable to find the words to describe what Lux meant to him.

"Yeah, well not like you can do anything about it," Ollie cut in, albeit with a bit of awkward sympathy. "Uh, right now."

"Not right now...later?"

Ollie shrugged. "I guess so? You did all you could, so uh, try again later?"

That's right. Later. This was starting to control him, too much. He had to keep moving forward. It was all he could try to do. There was nothing to do but do that. It was easy to say that, and another thing to do it, of course. This was still not leaving his mind anytime soon, but it didn't have to be half of everything he thought about. And later, maybe he and Lux would meet again. He could only hope, if only to get some closure.
 
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Ugh. Just when I was actually starting to like Volkner, you have him go right back into jackass mode. Seriously, I want to punch him and everybody else in their nards after this. At this point, I'm wondering why Flint isn't the one training Nori. He's actually nice to him! What even is Volkner's deal with Flint? Does he hate Flint that much? At this point, Volkner's just being petty. Even if everyone does have a point about Nori's worry for Lux starting to control him, that in no way justifies their attitudes toward him, especially not Volkner's. I will admit I did like hearing about Tono's backstory a bit and wondering who this Radovan person is that he's convinced Nori is so much like. Looking forward to more...but I do wish Nori would catch a break for once.
 
Ugh. Just when I was actually starting to like Volkner, you have him go right back into jackass mode.
Even worse. He's in super jackass mode right now.

At this point, I'm wondering why Flint isn't the one training Nori. He's actually nice to him! What even is Volkner's deal with Flint? Does he hate Flint that much? At this point, Volkner's just being petty.
Very petty indeed. A bit more on why exactly Volkner dislikes Flint will be covered later! And as for Flint training Nori, well, to reply to this a bit early since it's related...

*"Hopeless". Starting to think they should have sent Nori to Byron.
So making a further remark on this one: the reason this amused me when you mentioned it, as now revealed, there's actually indeed someone else who Nori could've been sent to. Granted it's Flint, not Byron. And as you may have noticed, Nori is a way better fit for Flint, and Sofie is arguably a way better fit for Volkner. It makes you think, doesn't it?

Even if everyone does have a point about Nori's worry for Lux starting to control him, that in no way justifies their attitudes toward him, especially not Volkner's.
Sometimes you can be right yet wrong about something at the same time. And of course as you once mentioned, saying 'live with it' is never the way to go.

I will admit I did like hearing about Tono's backstory a bit and wondering who this Radovan person is that he's convinced Nori is so much like.
Glad you liked it. It was in-part for that, but also in-part fluff to show how the Gym Trainers act off-duty and when Nori isn't involved, explain their mood/motivations, and explore that bit of backstory. As for Radovan, I have no comment on whether or not it's a hook for something later.
 
*I'd recognize a narrative description of the final battle in Super Mario Bros. 3 anywhere.
*Getting a tiny bit meta with that discussion of the old Pokémon ganes -_^.
*
They'd focus so much on catching new Pokemon, they forgot to train their partners who'd been with them longer.
Is this intended as a callout of the anime, or just a coincidence?
*So Tono had someone somewhat similar to Nori as an old enemy.
*Nice to see Flint is still great.
*And an upcoming promotion to Elite Four we already know the outcome of.
*Sorta creepy there, Miss Sofie
*Volkner being a jerk again. Flint really brings out his worst.
*Pachirisu Vs Houndoom feels like a bit of a mismatch. Flint giving out a rather easier to use "starter" than Volkner.
*Volkner's gotten so bad even the Gym Trainers are sympathetic.
*So they may have found one of Arceus' plates...
*
Now he couldn't think of anything but his problems, no matter how hard he tried not to.
Not good. He needs some sort of help immediately or he'll be potentially stuck in this death spiral.
*Ollie accidentally saves the day.

Hopefully Nori can hit the turnabout he needs.
 
*I'd recognize a narrative description of the final battle in Super Mario Bros. 3 anywhere.
It was a fun scene to write. Was trying to make it ambiguous if a little confusing as to what was going on while being vague. Like "wait what's going on" and "oh it's just a video game"

*Getting a tiny bit meta with that discussion of the old Pokémon ganes -_^.
Funny, it was intended as a bit of in-character ranting (partially miming my own opinions) that expands the universe and characters a bit, but I was able to easily pivot it into the main talk. It was fun coming up with an idea as to why they might exist in the actual world, however.

Is this intended as a callout of the anime, or just a coincidence?
Coincidence, nothing intended from it. Just philosophical talk about training mentalities.

*So Tono had someone somewhat similar to Nori as an old enemy.
Just keep in mind that two of the similarities he mentioned are 'has red eyes' and 'has a Nido'. He's more than likely exaggerating to himself; his perception might not actually be what is.

*Sorta creepy there, Miss Sofie
To be fair, she backed off when she learned Nori was too young. Although to be fair to creepy, old enough is younger than most would expect, but I'm not pursuing that beyond that, to clarify. The fact that she went for Nori instead of any of the guys though, and given what they didn't want him doing...

*Volkner being a jerk again. Flint really brings out his worst.
Yuuup.

*Pachirisu Vs Houndoom feels like a bit of a mismatch. Flint giving out a rather easier to use "starter" than Volkner.
It was a Houndour at first, for clarification. It takes surprisingly little effort to evolve into Houndoom: lv24 if I remember correctly. Probably could've done that in one and a half to two and a half months of working at it.

*Volkner's gotten so bad even the Gym Trainers are sympathetic.
I mean they're not flat jackasses. They think for themselves, and all have some motivation when they act up. Similarly when they see Volkner is being extremely petty, they have enough of a conscience (and maybe empathy) to put their own grudges aside. It's the same principal that made Volkner ease up when the Gym Trainers started acting up.

*So they may have found one of Arceus' plates...
I actually made the point of this more clear at first, but decided it was too clunky. Reread that part again though, and you might get an idea of where I might be going with it. If not, wait two chapters.

*Ollie accidentally saves the day.
He was actually trying on purpose. Being kind of a jerk in how he went about it, but just enough not of one for Nori to listen and get the message.
 
Month 3: March of Flux (fifth part)
March of Flux (fifth part)
March 20th, 2015

Exhibition day opened innocuously enough. Kallisto was challenged by an experienced elderly woman, who he thoroughly trounced as always - in-part attributing it to younger Pokemon. Ollie and Tono had a two-on-two match against a couple. They surprisingly were able to put their heads together and defeat their opponents. Nori himself had two challenges, something the Demon was more than happy to get into. She won both times with just enough input from him. However, a couple hours into the day, the time came for Nori's reckoning.

"All right, next is a demonstration between our Gym's..." And with this, Volkner paused. He considered his next words. "Two of the trainers in it, I suppose." The audience chuckled slightly; Nori rolled his eyes at the indirect insult.

"Kallisto Keravnos," and with this the crowd practically exploded. No surprise there. After all, everyone loved Kallisto Keravnos and everyone knew how great he was. Everyone who counted or wasn't a bad person, of course. "Against Nori Carino." To the boy's surprise, he got a mixed reception. Strange. In his previous battles in the Gym, even earlier, it was mostly cheers. Was it because he was up against Kallisto? Or was it something else?

"I hope you're ready, Carino," Kallisto warmly declared. "Just because we train together doesn't mean I'm going to hold back! Let's both give it our all today!" The crowd applauded for this.

Humiliation. That word echoed in Nori's mind. Volkner made him mop all the floors as humiliation. Today was certainly no different. The Gym Leader wanted him to get destroyed by the perfect everything himself, Kallisto Keravnos. The outcome wasn't in doubt. He had a Pokemon that was still in-training and one powerful one, against him and his team of ridiculously strong ones and his strategy. The only question was, how bad would it be?

"This will be a standard battle with two Pokemon a side. Send out your first Pokemon together."

Nori gestured for Pachirisu to hop into the fray, as Kallisto sent out his pink Ampharos, light sparkles dancing about as it emerged. The squirrel's ability would be a moot point. Kallisto's Pokemon were trained well enough to know a variety of moves.

"Get to it," were Volkner's final words before the match began.

"You can have the first move, Carino," Kallisto offered with a smile and nod. Genuine. As if he really meant it. The boy wished he could be anywhere but here right now. He wished most of all he could be with Lux, or if not back home. But, this was reality.

The boy sighed. "Fine. Approach, Pachirisu." A vague order. The squirrel was befuddled by this, but slowly walked up as asked. This of all things appeared to take the Ampharos off-guard?

"Don't be thrown off by him, Ampharos," the fit teen said. "You know what to do." The Pokemon nodded and got ready. Great, he was being vague as well.

Nori folded his hands. "Quick Attack." Their only hope of doing anything here was Super Fang. A brutal attack like that could cut through any foe's defenses, no matter the power difference. They just had to get in close. Which Pachirisu did, by rushing down his foe and colliding with its gut. It barely flinched from this, but...

Kallisto was bemused by this. "In that case, Headbutt!" Yeah, he saw that coming. Before they could act further, Ampharos craned its neck and bashed his face into the squirrel's. But that was okay. One hit like that wouldn't do in Pachirisu. "Now Iron Tail, Ampharos! Knock it back!"

"Super Fang," said Nori. He hoped that his Pokemon was faster. He had been learning a lot about Electric Pokemon while here. They were commonly quick as a bolt of lightning, but Ampharos was among the exceptions. Could that make a difference?

The squirrel reared back to bite...but, no. Natural speed was no substitute for experience and training. The boy could only sigh as his Pokemon was batted away like a baseball, much to the audience's elation.

"Way to go, Ampharos!" Kallisto cheered his Pokemon on. "Let's seize the advantage! Activate Electric Terrain!"

Great. That was actually beneficial to them now, but it would cause problems once Pachirisu was down. Which would be very shortly. Nori watched as his Pokemon got to his feet, shaky after that attack. At least Kallisto's Ampharos didn't have that thing Tono's Pincurchin used to make it last longer, but they needed to stay in this as long as they could.

For starters, his counterattack. That would take some focus to set up, like any field or weather moves. "Discharge." He knew for a fact Kallisto's Ampharos didn't have any ability to negate this. And powered up, even it should feel this.

The wave of electricity spread across the battlefield. Right after, Pachirisu got in closer and let their foe have it. Ampharos was lit up by the attack, nearly blindingly so. It cringed in pain...ultimately shaking the attack off?

Nori quietly sighed. That's right, the power difference. Maybe he should've gone with Quick Attack into Super Fang?

"Well, have to admit, you surprised me there," said Kallisto. "Thought for sure you were going to try to get Super Fang off again." Okay, maybe not.

"Well, I didn't," he said with a calm smile, as if he planned this all along. The boy looked to his Pokemon. "Keep Discharging."

Another burst of that move, the same result. Keep chipping away. Pachirisu had to catch his breath after that one. Kallisto shook his head.

"Dragon Pulse, Ampharos." Nori didn't even bother telling Pachirisu to avoid the attack. Not like he could in the state he was in anyway, and if he could he'd do so by instinct. The squirrel was blown back by the mighty blast of draconian energy fired from the pink Pokemon's maw.

Nori watched emotionlessly as his Pokemon crashed against the wall. Volkner was about to call it, when to the crowd's gasps, his Pokemon rose. The boy smiled vaguely. His Pokemon was hanging on.

Kallisto still took the opportunity to give some commentary. "You're pushing him too hard, Carino. Having any Pokemon use its strongest attacks repeatedly always leads to trouble. Even my Raitora would be tired after a couple Swift Bolts."

"I can do without the lecture, thank you," Nori coldly replied. Okay, he wanted to wipe the smirk off this guy's face, if only for a second. "Whatever you want to say, we're still in this."

"So you are," his opponent smoothly brushed off.

Nori snorted. "Pachirisu, Quick Attack." He gestured towards the pillars, which his Pokemon picked up on.

Kallisto pointed. "Signal Beam, Ampharos!"

His Pokemon gathered its bearings enough to rush forward. But Ampharos' aim was too good. The squirrel was intercepted midway, and that was it.

"Pachirisu's done," Volkner announced. The crowd ate it up, cheering Kallisto's victory.

"Yeah, yeah," Nori loudly spoke as he brought his Pokemon back. "He beat a low-level Pokemon with a high-level one."

The crowd reacted exactly as he expected, just not as he hoped. There were at least a scant few people cheering or agreeing with him, like from a few of the staff, a couple brunette women in the far left corner, and a strawberry blonde boy in the front row. However, they were completely drowned out by the boos. A number of remarks he was actually able to hear.

"Sore loser!"

"You should've trained harder!"

"You can't match Kallisto!"

Yeah, that was right. Still, he was going to try here. The Demon certainly would want to. Once she was out, she immediately growled and hissed. The Nidorina made a throat-slashing motion and turned to face her trainer. She took pause on sight of him.

What was the point of this? Even if he somehow won, what would this do? What would he get?

"I'm...willing to do this," he spoke earnestly. "Just, don't be surprised if you're on your own for a lot of it." She could handle herself, like many times before. Maybe it would throw Kallisto off a bit. Even it if made Volkner mad for not doing things properly. His final words before the battle resumed were a whispered plea. "Kick his ass for me." Nidorina solemnly nodded and got ready, burning fury in her retinas.

Volkner raised his hands. "Ampharos against the Demon. Begin."

"Hey?" Nori suddenly asked. "Try Shock Wave."

This was dumb and ridiculous. But he wanted to at least use the move Kallisto had given his Pokemon against him, out of spite. His opponent's eyes went wide in surprise. The pink Ampharos actually braced itself as Nidorina focused and launched a quick jolt of electricity that went completely wide.

The audience laughed at this. Even Volkner snickered over their failing. Kallisto was more sympathetic. "Well, you're getting there, at least," he assured. Sincerely too, which annoyed the boy. "When you're really ready, then."

His Pokemon moved in on her own without being asked to. Not like they had any other option, anyway.

Kallisto accepted this. "Confuse Ray!"

Well, not like Nori had to say anything about this. Nidorina had practically made ignoring this attack routine. She just momentarily closed her eyes as the light shined upon her, continuing to run in unimpeded.

Their opponent took it in stride with a snap of his fingers. "Discharge, Ampharos!"

Ugh, he should have expected that. She had no chance to slam on the brakes or get out of the way as a wave of electricity burst from Ampharos, intensified by the terrain. Nidorina convulsed as the powerful attack coursed through her body. That wouldn't be enough to bring her down, yet taking a hit like this so soon did them no favors.

Kallisto gave a preemptive order. "It's coming after. Get ready to dodge!"

As the attack faded, the Demon lunged. Nori contentedly sighed as Ampharos tried to side-step, only for Nidorina to instantly turn and bite its leg anyway.

"Thunder Punch, quick!" yelled Kallisto. "Iron Tail after!"

Nidorina saw this coming, if not heard the order outright. She released her grip and jumped away, leaving the stubby fist to connect with air. As for the second attack, she seemed to have her own plan, but Nori actually gave a command.

"Jump over and Crunch again." His Pokemon grinned. If this worked how he expected, they'd have this.

Ampharos swung its body, tail bathed in a silver sheen. Nidorina leaped and, to his surprise, went a step further and chomped down on their foe's neck. She pulled it right to the ground. Not what he had in mind, but this was even better.

The crowd booed this turn of events. "Nice play," Kallisto complimented. "You're stopping Discharge by doing that, too. We have to get out of this. But how...?" The fit teen closed his eyes, intently thinking his response over. But Nori wasn't going to give them that chance.

"Keep your grip. Give it some claws, too." It went quiet in the arena, aside from the Demon's gnashing and Ampharos' quiet groans. The audience was awaiting their favored trainer's next move with baited breath.

"Got it!" Kallisto snapped his fingers. "Start with a Headbutt, and get back once you do!"

The pink Pokemon had just enough room to rear back and slam its head into the Nidorina's. It took two of these, but she was momentarily stunned, releasing their foe and giving it enough time to get back. The audience cheered. Nori gave the Demon a silent nod to pursue.

Their opponent's follow-up came swift and smooth. "Okay, Cotton Spore! Make a wall!"

It may not have had any wool, but it still somehow managed to produce a barrier of the material before itself. The Demon caught Ampharos' shaking in time, stopping just short of being coated in the goop. Good thing, that would've slowed her immensely.

"Just go around," Nori advised. The teal creature was on it, circling away from the cloud to approach from the other side.

But Kallisto was ready for them. "Right where we want you! Dragon Pulse!"

The pink Ampharos opened its mouth, and a blue and red sphere started to form within. Nori crossed his fingers for his Pokemon to be able to evade this...only for those hopes to be dashed. It spat the red and blue attack out with perfect timing, striking just as she rounded the Cotton Spore barrier. Nidorina was launched into the air by this powerful blast of energy, coming down awkwardly on her side.

Again, Nori wondered: what was the point of all this? They were still in the battle, his Pokemon was getting to her feet. He might be able to bring this back and defeat Ampharos, but then Kallisto would still have one Pokemon left. The Demon had taken two brutal hits already. The outcome wasn't in doubt. Why bother?

"Hey, don't feel bad, Carino," his opponent encouraged with a warm smile. "You're doing well. Better than anyone thought you would, with how hard things have been for you lately. I mean, sure. You've made some mistakes, some might say you aren't battling to your best. But it happens to the greatest of us at times." He briefly paused. "That said, if you want to call it here, I won't mind."

The boy closed his eyes. The point of this...the point of trying to win would be to shut this jackass up. To make him see he's not someone you can talk down to. To show him just what he thinks of all these lectures and his unwanted pity. To teach him a lesson. To show him the power of Nori Carino and his Demon.

He was pissed off now. Nori stomped his foot twice. As if perfectly timed, the Electric Terrain faded at that very moment. "No. I've had enough of you, and enough of this. You're going down." He looked to his Pokemon. "Let's go, my Demon." She blinked, seeming to chuckle sinisterly as she did so. With a toothy smile, she got into a battle pose.

Kallisto smiled and nodded. He gave Nori a thumbs-up, that only served to infuriate him and his Pokemon further. "That's the spirit. You're finally getting into it. Let's continue, then." Nori got even madder. Was Kallisto goading him into trying harder, and did he completely fall for it? Well, fine. He'd just have to give him more than he bargained for. Kallisto clapped. "Charge Beam, Ampharos!"

Okay, time to bunker down and focus. How to get around this? Nori looked close at their adversary. Its neck was craned, not facing directly at his Pokemon. That's how!

"Approach. Jump over."

As he expected, the laser came out at Nidorina's side. The Ampharos tried to sweep it towards her, but the Demon perfectly leaped over the attack without missing a beat. "Not bad," Kallisto gave his approval. "But, Confuse Ray!"

That move again. A strange ray of light. Easily avoided by not looking, but is that was Kallisto wanted?

"Eyes open. Circle left."

Nidorina glanced back but trusted him. Nori watched intently has his Pokemon averted her eyes as best she could while trying to go around it. The boy's curled lip gave way to a sick grin as it worked. What's more, Kallisto blinked, taken aback by this.

"Mm, Discharge!" His order came out impulsively. It was the first time he'd seen the head Gym Trainer panic. And he made him do it. He made Kallisto panic. Whatever happened from here, Nori was satisfied.

Electricity gathered around Ampharos as it took a quick breath. Before it could let it out, it was struck by a Shadow Claw.

"Too slow." Nori punched the air with a sneer. "Cut."

While her opponent was still reeling, the Demon ruthlessly tore into the pink dragon-like Pokemon's belly. It squealed horribly from the pain. If it was anyone but Kallisto's Pokemon, Nori might've felt bad, but at this moment he didn't care.

"Get back!" Kallisto shouted.

"Try it. We'll finish you." He was about to give the command, when he saw his Pokemon had already lowered her head. "Yeah, that's it." She was thinking Skull Bash, and so was he.

"Dischar-no, jump away!"

The Ampharos awkwardly twisted and stumbled aside, barely avoiding getting violently tackled but falling prone in the process. It rolled over to get up, and a wave of gasps crashed through the audience.

The Cut had opened up a huge gash on its belly. Dark-red blood was oozing from the wound. The crowd including the Gym Trainers were mostly stunned, if not horrified. Volkner arched an eyebrow, looking over at Kallisto. The head Gym Trainer was wincing, conflicted. Nori was all smiles.

"Again. Skull Bash!" Their opponent was wide open, injured, and in no condition to defend itself. This wouldn't kill it or anything, but it'd damn well hurt it!

Kallisto's arm darted out. "Ampharos, return!" Nidorina was milliseconds away from contact when the other Pokemon's form faded into light. The head Gym Trainer clutched the Poke Ball to his chest. He took a deep breath and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Pft." Nori waved a hand dismissively as his Pokemon smoothly recovered from hitting air. "Running before we beat you?"

Kallisto shook his head. "No, I'm conceding her," he smoothly said. Nori clenched his fists. How could he be so collected after that?! "She's too injured to continue, so we'll consider her defeated."

Injuries sometimes happened in a battle. That was actually a genuine accident, or at least something his Pokemon did of her own volition. According to what he'd been reading on trainer law so far, it's a trainer's responsibility to look after their Pokemon when fighting. Of course Kallisto wouldn't be the type to not do that. That was just wishful thinking.

His opponent's eyes were downcast. "Well, you did it. Guess you powered your way through with violence and took a Pokemon off me." Kallisto was scrutinizing Nori for all he was worth, mildly disappointed in him. As was the crowd displeased. Not that he cared.

"Just send out your Raitora and get this over with." He knew the whole time that was looming. A loss was inevitable here, he still was cognizant of that fact. He just wanted to get that one victory over Kallisto so the loss wasn't as bad. And to spite him.

The teenager smirked, his gusto returning. "I could do that!" he said, turning to the crowd. "You want to see my Raitora?"

The crowd replied to this by cheering at maximum volume. As if he needed to ask them.

"Or!" he asked, quieting the lot of them. "Do you want to see my new Pokemon?"

Nori thought they were loud before, but they somehow got louder at this. He just shook his head at this ridiculous display of showmanship.

"Looks like the people have spoken!" Kallisto nodded. He took out a ball that was completely red, which Nori recognized from last month. He gave it a kiss. "So! Xurkitree, the stage is yours!"

What Kallisto sent out kind of looked like a tree to Nori. Except it was black, with bizarre white leaves all over its body. It was faceless, its head spiny and white. It had a long tail with three prongs and six fingers on each brown hand. Electricity crackled around it. On second thought, maybe it was more like a writhing mass of vines or wires.

"Hold on!" came a shout, over a surprisingly confused crowd. Tono had stood from his seat. "What is that Pokemon?" The only people not in the room not surprised by this were Nori and Volkner. Many of them had pulled out their phones, PokeDexes, and other devices. Was this something very rare, he wondered?

"Had to keep it under wraps for a while," Kallisto apologized. "I've been training it in absolute secrecy in my spare time."

"Ridiculous!" the other Gym Trainer shouted. "Why reveal a surprise like this in a throwaway battle? Nori Carino is too stupid to be thrown off by unknowns!"

"Hey! Screw you, nerd!"

Kallisto just shrugged. "The thought crossed my mind, but it needs real battle experience." The audience was intrigued by this banter. Nori had to admit, he was too. There had to be something special about this Pokemon. Kallisto and his special Pokemon. Luckily, the Gym Trainer launched into an explanation.

"You won't find it in any official databases, but Xurkitree is a Pokemon native to islands in the South Pacific. The islanders call them Thunder Gods, and they're known for their fickle temperament." He looked to his Pokemon, surprisingly humbly. "This one was a handful even by their standards, kind of like the Demon Nidorina. The storms it caused attracted the attention of the International Police. After subduing it, they concluded it needed a good trainer, and well. The Officials tapped me for the honor."

Nori eyed the creature. "That sounds fishy to me. And shouldn't it have been someone like me who got it?" It sounded exactly like the kind of Pokemon he'd be taking care of as a Pokemon Rehabilitator.

"Believe what you want, it's the truth," Kallisto affirmed. The crowd ate this up, quickly warming to the unusual Pokemon. "Going back to what I said, I feel I've trained him enough to use him in battle. I hope you're ready, Carino."

Was Kallisto just showing off? If it was a tree, Poison would be effective unless it had a resisting type. Not to mention, using a Pokemon with little to no practical battle experience. If that was the case, they might have a chance here. Or maybe that's what Kallisto wanted him to think, but that was no reason to not try.

"If you two are done," Volkner said with an annoyed sigh, "I'd like you to get going now."

Yes, Nori wanted to get started too. "Sure," said Kallisto, pointing at the ceiling. "The opening move is mine, this time! Xurkitree, Rain Dance!"

"Poison Jab while it's setting up." Those kinds of moves take time and effort to prepare. Nori was sure Nidorina would be able to land a solid hit in that period. The Demon charged in, her front right paw glowing purple, and punched the twirling mass of vines right in its midsection.

To their surprise, the Xurkitree almost seemed to absorb the blow with its lithe body. Moments later, a localized downpour started. Mercifully for the audience, it was just over the battlefield. Nori knew from watching Kallisto use his Ludicolo before. Thunders were on their way. Better not give them a chance.

"Let's see how you like being Cut." Hitting it didn't work, but chopping it should.

"Thunder Punch, Xurkitree!" The two Pokemon swung at each other, the two attacks clashing off. Nidorina lightly winced, getting the worse of that exchange due to the latent electricity within the other Pokemon's fist. "Now wriggle left and Wrap!"

Wriggle? The reason for this became clear as the Demon followed through with her right claw. The mass of vines evaded with a simple twist, summarily lashing out like a whip and coiling around the Demon.

Nori stood up straight. His Pokemon was already implementing a counter-strategy: Crunching down as hard as she could. The Xurkitree made a bizarre sound, a cross between humming and screeching, yet ultimately seemed unfazed.

Kallisto smiled sadly. "Sorry, but this is over! Thunderbolt!"

Sparks flowing from the mass of vines' hands, it pressed them into the teal creature and let loose. The attack actually flowed through both Pokemon, shocking Xurkitree as well. Yet it only mildly cringed from the feedback, whereas Nidorina was straining to remain conscious. She did, but there was nothing stopping them from just doing that again.

Was this over? No, there had to be a way out of this. "Try to shake it off." His Pokemon shook her head at this request, and took off running.

"Actively disobeying you," Kallisto lamented. Technically so, but he trusted her. Nori leaned in curiously. What did she have in mind? "Pummel her with Thunder Punch."

Before it could, Nidorina hurled herself into a pillar. Xurkitree ended up crushed between them, slackening enough from the pain to allow the trapped Pokemon to free herself with a roll. They...were still in this? They still had a chance!

"Shadow Claw, quick!"

"Power Whip, Xurkitree!"

Again, the two Pokemon swung at each other. However, this time the former Demon was the decisive winner of the exchange. She just sliced the very tendril that was coming for her. Xurkitree recoiled, emitting a cry that reminded Nori of a radio picking up static.

"Now grab it," was his next order. Nidorina reached out...and pulled its legs out from under it! He cheered as his opponent's eyes stretched wide. "Yes! Now swing it into the pillar." They'd keep bashing it against there until it was lights out!

"Thunder!" shouted Kallisto. "Get away!"

Nori watched intently. His Pokemon swung once...yet through it all, Xurkitree still managed to focus enough to execute the move. He hoped for a moment the pillar would give them cover, but it didn't happen. With a rumble and flash, down came the lightning onto his Pokemon. She immediately dropped their prey, which scampered a considerable distance away as fast as its noodly form could take it.

But they hadn't won yet. Electricity crackled around the Demon as her muscles stiffened. Trainer and Pokemon both glared fiercely, the latter roaring as she fought through the paralysis with sheer rage.

Kallisto took a deep breath. "Thunder, once more!"

Nidorina charged, but another bolt came crashing down onto her. The crackle of electricity echoed as the room was momentarily lit up. Nori squinted, instantly noticing what happened. His Pokemon was laid out where she was struck. It was the first time Nori had actually seen her knocked completely unconscious.

Seconds after, Kallisto's Xurkitree fell to all fours. The boy somehow doubted this thing needed to breathe, but it was like it was trying to catch its breath after that. He wasn't upset about the result, but how it happened set him off.

"Ka–"

"Hey!" he interrupted Volkner's announcement. "You hypocrite! You said not to push your Pokemon too hard by using strong moves repeatedly. And you just did!" The crowd mercilessly booed him for this outburst.

Kallisto shrugged. "It ended the battle," he eventually said when things had quieted down enough. Smoothly playing it off. Of course. "That's when you can get away with it."

"Whatever," Nori said. He recalled Nidorina and briefly eyed Volkner. "I battled like you wanted. I'm done for today."

He tuned everything out and left. Maybe he was being a poor sport. No, he certainly was, especially to anyone who didn't know the context. But he just did not care. At that moment, he'd rather have been a poor sport than stick around for any of what was coming.

---​

Nori couldn't stop thinking about the battle the rest of the day. For a moment, it seemed like he could've won that. But no, that was just overestimating himself. Kallisto probably just made it seem that way. It made him wonder why he even bothered trying as hard as he did. He wasn't good at this. He was clearly missing something, and nobody wanted to tell him what it was. And even if he got it, he'd still never be able to catch up to those who'd already gotten it a long time ago.

Just after 8pm, he went into the trainer's lounge. He didn't want to eat, but his stomach's complaints made him decide he had to. He had just turned on the stove to boil water, when Kallisto and Volkner walked in.

"Of course. Here we go." The boy threw up his arms. "Fine, now that we're not in front of everyone, lay it on me. Tell me how much I suck."

Volkner glared. "You're being immature."

Nori...couldn't deny that. "Sorry. I know." The boy sighed and sat down. "I'm just mad. You both should know the reason why." Neither of them replied to this, verbally or physically. But their expressions gave silent, subtle acknowledgment. "Well, what did you want to speak to me about?"

"All right," Kallisto said with a nod. "You did good today, Carino. But that said, you're battling like an amateur does." The teenager raised a finger briefly, and started to pace as he spoke. "Only amateurs rely on brute force, just using moves without thinking about how to use them. It only works if you actually can overpower an opponent, and even then it's unsporting. When you run into someone stronger, or someone who uses actual strategy, well." He paused and turned to Nori. "You just saw what happens."

Volkner nodded. "This is what the target test was trying to convey to you."

"I thought the point of that was to teach you to be patient, pace yourself, and wait for openings?" He still had trouble getting it down, mostly because of Nidorina herself wanting to instinctively rush things. And his own, for that matter.

"That too," the Gym Leader spoke. "Broadly, it was about understanding what you were facing and developing a strategy."

"Well, what sort of strategy should I be using?" asked Nori. "Since using power and speed to your advantage where possible isn't a valid one in your eyes? You always say to fight to your fullest, right? So if I'm not doing that with Nidorina, what should I be doing with her?"

He genuinely didn't understand this. All he got from them was to fight to your fullest at all times. He didn't have to tell the Demon of Veilstone to do that, and that's always what they did. And it worked a lot of the time: many trainers and their Pokemon just couldn't keep up. Like they'd say to dodge something and counter, she'd hit them anyway or keep coming and hit them mid-counter. And for those that could, she was still no slouch. Maybe he could be doing a better job with Pachirisu, but the electric squirrel still needed training.

Volkner rolled his eyes, turning to his Gym Trainer. "I told you this would be a waste of time. So we're going to do it my way."

There they went again. Was this philosophical? Why wouldn't they just give him a straight answer? Even Kallisto tried to protest. "Volkner, I don't think–"

"If his confidence is hurt, then he's not cut out for this." the blond man leered at Nori. "Be ready tomorrow. It'll be you against me."

##########​

March 21st, 2015

Volkner personally battled Nori in the late evening. It was two-on-two, as before. Volkner first chose to use his Raichu against Nori's Pachirisu. The Gym Leader spared the squirrel no quarter, knocking it around with the likes of Mega Punch, Iron Tail, and finishing with a vicious Double Edge. They only got off some Discharges and a Quick Attack (hit at the same time as Volkner's Pokemon's own), and the electric mouse didn't even seem phased by them.

Battling it with the Demon wasn't going much better. Unlike Tono's, the Gym Leader's Raichu was primarily trained in physical moves. The battle had turned into a violent brawl, the two Pokemon trading blows. And Volkner - Volkner, not his Pokemon - managing to keep up with the Demon's every move.

"Crunch." Both Pokemon were getting worn out. Nori knew they had to do something drastic here. If they could just get behind it...

"Seismic Toss." Volkner's commands were harsh and serious. As the Nidorina was coming in to bite, Raichu took a step back and grabbed her by the head. All in one motion, the mouse rolled onto its back and hurled her away.

"Enough fooling around, Raichu," said Volkner while the Demon was still in midair. "End this charade. Volt Tackle."

To Nori's relief, she landed on her feet. He had a split-second to make a decision. "Skull Bash." He doubted she could avoid or stop this, so meet it head-on! Literally!

Sparks crackled around Volkner's Raichu. It screamed a battle cry as it bolted towards its foe, cloaked in electricity. At the same time, Nidorina lowered her head and charged. The two Pokemon's heads came together in a sickening crack. There was a flash and boom of thunder as the Volt Tackle halted.

The two Pokemon stumbled away from each other. Raichu clutching at its head while squeaking in pain, and Nidorina silently wincing. Volkner sneered at the situation. "Finish it. Flail."

"Ni–" he started to call out, but went quiet. The other Pokemon doubled over in pain. Nidorina's eyes shot open, and not wanting to take any chances, lashed out with a Poison Jab that stilled the writhing Raichu.

"Raichu, return," the Gym Leader said, not taking his eyes off Nori. "Don't be so full of yourself."

"I wasn't?"

"You were thinking that you are."

"No I wasn't." To be honest, the first thought that went through his mind when Raichu went down was relief.

The Gym Leader glared for several long seconds. Quick as a hiccup, he threw his next Pokemon out directly before him. "Luxray, go." His strongest Pokemon, and his ace. "Charge Beam."

As the large black and blue feline Pokemon started to materialize in the yellow light of his ball, he was already starting to execute the attack. The laser of electricity was fired from his eyes right as he fully formed. Nidorina saw it coming, but at least she was only grazed.

"Get in close..." Nori encouraged. It wouldn't be into safety; Volkner's Luxray was adept at both ranges. But it wasn't like they had any other option.

"Charge Beam, again," came Volkner's next command. And this time, Luxray didn't miss. The attack had enough power behind it that Nidorina's legs began to uncontrollably twitch. The teal Pokemon slumped over as the attack finished. The Gym Leader crossed his arms. "Your Nidorina is–"

She snapped up. Straining, but still able to keep going. Nori finished his sentence. "Still able to battle," he said with a smile. "Shadow Claw!"

"Dodge," barked Volkner. "And, Psychic Fangs."

Could he dodge? Nori cringed as, yes. Luxray hopped aside from the swing and came down with his fangs, which had pink mist swirling around them. Mercifully, Nidorina noticed and pivoted...nearly losing her balance in the process!

Volkner smelled the blood. "Again."

"Uh, block it!"

Nori watched intently as Luxray again attempted to bite his Pokemon...and beamed when the Demon stood on her hind legs and grabbed the Electric type's head! The feline snarled and attempted to overpower her, snapping at her all the while. Yet she held strong.

"Now let's bite back!" Nori commanded.

Volkner raised his fist. "Hyper Beam."

"Wait, no!"

The Demon gave the Luxray a headbutt, but this didn't deter the feline from starting to gather orange-colored energy in its mouth. She realized what was coming and abandoned the attack, but it was too late to get away. As she was trying to escape behind the Luxray, the Electric type turned and blasted her. The radiant beam carried her into the long side wall, which cracked and broke away slightly under the immense power of the move. Somehow, it kept together for the five seconds the attack lasted.

"Now, your Nidorina can't battle. You lost." Volkner didn't even seem to care about the damage to his Gym, immediately scolding him right away and starting to walk up. "You go on about power, and yet you couldn't stop mine. You still continue to allow your Pokemon to do whatever she wants at times." By this time, he was right in Nori's face. "Enough is enough. You have a month to get your act together. Next exhibition day. If I don't see any improvement from you, you're done. I'm telling the Officials you're a lost cause. Until then, you'd better work your ass off every day, for your own sake."

The Gym Leader turned on his feet and left with his Pokemon. Nori took the moment to run over to his Pokemon and check on her. He knew she was out on impact. The Demon was starting to come to, growling in frustration at herself.

"I know," he soothed. "We'll have to get even stronger and crush him someday." The teal Pokemon nodded at this, weakly chuckling. "Whatever he wants, we'll give it to him. But for now, rest up."

He brought her back to his ball. He said those things, but the truth was, he had no idea what he was supposed to do. Even if he did get stronger, it might not be good enough by Volkner's standards. They were just impossible. His frustrations boiled over.

"What the hell does he want from me?!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. In the back of his mind, he was hoping the Gym Leader would overhear him.

"Part of it is proper strategy," came the voice of Kallisto.

The boy turned. The Gym Trainers were watching, approaching. Nori hadn't been paying them any attention, to the point of forgetting their presence. But of course they'd be paying attention to him.

"That's not the main reason, and I realized the past two days what it really is," the head Gym Trainer continued. Nori raised an eyebrow. He wasn't too keen on getting help from Kallisto, but he was willing to take anything. "You need to have more passion in battle, Carino."

The boy tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"You're not too into Pokemon battling. I noticed it by how relaxed you usually are, among other things."

"So?" the boy shrugged. "Tono's like that too." Both of them rarely raised their voice in battle. He didn't get that, why did like half of everyone shout their orders? It just made them look like stupid morons.

The bespectacled teenager harrumphed at this comparison. "Do not lump me in with yourself. You and I are unalike."

Nori paused. "Yeah, that's true, I guess," he conceded. Tono had a lot of passion. He just didn't show it outwardly most of the time. As to the accusation though, he couldn't deny that. "You're right, I don't really like battling."

"But you are going to be working with Pokemon that do enjoy battle," countered Kallisto. "In fact, you already have one."

"Then how come I managed to befriend the Demon anyway?"

Kallisto tapped his chin. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't come up with anything. The trio was quiet, until Ollie snickered.

"He's got you there, dude."

Kallisto sighed and pressed a palm to his temple, shaking his head. "He's avoiding my point with semantics." He looked up at the ceiling for a moment before speaking again. "If you don't care about something, you don't care what happens. That's one of the reasons why you're losing all the time. It's because you don't care. What are your Pokemon going to think about you if you keep losing all the time? That's why I say you need to learn to enjoy battles, even if you don't want to. It's not everything, but it'll be a big help."

"What's the point?!" Nori snapped. "What does battling get me?" And there that jerk went with another lecture.

"You've felt the thrill of a good win before. I've seen it." Kallisto grinned. "I saw your battle against Gasha Qian, believe it or not. I saw how you celebrated that win. That's what the point is. It's about personal improvement, and being proud of yourself."

Okay, first. Kallisto actually watched that? That mildly surprised the boy. But second, pride? He had a Ceutholic neighbor once who said that was a deadly sin. He didn't care for their or anyone else's teachings, but he could see how pride could make someone grow a big fat ego.

The orange and pink haired teenager smiled. "And you can get into battles. I know you did yesterday."

That was true. He didn't hate battles. There were indeed times when he liked them. He still remembered the time where he didn't like them at all. Gasha Qian was actually only the second time he got really into battle. The first was when he and the Demon battled a wild Rhydon, bringing it down by working together. Still, that didn't mean he wanted to be a Pokemon Trainer, like it seemed they wanted him to be.

"I know that," he admitted. "They can be fun, sometimes. But not all the time." There were too many reasons why he couldn't fully commit to it, some personal. It didn't seem like the whole issue, either. Besides, he'd won when he didn't care, and often lost even when he did.

"See? There you go!" The head Gym Trainer lightly clapped. "Now you just need to learn to have fun with battles all the time. You just need to learn to get into the right mindset. Have a goal you can set out to accomplish, for example. That should help you a lot."

Nori shook his head. "How about this instead? You do things your way, I'll do things my way."

Kallisto once again sighed, but this time there was far more frustration behind it. "This is exactly why Volkner's frustrated with you. You ignore criticism, out of spite or being too stubborn to change. You want things your way, or no way at all."

Nori almost screamed again. No sound came out of his mouth, cynicism choking him. It was the other way around! They were the ones telling him to be a certain way! This was stupid! But there was no point in bringing that up. There was no point in anything, really. This was all a pointless waste of time.

"Screw this." He started to walk off, when Kallisto stepped in front of him.

"Carino, look," he said, far more sternly. "You might not like this, but you have to deal with it. I'm willing to help, no matter what happened between us in the past. Do you want to be a Pokemon Rehabilitator or not?"

His answer was a simple, "Screw you!" He shoved his oppressor aside with his cast and marched for the door. He paused when Kallisto addressed him with anger.

"Carino, if you walk away now, I'll lose all respect for you."

Nori turned. "You?" the boy laughed. He couldn't help it. This was too funny. "Respect me?" He laughed some more before seamlessly going into a scream. "I don't want or need your respect!"

He flipped them off, shoved the door open, and slammed it shut for good measure. He went directly to his room and locked the door behind him.

##########
=========
##########

Yes, that is a shiny Ampharos. And no, that isn't an alternate origin story for Ultra Beasts. Kallisto was lying to keep its true origins a secret: putting that explanation here in case I don't get a chance to in the fic itself. And yes, that is a Xurkitree, and he wasn't lying about getting it for looking after purposes. He's that kind of guy. Aside, they're not almost-legendaries in my book. Not going THAT far with him.
 
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*So Nori has another battle with Callisto. Here's hoping it goes a bit better.
*Go, Pachirisu! Tank that Ampharos like it were a Salamence and a Tyranitar!
*..yeah I wasn't really expecting Pachi to win. :(
*Crowd of adults boos pre-teen; Sunnyshore city jerk quotient dangerously high.
*
If it was anyone but Kallisto's Pokemon, Nori might've felt bad, but at this moment he didn't care.
The Cut had opened up a huge gash on its belly. Dark-red blood was oozing from the wound.
Their opponent was wide open, injured, and in no condition to defend itself. This wouldn't kill it or anything, but it'd damn well hurt it!
Wow Nori, take a chill pill. I get that Kallisto's a clown but don't be too rough on the poor sheep.
*Xurkitree.
*Xurkitree?
*Xurkitree?!
*He has a Xurkitree.
*Okay, I figured it was too early for Nori to beat Kallisto, but he did pretty well. If he can get Pachirisu in good shape things will be looking better.
*So he's finally facing Volkner.
*No surprise poor Pachi gets steamrolled by Raichu.
*About what I expected; Nidorina can beat Raichu but not Luxray.
*So, as much of a jerk as he is I can understand Volkner getting frustrated with the slow sense of progress from Nori, although overall I suspect he's just the wrong type of teacher for him.
*I feel Kallisto's not wrong that Nori's often lacking enthusiasm for battling will be felt by his Pokémon and cause problems, but Nori's in an unfortunate position where the people I feel are genuinely trying to help him are also people he dislikes and distrusts (for understandable reasons).
I'll be very interested in seeing how Nori resolves this issue.

About the author's note:
To be fair, in terms of stats the Ultra Beasts are inferior to things like Dragonite. Having one isn't crazy powerwise; they're just incredibly rare.
 
Hypocrisy is on full display in the Sunyshore Gym, and I honestly don't blame Nori for wanting to get away from it all. Volkner putting him through the wringer and expecting him to be perfect while not doing jack shit to actually help him, Kallisto acting smug and telling Nori he needs to be a certain way to succeed, and so on. Would it kill Volkner to even TRY to see things from Nori's point of view? Then again, this is the man who completely flipped because Nori wasn't able to defeat a rival trainer working under Flint for God knows what reason. Also, I find it really hard to believe that Kallisto managed to get a Xurkitree. How in the world did he, a previously homeless trainer, manage to get an Ultra Beast of all things? Curious to know that one. The entire gym has it out for Nori and the poor kid really needs to get the hell out of there. I just want to give him a hug at this point. Looking forward to more!

*So, as much of a jerk as he is I can understand Volkner getting frustrated with the slow sense of progress from Nori, although overall I suspect he's just the wrong type of teacher for him.

Oh, he is abso-friggin-lutely the wrong type of teacher for him. In fact, that's a flat-out understatement. That kind of teaching, along with all the verbal abuse Nori has to put up with from just about everybody, does much more harm than good.
 
*Go, Pachirisu! Tank that Ampharos like it were a Salamence and a Tyranitar!

*..yeah I wasn't really expecting Pachi to win. :(
He's gotten better! But not good enough.

*Crowd of adults boos pre-teen; Sunnyshore city jerk quotient dangerously high.
It's a mix. There's plenty of fans young and old in attendance, especially considering school's out. Kallisto's just that much more popular than Nori!

Wow Nori, take a chill pill. I get that Kallisto's a clown but don't be too rough on the poor sheep.
Heh, a fair point. Although that said, I'll use this to reply to something from before. Or maybe it wasn't brought up, but I'll bring it up anyway.

This fic very much inverts the usual Pokefic trope of power vs. strategy I've seen talked about. You know, underdog strategic protagonist vs. their rival who relies on raw power? Here, it's the protagonist who uses brute strength, and his rivals who use strategy. That said, Nori isn't dumb about it and can think, and the other Gym Trainers have some power of their own. The battle in this chapter was a perfect example of the contrast in action.

*Xurkitree.
*Xurkitree?
*Xurkitree?!
*He has a Xurkitree.
About the reaction I was going for. :D

*Okay, I figured it was too early for Nori to beat Kallisto, but he did pretty well. If he can get Pachirisu in good shape things will be looking better.
There's something about this scene that's important to keep in mind, but I ended up only addressing it in an April chapter.

*About what I expected; Nidorina can beat Raichu but not Luxray.
Especially having fought Raichu before that. A fresh Demon vs. Luxray? That might be more even.

*So, as much of a jerk as he is I can understand Volkner getting frustrated with the slow sense of progress from Nori, although overall I suspect he's just the wrong type of teacher for him.
Oh, probably very true.

*I feel Kallisto's not wrong that Nori's often lacking enthusiasm for battling will be felt by his Pokémon and cause problems, but Nori's in an unfortunate position where the people I feel are genuinely trying to help him are also people he dislikes and distrusts (for understandable reasons).
A very good observation! There's a lot more to this than stating a flaw and Nori having to overcome it.

To be fair, in terms of stats the Ultra Beasts are inferior to things like Dragonite. Having one isn't crazy powerwise; they're just incredibly rare.
It is indeed a very special thing to have one, however.

---

Hypocrisy is on full display in the Sunyshore Gym, and I honestly don't blame Nori for wanting to get away from it all. Volkner putting him through the wringer and expecting him to be perfect while not doing jack shit to actually help him,
One thing to note at this point, a lot of the training is taking place off-camera, unless otherwise specified.

Kallisto acting smug and telling Nori he needs to be a certain way to succeed, and so on.
When you think about it though, it's no different from what he was doing before. It's just the context and their relationship has changed.

Also, I find it really hard to believe that Kallisto managed to get a Xurkitree. How in the world did he, a previously homeless trainer, manage to get an Ultra Beast of all things? Curious to know that one.
Like I mentioned in the author's notes, Kallisto told the truth. He got it from the Officials to take care of. Make of it what you will at this point. He just lied about where it came from, because well, the public would freak out if they knew.

Oh, he is abso-friggin-lutely the wrong type of teacher for him. In fact, that's a flat-out understatement. That kind of teaching, along with all the verbal abuse Nori has to put up with from just about everybody, does much more harm than good.
Heh, when you put it this way, he's almost seeming the wrong type of teacher for anyone.
 
Month 3: March of Flux (sixth part)
March of Flux (sixth part)
March 24th, 2015

The next few days were surprisingly uneventful, so much that Nori was concerned about it. Volkner had been watchful, yet hands-off, allowing him to train and study as he saw fit. Had the Gym Leader already given up on him? Furthermore, the Gym Trainers had also been giving him his space. Previously, they wouldn't pass up any chance to harass or educate him. What changed? What was going through their minds?

Left with nothing else, Nori's thoughts occasionally wandered towards Lux. He still thought about his friend. Where did he move to? Was he doing okay? Did Lux still think about him sometimes? He was a real friend, someone truly worth caring about.

But this? Why care about this? Why bother, when it seemed he was never going to be good enough?

---​

Eddie returned in the evening of the 24th. It was beyond the Gym's normal closing time; although as usual, the Gym Trainers remained behind for about an hour after to take care of various matters, such as cleanup after the day's battles.

"Yo, guys!" he greeted while stepping through the left side door. His jeans were filthy, covered in dirt and dust. Nori shuddered. How was he okay with that?

"Welcome back," Kallisto was the first to greet him. The Gym Trainers all went to see him, leaving Nori alone on the bleachers.

"Good to be back, man. You hear a plate was actually found?"

"I sure did," Kallisto replied. "I heard Master Haruto came in person, even though he's been very busy lately."

"Yeah, sure you heard what he said too."

Nori tilted his head. "Who's Master Haruto? Your uncle? Mentor?"

"My shrine's head priest," Kallisto explained.

"You belong to a shrine?" Nori never was into religion. And Kallisto was? He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"The Kannagi Shrine, yes."

Huh. Kannagi was traditional Japanese for Celestic, right? The shrine named after the town. Funny enough, he actually met a girl named Prema Kannagi last August. She must've been related to the town's founders.

Tono sighed and shook his head and turned his attention to his friend. "Anyway, his naivete aside, it is 41 minutes past closing time. Why are you here now?"

Eddie shrugged. "Got home a couple hours ago. Thought I'd drop in for a sec." The dark-skinned teen eyed Nori briefly, before turning to his compatriots. "I miss much?"

"Oh, hell yeah you did!" cheered Ollie with a bound. "You missed seeing Kallisto's new Pokemon! It's totally new from some island, and it kicked Nori's ass!"

"Hey, don't forget," the boy chimed in. "I kicked his Ampharos' ass before that."

The head Gym Trainer sighed, pressing a palm to his forehead. "By being a violent brute, and I just conceded her when she was bleeding." He shook his head. "That win was nothing to be proud of, Nori."

"You're just making excuses."

Eddie laughed heartily at the exchange. "Well, damn! Almost regret going now on the trip, heh. Not bad, kid." Nori was uncertain what to make of that compliment. He grinned, a twinkle in his eye. "You'll have to show me the new Poke later. But it just so happens I have a new Pokemon of my own."

With this declaration, he retrieved a Poke Ball from his pocket. Casting it before them, a floating entity appeared. Nori could tell from the three spinning magnets this was probably some Magneton evolution, but it was made up of one big ovoid and two smaller spheres. The large body differed from the others in how instead of a tiny eye and a screw atop, it had a big red one and a radio antenna.

"Kickass!" Ollie congratulated.

Kallisto added some brief applause. "Figured that's why you went. Congrats."

Tono by comparison, was not at all enthused in the slightest. Even Nori had given it a polite nod of acknowledgment. "It was obvious to anyone with a brain," the glasses-wearing teenager remarked. "Why else would an owner of a Magneton wish to travel to where there is a magnetic field? Yet I must ask, why go through the trouble of travel when you could have simply purchased a Thunder Stone to evolve it instead?"

"Pft. Afraid of a little hike, nerd?"

"I am not. I am simply asking why you did not take the logical and easier approach."

"Just worked for me, since the folks were heading there. Saved me the money and trouble finding a stone."

Nori smiled slightly. He understood that logic completely. "It's good to save where you can."

"A trailer boy who hasn't held a 1000P note in his life would say that," replied Eddie.

The boy serenely folded his hands. He'd heard way worse insults, anyway. "I actually have." That wasn't even counting Volkner's gift of graduation money. "And I prefer to think of it as spending smartly."

The dark-skinned teen smirked. "Anyway, now that I got this, I'm making you its first victim!" Wait what? Of course he would do that. With a begrudging sigh, Nori stood up, as Eddie pointed at Ollie? "Tub 'o goo!"

Even the other Gym Trainers were surprised at that fake-out. Well, Nori wasn't going to complain. "What? Why me?!"

"Why not you? What's wrong, worried you'll get your ass kicked?"

In an instant, Ollie ripped a Poke Ball from his belt. "Fine, bitch!" he shouted. "You're going down like a bitch, bitch!" He threw it, and out came his Lanturn with an energetic flop.

Tono and Kallisto nodded their approval. Eddie however, laughed the choice of Pokemon off. "Volt Absorb ain't gonna save you." Well, it should? Unless there was a huge power difference, and if Nori was remembering his type charts right, its Steel moves would barely hurt. And while Eddie was using his ace, Lanturn was Ollie's own.

This would be the first time seeing two of the Gym Trainers battle outside of exhibition day. At the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about losing and getting humiliated again. Kallisto and Tono approached to sit on the bleachers near him. He scooted away. The former gave him a curious look and motioned for him to sit with them, a gesture he ignored.

"Okay, Lanturn!" Ollie kicked things off. "Flop in close!" His Pokemon, as usual, showed an impressive amount of dexterity for a fish. It used its fins to propel itself forward in a sort of jump.

The dark-skinned teen pointed. "Tri Attack, Magnezone!"

"Stop!" yelled Ollie. His Pokemon waited, as the tri-colored particles to start forming. "Now go!" His Pokemon again bounded away at this, cleanly avoiding the move. "Come down with Aqua Tail!" With another jump, the angler fish backflipped and brought its tail fin down on its foe. The Magnezone tried to escape, but was solidly struck halfway to the floor.

Ollie chuckled, waving his hips. "Heh heh! I know your Magnezone's weak up close!"

Eddie snickered right back. "Heh heh," he returned that snicker. "Patched that weakness up. Body Press!"

"Wha-!? No, look out!" The Magnezone flew straight down onto Lanturn. Its aim actually seemed a bit off even without Lanturn trying to dodge. Only half its body connected. "Get back, Lanturn! Change of plans!"

Eddie winced, maybe at the sloppy attack? He got his composure back and tauntingly ordered, "Running like a pussy? Stop it with Tri Attack!"

At a closer range and with Lanturn retreating, this one struck true. Sparks actually flew around after impact; it took Nori a second to realize that was from Magnezone's attack. It seemed to have no effect, however.

"All right then," Ollie huffed. "Can't Thunder Wave, can't Whirlpool...mm, Water Gun, Lanturn!" The fish spat a stream of water at the floating trio of magnets.

Eddie gestured and Magnezone lazily floated to the side; only the right of the magnets got soaked, and it barely seemed to bother it. "Metal Sound," he mused aloud. His Pokemon got ready. "Mm, nah. Let's go with Swift!" Out came the homing stars, which landed cleanly on their target.

"Keep using Water Gun!" said Ollie with a stomp.

"And you keep using Swift."

Another exchange. Lanturn was clearly getting the worse of them. The Water Guns, besides being weaker, were just not landing as cleanly. Both trainers knew it too.

"Grr...Thunderbolt!"

Eddie laughed. "Don't even bother dodging. Then use Signal Beam."

Magnezone winced, enduring the move. Afterward, it twirled the two magnets at its front side and launched a green laser at Lanturn. It was still floating strong, whereas Lanturn was wobbly.

"Ch-change of plans again, Lanturn!" Ollie stammered. "Let's get back in close! Bounce!"

"Heh. Lock-On, Magnezone."

The magnets managed to focus right before the fish launched into the air, nearly to the ceiling. Nori expected it to come down on top of its target - that or miss entirely and look stupid. But instead a third thing happened.

"Surprise! Ice Beam from above!"

Eddie seemed taken aback, kept his compose. "Tri Attack!"

His Pokemon was caught off-guard by the sudden icy laser overhead. However, as for the second part of the attack, all it had to do was shoot off the triangular particles. A split second before Lanturn was about to crash down, the attack intercepted, knocking it away. The Magnezone was starting to hover a bit unsteadily, yet Lanturn was barely holding itself up with its fins.

"Shit, fuck, ass!" cursed Ollie. "Surf! Let's try to finish this!"

Nori flinched and turned away as he saw Lanturn begin to conjure a massive wave. It wasn't aimed in his direction, but that didn't make it any less unnerving! He shut his eyes and covered his head. He did hear the wave crashing over something. The boy didn't dare open his eyes until he heard Eddie speak.

"Now you're open. Run it through with Iron Head!"

"DISCHARGE!"

Nori turned back just in time to see Lanturn start spreading electricity everywhere. It did absolutely nothing to deter the charging Magnezone. The fish was carried forward into a pillar, where it flopped unconscious.

Ollie fell to his knees. "No, damn it! No! Ugh!"

"Looks like you're the bitch." Eddie grinned maliciously. "Bitch."

The large teen angrily recalled his Pokemon. "That was just..." He paused momentarily, allowing Tono to cut in.

"That was just you losing your cool when the slightest thing goes wrong in a battle," he stated. "You had a good plan at first, but you fell apart as soon as Eddie showed a counterstrategy. You didn't even consider the move had to be new and unreliable."

"Oh, uh?" Ollie turned and pointed at Nori. "Like him stupidly using Shock Wave?"

"Don't bring me into this..." the boy griped.

"But hey! Eddie did something dumb, too!"

Eddie shrugged. "Don't change the subject, tub 'o goo. And yeah, needs more practice with Body Press, but it worked." He grinned. Was throwing Ollie off his intent? "It's close enough to Iron Head for it to pick it up easily enough."

"Look! I panicked, okay?!" he protested, but Tono kept going.

"Furthermore, you have again seen firsthand why it is unwise for your Pokemon to have so many different moves. That Discharge at the end had little effect. Compounded with your Lanturn still knowing Water Gun, the most basic of moves."

"So?! Your Pokemon know lots, too!"

"That's because they're experienced enough," Kallisto spoke up. The head Gym Trainer briefly looked over. "A little thing about moves for you to know too, Nori. The stronger a Pokemon is, the more moves it can comfortably know. Your Lanturn has what, fourteen of them? That's where most Pokemon at peak potential tend to end up without special training. You don't even have her use some of her moves regularly. When a move isn't practiced enough, it gets weaker. You'd probably be better off sticking with ten, twelve at most, until she levels up more."

Nori had to admit, that did make sense. It hadn't come up in his lessons with Volkner, and well. Being better meant being able to do more things.

"Take the Demon," added Tono. Nori leaned in closer at this. "Which does have the experience, yet chooses to focus her efforts on using a smaller set of moves more effectively. Your Lanturn, on the other hand, has over twice the movepool and a fraction of the experience." He shook his head. "Idiot."

"Don't tell me how to raise my Pokemon! Besides, Gracie has fourteen moves, too!" That was Tono's Girafarig, if Nori was not mistaken.

"Thirteen, and she has enough experience. I admit I am pushing her, but there is a strategic reason behind it." Tono dismissively waved a hand. "You need to get it through your head. Proper battle starts with proper training techniques."

"Dumbshit," said the dark-skinned teen. "Thought you'd know this by now."

Kallisto looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "Though they're being impolite about it, they are right. Gooch, if you want to be an Electric type master as you've said you want to, you absolutely need to have these fundamentals down."

"Aren't you guys being a bit unfair to him?" Nori spoke up. "He panicked, it happens. And well, Eddie's Pokemon is more experienced."

"It's something that needs to be said to him, unfortunately," Kallisto stated. "Being a true type expert is difficult. You face unique disadvantages, with little in the way of advantages. Even Volkner has non Electric types for that very reason."

Tono harrumphed. "And if he cannot get the basics down, he has absolutely no hope of accomplishing that lofty dream."

"Shut the fuck up! All of you!"

Ollie stomped out of the arena. Nori blinked at the sight. Is that what it looked like whenever he did that? Well, he could understand. Sometimes, just getting yourself out of there like that was catharsis.

"Do gotta say," Eddie said. "Expected the rage. But didn't expect he wouldn't put up a fight."

The bespectacled teen pushed up his glasses. "He played that battle entirely wrong."

The boy found himself feeling strangely sympathetic. Eddie and Tono had picked on Ollie before, but those were more off-handed remarks. This was just like they were doing to him at times. Even if Ollie joined in on making fun of him at those moments, no one deserved that. Nori wondered, had they done things like this in the past to Ollie? Before he met them, that is?

With a deep breath, he made a decision about something. "I'll try to talk to him about it."

He received strange looks, but no one stopped him or spoke up.

---​

Nori had no difficulty finding Ollie. He was, exactly as the boy expected, placing Lanturn's Poke Ball into the healing machine in the trainer's lounge. He'd always go there for some reason, rather than the one on the main floor.

"Sorry," Nori said as he approached the hefty teen.

Ollie vocalized something between a growl and a snort. "Lanturn will be fine in a bit. I don't need sympathy."

"They push you around a lot, almost as much as me. I never really realized until now." He paused momentarily, before asking, "Why do you put up with it?"

"Where better to train Electric Pokemon than an Electric Gym? It was easy to get in."

"That doesn't really answer my question..." He completely evaded it. Did he not want to talk about this? Well, there was another thing he was wondering about. "Plus, why are you such a bully sometimes when you get bullied?"

"Ha!" Ollie slapped his gut. "Better to laugh at than be laughed at! Dumbass!"

"But you still get laughed at a lot. Doesn't that bother you?"

For a second, Ollie's expression wavered. It quickly gave way to a sneer. "Shut up! Why are you being so nice?"

"I'm just trying to understand you better, get to know you a bit. I know there's some good in you. Why do what they're doing when you hate it?"

"Just...shut up!" He huffed, nearly hyperventilating. "You're trying to turn me against them, aren't you? It's not going to work!"

"I'm not, I'm just asking why–"

"You're an idiot. You're such a damn retarded idiot." At this point, Ollie was fighting off tears. Nori sat at the table, listening intently. "I'm only here because of my family! Everyone but you knows that. They're a sponsor of the Gym, so Volkner couldn't say no. But you don't know that!" His voice hit a high register as he sarcastically waved. "Poor, naive little Nori. It must be nice being able to not think of these things!"

Nori looked down. He could admit, he never made the effort to get to know the Gym Trainers. Maybe they were making it difficult with their attitude. Maybe it was the right decision to not be one of them. Yet in a way, now matter what happened, he still couldn't help but feel bad right now. Was it too late?

Ollie continued. "Before you showed up, I was the one Eddie and Tono always picked on. They always made fun of me for my weight, my lack of skill, only using Electric-types. Sometimes it seemed like they were just looking for something to make fun of. But it's worth it, damn it, just to be here living out my dream! So I tried my best to fit in and be one of them! I worked as hard as I could to get better. I know I have a long way to go, but it's hard!"

With this, the hefty teen paused. He eventually groaned, and looked Nori square in the eye. "I know the others are wrong about some things," he spoke, in a resigned tone. "But I'd rather be wrong with them than an outcast like you."

"But–"

"That's how it is." There was a ding as the healing completed itself. Ollie collected Lanturn's Poke Ball and started walking away. He paused to give some parting words. "I'm going home now. Dad's probably wondering what the holdup is."

Nori leaned back in the chair. Ollie practically poured his heart out to him, yet stood firm on his actions. Did it really have to be this way?

He recalled the day he told the Gym Trainers about Lux's sudden disappearance. Ollie was the only one to express concern and interest in the situation. It was just a small act of kindness, but it made Nori believe that deep down, there truly was some good in Ollie. He further proved it by helping him cope with Lux having moved, if only a bit. He was usually one to look at the good in people, rather than the bad. Nori believed there was good in almost everyone. Even Kallisto, despite being a manipulative jerk deep down, was generally kind and cordial.

Kallisto. Nori thought about it. A person who's nice on the outside, but mean on the inside. Was Ollie the other way around? What about the others? And Volkner? So many questions, so many possibilities. What was going to happen?

##########​

March 26th, 2015

On Thursday, Nori was able to get out of the Gym, albeit not in the way he had hoped. Kallisto, Eddie, and Ollie were taking him to do some off-site training, while Volkner and Tono maintained the Gym.

The trio were walking with purpose as they chatted amongst themselves. They had went down some hills and through a lightly forested area. Presently, they were walking on some rugged ground, way off the urban path. Nori was trailing behind, lost in his thoughts. Eventually, Eddie glanced over his shoulder and noticed the boy's plodding pace.

"Pick it up, kid."

Nori stopped. They'd been leading him...somewhere. They hadn't said where. He hated when people were vague, especially when they were vague for no good reason. Plus, they were the last people he wanted to do any sort of training with.

Kallisto sighed. "Come on, Nori. I know you're not happy about this. But Volkner has to look after the Gym in case of challengers. I'm the next best trainer there, and you know I'm more than qualified to help you." He looked for a second like he wanted to walk over, although thought better of it. "Just let go of your grudge already. Leave the past where it is, and start moving forward."

"You think I can just forgive you?" the boy asked. Wait, that was a stupid question. "No, forget it. Where are we going?"

Again, Kallisto sighed. "We're almost there. It's easier to show you at this point."

It was just another minute of walking. As the trio hung a left, Nori realized in horror where it was they would be training. "Why are we going here?!" the boy shrieked.

The head Gym Trainer explained. "In Pokemon battles, you and your Pokemon need to be prepared to fight in a variety of environments."

"But why a beach?!" yelled Nori, trying not to scream. They'd come to a remote beach. "How often am I going to be battling on a beach?"

"Not often. But sand and water are two things you'll run into individually from time to time. A beach made the most sense to cover both at once."

The boy groaned. He couldn't deny either of those. He'd prefer to train in a desert and just not bother with water at all. Though the only desert of any reasonable size in Sinnoh was on Batalson Island. So that wouldn't be something he ran into often, either.

"What's your problem, kid?" Eddie asked. "Afraid a wave's gonna come up and get ya?"

Yes! Yes he was! But he wasn't going to tell them that! "Never mind."

With all of them thankfully ignorant, Kallisto went on. "Water in particular is something you'll need to know how to handle. It's difficult for many trainers to work around, or work to their advantage without having aquatic Pokemon of their own. If you can learn how to though, that'll be a huge step forward."

"Heh. Now aquatic Pokemon out of water, that's a real challenge!" the hefty teen boasted. No doubt referring to his Lanturn.

Kallisto smiled. "We'll get to that when and if he gets one."

---​

Nori couldn't focus during this lesson. His eyes kept being drawn to the shore, the sea. Fear was gnawing at his mind. He couldn't take his attention off it. What if there was a huge wave? What if a riptide got him? What if a Tentacruel popped up from the shore and dragged them under?

The help they'd been giving him had been genuine, even from Eddie and Ollie's end, yet it had barely been registering. Yes, water conducts electricity, that was obvious. Yes, ranged moves help, also obvious. Some of the other stuff was too complex to properly take in, like specific methods for getting a Pokemon out of the water, or what to do when your aquatic Pokemon ends up out of water against a land-dweller.

"Stay focused," Kallisto said. The head Gym Trainer had been snapping him out of it whenever he got too distracted. "So Nori. Question. Do you know how most Water Pokemon can produce so much fluid?"

What? He didn't know that. Magic powers, maybe?

"Uh, I know this!" a bouncing Ollie said, raising his head. "Hydrogen and oxygen!"

Kallisto put a palm to his forehead, covering one eye. "I was asking him, but yes. They can combine hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the air to make water." Oxygen and hydrogen? Oh, H²O. Now they were starting to get his attention. The fit teen raised a finger. "However, when an actual water source is present, they don't need to do so, making the moves stronger. This is how Rain Dance powers up Water moves, by the way."

"Ah! Ah!" Again, Ollie raised his hand, as if they were in class. "I know where you're going with this! You need Lanturn's help here, right?" He sent out the blue and yellow angler fish without getting confirmation.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Octillery's right here, fatass." A red octopus that vaguely reminded Nori of a tank was lazing near the shore, enjoying the waves crashing into its bulky body. They'd been practicing surface-to-water battles with its help.

"This is something only Lanturn can do," stated Kallisto. "For now, know you're teaching it that." Eddie nodded, and seeming to get where this was headed, called his Pokemon back. "You've seen this move and its variant Muddy Water a couple times before, Nori. But now, I want you to see what Surf is like when the Pokemon is actually in water."

Wait, Surf?!

"You heard'em! Lanturn, Surf!"

Nori screamed. He grabbed Pachirisu and ran away as quick as his legs could carry him. He caught the wave out of the corner of his eye. It was going nowhere near any of them, yet was no less terrifying. What if Lanturn messed up? What if that wave had gotten them and swept them all out to sea?! What if it'd swept up some Magikarp that got pissed and evolved?!

"Oh. My. God!" Eddie wheezed, and pointed at him. "You really are afraid a wave's gonna get ya!"

Ollie boomed in laughter, prancing mockingly. "Pussy! Scaredy-cat! Wimp! Little bitch!"

The boy's clutched his chest, hyperventilating and out of breath. Great. They found out. The last thing he wanted the Gym Trainers to do was to find out about his fear of water.

"You're scared of a little water!"

At this from Eddie, he dropped Pachirisu and lumbered towards them. Seething was making it even harder to breathe. But their mouths were still going, and he was going to shut them.

"N...Carino, look," Kallisto intercepted. Being cordial was the only thing holding the boy back from getting revenge there on the spot. "It's okay to be afraid of something."

"Then tell them to shut up!" he screamed, nearly slurring his words. He'd do it himself, but it'd be a waste.

Sure enough, Kallisto turned to them and glared. "Guys, that's enough," he barked. The two went quiet at once. Neither seemed sorry about it.

The head Gym Trainer spoke earnestly to him. "If you don't like water, that's fine. It's perfectly understandable. I had a fear of Mightyena myself for a while. My last loss actually happened when fighting one." Kallisto losing? He'd have loved to see that. "Different people have different ways of getting over their fears, but..." He paused, considering this. "I think for you, you'll just need to confront it."

"No, I don't!"

"Nori," Kallisto said, mildly solemn. "What if you have to work with an aquatic Pokemon, like Lumineon or Seadra?"

"I'll just train it outside of water!"

He shook his head. "That takes a lot of work, and it isn't always good for the Pokemon. I know it's hard, and I know it's a lot to ask. I'd actually say it's a bit unfair." He paused again. "But for your own sake as a future Pokemon Rehabilitator, you'll need to overcome this phobia of yours. Just at least, be able to function when you're around it."

Yeah, right. You can train Pokemon anywhere. Isn't that why he came here? To learn how to train Pokemon? He could just train aquatic Pokemon away from water. That'd be perfect.

"I'll..." Kallisto turned to the others. "We'll be with you through it." He volunteered them without asking, but they nodded in agreement. "So let's start by standing in the water."

The boy narrowed his eyes. "We came here to train battling Pokemon, not go swimming!"

"The plan changed, kid."

"It'll be fine," Kallisto promised. A promise he couldn't keep, Nori figured. "Just take off your boots and step in. Just your toes."

"Yeah, go get your feet wet!" Ollie was trying to constrain his taunting, but he wasn't doing a good job at it.

"It's too cold!"

"Stop making excuses or we'll throw you in."

"You better not! I don't have my cast cover!" He'd gotten used to the cast to where he barely noticed it sometimes, but this was one time where he couldn't ignore its presence.

"Eddie. Just don't." Kallisto spoke these words cold and deadpan. The dark-skinned teen's expression went wide.

"Sorry."

Kallisto nodded. "We'll be right here if you need us, Nori."

"Fine!" They wanted him in the water? Just to shut them up, Nori went right up to the shore. He stomped the waves like they were a puddle, standing in as deep of water as one. He placed a hand on his hip. "Waterproof boots. You happy?"

"See? That wasn't so hard." Kallisto being encouraging was doing more to make him mad than the other two watching in amusement. "Now, go a just a liiiiiiiittle further in."

His patience hit its limit. "I've had enough of this. We're done here." He grabbed Pachirisu (who had been watching in concern the whole time), placed the squirrel on his shoulder, and started to leave.

"Hey! We're training!" the hefty teen balked. "You can't just walk out!"

The boy didn't even look back. "Well, I am walking out!"

"Nori, stop," Kallisto ordered.

He refused to stop, marching all the way back to the Gym.

---​

Kallisto prevented the others from going after Nori. Evidently, he needed his space. The head Gym Trainer wasn't expecting that extreme a reaction. He wondered, what happened to make Nori so afraid of water? Still, being able to step foot in there was a small step. And that's how you have to handle things sometimes. Baby steps.

He told the other two to keep quiet about what happened. He figured it was best to keep it between them. He doubted Nori would bring it up to Volkner anyway, given circumstances and being firmly against snitches. However, he did speak with Tono. His best friend advised him to speak to the future Official about what happened. While Kallisto was unsure, he did concede that not doing so would only further the rift between them.

He knocked at Nori's door. "Hey." There was no reply, but he knew the future Official was inside. "Nori, look."

There was stirring from within. Good, he was awake. "It was wrong of me to try to force you to face your fear on the spot like that. I'm sorry for putting you through that."

Just like that, Kallisto felt a lot better. Saying that was like lifting a weight off his chest. He waited, and Nori soon actually did respond.

"You know what else was wrong of you?" He spoke in a low tone, before screaming. "Breaking my arm, then lying about it! You never said you were sorry for that!"

"I did say I made a mistake. I made a poor decision in the heat of the moment, just like I did today. I'm sure you've had those moments yourself." He knew Nori was going to bring that up. Like he said to Tono however, he couldn't take back what he'd done. But it was done and over with.

"About today," he changed the subject. It was better to not touch attacking him any further than that. "You do understand where I was coming from, right? Even if you don't deal with it now, there may come a time where you'll have to. So it'd be better if you get it done sooner rather than later. You don't have to do it at anyone's pace but your own. It's just something to think about."

Kallisto did mean well when he brought it up. In spite of everything, he wanted to help Nori succeed. He wasn't going to force him to confront his fears, but sooner or later, he would have to. And Nori certainly knew this as well.

He waited for a reply, but got none. Kallisto reflected. Maybe he had burned the bridge earlier in the month. Yet he was making every effort to rebuild it, and Nori was the one refusing to mend it. Come to think of it? He was showing a complete lack of respect for everyone around him, no matter what they do. Maybe Nori really didn't deserve his respect after all.

If he kept on going like this, the only person he would hurt would be himself. At this point, it was up to him whether he wanted to change for the better or not.

##########​

March 27th, 2015

The day after, Nori went to the nearby forest to do some training alone. It was deeper in the same wooded area he'd gone through with Lux, Jamie, and her friends to see that cabin. He'd come here a couple times earlier in the month, when avoiding the Gym Trainers. Nori was amazed Volkner even agreed to this. Maybe it was because he presented it as another kind of environmental training. He'd have to write a report about it, but he didn't think it'd be a problem.

He still couldn't get over what Kallisto said to him last night. Yes, it was true that he'd made some poor decisions in his life. How he handled his former friend Claris, in particular. The difference was Nori was willing to admit when he's wrong and make up for it, or at least try to. Kallisto wasn't doing that. He was expecting to be forgiven, just because. Well, screw that. The boy doubted he was actually sincere about yesterday, given how long it took to say anything about the more severe incident.

Then there were the other three. Ollie really was serious about being wrong with his friends, or whatever they were. Eddie seemed to derive pleasure from making others feel miserable. And then there was Tono. One would think an intellect like him would be the most professional, but he was just as bad as the others at times. Only difference was Tono being more snarky than cruel.

He took a deep breath. No, no. He came here to get away from all that. If only for a while. He couldn't wallow in his thoughts! Just forget everything! Have some fun!

"Ooookay!" Nori exhaled. Pachirisu turned to him, and was caught by the Nidorina's backhand. He'd been having his two Pokemon spar for the past five minutes or so; specifically, having the squirrel try to dodge as many of the Demon's swings as he could in a row. The teal creature arched an eyebrow at him. "What?" he replied. "Just deciding to be in a good mood!"

The Demon rolled her eyes and shook her head, although Nori noticed a faint smile. On the other hand, Pachirisu swished his tail back and forth, delighted his trainer was happy.

"Okay!" he repeated. "You're doing good so far, Pachi." He occasionally called the squirrel that. He supposed it was sort of a nickname, but it was really just because it was easier to say than Pachirisu. That said, he had no clue how those crazy people who gave deep meaningful nicknames did it. Or who they were expecting to understand them. "Let's break on that for now."

The electric squirrel hopped beside the Demon. One sat eagerly, the other stood ready for the next training. The other reason behind this was teaching it how to battle on instinct. No matter what Volkner or anyone else said about having Pokemon follow your every order, he thought it was stupid to have to tell your Pokemon to dodge an attack to actually get them to dodge. Or, if you're not in the right state of mind to give orders, or just want to surprise someone, to know what to do on its own.

"So I think next, we should work on your Shock Wave," he addressed the Demon. She stretched to prepare for this. "I uh, dunno how Electric types do it. But you should be able to help her, right?" Pachirisu saluted and chittered at his fellow Pokemon. The Demon gave the squirrel a dirty look, but begrudgingly nodded.

The boy nodded, sitting on a log to watch.

---​

This went on for about fifteen minutes, counting breaks. Nidorina was able to execute the move 100% of the time at this point, yet its consistency left a lot to be desired. While a couple were performed perfectly, more often than not there would be a problem. Sometimes it would be too slow, sometimes it would take too long to execute, but most of the time it would go off in the wrong direction.

Eventually, the Demon growled, slashing at a tree in frustration. Nori pondered something. Pachirisu only knew Discharge, sending electricity everywhere. And Electro Ball, which wasn't anything close to Shock Wave. As for the Demon, it was likely aiming advice that she needed. Maybe. He couldn't understand what the two were talking about, but he could still chime in with his thoughts anyway.

The boy just started talking, saying whatever came to mind. "Focus where you want it to go. Like, visualize the energy striking right where you want it. Close your eyes, and use your mind's eye. Use the power within you." He paused. "Um, am I making any sense?" he inquired. His Pachirisu hesitantly shook his head. The Demon, with a huff, shut her eyes and decided to try it anyway. She focused, she strained. And for a second, a trance-like calm enveloped her.

What happened next was not Shock Wave. It wasn't even an Electric move, or anything he'd seen before from the Demon. But as the burst from below made the tree groan and tilt, Nori couldn't help but smirk. In fact, he snickered.

That was even better than Shock Wave. In fact, it was perfect...
 
Didn't expect Kallisto to be part of Prema's family shrine to some degree. But yeah, dude, Nori has every right to be mad at you. Who the hell would want anything to do with, let alone show respect to, a guy who beat him up, doesn't apologize, and expects Nori to forget the whole thing? Of course Nori doesn't respect the gym trainers. Why would anyone want to respect people who regularly bully and degrade him on a regular basis? I know I wouldn't! Kallisto really needs to take a good, hard look at himself and realize just how shitty a person he is. He wants Nori to respect him and the trainers, but doesn't do anything to actually earn Nori's respect. I want to feel bad for Ollie, given he was everyone's chew toy before Nori came into the picture, but that doesn't excuse his own actions. Sadly, it is true that some people do resort to turning into bullies so they won't be bullied themselves. It's not the healthiest way to do it, but some people do resort to doing that.

Definitely liked the final scene showing Nori training with his Pokemon, though! I'd personally love to see Nori interacting with his Pokemon more and getting to know them, especially in non-battle settings. I am curious as to what attack Nidorina learned at the very end. Can't wait to read more! Good job as always!
 
The scenes with Ollie have pretty much solidifed my thoughts that Volkner's Gym is incredibly disfunctional. No wonder Flint gets the Elite Four position instead.

As for the unsurprising bit of Ollie's history in the Gym...I'm reminded of a literary quote:
"The merchant prince, when things are going wrong, takes it out of the junior clerk. The junior clerk goes and ticks of the office boy. The office boy kicks the cat. The cat steps down the street to find a smaller cat, which in its turn, the inteview concluded, starts scouring the countryside for a mouse."
from P.G Wodehouse

So, Nidorina's new move...Earthquake, Earth Power, something in that line, perhaps? Still, perhaps things are turning in Nori's favor.
 
Didn't expect Kallisto to be part of Prema's family shrine to some degree.
It was an interesting wrinkle I added. It was actually less explicit at first, then I had him mention Master Haruto, and then I decided to just have him outright state it to make it perfectly clear. I had to make Nori think Prema is unrelated, for reasons.

But yeah, dude, Nori has every right to be mad at you. Who the hell would want anything to do with, let alone show respect to, a guy who beat him up, doesn't apologize, and expects Nori to forget the whole thing? Of course Nori doesn't respect the gym trainers. Why would anyone want to respect people who regularly bully and degrade him on a regular basis? I know I wouldn't! Kallisto really needs to take a good, hard look at himself and realize just how shitty a person he is. He wants Nori to respect him and the trainers, but doesn't do anything to actually earn Nori's respect.
One thing is, Kallisto actually has never bullied Nori besides that one time. Of course the catch is, that one thing was so bad that it changed everything. He can own up to things, like he did with trying to make Nori confront his phobia unfairly, but...

I want to feel bad for Ollie, given he was everyone's chew toy before Nori came into the picture, but that doesn't excuse his own actions. Sadly, it is true that some people do resort to turning into bullies so they won't be bullied themselves. It's not the healthiest way to do it, but some people do resort to doing that.
A sad truth.

Definitely liked the final scene showing Nori training with his Pokemon, though! I'd personally love to see Nori interacting with his Pokemon more and getting to know them, especially in non-battle settings.
They're hard scenes to write without having someone who can understand Pokemon around - including trainers who just can without any given explanation and don't explicitly have that as an ability. But they are fun when they turn out well.

The scenes with Ollie have pretty much solidifed my thoughts that Volkner's Gym is incredibly disfunctional. No wonder Flint gets the Elite Four position instead.
Sounds about accurate, although there's certainly a lot more to Flint and Volkner's competition than just their Gym Trainers.

As for the unsurprising bit of Ollie's history in the Gym...I'm reminded of a literary quote:
"The merchant prince, when things are going wrong, takes it out of the junior clerk. The junior clerk goes and ticks of the office boy. The office boy kicks the cat. The cat steps down the street to find a smaller cat, which in its turn, the inteview concluded, starts scouring the countryside for a mouse."
from P.G Wodehouse
In this case, it's more like they joined the prince's court.

I am curious as to what attack Nidorina learned at the very end.
So, Nidorina's new move...Earthquake, Earth Power, something in that line, perhaps? Still, perhaps things are turning in Nori's favor.
It will remain to be seen! But it's probably guessable too, given "burst from below".
 
Month 3: March of Flux (seventh part)
March of Flux (seventh part)
March 29th, 2015

Nori kept the knowledge of the Demon's new move to himself, planning to spring it on Kallisto the next time they battled. He did do some research, however. He already knew his Nidorina was at a very high level. The fact that she was able to learn and perfect that move on the spot proved it. Some moves come naturally to a Pokemon, even occasionally those you wouldn't expect.

His report on battling in forests was deemed adequate. Saturday was a relatively uneventful day. Yet something unexpected happened on Sunday afternoon.

It happened during an impromptu battle with Ollie. A one-on-one pitting his Pachirisu against the hefty trainer's Electrode.

Nori thought a simple ball would fight simply, especially given this was Ollie, but was quickly proven wrong. This thing was rolling, bouncing, and spinning all over the place, rarely remaining still except when it launched a Signal Beam at the start. It was even floating for a while with Magnet Rise, and once somehow teleported. He actually asked how it did that. Tono said something about waves? Way above his grade level. Meanwhile, it was pelting Pachirisu with moves like Rollout, Tackle, and Assurance.

Pachirisu had been avoiding roughly half of the attacks, but had yet to land a single clean hit. Aside from a perfectly timed Grass Knot that failed to ensnare the ball, because it had no limbs to wrap around.

"Stop wasting our time, bitch!" Ollie yelled, as Pachirisu managed to evade yet another rolling attack from the sphere. "Give up already! Keep going until they get it, Electrode!"

Nori had no idea how they could win this. He'd been hoping Ollie would mess up or get impatient as he and Pachirisu did everything they could to stall, but so far, their opponent had been keeping it together. His only idea was too crazy to consider.

Again, Pachirisu avoided the rolling ball, this time with some Agility. "Spring up and intercept!" Ollie suddenly commanded. As if it were a basketball, the Pokemon did a tiny bounce, and then a large one. Pachirisu tried to keep going, yet the Electrode launched forward in midair. He was crushed beneath the round Pokemon, and it just kept going! "Now Rollout!"

It just wouldn't sit still! They had to do something. The squirrel unsteadily managed to his feet. The only thing to do was brute force through this!

"Pachi," Nori spoke up. "Small dodge, like two days ago. And..." Nori paused as the squirrel readied himself.

Ollie crossed his arms and cackled, confident his Pokemon would just adjust its trajectory. A couple seconds before the rolling ball got there, the boy gave the second part of his order.

"...Discharge, full power."

The squirrel took a couple hops to the side. Electrode moved along and managed to sideswipe its opponent, and that's when the burst of lightning emerged. Pachirisu strained, giving the attack everything he could. Electrode kept going, yet briefly lost control of its motion. It was just enough for it to clip a pillar, spinning wildly to a halt. This was their chance!

Ollie's brow furrowed and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Fuck! Grr, Disch–, Scr–" He almost forgot Pachirisu's ability, yet didn't get to say his alternate order, either.

"Get back here!" came the voice of one of the security guards. Mr. Hartman? A person with lightly tanned skin burst into the arena from the challenger's entrance, slamming the door behind. The individual quickly found the lock and sealed the doorway, leaving the pursuers to fruitlessly push and pound against it.

"Ha-haha~!" she playfully and boisterously taunted. "You can't stop the press!"

"Oh no, it's her!" Ollie hastily recalled his Pokemon and made a break for the Gym Trainers' side door. The boy burst into laughter at the sight of the hefty teen running away surprisingly quickly.

"This ain't funny, kid!" Eddie angrily rasped. Tono was giving the intruder a cold look. Even Kallisto appeared uneasy.

"Yes it is," he cheekily replied. Some random girl making Ollie run away and unnerve the others? He liked her already. "So do I win by forfeit?" He was going to have Pachirisu try to Sweet Kiss it from there, but this worked too.

"Hello!" the girl greeted with a wave. She appeared to be in her early teens, maybe a couple years older than Nori. She wore star-shaped sunglasses, a beige fedora with an oversized brim, and a matching trenchcoat that was much too big for her. She had a huge rump on her back, which the boy speculated was a bag. Gesticulating with a point to the ceiling, she declared. "I'm here to ask for an interview with the Gym Leader, Mr. Volkner Denzi!" Her next sentence was quicker, calmer, and just a bit sweeter, too. "Or if not, an interview with you would be okay, Kallisto Keravnos!"

"S-sorry," Kallisto stammered. He actually stammered! "Volkner's busy right now. And we were just about to start training."

"Yeah," agreed Eddie. It was already a blatant lie - if evidenced by her interrupting a battle - but the dark-skinned teen went even further as he followed up with, "We were planning on doing that since the moment you walked in."

"That's just rude!" she whined. "Come on! It'll only be a few minutes. Please? Pretty please with cherry on top?"

The Gym Trainers were speechless. Did they seriously have no idea what to do about this? Well, he could do something, if only to get one over on them. He approached the girl, motioning for Pachirisu to follow. "Don't you think you're being a bit intrusive?" he stated. "You could've been more polite about how you came in."

"Step aside!" she dismissed with a full-length arm wave. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"No," he calmly replied. "Do you know who I am?"

The girl tilted the brim of her hat down. "I'm Arumi Schrader, a member of the prestigious Schrader family of reporters!" She removed her hat and sunglasses at the same time, revealing her chocolate brown hair and brown eyes. She placed the eyewear in her coat pocket, retrieving a tape recorder in the same motion, and posed by holding it out like a microphone. "And who are you?"

He did a twirl. "I'm Nori Carino, the boy who caught the Demon Nidorina!" He punctuated it with a jump and fistpump; Pachirisu started bouncing and squeaking, imitating his trainer. "Nice to meet you, Arumi!"

Arumi's jaw dropped. "Waitwaitwait, whaaaaaaat?!" She scuttled back in shock.

"HA!" Eddie snorted. "Good one, kid!"

Tono's words oozed venom. "You would think Miss Overcompensation here would know enough to recognize you."

A bit of respect from them. He'd take that. Nori started to turn away, when Arumi shouted. "W-w-wait!" She ran up, lightly grabbing him by the arm. "Can you give me an interview?! I have some things I really want to ask you! The public has to know these things!"

"Um–"

"Please!" she beseeched, letting go to plead with her hands. "If I can't interview Kallisto Keravnos or Volkner Denzi, I'd at least like to get one with you! I don't want this to have been a big waste of time!"

Nori considered it. She did forcibly enter the arena for her own purposes. Then again, he could understand doing something you're not supposed to, just because you want to. He briefly eyed the Gym Trainers for their thoughts.

Kallisto shook his head. "Come on, Nori. You have more important things to be doing."

When he put it like that, it was easy to decide. Stay and train with the Gym Trainers, or not stay with the Gym Trainers? No question there. "No, no, I'm fine with it. Let's do this."

Arumi threw her arms around him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" She shook him in time with her ‘thank yous’. He was so surprised, he didn't even think to reciprocate before she let go a second and a half later. "Let's go outside!"

"Better still," he suggested, "We can use the medical room. That should be quieter than outside." Betsy-Ann and the coach would understand, if they were there.

"Awesome! Lead the way!"

"The fuck, kid?" Eddie demanded as they were starting out towards the left side door. "Really?"

He shrugged. "Well, I don't see why not." What's the harm in a little interview? He didn't mind this, and getting away from those three was just the berry on top of the sundae.

The dark-skinned teen shook his head. "You're gonna be sorry, kid..."

---​

One of the guards, Mr. Marshall, was waiting out in the hallway and grabbed Arumi immediately after they emerged. Nori yelled at him and explained things; the guard was so stunned he let go on the spot. They hadn't pursued her into the arena due to being confident the Gym Trainers could handle it, yet the boy actually agreeing flabbergasted him. After radioing the others, he walked off shaking his head.

Arumi removed her hat, coat, and sunglasses, storing them in the oversized backpack she was indeed wearing beneath. She wore durable-looking brown boots alongside a navy blue jacket with padded arms, and a matching knee-length skirt. Complimenting the outfit were leggings that seemed to be made of Mareep fleece and a white blouse. "My reporter's outfit!" she called it, while taking out a brush. "Hey! Can you braid my hair?"

"I can!" She might've blurted that out without thinking, but Nori actually knew how to do this thanks to his former friend, Claris Willins. She needed it for a movie role and he sometimes helped her get ready for the camera. Divide it into two, take a piece from the outside of the left and bring it to the inside of the right, repeat on the other side, and keep going. Simple, although he wondered if he was remembering that right. It took him a couple minutes. As he was done, he asked, "How'd I do?"

Arumi pulled out a pocket mirror and looked it over. She patted the hair down. "Hey, I like it! Thanks a bunch! That's why I say, it never hurts to ask!" She tied it at the end with a band. "My hair goes everywhere if I don't do it up in a braid or ponytail. Couldn't wear it under the hat, though."

"Why the hat in the first place?"

"A disguise, obviously!"

"Did you really have to wear one? Oh uh, you probably did. So why?"

She snickered with proud glee. "So I could get in stealthily, of course!" Nori was afraid to ask why she needed to do so.

It took Arumi a couple minutes longer to prepare. Finally, the two sat down across from each other. Arumi held her tape recorder and a sheet of paper in front of her.

"Okay, let's start this interview!" With a triumphant press of the record button, she started speaking in an excessively professional voice. "My name is Arumi Schrader! I am here with a very special guest today! A boy who proves that you're never too young to accomplish great things! You know him as the Demon Tamer, Nori Carino!"

"Good to be here, Arumi."

The girl's eyes went down to the paper. "First off, how did you get into your profession? And, was it something you'd planned for?" She looked back up with a smile.

Nori nodded. "I'm sure you all heard the story by now. About the Demon and how I tamed her and how we beat the Gym Leader Gasha Qian. She happened to run under my family trailer when escaping police, and I ended up standing up for her. One thing led to another after I beat Gasha, and here we are today." That was about it. He didn't feel the need to explain it in detail. That was a whole different story, and most people knew it at this point.

"What's your particular expertise?" Arumi asked, looking back down at the sheet. "Is there something only you can bring to your field?"

"Well, the Chief head official guy," he said, pausing momentarily. Flustered, he kept speaking. "Bleh, I forget his name. Jim something? But he did say I was the only one willing to deal with the Demon. So I guess that counts as something only I can do."

"What do you wish you'd known on your first day that you know now?" Again eying the paper.

Nori blinked. "I haven't started my first day yet? Since I'm still in-training?"

"What would be your advice to anyone looking to get into your line of work?" She kept not looking at him.

"I don't know?"

"What's next after this for you? How do you hope to progress your career?"

At this point, Nori reached out and snatched the paper with his right hand, awkwardly but still quick enough to get it away from the young reporter. He took a brief glance. "I knew it, you were just reading off a list of questions!"

"Hey, I need that!" Arumi whined, switching off the recorder and vainly reaching over to retrieve the sheet. "This is the official Schrader Family list of generic questions to ask a professional!"

"I'm a professional?"

"Kind of!" She looked away, sheepishly. "Sort of!" Turning back, she made another lunge for the paper, only managing to stumble onto the table. She peered up at him. "You count as far as I'm concerned!"

Nori turned the sheet towards her. "Anyway, it says right there at the top," he pointed out, gesturing with a finger. "Ask the questions that are most appropriate."

The teenage girl wasted no time taking it back. "Yes, so if I ask them all, that means the interview will be longer and better with much more complete information!"

Nori sighed. He couldn't fault her for being enthusiastic. He was like this on good days, after all. "Well, okay," the boy conceded. "I'll try to answer as many as I can. Just don't be surprised if you get non-answers on some of them."

Arumi gave this some thought. "I can edit out irrelevant things if I have to."

"Also, well." Nori rubbed the nape of his neck. "Don't mean to tell you how to do your job. But try to speak more naturally."

She blinked. "Oh, am I doing that again?" She does this all the time?! Nori could only laugh in good heart at that one. "Sorry. Anyways, let's start over from the top!"

She sat back down and turned her recorder on again. "I'm Arumi Schrader, reporter in-training, here to conduct an interview with a very special up and coming person in the Pokemon world!" There, she was speaking with her usual energy, and nothing sounded forced. "Now, would you mind introducing yourself?"

"Nori Carino, Pokemon Rehabilitator! Well, in-training too, anyway. I'm part of the Officials' Special Trainers division. Going to be, anyway."

"How did you get into your profession? And, was it something you'd planned for?"

The same question? "I already answered that. I don't feel like explaining it again."

"Ugh, this is the second take!" the reporter in-training switched the recorder off in frustration. "You have to answer again! Now we have to make a third take!"

"I thought you could edit it in?"

"It'll be more natural this way!" Again, she turned on the recorder. "I'm Arumi Schrader, and this is my guest!" Nori stared. "Come on, give your name and occupation!" she urged.

He got up. "Forget it." Is this what the Gym Trainers were talking about with her overcompensating?

"Hey, wait! Come back!" she begged. "I really, really, need this interview!"

The boy paused in his tracks. After a brief thought, he concluded: screw the Gym Trainers. Arumi was eccentric, but that was no reason to dismiss her. "Sorry, sorry," he turned back with a sigh. "This is just...too much right now. Just, a lot of things have been happening to me lately. I think we both need to get better prepared for this."

He actually wanted to give this interview. It would be a way for people to get to know the real him. It'd especially help next month, when he went to that Gama school.

Arumi rolled her shoulders. "If you say so." She sighed in disappointment.

"Some other time, but not now." He smiled reassuringly. "I mean it."

She lit up in wonder. "Really? You promise? Pinky-swear?" She held out her right arm, pinky extended.

"Yup." He held out his own, briefly wrapping their tiny fingers around each other. "Like sometime next month, let's say."

Arumi clapped thrice and grinned wildly. "Great! I go to Gama Memorial Junior High! I'm hoping to make this interview one of my first projects in the news club when the next year begins!" She energetically packed up her things, moving to an inaudible beat.

"Hey, that's where I'm going next year." He'd know someone there besides Eddie. That put his mind at ease.

"Awesome!" Arumi threw her backpack on and flashed a thumbs up. "See you when the school year begins, then!"

---​

The chocolate brown-haired girl left the room with a bounce in her stride. Nori followed in close enough behind to see Eddie and Kallisto looking at her in disgust as she merrily skipped down the halls. The two quickly turned their attention to him.

"Anything happen between you and her?" Eddie threateningly demanded, pounding a fist into his palm.

"No?" Anything happen between them? Did they think he and Arumi went into the room to kiss or something? "You're still going on about that?"

"Of course," said the dark-skinned teen.

Kallisto was more composed, although Nori did notice he breathed a light sigh of relief. "She's not the kind of person you want to be around anyway. If you value your private life, that is." Seeing Nori's scrutinizing gaze, he continued, "This isn't me stopping you for my image. It's me looking out for you. Some girls are just not right."

"I know that!" he snapped. "Had to turn down some myself." He couldn't say if Arumi was one or not, but there was this girl at the trailer park who was like sixteen and kept inviting him over when her parents were out. One day he accepted, and when he went inside she took off her shirt and tried to kiss him. He thankfully managed to squeeze out of her grip and get away.

"She make a pass at you?" Eddie lowly growled.

"No, nothing like that!"

"Good. You better keep it that way, or–"

"That's enough, Eddie," Kallisto shut him down. The dark-skinned teen complied with a roll of his eyes. "So how'd the interview go?"

"It didn't happen. She just asked a bunch of questions that didn't really fit."

"Thought so," the head Gym Trainer plainly replied.

"That's why we don't bother with her."

The boy clarified. "We're going to try the interview again when we're both actually prepared for it."

Amusingly in-sync, the two shook their heads. "Dumbass," Eddie dismissed.

"There's such a thing as being too nice, Nori."

He shrugged with irreverence. "Maybe there is. But I'd rather be too nice, rather than selfishly nice." At this playful taunt, Kallisto turned away. Nori put his right hand on his hip. "This really is about you, isn't it?"

After several moments of thought, Kallisto looked right at him. "Maybe a little," he openly admitted with a genuine smile. "But you shouldn't rush into something just to spite me."

He was thinking that, but Kallisto was right. Much as he hated to admit it. But in the off-chance Arumi or anyone else was interested in him and there wasn't anything wrong with them, he wasn't going to say no. He wondered, what would they do if he found someone despite them saying not to? There was only one way to find out.

##########​

March 31st, 2015

"You're doing great Pachi! Keep it up!"

Just after lunch on the 31st, Nori and Pachirisu were battling the foreman of the maintenance company. Rick was a stout but muscular with a trimmed brown beard. Like all of his workers, he was in bright orange and yellow construction clothing with a yellow hardhat.

Like in January and February, Nori went out on the balconies and saw them all lounging around or looking at their phones. This time, even though the boy was being more polite, Rick said he was sick of a kid bossing him around. He demanded Nori come down and say it to their faces, which he did. He spouted rhetoric about adult life, and Nori suggested they settle it with a battle. He agreed, on the condition he didn't have to fight the Demon.

Despite this, Pachirisu was still destroying the foreman's Dusclops. They'd avoided every attack except a Shadow Punch. Meanwhile, they were landing repeated Electro Balls and Grass Knots, as well as one Discharge.

"Shadow Punch again!" Rick ordered with a frustrated point. He pronounced ‘again’ as if it rhymed with ‘pain’.

Dusclops swung, and invisibly struck Pachirisu. From his studies, Nori knew the only way to avoid that punch was to not be anywhere near any kind of shadow. All the pillars here made that difficult.

The squirrel was briefly knocked down, yet remained raring to go. And Nori had a crazy idea of how to end this. "Quick Attack, right into it," he said with confidence. Pachirisu was surprised, but carried it out.

The foreman crossed his arms. "That ain't–what the hell?!"

"Now, Discharge!"

Pure Ghost types were often intangible, and this one didn't seem to be an exception. Being enveloped in one could cause ill-effects, yet using that attack from the inside was even worse for the Dusclops. The cyclopean ghost lit up like a lightbulb, wailing horribly as lightning arced through and around its form. As the attack finished, it dizzily collapsed.

The squirrel shuffled away. Shuddering yet giddy, he hopped a victory dance. Nori himself couldn't help but dance and cheer a little as well.

"Guess I win!" he declared. "A deal's a deal. No more breaks." The entire collective grumbled, cursed, or went ‘aww’ over these words. Nori followed up, "Think of it this way. The sooner you get done, the sooner you can get out of here."

It made sense, didn't it? Rick shook his head. "You just don't get it." What was there not to get, Nori wondered? Why waste all this time breaking when you can just get it done? The foreman relented. "But fine, we had a deal. You heard'em, boys."

Begrudgingly, they retrieved their tools and started getting back to work. Nori smiled as Pachirisu hopped over. They got these lazy adults to keep working! It was on impulse; he certainly wasn't expecting himself to suggest a battle to anyone, ever. Yet it felt great. Especially to have a decisive win for once. And especially when the battle actually meant something.

"I'll make sure they don't slack, got my word," Rick told him. The boy nodded. He'd still check every now and then anyway, just to be sure. As he was about to leave with his Pokemon, the foreman called out to him. "One thing, though."

"Yes?"

"That Discharge at the end was impressive. Denzi teach you that?"

Nori twirled a finger. "Actually, I thought it up. I thought I could hit Dusclops as hard as possible like that."

"It was flashy. Liked it." Some of the other workers agreed, some also adding it was strong.

Pachirisu chirruped happily at the praise. Nori nodded. "Thanks. It kind of was, now that I think of it."

He left, pondering this. Flashy and powerful, huh? It was an interesting combination. He didn't hate it. He wondered, what would the Demon think about that?

The past two days had been great. He still thought about Lux from time to time, but no longer in a way that consumed his thoughts. Some of it was happy reminiscing. He could relax, do whatever he wanted, and best of all, there was no one around to bother him.

Yet they'd be back very soon. Volkner was still angry about his loss to his rival's pupil earlier in the month. And the Gym Trainers would be as they always were. He was not looking forward to tomorrow, especially given it was April 1st. No doubt they had all sorts of pranks in mind, for him and each other.

No, no, forget them! That was the point of these past two days, wasn't it? Yes, they were coming back, but he didn't have to let them bother him until tomorrow! Actually, did he have to let them kill his mood then, too? Did he really have to let them push him around to their whims? No, and no. He was fine now, and he could be fine tomorrow, and all the days after! He didn't have to put up with this!

At that moment, Nori made up his mind. He would stand firm. Even if it meant standing alone.

##########
=========
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Idle aside: Arumi was the character who was originally set to debut at the end of February. It incidentally worked better here.
 
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