Resigned, Chad pulled up his little device, tapping away. [GOOD, LUCK] the device beeped, as nothing more needed to be said. All three thanked him by returning the sentiment to one another, as each turned to walk away in different directions. Chad and Ginette did the same, as they headed west from Sycamore’s lab. “How do you know where you’re going?” She asked in curiosity.

“Oh, that’s certainly pratique. I’ve wondered what those things were, never got a solid explanation,” Ginette responded, her eyes twinkling in wonder. “So, does he translate any human-text?”

Ginette experienced a full-body shiver, but kept pace with her new team leader. “Something about that accent, it makes me feel like my ancêtres wish great misfortune upon him,” she clarifies, as her gait steadily warms up from the frozen shivering. “Don’t suppose you’re a Galarian with that bourgeois way of speaking?”

The two were approaching the gate out of the city, and with only Chad in earshort, Ginette decided to blurt out something that she likely did not understand; “Microwaved tea is supérieure to boiled.”

I told you she’d be fun.

Chad was laughing, while also catching the gaze of nearby people and pokemon who had not heard the joke. “Oh yea, she’s going to be our little chaos gremlin, I can see it.”

“Huh,” Ginette remarks, “I didn’t even know this was here. I always saw humans speeding through the city, but never thought they had something quite this captivante.” She heads towards an open area in the shade, leading Chad forwards to watch for a moment. The two grab a seat and join the crowd, watching as several teens perform a variety of different jumps and spins.

Startled, Ginette falls backwards with a cry, as Chad also pulls back to try and cover his face in reflex. “Sorry about that, just the wrong place at the wrong time,” an amused voice called from their left. Ginette, having regained her senses, completed the backwards roll to lay eyes on the commenter. To the left of the tree sat a blue and black canine pokemon, seated in a cross-legged meditation, not even glancing their way. “She has been rather antsy lately, so we came here to let her practice a bit.”

Ginette, satiating her curiosity, crept over and sat to the blue dog’s left, “I see a lot of humans wearing those shoes, is it really that fun?” The lupine smiled, and gently affirmed the question with a nod, her eyes still firmly shut and somehow still meditating. “Huh, I’ll have to try it someday, though I’ll need to find someone to teach me. Ravi de vous rencontrer, I’m Ginette.”

The doggo crossed her right hand over to complete the handshake. “Nice to meet you, I do not have a name yet, but I believe I will earn one soon enough.” Ginette froze like an ice statue after the Lucario gave her full attention, including the gaze of two warm suns for eyes. The reaction prompted a light chortle from the dog, as both were distracted when the female skater in white rolled up to them.

<”Sheesh Lucario, why’d you run over here? Had me searching- Oh, hello!” the girl chided before side-stepping into a greeting. “I guess you were just making a new friend, huh?”>

Lucario nodded, as Chad stepped out from behind the tree to join the conversation.

<”Well that’s great, her aura is so unique I probably would’ve wanted to say hello, too. My name’s Korrina, the Shalour City Gym Leader-” she began to introduce herself, but went quiet once she finally saw Chad. Her face flew from delight, to confusion, to fear, to fascination, before shifting into the neutral expression shared between two predators meeting on foreign hunting grounds. “I see, I recognize you. You’re one of the trainers this year Viola warned me about.”>

Lucario, unsure what had caused her trainer to become so serious, stood up and strode over to her side. She studied him, confused, as her gaze slowly panned upwards towards the sky. Her eyes steadily widening, a mixture of awe and panic, until she was looking up at the skies above. “What..?” she inquired, her hackles raising as she shifted into a lower stance.

“Don’t startle the poor thing, General Kenobi,” Chad quipped, sliding his speak-and-say device from his side to within typing distance. [CHAD, NICE, MEET, YOU] the black box buzzed, earning a bone-chilling grin from the gym leader. “Don’t mind him,” he whispered to the Lucario, “Just play along like he’s not here, alright?”

<”I see she omitted some details, but now you have my full attention. I look forward to when you challenge my gym, Chad!” She shouted, striking a pose and pointing at the fire type.>

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“I hope to see you again,” her partner supplied with an accompanying bow, breaking Ginette from her stupor.

“Ma beau…” Ginette whispered, before lightly smacking her cheeks and facing her teammate. “I need to be stronger, beaucoup plus fort, before we see them again. The Galarian promised me as such, how do we make that happen?”

Chad held up his right arm and swept it outwards, motioning towards the giant skatepark. “The same way I did; by beating the shit out of anyone we can and taking their lunch money.” He slipped a shoulder and slid the backpack off, placing it against the tree as he lifted the top flap. “First, we should figure out what moves you know, then develop a strategy. The biggest constraints are that we do not know how close you are to evolving, and that you need to be able to fight on your own.”

“What, already skipping out on prétendre être humain?”

“If you are the last member of the team who can fight, and you need to cinch the victory for us all, I can’t risk you freezing up because you aren’t being told what to do,” he chided, a twinge of frustration coloring the answer with a hint of desperation. Ginette seemed to shrink back at the scolding, as Chad recognized his error. Pulling a well-loved notebook from the bag, he apologized softly and flipped to a blank page before writing “Ginette” at the top.

“3 years,” she said, unprompted. Chad waited, looking at her expectantly, before she extrapolated for him. “I haven’t battled in over 3 years, don’t really remember what I can still do.”

Chad sat slack-jawed, before moving to open the bag again, finding a fresh Pokedex sitting on top of his gear. “Narrator, where did this come from? No, why am I asking you- Author, where did this come from?”

The Narrator, sensing you may encounter just this situation, ‘appropriated’ one back in Lumiose.

Chad pinched the bridge of his snout between his eyes, as he pantomimed a massive Psyduck-level headache, groaning as he exhaled hard enough flicks of fire accompanied the de-stressing gesture. “Fine, just this once. But no more ‘re-appropriating’ or ‘retrieving’ expensive stuff like this in the future, OK?”

Chad, mimicking what he had seen with Sycamore and Trevor, held up the device to scan Ginette, as after a few moments the screen filled up with data. He ignored much of the physical measurements and immediately scrolled to the information they needed. “OK, it can’t really tell me what you know, but it has a list of major milestones for growth. I’ll call something out, and if you know it, show me.”

The duo began with the most basic moves on the list, Pound and Growl, as Ginette failed to really let out much of a noise, but succeeded in creating a small divot in the grass. A large Bubble floated across the grass, and a rapid Quick Attack intercepted it before the sphere could reach the route. A call to Lick the tree resulted in a revolting glare of disgust from the frog, and the final request of Water Pulse saw a ring of water fly out and up into the sky before dissolving into mist and creating a small rainbow.

“Alright, so you’re much closer to evolving than I thought, as Water Pulse is considered the last big milestone for your current stage. Sadly, if you don’t remember anything beyond what we covered, I doubt I’ll be able to guess it, so let’s just assume this is your current kit and plan around it. I have an idea for later, but first let’s shake some rust off, yea?”

Chad snapped his notebook shut, not missing a beat as the keyboard swung up below his claws. [SURE, WAGER] the device buzzed, as Chad counted only a single pokeball on the youth’s belt.

<”How about 300? I have a feeling this is going to get my blood pumping more than just grabbing air on the half-pipe,” the challenger inquired, gesturing the group move to one of the open battling fields attached to the skate park.>

Chad nodded, grabbing his backpack and following the boy over to the battlefield. Ginette poked Chad’s side gently, asking “How much is that?”

Chad, eyeing the other trainers who had doubtlessly noticed their progression towards the unclaimed field, responded carefully. “Don’t let it shake you, but do you remember that dinner of mine you ‘borrowed’ at the café?” She nodded, “Imagine eating that every night for over three months.” She paled, almost coming to a full stop had the lizard not immediately roped an arm behind to support her. “Hey, relax, that’s just how much faith we have in you-”

“But I failed… My last trainer abandoned me because I was weak, because I couldn’t-” she stuttered, fear starting to take firm hold in her mind.

“Your trainer threw you at the Lumiose City gym, I am guessing; a gym for electric types, to which you currently have no proper defenses and a serious disadvantage. Ginette, forget about the idiot who set you up to fail, and focus now on me, on us.” He stopped in the trainer box, crouching down to level his eyes with hers, waiting until she broke her fixation with the ground. “You can do this. You have a protagonist and two literal gods cheering you on. Plus,” he chuckles, looking across the field as the challenger awaits, “if this is anything like my first trainer battle, you literally can’t lose.”

<”You ready?” Florin called out, hefting a pokeball in his palm as he faced the field. He seemed confident the match would be quick, as he kept his helmet and gear on for the battle.>

Ginette, inspired and now free of the jitters, hopped onto the field, her eyes burning with determination and courage. Across the field, the challenger’s ball landed and, with a flash of white light, revealed a brown orb atop two skinny legs, with two similarly colored heads on long black necks, each with two beady eyes and a needle-like beak. Chad smirked, “See? No type disadvantage here, just a battle of skill.”

<”Doduo, Quick Attack!” Florin shouted, pointing at the blue frog. The bird cawed, and immediately sprinted forward at an astonishing speed.>

“Bubble and jump back, then prep a Water Pulse!” Chad commanded, as Ginette reflexively complied by swelling her cheeks until a massive soapy sphere floated forward, strategically placed between herself and the charging bird. Her cheeks began to inflate again, as water dripped from the corners of her mouth.

<”Pop it and charge through with a Peck!” Florin called, as his bird jabbed a beak forward to pre-emptively pop the bubble obstacle, taking minimal damage as sky blue energy began to glow around it’s other beak.>

As the bird got closer, Chad waited until it was barely a breath away before demanding “Now!”, as the pressurized circle of water blasted out, perfectly threading the incoming Peck attack, and smacking the offending head with enough force to divert the beak off-target. “OK you got this. Use Bubble to zone, and blast with Water Pulse when you get the opportunities.”

<”Keep at it, that frog should go down in a single hit!” their challenger shouted, as more skaters began to spectate the match. The Doduo continued to pursue Ginette around the field, getting close several times but her strategy held up until after a few more blasts, the two-headed bird fell to the ground unconscious. Several of the onlookers cheered or clapped, as Florin recalled his pokemon in frustration.>

There was a gasp, as Ginette began to glow. Her body elongated, nearly doubling in size, as her arms and legs also extended for more reach and speed. A discerning eye could notice her head re-shape, going from two forward-facing eyes to two sideways eyes. As the light faded, her skin had darkened in spots, giving her a whole new look and identity. This kicked off a more enthusiastic round of applause and congratulations from the crowd.

<”Now, now, Frolin. You know the rules. You made a bet and lost, don’t go slinking off now.” A female voice lectured from the challenger’s side, where the crowd shifted to see one of their regulars, an older girl, holding him by the shoulder as he was facing away from the crowd. With a sigh, he unzipped his fanny pack and handed her three paper bills, skating away once she released him. “I believe these are your winnings, sorry about him. Money’s been kind of tight at home, so he tries to bully younger trainers.”>

Chad accepted the winnings, nodding in thanks. The two of them waved goodbye and thanks, as the crowd began to disperse and return to skating or spectating skating. Ginette, who was slightly stumbling along while acclimating to her new limbs, broke the silence first. “I haven’t felt that rush in so long, incroyable. And here I thought I was going to have to repeat a battle over and over until I won!” she remarked with a laugh, lightly slapping Chad on the shoulder, who was not laughing.

“Thankfully, you did your part just fine. It helps that you were slightly stronger and had more options than your opponent did,” Chad explained, dodging the proverbial slight she had leveled at him unknowingly. “And as a two part reward, you evolved, and I will teach you two new moves when we stop for a break a little further along the route.”

Chad withdrew a pair of sandwiches from the pack, handing one to Ginette before unwrapping his own. “So, before I met you, I was instructed by a master Dancer. He was so clever that, even with his pokemon knowing only Swords Dance, he was able to guide me into figuring out Dragon Dance. And now, we will carry his teachings on, to you.”

Ginette had seemingly finished half her sandwich in the time it took for him to share the short anecdote, and looked at him expectantly. Shocked by her manners, Chad lowered his sandwich, and continued the lecture. “Once you finish eating, I want you to step into the sunlight, and channel water energy through your body, like a Water Pulse, but for your whole body. Then, just try different motions; feel the way the energy wants to move, and let it guide you.”

Ginette just shoved the remainder of her sandwich in a single glomp, before bouncing out into the field. Chad, finally getting a moment to eat, watches on as the frog begins to outright glow with the ripples of blue energy. Her movements are slow at first, awkward and rigid, but steadily they smooth out. First she takes a step to the left, then two quick claps of her webbed hands, followed by a slide to the right with two more quick claps. Then, with a twirl in place, she comes to a stop and once again gives two claps, before the third clap is accented by the boom of thunder. Water begins to fall in a small two foot radius circle around her, as the sunshower drops a lightly sprinkle on the open field, with zero clouds above her.

“Nicely done, that’s Rain Dance, which will boost your water attacks for a short time. With more practice, you should be able to cover a wider area, make it last longer-” he explains as the water shuts off, with the doused area sparkling in the sunlight, “and activate faster. The second dance is Swords Dance, which is similar but with normal energy, like your Pound attack. Given you’re a special attacker like me, it may not be as beneficial for you to learn, but you have until I finish eating to try-” With a swoosh, Ginette cuts him off as she crosses her arms, then sweeps them out and down, the glint of normal energy coating her hands like the shine of a knife edge. With a grumble, Chad shut up and continued to eat.

Ginette falls to her knees, gasping, and holding her head in her hands. Chad gently rubs her back, keeping an eye out for anyone nearby. “Ow, OW, OW! Chad, what the f-” her shrieking is interrupted as Chad clamps a claw over her mouth.

“Shh, just give it a minute to pass.” She continues to hyperventilate, but slowly regains control after a few minutes of near-silence, with only the rustle of the winds and the far-off chirps of bugs seizing the evening. “There, you just survived your first major time skip; congratulations!”

Congratulations!