As Ethan arrived at the training field atop Gogoat, followed along by Hitmonlee, Growlith, and Sneasel, he saw the other six trainers over on the campgrounds setting up their tents and supplies.

As Gogoat trotted around in circles, content to carry Ethan around for fun, Ethan swiveled his head as he watched the six trainers work alongside their pokemon—the ones he’d be tutoring.

Elizabeth, the blonde-haired teen with her Aipom, worked on setting up an enormous tent alongside her partner. Made from a durable green fabric, the tent was raised using several poles, and had a small fan attached at the rear, which brought in outside air to cool and keep the tent inflated. Aipom was busy hammering in the pitons, attaching the tent to the ground as Elizabeth held the tall poles steady. The tent could easily hold four or five people comfortably. Maybe Elizabeth liked to sleep with her pokemon out of their pokeballs? It was probably much safer that way.

Aipom would be learning the move Double Hit. Which, to Ethan, sounded very easy to teach. He just had to get Aipom… to well, hit twice? He wasn’t sure why his services were required, if that was truly the case.

Joji had set up his much smaller, single-person tent as Noctowl stood on the ground nearby. Its head repeatedly drooped downwards before jolting back up. The nocturnal pokemon dearly trying to stay awake in the midday sun.

The other four trainers each did the same with their equally small tents. Their pokemon resting by their sides.

Joanna, a very tanned woman with dark hair in her early twenties, sat on the lip of the stone firepit with her Mawile resting in her lap. Ethan had seen, and even used, a Mawile during his adventures in the video games, but he had always imagined them being much larger.

In reality, Mawile was a very short pokemon, standing only a little over two feet tall. In his mind, he imagined them to be maybe four feet tall—up to his waist at the least. He was obviously wrong, but he was a little excited to teach the pokemon Iron Head, as he’d always thought Mawiles were cool looking pokemon.

The other three trainers were siblings, which was surprising, as none of them looked remotely alike in any way shape or form. They each had familiar pokemon, being Simisage, Simipour, and Simisear, each of them were looking to learn the move Work-Up. So, thankfully, he could do the monkey trio’s tutoring at the same time.

Ethan remembered getting the TM for Work-Up from the trio of gym leaders in Unova, right around when you got a monkey for yourself… He’d have to research TM‘s in the future.

To prepare for the tutoring, Ethan dismounted Gogoat with as much grace as he could manage, but still ended up falling on his butt. As he rose from the ground with a wince, Pachirisu returned and stayed near the sidelines. He circled around like a dog looking for the perfect sleeping position, then plopped down, using his poofy tail as a pillow. Seeing as Pachirisu didn’t seem worried, he assumed Edgar, the trainer with the Gabite, had left peacefully.

“Okay! Let’s get you four started on your moves while we wait for the other to finish with setting up their tents. Hitmonlee, you’re going to be learning Low Sweep. You are by far, more of an expert when it comes to martial arts, so I’m going to be explaining the effects of the move and how it looks. You’re going to use your expertise to bring it into reality. I may give some pointers here or there, but once again, you’ll know better than me when it comes to form.”

Ethan walked over and attempted a very amateur rendition of a Low Sweep, which was exactly as it sounded. With a small spin to gather centrifugal force, Ethan swept the ground with one of his legs. “The idea is similar to that of Low Kick, a move that topples your opponent. Do you know that move?”

Hitmonlee nodded as he listened and observed with absolute focus. “Hitmon.”

“Good. Now, this move is not aiming to topple your foe, but to reduce their speed. It also does a hefty amount of damage as well. I assume by dealing a blow to the legs of your opponent will be more than enough for the damage portion, and the damage itself may lower the speed. With your unique physicality, you should have a pretty easy time getting this move down. Now, go ahead and try. Look to use your legs like whips.”

Without further ado, Hitmonlee walked out into an open space and did a picture perfect leg sweep. Its already long legs extended like pulled springs, elongating and whipping through the air, creating a pleasing swooshing sound as his leg fought against the air pressure. If Ethan had been hit by that, both of his legs would be broken and mangled.

“Great! Keep practicing that. Later, we’ll see if we can’t find you an opponent to test yourself against. Try to remember the feeling of using your fighting type energy as you go through the motions.” Ethan let Hitmonlee practice as he wandered over toward Sneasel.

Sneasel didn’t look impressed or curious at all. He was more focused on sharpening his claws by raking them against one another, causing small sparks to fly off into the air.

“Alright Sneasel, you’re here to learn Sucker Punch. It’s a pretty staple move, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue for you. The general idea of the move is for you to punch your opponent before they can act, getting an actual sucker punch in. For this, I'm going to have one of my pokemon be your training partner, as you need an actual partner to learn this move.” Ethan unclipped Chatot’s pokeball and released her out in front of Sneasel.

Chatot refused to meet Ethan's eyes, knowing that she was in trouble and that this training was her form of punishment. “Chatot, you’re going to be helping Sneasel learn the move Sucker Punch while you try to learn the move Thief.”

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Ethan wandered off and gathered a few oran berries from the nearby trees and returned to place the pile next to Sneasel. When seeing the small pile of berries, Sneasel raised an eyebrow in inquisitiveness. “Sneasel, you're going to hold onto a berry. Chatot is going to try and take it from you, and you’re going to try and punch her before she can steal it. If she manages to take it, she can eat it. If you manage to keep it away, you get to eat it. Each steal or block earns a point, and the first to ten points gets to go out into my fields and pick ten of their favorite berries as a prize.”

Ethan looked between the two pokemon, who were enticed by the idea of the game and the rewards. “Time starts now.” Ethan said with a smirk, as Chatot launched herself forward, trying to snap up the singular Oran berry Sneasel held casually.

Sneasel blinked as he looked down, finding an empty palm. “I’ll be keeping an eye out and tracking your points. No cheating.” Ethan finished as he wandered over toward Growlithe who watched the two pokemon play their game with a wagging tail.

“Now, for you, we have an interesting move. It’s a move I've taught before, so we shouldn’t have too hard of a time. The thing is, it’s best to wait for the stars to come out. So… feel free and enjoy the ranch until then.” Ethan said to the Growlithe, who let loose a happy yip as he ran off toward through the berry trees to explore.

Teaching a Growlithe Swift wasn’t what he would have done, but he supposed it was always somewhat useful, as it wasn’t able to miss.

“And last but not least, we have you Gogoat—Thanks for the ride by the way, I'm still a little sore.” Gogoat bleeted as he rubbed his horned head into Ethan’s side, nearly shoving him over in the process.

“You’re here to learn Bulldoze, and judging by the way you almost bulldozed over me earlier, I think you’ll do fine.” Ethan snorted.

As he explained the ins and outs of what he expected, making sure to include the knowledge that this was a ground type move that lowered speed, the others had just finished setting up their camps. They stood by the side of the training field, watching with intrigue as the four pokemon out and about practiced their moves.

“Elizabeth! Come over here with your Aipom and we’ll get started.” Ethan waved the blonde-haired girl over. Her Aipom, thinking that Ethan was waving at it, eagerly waved back as they both approached, causing him to smile.

“Double Hit should be the easiest of the moves to teach out of the bunch. He might even finish and evolve today.” Elizabeth opened her mouth in shock, but Ethan ignored her as he continued speaking.

“Elizabeth, what moves does Aipom know already?” He asked.

Elizabeth squared her shoulders, met Ethan’s eyes, and listed off the moves. “Scratch, Screech, and Tickle.”

While waiting a few awkward seconds for Elizabeth to continue on, Ethan finally realized that she was done. “Uh… How old is Aipom?”

With a smile Elizabeth patted Aipom's head as he jumped excitedly on her shoulder. “He’s three months old!”

“You are well-aware that Aipom is still a very young pokemon and has a lot of growing to do, correct? Evolving him now would hamper his growth. Has he participated in any battles?” Ethan asked cautiously.

Elizabeth looked proud and haughty as she swung her hair over her shoulder and planted her arms on her hips. “Of course he has! He’s been in two!” She finished with a bright smile as Aipom cheered his own name.

Ethan sighed. “I wasn’t aware of how young your pokemon was. I—I do not think that he should be looking to evolve right now. He needs to grow strong and build himself a good foundation to rest on… Perhaps you have another pokemon you’d like me to tu—”

“No! You said you agreed! I already paid!” Elizabeth looked affronted by the mere suggestion that Aipom shouldn’t be evolving.

After thinking for a moment as Elizabeth simmered in front of him, Ethan took out his phone to make a call. “Give me one moment to consult a professional. Perhaps you’re right and I am wrong. It’s best to be sure, in case it harms your friend… Right?”

After a not too confident nod, Elizabeth agreed. Ethan walked off to the side of the training field while keeping an eye out on the pokemon going through the motions of learning their moves as he dialed Looker.

“Ethan.”

“Looker, I know that this is a weird question, but can you give me the phone number for the Eterna City Nurse Joy? I have a pokemon health question to ask and it’s pretty important.”

After listening to the shuffling of papers and the handling of a phone, Looker listed off Nurse Joy’s number before promptly hanging up without another word.

Slightly miffed at the abrupt ending and impoliteness of the call, Ethan dialed Nurse Joy. After a few rings, the familiar and cheery voice answered.

“Hello? Joyce speaking.”

Ethan’s brain halted like a kid meeting his teacher outside of school, realizing that they had an actual life and a first name. “Hey, Nurse Jo—Joyce. This is Ethan.”

“Oh?! Ethan! How are you and Chatot doing? I hope you’re not calling because you need help out there in the wilderness.” Joyce Joy’s voice was both happy and slightly admonishing at the same time, a weird combination.

“No, we’re fine and healthy out here, but I have a tutor customer here attempting to evolve her Aipom by learning the move Double Hit. The thing is, the Aipom is very young. I’m not an expert on the health and safety of pokemon like you are, so I was wondering if this is something that is okay or not? The Aipom looks healthy and happy to me, but it’s only three months old and has only been in two battles.” Ethan listed his worries, and waiting for Nurse Joy to respond.

“Is the trainer there?” She asked, voice even.

“Yes, they—”

“Put them on the phone.” The tone brokered no argument, so Ethan meekly turned his head to Elizabeth and waved her over. Elizabeth strutted forward with confidence and a smirk as Ethan held out the phone for her to take.

“Elizabeth Flamburg speaking.” She said haughtily into the phone, like her name was important.

The next second, from even a few feet away, Ethan could hear the absolute berating and talking down being delivered over the phone. Elizabeth held the phone outwards as she winced, and Aipom continued clapping in joy. After what must have been twenty seconds of screaming, Elizabeth frowned and began to talk back with heat in her voice, which promptly faded away as even louder screaming nearly blew out his cheap phone speakers.

Ethan pretended to observe the ongoing training, keeping his face neutral and Elizabeth kept trying to explain her side of things, which only made it worse. She walked off with his phone to get some privacy, her voice low and apologetic as she murmured into the phone.

He had one thought and one thought only.

Thank god he didn’t teach the Aipom…