No matter the amount of nonsense Ace keeps spouting, Joe knows that what he's doing is the right thing. And he knows he can do it right.

The other three had left, which Joe is thankful for. He couldn't handle Ace bitching on, or Sam being completely disoriented right now. As for Teo, he would turn this into a disaster without a doubt. Ves coming along with him wasn't the best option, but he could work with it. He did need him in order to settle this, since Ves knew that Vinnie girl.

Nevertheless, he would like it much more if it were up to Henry, Marc and him.

As they moved forward to the beach, Joe can hear the waves. This whole thing reeks of a scheme. The three top ranked students being put on the same team. That one wasn't too surprising, money is a powerful tool, family lines as well. Kids who came from trainer families always had an advantage. How Ves was involved with them was still unclear, he never mentioned having a half-sister, and he never mentioned his father was a trainer. Joe suspected Ves's parents weren't trainers, he was good when it came to battling, but not that good. Regardless, Ves wasn't the most important thing here. Neither was Teo, who had somehow managed to wrap both Joe and himself up with the two top ranked students.

Sam was the main issue, one thing Joe couldn't put in place. Sam wasn't involved with anyone on that team.

There were two obvious explanations behind this. First one, they just wanted to get rid of one team, in order to up their chances of passing the year. They stumbled upon Sam. That one made sense only on paper, why would a team consisting of top 3 ranked students resort to something like that? And the speed at which it had happened made no sense. How could Nolan deal with the school board in that short amount of time? Especially since Joe and Teo saw him in Lilycove yesterday afternoon.

The second obvious explanation would be Vinnie trying to get Ves to switch teams. He did say she offered it. Paying people off wasn't out of the question. Still, Joe had doubts about that as well. If she had asked him already, and Ves had refused, doing this made little sense. She did try pressuring him into joining their team even before the school year had started, Ves told him that much while they watched the tournament. He wouldn't get into any details, and Joe didn't exactly care to know. Still, if that girl hadn't done anything but talk up until now, he found it hard to believe this was all just a plot to get Ves to switch teams.

His mind kept wondering off to their mentor. He couldn't help but think that their meeting had gone by too easily, and the man didn't seem too displeased by the fact that they broke the rule. Of course, Joe saw through the aversion on Nolan's side, he was sure all of them did. It was surprising, how he disliked them for no apparent reason. Even during their introductory meeting, their mentor gave passive signs of disdain. Disliking how the school board handles certain things Joe could understand. Pokemon are dangerous, some species more than the others, he understood that perfectly fine, more so after almost getting his hand burned off by Houndour. Still, disliking your students for something they had no control over didn't sit right with him. As well as making trips to secret bookstores in Lilycove.

As he followed Ves down the road, Joe's hand itched around Riolu's pokeball. Not having his partner outside was strange, he wanted him there, but a growing tension stopped him from doing that. The boy remembered well how losing his control had felt. That day on the beach, his mind went black with rage. Or fear. Whatever it was, Joe knew, Riolu picked up on it quick and reacted, and he loathed the fact he had something like that within him. Wasn't he better than that? Even yesterday, in Lilycove, it took his best effort not to lose it. If he did, Riolu would've attacked Teo. Just like he attacked Ves.

That was one thing he couldn't afford right now. With how his teammates are, he couldn't keep Riolu outside, for the chance of the fighting type picking up on his emotions. Joe hated how those four could set him off, how they could make his head a mess in a matter of seconds. Not that he was not used to other people being around him, his family was large, and as the oldest child he was a de facto babysitter to all of his younger cousins. However, his younger cousins would actually listen to him instead of being a bunch of little pricks.

He couldn't decide which one of his teammates bore the worst effects on his psyche. Up until yesterday the race was tight between Ace with his constant yapping and Ves with his impulsive personality switches. Teo did join them quite easily, with his ability to make really dumb decisions. At this, Joe was rather displeased. Not that he would ever admit it, but Teo was starting to grow on him, for a second there he thought they might be able to be friends. Truly, even though that thing on the boat had gotten a bit out of control, they managed to get past it for a moment. And Teo opening up for a bit even if it was a slip up, was a sure sign that the boy felt comfortable with Joe enough to stop holding up his guard for a second. Using that against him was a mistake, Joe knew, but Teo wasn't a saint either. Jokes about his sexuallity are not something Joe takes too well, especially since most people fail to understand how it feels. Joe didn't understand his own emotions on that front, so how could anyone else?

Then there was Sam, and Joe was not sure what to feel about him. On one hand, he reminded him of his younger cousins a lot, with the happy-go-lucky attitude and the willingness to be friend's with everyone. It's not that Joe didn't appreciate it, he was just not like that. Fact of the matter is, even though he had loved his cousins, there was always a gap between them, a gap in age and a gap in mentality. The only reason they could be innocent was that no one had expected them to be anything else. With Sam as well, the only reason he could be so carefree and confused all the time is that he was never had to be anything else. Joe didn't hate him per say, but he knew, he never had the luxury of letting somebody else take care of things for him.

He never did explain to Ace, that one thing the boy had ask him. How he came here from Alola. Frankly, he's surprised Ace is the only one who caught onto that.

Laws around the world forbid people from keeping pokemon unless they had a licence of sorts. There are many licenses, for medicine, exploration, even the firefighters and the police had special licenses that allowed them to hold pokemon. Trainer licenses are the ones that gave you the most freedom, and they were the hardest to acquire. That was the case for the rest of the world. Alola had no such laws.

Alolan customs have put the connection between man and nature front and center. When it came to pokemon, people and pokemon living together in harmony was the Alolan way. Pokemon training was not prohibited by any laws, you didn't need a licence to be a trainer. There were, however, no pokemon trainers in Alola. Even though the laws had allowed it, the customs were such that making your pokemon engage in fights was frowned upon. Pokeballs were virtually impossible to get for that reason. For the most part, people on the islands would befriend a pokemon, and the creature would decide to stick around on its own accord. To Alolan people pokemon were friends, not weapons. Joe couldn't help but imagine what his family would think of Riolu and him, and he was sure they would call such a function soulless.

Not that he cared, he had seen the shortcomings of Alolan mentality a long time ago. One thing folks back home were awfully good at disregarding was that pokemon were, in fact, not friends. Sure, his mother had a Bounsweet that would come around and help out on the berry fields every now and then, his grandfather used to have a Comfey that was rather friendly as well. But there were also pokemon that were far removed from that story, maybe nobody notified them that they were supposed to be friends with humans. Wild pokemon attacks were numerous throughout the islands, sometimes they'd ruin the fields, other times they'd injure people. Fixing situations like those was one thing strong pokemon trainers were necessary for. But the islanders were stuck in their own ways, refusing to see that order and strenght were what was needed sometimes. They seemed to think they could love and light their way out of every situation, but the world rarely worked like that. In real life, there were ugly decisions, and they had to be made sometimes.

*****

"There", Ves points out the group of the people down on the beach, "there they are". It was a needless thing to do, as Joe has already spotted them and more.

He saw Henry and Marc standing opposite to the other group of three kids. Mienfoo was next to Henry, which was not unusual. Marc, however, didn't call on his Sneasel yet, which was a good sign. They were still just talking. Fastening their pace, the two boys made their way onto the sand.

"Nice of you to follow me, baby brother", the girl with green streaks in her hair snickers at Ves as soon as they come close, "this isn't an episode of 'Private Eyes', you know".

"I'm not anyone's baby brother", Ves scoffs in return, looking about ready to start being his reckless self.

"Vinnie, I suppose", Joe steps ahead, ready to take action before Ves's poor impulse control.

"Yes, that would be my name", Vinnie laughs, "and you are awfully civil for a guy who decided to track us down".

"I'm Joe", the boy says calmly, ignoring her comments. Sizing up the two boys next to her, his eyes land on a tall guy whose brown hair is done with a mullet. "And you", Joe says, "well, we know your name's not Stanley".

"No", the boy smirks, "it's not".

"As if it's any of your business", the other boy chimmes in. His face prolonged pale face is plagued by freckles, and the buzz light brown hair isn't helping to make him any less awkward.

"Hey, Otto, maybe let me handle this", Vinnie raises her arm, as if she's stopping him from stepping forward. Not that Otto looks particularly thretening. Judging by the fact he's the only member of their team he hasn't heard about yet, Joe would conclude the skinny guy was the weakest link.

"It's none of their business, and we don't owe them any explanation", Otto protests, "besides, they followed us around, that's creepy".

"God, Otto, calm down", the mullet boy laughs him off, "it's not like they can do anything to us".

"Oh, you'll see what I can do to you", Marc decides he should step forward, but both Joe and Henry stop him.

Fixing the mullet guy with his eyes, Joe says: "you could at least introduce yourself, it is the common curtesy".

"God", Vinnie laughs, "Ves, where did you find this guy? Why does he talk like that, please tell me he's your teammate, that would be hilarious".

"He is my teammate", Ves looks away.

"Oh, God, that's a blast", the girl keeps laughing, "I bet the two of you get along super well".

"Yeah, we do", Ves rolls his eyes, "you have a problem with that?".

"I don't", Vinnie admits, "but he talks a bit like Mikey, if Mikey had a stick up his ass, so I find it entertaining that you got stuck with him".

"Joe's not like Mikey", Ves looks at the ground wearily.

"Enough with Mikey", Joe says flatly, "I just want the mullet guy to introduce himself, so we can talk".

"Wow, hey, I'm not a mullet guy", the boy raises his arms sarcastically, "I am much more than that".

"A sneaky little rat", Joe notes, "would you rather be called that".

"Oh, yeah, this one's not like Mikey", Vinnie makes a grimace, "he's a bit better at insults".

"Just introduce yourself, buddy", Joe ignores her. He's done with all the Mikey talk. Not sure why everyone seems so obsessed with that guy anyways.

"And what if I don't", the mullet guy smiles in his face.

"Look, buddy", Marc steps up again, "we can do this the easy way, or the Marc way". Henry and Joe stop him again.

"Don't tell me these two are your other teammates", Vinnie laughs.

"Right, between the four of you and that Sam guy, you seem like a rather colorful team", the mullet guy joins her.

"They are not", Ves says coldly.

"Can we stop side tracking", Joe sighs, "alright, so you won't tell us your name, tell us why did you set up our business".

"That's none of your business", Otto chimmes in again, "he agreed to battle on his own, and he got caught, not our fault he's a dumbass".

"You keep quiet, sidekick", Joe waves him off.

"Hey, hey, don't talk to my teammate like that", the mullet guy laughs, "and I agree with him, you know, I don't owe you an explanation".

Looking over at Ves, Joe sees that the boy is having a stare-off with Vinnie. Both him and Marc seem ready to get shit started. Henry's the only one capable of keeping his cool. Joe himslef knew this confrotation would result in a fight of sorts. He was hoping it would be a pokemon battle, his hand was still not in the best shape, so getting physical wasn't in his best interest. Besides, pokemon battle meant more training, and he needed it desperately. Riolu's managed to learn how to control the Bullet Punch that morning, after using a TM to open up the energetic pathways, it wasn't hard for a pokemon to actually start using the move. Using it well was a whole different ball game. Riolu's Bullet Punch was way too slow, especially for a priority move, and definitely way too weak. A well developed Bullet Punch should've brought Rockruff near the knock-out point.

Joe was not sure about getting into the battle with these three, when he had one move that was underdeveloped. Especially since Vinnie was ranked above him, and he had no idea what pokemon she had. Still, Ves, Henry and Marc were all there, so it would be a 4v3 scenario, and they should fare well with that. The mullet guy had a Zorua, which was also a good sign, type advantage Joe and Henry held over him would make this battle 4v2 very quick. Otto was a big unknown, but he didn't look like the strongest of opponents.

Looking around himself to make sure no one else is there and calculating that they are in a favorable position, Joe raises Riolu's pokeball. "Alright, we're doing this my way then", he decides to issue the challenge directly to Vinnie. She seems like the boss here. Besides, she is ranked higher than him, and frankly, she is the one he wants to take on more than anyone.

"Sorry to inform you, but battling's against the rules", the mullet guy grins at him.

Joe's not stupid. There's a clearing around the beach, no space for anyone to hide and record them. "And that matters to you, huh?", Joe looks at the boy.

"Sometimes it does", the boy raises his hands defensively.

"Well, I'll just make it not matter then", Joe makes a split second decision, throwing Riolu's pokeball into the air, "Rio, Vacuum Wave". In a flash of blue light, Riolu appears, immediately firing off a Vacuum Wave at the mullet guy's feet, causing the cloud of sand to rise up.

"You're insane", the mullet guy yells out, stepping back and shielding his eyes from the sand.

"Rio, again", Joe says simply, and his partner makes another shot at the ground.

"Stop it already", the mullet guy yells.

"You're a psychopath", Otto joins in. Joe doesn't really care. They are either going to tell him what he wants to know, or he'll beat them. One thing he wants is for these people to know they should stay away from him in the future.

As another sand cloud raises, Joe is quick to order another Vacuum Wave.

"Oh, screw it", Vinnie yells out throwing her pokeball, "Mimikyu, use Protect". In another flash, a straw dool pokemon appears, standing in the way of Riolu's attack, creating a defensive force field.

He's gotten her wrapped into the battle, which is good, Joe thinks. She has a Mimikyu, which is very bad. Ghost types might be Joe's enemy number one.

Making a quick calculation, the boy looks over at Ves, giving him a quick nod, a sign he should join in. Ves is quick to react, sending in Houndour.

"That's a bit unfair, don't you think, baby brother", Vinnie says, but she's quick to react, "Dazzling Gleam, Mimikyu".

"Detect, Rio", Joe orders, not wanting to be hit with a fairy type move.

"Doom, use Ember to counter", Ves orders.

As Riolu dodges the attack coming his way, Houndour's Ember clashes with Dazzling Gleam, witht the two attacks cancelling each other out. Barely. That Mimikyu's strong, Joe thinks.

"My God, did you really name your pokemon Doom", Vinnie says, "that's so childish".

"Bullet Punch, Rio", Joe doesn't plan on letting them have a chat during a battle. Bullet Punch's weak, but it will serve one purpose, the boy thinks, breaking the Disguise.

"Protect", Vinnie reacts again, as Riolu's attack hit into the force field.

"Ember, again", Ves yells out, ready to take Vinnie on as soon as her defences fall.

"Oh, no, no", Otto says, hastily throwing his pokeball into the air, "Keckleon, Fake Out". The chameleon pokemon appears on the sand, making way for Houndour.

"Mach Punch", Joe hears Henry says next to him, "get the lizard, Mienfoo".

"Oh, dammit, switch to Astonish, please, Keckleon", Otto yells out. Keckleon manages to make a switch in time, hitting into the Houndour with Astonish, doing little damage but stopping the Ember from coming. Mienfoo's Mach Punch comes for the chameleon soon enough, but it ends up just sliding off of its skin. Protean, Joe realises, Keckleon's changed into a ghost type. Otto might prove to be a problem as well.

"Swords Dance, Mimikyu", Vinnie takes a chance to order.

"Bullet Punch, Rio", Joe orders, intent on stopping the girl from setting up.

As Riolu rushes towards the target, the mullet guy reacts as well, quickly letting his Zorua in. "Protect", he quickly orders, "stop him".

"Ice Shard", Marc hurls his pokeball in as well, "get that straw doll".

Bullet Punch hits into the Protect again. Mimikyu gathers power in its body with a Sword's dance, but Ice Shard ends up slamming into the pokemon, breaking the Disguise. That's the step one. With all the players on the field, there's a way to win this. One thing he didn't count on was Keckleon. Switching types was a problem, especially when one of the said types was ghost. Joe needed Marc to deal with him, Ves would keep Vinnie busy and him and Henry would get Zorua off the field, making this a 4v2 quickly.

"Dazzling Gleam", Vinnie orders up ass soon as her disguise is broken.

Taken aback, Joe orders a Detect. Zorua was in the way, he didn't think she would order an attack now. Both Marc and the mullet guy order the dodge, but it's too late. The Dazzling Gleam ends up hitting both pokemon, throwing them backwards. Sneasel, just coming off of an attack and standing just a few inches away from Mimikyu takes the full force of the fairy type attack, getting instantly knocked out. Zorua, standing a bit further back, and being slightly bulkier as well, manages to hang on.

"Vacuum Wave, Rio quick, get the Zorua", Joe quickly decides he needs that fox off the filed.

"Oh, no, Fake Out", Otto orders up. He might not be super bright after all. Fake Out only works as a surprise attack, when a pokemon first appears on the field, it can stay in periferial vision of its opponent, and perform a sort of a sneak attack. After you've been on the field for a bit, you can't go for that trick anymore.

"Snarl, now, Doom", Ves takes a chance to deal with the Cameleon.

Riolu manages to blast Zorua with a Vacuum Wave, easily avoiding Keckleon's attack, and knocking the fox out. Snarl ends up hitting both Keckleon and Riolu, but Joe doesn't care. Riolu won't take too much damage, and lowering his special attack didn't really matter, since, with two ghost types on the field, he won't be able to rely on the Vacuum Wave anymore.

"Shadow Sneak", Vinnie isn't stopped by one of her teammates getting knocked out, "get Houndour". Smart decision, Joe thinks, getting the only dark type left on the filed gives her an advantage.

"Dodge it", Ves orders.

"Trailblaze, now Minefoo", Henry takes his opportunity.

Shadow Sneak, with priority, proves to be too fast for Houndour to dodge, hitting with full force, making the black dog's body flinch. Trailblaze slams into the Mimikyu, but Vinnie doesn't seem to care too muh about that. "Dazzling Gleam, now", she orders, ready to knock Houndour out.

"Detect", Henry yells quickly.

"Dodge it", Ves attempts.

"Bullet Punch", Joe decides to take care of Keckleon before it can try going for an attack.

"Protect", Otto yells out.

Mimikyu fires of another Dazzling Gleam, quickly enveloping Houndour and sending it back flying. Mienfoo manages to dodge it.

Bullet Punch hits into yet another protect, but Joe has no time to think about it too much. It's 2v2 now, and Vinnie is dangerous. He needs to get that chameleon off the field. "Metal Claw, now, Rio", he orders. Riolu's hand flashes in grey, digging into Keckleon as soon as the Protect goes down. No time to let up. "Get into the Bullet Punch", Joe orders, and Riolu starts up the second attack. It's still much slower than Joe would like it to be, but it comes in time to land a hit.

"Trailblaze, get the lizard", Henry figures out what Joe's going for.

"Protect", Otto attempts. But with the speed boost, Mienfoo proves to be way too fast, especially since Keckleon had just taken two attack in the row.

"Dazzling Gleam, Mimikyu", Vinnie orders.

For a split second, Joe thinks about going for a Detect. But he switches up. "Bullet Punch, quickly", he says hoping Riolu comes in in time.

Mienfoo slams Keckleon out of the battle, as Riolu rushes towards Mimikyu that's starting its attack. Vinnie doesn't stop the attack to go for Protect. She's probably realised Riolu's bullet punch isn't too threatening. Doesn't matter. Joe isn't counting on knocking her out. He isn't even counting on landing a hit. He just wants to come in in time to take the Dazzling Gleam. Mienfoo, with its boosted speed, has a much better chance at dealing with Mimikyu.

To his surprise, Bullet Punch manages to hit, doing barely any damage. The attack is still super weak, even with the type advantage. But he accomplished what he wanted. With Riolu that close in, the Dazzling Gleam doesn't get the chance to spread across the field. Instead, it sends Riolu flying back, easily knocking the fighting type out.

Joe hates to surrender the battle like this, to leave it in someone else's hands. But he knows that's the smart thing to do. Henry has better chances here. His own Bullet Punch was weak, and Vacuum Wave he usually relies on wouldn't work. Metal Claw would easily be stopped by Protect. Henry would have to win this for them. Recalling Riolu, Joe grips his hands in anticipation.

"Trailblaze, now", Henry is quick to react, realising this might be the easiest opening he gets.

"Protect", Vinnie says decisively. Mimikyu, just coming off of an attack, doesn't get to put up the force field in time, as the Trailblaze slams into it.

"Bullshit", Vinnie scoffs, "Shadow Sneak".

"Detect", Henry orders. Mienfoo's eyes flash, and he manages to dodge the incomimg attack. "Trailblaze, now", Henry reacts quickly.

"Protect", Vinnie is ready for him, and Mimikyu manages do defend itself this time around.

The situation looks as even as it can get, Joe thinks. With both having a tool to stop or avoid opponent's attacks, that puts them at the same level. Mimikyu has a priority Shadow Sneak, but Mienfoo's boosted his speed three times already. The only thing Vinnie has going for her was that she has two attacks that can actually hit her opponent. Her Mimikyu has taken a few attacks already, which puts her in danger of getting knocked out. Henry needed to get just one more Trailblaze in.

"Let's go for another attack, Mienfoo, jump up", Henry says firmly.

"Protect", Vinnie orders ready to keep their little exchange going.

"Mach Punch", Henry says.

"What?", Vinnie yells out.

Joe can't help the small laugh, as Mach Punch slams into the protect. "Now, Trailblaze", Henry orders. As the protect falls, Mienfoo conjures grassy energy, going for Mimikyu.

"Shadow Sneak", Vinnie tries to counter. But Minefoo's too close, and with her pokemon just coming off of Protect, even the priority doesn't save her.

Another surge of grass energy hits into the ghost type, sending it flying back and knocking it out.

"And that would be all", Henry says calmly, "Mienfoo, you can stand back now".

"Good job", Joe stares at him, a sense of discomfort raising in his stomach. He hadn't seen Henry battle since their fight. Whenever he was training with him an Marc, Henry would stand back, allowing the other two to go at it. But the boy had already advanced, even learning from that bait-strategy Joe had used against him. And Mach Punch was new, Mienfoo didn't know it few days ago. Joe picked up on that. The attack already looked good, much unlike his own Bullet Punch.

Winning right now was a good thing, but the boy still disliked the fact he had to get knocked out in order for them to win. He couldn't help thinking that he could've done more, could've found the way to win on his own. Other than Henry being a worrying opponent, this Vinnie girl was no push-over either. She had, basically single-handedly, knocked out three of them. Really, the only reason they could win this was that there was 4 of them and they made the surprise attack.

"Now, would you introduce yourself", Joe re-collects himself, staring at the mullet guy. At least he knocked him out, he thinks.

"Huh, still don't owe you anything", the boy scoffs.

"We won", Joe states simply.

"Yeah, and?", the boy laughs, "what you gonna do now, attack us? You'll just get expelled".

"Oh, cmon", Ves groans, "Vinnie, tell your little boyfriend to tell us his name".

"What?", Vinnie reacts, her face turning red.

"Bo's not her boyfriend", Otto shoots out.

"Otto, you moron", the mullet guy snarks at him, "shut the fuck up".

"Oh, oooh", Ves smiles, "I see what's going on here".

"You shut up, don't stick your nose into my business", Vinnie crosses her arms.

"Yeah, you're the one to talk", Ves rolls his eyes, "weren't you the one who went and payed the school off so you could set this whole thing up, and for what, to get me to join your team?".

"What kind of bullshit are you spouting, Ves?", Vinnie scoffs, "this has nothing to do with you, or with me, at that matter".

"Well, then, why did your little teammate go around and set up Sam?", Ves says.

Vinnie grows silent, averting her gaze.

"What, you don't have the answer, huh?", Ves raises his eyebrow.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

"It has nothing to do with me", Vinnie repeats, "I asked you to join us, that was all, you refused, that's all".

"Yeah, that's why you had 500 points deducted from us, huh?", Ves yells.

"I didn't do anything, it wasn't my call, and it wasn't because of you", she yells back, "but you know, if you listened to me, you wouldn't have those points deducted".

"Wait, you really wanted this guy to join us?", Otto says beside her.

"Oh, no, she wanted me to join them", Ves gives him a dry smile, "you were the one she wanted to get rid of, so don't get your hopes too high buddy".

"What, really?", Otto looks at her expectantly.

"Look, it doesn't matter, Otto", Vinnie keeps her eyes fixed on Ves.

"What I want to know", Joe decides to stop the teenage drama, "is why did you set Sam up, and whose idea was it if it wasn't yours?".

"As if I would tell you", Bo laughs.

Looking over at Henry whose hands are already gritted and ready to go, Joe waves his head.

"Listen up, you piece of shit", Marc cathes onto the silent exchange, but the two stop him yet again.

"Will you calm down", Otto says dryly, "you acting out won't change the fact that you'll fail the year".

"Right, it will only get you out of here sooner", Bo laughs.

"You two stop acting as if I didn't knock you both out", Joe reminds them.

"Techinacally, he knocked me out", Otto points to Henry.

"And Vinnie was the one who landed the first hit on me", Bo looks over at his teammate, "thanks a lot for that".

"You were in the way", Vinnie crosses her arms.

"Yeah, cause I was protecting you, remember", Bo rolls his eyes.

"No use being salty about that now", Vinnie sighs, "it was 4v3, and they were crowding me, I did what I had to do".

"Right, see how that went for us", Bo says.

"Whose side are you on?", Vinnie hisses at him.

"God, we won, just tell us whose orders were you following", Ves scoffs.

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds as if we are some assasins or something", Bo laughs.

"We don't owe you anything, Ves", Vinnie glances over her brother, "not to you, not to any of your teammates".

"Right, but what would mom say if I told her you set me up?", Ves rasies his voice almost victoriusly.

"I didn't", Vinnie rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, Vinnie had nothing to do with it", Bo shrugs, "it was me who was asked for a favour, and I'm the only one who knows who asked me".

"And the four of you should step back now", Vinnie affrims before anyone else gets a chance to speak, "take this any further, I'm coming at you with Mikey and Dominic".

Locking her eyes with Ves, the black-haired boy takes a step back with a scoff. Joe takes note, deciding to follow along. Not much more they could get here without causing too much trouble. Henry is quick to turn away as well, and Marc reluctantly does the same.

Few things sticks with Joe. Someone asked Bo a favour. His teammates don't know who it was. It could've been one of the other students, but who had anything to hold against Sam? Or their team in general?

"Right, then we'll head off", Joe says calmly, "and if you ever decide to come after someone on this team again, then come after me, I don't care who you bring along".

"Yeah, same here", Ves's voice turns gravely.

"Yeah, me as well", Marc yells along.

"Hey, buddy, appreaciate the sentiment, but you're not really a part of this team", Es places a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Right, Marc", Joe agrees, "it's better if you stay away from this from now on, both of you".

"Yeah, you should really listen to that psychopath friend of yours on that one", Bo nods along. Joe would really love caving his face in.

"Either way, adios amigos", Vinnie flicks her hair playfully, "this has been a fun battle, next time though, I will crush all of you".

"Big words coming from someone who just lost", Ves rolls his eyes, "and please, stop watching spanish soap, for the love of God".

"Hey, baby brother, I knocked you out, easily", Vinnie retorts, "mind you, you battled the worst out of 4 of you, you do realise that".

Joe notices Ves flinch. There was no argument against what Vinnie had said. Ves, while he had drive and reaction time, had no plan. Besides, Houndour was a straightforward battler, at this point the lack of strong attacks was detrimental.

"Wait", Marc makes a sudden realisation, "how are the two of you sibling, and how is that Mikey dude also your sibling, how the hell are the three of you the same age?".

"Yeah, now that I think about it, how does that even work?", Otto gives Vinnie a questioning look.

"Don't ask", Vinnie almost hisses at him.

"Honestly, don't", Ves is finally on the same page as her on something, "can you guys just leave now?".

"Um, we came here first, you leave", Bo reminds him.

"We did win though", Henry informs him, "besides, she just said she's leaving".

"No, I thought you should all leave", Vinnie clarifies.

"Well, that makes no sense", Marc urges.

"Whatever", Joe decides he has had enough, "let's just go". Not that he didn't have smarter things to do. Reality was, on his own, his chances against Vinnie were slim. Ghost types were a problem. Ghost types that knew protect even more so.

Turning on his heel, he started walking away. Ves followed him immediately. Marc decided he should greet their new friends to some more threats, but he came after them soon enough as well.

*****

That weekend, things seemed to have came to the full stop. By the time they returned to the dorm room on Frisay night, no one really wanted to talk. Joe himself was still plagued by the fact he had to rely on someone else to finish the battle for him. Ves seemed angry at the whole ordeal as well. Ace sat on his bed, almost religiously typing away on his pokedex. At least, he was trying to get stronger, not that it mattered much now. Even if he someohow managed to squeeze into the next year, it was not Joe's problem anymore. None of the boys were.

Sam sat on his bed silently, his head hung low, and Yamper nested on his lap. It was a sorry image. Teo was the only one who seemed willing to talk. He tried asking about their encounter with Vinnie, but Joe and Ves were quick to shoot him down with the shortest answer they could give.

First thing Joe did on Saturday morning was go and train, as he always does. He took a different route, as to not run into Henry and Marc. Not that he didn't enjoy their company, but he wanted to be alone.

Riolu was as calm as always. Joe's mind was waging his options. In few days, they would be going to Sinnoh, where he would have a chance to catch himself another pokemon. With the way Riolu's training was going, he was seriously considering the option. Even though the fighting type gave his best effort, there was only so much that could be accomplished in a short amount of time. Bullet Punch was still far off, and even his idea of double Vacuum Wave was coming along slowly. Joe knew well enough, neither of those two moves were meant to be super strong. Though he had sense of using their speed to his advantage, hid lack of fire power would soon catch up to him and he knew it. Besides, he had the idea of making Riolu a special attacker from the beginning, and, at this point he had only one special attack.

Ultimately though, as he watched Riolu barrage the tree with attacks, he decided against making any new additions to the team. Every pokemon had its own shortcomings, and Riolu was no different. Adding another team member would just slow his training down. He would be fully focused on training Riolu. Hopefully, he wouldn't come across any more attempts at sabotage that would slow the process down.

Certainly, now that any effort to push his teammates forward would be a wasted effort, Joe found a new sense of freedom. It was now fair for him to focus only on his own improvement.

His session lasted longer than it usually does. Turns out, both Riolu and him had some steam that needed to be released. Running back to the dorm room, he decided it was already too late to go and get breakfast in the cafeteria. After everything, Riolu deserved a treat, so he would take him to the school's sqaure and get them something to eat.

Not too far from the dorm, he saw Sam running towards him, with Yamper trailing behind. He caught the moment the other boy hid his gaze from him. They passed each other without a word. At least he's trying, Joe thinks. Not that it matters much now. October would come along swiftly, and Sam, being dead last, had no chances of catching up on his own. The only way for him to pass the year would be catching up as a team, and with 500 negative points, that was highly unrealistic. They'd have to win at least 3 rounds in October just to get back to the starting line of 0. Even that was an optimistic evaluation, as the school board still didn't put out the scoring system for the tournament yet. Worst case scenario, they'd need to win 5 rounds make up for the lost points. That was unlikely as well, Joe thought.

After getting some food for Riolu and himself, Joe advanced to the second part of his plan. He went for the library. If he wanted to pass this year solo, keeping his test scores high throughout both semester was crucial. The way he calculated it, letting himself fall bellow top 40 in test scores would be fatal. With tag-team battles being scored, anything lower than that put him at high risk of being overtaken and pushed out of the top 50. Even the singles touenament might be the issue, he thought. Sure, he felt he could hold his own. Under the right circumstances. He also knew he could easily be paired up with someone strong right of the bat, like Henry or Vinnie, and lose the very first battle. There was no room for mistakes.

On his way to the library he saw Ace, who had, to his surprise finally started training. He knew about Sam, obviously, and he knew Ves was doing some work too, but this was the first time he saw Ace putting in effort. When he passed him, the blond boy was running up the stairs with his Rockruff. He had his earphones in, and Joe instantly knew he was playing the 'Eye of the Tiger'. Regardless of his eagerness to turn himself into a movie character, Ace training was a good thing. Unlike Sam, Ace had a chance of squeezing thorough. Especially with Rockruff's inate speed and possible attack patterns, the boy had space to improve rapidly. If only he would give up on the evasion strategies. He could only make guesses at how it would all play out. And he could only try and guess what Teo was up to right now.

He got his teammates off his mind as soon as he sat down at the library desk. Though he hated to admit it, sometimes, the other 4 would occupy his head space. But there was no time for that right now. There was no time for anyone else right now. He opened the book and started working away.

*****

Sunday was surprisingly calm, which worked well for Joe. He could go out and do his thing. Even when he had to be in their room, things weren't that bad. No one bothered him, no one tried to talk. Sam even learned to bring his stuff with him when he goes to take a shower. Ace wasn't snapping around at everyone. The two of them washed the windows once, but that was the only interaction they had. Other than Ace, Teo asked about the berries they were growing. They have only just sprouted, and it would be another 2 weeks until they reached their full size, plus one more weak for them to start bearing fruit.

On Monday the 4 of them didn't sit close to each other. Joe decided to sit closer to Marc and Henry. They were more up his alley anyways. Sam had alligned himslef with Dean, and Marc had titled the two 'Winchester brothers', finally catching onto the author's unfortunate naming scheme. Teo and Ves still sat at the back, not talking to anyone else, including each other.

Ace, on the other hand, made straight way towards the girls they have met and started a conversation. Out of curiosity Joe tuned in a bit, not that he had a habbit of eavesdropping, but Ace never strcuk him as a flirt. Listening in, he caught bits and pieces. While they were busy settling score with their newest set of friends, the girls took a little school trip to Kanto region. All 5 of them caught Eevees, as a sign of friendship, which Joe had found an emtpy sentiment. Eevee was a good pokemon in the long run though, he noted. Other students had started preparing for the tournament as well. Though he was certsin none of the girls would pose much trouble for him if he was to face them right now, it was the potential he couldn't afford to ignore.

Ace managed to surprise him. Without wasting too much time, he suggested they should set up a battle. A legal one, of course. What was surprising was that he was adamnt on taking the girls on in a gauntlet-style fight. Joe did the math, 5 girls each with 2 pokemon, Ace wanted to take on 10 pokemon with only his Rockruff. Of course, that's an imspossible battle to win, at best he could get through 2 challengers, but it was a good way to train. Natasha immediately agreed to the battle, while Tam decided to drop out yet again. Budew was still not good at batting, and her Eevee is young as well. Ace didn't seem to mind. He definitely knew he couldn't win against 5 opponents.

Unsurprisingly, Lesley tried sneaking his way into the battle as well, but Ace shot him down quickly. Joe thought about the prospect of doing something similar for his own training, but it would be tough to find the opponents. Ves and Marc are the only ones who would agree, and with two dark types it wouldn't be much of a problem. Lesley would probably be up for it as well, but he would be the only troublesome opponent. Henry was still adamnt about not facing off against Joe yet.

Ace managed to get his challenge quickly, and they were off to solving the only problem they had. Getting Nolan to officiate. After the class, Joe goes after them on a whim. Marc and Henry both join him, as well as Lesley, who keeps bugging Ace along the way. Ace doesn't see to care for once. It strucks Joe as strange, that the boy isn't even bothered by it. Now he's definitely more curious to see how this battle turns out. Besides, it's good to keep the track of their competition. Since the girls all got new pokemon, it was evident they were at least trying to improve.

A quick chat woth Leah leads him to believe otherwise. Catching Eevee was a part of a breeding ranch tour. Since there weren't too many students on their trip, the owners of the newly opened ranch decided to let each student 'catch' one of the pokemon they breeded, free of charge. The girls chose Eevees because they found the tiny fox-like pokemon cute. Leah also wanted to get herself an Umbreon, who she insisted was a bisexual goth icon. Bisexuals loved their Umbreons. Even though it was an easy and not thought-through catch, Joe thought, it was still a good one. Eevee was a fine pokemon for beginners, and what really set it apart was its capacity to evolve into multiple different pokemon. Furthermore, they caught specifically bred Eevees, which pretty much guaranteed them to be strong. One thing that went to Ace's favour was that their Eevees were all recently hatched and had no battle experiance, save for Natasha who had already managed to throw her new partner into a battle. Not that Joe expected Ace to make it to Natasha anyways.

Professor Nolan had seemed to be in surprisingly high spirit, and agreed to officiate the battle almost immediately. He even spared them his usual 'pokemon are dangerous' speech. Though Joe caught the man giving a careful glance to Ace. He really disliked their mentor. Ace probably did as well. The group made a quick way over to the court room, and Ace wasted no time in taking his position. Leah leisurely made her way onto her side of the field. Ace had basically made a request that he takes them on in order of their current ranking, the idea Natasha hated, since it meant she'd be the last one to battle.

Leah had a Ducklett, and now an Eevee, Joe calculated. Should be easy enough for Ace to overcome. Though, knowing him, Ducklett could easily end him, if he doesn't make the quick work of the flying type.

"What do you think, who'll win?", Tammy asks, eyes fixed on the field.

"I think Acey takes this", Lesley smirks confidently.

"Didn't know you're rooting for him", Joe pokes at him.

"Am not", Lesley responds, "I'm just stating the obvious".

"Right, Lesley, just keep rooting for your friend", Marc grins at him.

"They are starting, so you guys should stop with this", Henry reminds them.

Joe watches as Ace releases his Rockruff out of his pokeball. The small brown dog seems eager to battle as it always does. Such a shame a pokemon like that got stuck with someone like Ace. Leah follows after him, letting Eevee out of the pokeball. The fox-like pokemon has a rich and shiny fur, a sign of being bred right. It's body proportions look good as well, and the muscles of its legs look well developed for its age. Even though the ranch that bred and raised this pokemon was new, the breeders certainly did a good job. Although, Eevee is definitely still young and would not be too big of a problem for Ace.

"Alright, Double Team, Rocky", Ace starts with his usual strategy. Joe would usually disapprove of such a thing, but in this case it was a good precaution measure. Double Team won't fade unless it's disturbed by an attack, so Ace could, in theory, get an advantage against future opponents like this.

"Tail Whip", Leah orders. Her Eevee, with a wag of its tail, sends a wave of disturbing energy towards Rockruff. Not too bad, Joe thinks, it's a move that can't be avoided, and it also creates advantage for the girls in the long run, since Rockruff has no way of restoring his defense. Even though she's ranked the lowest on her team and doesn't seem to be too eager to battle, Leah's still reading the situation right.

"Accelerock", Ace is quick to order, surprising Joe a bit. At least he's aware that he needs to get rid of his opponents quickly. As the row of sharp rocks quickly flies towards the Eevee, it stands no chance of dodging. After all, this is Eevee's very first battle. Leah tries half-heartedly ordering her partner to get out of the way, but she knows this too. Eevee manages to the whitsand the force of the first attack, but Ace is quick to order the second round, making quick work of his opponent.

"Oh, poor Eevee", Tammy says sheepishly, "God, I can't imagine letting my own pokemon get hurt".

"Yo, you do realise this is a school for pokemon trainers?", Marc comments in confusion.

"You do realise it's a baby, you jerk?", Tammy tries snapping at him.

"Well, that doesn't excuse its incompetence", Henry joins on Marc's side.

"Wow, you guys are heartless", Tam sighs.

"Let's just keep watching", Joe interrupts them. He didn't expect Eevee to put up a fight anyways. Ducklett, on the other hand, he was looking forward to seeing.

"Alright, then", Leah says as she chucks her pokeball into the air, "let's go, Tailwind, Ducklett". Joe immediately ups his levels of attention, waiting to see if Ace will use this to his advantage or will he be stupid again.

"Accelerock", Ace orders up, and Joe is happy to see his teammate did the smart thing for once. It was a pleasant surprise, that Ace didn't try to set up another Double Team.

Ducklett comes out, immediately creating a strong air current around itself, but before it can gain too much mobility, it gets slammed by a barrage of flying rocks. Without wasting a second, Ace orders the second attack. Joe's not sure what had gotten into the blond boy to make him battle this aggressively, but he liked to see it.

"Protect", Leah managed to react in time, stopping the second attack.

"Again, Rocky", Ace doesn't let up.

"Dodge", Leah orders, and with the Tailwind up, Ducklett has no problem of dodging. Joe takes a mental note that he needs to be weary of Flying types as well.

"Alright, then, once again", Ace doesn't let go.

"Water gun", Leah tries intercepting, and succeds in quickly canceling Rockruff's attack.

"Let's go again, Rocky", Ace orders. He's trying to wait the Tailwind out, Joe relises. Without it, Ducklett won't be able to keep dodging.

"Dodge it and use Wing Attack", Leah says without too much vigour.

"Rocky, dodge it", Ace orders up. As Ducklett flies around the rocks, it ends up missing Rockruff, dispersing the clone created by the Double Team instead. Just like that, Ace loses his advantage.

"Damn, Accelerock, again", Ace yells out.

"Protect", Leah says, and the attacks ends up hitting the force field instead of the target again. "Water Gun, now", Leah is quick to follow up.

"Quick Attack, get away", Ace reacts in time, as his Rockruff speeds away from the incoming attack. Handy little trick, Joe thinks. And the air current around Ducklett seems to be getting weaker. "Accelerock", Ace orders hastily.

"Protect", Leah says, realising her speed advantage is gone as well.

"Don't stop, go again Rocky", Ace doesn't let up still. Rockruff manages to connect the second attack, finally sending the Ducklett down to the ground.

"Well, that was not half-bad", Marc remarks.

Truly, that Ace had actually decided to attack for once has surprised Joe. In a good way. Yet, he's not too stupid. His teammate wasn't in favourable position right now. His defense was lowered, and his Double Team was now gone. For starters, he only got to set up the Double Team because Leah had decided to lead with Eevee. Ducklett, altough not landing a single attack, managed to wear out Rockruff as well. That last Accelerock was already much slower than the first one. And Ace still had 3 opponents to face.

Tea suddenly yells out: "wait, wasn't I supposed to battle first?".

"Oh, yeah, you were, actually", Tammy scratches her cheek.

"Well, don't sweat it, it doesn't really matter", Natasha says, "I could go next if you guys want".

"Leah and Tea are a bit lost in space and time, don't mind them", Mai whispers over to the boys, "they are pretty cool though".

"Yeah, we've noticed", Marc says.

"The lost in space and time thing", Lesley clarifies.

"Will the two of you be respectful for once", Henry nudges them.

"It's fine, I'll just go and battle now", Tea seems as unbothered as possible, "it will be over quickly, trust me". With that she makes her way onto the field, taking Leah's place. Ace doesn't seem to care that much about the order either. If it were up to Joe, he'd have taken Natasha on first. Ace seemed to have something else in mind entirely.

"Alright, Rocky, you ready to go?", the blond haired boy says firmly.

"Uh, wait", Tea seems to be thinking up something, "you have only one pokemon, right?".

"Right, not that it should matter much to you", Ace notes.

"It does though", Tea retorts, "if I beat you with only one, then I win, right?".

"Right", Ace nods slowly.

"Well, then", Tea readies her pokeball, "Shroodle, let's use Metronome".

"Oh, she's wild", Leah chuckles.

"What, why Metronome, that's a horrible strategy", Lesley protests.

"Yeah, but you see, her Shroodle has one strange gift", Mai explains as. Shroodle appears on the battlefield. The pokemon's big irises start moving from left to right in rhytmical pattern.

"And that would be?", Henry questions.

"Every time she uses Metronome it turns into...", Tammy comes in to explain, but before she can finish, Shroodle's body starts glowing bright white. The very next second, a giant exlosion emits from its body, sending a blast wave across the entire field.

"Self-Destruct", Lesley watches in horror as Rockruff flies backwards, carried by the impact.

"Yeah, well, once it turned into Bubble, but every other time it turned into Self-Destruct", Tammy explains.

It soon becomes evident that both pokemon have fainted. "Well, I would've Detected my way out of that one", Joe notes shortly.

"Yeah, same", Henry agrees.

"That was actually cool, I like this chick's style", Marc comments.

"Frankly, I am terrified", Lesley looks as if he's had all the colour sucked out of his body.

"So I think that means I win", Tea says, not sounding too excited but definitely self-satisfied.

"Well, damn", Ace scoffs as he recalls his Rockruff, "did not see that one coming".

"Well, I killed your streak, so that's that", Tea lets out a small chuckle.

"Not that it was much of a streak anyways", Lesley points out.

Joe doesn't really care much about commenting on Ace. He did expect his teammate to beat Tea, but the Self-Destruct was an unforseen circumstance. "Could I take his place per chance", Joe adresses professor Nolan expectadly.

"Um, you, what?", the man seems a bit taken back by the request.

"Can we keep going, I would like to replace Ace on the battlefield", Joe states. Since they were already there, this was as good as any opportunity to try and get a few battles in. Besides, he wanted to battle Natasha.

"Um, well, you do have a fighting type, which is not exactly safe", Nolan goes back to his usual argument, which Joe had expected.

"Yeah, but I could go instead of Ace", Lesley readily intercepts.

Clearing his throat, Joe adds: "while I understand your concern, please do understand, I didn't have a chance to battle yet, and I would like a chance to gain some experience, considering the tournament isn't that far away and my team is 500 points behind everyone else". He notices the other three boys are looking at him dead-eyes, well aware of his blatant lies.

"Fighting types could possibly cause injury to someone", Nolan persists.

"As I said I do understand your point of view on different pokemon and their nature", Joe retorts, "but, you are letting Natasha battle, and she has a fire type, those are potentially dangerous as well".

"Well, yes, Vulpix is a different story though", Nolan notes, "it is generally mild natured, in addition, Natasha's pokemon is still not fully trained, so it isn't such a big threat".

"Well, Rio is not fully trained either", Joe readily notes, "and besides, the only fighting move it knows is Vacuum Wave, which is rather weak, you would agree".

"Well, right, but still, Riolu is easily influenced by its trainers emotions so...", Nolan counters.

"I believe I'm capable of keeping those in check", Joe is quick to retort.

"I believe you do not have any", Ace appears behind him.

"Well, either way", Joe remains calm, "if you were to let me battle, I would be highly cautious".

"Yeah, let him battle me, I want to beat his ass", Natasha chimmes in, "besides, I didn't get to battle yet".

"You do understand, if he loses his composure, it could put everyone here at risk of injury", Noaln notes.

"Yeah, I can handle that", Natasha waves the man's concerns off.

"You do realise I am one of the highest ranked students, right?", Joe decides to go down a different route, "and I have been deducted points for something I didn't even do, so what would the school board say if they knew you, as my mentor, were outright refusing to officiate my battles". Not that he thought the school board would mind it, but still, officially at least, they would have to say something about it.

"I do believe they would understand it", professor Nolan responds.

"Oh, great, then they must understand why Sam was forced to battle someone in an unofficial battle", Joe says, "I mean, if I went along and pointed out to them that you were outright refusing to officiate battles out of your own judgement, then they'd have to change their punishment for us". Joe's not entirely sure trying to blackmail a professor is a smart idea, especially one that already dislikes him, but there is something he wants to check.

"I highly doubt it", Nolan says, "the decision's already been made".

"Alright, but then, since no professor's want to officiate my battles, then I could go to see if any of the school board members would be willing to do so", Joe says.

"I doubt they'd have the time for that", professor says.

"I know, however, considering that I'm the 4th highest ranked student in our year, they might make an exception", Joe raises his eyebrow, "this school does value capability above all else, right?".

"You are one nasty kid", Nolan mutters under his breath. "Alright, I'll officiate this battle, and we'll see how it goes, but if anything happens, I am cutting it short, understood?".

"Nothing will happen", Joe notes shortly, happy to have gotten this win. The only thing that bothers him is if he's not sure if Nolan's scared of him approaching the school board, or if he has just gotten tired of his mouth.

"Fine, then, go ahead", Nolan gestures towards the battlefield.

"Oh, professor", Lesley chimmes in, "when he loses, can I take his place?".

"I won't lose", Joe says simply, walking over to the empty side of the field. He's quick to let Riolu out of his pokeball.

"Alright, so this is still going on then?", Tea says, "am I still supposed to battle?".

"If you want to", Joe nods.

"Alright then, well, I have one pokemon left, so why not", she says, releasing Eevee onto the field, "this girl needs some training anyways".

Joe's not much concerned about Eevees. Inexperienced and untrained Normal types were no issue. But this was a good opportunity to take on Natasha's Vulpix, as well as Mai and her Snubull. It would be even better if Leah was still standing, he'd love a chance to fight a Flying type.

"Alright, battle begin", Nolan says unenthusiastically.

"Quick Attack, Eevee", Tea reacts swiftly.

"Detect into Vacuum Wave", Joe says. He's not going to waste to much time on this. Riolu moves out of the way, rapidly shooting an energy blast at his opponent. Eevee flies back, instantly knocked out. He notes Nolan's eyebrows are raised, as the man can certainly tell Riolu is far from inexperienced. Doesn't matter though, he had no proof Joe had broken any rules.

"Well, that was not cool", Tea says as she recalls her partner.

"Can I go now?", Natasha asks almost pleadingly.

"Sure, I would like you to be my next opponent", Joe says. Even more so, Joe would like to take her and Mai in a 2v1 battle, but he doubts Nolan would allow that. Besides, that might be a bit too much for him to swallow.

Natasha is quick to run up to her spot, throwing her pokemon in exhiliration. Talk about a battle maniac. "Eevee, Quick Attack", she gives the order before her pokemon hits the field.

Eevee, yet again, Joe thinks. Not what he signed up for. "Get rid of it, Rio", he says shortly. Riolu wastes no time getting the attack ready, firing a Vacuum Wave off at the Eevee as soon as the pokemon hits the field. The poor thing doesn't even get the chance, being instantly blown back. "Stand ready, Rio", Joe says, cautious of a counter. It becomes apparent quickly that Eevee's been knocked out.

"Okay, that's not what I wanted to happen", Natasha says, recalling her fainted partner.

As the girl readies her second pokeball, Joe's body tenses. He saw Vulpix in action already, and he watched the damn thing make easy work of Lesley. He's not letting up. "Rio, be prepared", he says, but Riolu's already a step ahead, his hands ready to shoot out another blast as soon as Vulpix hits the field. Is this kind of battle strategy honourable? Perhaps not, but it was certainly efficent.

"Vulpix, go", Natasha says, as she lets her pokemon out.

As the beam of blue energy stabilises, making Vulpix appear on the field, Joe gives out a command: "now".

"Protect", Natasha yells out readily.

Vacuum Wave hits into the defensive field, but Joe's already expected that much. "Bullet Punch, go Rio", he instructs.

"Quick Attack, get away Vulpix", Natasha is quick to pick up the trick she's seen minutes before.

Bullet Punch seems faster then it was before his weekend training, Joe thinks, but it's still not nearly fast enough to catch up with another priority move.

"Go for Ember, now", Natasha orders.

"Detect", Joe says, "get away". It's smarter to let her attack. Besides, Nolan is watching, he can't try any questionable strategies right now.

"Quick Attack", Natasha is intent on not letting him take a breath.

"Vacuum Wave, deter it", Joe says.

"Move out of the way", Natasha orders in response.

"Again, make them faster, Rio", Joe intercepts, ready to sacrifice power for getting a few hits in.

"Protect", Natasha says, and her partner is fast to oblige.

"Again", Joe's aware he can use this to set up the tempo. That Vulpix has to give in sooner or later. And unlike Rockruff, his Riolu has trained since they came here, he can keep this tempo up much longer then they'd expect.

"Dodge with Quick Attack", Natasha is not ready to let him control the battlefield. Her Vulpix rushes past the attack, heading for Riolu.

Not a problem. "Vacuum Wave", Joe instructs.

"Cut it and use Snarl", Natasha reacts readily. Vulpix jumps back mid-attack, letting the blast of energy hit the ground in front of it, and starts up the next attack.

"Detect, get back Rio", Joe says. Natasha's not half-bad. She's quick to react and adapt, and though Snarl wouldn't do much damage, it would lower Riolu's special attack. As his partner manages to avoid the incoming attack and inches closer to him, Joe takes the chance to give direction. "Next time, fake interception with Metal Claw, when she switches we'll go for Vacuum wave", he says as quietly as he can. "Keep it up", he adds much louder, "Vacuum Wave".

"Protect", Natasha orders, and Joe's happy she's following the same old pattern.

"Again, Rio", he orders.

"Quick Attack to dodge", Natasha counters readily.

As Vulpix runs again, Joe's much faster to order a counter this time: "Metal Claw".

"Cut into Snarl", Natasha orders readily, "then Quick Attack again".

Joe's having none of that. "Vacuum Wave, Rio", he orders as soon as he notices Vulpix has started to jump back. Tying two attacks is not a bad idea, but Snarl is not catching up with their Vacuum Wave.

As Vulpix is hit with the attack, Joe readily order's the next one: "Bullet Punch". He's sure Natasha would come up with a way to counter this, but whatever her solution would be he has no intention of seeing it today. The second attack hits before Vulpix can get up on her legs. "Vacuum Wave, end it", Joe says. With another determined hit, the fire fox is knocked out, leaving Joe to breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Dude", Natasha says flatly as she recalls her partner, "that was vicious, don't you think".

Joe turns around, taking note of Nolan, who seems to be in the state of mild shock. If he didn't guess Joe was battling up until now, he definitely knew it now. The rest of the girls looked a bit terrified as well. Henry, Marc and Lesley looked satisfied with what they had seen, and Ace was certainly far from surprised. It dawned on Joe then that perhaps not everyone would be ready to accept his methods. Not that it mattered in a wider scheme of thing, his methods yielded results, and that was all that mattered. Still, it might've been smarter to drop the ball in front of Nolan.

"Alright, so, who's the next one then?", Joe turns to look at Mai expectedly. It was too late now to worry about the effects his style would have on other people.

"I'm not battling you", Mai unfreezes, "I don't want my pokemon going through that, that was traumatic".

"What, I thought it was fine", Marc is quick to jump to Joe's defense, "beside, this was nothing, you should see...". Henry picnches his sides, and Marc quiets down a bit: "usually his attacks are stronger, when we're training in the gym, I mean, on the punching bags, y'know". Joe's never stepped foot inside of the school' s gym.

"Professor", Henry clears his throat, "since Mai's not up for battling Joe, I would like a chance to take his place, I haven't had a chance to battle yet either, so I would highly appreciate it". He turns to look at Mai: "of course, if you are up to it, I promise I will be milder than my friend".

"I find that hard to believe, somehow", Mai repsonds.

"Hey, you can always let me battle", Lesley weasels his way into the conversation.

"No, no, I should be allowed to go on", Joe makes his case, "just because I have a different battle style...".

"A battle style?", Tammy yells out, "that was borderline abuse".

"I second that", Mai says.

Looking over at Ace, Joe is sure his teammate would've battled the same way if it was needed and if the opportunity presented itself.

"Yeah, you're definitely off the field", Nolan makes the call.

"Then, can I go on?", Henry asks patiently.

"Ugh, sure, but no fighting like a wild man", the professor says.

"Roger that", Henry says, making his way towards the field. Joe knows instantly, there won't be much to look forward to in this match. After all he had just beaten Natasha without too much trouble, Henry would surely be able to beat Mai. From what Joe had gathered, the girls haven't done that much training yet, save for Natasha forcing them to battle every now and again.

The battle goes by quickly, and Henry manages to keep things friendly, which Joe wholeheartedly despises. Eevee comes out first, and Henry uses the Quick Attack as an opportunity to counter with the Trailblaze, before quickly finishing off his opponent with a Mach Punch. Snubull comes in next, and despite the type match up, Henry works things out quickly. Snubull is generally not that agile, and with speed boosted Mienfoo, landing a physical attack is nearly impossible for the fairy type. As expected, nothing could've been learned from this battle.

"What's with the face?", Joe asks, noticing that Ace looks dissapointed as well.

"Nothing", the boy responds shortly.

Although Joe likes the newfound silence that exists in his team, not knowing what's going on was not his favourite thing. "For real, you sad that you lost on your second battle?", he persists.

"Not really, I mean that's what I expected", Ace is quick to break, "I mean, I didn't expect a self-destruct, but...".

"You battled well against Leah, though", Joe notes, "against me as well, on Friday, I mean".

"Right, I still lost", Ace scoffs.

"Well, what's up now then?", Joe exhales deeply.

"I don't know, I mean, these girls are not that strong, that's all", Ace admits.

"I mean, Natasha was good, she adapts quickly, I just didn't let her do that", Joe says, wanting to note the way everyone gave him shit for that.

"Right, but both you and Henry won without any trouble, against the two opponents who are ranked higher than I am", Ace admits, "and I lost against a girl who's ranked lower than me".

"It was a surprise tactic though", Joe points out, "and anyways, you wanted a gauntlet battle...".

"I just wanted to assess myslef, that's all", Ace says simply, "to see for myself how realistic the current rankings are".

"And what did you find?", Joe asks.

"They are not", Ace admits, "at least for me, realistically, I will end up ranking lower than I currently stand once the battles start counting".

"Well, I don't think that's necessarily true", Joe says, "I mean, you gave me trouble when we battled, to be fair, if you didn't insist on a gauntlet, I think you'd stand a chance against both Mai and Natasha".

"You think I'd win?", Ace asks coldly.

"Against Natasha, probably no", Joe admits, "she has a way to counter priority moves, that's why I had to resort to trickery".

"Well, that settles it then", Ace says, "I mean, even if I won against Mai, she's still ranked at 60th place, that still doesn't get me through the year".

"That's a tough math, you know, this is still a very small sample", Joe notes, "besides, there is still one way you can help yourself".

"And that would be?", Ace raises his eyebrow.

"Study", Joe shrugs simply, "you can still gain an advantage through tests".

"Right, you're right", Ace says, "I did count that in already though".

"Well anyways", Joe says calmly, "if you need help training or if you want to battle...".

"No thanks", Ace cuts him off, "appreciate it, but I can handle myself".

"Suit yourself", Joe nods shortly, aiming his eyes at the exit doors, "anyways, I'm glad to see you've finally given up on evasion startegies".

"Not entirely", Ace says behind him.

"Either way, good luck", Joe waves him off, "it's a long year, after all".

"Yeah, it is", he hears Ace say behind him.