Mornings in Nimbasa city are barren. At night, the colorful lights seem as they could consume everything, but the mornings were always enveloped in grey, especially in the midst of September. Walking down one of the streets, Ves realises just how different his life seems now. The path is strangely familiar. In this place, his entire life up until now used to reside. He'd taken this same morning stroll often, it was his usual path to school. He knew it by heart, yet it felt strange. He's been gone for just 2 weeks, yet the sidewalk, the air, they all felt foreign. Or he had found himself to be a foreigner.

Unlike all of those years of going to school, when he would wake up at 7 AM, this time he wasn't forced to wake up that early. Yet, he woke up, like he always did, leaving his house at 7:20 precisely, after grabbing the fastest of breakfasts. Just like he always did. His vision still somewhat blurry, he half-expected to see the main building of Old King's rise in front of him. But it never did. He had to remind himself, he's back home.

Even just waking up in his own room was strange. He was alone, no multiple beds, or that creecking window, no wait on using the bathroom, no Ace complaining about anything, or Joe bursting in after one of his runs. Two weeks was all it took Ves to get used to a life completely different than his own. It was complete silence, and the boy was not sure how he felt about it. He'd call it familiar, it surrounded him for the most of his life. Now, however, it felt unnatural to him, it came with unease and a clutched fists.

The streets of Nimbasa had one more strange effect on Ves, they acted like a catalyst for automatic behaviour. He almsot missed the park he was trying to go to, his head just naturally assumed he's on his way to school once more.

During his flight last night, he did some research, deciding he'll attempt to teach Houndour how to use Bite. He should be able to do that without too much trouble, he concluded, especially if Rex was right about his partner being naturally inclined towards physical attacks. Though he wasn't sure if Houndour was yet developed to the point where he could learn it, he shouldn't be too far off. It was a comolicated topic, learning new moves. In the simulations it was much easier, a pokemon would learn how to use a move when it reached the right 'level'. In real life, however, things weren't that cut and dry. Actually, his Houndour had already done something that would never be possible in one of those simulations by learning the Energy Ball through the TM. Under those conditions, Houndour shouldn't be able to learn it. It made little sense, since the fire type could utilise grass type moves, therefore, even the simulations agreed that he could gather and use the grass energy. And it could learn Shadow Ball as well, so it clearly had capacities of shaping energy into a ball.

Bite, however, should be able to be developed naturally. Even without 'levels' it wasn't supposed to be that hard to achieve. It came down to Houndour practicing his jaw and developing his natural biting ability to the point in which it could be considered a move. The only question was if Houndour's jaw was strong enough to pull it off. The only other thing that was necessary, Ves has already taken care of. He had Houndour forget how to use Snarl last night in order to make room for the new move. It was a tough decision, and he spent a while thinking between Snarl and Nasty Plot, but ultimately decided to keep the set-up move just for a little bit longer. Though he was still unsure why exactly his partner could only know four moves. Joe said something about catridges when he asked him, while Ace kept spouting about how more than four moves would rid the game of any strategic value. Ves had no clue what those two were on. Though, being able to pour every move into a movepool of a single pokemon would make things just a little bit meaningless, he thought.

When he arrived to the park, Ves was happy to find it empty, save for a pair of stranded Pidoves that were searching the ground for food. With slight hesitation, he released Houndour. The black dog stretched out his body, letting out a prolonged howl, before staring Ves down. The boy was unsure what his pokemon thought of him, but had a sneaking suspicion Houndour hated early mornings. He did seem to like training, though, which was encouraging. Bringing his hands to the side of his body, the boy tried to think all of it through. He had so many things left to do. Not only did he want to start on learning Bite, but Energy Ball needed more work as well. Then there was Ember, the only move he had left to rely on now that he was without Snarl. It could use some training as well. The constructions in the park he meant to use for training were made out of metal, and not the kind that was meant to take pokemon attacks. Ember would cause too much damage. He could use a tree to practice Energy Ball, he was confident he had seen Sam do that during last week. He's definitley not Embering a tree.

Bite was, however, a priority right now. Until they reach it, Houndour will be one move short. He cautiously pulls out a few tennis balls from his backpack. He brought them along with a single idea in mind - Houndour was a dog.

"Doom, let's play fetch", Ves says slowly bouncing one of the balls of the ground. Houndour tilted his head, looking at the boy as if he had lost his mind.

"It's training", Ves clarifies, "I told you I want you to learn Bite, so here's what we'll do, I'll throw the ball, you chase it, do your best to catch it with your teeth and snap it in half".

Houndour doesn't look impressed with the plan. "Well, I could just give them to you", Ves explains, "but if you chase them, then you're practicing your movement, reaction and speed as well". Houndour still looks a bit uncertain, so the boy brings the tennis ball to his mouth. "Here, like this, you have to bite it when you catch it", Ves says, squeezing the ball between his teeth, only to discover its much firmer than it looks.

"Alright, you ready then, Doom?", the boy asks, playing around with the ball. He had brought ten of them, that's how many he managed to fish up last night when he got home. Best caae scenario, he will return home without any tennis balls.

"Here we go", Ves says, hurling the ball away, "go and get it". To his satisfaction, Houndour springs into action immediately, quickly gaining the ground, before he leaps into the air and catches the ball mid-flight. The black dog runs back to his trainer, dropping the ball beneath the boy's legs. Ves is dissapointed to see the ball is still whole, though with a few bite marks. However, he had seen to full extent just how fast and strong Houndour was. It was only his jaw that was lacking.

Forgetting about Energy Ball, Ves decides they'll be focusimg solely on lerning Bite during these two days. They could make it. "Alright, let's go again", the boy says enthusiastically as he hurls the ball away once more. Houndour is swift to fetch it again, but doesn't manage to halve it. "Doom, put more pressure into the actual bite thid time, alright?", Ves says readily, before firing off the ball again. And again. And again. Houndour keeps catching it, but never breaking it in half.

With a sigh, the boy drops himself onto the bench, letting Houndour rest for a bit. He takes out some pokemon food from his backpack, letting Houndour have a breakfast. While the black dog chomps down on the food, Ves starts thinking about it. He didn't expect Houndour to learn Bite right away. However, just splitting a tennis ball in half was not equal to a fully-realised attack. Houndour should be able to do it regardless, just on the basis of his teeth being sharp. He looks at his pokemon again. Yeah, his teeth were definitely sharp. Why did they only leave bite marks, without splitting the ball? What was it that he was missing? Although Houndour didn't practice his jaw up until now, he should be physically gifted, that's what Rex had said. And the rest of his body definitely matched those expectations. Ves did throw the balls quite far, and the black dog had no problems catching up with them. Speed wise, physical speed, he was almost on par with Joe's Riolu, Ves thought, and that goddamn thing was fast.

Why then could Houndour not split the ball? Ves tried thinking back to what Rex has told him, as well as to Joe and his way of fighting. Speed of an attack, or the speed at which a pokemon is capable of performing an attack. That was not the same as the speed of pokemon's movement on the field, Ves thought. That's the basis of what Rex had said to him. That speed was what he was lacking. But Joe seemed to have no problems with that, and that was a problem.

No. Ves thought better about it. Joe's moves changed speed. The faster they were, they would grow weaker. That was a logical conclusion, the less time pokemon takes to release an attack the more power it builds. And running makes it harder to prepare for an attack.

It was his bad judgement, he expected to much from Houndour in the beginning, he realised. He wanted to work on speed and reaction as well, but what he had to do right now was focus solely on power. He had been throwing the balls too far.

"Doom", he looks at his partner, realising Houndour is done eating, "you ready to go again?".

Houndour nods calmly. He's not showing much, but Ves is confident his dog is enjoying their little game of fetch.

"Alright, then", he says kneeling besides his pokemon, "this time, I'll throw the ball very close to you, I want you to focus only on biting into it, just try and split it in half, okay?".

Houndour nods in understanding. "Okay", Ves stands up, turning the ball in his hand, "here we go". He chucks the ball slightly baove Houndour,and the black dog jumps up, catching it with ease. Once more, the ball doesn't split. But the bite seems strong. "Okay, let's go again", Ves says, throwing the ball again. Houndour catches it, without splitting it.

Taking the ball again, Ves notices the bite mark is deeper this time, and there are two holes where Houndours fangs landed. He swiftly realises one more thing. "Doom, don't try tearing it apart", the boy says, "just snap your teeth at it, then release it". Ves makes a few snaps with his teeth: "like this, see, you need to cut it in half, so don't dig into it".

Houndour tilts his head again, as if he's just now realised his mistake. "Okay, let's try again", Ves says.

He throws the ball into the air again, just a few meters in front of Houndour. The black dog leaps up, snapping his jaw, cleanly cutting the ball in two.

"Great, you did it, Doom", Ves jumps up excitedly, immediately grabbing the second ball. "Now do it again!", the boy says, chucking it upwards. Houndour switly catches it, again, cutting it in half. "Great, you got it", the boy says crouching down by his partner. That's a great step one, he thinks. Bite couldn't be that far away. They could even finish it by the time they're back on the island. Truly, Rex was right, Houndour is a physical attacker. Ves was going to use all the time left leading up to the tournament to put Houndour's natural talents to good use.

"Okay, okay", he pets his pokemon excitedly, "let's try again, but I'll throw the ball a bit further this time, alright". No sense not testing how much run-up Houndour can work with right now.

He hurls the ball away, putting just a bit of strenght into the throw: "Bite, Doom".

Houndour's legs hit firmly against the ground, as the dog runs across the grass, jumping up at the flying target. His jaws enveloping the ball, Houndour once more manages ti split it.

7 more balls, Ves thinks. He'll definitely need more. Or he'll get some jaw breakers. He had watched videos of pokemon breaking those with different biting attacks. Even a good chewing toy should help Houndour's jaw develop faster.

Ves's mind was racing, caught in the whirlwind of all the possibilities. He throws another ball, making it go even further. Houndour snaps it again. The next one is even faster, going further. Houndour manages to chase it down, but misses out on catching it with his fangs. Ves's spirit falters only so slightly. That distance is impossible for Houndour to cross right now while preparing for an attack at the same time. At least he had that information now.

"Okay, let's go again, just snap the rest of these balls", Ves says encouragingly as Houndour brings him back the ball.

He throws it at the furthest distance he thinks Houndour can reach. The black dog seems to have some trouble, but manages to catch and slice the ball. There. That's the limit right now, Ves thinks as he hurls the ball number

6. Houndour deals with it as well.

He'll definitely need to buy more balls. With the 4 he has left, he'll just do the same thing, Ves thinks as he throws the next ball. When he gets more, he'll try throwing then further, to increase Houndour's range. Another ball ends up split in half.

And when he goes back to school, there are supposed to be specialised bags made for practicing biting moves. They could even measure power, Ves thinks as the second to last ball ends up destroyed.

Once he's done with balls and bags, he'll switch onto actual opponents. The attack needed some real practice before the tournament, Ves thinks as he throws the last ball into the air. He watches as Houndour catches it, without splitting it up. Right. It was still not a full-fledged move. He would have to work harder for that.

*****

Nimbasa city feels like too much. Just a little bit past 8 AM, the streets start becoming more lively. He sees kids hurriedly carrying around their backpacks, cause they're alredy late for school. Some walk unwillingly, reminding him of himslef. Middle school wasn't his favorite place to be. High school wasn't either.

Just for fun, he decides to retrace his past a little bit. He goes into the gym to watch some matches. When he was in middle school he used to cut classes to go and watch gym battles all the time.

As he sat in the stands, he noticed tgere were still kids who were doing that, and why wouldn't there be? Some if them will probably try making it into trainer schools, most of them will have to wait until they are 18 to give pokemon training a chance.

A few matches be watched were not particularly exciting. Beginners, mostly. Two newbie trainers, both definitely 18 faced the gym leader in succesion, and both lost to the gym leader's Emolga. The girl had a Snivy, a starter most Nimbasa-born trainers took on, explicitly for the fact it was usually the best counter against an electric type gym. Unless the gym leader decided to be a troll and use a half-flying type. The boy, on the other hand, had a Tepig, that he had apparently nicknamed Bacon, and that had lost miserably. But Ves was sure that guy was going places.

The next two battles were only a bit more interesting. A guy that had 3 gym badges sent in his Timburr. The fighting type managed to put up a fight, but ultimately went down to the gym leader's Stunfisk. After the second badge, gym battles would have both participants using 2 pokemon. The boy sent in a Whirlepede, but the ag type stood no chance. To be fair, it did manage to start up a Roll Out, but Stunfisk cut it short with Static paralysis into a Magnitude.

The last battle he watched was a girl who had three badges as well, and decided she'd face an electric type gym leader with a Dewott. Definitely confident, Ves thought, as he proceeded to watch the water type absolutely outrun gym leader's Blitzle. Seriously, the way Dewott moved was otherworldly, it spun away from the incoming attacks only to immediately launch into a counter. Even Joe would be jealous of agility like that. Dewott's attacks were not all that powerful though, so it took him a while to tire out Blitzle. That first match-up ended in a draw, as the elctric zebra managed to get in two thundershocks as well. Danna, the gym leader, wasn't a push-over either. She was an old woman, who sat as the head of the jury of every beauty pagant in Nimbasa, and further. Little to say, a pretty cut-dry personality, she definitely didn't go easy on anyone. Nimbasa city gym was actually conaidered one of the hardest to face, particularly because Danna refused to cut slack to any challenger.

For the round 2, the gym leader sent in one of her aces, Elektross. It was rare to see her use one of her strongest pokemon, she saved those for challengers that had earned her recognition. Danna considered it a thing of honour, beating someone into the ground with her full power. The girl sent in an Audino, a very strange choice for a pokemon trainer. Audino's tended to hate pokemon battles, they were more of a healers. This particular Audino, however, apparently had a rage of a minor God, sending in an endless streams of Moonblasts into an Elektross. Ultimately, Audino was bested, by Elektross's well-timed counters. As the gym leader came up to offer sympathies and advice to the challenger, Ves decided it was time to leave. He's relieved enough of his past.

Truth be told, it was always like this. He saw Danna lose only a couple of times, and usually to the trainers who had 5 or more badges. It came to him, the gym challenge was tough. Either that, or the trainers with provisional licenses weren't that good.

Anyways, only one thing left to do.

As the day came to be, Ves walked out of the gym, immediately heading for the outskirts. His heart was always pounding when he took this path, his steps becoming shorter and faster, louder somehow. It was as every sound of his own life was there to haunt him. He stopped noticing the city around him, his mind turning the buildings into a blur.

It took around 20 minutes, but he had reached the beige-stone walls of the graveyard. Without much hesitation, he entered through the gate, and expertly made his way around the tombstones. It was sad, that he was 14 and knew his way around this place. It was even sadder that all the tombstones looked the same, cold and made out of white marble. The names and the years were the only thing that distinguished them. But is that really what life turns into? You're done one day, and no matter what your life was, you find yourself under the ground, with a white stone hanging over you. And maybe your ashes end up in some river, ocean, in a forest or on a mountain, they might be displayed on a fireplace over holidays, but that's all that remains.

It doesn't take Ves too long to find his brother's grave, and when he does, he promptly sits on a bench in front of it. It might sound stupid, but he likes imagining Vincent sitting next to him. Well, Vincent as he knew him, anyways. His brother had passed in a car crash when he was 18, 5 years ago. So that's what Ves got to remember. What Vincent looked like when he was 18. And frankly, he didn't really remember much. Mostly, he needed pictures to remind him what his brother looked like. And they only showed this one version, a person who would remain forever 18.

"Hey", Ves said slowly to the tombstone, "I came to visit". It was stupid and childish, and tragically human, but talking to the piece of stone was the only way Ves could feel still connected to his brother.

Letting out a deep breath, Ves prepared for another monologue. Not that white marlbe could ever answer him.

"So, um, I've been good, mostly", he says cautiosly, "I mean I'm stressed a bit, but otherwise, it's all good".

Starting these conversations was always tough, and this time especially. He was at Old King's now, on his way to becoming a pokemon trainer, and he wanted his brother to know.

"Um, yeah, right, there's someone you should meet", Ves says hurriedly taking out Houndour's pokeball and releasing his partner. "This is Houndour, I call him Doom", the boy tries an introduction, "well, everybody else thinks it's a stupid nickname, but I like it".

Houndour watches the tombstone carefuly, taking a look at Ves from time to time, like the black dog is trying to put these two images together.

"So, the school", Ves sighs, "um, it's cool I guess, the island, I mean, and the buildings, though, the curriculum is pretty tough". Saying that, Ves remembered he's behind on pretty much every subject, and he should probably add studying to his schedule.

But now was no time for that. "My teammates hate me, I think, or at least they strongly dislike me", he says scratching his hair, "though, Houndour is pretty good at being my partner, we're working on developing Bite right now, it's going good so far".

There's to much he wants to say. "Um, we are kind of 500 points behind, because Sam got caught battling, so that's pretty nasty", Ves states distantly. "Oh, Sam is one of my teammates, he's... fine, I guess, a bit too talkative". The rest of them he doesn't even want to describe.

"So, yeah, I guess things aren't really going that well", Ves admits, "I'm pretty much failing the year even though it has barely begun, my teammates don't exactly like me, and I'm not sure if I like them either".

What would his brother say to all of it? To be fair, Vincent was never great at school stuff, but he knew his way around people much better than Ves.

"I don't know, I mean, they are not bad, they can be good sometimes", Ves sighs, "Teo can be very chill, Sam is funny, Joe and Ace both push us forward, and, I mean, they are not the worst people, but sometimes it's just too much".

"You know, sometimes I think it's just me", his hands slam on his legs, "maybe I'm the one who just can't work with them and who causes all the friction, I mean, I don't even know what I'm doing, you know, I trash Ace all the time, but at least he cleans our room, and what exactly do I do?".

Ves feels a pressure against his leg, realising Houndour has decided to plant his head against him. Releasing his grip, he realises his nails had stuck into his palms. Feeling a tear rolling down his cheek, the boy can't believe he's crying about this. But he can't stop himself.

"No, really, what do I even do?", he feels his throat closing up, "I just fight, and cause trouble, and I'm not aiming at anything". The ball just keeps rolling. "Joe has his plan, whatever it is, and Teo does as well, Ace too, they all know what they want to do, and hell, even fucking Sam knows that he wants to make friends at this school", Ves explains to the tombstone, "me, what do I want, what am I even doing?".

Here's the problem with the dead. They do not answer questions. That is the worst thing, knowing someone would know what to say, but they are simply not there to say it. And you don't remember them enough to know what they would say.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Shit", Ves says louder, slamming on his legs again, "I'm the worst, I can't control myself, it all just swells up inside me, then I burst out, and I regret it, but I can't explain it or apologise, and even when I do people don't want to hear it".

He's stopped counting the tears rolling down his face. Houndour nests at his feet, patiently looking up at the boy.

"What am I even doing?", Ves is not sure if he's talking to his brother or his pokemon right now. "Why am I even like this?".

Ever since he could remember he wanted to become a pokemon trainer. There wasn't much reason behind it. Every kid wanted to be a trainer, it was a cool thing to dream about. Now he was here, and miserable, for whatever reason.

"You know, Vin", Ves says looking at the tombstone again, "I just... I think you would be much better at this than I am, the whole team thing, and pokemon trainer thing".

"Oh, Mikey beat me yesterday", he adds with a scoff, "yeah, him and Vinnie are both there as well, but I guess you don't want to hear about it, and I don't really want to talk about them either".

"But yeah, you know, I wanted this for so long, and I don't even know why", Ves admits, finally letting his shoulders down, "and it feels like I'm flying blind and alone".

"Dad, you know how he is", the boy looks away, "and you're not here, and my teammates hate me, and I have no one to point me in the right direction".

"It's just, I'm sure if you were in my place, you'd do so much better, people would love you, and you'd know what you were doing", Ves admits.

"You know, maybe this whole thing was a mistake", Ves laughs, almost manically, "I mean, maybe I'd be better off just staying home and going to a regular high school".

"I hate to say it, but you know how in the movies people have motives for doing what they are doing, they ahave something driving them", Ves says, "I don't have that, I don't know why I ever wanted this, so you know, maybe I'm just a kid following a crowd and nothing more, maybe I just pushed for this cause everybody else told me it's cool".

"Sorry, dude", he says, looking down at Houndour, "guess you got stuck with a trainer who sucks".

Houndour keeps his eyes fixed on him, refusing to budge. "Well, you know, you could tell me what is it that I want to do?", Ves proposes, "maybe you're smarter than me in that regard".

Houndour decided to stand up. His body tensed as he let out a growl. Nasty Plot, Ves recognised, instantly moving away. That's it, Houndour decided to get rid of him when he heard his self-pity manifesto. Reaching for his pokeball, Ves couldn't make it in time. Houndour quickly rose his head, firing an Ember into the air. Ves felt relief only after he realised the cinders wouldn't reach the grass and set the whole graveyard on fire.

"Be careful, Doom", he said, feeling his heart pound in his chest. But he was sure, this was Houndour's way of sending him a message. He couldn't fully conclude what it was, but he knew one thing for sure, his partner wasn't giving up.

"Alright, alright, we'll keep going", the boy raised his hand, almost defensively, "I promise".

Houndour let out another low growl, staring Ves down. Dark types, Ves remembered, were pretty much agressive. They liked to battle. That's what Houndour wanted to do. Thinking of it, his partner probably gave no shits about the 500 points they have lost, nor was he concerned with a notion of them failing the year. He understood none of that. Houndour was a pokemon, and it wanted to battle.

"Right", Ves nods at the tombstone, "this guy here's pretty mighty". He tries to explain it the best that he can. "You know, I actually do decently well in battles, but it's mostly thanks to Houndour", the boy admits, "I mean, he manages to win even when I use the wrong type of attacks".

"Sorry about that", Ves nods towards his partner, who, in turn, gives him a scolding howl.

"Well, anyways, I have to find some opponents for this guy, cause I think he wants to battle", Ves says apologetically to the tombstone, "anyways, I'll come by tomorrow before I leave back for school, is that cool?".

Saying goodbye to the dead is another tricky thing. They can't really ever let you go. But Ves turns around and walks away, promising himself he'll come back tomorrow. He lets Houndour follow him out of the graveyard.

He's still not sure what he wants to do, but he knows what Houndour wants. And that might be a good starting point.

*****

One good thing about Nimbasa city was the battle center. Ves can't believe how he managed to forget about it. Whereas trainers would usually look for opponenets in pokemon center, Nimbasa was one of the few cities that had a facility designed specifically for that. Of course, Ves had passed the building numerous times when he was a kid, even entered to watch the battles, but this time around, he simply forgot it was there. Happpens sometimes, that we get used to things to the point we forget about them. Well, now that Houndour wanted to push further forward, he had remembered it.

It was a vast building with trainers crawling all around. Modern looking, the main hall had numerous hallways that led to battling rooms. The main hall itslef was white, with high ceiling, and an array of tables and chairs that trainers could sit down in and talk. Ves though, wasn't up for talking.

He was quick to shuffle into the crowd, getting into the short lived conversations with people here and there. There was a girl with a Crobat who was pretty nice, but definitely too strong for him. A guy with a Watchog, who refused to battle a 14-year-old. Two girls had a Plusle and Minum, but they were apparently 'tired of battling' already.

So, one problem with battle center was finding an actual opponent. Most people here were 18, earning their licenses through government test, and were either too strong for Ves, or would refuse to battle him for whatever reason.

Finally, after what seems like an hour of searching in vain, Ves spots a Tepig. That's a clear sign, someone is a beginner here. Motioning forward, he notices Tepig is standing with a guy who looks just a little bit lost. Definitely a beginner.

"Hey, hi", Ves wastes no time in striking up a conversation, "I'm Ves".

"Oh, hey", the boy says, visibly surprised that Ves had adressed him, "I'm Daniel. Do you... you need something?".

"Um, no, not really", Ves scratches his head, realising this guy is 4 years older than him and probably is surprised that a kid is talking to him here. Maybe he thinks Ves is lost. "Well, actually, I'm looking for someone to battle me", Ves decides to just go forward with it. Nothing to lose, and if Daniel decides to be an ass about it, he'll just let Houndour tear him limb for limb.

"Oh, battle you?", Daniel says, definitely surprised by the prospect, "um, sorry to ask, but do you even have a pokemon... and how?".

"I'm a student at Old King's", Ves decides to quickly clarify it, "I'm home for the weekend, and I'm looking for someone to train with, that's all".

"Oh, Old King's, right", Daniel says with raised eyebrows, but he's definitely ready to accept it. At least, he doesn't think Ves had stole a pokemon, or acquired it in any other illegal way.

"Right, well, I'm only a first year", Ves still decides to reassure him further, "so, you know, a beginner, kind of hard finding opponents here, most of the people already have a few badges, and I don't know, I've noticed you have a Tepig, so I figured you're a beginner as well".

"Oh, right, I am, I recieved Tepig like 10 days ago", Daniel laughs, "and yeah, not too many beginners walking around".

"Oh, that's perfect, I think I have had my Houndour for like 15 days", Ves says hopefuly, realising that those 15 days have felt like a lifetime.

"Hey, then we should be on a similar level", Daniel says, "I mean, I'll be honest here, Tepig and I haven't had too much training, so I guess it works out".

"Oh, yeah, Doom and I had some training, but nothing too much", Ves nods along, remembering just how many battles he was in so far. Definitely way too many. "I mean, I've only battled my classmates", Ves offers, as a way to convince Daniel he's not that far ahead. He immediately feels stupid about it, as he realises Daniel probably thinks he'll be the one who's ahead, based on age.

"Oh, that's nothing to worry about", Daniel says, "I've only battled the two of my friends, you know, they are supposed to be around here somewhere".

"Oh, are they strong?", Ves says in interest, "they have any badges, more pokemon than you?".

"Um, no, well, we recieved our starters at the same time", Daniel admits, "we're pretty equal, well, Karl always beats me, but only cause he picked Oshawott, and Ginny pretty much always loses to me, but she has a Snivy, so...".

"So basically, a rock-paper-scizor approach", Ves nods in understanding.

"Yeah, we're the rock-paper-scizor gang", Daniel laughs. "But anyways, could you wait until they come back, then we can make a deal on that battle", Daniel proposes, "probably best of you battled Ginny anyways, since you have an advantage there, so you know, you could do something".

Ves finds himself highly offended at the notion that he couldn't do anything against Daniel or the Oshawott guy. Houndour knew Energy Ball, Oshawott would be no trouble. Actually, now that he had gotten rid of Snarl, the only problem would be Tepig. He looked at the small fire type that was merrily looking around. Truly it didn't seem like much of a battler. Well, regional starter pokemon were usually like that, in their first form they were pretty friendly, easy to train, but not that strong. The Tepig seemed too slow, and Ves already had a sort of the plan for dealing with it. Although, that plan assumed Daniel would make a mistake, which was not perfect, but Ves was sure it would happen. Daniel was already kind of looking down on him.

He kept chatting with Daniel, when the boy finally noticed the two of his friends. He waved them over, and Ves was quickly introduced to them. Karl and Ginny both seemed very nice, though, in a same vein as Daniel. All three were definitley surprised Ves wanted to battle them, and were expecting an easy win over a kid 4 years younger than them.

"Alright, well, I mean, having 4 participants is good", Karl is quick to come to the conclusion, "we can split up, do some sparring".

"Actually", Ves cuts him short, "I thought we should do a King Of The Hill type of thing".

"You mean, a winner stays on?", Ginny asks in surprise, "that seems a bit tiring, though, you sure about that?".

"Well, it's a fun thing to try", Ves offers, "besides, we all have 1 pokemon each, so it won't last that long".

"Yeah, that actually sounds fun to me, good idea", Karl is fast to agree.

"Yeah, I'm in as well", Daniel says, "we've never tried that".

"Okay, if you are all on the same page, then I guess I agree as well", Ginny says slowly, still a bit uncertain. "I suppose I'll be the first one to battle, against Ves, right?".

"Well, that would be the best option, I think", Karl nods firmly.

"Right, but then I have to battle the two of you afterwards", Ginny scratches the back of her neck.

"Hey, you talking like you know you will win", Daniel laughs.

"And even if you have to battle the two of us next, that will just help you get stronger, right?", Karl adds.

"Guess you have the point", Ginny says with a sigh, "fine, let's go and get a field".

Apparently, Karl is the leader of their little group, as he is the one who approaches the computer and registeres one of the battling rooms as occupied. He leads them into one of the hallways, and after a short trip, they get to the room that was assigned to them.

Ves enters last, only to note the battlefield doesn't look beyond the ordinary. The field itself is in good condition, but the size is definitely smaller than the official match regulations would dictate. Well, the training center wasn't meant to host official mathes anyways.

"Alright, Ginny, Ves, you.can take your positions, if you are still up for going first", Karl informs them.

"I'm fine, I wanted to go first anyways", Ves says leaving to stand at the opposite side of the field. Facing 3 18 year olds makes him only slightly uncomfortable. Even though he's certain they are on the similar level, he's sure they are looking down on him. And not out of malice. Simoly because they were older. If it wasn't uncomfortable, it would be funny, as Ves was pretty certain he'll have no problem taking these three down.

Regardless of the result, or his opponets, this was an opportunity for Ves to train. And he knew what he wanted to do. Houndour was trying to use his body and movement in battles all this time, and Ves wanted to let him do that exactly this time. Even though he still didn't develop Bite, he wanted to try relying on Houndour's physicality in this battle. Not that he had a clear idea how to do that, but he'd figure it out. Well, he did have one idea, that would be pretty good against Ginny's Snivy if it had worked. Then he had plans for Oshawott and Tepig as well.

"Okay, then, I'm in as well", Ginny says confidently, as she lets Snivy out of its pokeball. The regal-looking grass type immediately stares Ves down. It has short legs, Ves notes to himself, so this should be no problem.

"Let's go, Doom", the boy says, letting Houndour hit the field. The black dog takes the attacking stance immediately, staring back at the Snivy. Now, a few things needed to happen at the start, but Ves was pretty sure things would go his ways. If the three of them had recieved their starters 10 days ago, this Snivy most likely knows only Tackle and Vine Whip as its attacking moves.

"Alright, battle begin", Karl gives a signal.

"Nasty Plot", Ves commands immdeiately, thinking he should set himself up to deal with Tepig later on.

"Vine Whip", Ginny is quick to act as well. Her Snivy is surprisingly swift in its reaction, immediately jumping in and threatening the attack. Ves doesn't mind though. Taking one Vine Whip is won't be enough to get him off the field, and, in fact, takimg the attack is a part of strategy.

Houndour manages to set up the Nasty Plot, exactly before the Vine Whip hits. Smaller field is a problem, Ves realieses, especially since Houndour is slow to release his special attacks. It wouldn't matter now though, as everything is exactly where Ves wants it. Using Vine Whip, Snivy had moved forward onto the field, and was now occupying the center.

"Doom, now, run", Ves says swiftly. He notices Karl and Daniel chuckle on the sideline. They probably think he's panicking. "Run in a circle around Snivy,", Ves says readily.

"Snivy, Vine Whip", Ginny tries attacking.

"Dodge it while you move", Ves orders up. Houndour expertly jumps up, avoiding the vines, only too keep running around Snivy at steady pace.

Now, Ves wants this to be over quickly. Regardless of Houndour's physicality, he still has 2 battles in front of him, and he doesn't want his partner tiring out. While his opponents think he's a kid who doesn't know how to get out of the situation he had found himslef in, that was very far from reality. Panicking? No. He was about to trap the goddamn grass snake in a tornado of cinders.

"Ember, now, Doom, don't stop running", Ves says readily. It takes Houndour a bit longer to release the attack while he's mid-run, but the wall of cinders starts appearing all around the trapped grass type.

Swirling around and rising upwards, the fire creates an impermeable circle around Snivy, inching closer and closer.

"Snivy, get out", Ginny yells, but the reality is, Snivy can't escape now. Not without taking a full-blown Ember that's been powered up by the Nasty Plot. As the fires closes in, Snivy goes down.

"Doom, stop", Ves orders up, allowing for his opponent to recall her partner. Cinder tornado spreading too much would be a problem as well, that's why he had to wait for Snivy to comme to the middle of the field, so the fire wouldn't catch Ginny.

"That's enough Snivy, come back", Ginny says, returning the grass type into its pokeball.

"Alright, next!", Ves says grinning at Karl and Daniel. Hopefully, they understand now, age has nothing to do with this.

"Okay, I'll go next then", Daniel says readily.

As he steps out of the field, Ves assesses the situation. Two fire types, but Houndour has more experiance in battle and is currently powered up by a Nasty Plot. Moreover, Tepig most likely only knows Tackle and Ember. Houndour, on the other hand, has a little thing called Flash Fire.

When Tepig hits the field and Karl announces the battle, Ves immediately orders up: "Nasty Plot". Thing is, Houndour only has Ember and Energy Ball on him right now, bot not very effective on Tepig. If Daniel makes a mistake here, it not only lets Ves set up again, but actually helps him.

"Ember, Tepig", Daniel yells out, much to Ves's satisfaction. That's to be expected, beginners usually didn't think too much about the abilities.

As the black dog lets out a growl, stiffening its muscles and raising its power, cinders envelop him, sticking to his fur, only further raising the temperature of his body. This is supposed to be Houndour's full power, Ves realises. The first time this has happened.

Not wasting any time, the boy's out to test it: "Doom, jump up and use Ember from above". Houndour takes a few steps, hitting at the ground, before he leaps upwards. Ember comes out faster than usual this time around, and the swirling cinders aim at the Tepig. Coming down, they envelop the pig pokemon, making it barely visible. Once the fire subsidies, it becomes apparent Tepig couldn't handle the heat. Regardless of it being a fire type, fully powered up Ember prowed to be too much. Tgere was no need to worry about Daniel after all.

Ves's opponent recalls his pokemon without the word, stepping away from the battlefield. Now, all that's left is to surprise Karl with an energy ball, the boy thinks, as he realises his head is pounding with adrenaline. He has stepped out into a battle stance without even realising it, his hands firm, and his heart pounding. It all feels good. Right, winning feels good. Houndour looks ready to go on as well he notices, the black dog's hovering his head just above the ground, looking ready to launch into an attack at any moment. Running around to create a fire tornado was not necessary, or jumping to attack Tepig from above. Just sending a simple Ember from the spot would've yielded the same results, Ves knew. But Houndour enjoyed this more.

"Alright, then, you're going down now", Karl says, stepping onto the field and releasing Oshawott.

Ves is happy he didn't let them know Houndour knows Energy Ball. With Houndour having set up 2 Nasty Plots, it should be enough to knock Oshawott out immediately. It was unfirtunate that Flash Fire only powered up fire type moves. Still he had no intentions of letting Karl hang around the field any longer than the other two did.

"Okay, battle start", Ginny announces.

"Energy Ball", Ves says immediately, "run, Doom".

Karl seems taken back by Ves's choice of attack, but manages to irder up: "dodge it, Oshawott".

Houndour runs in, closing the distance, before suddenly cutting to the right and jumping backwards in order to launch the Energy Ball. Ves finds it just a little bit dramatic on his partner's side, that sort of movement, but it doesn't matter. What counts is the ball of grass energy that swiftly flies towards the Oshawott, hitting into the water type and sending it flying. Just like Ves thought, it's more than enough to knock him out cold.

"Hell, I had no idea that thing knew Energy Ball", Karl sciffs loudly as he recalls his pokemon, "can Houndour even learn that move?".

"Yeah, obviosly", Ves says, finally standing up straight. But his heart was still racing. Beating 3 people who were older than him in a row, and with just 1 attack each, felt extremely good. He needs to find more beginners so he can beat them into the ground.

"Well, you win fair and square, then", Karl laughs a bit, "just can't believe I lost to a 14 year old".

"I'm almost 15, if it makes you feel any better", Ves offers, coming in closer to shake hands with his opponent.

"It really doesn't", Karl laughs for real this time, "but hey, you're good, no wonder you made it into that school".

"Hey, thanks, and thanks for battling with me", Ves says with a smile.

"No problem", Karl says, "you know, I would like to have a rematch one of these days".

"Goes for me as well", Ginny approaches them.

"Me too", Daniel says readily, "can't believe I fell with just one attack".

"To be fair, you did help me out, by triggering Flash Fire", Ves shrugs.

"I triggered Flashed Fire", Daniel says in genuine surprise, "fuck, I forgot that exists".

"Well, I didn't", Ves informs him.

"Uh, so about that rematch?", Karl says, "you know, we were supposed to challenge the Nimbasa gym tomorrow, but after losing to you right now...maybe another battle?".

"Um, I'm leaving for school tomorrow afternoon, so only if you can wake up early", Ves says.

"Outrageous, absolutely not", Ginny protests.

"Yeah, I doubt things would look much different tomorrow", Daniel admits.

"Well, to be fair, your pokemon aren't exactly battle ready", Ves says cautiosly, "not to be mean or anything".

"Oh, for real, well, what do we need in order for them to be battle ready?", Daniel inquires.

"Well, a few things", Ves explains, "how many moves do your pokemon know?".

"Tepig knows 3", Daniel says.

"Same with Snivy", Ginny adds.

"Oshawott as well", Karl says, "so, you're saying we need more moves".

"Well, a 4th move would be useful", Ves points out, "and you could use a few more pokemon as well, especially if you're taking on the gym challenge".

"Right, so catching pokemon and learning new moves", Karl nods along, "any more pointers".

"Well, not really, I mean, I didn't exactly see how you battle", Ves says. "You should think about the abilities", he says to Daniel. "And you shouldn't rush in immediately, especially when you're at disadvantage", he turns to Ginny.

"Roger that", Daniel nods.

"Hey, Ves, right?", Karl says.

"Yeah?", Ves says.

"How about we exchange contacts, so we can keep up with each other", Karl offers, "and you know, next time we're in the same place, we can have that rematch?".

"Sounds good to me", Ves says, takimg out his phone.

"See, there's always a solution", Karl winks at him, "next time you're coming home hit us up".

"Deal", Ves says, "and when you earn your gym badge, you better let me know".

"Done, buddy", Karl says, bringing his phone close to Ves's. His contact info flashes on Ves's screen. Daniel and Ginny do the same.

"Oh, just one more piece of advice", Ves says, "maybe leave Nimbasa gym for later, Donna's kind of a monster".

"We'll think about that", Daniel laughs.

"And a piece of advice for you", Karl offers, "make sure you study well, high school's pretty damn important".

"Right, I will", Ves says, thinking how behind he is with his schoolwork already.

"Well, we'll be off then, see you around", Ginny gives him a small wave as he registers her info as well.

"Right, see you around", Ves says.

*****

The sport's shop owner looks at him like he's crazy when he buys 50 tennis balls. They are cheaper when bought in bulk like that. He had done his best to waste the day away outside, but now it was time to take a dreadful walk back home.

Ves's house was at the start of the outskirts, just far enough from the city center to escape all the noise. Not far enough to stop the lights though. As the night started to fall, Nimbasa came alive behind him. Piercing yellow lights from movie theters and battle facilities mixed with neon blue from the clubs and vivid red from Kantonian quarts to colour the sky into a dissarayed mosaic. Ves kind of missed the sky back at Old King's island. At lest you could see the stars there. Not that he had ever payed them too much attention, but maybe he should start.

The simple white walls of his home felt all too familiar, yet again grounding him in the old days. This is how he always felt. How many times he'd come from school at this time, just to stare at the darkened windows, the wooden doors he knew so well. The feeling if unease was there, just like all those times before.

Not that he disliked his home. It was, after all, what he knew. And it was exactly the fact that he knew this place that had brought fort the mixture of comfort and gut-wretching nervousness. The walls bothered him, not the clean whites of the building itself, but those that were around the man who inhibited the place ever since Ves could remember.

Carefully opening the doors, he dragged the bag with tennis balls as softly as he could. Thankfully, he already did another training session with Houndour, so only around 70 balls were left. He was very much planning on running through those in the morning. Stashing the unorthodox training equipment into his room, he thought for a second he should just stay there, waste some more time, then go to sleep. And maybe his father would come along to have a chat. But what if he didn't? For security reasons, he left Houndour's pokeball at his night stand, leaving for the living room.

It was a simple space, holding a plain set of furniture, done in black lether. Over the galss table placed in the middle, the figure of a man was bent over, seemingly fully immersed in the pile of papers in front of him. Ves doubted his father could see anything that was written there. The only lights in the room came from the muted TV, a shifting show of ghostly white, and the old post lamp that made its best effort to fill out the room with dim yellow.

Feeling every footstep, Ves walked over to the couch, placing himself down. "Hey, dad", he said quietly, trying his best not to divert man's attention all at once.

"Hey, Ves", the man responded absentmindedly, slowly shuffling through the papers without any apparent reason.

Talking was the hardest thing. Ves mever knew what he ought to say to his father. For the most part, he wanted to start yelling. He was not sure what words he would yell, though.

"Um, came in last night", Ves still talked quietly, against the rage that was building inside his gut, "don't know if you noticed".

"Yeah, I've noticed your shoes are there", his father responds shortly, shoving away a smaller pile of papers.

"Right, right", Ves says focusing his attentnion on the TV. The new anchor was dressed in indigo blue suit, opening his mouth without a sound coming out. "Left early this morning, did some training, hope I didn't disturb you", the boy says still focusing at the news anchor, who started waving his hands around, as if he was desparate to get Ves's attention, explain something.

"No worries, I didn't even notice you were gone", the man says, still heavily immersed in his papers. Ves brings himself to take a peek at them. Sale reports for pokeballs throughout different marketplaces.

"Right, you didn't", Ves says, suddenly feeling his head pulse, "that's good".

The TV switched to the weather report, this time a blond woman in a gray suit was flying her hand over a projected map of Unova, half-heartedly trying to predict the rain. Similar to the man sat next to Ves, she made no sound.

"Well, I was planning on doing some training tomorrow morning as well", Ves continues only because he thinks he should say something. He came home, he walked into this living room, so he should say something. "Then I'll come get my things, my plane leaves at 2PM".

"Sounds like you have a plan kiddo", his father says almost on autopilot.

"Yeah, I do", Ves can barely stop himslef from yelling now. He's been gone for 2 weeks. Once he leaves again, he probably won't be home for a while, and this was the best his father could give. "School's fine, by the way thanks for asking", he says almost venomously, all the rage in his body taking shape, turning into daggers that he was itching to throw.

Of course, he was old enough to understand, and he has seen enough movies to know some people burry themselves in work after something breaks them. His father, however, has been this empty shell of a man ever since he could remember, ever since his wife had left him. After Vincent died, it only became worse.

"That's good to hear", his father responded, still searching through his papers. Ves had hoped wholeheartedly that someday this man would find Jesus in one of those papers.

"Well, then", the boy stands up sharply, "I'll be off to get ready for bed, glad we had a chat, dad".

"Goodnight, kiddo", his father says absentmindedly as Ves steps away from him. On his way out he hits the lights on, just because. The man, still hunched over the table, doesn't notice.