"No, Yue, stop bothering Kafka, he'll blast you away", Joe says fervidly, doing his best to surgically remove his 2 year old cousin from the goddamn Espurr without triggering a temper tantrum. "Bad baby, stop it, Yue", Joe says to her calmly. Not that he could ever truly be mad at her, since Yue was his favourite cousin, for the simple fact she was the only one to ever listen to the word he says. She was 2 though, and he doubted she understood the word he said. Besides, he was responsible for Yue's name, as he had bothered his aunt and uncle until they finally agreed to name their child after the moon girl from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Everyone came to like the name eventually, and Joe was pretty sure Ace would congratulate him on his taste.

Unfortunately, Yue seemed to have taken quite the interst in Espurr, that Joe had promptly named Kafka, full name Franz Kafka, obvoiusly. His baby cousin had no idea this furrball could potentially blast them all away with his psychic powers. As he kept his cousin away from Kafka, Joe cursed Teo once more. He really hated him for springing this thing at him. He did decide to keep it though, it was a psychic type, and it was cute, besides he had quickly grown fond of it. The problems were numerous though.

Yesterday in Canalave, he lost to Henry. That was not the big issue, if he expected anyone to beat him, it would be Henry anyways. The fact that Riolu went and attacked on his own was, however, concerning. He knew exactly what that was - his fault. He got carried away, letting whatever emotions run rampant, and Riolu picked up on them and enacted them. If anything had happened it would be his fault.

Pokemon that can't control its psychic power isn't the ideal gift for someone who had just witnessed his emotions reading pokemon try and kill his classmate.

Nevertheless, it's the gift he had recived. Espurr, at least, seemed to have his powers under control.

Still, he didn't want the thing anywhere near his favourite cousin.

"Joe, just let her cuddle it", his mother appears at the doorframe, speaking ever so softly. "Pokemon are friends, don't separate her from them", she spouts the usual Alolan rhetoric at him.

"This friend could easily blast us all into the afterlife", Joe informs her flatly.

"Why are you so morbid", his mother sighs.

"I call it being realistic and cautious", Joe says bluntly.

"You know, you used to be such a sweet kid", his mother says, as if melancholic, "not sure what happened to you, but I'd like to have my kid back please".

"Sorry, can't do", Joe says, "that kid got lost in the lush forest and died, you're stuck with me now".

"If you say so", she says, "I have to go and re-do the sale reports, your father mixed up some things, can you watch the rest of the kids? They are playing in the front porch".

"Can only watch them for an hour", Joe says, picking up Yue, "have to go see my friends again".

"When you say friends, I suppose you mean Damian", his mother raises her eyebrow.

"And the others", Joe nods.

"The gang members", his mother nods, "you know, I wish you would stay away from kids like that, you're not really a gang type, Joe".

"Mom, team skull is not a gang", Joe says, already tired of this conversation, "besides, they are the only people who want to hang out with me, and frankly, the only people I want to hang out with".

"Your cousins like hanging out with you", his mother points out softly.

"As much as I love Yue, she's not exactly the best at talking, you know", Joe says calmly, "and the rest of the kids are all younger than me, rember".

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember, what did you name that again?", the woman says playfully, "the curse of the odlest child".

"The eldest child", Joe corrects her, "or the curse of the de-facto older brother".

"Right, well, then, de-facto older brother, you should in fact-o go and watch over your siblings", she smiles at her own joke before leaving.

Joe makes his way out of the house, only to be greeted with 8 other kids. This was his life in a nutshell, kids all around. It's not to bad, he likes having a huge family, but all of his cousins were much younger than him, and more importantly, they barely ever listened to him. Espurr follows behind him, causing half of them to run up to them immediately and try and pet it.

"Hey, hey, stay away, you small mischiefs", Joe tries waving them away, "Kafka's not a toy".

"But he's a friend", Rory, who's the oldest cousin he has at 9 years old says.

"Nope, Kafka's not a friend, nor a toy, nor a pet", Joe reiterates, "he can be very dangerous".

"Do you battle with him?", one of the girls asks.

"And why did you name him Kafka, it's a very stupid name", her sister adds.

"No, I still haven't battled with Kafka", Joe says simply, "and I named him that after a writer".

"Oh, of course you did", Rory laughs.

"But how do you know he's dangerous if you never battled with him?", Joe's not even sure where the questions are coming from anymore. For all he knew, Yue could've miraculously learned how to talk.

"Mom says using pokemon for battles is gross", another childlike voice says.

"Yeah, grandpa Lyle says it's preposterous", somebody adds.

"Alright, first, never listen to a word grandpa Lyle says, he's full of it", Joe says flatly.

"Full of what?", Rory tilts his head in act of innocence, but Joe knows he's the only one there who knows what word he had left put.

"Why do you force your pokemon to battle?", one of the kids asks.

"I do not force them, they like to battle", Joe notes quickly.

"How do you know?", comes the next question.

"Well, you see...", Joe thinks about it, coming up short for an answer.

Thankfully, he's deling with a bunch of little kids, so the next thing comes right up.

"Can we go Mudbray riding?", someone asks.

"Oh, when I grow up, I'll have a Mudbray ranch, like, 1000 Mudbrays", one of the other kids adds.

"Hey, you're stealing my idea", someone protests.

"Well, I will own a malasada shop", Rory says decisevly, "and I won't give you any if you don't let me ride your Mudbrays".

"That's not fair Rory", another kid protests.

"Yeah, stop black e-mailing us", another voice is heard.

"Blackmailing", Joe says flatly.

"Joe, tell Rory he has to give us malasada when he opens up his shop", someone else urges.

"Rory, you have to give us all malasada when you open up your shop", Joe deadpans. He actually enjoys stuff like this, small stupid fights without concequences.

"You're not the boss of me", Rory scoffs, "you want to be a pokemon trainer, what good are you?".

"I'm pretty damn good", Joe warns him, trying to act as if this has not getting to him. Grandpa Lyle and his mother could say whatever they wanted about trainers, but he hated how they tried to pass on the same sentiment to the kids.

"Well, it's not nice forcing pokemon to battle, they'll get hurt", one of the smaller kids says.

"Look, things are not as simple as that", Joe sighs, "some pokemon are nice, some are not. Some pokemon attack people, and that's why some people become pokemon trainers".

"Well, why are some pokemon not nice?", another question comes his way.

"Maybe some people were not nice to pokemon first, that's why they are not nice to them", the unwanted explanation comes as well.

"Yeah, sometimes", Joe admits, "but sometimes wild pokemon attack people for different reasons, or they come into our crops looking for food". He can't even count how many times he had to ask Damian and the team skull guys to deal with the damn Rattata infesting their berry fields.

"Well, than just give them food", Rory proposes.

"That would require Alola actually working on the pokemon population managment", Joe says, "which they refuse to do, because it goes against their customs"

"What's a population management?", one of the kids asks.

"Nothing", Joe sighs, "just go and play".

"Alright", the kids say, quickly losing the interest in talking to him and running off to chase after the ball.

Yue's thankfully much calmer than the rest of his cousins. If he were ever to indoctrinate any of them into becoming a trainer, it would surely have to be her. He could teach her everything, even make her a member of team skull eventually. With his guidance, she could very well lead their island's wing. Although, his family would never appreciate a feat like that.

Things were downright complicated in Alola. There was this need in people to stick to the status quo, the customs, that both humans and pokemon were part of nature, and should live in harmony. But their picture of harmony lacked depth, it was idealised. Sometimes, conflict was necessary. Team skull memebers were the only people who realised that. Sure, being kind and not training pokemon for combat seemed noble on paper. But what happens when a wild pokemon goes rampant and attacks someone? When a bunch of fire types wander into the forest on accident and set it on fire? Who do you call then? Even the police, even though they had some pokemon who willingly helped out with their work, couldn't help in those cases since their helpers weren't trained. It was team skull who did what needed to be done. And sure, catching pokemon wasn't illegal, nor was training them, but Joe had always hated how everyone saw team skull as low lives for doing what had to be done.

Thinking of it would always get him riled up. It was one of the few things that could hit him hard. He tried not to go there, instead, he thought about training.

He went for the run that morning, but he skipped training with Riolu. His partner deserved the break, and besides, after that incident in Canalave, he didn't want to call any attacks. He wasn't sure why he snapped like that, but he had a hunch. Henry caught him by surprise with that Aerial Ace, he got scared for a second and Riolu had picked up on it. Regardless, now that he knew about it, he wouldn't repeat the same mistake. He only had to be weary of other surprises. But Riolu was fine in his book, although, he definitely isn't letting him out if the pokeball near the kids.

Espurr was a different story. He checked his movepool on the pokedex, and the pokemon seemed to know Confusion, Scratch, Fake Out and Disarming Voice. Funnily enough, Espurr's ability was Own Tempo, which wasn't anything special on its own. It would, however, turn into Prankster once Espurr evolves. Espurr was not a pokemon trainers usually went for, it had the attacking power, but it lacked speed and bulk, not too many bothered to overcome that, and it definitely didn't suit Joe's rapid battle style. However, with Prankster in mind, Joe came up with a pretty interesting idea almost immediately. One word - Teleport.

Now, Prankster was a strange ability to explain. How it worked in simulations was allowing for a pokemon's status moves to move first. However, in real battles, it had a slightly different way of working. It didn't guarantee any move going first, instead, it lowered the time it took for non-damaging moves to come along. Even without Prankster, Espurr can use Teleport to move around the field faster than it would on foot, particularly, it was a better option than Protect, because it would allow not only avoiding your opponent's attack, but positioning yourself for the counter. Taking Prankster into account, it would only make Teleport a bit faster, which was still a big plus. So, in order for Espurr to become good, Joe had to get his hands on Teleport TM. That was his way of overcoming the disadvantages. And if he got a Shadow Ball on him, Espurr would deal with any ghost type that dares stand in his way.

One question kept pounding in his head. Would that be enough? Henry had beaten him. They were already 500 hundred points behind. Even though Joe was confident in his abilities, he couldn't ignore the reality. If his teammates don't pull their weight in the tournament, he won't score points, even if he does win his match. Then, the tournament afterwards is in singles format, but even then, he could get matched up with Henry in round one and lose it without scoring any points. He shook that out of his head. There was no way in hell he'd fail the year. Getting weird looks for being a trainer was one thing, the last thing he needed was to be a failure as well.

Watching the kids play around, doubts started rising in his throat. He knew what today had entailed for him. Damien was surely going to put him through it. Joe knew the day would come sooner or later - the day he becomes a full-fledged team skull member.

The functioning properties of team skull were simple - it gathered 'trainers' in Alola. Rare few people who actually went along and caught pokemon in pokeballs. To be a full-fledged member, you had to go against Alolan customs and own a pokemon.

Although Damian had taken Joe under his wing, Joe was merely an associate of team skull, never an official member, since he didn't have a pokemon of his own. In order to become a member, you'd have to pass what the members called 'team skull battlemania trial", which was nothing more but battlimg 4 team skull members back to back. It was an idea build upon the kahuna's of the 4 isladns. Back in the day, up until 70 years ago, they served like protectors of the islands and were the only trainers in Alola.

Usually, the trialer would battle 4 of the weaker members of the team, beginner level, basically, but Joe was sure Damian would not allow for that in his case. He became the leader of their wing a year ago, so he called the shots, and the boy was sure he wouldn't give him an easy time. Besides, the two of them have known each other since Joe was 7, so one thing was for certain. Damian will battle him as well. They've always talked about it, and today was the day that happens. Their match.

Little to say, Joe had learned almost everything he knew watching Damian battle with his Oricorio. They were definitely a nasty pair.

It all swelled within him, the excitment, the fear. He's been watching Damian from the sidelines for so long, and today he was sure he'd finally take him on. The images of Riolu attacking Ves and Henry flashed in his head, but he shook them off. It wasn't going to happen again. Damian wasn't going to attack him, and he couldn't surprise him. Joe knew his battlestyle inside and out. Hell, Joe's battlestyle was born from watching Damian battle. Nothing bad was going to happen, he calmed himself down. Even if it did, Damian was more than capable of dealing with things. Joe let out a deep breath, trying to let go of the tension. He's not letting emotions run wild.

Looking over at the kids, Joe took hold of Riolu's pokeball, releasing his partner. His emotions were under control, there was nothing to fear. Riolu still wore the team skull bandana wrapped around his neck, it suited him well. "Hey, buddy, we have something pretty important coming up", Joe said quietly. Riolu's eyes were as calm as they always were. Yue started shuffling in his hands, reaching to pet Riolu. Joe let her do it. Nothing bad will happen, he reassured himself again. "Now, go have some fun with my cousins", Joe says to his partner.

Riolu darts off, getting immediate attention from the kids. Watching attentively, the way kids gather around his pokemon, Joe decides to let Espurr out again. There might be one thing Alola does right - pokemon should be a part of the world, not kept in pokeballs at all times.

The kids decide to play dodge ball. Joe watches as Riolu uses Detect over and over again in order to avoid taking hits. The kids don't figure out the pokemon is cheating, and Joe finds it amusing. It does serve as a form of training, the boy thinks in satisfaction. Even without knowing, even with their surroundings beimg against it, the kids are taking small part in training his partner, through simply existing together with him. Hopefully, dodge ball proves as a good warm up for what awaits him later.

*****

"No, let Rio play with us", Clara, one of his cousins, protests when Joe announces he has to go.

"You don't need him", anither kid joins up, "Rio likes playing with us more".

"I do need Rio", Joe says simply.

"Why? You're going to meet with Damian right?", another kid asks, "why do you need Rio for that?".

"Fools, he's going to make Rio battle", Rory throws out a very precise accusation.

"No, you can't", one of the smaller kids looks as if he's about to cry, "he'll get hurt".

"Nothing bad will happen", Joe says calmly, opting to quickly recall Riolu back to his pokeball. Otherwise, he might end up in a hostage situation.

"No, don't go", somebody wails.

"Aunt Maya, order him not to go", one of the kids decides to call for authorities.

"He can go wherever he wants to, I'm not stopping him", his mother shrugs it off, "if he's not wise enough to avoid getting hurt, that's on him".

"But what if Rio gets hurt instead?", another question.

"Yeah, he's going to make him battle, that's bad", Rory says decisevly, "you should stop him".

"Hey, kiddos, he goes to school for this", the woman calms them down, "not that I agree with his choices, but I'm not going to stop him from making them". She gives Joe a look that's between fear and dissapointment.

"I'm just gonna go now", Joe says, recalling Espurr in the process.

With grunts of dissatisfaction behind him, he walks away down the street. It doesn't take him too long to reach the outskirts of Mali city, it's a road he knows by heart. Making it through one of the numerous holes in the fence that separates the city from wilderness, he finds himself in rocky moors. Few more minutes of walking have him facing an abandoned holiday house that served as a base for team skull, and he can already see a few people hanging out in the front.

He passes them by quickly, not wanting to waste a second more. He has waited to face off against Damian pretty much his whole life, he couldn't take it any longer. The folks in front of the doors greet him. They know him, of course, but only as Damien's younger friend. It doesn't bother Joe, he only knows them as some team skull members as well.

He catches his heart getting louder and faster with each step he takes inside that house. The walls are barren, save for a few pictures in broken frames. Strangley, even though he's in a hurry, he wishes the hallway was much longer than it was. But it's not, and only a few short steps have him standing in front of the doors that lead into the foyer. Grabbing the doorknob, he breaths out again. Nothing bad will happen, he reminds himself.

When he enters, the smell of paint envelops him immediately. They've been renovating, he thinks. The room is big and mildly populated. Around 20 people are there, chatting away, but he spots Damian almost immediately. The 17 year old is standing in one of the corners, casually explaining something to a few girls. Leisurely dressed in cotton shorts and palm-tree themed button down, one would assume he was a tourist and not a local gang member.

Damian spots him as well, throwing a smile and quickly abandoning his conversation to come over. Joe takes a few steps forward, meeting him half way.

"Hey, buddy, I hope you're ready for today", Damian smirks at him, ruffling Joe's hair in the process.

"I am", Joe clears his throat, "I take it I'll be facing you".

"Clearly, I've been waiting to battle you for way too long", Damian laughs, "but don't worry, I have a few other things prepared for you as well".

"Fine, let's go then", Joe's determined to face any challenge Damian throws at him.

"Well, slow down, we waited this long, we can save a few minutes", Damian wraps his arm around Joe, leading him to the staircase, "you need to tell me how's high school".

"I mean, you're in high school as well, you should know", Joe reminds him as they sit down on the stairs.

"Oh, well, you know I try to avoid that place whenever I can", Damian says playfully. "Besides, your high school has pokemon and it's on an island", Damian adds.

"Your high school's on the island as well", Joe points out with a sigh.

"Nothing escapes your discernment, huh", Damian laughs. "But really", Damian's voice falls a bit, gaining a serious note, "how are you doing? I know it's only been 2 weeks, but... you get why I'm asking right?".

"Um, I guess things are fine", Joe says simply, "mostly focusing on training, I don't really notice the other stuff".

"Yeah, sounds like you", Damian laughs weakly, "you miss being home? Miss your cousins?".

"Um, kind of, sometimes", Joe admits, "I mean, it feels strange, I think, that's all".

"Just strange?", Damian raises his eyebrow.

"Well, I wish I was there with my cousins, you know", Joe says calmly, "I mean, I just... they'll grow up, and I won't be there, and you know, they'll become like every Alolan ever, if my family has anything to do with it".

"Right, I get it", Damian nods. "They won't grow up to hate you, you know", Damian says. He has the unfortunate ability of hitting the right spots. Besides, he's known Joe for way too long.

"Yeah, no, they won't", Joe tries to reassure himself.

"And how are things with your classmates, you made any friends?", Damian decides to dig even more.

"They are fine", Joe thinks about it. "I mean, there's so many people, and everyone is different, but you know, everyone want to be a trainer there, so it's kind of... I can talk to people about it, you know".

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Sounds good, so, you've made some friends", Damian says, clearly satisfied with Joe's answer.

"Yeah, a few", Joe admits.

"Your teammates, I suppose", Damian smiles.

"No, no", Joe says, "my teammates are... way too complicated".

"Alright", Damian gives him a suspecting look, but lets it go, "as long as you have a few friends, that's good in my book".

"Hey, Damian", Joe says suddenly, "am I hard to be friends with?".

"Um, I don't know", Damian says simply, "not to me, I think".

"Yeah, it's just... I don't know, am I really that bad at showing people that I like them?", Joe looks at him expectantly.

"Depends on the people", Damian laughs weakly. "You can be hard to read and get through sometimes", Damian admits, "but you weren't like that when we were kids, so I guess it's different for me".

"Right, so you think I'm hard to understand", Joe notes.

"I think you grew up, so now there's a lot in you that has to be understood", Damian winks at him, "happens to the best of us, you shouldn't worry about it".

"Right", Joe nods along. It does make him feel better, hearing Damian say it.

"But you know, sometimes, you should try talking to other people like you talk to me", Damian offers, "I mean, if it's someone you like, there's nothing bad in it".

"I just think my actions should be enough", Joe admits, "I mean, I do my best, I should hope that it is enough for people to realise what I think of them".

"Well, some people need be shown, some need to be told", Damian says distantly, "you know, there's nothing wrong with doing both sometimes".

"Yeah, I guess you're right", Joe nods.

"Well, how long are you staying?", Damian questions further.

"I think I'll be heading back to Old King's tonight", Joe decides, "it's a long flight, and I have something I have to do".

"Need talk to someone?", Damian wraps his hand around his shoulder again.

"Yeah, that", Joe smiles, "and I have a challenge I need to take as well".

"Oh, you have a challenge?", Damian says in surprise.

"Yeah, well, apparently, I'm much better at making enemies than friends", Joe says flatly.

"Sounds nasty", Damian laughs, "well, if you're going back tonight, then we should hurry up with your trial".

"Let's go", Joe stands up decisevly. He breathes in, trying to regulate his racing heart. He's not sure what Damian has in mind for his trial, but he'll face it head on.

The doors to the foyer fly open, and two team skull members walk in, carrying someone between them.

"Hey, Damian, we found this brat snooping around", one of them says, as the kid tries to kick himself free without success.

"Rory, what are you doing here?", Joe says sternly, instantly recognising his cousin.

"I came to stop you", the kid tries yelling, but his voice gives out. Damian laughs, gesturing for the team members to let Rory free.

"So you decide to follow me into the wilderness", Joe sighs, "you know, if our parents find out, they'll kill both of us".

"Well, someone has to stop you", Rory says with innocent determination, "you can't force your pokemon to battle, that's bad".

"This is not a place where you should say something like that", Joe reminds him.

"Why not? Pokemon trainers are mean people who force pokemon to fight and hurt themselves", Rory crosses his arms. Damian laughs at this semtiment.

"Alright buddy, calm down now", the 17 years old walks over to Joe's cousin, picking the kid up and throwing him over his shoulder.

"Hey, let me go", Rory protest, kicking arouns as Damian carries him away.

"Look, bud, we'll hear you out a bit later", Damian reassures him.

"As if", Rory keeps flaunting his legs around.

"Look, I'll make you a deal", Damian offers, lowering the kid down on the ground, "have you ever seen a pokemon battle?". Rory shakes his head sharply. "Well, how about this then, you watch your cousin battle, and after that, you can tell us what you think, is that okay?".

"I'll still hate it", Rory crosses his arms decisevly.

"Well, you can tell us that after you see the battle", Damian raises his finger.

"Alright", Rory seems dissatisfied to give up.

"Good, see how fast I settle problems", Damian turns towards the middle of the room, "this is why I'm the leader here, you know".

Turning to Joe, he says: "Okay, now to finally begin, Joe, go stand in the middle of the room and let your partner join you, everyone else, take your place".

As Joe walks over to take his spot, he notices everyone has moved to stand by the wall, except for 4 people who created a wide circle around him. It didn't take him long to figure out what this was.

"The name of the game is ultimate battlemania trial", Damian says enthusiastically, "beat these 4, and you'll earn your match against yours truly".

"Beat them at the same time, I suppose", Joe says flatly, letting Riolu out of his pokeball.

"Naturally", Damian notes, "I can do it, if you can't then there's no point in battling me".

"Alright", Joe says simply, "ready when you are".

"Team skull, send out your pokemon", Damian orders, and the 4 members throw their pokeballs. Joe quickly takes note of the situation. Rattata and Meowth, both dark types, Alolan fenotype, they shouldn't be a problem for Riolu. Ribombee's there as well, which could pose a problem, but he had steel type moves to deal with that. The last opponent had Bounsweet, not a problem on its own, but if it had status moves, it could be trouble. He needed to get rid of that one first, and do it fast. The biggest problems, he was surrounded, attacking one opponent meant turning his back to the other three.

But he could do it. "Rio", he says quietly, "you focus on Bounsweet, and I'll watch the other three, warn you if they come in for an attack". Riolu nods in understanding.

"Alright, then battle begin", Damian announces loudly.

"Bullet Punch, Rio", Joe wastes no time, as Riolu crosses the room to reach the Bounsweet, hitting the grass type with steely fists.

"Quick Attack", two of the team skull members yell at that same time, as both Rattata and Meowth rush in on Riolu for a counter attack.

"Detect away from it", Joe says sharply, "double Vacuum Wave, send them forward". Riolu follows Joe's quick instructions flawlessly, flashing his eyes blue and moving bacwards to avoid incoming Quick Attack, then shooting a double-handed Vacuum Wave into both targets. Weak, Joe thinks, but it's easier having all his opponents in front of him instead of surrounding him.!

Taking a moment, Joe checks his hearbeat. It's racing still, but he feels good, he's in control. Nothing bad is about to happen.

"Great, go on Rio", Joe goes to say.

"Fairy Wind", the team skull memeber gives an order before Joe can continue.

He sees the Ribombee flying forwards, firing off an attack, and instinctiveinstinctively orders a Detect, even though he knows there it leads to.

Riolu's eyes flash blue again. Detect works in a curious ways, a pokemon shuts down all energetic pathways in its body, in order to clear its mind. It allows for the user to instinctively avoid any attack at great speed. The problem with instincts is that they lead you into a bad position sometimes.

With nowhere else to go in order to avoid a field-wide Fairy Wind, Riolu ends up instinctively jumping upwards, twisting his body away from his opponents.

Being suspended in mid-air leaves one vulnerable for taking attacks.

"Razor Leaf, go", his opponent yells, seeing the opportunity. Bounsweet jump forward, firing a baragge of sharp leaves at Riolu.

No Detecting his way out of this one. But he can't lose, not when he has to face Damian.

"Vacuum Wave, into the Rattata", Joe says through gritted teeth, deciding this is his best option.

Twisting in mid-air, Riolu fires of an attack, knocing Rattata out. Razor Leaf slams into the fighting type the very next moment, sending it down on the ground. He couldn't have avoided that attack, Joe thinks, downing one opponent and taking the hit was the best he could hope for in a situation like that.

It was down to 3v1 now, but he only managed to eliminate the weakest link. With Ribombee being there, as a fairy type that could freely move around through flight, Joe had no idea what to do next. His mind felt clouded, but he couldn't let himself lose.

What would it mean if he does lose? To these people? To Damian?

"Quick Attack, Meowth", the team skull members don't let him catch a breath.

"Detect", Joe says instantly. He hates to waste it like that, but Riolu was still on the ground, and this was the only way to avoid taking a hit. "Vacuum Wave", Joe orders as Riolu swiftly stands back up, avoiding the attack. He shoots a blast of fighting energy, sending Meowth flying back, but the cat is still standing.

"Now, Struggle Bug", the other guy orders.

"Stun Spore", the Bounsweet trainer joins in.

"Metal Claw, Rio, take the Struggle Bug", Joe says decisevly. He's not losing this.

Riolu flies in, taking damage but slashing at the Ribombee with a metalic claw, sending it upwards. Stun Spore hits, but Joe doesn't care about the paralysis.

"Keep it up, Rio, Vaccum Wave, send it back, then finish it with Bullet Punch", Joe doesn't let up. Riolu switly connects the two attacks, sending the fairy type flying back, only to chase after it, slaming it into the ground with a Metal Claw.

Joe steps backwards in shock. But this is no time to stop. No, nothing bad will happen. He notices Riolu's eyes have gone blank when he turns around.

"Quick Attack, get him", the team skull member yells out.

Joe only watches intentively. He needs to calm down before anything bad happens here.

Riolu's eyes flash blue, and the fighting type leaps into the air, jumping over the attacking Meowth, only to hit it with a Vacuum Wave mid-flight.

Riolu's fighting on his own, Joe thinks. His expression is still blank. He needs to calm down. Calm down. Joe takes a deep breath as Riolu aimlessly gazes around the room for a second, his eyes still blank. Calm Down.

"Razor Leaf, now", the final trainer says switfly, and Bounsweet launches into another attack.

"Rio, Detect", Joe says, keeping his voice as flat as he can, hoping his partner will listen.

Riolu's eyes flash blue, avoiding the attack. Unsure if his partner listened to him, or he had just done what he wanted to do, Joe attentively waits for Riolu's next move. But there's a glimpse of hope that he had regained control. When he sees Riolu's eyes return to normal, a sense of relief washes over him.

"Again with Razor Leaf", the team skull member says, not realising what could've happened just now.

"Detect, then Bullet Punch", Joe says, determined to end this before the paralysis becomes stronger. Now that it was down to 1v1 and Riolu was back to normal, Joe had nothing to fear.

His partner strays to the side, avoiding the oncoming Razor Leaf, then leaps towards the Bounsweet, his fists flashing in gray.

Hitting with Bullet Punch, Joe quickly decides to connect: "Metal Claw, end it, Rio". Still close to the Boumsweet, Riolu's claw flashes, and the fighting type sends his opponent flying bacwards, knocing it out.

Joe can almost feel the mountains falling off of his shoulders. He won. It's all good. He couldn't look himself in the eye if he lost here.

He looked over at Damian, seeing the blond-haired boy leisurely walk towards him. It hit him then, Damian was the reason he couldn't lose.

He learned everything he knows about battles by watching Damian, so what would it mean if he couldn't pass his test? That he wasn't worthy. That he should give up on being a trainer, leave Old King's.

If he couldn't pass Damian's test and beat Damian himself, then he wasn't supposed to be at Old King's at all. It wouldn't be fair, for him to be the first person from their islands to go to the pokemon school.

Although training pokemon was never illegal in Alola, people frowned upon it. A few people evetually went off to become trainers, but only after passing the tests in different regions, only after turning 18. Joe was the first one who got to take the school route, and succeeded in making it in. For most people, their parents didn't let them enter a high school that focused on pokemon training. Joe knew he was lucky, that his parents, even though they hated the idea, let him go to Old King's. Most kids in Alola didn't have that chance. And he had known full well, most people in this very room would kill to have had the same opportunity, Damian first and foremost.

If he had lost to them, it would be a sort of betreyal to these people. To himself. To Damian. Out of all of them, he had gotten a chance to go to Old King's, so he couldn't lose to them. He can't have them thinking he's a wasted opportunity.

He looked at Damian again, remembering all those times he watched him battle. If he had the same opportunity, if he was at Old King's, there wouldn't be a Mikey or a Henry that could beat him. And Joe knew first hand that Damian wanted to go there, but he couldn't.

Do you hate me? He wanted to ask his friend. Would you hate me more if I lost to you now?

"Hey, that was wild", Damian plants a hand on hid shoulder, and Joe shrinks instinctively, "especially that middle part, Riolu went berserker".

"Yeah", Joe says calmly, wanting to note that that wasn't a good thing at all.

"Alright, you pass, Portia, come heal my friend up", Damian looks around the room.

A green-haired girl steps out, seemingly not too happy. "Why am I the designated healer on this team?", "she complains, sending out a Comfey.

"You're the only one that has a pokemon with a healing move", Damian points out.

"Comfey, Aromatherapy, Floral Healing", the girl says in disinterest. Thinking better of it she adds: "use Floral Healing twice".

"Hey, um", Joe takes a moment to talk to Damian, "maybe we shouldn't do this".

"Right, you shouldn't", Rory appears next to them. The kid plants his hands on his hips, going for the sternest voice: "five pokemon had gotten hurt, and you still thinks battles are fun".

"Hey, kiddo, but was it not fun?", Damian winks at him.

"Not at all", Rory scoffs.

"Huh, a pacifist", Damian laughs.

"Look, Rio's probably tired from this already", Joe takes the opportunity, "and I should take Rory home anyways".

"Come on, Joe, you know I'll finish you up quickly", Damian bumps his shoulder playfully. Noticing a worried look on his friend's he adds: "what's wrong?".

"Look, it's just", Joe talks quietly so Rory doesn't hear him, "Riolu goes berserker sometimes, as you say it, and it happened again, well, this time it turned out well".

"What do you mean by again and this time it turned out well", Damian raises an eyebrow.

"Last two times this happened, Rio attacked people", Joe admits, "I don't want that happening again".

"I see", Damian nods, "you know why it happens?".

"Rio picks up on my emotions", Joe explains, "I think he tries to... protect me, I guess".

"Protect you from what?", Damian says.

"Well, the first time it happened, a teammate attacked me, and Iost control, Rio picked up on it and attacked him", Joe explains. When he battled Henry, he realises, he was not in danger. He doesn't say that to Damian.

"You weren't in danger right now", Damian picks up on the inconsistency on his own.

"Yeah, I know", Joe admits, "I don't know, I just think it's better if we don't battle".

"Joe", Damian says calmly, "I won't hurt you, and even if something happens, I'm capable of protecting myself, you know that".

"Yeah, I know", Joe says flatly, but his heart is trying to jump out of his chest. They have both waited for this for so long.

"It will be fine", Damain nods, "you'll be fine, okay, let's just do this, you know, now that you're in that school, I don't know when we'll get a chance to do this".

"I probably won't come around until holiday again", Joe admits. That's a long time, he knows. "You're right, let's do this", the boy says. He did manage to keep the situation under control, so maybe he was getting a hang of it.

"That's what I like to hear", Damian nods, smiling at him. "Alright folks, remove yourselves from my battlefield", he yells out, "I'm about to give my friend a battle of the lifetime".

"Hope you're ready for us", Damian says joyfully, throwing his pokeball into the air, "let's go Oreo, give him hell".

Yellow-feathered birds starts flapping his wings as soon as he hits the floor. Tgankfully for Joe, Damian kept his partner almost exclusively in pom-pom form, making it an electric and flying type. That alone was problematic enough, and Joe couldn't phanotm what he would do if Damian went with sensu form. Otherwise, nicknaming your pokemon after a snack was strange, but Damian gave that nickname to Oricorio when he was 13 and had first caught him. If anything, Joe had found it endearing.

Usually, he liked Oricorio, he was a fun and lively fellow, and pretty damn strong. This time however, he was facing it, and just the look at the bird made his thoughts start racing. He knew very well what this thing can do, and what Damian could do.

Joe looked over at Riolu. His partner looked good, Floral Healing did a good job at bringing back his strenght, and Aromatherapy had gotten rid of paralysis. More importantly, Riolu's eyes looked normal, and the fighting type seemed calm. He managed to take control when Riolu went off during that last battle, Joe thought, which was good. He could keep his cool. Nothing bad will happen. It was a 1v1 so it will be easier. Besides, Damian could very well end this before Riolu even came close to going berserker.

"You ready?", Damian questions with a grin, a determined look forever stuck in his eyes.

"Ready", Joe summons up his confidence. He can do this. He has to do this now, he was the one person here who had gotten the chance, and he was going to prove he was worth it.

"Alright, then, I'll be the referee", Portia says firmly, stepping a bit closer in. "You can start now", she says without an ounce of enthusiasm.

"Vacuum Wave, Rio, fast", Joe says quickly, not planning to give Damian time to try anything funny.

"Oreo, go for Aerial Ace, dodge that", Damian says with a smile. His partner jumps forwards, as if dancing easily getting out of the way of the Vacuum Wave, only to send a threatening air current at Riolu.

"Detect, then Bullet Punch", Joe gives a quick order. Damian's been training with Oricorio for 4 years, and the bird was incredibly agile and swift.

"Dodge with Revelation Dance", Damian orders with a smile.

"Rio, get back", Joe says as soon as he sees Oricorio dancing away from the Bullet Punch, "Detect".

Riolu wasn't lacking in the speed department either, flashing his eyes blue and moving bacwards. The only problem was - Oricorio was a true born dancer. Not only was it his ability, but the bird had that sort of the movement. Even when Damian first caught him, Oricorio was great at dodging attacks at close range. After 4 years of training, the boy had only made that ability more prominent.

Joe had no idea what to do. Even the fastest Vacuum Wave could be avoided, all while Oricorio went for a counter attack. A priority move, that none of his classmates could deal with, was nothing to Oricorio, just a simple obstacle that could be carelessly stepped away from. This is the difference that time makes.

"Go, Oreo, Aerial Ace, again", Damian doesn't waste much time.

"Metal Claw, stop it head on, Rio", Joe decides to try a different tactic. Just avoiding Damian's attacks isn't going to get him anywhere.

Riolu's hands flash in grey, as the fighting type clashes head-on with his opponent. He manages to cancel out the attack, but Joe sees the blowback. Riolu barely managed to stop it this time.

"Revelation Dance", Damian says.

"Detect", Joe says readily. This was expected from Damian.

"Good, now get them with another Aerial Ace", Damian orders with a grin.

"Rio, fast, Vacuum Wave, just slow it down, get back", Joe says realising he had fallen into a trap. He can fix it.

Oricorio starts the next attack quickly, forcing Riolu even further backwards, but the fighting type manages to throw his opponent off with Vacuum Wave just enough to avoid the attack.

"Again, go Orio", Damian presses on.

"Detect", Joe orders, having no other way out of this.

It's not even funny, how one sided this battle is. It wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair. Damian should've been the one to have gotten the chance to go to Old King's. He was by far a better trainer, and a more likeable person.

"Go, Acrobatics, now, Oreo", Damian yells out, and Oricorio instantly jumps up, using the nearby wall to bounce himself off, and dances through the air towards Riolu.

Detect was baited, Joe thinks, and he couldn't dodge this. "Bullet Punch", the boy says desparately. He can't lose. Not like this, not without even touching Damian's pokemon.

His heart starts racing as Oricorio dodges the attack mid-air, landing a full-blown acrobatics straight at Riolu.

That was it, Joe thinks, that one attack is more than enough to knock Riolu out. The difference in strenght was too wide, and he couldn't do it. It pulses through his head, that he has failed everyone here. He couldn't even stand close to Damian.

He doesn't even notice when Riolu stands back up.

"Oh, he's a fighter", he hears Damian's voice, but it sounds so distant, drowned out by the rush of blood.

Then he sees it, Riolu flies to the middle of the room, ignoring Oriocorio completely. Before anyone can react, Riolu rapidly shoots his hands forward, firing a clean Vacuum Wave straight into Damian.

The very next second, a Moonblast slams into Riolu. Portia reacted. But Joe doesn't care about that. All but running across the room, he finds himself standing above Damian, whose face had been twisted in pain as he held on to his shoulder with a shaky hand.

"I'm sorry", Joe mutters, "are you okay, I'm sorry".

"You couldn't beat me, so you decided I don't deserve having a shoulder, huh, buddy", Damian laughs through the pain.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want this to happen", Joe says, helplessly crouching down and helping Damian to get up.

"Hey, hey, calm down", Damian wraps his arm around him, leaning onto him, "I'm alive, just get Rio back to his pokeball so this doesn't happen again".

"Alright", Joe says, obliging immediately.

"See, I told you", Rory comes in close to them, with an angry look in his eyes, "this is why you shouldn't do pokemon battles".

"Not now, Rory", Joe says absentmindedly, as he makes sure Damian can stand on his own.

"You know, kiddo, most pokemon battles don't go like this", Damian smiles weakly at Rory.

"Whatever, it's still no good", the kid scoffs.

"Hey, we'll take Damian to the hospital", Portia lands her hand on Joe's shoulder, "you take the kid home, go and calm down alright".

"I can come along", Joe offers quickly.

"Hey, no need for that, I'm fine", Damian says through gritted teeth, "it's just a shoulder".

"I'm sorry, Damian", Joe says again.

"It's all okay, go home, and get this out of your head, alrigt?", Damian nods along, "I'll come around to see you before you leave tonight, okay".

"Right, okay", Joe nods reluctantly. It feels stupid, making a mess then leaving, letting others deal with it. But it's what Damian wants. "Rory, let's go", Joe says, grabbing his cousin's hand. The kid quickly shakes himself free, and Joe doesn't insist any further.

This is not how he wanted things to go.

*****

It was as if his room was closing in on him, the walls trying to swallow him. Maybe it was trying to keep him there, in Alola, where he was supposed to be.

Getting his mind off of this was harder than ever. Packing wasn't a good enough distraction. He only brought a single backpack anyways, so there wasn't much to pack.

But he needed to get his mind off of it. Espurr sat quietly on his bed, blankly staring at him, and Joe could only hope Espurrs didn't have a hidden ability to pick up on people's emotions. Riolu was in his pokeball, and Joe had hoped the heal capsule would bring him back to health.

He looked through the window, the sunset coloured the sky in burning orange. Sunsets in Alola lasted long. Through the white curtains draped over his window, the colours were muted. Curtains, he thought. It crossed his mind that Ace was on and on about how he wanted curtains for their room. Joe walks over the the window, taking the fabric down, almost manically. He also needed more pots for growing berries, he rembered. And soil. He pulled over a small carry on bag, showing the curtain into it.

This would have to be enough to get his mind off of things.

He ran down the stairs into the storage room. Shuffling through stuff, he quickly dug up a few flower pots, he could carry 5 of them in the bag, at most, he decided. One pack of soil should be enough, he picked that up as well.

"Hey, sweetie, what are you doing?", his mother's voice surprises him from behind, sounding as sweet as ever.

"Just taking some stuff to bring back to school", Joe says without turning around.

After a few moments of heavy silence, his mother speaks up: "you shouldn't have taken Rory with you to that place with you".

"I didn't take him", Joe says flatly, "he followed me".

"Joe, the kid had gotten scared after what you did", his mother says. It was rare to hear sharpness in her voice, and Joe never has an answer to it. "Is that what you want out of your life? For your cousin to be afraid of you?".

"I didn't do it on purpose", Joe says quietly, "it just happened".

"When you chase after bad things, you catch them", his mother responds, and Joe knows what she means.

"Mom, it's not like that", he tries keeping his voice calm, "it's necessary for pokemon trainers to exist".

"It's not, it's just what you want to do, sweetie", his mother retorts, "Alola is a living proof of that".

"Remember that one time a wild Muk wandered into our berry field and was poisoning the soil, and I had to call Damian to fight him off?", Joe reminds her.

"I'm sure that could've been solved in a different way as well", his mother sighs, "your way isn't the only way".

"Yeah, I'm sure you could friend it off", Joe puts it blantly, "sometimes, the hard path is the right path, it's an ugly truth, mom".

"The truth, sweetie, is that we never wanted you to stop you from doing anything, so we let you do what you want", his mother stands next to him, "we thought you'd find your way back to us, but you're only straying further away".

Joe doesn't have an answer to that. In their heads, pokemon battling is a vile thing. And Joe was vile as well for doing it.

"Don't you see where that harder path is leading you? Even your cousins are starting to be scared of you. Is that what you want? Do you even see what you're losing by going deeper down this route?", the barrage of questions feels too light for the occasion.

"Are they scared of me because of me, or because you are brainwashing them?", Joe retorts.

"Come on Joe, they are kids, you were a kid once as well, put yourself in their shoes", his mother sighs, "of course it scares them seeing you bring harm to another living thing".

"Well, I'm not a kid anymore", Joe steps away, holding on to his flower pots and the Alolan soil.

"I know", his mother says distantly, "I wish you were, you were such a sweet kid, but you're growing up".

"And you don't like what I'm growing up into", Joe looks her in the eye.

"I don't know the person you're growing up into", his mother returns his gaze, "and it scares me as well".

"Do you even want to know the person I'm becoming?", Joe turns around. His mother doesn't say anything behind him.

Back in his rooms, he shoves the pots and the soil into the bag. That's all the packing he has to do. Another hour separates him from boarding the plane. He could very well be on his way. But Damian said he'd be coming over.

Maybe he was still in the hospital, Joe thinks. Or the promise was just a way to get Joe to leave. He could only waste 15 more minutes, then he has to go.

Those 15 minutes pass in the haze of trying not to think about his battle with Damian. Ultimately, the clock decides his fate. Throwing the backpack over his shoulder and picking up the bag, Joe runs down the stairs. He says a quick goodbye to his parents, aunts and uncles, who are sat in the living room. For the most part, the animosity is gone. He says goodbye to his cousins, with Rory refusing to say a word to him. Yue makes up for that by tightly wrapping her hands around Joe.

He steps out of his house as quickly and possible, and to a grateful surprise, he spots Damian walking up to his house. Guilt stings Joe when he sees the boy's left shoulder wrapped in bandages. Still, he feels good seeing him. He did come along.

"Leaving already", Damian waves at him with his healthy arm.

"Yeah, the plane takes off soon, I need to go", Joe runs up to him, accepting a high five.

"Alright, then I'll see you off", Damian decides.

"No need, you should go rest", Joe says.

"No way, I know how you are", Damian laughs, "if I go now, you'll overthink this for the next 3 months".

"Right, sorry", Joe scratches his head while they walk further down the street, "are you alright?".

"I'm fine, the blowback from the attack dislocated my shoulder, but that's all", Damian says simply.

"Oh, sorry", Joe clears his throat uncomfortably.

"It's fine, you know, you did warn me Rio goes off sometimes, and I pressured you into battling", Damian shoves him playfully, "so, this is my fault as well, in my defense, I couldn't wait for us to face off".

"Wasn't much of a face off", Joe laughs weakly.

"Oh, yeah, I had you in the palm of my hand", Damian says proudly, "but you know, people usually go down much faster, so you were not bad, alltogether".

"I couldn't even land a hit on you", Joe says matter of factly.

"Well, first off, no one can land a hit on me boy, so write that down", Damian says, "second off, you've had Rio for like, 2 weeks, and Oreo and I have 4 years of training behind us, so I don't know what you were expecting to happen".

"I was expecting to hit you at least once", Joe offers.

"Okay, next time I'll let you land one hit, if that will keep you quiet", Damian laughs.

"I don't know", Joe says, the idea of Damian going easy on him not sitting right with him.

"Oh, come on, what's up now?", Damian rolls his eyes playfully.

"Do you hate me?", Joe shoots.

"Come on, I've told you this is nothing, of course I don't hate you", Damian sighs.

"No, not for this", Joe says, "for being at Old King's".

"Why would I hate you for that?", Damian says, utterly confused.

"I mean, I know your parents were against it, so you didn't even get to try, and I know that you wanted to", Joe explains what has been weighing on him, "do you hate that it's me?".

"Joe, I don't really look back at things like that", Damian says calmly, "I am where I am, I'm not bitter about it".

"Yeah, but you'd be much better at this than I am", Joe admits, "I mean, I couldn't even touch you today".

"Calm down, you'll catch up to my greatness in time", Damian winks at him. "Of course I don't hate you, dude, I'm happy that you have gotten a chance", he says in a more serious tone, "why are you even thinking about that?".

"Just, I know how hard it is for kids in Alola to even say they want to be a trainer, let alone to give it a try", Joe confesses, "and here I am, with a chance to get into the big leagues in a few years, I was thinking, you know, if I do it, things could become easier, more kids would want to be trainers, more kids could try. I know I could help change things for them, and for everyone in team skull, but what if I'm not good enough?".

"Hey, Joe", Damian laughs, "you know, that's noble, but why the hell are you putting all that pressure on yourself right now?".

"I just think about it", Joe says, "can't help it".

"Well, buddy, I hope you make it, I'm sure that you will", Damian says, "but stop getting into your head about it, big leagues are still 4 years away from you".

"If I even make it there", Joe notes.

"You will", Damian says decisevly, "and no worries, team skull will do just fine over here while you do it".

"Right, I know you will", Joe nods along.

"And when we're on the topic of team skull", Damian says, digging through his pocket. He pulls out a skull bandana, unceremoniosly throwing it at Joe: "this is yours now, you're officially a full-fledged skull".

"But I lost", Joe twsists the bandana in his hand.

"You passed the trial", Damian points out, "and Portia interrupted our battle, so techinacally, you didn't lose to me".

"We both know I would've lost", Joe rolls his eyes.

"Well, to be fair, no one in team skull can beat me anyways, so you know, losing to me is a must-have if you want to join", Damian laughs, and Joe can see the airport in the distance.

"Thanks", the boy clears his throat.

"Don't mention it", Damian smiles, "now go, give 'em hell, kid".