The sky was clear, with not a single rain cloud in sight.

Though it's common to train in various weather conditions—rainy days, snowy days—to be prepared for all scenarios, on days like today, it's easier to train under the bright sun.

The day after leaving the Kanto archipelago, Jin and his partner, Sceptile, woke up early in the morning and went straight to the wing deck for their morning training.

"Sceptile, prepare Energy Ball."

"Scep!"

Following Jin's command, Sceptile generated an Energy Ball at its mouth, then absorbed it, converting the energy into power. The overwhelming energy radiated from its entire body, eventually concentrating in the leaves on its arms and tail, which began to glow green. This enhancement technique, demonstrated in the battle against Rayquaza, was named Energy Charge by Friede.

"Maintain that state."

At first, Sceptile appeared comfortable, but its expression gradually turned pained, and a bead of sweat trickled down its forehead.

"...Scep..."

However, after about five minutes, it reached its limit. The leaves on its arms and tail returned to their normal state, and Sceptile dropped to one knee.

(As I thought, five minutes is still the limit.)

Five minutes without movement—but in a real battle, it would need to maintain this state while moving. And considering Sceptile's battle style, it has to move more vigorously than most Pokémon. In practical terms, Energy Charge might last only a minute, or at most a few minutes in a battle.

"Sceptile, from now on, we'll train Energy Charge every morning. Our first goal is to maintain it for ten minutes while standing still, and then work towards sustaining it for five minutes while moving at full power. It might be tough, but I'm counting on you."

"Scep!"

Sceptile was full of determination. Facing the formidable Rayquaza made it realize that there are beings stronger than itself in this world, and that it still has much room to grow. The encounter with Rayquaza seemed to have rekindled the spirit it had when it first set out on its journey.

(Sceptile should take a break for now, so next…)

"Jin! Good morning!"

"Fueee!"

As Jin was about to decide which Pokémon to train next, Roy and Fuecoco appeared from the observation room.

"Good morning. You're up early."

In truth, Jin's morning training sessions start quite early. During his solo journey, he developed the habit of waking up early to prepare breakfast for himself and his Pokémon, plan the travel time to the next town, and fit in training.

"Yeah! I wanted to start training with Fuecoco as soon as possible!"

"Fueee!"

Initially, Roy was eager to jump straight into battles, but Jin held him back. Fuecoco currently only knows Tackle, which wouldn't make for a proper battle. So, Jin suggested they first work on mastering Ember, a basic Fire-type move.

And so, Roy and Fuecoco began their training on Ember, but…

"Fuee…"

"I can't do it…"

They were having quite a hard time.

(This feels nostalgic.)

Seeing them struggle reminded Jin of his own early days and when Liko first met Sprigatito. The frustration of not being able to successfully execute a move is a path that every Pokémon and Trainer must walk.

(Well… They're off to a better start than Liko and Sprigatito were.)

Back then, Liko and Sprigatito had no clear direction and weren't in sync at all, leading to plenty of challenges. In contrast, Roy and Fuecoco are motivated and have a clear goal in mind.

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(…Besides…)

Every time Fuecoco received the command to use Ember, it managed to produce a small flame from its mouth. At this rate, it might master Ember without Jin needing to step in.

"Jin, how can we get Fuecoco to use Ember properly?"

"Fueee?"

"Just keep practicing."

"Aw, really?"

"Haha… Well, it's about time. Let's have breakfast first."

"Oh, you're right. It's already that late…"

"Fuecocoo!"

"After breakfast, I'll help you with the training."

"Really? You promise? Alright, let's go, Fuecoco!"

"Fueee!"

Hearing Jin's words, Roy and Fuecoco suddenly regained their energy. They raced each other back to the observation room and then dashed toward the meeting room.

(They've got so much energy… Is this what having a younger brother feels like?)

Jin found their bright and lively behavior endearing—if that's the right word to use for boys. As an only child, it was a feeling he had never experienced before. Knowing it was best not to say this out loud, he kept the thought to himself and followed after Roy.

***

After finishing the breakfast prepared by Murdock in the meeting room, Jin and the others received their Rotom Phones from Friede, who had installed the Rising Volt Tacklers' official app. With this, they were officially welcomed as members of the Rising Volt Tacklers.

Along with this, Friede suggested, "Let's drop the formalities," so they decided to stop using polite language as well.

"Dot?"

This was the first time Jin and the others heard about Dot, another member of the Rising Volt Tacklers. She was Murdock's niece and specialized in gathering information. Apparently, she was also the one who developed the Rising Volt Tacklers' app that they had just installed on their phones.

"Where is Dot? We haven't seen her even once."

"She rarely shows herself."

"Meeting her is a rare event."

(Well, she's not a Pokémon…)

They all lived on the same ship, not in some vast forest, so it was odd that they hadn't even crossed paths by chance. Yet, Jin and the others had never seen Dot.

(Is she avoiding us on purpose? Or does she just never leave her room?)

"She might know something about the Black Rayquaza."

"Got it! Let's go! Jin, Liko, come on!"

"Uh, okay!"

"Yeah."

(At least we should introduce ourselves… Hearing that she's rare makes me want to meet her even more.)

Whether it's a Pokémon or a person, if someone says meeting them is rare, it makes you all the more determined to do so. Maybe that's just a Trainer's—or a human's—natural instinct.

"This is the place."

With that thought, Jin, Liko, and Roy made their way to Dot's room. As they were about to knock and call out to her, they heard a familiar tune playing inside.

(Hmm? Where have I heard that before?)

"This song… It's from Nidothing!"

"Oh… that."

"Was she watching videos?"

"That's great, Liko."

"Huh?"

"Someone your age, who likes the same streamer… You might share similar interests. You could become friends!"

"R-really?"

(A friend… Besides Jin, Roy, and Anne… I'm a bit nervous, but this is my chance to make up for what happened at school!)

Back when Liko was attending Indigo Academy, there were times when her classmates were watching Nidothing's videos, and she had tried to join in the conversation. However, her shy personality held her back, and when she found that her interpretations of the videos differed from theirs, she ended up not saying anything at all. That happened several times, leaving her frustrated. But this time, she was determined to succeed.

"Alright then, let's try again."

Jin knocked on the door three times, but there was no response.

"No answer, huh?"

"Hmm…"

It didn't seem likely that she wasn't there. According to the others, she almost never left her room.

(Are we being ignored…?)

"Excuse me! My name is Roy. I'm new to the Rising Volt Tacklers. Do you know anything about the Black Rayquaza?"

Growing impatient with the lack of response, Roy called out loudly. Suddenly, a Pokémon appeared through the pet door at the bottom of the door.

"Quax!"

It was a Quaxly, a Duckling Pokémon that often wandered near Ludlow. Jin crouched down to Quaxly's level and noticed a folded piece of paper tucked into its chest feathers. He took the paper and unfolded it.

"...What's this?"

The paper had a drawing of what appeared to be Roy and Fuecoco, but the depiction showed them getting defeated in battle.

"How rude…"

"It can't be helped. We're still rookies, after all."

It was true that Roy was a novice Trainer. Compared to Liko, who had already received Jin's guidance, Roy had less knowledge and skill, making him undeniably inexperienced as a Trainer.

(…But what do they expect from someone who just became a Pokémon Trainer yesterday?)

Roy had only caught Fuecoco the day before; he was as new as it gets. It was normal that he wasn't capable of much yet, and he and Fuecoco had been training hard this morning to improve. There was no reason to mock them without even giving them a chance.

(We're all on the same ship, so I don't want to cause any trouble… but I don't like this one bit.)

With that in mind, Jin stood up and knocked on the door once more, calling out to Dot.

"Listen, Dot. Roy and Fuecoco are going to master Ember today and learn the basics needed for battle."

"What!? Wait a second!"

"Jin!"

Roy and Liko, flustered, tried to stop Jin, but he continued without hesitation.

"If they can do that, then I want you to consider Roy's request."

As expected, there was no response.

(Just as I thought…)

"I'll take your silence as agreement. Let's go, Roy, Fuecoco."

"J-Jin! Wait a minute!"

"No time to waste. We need to hurry."

"Fueee…"

Jin grabbed Roy by the arm and started heading toward the Wing Deck. Fuecoco hurriedly followed behind.

"Uh, um… Excuse us! J-Jin! Roy! Wait for me!"

"Meoww!"

Liko and Sprigatito quickly left after Jin and Roy. Once they were gone, the door slowly creaked open, revealing a small girl with purple hair. She peeked out and watched them walk away.

"So… that's Jin, the champion of Ever Grande Conference…"

// END

I was thinking of skipping this part, but since I've taken away Roy and Fuecoco's spotlight, I thought I'd include a power-up event here to keep them as strong as they are in the original story.