One thing that I noticed as soon as I got back to the Pokémon Center was that even though the field for the Hearthome Tag competition had been halved in one afternoon, the Pokémon Center was still a lively place. Most of the contestants had committed to being here for several days, and that didn't even take into account all the trainers who had been on the fence about a tag competition, until they witnessed firsthand how fun it actually looked. Battles were breaking out all over the Pokémon Center grounds.

While it's cool to see everyone getting into the spirit of the competition, it also means that Nurse Joy had a lot of work to do as the day winded down. The iconic nurse looks at all the Pokéballs assorted in front of her and scratches the back of her head. The Blissey next to her offers Nurse Joy her support, as does someone else.

"Joy. Allow me to help you heal these Pokémon, just like I am healed and rejuvenated every time I catch sight of your lovely face."

Brock's one liners to women somehow sound even worse in person than they do on television. His tag partner Wendy does not seem very happy about his philandering ways, and I half expect Dawn to pull him away from Nurse Joy by the ear, even if she has her hands full.

Instead, she shakes her head. "You can trust Brock with Pokémon, Nurse Joy. He's an expert at taking care of them, and that includes knowing what medicines that they need."

Nurse Joy beams. "In that case, I'd greatly appreciate your help!"

"Are you sure Brock will be ok back there?" Wendy asks Dawn once she returns to the table that Lucas and her are occupying. Ursula went straight back to her room and hasn't come out yet, so I'm sitting at an adjacent table, across from Conway.

Dawn nods firmly. "He takes his work with Pokémon really seriously," she insists, holding up the Togepi in her arms. "I wouldn't have known how to raise a baby like this one without all of Brock's expertise. He even has a Pokémon that's a natural healer as well!"

She points the pink Pokémon following Brock inside, and to my mild surprise, it's not another Chansey or Blissey. "An Audino, huh? Where'd you find one of those in Sinnoh?"

The coordinator seems impressed that I know what Pokémon that is. "She was actually helping out a bunch of sick Pokémon in an abandoned building that we came across. Brock helped them get better, and Audino really bonded with him and decided to come along!"

"That sounds about right," I say. "Ninety-five percent of the Pokémon Centers back where I'm from have an Audino assisting the head nurse. They're really kindhearted."

Conway suddenly leans across the table, his glasses reflecting the light in here so I can't see his eyes. "You're from Unova? Here I thought no one would recognize my Amoonguss. I may have to reconsider the threat you pose to me in the competition, heheheh."

As annoying as Barry is, considering he ran off as soon as he gave his Snover to Nurse Joy, shouting about how he had something extremely important to do, I'm quickly realizing that there could have been worse options for partners.

"Well, we're on opposite sides of the bracket anyways," I deflect. "You'll have to make it through Lucas and Dawn first."

He thankfully turns his gaze onto them. "Indeed. Their teamwork was something to behold earlier today. Most of the other teams will have to put in extra work to catch up."

"Is that what Ash and Paul are still up to?" Lucas asks his tag partner. "Trying to build up their synergy?"

"I don't think Ash and Paul could have synergy if they tried," Dawn said, shrugging her shoulders. "You saw how they battled. Everytime they run into each other, they can't help but get into some kind of fight. Which reminds me." She stands up suddenly, and Togepi cheers happily. Dawn gives it a fond look before heading to the door. "I need to go check on them, to make sure they don't get into a battle before the match tomorrow. Anyone want to come?"

Wendy and Conway stay put, but Lucas gets up to follow her, and after a moment, so do I. It's not like I have anything better to do, seeing as my tag partner is nowhere to be found.

I'm not going to pass up a chance for some information gathering. While I can probably guess what Ash probably has on his team at this point, I don't really know anything about what Pokémon Paul uses, other than they have to be strong, or he'll release them, no questions asked. As an outsider looking at their relationship, I highly doubt Chimchar is his first Pokémon.

We can't find Ash and Paul at first, but we see several Fire-type attacks being launched into the sky at the far end of this very large training area, and Dawn starts leading us over there. Her instincts are right, because we do find Ash, though he's not training with Paul, only watching him. Lo and behold, Barry's here watching Paul too; he and Ash are having an animated disagreement over Paul and his training methods.

"I don't see why you don't see what I see!" Barry's saying. "Paul's training methods are top notch! He's one of the strongest trainers competing in the circuit as a result! I'd rank him a solid third, after the two crazy powerful ones, but I think he's going to be in the finals. And you'd better believe that I'm going to be right there opposite him!"

"Well," Ash defends himself. "I'm allowed to disagree. I don't like the way Paul trains his Pokémon, or the way he releases ones that he doesn't think are good enough. I'm not going to copy him, no matter what you say."

"Whaaaaaat?! Have you ever seen the way he battles?!"

"Yes," Paul cuts in. "He has. Multiple times. From the losing side. Now, both of you shut up, because Chimchar is getting distracted."

Speaking of which, it seems like Paul's frustration with Chimchar's performance during their battle is manifested in some solo training. Personally, I think he was expecting way too much of it to burn through Rhydon's attacks like they were made of paper. Paul obviously disagrees.

He has his five other Pokémon lined up next to him, while Chimchar faces them all. "Weavile, Icicle Crash!" Paul's Weavile steps up and creates a gray storm cloud over Chimchar that drops several large icicles onto the Fire-type's head.

"Now, defend yourself with Flame Wheel!" Chimchar tries its best, but it's very clearly tired, from the battle earlier today and who knows how much of this training they've been doing since before we got here. It melts the first few icicles before they reach it, but the last few connect and splinter onto the Flame Wheel.

I don't think Paul is going to stop until Chimchar does this right. He calls his next Pokémon up to the plate to attack. "Elekid, Thunderbolt. Counter with Flamethrower." Again, it's close for a little bit, but Thunderbolt quickly overpowers Chimchar's defense and connects with its target, brutally shocking it. Chimchar goes down to one knee, desperately sucking in wind.

"Fire Spin! Murkrow, Dark Pulse!" This time, it's not even close. Paul's Murkrow blasts through the weak fire funnel easily, and Chimchar is sent tumbling backwards.

Paul's grimace isn't for his Pokémon, that's for sure. "Flame Wheel again. Lairon, Double-Edge!" Right as his Steel-type lowers its head to charge into the defenseless Chimchar, Ash and Lucas have seen enough.

"What's going on here?"

"Paul, stop it!"

Of course, Ash's tag partner doesn't answer either question. "I was only tolerating your presence because I'm stuck with you. Otherwise, stay out of my business."

"Your business is my business, Paul," Ash insists. "We're a tag team, remember?"

Paul mutters something under his breath that sounds a lot like "unfortunately," Lucas follows up on his previous question.

"Why is Chimchar the only one you're treating this way?"

"Because Chimchar is the only one that requires this special training. It's lagging behind all of my other Pokémon," Paul answers without looking back.

"Paul, you can't force a Pokémon to become stronger whenever you want! It doesn't work like that! You need to let them improve and grow at their own pace," Ash once again tries to convince his tag partner.

The purple-haired boy scoffs. "Oh please. I'm not going to baby or coddle a Pokémon. That's a waste of my time, that takes away valuable time for my Pokémon who are actually performing as they should be."

Chimchar looks so sad and downcast at Paul's words, and it can't meet the eyes of Paul's four other Pokémon that were training with it. The massive Torterra that stands at the very back doesn't glare at Chimchar, but it doesn't defend the Fire-type either.

As awful as it might sound, Paul has a point. There's no Experience Share to help your weaker Pokémon grow. It has to be done the old-fashioned way, and it's clear that most of Paul's other Pokémon resent Chimchar for holding them back.

That does get me wondering if Glaceon feels a little annoyed that most of my time has been spent with the newer members of our team, especially since Charmander and Spewpa both evolved and Oddish has evolved twice, and I wanted to explore the new possibilities of their evolutions.

She deserves some special attention, even if we aren't learning any new powerful moves soon. I don't know how we're going to learn Shadow Ball and Ice Beam, but I'm going to get them in her arsenal before this year is over.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Is that really Chimchar's fault, though? Ash doesn't seem to think so. "Is that why you were battling like that in the Tag Battle? To force Chimchar to get stronger?"

Paul sneers at Ash. "You caught on quicker than I thought a fool like you would. Yes. I needed Chimchar to get hit by that Rhydon's attacks, so it could break through by unlocking its true power. Instead, you messed it up."

Ash has had enough of trying to appeal to Paul, and tries to reach out to Chimchar instead. "You don't have to do this, Chimchar. There are other ways to get stronger, you know."

"Enough," Paul says with finality. "I wouldn't be doing this if Chimchar didn't agree to it. This is what Chimchar wants." Ash looks at the Fire-type, hoping to see it disagree with Paul's words, but instead Chimchar gives him a small smile and a nod, as if to say that everything was fine and dandy. Satisfied with his Pokémon's response, Paul continues. "Now, get out of my way. We aren't finished training here."

Lucas and Ash retreat back to the treeline where Dawn and I are watching the whole thing go down. Barry's closer up than we are to get a front-row perspective. "Chimchar seems so sad," she murmurs when they come back to our side.

"Downright miserable," Lucas adds, frowning frustratedly. "I don't like this at all."

"Neither do I," Ash agrees, waving his fist righteously. "There has to be something we can do!"

I can't bring myself to speak up. Not that I don't concur with them, but what's there to do? Chimchar told us itself that it wants to go along with Paul's training, and if it's not being coerced or forced to do this against its will, then shouldn't we respect Chimchar's choices?

That said, I can't help but wince as Paul calls for Lairon to use Double-Edge once more, and for Chimchar to counter with Flame Wheel. This time though, Chimchar is determined to show Paul and everyone watching what it's capable of. Lairon charges forward recklessly, and Chimchar matches that ferocity. It meets the Double-Edge with a ferocity that was impossible a few minutes ago. A hint of a smile appears of Paul's expression as he calls for the next move.

"Good," he issues what I assume is a rare compliment. "Torterra, Leaf Storm!"

His good mood evaporates into an utterly exasperated look as the cyclone of leaves, despite the type disadvantage, rips through Chimchar's Flame Wheel. Paul doesn't give Chimchar any time to rest. "Murkrow, Sky Attack!"

It seems Chimchar has nothing left in the tank, because despite how long Sky Attack takes to charge up, it can't muster any flame to defend itself. Chimchar calls to the ground and struggles to get up for a few seconds, until it finally collapses in exhaustion.

"Get up," Paul orders, his tone brooking no disagreement. Chimchar gives no indication that it hears Paul, so its trainer takes things further. "Elekid. Weavile. Wake it up with a Thunderbolt and an Ice Beam."

I see Pikachu leap off Ash's shoulder after a few words, and that causes me to miss the fact that Lucas releases a Pokémon as well, and gives it a short command. Pikachu slams into Elekid with Quick Attack as it whirls its arms to charge up electricity, and Lucas's Monferno punches Weavile back several feet into a nearby tree with Mach Punch at the same time. Elekid bounces back much quicker than Weavile, but both of them yell their readiness for a fight.

You can't really blame Lucas for standing up for a Chimchar. "I'm not sure if you're trying to force Chimchar to evolve through this sort of training," he tells Paul. "But if you want to see what a Monferno is capable of, we'll be happy to oblige."

Dawn hurries over to where Ash is looking over the unmoving Chimchar, leaving me alone to watch everything go down. Eventually, Ash picks the Fire-type up carefully. "Chimchar needs to go to the Pokémon Center," he says, daring Paul to argue, but for once, Paul actually doesn't say anything back.

"Be my guest."

I don't see Nurse Joy anywhere, but Brock is back sitting at the table, still wearing a doctor's coat and with a stethoscope around his neck. He seems to be mostly done treating all the various trainers but he and Audino jump into action as soon as Ash bursts through the Pokémon Center door with Chimchar in his arms. He nods when Brock grimly asks if this Chimchar is Paul's.

"Put him in here." Brock directs Ash to an empty room, and the former gym leader closes the door behind him to give Chimchar privacy. We all go to the lobby to wait, and after thirty tense minutes Brock finally emerges and tells everyone that Chimchar is going to be fine.

There's a collective sigh of relief. Right at the moment, Paul strolls in like he hadn't put one of his own Pokémon in the hospital, with Barry trailing behind him like a stray Lillipup looking for a treat. Paul takes a seat at an empty table and doesn't make eye contact with anyone.

It ends up being Brock who tries being the one to pull answers from Paul. He takes a seat opposite from the prickly trainer and waits for several minutes until Paul finally acknowledges he's there.

"So, Chimchar's on an extreme training regimen, right?" Paul doesn't answer, but Brock doesn't intend to give up so easily. "I already know all about it. Ash didn't even have to tell me because I was the one who treated Chimchar. Why are you pushing him so hard?"

Paul still remains silent, so Brock tries once again. "Forget that I'm Ash's friend. From one trainer to another, I can tell that you see great potential in Chimchar. Why do you think this is the best way to get it out of him?"

Finally, Paul decides to respond. "I want Chimchar to succeed and reach its potential as much as anyone here, believe it or not. I'm pushing Chimchar this hard because I've seen what Chimchar's capable of, firsthand."

Here we go. Time for Paul to open up and give the backstory that will serve as the seed of Ash and Paul's eventual tree of friendship. Ugh.

"When I first saw Chimchar, it was being chased by a pack of Zangoose. I don't know what it was about; it could have been food, territory, or perhaps the Zangoose were having a bit of fun. Whatever the case Chimchar was running for its life, and it had taken a lot of punishment."

"I followed them to the edge of a cliff, where Chimchar was forced to confront them. The Zangoose weren't going to let Chimchar get away."

"That's where you must have stepped in and defeated all those Zangoose to save Chimchar!" We all turn and glare at Barry, partly for interrupting the story and partly because that doesn't sound like Paul at all. He seems like a guy content with letting nature run its course.

"No," Paul says, like the interruption never happened. "The lead Zangoose attacked Chimchar. I thought it was over, but then something ignited in Chimchar. It's special ability, Blaze, which only activates when Chimchar or some other Fire-types have been pushed to the absolute limit."

Paul shakes his head. "Chimchar blew those Zangoose away that day. The Flame Wheel that it used was the strongest I've ever seen. The entire pack of Zangoose all fell to that one attack, to say nothing of the damage that was inflicted to the terrain. After witnessing that ridiculous display of strength, I knew I had to have Chimchar on my team. I offered Chimchar to come with me, so we could harness that power. Then, Chimchar would be among the strongest Pokémon on my entire roster! Instead, we've never even come close to being able to recapture that firepower."

"So," Brock summarizes, as we all finally come to something of an understanding, though the dislike for Paul is still palpable amongst several people in the room. "All of this training, the way you force Chimchar to go against stronger opponents and attacks is your way of recreating that scenario when you first found Chimchar. The stress of that battle against the Zangoose."

Paul nods, and stands up to move toward where Chimchar is currently resting. "I'm trying to push Chimchar beyond his normal limit. I have to! Now, we don't even have the possibility of facing a Zangoose in the next round to maybe trigger Chimchar's Blaze."

Barry stands up, puts one foot on the table and leans over it while pumping a fist. "Well, we'll give you way more of a challenge than that Zangoose guy and his psychic partner! Right, Luna?"

"Yeah. Totally." I want to bash my forehead against this table. I'm so doomed. I'm about to get caught up in this plot storm and get swept away. The more I hear, the more I feel like my chances of winning are sinking like the Titanic.

Luckily my words aren't noticed in the commotion, as Ash is once again trying to convince Paul to listen to his advice. "Paul, hold on. You have to let Chimchar rest, and not force him to keep training.

As usual, they fall on deaf ears. "I can't let this opportunity go to waste," Paul insists. "This might be the moment that Chimchar finally realizes its potential!"

Brock stands up suddenly from his seat. "You have to! Chimchar's health has to be the most important thing!"

The thing is, all we can do is try and convince Paul. We already know that Chimchar went with Paul willingly, and has accepted this brutal training regimen as what's needed, so none of us can do anything more. Paul doesn't listen to any of the pleas, but when he reaches the door that leads to Chimchar's room, he's interrupted.

"What Chimchar needs right now is rest, not to be rushed by an impatient trainer," Nurse Joy tells Paul sternly, with an unusually severe face for someone who's usually so kind. I'm going to have to insist that Chimchar remains here."

Chimchar's trainer still doesn't look happy, but he eventually dips his head and leaves for his room without another word.

"I'm glad someone was able to get through to Paul," Dawn pipes up after a moment. I could have scoffed at her words. Paul didn't exactly seem receptive to Nurse Joy's words, and he did actually agree to anything. I'd bet my whatever money I have left that Paul still plans to bring Chimchar tomorrow.

Against me.

Wait a minute...

I know what Pokémon Paul is going to bring tomorrow against me. That means I actually have a chance! I get up from my table abruptly and grab Barry by the arm, who's in the middle of another nonsensical argument with Ash. When I'm sure we have privacy away from any of our competitor's eyes and ears, I release him.

"What's the big idea? You have ten seconds to explain yourself or I'm fining you for that! Ten, nine, eight…"

I ignore him. "Do you have a Water-type, Barry?"

I rudely interrupt his mastery of counting backwards, which surprises him, but Barry's answer is a happy one. "Yeah! The first Pokémon I received from Professor Rowan was a Piplup. He's a Prinplup now, and he's still my strongest! You know, I actually first met Piplup because I made some Starly mad. Lucas was starting out as Professor Rowan's assistant, and he left the satchel with all the Pokéballs in there, and I used Piplup to battle them off. The professor saw something in me, and here we are!"

Oh my goodness, this dude will not stop talking once he gets on a roll. Still, I was expecting Buizel or maybe Shellos. Prinplup is much better than expected. "Bring him tomorrow, then."

"Come again?" Barry asks, confused.

"Paul's going to use Chimchar tomorrow. So, bring Prinplup to the battle."

"He's going to bring Chimchar?" Barry repeats. "But Nurse Joy said he couldn't!"

It's amazing how I have a much clearer picture of who Paul is, despite Barry being obsessed with the dude, and the fact that he tries to emulate his training and battling style. He must really be viewing Paul through rose-tinted glasses. "Does Paul strike you as someone who values anyone else's opinion other than his own? Besides he didn't exactly give Nurse Joy his word. He came here on a mission to train up Chimchar, and I don't think he plans on stopping."

The more Barry thinks about it, the more I can see he's convinced. "Well, if we assume Paul brings Chimchar, what should we do about Ash? He cares a lot for Paul's Chimchar, for whatever reason, and is definitely going to try and cover it."

"Well, that gives us a pretty good idea of what Ash is bringing, then," I reply. "The Pikachu Chimchar duo didn't exactly work very well for their last battle regardless of the result. And Grass-types cover the weaknesses of Fire-types extremely well, right?"

Barry looks skeptical about this part. "But then why should I bring Prinplup if we think Ash is going to use a Grass-type?"

I raise two fingers and drop the first. "One, because Paul wants to recreate Blaze by pushing Chimchar to the limit. He wanted it to go against powerful Rock-type moves. We can assume that he'll battle similarly against powerful Water-type moves.

The second finger drops. "And, you have a tag partner. Leave Ash's Turtwig to me. I've got something that will deal with that, no problem."

This might go down in the history books as the most dickhead, asshole strategy ever to be thought up, but I ain't leaving anything up to luck or chance or plot armor. I'm going for the win.

"Here's how we're going to do it." I explain the details of the plan to Barry, and a smile slowly starts to grow on his face.