CHAPTER 24

I woke up without Pancham eyes, but apparently I still looked tired enough that dad, Neil, and all the Professors and aides commented on my haggard appearance the following morning.

"Did you not sleep well, son?" Dad asked with a raised brow.

I sipped on my cup of green tea, eyes trained on the sight outside the kitchen window. Elm was being chased around by Tinkatink and Tinkatuff. It was honestly kind of funny seeing as neither Elm or the Pokemon were particularly fast runners.

"I got zero hours of sleep," I admitted begrudgingly. I would have gotten at least one had I not kept myself up for so long thinking about the maybe, maybe not suspicious applications. Then I had to get up and oversee morning training. "But I'm fine. This tea is helping, and I plan on sleeping early tonight. I'll be interviewing some gym trainer applicants tomorrow."

"Already?" Dad exclaimed with no small amount of surprise. "Wasn't the deadline just last night? Wait a second… did you stay up to go through some of the forms?"

My wry smile was confirmation enough for dad. He began scolding me gently, but I was only half-listening as I took a swig of my drink.

Last night, the people categorized in what I now called the 'Blackthorn Spy' folder had been among the recipients of various emails I sent out. I'd offered them all interviews for the following day because I wanted to put my suspicions to rest. Surprisingly, a lot of them had sent back positive replies already. I was waiting to hear from a few more.

Tomorrow, we would see if I was right about their true intentions or not. Hopefully it was the latter.

I drifted outside after I finished my tea. I'd promised the Professors something last night before we parted ways, and I intended to follow through. I lifted a hand in greeting as I approached the person closest to me.

"Hello, Professor Oak, I have time now if you all aren't already in the middle of something," I said, smiling.

Oak's forehead creased with concern as he stared at me. "Arin, we don't have to do the study today of all days. You don't seem to be in the best of shape," he pointed out.

"I look worse than I feel, trust me," I reassured him. "I know my own limits."

"Hmm…" Oak stared at me a little longer. When he was satisfied, he bobbed his head in a tentative nod. "Alright then."

He shouted loudly for the other Professors and aides. Within a minute, they'd wrapped up what they were doing and grouped together. They all stared at me with great interest.

"Are we finally going to see Mega Evolution?" Elm asked eagerly.

As soon as I nodded, a wave of excited murmurs rippled through the crowd of researchers. I merely smiled, squaring my shoulders in preparation of what was to come. "Which Mega Evolution do you want to see first? I only have the energy to pull off one transformation today, but I've got five that I have the corresponding Stones for."

The murmurs died down in an instant. Everyone stood frozen in place as they looked at me with shocked expressions.

"Er… five?" Rowan repeated, blinking rapidly. "How many of them are new? We were aware of Mega Evolutions for Milotic, which Birch discovered a year ago, and also Altaria thanks to you…"

"I've got Stones for a Mawile and two other new species on my team you didn't have time to study yesterday," I explained.

"What?!" Birch jumped about a foot into the air from surprise. "There's one for Mawile? I think Steven is going to go crazy when he finds out…"

"Alright, everyone, we're putting it to a vote!" Oak announced firmly. With blazing eyes, he clapped his hands together. "Mega Mawile or Mega Altaria?"

The Professors and their aides immediately entered an intense discussion complete with frantic, waving arms and loud voices. About five minutes passed before they came to a final, albeit not entirely unanimous, decision.

"We'd like to see Mega Mawile, please," Elm announced for the group.

As the researchers hurriedly set up large and strange looking equipment near the back porch, I called out to Willow. The Mawile wandered over with a baffled expression and asked what was going on.

"How would you feel about showing 'em your Mega form?" I simply asked with a knowing smile.

Jaws repeatedly snapped at the air as Willow jumped and down. Clearly, he loved that idea. I made sure we were a suitable distance away from the researchers before beginning. I exhaled, drawing on the bond between me and Willow and focusing deeply on it.

"Alright, let's go."

Two sources of light washed over our surroundings, one from my Key Stone and the other from the Mawilite Willow held. A single pair of jaws split into two massive ones. His body and sleeves gained a magenta coloring, and long, black extensions grew outwards from his head.

The newly Mega Evolved Willow whipped around, yelling out excitedly as he opened his jaws wide and revealed rows of sharp teeth. Gasps of appreciation left the researchers at the display.

"My word! Two jaws instead of one!" Rowan breathed out loud in wonder. Daisy and one other aide went up and carefully measured Willow's jaws as another held up some sort of tool that resembled a satellite dish.

"Let's test them!" Elm squealed gleefully. "Boulders! We need boulders! And steel!"

While the researchers scurried off to get testing materials or make some with the help of lab Pokemon, Oak turned to me.

"How are you feeling, Arin?" he asked with furrowed brows. He'd obviously noted my pale expression from triggering Mega Evolution.

"Could be better," I admitted. My severe lack of sleep was not helping me keep up the transformation whatsoever. I felt more sluggish than usual after invoking the process. "But I'll be fine. I can keep it up for… fifteen minutes maybe? Then I'll need to stop for the day."

To my amusement, Oak wore a serious expression as he reached down and set a timer for fifteen minutes on his phone. It seemed he was very intent on not jeopardizing my health.

"Well then…" Oak cleared his throat, trying and failing not to look too excited as he stared at me. "While the assistants are busy getting the materials Elm requested, may I see the other two Pokemon you mentioned? The ones also capable of Mega Evolution?"

As soon as Vel and Audi came to stand in front of Oak, the Professor waved energetically.

"Hello!" he greeted. Audi chirped a hello right back and held out a small, cream-colored hand. Oak wore a delighted expression as he bent down and gingerly shook the offered limb.

"What a friendly Pokemon!" Oak beamed. "Hmm, for some reason this one reminds me of a Chansey.

"That's Audi, my Audino," I introduced with a smile. "In other regions, she and her species are commonly seen as healers and assistants for healthcare services. She also has an incredible sense of hearing and can perceive something as small as a falling pebble from a mile away."

Oak seemed quite interested by that if the sudden shine in his eyes was anything to go by. "I'll have to test that later! What about this other Pokemon, Arin? I recognize it from your promotion match."

"Vel, my Sylveon," I supplied. Said Pokemon smiled politely and used a feeler to shake Oak's hand. "He's an evolution of Eevee."

Oak's hand froze in place long after Vel's ribbon slipped out of it.

"Excuse me?" he asked with wide eyes. His gaze darted back and forth between me and Vel. "This is— This is an evolution of Eevee, you say? I…" Oak finally unfroze, one hand coming up to rub at his eyes. "For lack of a better word, wow! I thought seven evolutions was already incredible, but now there's an eighth!"

He straightened to his full posture immediately and whipped out a notebook and pen. In one smooth movement, he flipped to a brand new page and clicked his writing utensil.

"How does it evolve? Stone? Time of day? What kind of abilities does it have?" Oak rattled off questions one after another without pause, and I chuckled to myself. The Mega Mawile was entirely forgotten for the time being it seemed.

"You need to have a deep bond with your Eevee, and they must have a solid grasp of Fairy type energy and how to control it…"

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I was finally back in the comfort of my room.

Oak had pestered me with questions for all of fifteen minutes before his alarm rang, and he looked more than a little disappointed when he watched me go. I was pretty sure I heard the other Professors yelling at him on my way back into the house, something about stealing a march on them.

I snatched my thermos off the corner of my desk and uncapped it, greedily gulping down water. Yeah, I was definitely hitting the hay early tonight. I didn't think I was capable of doing much more than simple housework or errands for the time being, but that was completely fine.

There was a full day ahead of me and applications to go through.

First though, I needed to make sure the plan I had in mind for tomorrow would pan out. I hummed to myself as I went to the Indigo League's official website. Once I was there, I pulled up a frighteningly long list of laws and scrolled to the section I needed. My lips gradually curled upwards with every word I read.

Perfect. Everything was in order.

I cracked my knuckles. With that over with… it was time to speedrun these forms. The goal was to interview applicants and finish hiring people within a week if possible.

I found myself looking forward to tomorrow as I threw myself into work.

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"Oh shoot, I hope I'm not lost…"

Nadia Rurimosu anxiously swung her head left and right. She had an interview today with Leader Arin of the Cherrygrove Gym and had flown all the way over to the city on her massive Fearow. She'd arrived a whole twenty minutes early, but it was now dangerously close to her interview time because she simply couldn't find the meeting spot.

Everybody knew the Cherrygrove Gym was under construction and wouldn't be open to the public for a while. The fact had been spread across every social media platform by disappointed tourists. She personally knew it because she'd tried to get a peek of her own earlier and saw the main road was blocked off by endless barricades and safety cones.

So, instead of the interview being held at a Gym like it normally would have been, there was a different venue. According to the email Nadia had gotten, it was supposed to be somewhere past these trees…

"Oh!" Nadia's eyes brightened when she saw a wooden sign planted in the ground. It read CHERRYGROVE GYM INTERVIEWS and even had an arrow indicating the site was further ahead. Thank Arceus, she wasn't going to be late after all.

Past more trees and shrubbery she went until finally, she came upon a clearing—

"Huh?!" Nadia couldn't help but blurt out in shock. She stared with wide eyes at the scene before her.

Standing dead center in the clearing was a terribly plain but massive building made entirely of smooth rock. It resembled a cube but with a missing front face, and she could see inside. There was a long table covered with folders, pens, and a laptop. Two chairs were on either side of it. One of them was empty, and the other was occupied by none other than Leader Arin. He had spotted her and raised a hand in greeting.

Okay, she hadn't expected an outdoors-y interview, but this was fine.

Nadia barely registered the earthen battlefield next to the structure and hurried forward. A flustered apology began to form on her lips only to die away.

It was now that she saw the menacingly tall, humanoid Pokemon standing silently in the far corner of the makeshift room. She'd never seen anything like it before. It had to be at least seven feet tall, with a gradient-colored body and some sort of… wide-brimmed, conical shaped hat. Something long extended from it — a tentacle? — and ended with sharp claws.

Its face was much smaller than she would have expected for such a large body. When Nadia made eye contact with it, the Pokemon smiled.

She stiffened when she saw rows of blindingly sharp teeth. How did they all fit in there?

"Hello. Nadia Rurimosu, right? Is something wrong?" Arin raised a brow in confusion. "Here, have a seat across from me."

"Y-Yes, that's me. And er… no," Nadia stammered. She cleared her throat, muttering out a thanks as she slid into the seat across from the Gym Leader. "Is that your Pokemon? I didn't realize… there would be someone else in the interview room."

"Oh, don't mind her. She just likes to keep me company," Arin smiled, waving a hand through the air.

Even as he said that, Nadia eyed the Pokemon with no small amount of anxiety. It was no longer smiling, but something about it still deeply unsettled her. She tore her gaze away from it when Arin cleared his throat.

"Cutting it a bit close, are we?" he remarked with a good-natured smile, but Nadia still felt embarrassed anyway and ducked her head apologetically.

"I apologize, Leader Arin. I got a bit lost on the way here…" she murmured.

Thankfully, Arin had an amicable expression as he nodded. "It's fine. Now then, I don't want to hold up the other applicants who will be arriving after you, so let's begin this interview."

Nadia watched as the Cherrygrove Gym Leader picked up a manila folder from the table and opened it. His blue eyes moved across the page slowly. "I reviewed your application carefully. Your resume in particular was very impressive. It's not easy for trainers to make it to the Silver Conference for consecutive years like you have. I have your resume right here with me, but could you walk me through your journey?"

"Yes, of course," Nadia immediately agreed. The interview had well and truly begun. She continued on with as calm of an expression as she could muster, hoping she wouldn't flub any of her responses. "My time at the Blackthorn Trainer Academy inspired me…"

Back and forth they went trading questions and earnest answers. She was asked questions such as her objective opinion on the Fairy type, why she wanted the job, what skillsets she thought she would be able to bring to the table, and vice versa. All standard interview questions. Arin wore a smile the whole time, but whether it was polite or not could not be determined. Still, his smiling visage and the fact that he had not ended the interview yet reassured Nadia that she was doing decent so far.

In fact, she even found herself smiling at one point. Arin was so amicable that it put her at ease, and she found herself giving answers in a much more relaxed state. If only all interviewers were like this, she lamented.

Nadia blinked when Arin held up a hand about five minutes later. They were only fifteen minutes into the interview! Everything had been going so well. Had she said something wrong and offended him—?

"No need to look so worried, Ms. Rurimosu," Arin reassured. She must have looked more panic-stricken than she'd initially thought. "I'm quite pleased with the interview so far and think I've heard almost everything I need to know. I just have one last question for you."

Nadia barely refrained from sighing with relief and beamed instead. That sounded like she'd made a very good impression on him.

Arin set the folder he held face down on the table. "What do you think about the Blackthorn Clan?"

She blinked. That question had literally come from nowhere. "I apologize, before I answer, how is this relevant to the interview?"

"Recently, comparisons have been drawn between me and the Blackthorns given our… contrasting type specialties, and more will only continue to be made. Any employees at my Gym would need to keep them in mind going forward, so I'm just curious what you think as a prospective gym trainer."

Nadia nodded. Okay, that made a lot more sense. "I'm well aware they're a Clan of Dragon Tamers and one of the Sacred Eight, but almost every person in Kanto-Johto knows that information. I simply try to focus on helping my Pokemon grow as strong as possible instead of thinking about other things," she answered confidently.

Arin nodded, jotting notes down. The Cherrygrove Gym Leader then looked up and smiled at her.

"Thank you, Ms. Rurimosu. I enjoyed our conversation," he said.

Nadia moved to echo the same when Arin's next words made her freeze in place.

"Unfortunately, I do not believe that you'll be a good fit for the Cherrygrove Gym and will have to reject your application. Thank you for your time."

She stared at him with wide eyes.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"W-What?" she stammered. Her heart thumped faster in her chest from the shock of the situation. "But… you said you were pleased with my answers earlier! You haven't even seen my skills as a trainer yet either!"

Arin stared back at her with a neutral expression that bordered on cold. He was no longer smiling.

"I don't need to," he said calmly. "I already heard enough."

"What do you mean—"

"You lied during the interview," Arin interrupted. "Multiple times, if I might add."

"Leader Arin!" Nadia exclaimed, shock quickly turning into fury. "I didn't expect something like this from a respected individual like you! How could you accuse me of lying?!"

"The visible act you put up was very convincing, but your emotions are too loud," Arin responded. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, and Nadia looked at what — or who, in this case — he was pointing at.

She found herself staring at the tall Pokemon in the corner, the very same one she'd forgotten about after the interview started. The Pokemon eerily stared at her in a way that made shivers run up her spine.

"Are you familiar with the Ralts line that is native to Hoenn? If not, I'll enlighten you. Their species can sense emotions," Arin explained politely, but his eyes were hard as they stared at her. "My Pokemon over there? Her species is capable of much the same. You're very skilled at putting up a normal appearance and lying to my face, but your emotions fluctuated strongly whenever you did so… especially when I brought up the Blackthorns at the end. You panicked."

Nadia gaped at him. "Excuse me? Did you have your Pokemon read my thoughts without my consent? That's illegal!"

The young man across from her leaned back in his seat with a decidedly unamused look. "There are stringent laws in place for reading minds and emotions, but what my Pokemon did was not illegal. She did not probe your mind or your thoughts, she merely felt the strong emotions naturally radiating from you. You would have felt a distinct presence in your mind if she had actually read your thoughts, and that would be illegal without consent. You can look up our national laws if you don't believe me. Article 189."

She did just that, fishing her phone out of her pocket with a furious expression. Half a minute later, her expression turned into one of dismay when she read that, yes, Arin was right.

He finally smiled at this point, but it was cold as ice. "Furthermore, I'd like to inform you that as a Gym Leader, I have the authority to run my own lie checks based on reasonable suspicion. If you'd like, I can have my Psychic type actually go through your mind and verify your supposed innocence," Arin said. He held his hands out in an almost mocking manner. "Well? How about it?"

Nadia barely refrained from closing her eyes and sat there with a stoic expression. Of course she wasn't going to offer herself up for a lie check.

Fuck.

She'd been found out.

So much for putting up a facade. How was she supposed to guess that Arin would bring a freaking Psychic type to the interview that could sense her emotions? Had he singled her out? Her application shouldn't have been too suspicious. If anything, the Elders had even said Arin would probably jump for joy when he saw an experienced trainer applying for his gym and rush to hire her.

She said nothing and got up from her seat. Best to leave and report as soon as possible—

"The Blackthorn Clan sent you," Arin suddenly said out loud, staring at her. It was a statement more than it was a question.

Nadia walked away without a word.

She felt the Cherrygrove Gym Leader's piercing gaze on her up until she left the clearing. As soon as she was out of view, she flew away on Fearow and pulled her phone out. She swore internally as she dialed a certain number and brought the device to her ear. The Elders weren't going to be happy with her.

"I apologize, but I failed…"

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She reacted to that statement, Silque said with a dip of her head. The Hatterene floated closer to me, frowning slightly. That woman tried harder to rein in her emotions this time, but they were clear as moonlight to me. I sensed discomfort, anger, and underlying anxiety. Most likely, she was here on orders. It is a shame she did not stay and take you up on your kind offer. I would have liked to peer through her mind and grasp the truth.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. My very first interviewee turned out to be an Arceus damned spy. It was frustrating, too, because Nadia would have been a trainer I wanted to hire otherwise. I opened the folder with her printed resume and took it out, holding the paper up with a glare.

Finally, the Blackthorn Clan members had made a move against me.

May I have that? Silque asked innocently, but I saw the glint in her eyes and knew what she wanted to do. I was more than happy to pass the paper to her. The Hatterene grabbed it with her psychic powers and crushed it to oblivion within a mere instant. I couldn't even see small pieces flying away in the wind.

It didn't actually do much in the grand scheme of things, but I still felt some sense of satisfaction. Good riddance.

I felt nothing but gratitude as I looked at one of my longtime partners. "Thanks for agreeing to help today, Silque. I know you hate being around anything… loud."

The Hatterene flashed her pointy teeth at me, but I found the smile charming. I'm sure anyone else would have thought otherwise and found the sight terrifying. I will live. Mere annoyances to bear with. I'm simply happy to be of some help, she replied gently. Her smile gained a vicious edge as she tilted her head. I will admit I did enjoy scaring her, though. Perhaps there will be similar reactions later.

"Perhaps," I chuckled. "Hopefully this was just one of only a few misses…"

Even as I said that, I had a feeling I was probably going to be wrong. I felt even better now about my decision to hold the interviews far away from our house.

The Gym hadn't been a venue option for obvious reasons, and I hadn't felt comfortable about the idea of letting potential spies near our house and all the Pokemon. So, I chose a far off location that was still part of the forested property our family owned. Peri had whipped up a plain, makeshift building with Ancient Power for our use. He had argued for a more magnificent design to stun interviewees, but I had to sadly turn down the idea as I wanted applicants to not get distracted and just focus on the interview itself. I found I liked this setup a lot already.

If things ever turned ugly, well… the rats only had one visible way out.

I made myself comfortable at my desk. Nadia was just one of many applicants coming in today for interviews. I was going to be here for hours on end barring breaks for mealtimes and such.

While waiting for the next applicant to arrive, I arranged and rearranged papers on my desk out of boredom. I quickly realized my interviewee was not coming when I checked the time later. It was a whole ten minutes past the scheduled appointment.

The missing person also happened to be someone from the Blackthorn Spy folder.

I smiled to myself. Maybe I'd have my work cut out for me after all. I'd purposely failed Nadia right after the interview and revealed Silque's abilities so she could go back and warn her superiors. I wanted them to know I knew the Tauros shit they were pulling, and I wanted them to panic as they tried to figure out what to do.

They would either give up like the second person had, or they would try harder.

I met an example of the latter when the third applicant arrived early. This one didn't seem as surprised to see Silque and greeted me when he sat down. We began a discussion immediately. I quickly noticed how… calm they were. Almost unnaturally calm, to the point where I wondered if—

There is a Dark type at work, Silque announced in my mind hardly a minute into the interview. It is faint, but the protection of the night is emanating from this man and separating him from his emotions.

I kept talking while I processed Silque's words. If that didn't scream suspicious, then I didn't know what did. Clearly this person was trying to hide something, so I just automatically assumed they were with the Blackthorn Clan. I should have known the Clan wouldn't give up, and now they'd brought out a Dark type to get past Silque.

The Dark type was not just a representation of shadows and the long and endless night, but the void of it all. Absence. Emptiness so vast that it consumed, obstructed, and severed. It was why Ghosts and Psychics were naturally at odds with Dark.

This move by the Clan, removing turbulent emotions, would have been a good one except… they hadn't done enough to hide their work from Silque. A rush job in all likelihood, and they might have thought Silque was just a pure Psychic type. Alas, they were about to be reminded about the interaction between Fairies and Dark.

I wanted to just reject the applicant on the spot and not waste more time, but first—

Dispel it, I said through my telepathic link with Silque.

The Hatterene's eyes glowed almost imperceptibly. I couldn't see it, but I knew she had just released more fairy energy into the air around her. It swept forward in an invisible wave, washing over me, the applicant, and the rest of the room.

If Dark types were part of the long and endless night, then Fairies represented the brilliant light that pierced through them.

The effect was immediate. Silque informed me the paltry veil had dissipated almost immediately, and I could tell as much by the way the applicant's eyes suddenly widened as he stared at us. I only had to ask two questions about the Blackthorns to see what a floundering mess the man had become.

I smiled. "Thank you for your time, but…"

Just like Nadia, I sent him off. At least I'd wasted less than five minutes this time.

The rest of the morning went by in a blur. I had more attempts by people who tried to hide their emotions through various means, but none of them worked.

"Leader Arin, it's such an honor. I—"

"Please see yourself out."

"I believe Fairy types to be very versatile Pokemon—"

"I'm sorry, but I will have to reject your application. Thank you for coming."

I grew tired enough of these people that I breezed through their half-baked interviews in a minute or less. So far, every single one of the applicants I'd filtered out beforehand turned out to be associated with the Blackthorn Clan.

My displeasure was further compounded by the fact that the regular applicants I met with that morning — ones not associated with the Blackthorn Clan — turned out to be a terrible mix. There were people who turned out to be very different in person than on paper and could not hold an interview for the life of them, others that constantly froze up or had other poor habits during the battle portion, and vice versa. There wasn't a single person I wanted to hire for my Gym yet.

I took a break at one point to fetch more water from the house. Another hour ticked by, and I held a paper in my hands as I awaited a particular interviewee. The next and final so-called Blackthorn Spy applicant from the ones I'd marked walked in. It was a young woman with wavy blonde hair in a stylish, asymmetrical bob cut. She was taller than the average, about five foot six if I had to guess, and she walked with as much confidence as someone like Clair Ibuki.

Yurie Irazuki, a nineteen-year-old orphan from Fallarbor Town in Hoenn. She had started her trainer career three years late but took the Hoenn League Circuit of that year by storm, nabbing all eight badges and managing to get past the group stages to the top 256. She'd unfortunately lost right after, but it was still a testament to her skill. Sometime in the year since then, she had managed to successfully enter the Blackthorn Clan's ranks as a trainee and moved permanently to Johto.

I hadn't found that last bit out from a background check. No, Yurie had outright put on her entry that she was currently a trainee with the Blackthorn Clan as well as interning at the Blackthorn Gym. She was looking for a new job.

I honestly couldn't believe it at first when I first read her application. I could have thrown it out right then and there from the information that was blatantly on display, but I wanted to verify it in person. Who the heck would just admit that to the Leader of a Fairy Gym, much less someone that had beat their employer in a devastatingly one-sided match?

Either a very foolish spy, or…

"Ms. Yurie Irazuki, yes?" I greeted carefully. The young woman nodded in response as she took a seat across from me, but not before she looked at Silque in the corner. She seemed more fascinated with my Pokemon than the other failed spies had.

No mental protections in place, Silque informed me, and I almost raised a brow in disbelief. None whatsoever?

Mystified, I looked down at the resume in my hands. I'd learn more about her soon enough. "Thank you for coming today. Let's begin the interview—"

"I give you permission for your Pokemon to run a lie check with me," Yurie interrupted. I raised my head to stare at her with narrowed eyes. She didn't seem deterred by my reaction at all, merely smiling cheerfully. "I already heard all about it from Nadia. She warned the other people sent by the Blackthorn Clan."

I stared at her with a neutral expression, but internally, I was so very, very confused by this turn of events. "And… why would you propose this?" I asked slowly. "Or tell me any of that for that matter? You just outed the Clan you're affiliated with."

"Previously affiliated with," Yuri immediately corrected. She wore a proud expression as she raised her chin. "I sent them a letter of resignation on the way here. I couldn't quit any earlier because I was, uh, kind of paranoid they might do something to me. Or chase me."

"Excuse me?" I blinked.

"I resigned," the young woman repeated. "Quit. Done. No longer with them. I wasn't very attached to the Clan anyway. All those old guys — the Elders — were bastards with sticks up their butts. I just hung in there so I could try and learn as much as I could from them. They didn't even teach me that much and relegated me to dumb tasks around the city instead!"

I couldn't even get a word in before Yurie's eyes widened, and she continued on in an indignant tone. "Did you know they banned Mega Altaria for the whole Clan? No affiliated members are allowed to buy Altarianites once they are discovered! That was the last straw for me. I decided Nimbus and I are better off learning from you instead."

I just sat there in silence and tried to process everything Yurie had just told me. She was certainly… very chatty and energetic. Unafraid to say her opinion. Putting aside the fact that the Blackthorn Clan had apparently made a law against Mega Evolving Altaria (which I found extremely stupid), it seemed Yurie was telling the truth. Silque told me she hadn't sensed any conflicting emotions radiating from her.

I still had to check. "Okay. Before we discuss anything else, I'd like to conduct an actual lie check first. Do I still have your permission to run one?"

Yurie's answer was immediate. "Yes."

Silque drifted forward without me needing to say anything. The Hatterene stopped just a few feet from Yurie and stared into her eyes. I knew she was actually peering into Yuri's mind now. To the young woman's credit, she did not flinch and merely stared back confidently. I cleared my throat.

"Were you sent here by the Blackthorn Clan?"

"I was, but I do not and will not follow through with their orders. I just needed a chance to leave the city without a fuss."

"Did you resign from the ranks of the Blackthorn Clan?"

"Yes."

"Why did you quit?"

"I didn't want to listen to them anymore. I think it would be much more worthwhile to learn from you at your Gym instead, so I quit in advance as a show of good faith."

"Will you return and join again?"

"No. Never. I'm done with them."

I ran through a few more questions, but Yurie answered all of them without fail. Silque didn't detect anything strange or false.

Yurie was telling the truth. She was not a spy. Satisfied, I leaned back in my seat to study her curiously. She looked back at me with an eager expression.

"Does this mean we can begin the actual interview now?" she asked.

My lips quirked into an amused smile. I don't think I could have ever imagined seriously interviewing a former Blackthorn Clan trainee, but here I was about to do so. Admittedly, I found Yurie Irazuki's character to be interesting. She had resigned even though there was no guarantee she would pass my interview. Her confidence was shocking. If she failed today, well, she was probably permanently out of luck with the Blackthorns and would need to look elsewhere for a job.

That didn't mean I was going to show pity or favoritism to her, though. I would be treating her as any other applicant.

"We'll begin now," I said in response. Yurie snapped to attention as I glanced down at a paper. "Your resume was interesting. You wrote that you had started your trainer career late, three years past the normal age to go on a journey. May I ask you to elaborate on this?"

"I didn't want to rush into collecting badges," Yurie easily explained. "Instead, I decided to spend a few years focusing on my Pokemon and building up a cohesive team. Improving ourselves was more important than getting badges at the time. When my team and I felt like we'd prepared enough, we challenged the Hoenn League Circuit to test our skills."

I nodded silently in understanding. A lot of trainers rushed to get badges and challenged their respective region's Circuit year after year, but there were some who held off and trained on their own much like Yurie had done. There was no right or wrong to either approach. Some trainers grew faster by repeatedly challenging Gym Leaders while others learned more from secluding themselves in the wild for intense training. In the end, trainers needed to choose what would benefit them and their Pokemon the most.

"Let's move onto the next question. Why did you apply for my Gym?" I asked curiously.

Yurie practically lit up at this inquiry and grinned widely. "The salary is amazing!" she said in all seriousness. "That's a big part of it, but the most important reason is that I want to learn from you. I watched both your matches against Pryce and Clair, but it was your battle with Clair that truly resonated with me. You and your Mega Altaria were practically in synch with one another. Well, you have to be to sustain Mega Evolution, but it was still inspiring. I wish to become a trainer like you. With my own team, I focus primarily on fostering strong bonds and teamwork, too."

"Plus," Yurie added exuberantly, "I would love to be able to help Nimbus — my starter, I mentioned him earlier, he's an Altaria — grow stronger from any teachings you could give. I plan on buying an Altarianite for him someday once I've saved up enough."

She was certainly honest, that was for sure. No one else that I'd interviewed so far had brought up the high salary that came with the position. I was more focused on the rest of what she said, though. It seemed her primary motivation came from wanting to help her Altaria instead of any grander reasons, but that was fine. It was good that she cared about her Pokemon, and it was still a valid reason for wanting to join the team.

I smiled, drumming my fingers against the table. "How about we chat about your Altaria for a bit then? May I hear more about him and what you would want to learn from me should you come under my employ?"

"Oh, definitely!" Yurie happily agreed, and she launched into an entire speech. "Nimbus is a bit different from other Altaria. He, er, has trouble singing well. Terrible singing, really, if I'm going to be completely honest. I've been trying to help him…"

The interview ended up going on for another thirty minutes. Overall, I was very pleased with the answers Yurie gave to the questions I asked. She had obviously prepared for this interview with everything she had, which made sense given how much she had staked on it.

She wasn't even nervous when we left the room to conduct the battle portion of the interview outside. Silque put up a barrier for us.

"This will be a one-on-one spar, and I'll tell you when the battle is over. We won't be fighting until one side faints. I want to see a little bit of how you handle yourself during a battle and how you interact with your Pokemon," I explained carefully from my side of the field. There was no need to do a prolonged battle. I'd already seen videos of Yurie's previous fights on the League archives online, and I still had tons of applications to review and people to meet with.

"Understood!" Yurie called out in response.

To no surprise, she chose Nimbus, her Altaria. After a moment of consideration, I threw out Mem's Dream Ball. Yurie was beyond the current level of any of the gym Pokemon, so I would just need to use my own Pokemon instead and adjust things accordingly.

My Mimikyu appeared on the field in a flash of crimson. Today, he was wearing a cloth patterned with red diamonds. He let out a loud, dissonant screech that Yurie actually flinched from, but she quickly regained her composure.

I let her have the first move.

"Mist!" Yurie yelled.

Heavy white mist descended upon the makeshift arena. Even as the temperature dropped a bit and the surroundings became obscured, I smiled.

"Playtime."

I couldn't see Yurie's Altaria anywhere in the sky. Most likely, he had disappeared into the mist and was going to try and attack from a different angle, but that was fine.

Here in such hidden surroundings, Mem was right at home.

Yurie's eyes widened when sudden squawks of pain filled the air. I don't think she'd expected Mem to ambush her Altaria instead of the other way around, and she backtracked on her earlier call.

"Defog!"

Gales of wind cut through the sea of white, and within—

It was no longer just Nimbus and Mem on the field. They had a dozen other friends with them. Shadowy figures given life raced through the air and chased the fleeing Nimbus without pause. Each was an eerie copy of the actual Mimikyu in their midst, and each unleashed moves of their own. Orbs writhing with shadows and blue balls of hellfire all went flying as Nimbus zipped left and right desperately.

I didn't give any other orders. I wanted to see what Yurie would do, and I turned my gaze to the other side of the field. Even from here, I could see the gears practically turning in Yurie's head as she tried to figure out a plan.

"Nimbus! Speed up!" she finally yelled. "Get ready!"

Fierce winds blew at her Altaria's back, and with another beat of his wings, he pushed himself further ahead of the terrible nightmares chasing him. Yurie looked as if she was waiting for something—

"Down! Flare Voice!" Yurie barked.

With another burst of speed, her Altaria made a sudden flip through the air. He was upside down and right below the incoming demons when he opened his beak and screamed.

Fire spiraled outwards in flashes of red and yellow-orange. The sound waves accompanying the intense fire were so powerful that they actually caused the flames to fly further and faster than they could have otherwise.

Mem's shadowy friends instantly flew in front of him and formed a living barricade. More terrifying, otherworldly screams filled the air as they took the attack for him, but they were not ones of pain.

They were ones of fury. The flames eventually died away and revealed barely scorched exteriors. A dozen different pairs of eyes turned their distorted, hateful gazes on the bird that had attacked them, and they flew forward once more.

I let the battle go on for another minute. Mem kept things reasonable and didn't instantly end the match like he could have, choosing instead to draw things out and see what Yurie and her Altaria could do. All things considered, they were a good pair. They both understood they were vastly outmatched, but neither of them seemed to even entertain the thought of losing. Nimbus faithfully matched whatever energetic command Yurie gave and showed impressive aerial maneuvers one after another.

"Stop! That's enough," I eventually called out loudly. Yurie and I immediately recalled both of our Pokemon. She all but dashed forward to meet me in the middle of the field. The young woman was grinning, but she couldn't hide the anxiety in her eyes.

"How did I do?" she asked in an almost breathless voice. "It was so short. Are you sure you don't need to see more?"

I held up a hand with an amused smile, cutting her off.

"Don't worry about how short the battle was. It wasn't about winning or losing in the first place," I reassured Yurie, and she deflated with relief almost instantly. "You and your Altaria clearly have a strong bond. He reacted quickly to all the commands you gave him even when under the intense stress of being chased by so many figures. I was impressed by that custom move you showed, too. Very powerful voice."

Yurie beamed at that. "Really, you think so?! Thank you! We've mostly been practicing how to improve his sound-based moves lately," she said. "So… is this it? Did I pass?"

"Expect to hear back from me by the end of the day. I'll let you know my decision by then," I said instead.

Yurie didn't seem disappointed. She just nodded enthusiastically. "Alright! Thank you so much, Leader Arin."

As I watched her walk away, presumably to rest in the city while she waited on my response, I couldn't help but smile a bit. It had taken a whole morning of rooting through spies and other disappointing meetings, but…

Now that had been a promising interview.