On our second morning in the pokemon center, I eat breakfast alone. The place is, thankfully, still devoided of other people. My head's already all better, and I find enjoyment in chowing down on my food.

  Charmander lazes around on the floor, picking on blocks in his bowl. I could definitely get used to this. It's far more peaceful than life at the base.

  Unfortunate that our morning glory can't last forever, as we are forced to go out and greet the day.

  I pass by Xander, who's yet again placed on his clearing, with Rowlet still attacking the very same rock. Leo's nowhere to be found, but I'm lucky enough to run into Cassie.

  "Hey, Rory", she chirps at me, "you have anything planned for today?".

  "Relaxing", I roll my eyes playfully.

  "So nothing then, great", she jumps up, grabbing my arm, "you can come with me then".

  "Where to", I groan as she drags me along.

  "I need moral support", Cassie says, and I have no idea what that entails, "and a bit more".

  She leads us to the edge of the river, and I really wish I came here alone so I could take a dip. The water seems inviting and Cassie seems to not care about it.

  "Here", She says, letting Fennekin and Sprigatito out in the grass. "Now, you help me train", she turns to look at me.

  "Right", I scratch my head, as Charmander cathes up with us, instantly reaching for my leg.

  "Good", Cassie plants her hands on her hips, letting out a sigh. Sprigatito runs up to sit on a rock, ignoring us by licking her paw.

  Fennekin, however, seems a little bit different. Only in a sense that she doesn's run away immediately. Instead, she wearily stands, looking between the three of us. Charmander reaches his hand in greeting and the fox quickly averts her gaze.

  "So, I managed to talk Fennekin into not hiding from me yesterday, as you can see", Cassie informs me, "now all that's left is to try and do a little bit of training".

  "Now, that would be a bit too much progress all at once", I joke, to which Cassie hits me with a sharp look.

  "Hey, I put in the work", Cassie puffs her cheeks at me.

  "How did you do it exactly?", I question.

  "Simple", she shrugs, "I released Fennekin right here, cornered her so the river is righ behind her, she had nowhere to run but into my arms".

  "That sounds...questionable", I note, hoping I wouldn't end up in a river.

  "It did the job", Cassie shrugs. She kneels down onto the grass reaching her hand for Fennekin. The fox reluctantly accepts the gesture, but it's clear she finds it uncomfortable. "See", Cassie says proudly, and suddenly, I have no heart to tell her.

  "Right, that's great", I cough out, "so how do you exactly train, do you just like...attack rocks?". There was nothing I remember from the anime on this topic. I know pokemon battle and stuff, but the only reference for training I have right now is Xander.

  "No", Cassie sounds almost insulted, "that's not my style".

  "What do you do then? Tell Fennekin to drop down and give you 20?", I question.

  "God, no, do you really think I'm like Xander", Cassie drags her face, "no, no, in this house we want to do things with style, so we focus on control and precision not power".

  "Alright, well, we had target practice back in the army", I nod, "but like, what are you going to hit?".

  "Nothing, hopefully", the girl sighs, "I want Fennekin to work on her Ember, and we're surrpunded by the trees, so I hope I'll miss all the targets".

  "You make 0 sense", I admit.

  "You're the one to talk", Cassie punches my shoulder, "just stand back and clap, that's what I brought you here for".

  "You want me to clap?", I say.

  "Yes, well, as I said, I want to be a magician, Fennekin needs to get used to performing in front of an audience", Cassie gives a mischievous bow, "plus, if we all clap for her, that counts as positive reinforcements, I've heard those go a long way".

  "Alright then", I hang back, gesturing for Charmander to stay close to me. I don't want him getting hit on accident.

  "Great", Cassie claps her hands enthusiastically. Taking a step back, her face lights up, a new, somewhat sinister smile appears on her face, and she seems like somebody new, just for a second.

  "Fennekin", her voice is different too, louder and brimming with confidence, "use Ember into the sky, make it swirl around".

  The small fox slowly tilts her head back, gazing into the sky, as she releases a small stream of cinders into the air. The fire comes in a single block, rising upwards, only to start its fall moments later, going out before it ever reaches the ground.

  Cassie goes back to being her usual self the very next moment.

  "Come on Fennekin", her voice is between a plead and encouragement, "make the Ember swirl in the air, like a little fire tornado".

  Fennekin takes an uncomfortable step back, but tries again, letting the fire rise to the sky again, just so it could go out as quickly as the first time.

  I see Cassie exhale, bringing her hands to the back of her head.

  "Come on, you're good", I give her a small clap, "it's just your first time".

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  I notice Charmander looking over at Fennekin, trying to clap for her, but his eyes seem distant.

  That was Ember, it dawns on me, the move that got Charmander sent back to the lab.

  "I know it's my first time", Cassie doesn't give me time to think about things, "but I just...wish we could do it now?".

  "Honestly, I don't really see the issue", I admit, "your fox can shoot fire, so what if it doesn't swirl, it can still burn things down".

  "I know, I know", Cassie says in her high-pitched voice, "but it's not what I want, I want a tornado, because it looks magical".

  "You'll get there, just give it time", I try to calm her down.

  "I know that", she sighs, "but Ember... Ember is just the beginning, I don't plan on using it forever, and if Fennekin can't get it down, how can she use the other attacks I have planned?".

  "Frankly, I have no idea", I sigh, "I have no idea what other moves you have planned".

  "Mystical Fire", Cassie says immdeiately.

  "Uh, I... well, I have no idea what that is", I start.

  "The reason I chose Fennekin in the first place", Cassie cuts me off, "it's a fire attack, it can change colours, and you know, Fennekin evolves into Braixen, then into Delphox, both of them have stick wands that they can use to produce fire".

  Now I find myself utterly confused. Not only do I have no idea what Braixen and Delphox look like, but the idea of pokemon using sticks to produce fire sounds extremly strange.

  "It literally looks like magic", Cassie continues, not caring for the fact I have no idea what's going on, "I always had this image in my mind, of Braixen and Delphox using Mystical Fire in a cool-looking way, making the flames colourful, making them dance, create shapes, it would be like a very magical firework".

  "Look, I'm sure you'll get there eventually", I still try to be supportive, "just work on Ember for now, then you'll skip to that other attack and it will be easier".

  "Not necessarily", Cassie shuffles in her face uncomfortably, "I mean, it's a different type of energy manipulation".

  "Alright", I sigh in defeat, "now you've lost me completely".

  "Emeber stems from Fennekin's fire producing organs, it uses fire type energy, but it's mainly expressed through Fennekin's physiology", Cassie sighs, "Mystical Fire requiers control of pure fire enrgy, which requiers much more skill".

  "Cassie", I stop her, "I have no idea what all of that means".

  "Oh", she says in surprise, "I mean, I thought you figured it out, since your Charmander can't use his Ember".

  "How would I know", I sound almost desperate.

  "Fine, fine", she sighs, "so, basically, each type has a certain energetical imprint, pokemon have one or two typings, meaning their organs are inclined to producing primarily that type of energy and letting it flow through their body".

  "Alright, so a fire type can create fire type energy", I nod.

  "Primarily, it creates fire type energy", Cassie corrects me, "a fire type can produce other types of energies as well, but it's naturally inclined to producing fire energy".

  "Alright, so how does that tie into the whole Ember and Mystical fire thing?", I question.

  "Ugh, a bit hard to explain, but basically, some attacks, like Ember, are heavily supported by pokemon's biology, they are created within pokemon's body, certain organs, like flame bags, act like sort of conductors, they natuarraly produce the energy and they also act like a path for the gathered energy", Cassie seems to think about this explanation.

  "Fine, so... uh, they are like, easier to use?", I ask.

  "Well, yes", Cassie nods, "because a pokemon doesn't have to have high levels of control to use them, only enough to trigger the organs, then they do the rest of the job".

  "And Mystical Fire?", I inquire.

  "Mystical Fire isn't suported by any organs", Cassie says, "it requires the pokemon to manifest and control energy externally, so it's much tougher to perform".

  "Oh", I nod, "I think I get it".

  "Yeah, the problem is, Fennekin can't control Ember", the girl sighs, "and control over fire type energy is kind of important for evolution as well, and Fennekin has to evolve to even learn Mystical Fire, since her body can't generate enough energy for the attack right now".

  My head is spinning now from all of this, attacks, enrgies, evolution. I look over at Charmander to see my pokemon has twisted his face in sorrow expression. Out of Cassie's whole lecture, one thing that's clear to me is that Charmander is screwed. If control over energy is mandatory for evolution, Charmander is never getting his wings, not with me as his trainer, that is.

  "You'll get there", I do my best not to look at Charmander, focusing on Cassie instead.

  "I know", the girl wails, "but I wish I could do it all at once, right now, God, I waited so long to get my pokemon, and now I have to work".

  "Yeah, life's rough, what can I say", I roll my eyes so she doesn't see it.

  Not that I want to be rude, but if your biggest problem in life is the fact your pet fox can't create fireworks at your whim, then you lead a pretty nice life.

  Fire fox, it crosses my mind. "Hey, Cassie", I wonder, "why don't you name your Fennekin Mozilla?".

  "Why would I do that?", she gives me a judgemental eyebrow.

  "Nothing, just thought it would be fun", I smirk. It's a stupid joke, one she doesn't get, I know, but it makes me feel better. With all the pokemon talk that I don't understand, I kind of like being able to confuse Cassie back.

  "It's an ugly name", she crosses her arms, "besides, I have bigger problems right now".

  "Oh, no, you have to work to achive something you want, bo-fucking-ho", I poke her shoulder gently, "just keep at it, you'll get there, remember what your aunt said? You need to take your time".

  "Don't cite aunt Lydia at me, please", she groans, playfully swiping my hand away. Sighing, her gaze turns serious, becoming firmer than I ever seen it. "I guess I'm just in a hurry, I've been thinking about this for so long, and now I'm here, and Xander and Leo are also here, and".

  "Why do the two of them even matter?", I cut her off.

  "Leo's already caught a pokemon on his first day", she notes, "he's already making progress, and Xander gets to do what he wants to do, and I don't know, I'm the only one who can't make a step forward".

  "But you made a step forward", I remind her, "you got Fennekin to listen to you".

  "Right, at least that's something", Cassie grabs her head in quiet defeat, "but I don't know, Fennekin's still not ready to take the training to the next level, and I still didn't have even a pracitce battle".

  "I'll battle you", I offer quickly. It's a reflex at first, just a way to pay Cassie back and make her feel better.

  But then the rationalisation of that action quickly appears. I will have to battle eventually. To keep my trainer privileges, I'll have to challenge a gym once. More than that, if a wild pokemon ever crosses my path, like Loudred did, I need to know what to do. Punching might not always solve my problems. And I was a bit behind on how to handle a pokemon battle.

  "If you think that's a good idea", I add, thinking that I really don't want to see Charmander hurt.

  But it's good for him as well, I know. He might find himself forced to defend someday.

  "You sure about it", Cassie brings her index finger to her lips, "I mean, Charmander is kind of a perfect sparring partner for Fennekin right now, but I thought you didn't really want to battle?".

  "Might as well give it a try", I say matter-of-factly. "How come Charmander's the perfect match for Fennekin?".

  "They're both fire types, so it's a match-up without an advantage", Cassie shrugs.

  "Oh, typings again", I groan, "I'm kind of starting to hate that whole thing you know".

  "Well, that's how the world works", Cassie bops my head playfully, "now, I'm asking again, are you sure you want to battle me?".

  "Yes", I nod confidently, even though I'm definitely not sure about this. "I owe you one, plus, it's good for Charmander to get a workout as well", I try reassuring both of us.

  "You know, I'm slowly starting to believe in your whole 'I'm dead' story", she chukles lightly.

  "Really, why now?", I raise my eyebrow in surprise.

  "Cause you're great at making terrible decisions", she shrugs.

  "Are you really making a joke out of this?", I sigh.

  "Just to ease you up a bit", she jumps up, pointing behind me, "hey, there comes Leo, great, we can ask him to referee for us".

  I turn around to see that Leo is truly dragging himself towards us. To me, he doesn't look willing nor able to referee. Even from a few feet away, I can tell he's breathing heavy, his face reddening.

  "Hey, Leo, you're just in time", Cassie tries greeting him.

  "You two, quick, come with me", Leo does his best to yell out at us, "I need help".

  "Hey, what's going on?", Cassie's face turns into worry as soon as she realises.

  "Fletchling", Leo pants, grabbing at Cassie's arm as soon as he approaches her, "I can't miss the feeding time".