Joe checked the pokedex again. It clearly read Confusion and Dissarming Voice. He stared curiously at Espurr, who in turn stood and blankly followed Riolu with his eyes as he trained.

  For once, Joe absolutely had no idea what was happening. Pokedex scan couldn't have come out wrong. Espurr, however, was not able to use those moves. Fake Out and Scratch not only worked well, but Espurr was quite proficent at using them. More importantly, he had listened to Joe's commands, so the boy knew Espurr wasn't disobedient. All things considered, there was only one option - Espurr never truly learned those moves, or rather, he had learned them but never developed them at all.

  With a sigh, Joe turned around, pinching the bridge of his nose. The tournament was a month away and all of a sudden he was drowning in troubled waters.

  Riolu slammed the nearest tree with Bullet Punch. "Good, just keep on going Rio", Joe noted absentmindedly. Riolu's attacks were fast, but very weak, and the boy was dead set on working through that latter part. Training Riolu, however, was one thing. That was no problem. After what happened in Canalave and back in Mali, Joe had made an executive decision of not using Riolu in battles. Not before he could get his own emotions in chek.

  He wasn't stupid, he knew well enough Riolu's behaviour was his fault, and the pokemon simply acted on the boy's feelings. But he had attacked Henry and Damian. Joe could only imagine what would happen if he fought people he disliked. Especially in the tournament, when stress levels are high.

  So now, he had Riolu, whom he couldn't use in battles because it risked harming someone, and an Espurr who, for whatever reason, wouldn't use any attack more powerful than Scratch. His chances started to look grim just like that. For a split second, he wondered if he's becoming Teo.

  With a sigh, he kneeled down next to Espurr. He would have to do things one step at the time. Summoning everything he knew about the two moves, he quickly realised this would be a problem.

  Confusion required target practice. The psychic move worked by targeting energetical pathways inside the body of the target, hitting at them with pent-up psychic energy. It simply would not work on a tree. And he couldn't have Espurr practice it on Riolu. One hit might be fine, but two would surely end up knocking out the fighting type, and he couldn't have that.

  Dissarming Voice it is, Joe decided. He wasn't sure how that would work either, since the move was sound based, requiring the pokemon to use its voice, and he had never heard Espurr make a sound. Nevertheless, he had to make it work. He was not going to pass this year with a berserker Riolu and a Espurr that only used Scratch.

  "Alright, Kafka", Joe said as softly as he could, "Dissarming Voice should start in your throat". He softly poked at the pokemon's short neck, or what he supposed his neck was. Espurr's anatomy was slightly confusing. "It should be simple enough", Joe tries explaining it, "like putting in energy into whatever you're saying".

  Espurr tilts his head to the side, pokemon's big blank eyes hiding any possible thought process.

  "What I want you to do is go and yell at that tree", Joe pointed to the giant trunk to his right, only then realising how dumb that sounds. That was the only training method he could come up with, though. "So, start out by just yelling, then slowly try to work energy into it", Joe says decisevly. Espurr's excess energy was mostly stored in the organs covered by their ears, however, just like with any other pokemon, they had energetical pathways running through their whole bodies.

  "If you're struggling to do that, try imagining the energy from your body flowing into your throat", Joe suggests, "then imagine it spreading in front of you as you yell". He wasn't going to tell Espurr to summon the energy from the storing organs. Espurrs had trouble controling that excess energy. He could very much have two pokemon capable of going berserker on his hands. Suddenly, he started to realise why Nolan didn't like the idea of overseeing his battles. Perhaps he should've taken him on that offer to switch to a Meowth? He would've passed with a Meowth, and he doubted the cat had the ability to kill anyone. Yeah, Meowth sounded great right about now.

  "Alright, Espurr, now go and try it out", Joe shook the thought out of his mind.

  Espurr eyed him inconspicuously, not moving an inch, not making a sound. Quite disturbingly, the pokemon didn't even blink.

  "Okay", Joe said, picking his new partner up and carrying him towards the tree. When he placed him down, Espurr simply stood there and continued staring at him. With a sigh, Joe turned him around, making him face the trunk. "Now, yell at it", he said encouragingly.

  Espurr watched the tree like one would watch a hallucination. Whatever was going through Espurr's mind, Joe didn't want to know.

  "Alright, then, let's take it slow", Joe sighed, "Kafka, just open your mouth". In slow-motion, the small furr-ball opened its mouth, as if it was going to make an 'oh' sound. However, it stayed silent yet again.

  Joe fought the urge to sink to his knees. Teaching moves was one thing. Teaching a pokemon how to talk was something completely different. "Okay", the boy says, bringing his hands to his hips in defeated desperation, "well, now, just do that 10 times in a row, than make a break, then go again". He watched as Espurr closed his mouth, only to open them slowly once again. If it wasn't his own pokemon he would find it funny.

  That was as much as he could do though, for now at least. Giving up, he turned towards Riolu, who was still rapidly hitting at the tree. He might've overestimated psychic types after all, he thought. Maybe the schoolboard was spot on in giving him a fighting type, they were nice, straightforward, training them was easy. Punch this, kick that, blast that over there was much easier than 'visualise your inner power'. Too bad he had gotten one fighting type that could be emotionally screwed by its trainer. Meowth would be easy to train, he thought, Scratch that, push that off the table. It sounded easy enough.

  "Alright Rio, let's switch to Vacuum Wave, make your attacks as strong as possible", Joe thought, looking up the time on his phone. "We've only got a bit more time".

  *****

  The nerves started working as Joe stood in front of the white doors, similar to the ones of his own dorm room. He could take on many things, but knocing at someone's doors at 8 AM on a Sunday was a different story. Especially after what had happened back in Canalave. At the very least, he knew Henry was awake.

  He knocked three times, trying to make the rhythm sound pleasant. Moments later, the doors opened up, with Henry appearing behind them, fully awake and ready to go.

  "Hey, Joe", the brown haired boy looks surprised as he stared at his visitor. "I thought you went back home", he says flatly.

  "Flew in late last night", Joe explained, "some stuff happened, I was in a rush and forgot to text, sorry if I woke you up".

  "It's fine, I was awake already", Henry nods, "I was letting Marc sleep in, since it's Sunday, but I was just about to wake him for our training". He gives Joe an expectant look: "you needed something, or you just came by to say hi?".

  "I wanted to take up Dominic on his little offer", Joe puts it down straight. His team was in no shape to battle, he knew, but he was interested in Dominic. With the guy being ranked second, Joe wanted to find out how good he was as soon as he possibly could. And the opportunity had presented itself.

  "Now?", Henry said, but his voice was as even as ever. He seemed to think about it for a second. "I mean, it could be useful", the boy decides, "besides, I've been battling the same people over and over again, switching the opponent should be good". Henry opens the doors further, inviting Joe in. "You'll just need to wait a bit, I need to take a quick shower", the boy says as Joe steps into their room, "I'll wake Marc up so he can keep you company".

  "Huh, wait, Hen, I needed talk to you about something", Joe stops him before he wakes anyone else up, thinking he needs to talk to Marc as well.

  "Sure, shoot buddy", Herny says expectantly.

  "Sorry about that thing in Canalave, again", Joe says simply, "I hope there's no bad blood".

  "Not at all", Henry nods in understanding, "I know it wasn't on purpose, those things happen sometimes".

  "Right, there's another thing", Joe continues, "it happened again yesterday".

  "Rio went crazy again?", Henry's question sounds all-knowing.

  "I think I was the one who went crazy", Joe admits.

  "Right", Henry nods.

  "Anyways, I won't be using Rio in battles for the foreseeable future", Joe notes simply, "not until I get myself under control, I can't risk it again".

  "Yeah, I understand", Henry says. "So, you're planning on fistfighting Dominic today then?", the boy rasies his eyebrow.

  "I'll use Kafka", Joe notes shortly, "that's the Espurr Teo caught for me".

  "Oh, so you kept that one", Henry nods, "and named it Kafka".

  "Seemed like a tortured soul", Joe admits.

  "Figures", Henry chuckles slightly.

  "Anyways, just giving you a heads up, Espurr can only use Fake Out and Scratch right now, so I'll play support when we fight Dominic", Joe notes.

  "Sounds good to me, I just want to check out the competition", Henry nods, instantly accepting the facts of life. "So, I guess you go for the Fake Out at the start to bait out to flinch him, and I wait in the back?".

  "Or to bait out Protect if he has it", Joe nods along, "yeah, that's the plan".

  "Good, then I'm the second wave", Henry says.

  "I'll cut off his attacks with Scratch, or bait his movements", Joe adds.

  "Right, I attack, you modify the situation", Henry decides, "sounds like a plan". Joe's really sad Henry isn't on his team. It was so easy for them to make plans.

  Looking around at the ceiling, Henry adds: "you know, when I think about it, you're in a pretty dire situation, huh".

  "Right", Joe notes shortly. They were 500 points behind, and Teo and him were barely usable in battles as of right now. Sam wouldn't be too helpful either. Not that it mattered. Most importantly, Joe could barely fight on his own with what he had on his hands.

  "Great, Dominc said his room is on the floor 7, right?", Henry questions.

  "Right, number 73", Joe nods.

  "Good, than let me get ready, I'd hate to go meet the guy with my morning odour", Henry says, quickly picking out his stuff.

  "Yeah, your room smells even worse than ours", Joe notes, "you guys keep your windows closed in the morning".

  "Lesley has problems with his sinuses, so we kind of have to", Henry shrugs, "otherwise, his nose closes up, and his voice becomes awfully nasal, it's hard to listen to, and you can guess how much he likes to talk".

  "I'm well aware", Joe says simply.

  "Anyways, I won't be long, you wake Marc up", Henry says, "just keep quiet, Andrei and Lesley both get nasty if you wake them up".

  "They sound like a lovely couple", Joe notes.

  "They are", Henry laughs lightly, leaving for the bathroom.

  For a moment, Joe looks around himself, noting that the four boys live in an even bigger mess than the five of them do. He would never guess Henry allowed them to live like this. The mess, snoring and sweat that filled up the room made him thankful he had Ace on his team. He would definitely throw a temper tantrum if their space looked like this, with clotges covering most of the floor and pieces of uneaten food plaguing the tables.

  Of course Marc took one of the top bunks, Joe thought, as he climbed up. Thankfully it was the one above Henry's bed. Andrei and Dean bunked together, and Lesley took the one single bed.

  He gently shook Marc awake, failing to wake him up. After two more gentle tries, Joe figured that would simply not work. He started shakimg him with more might, whisper-hissing for the boy to wake up.

  "Uh-huh, what", Marc said grogily, squinting his eyes.

  "Wake up", Joe says quietly, "we have places to be".

  "Uh, hey, Joe, hi", Marc's voice sounds raspy in the morning, lacking his usual vigor.

  "Good morning", Joe says, turning his legs around to sit on the bed.

  "Morning", Marc replies, rubbing his eyes.

  "Henry's taking a shower, we're gonna go and fight that Dominic guy later", Joe quickly fills him in.

  "Sound, uh, lovely", Marc says with a yawn, "do you and Henry ever sleep".

  "Barely", Joe admits.

  "Give me a sec", Marc says rolling around and jumping from the bed, "need to go take a piss and wash my teeth".

  "And wash your hands, I would hope", Joe says shortly.

  "Right, of course", Marc says, strolling towards the bathroom.

  Joe notes he's one of those type that sleeps in his underwear, which doesn't surprise him. What does hit him as weird is how pale and fragile his body looks, he'd never guess it, given the other boy's general temperament.

  Marc reapears only few minutes later, sleep still stuck in the corners of his eyes. Jumping up, he latches onto the edge of the bed, pulling himself upwards to sit next to Joe.

  "Hey, dude, you should get dressed, Henry said he'll be done fast", Joe says flatly.

  "Nah, Henry's a lying son of a bastard, you know, he takes like an hour long showers", Marc yawns again. "He's almost as bad as Lesley, but hey, nothing beats goldilocks taking care of his curls".

  "My teammates are good in that sense, at least", Joe says.

  "Lucky you", Marc sighs, "Hen's cool, he doesn't mind me walking in, and Dean doesn't take long, but Lesley stays in front of the mirror for hours, and he doesn let anyone else in, and Andrei sometimes gets stuck in there for hours as well, scrolling on his phone".

  "Sounds rough", Joe admits, "we mostly have a problem with Ace yelling at Sam for walking around in his underwear".

  "Oh, Andrei does that to me", Marc laughs lightly, "for a gay guy, I thought he'd be happy to see me half-naked, but nope".

  "That's not exactly how it works", Joe notes.

  "Why, am I not hot like this", Marc grins, streching his arms.

  "I mean, objectively, you're not everyone's type", Joe says.

  "I aboslutely am everyone's type", Marc retorts.

  "If you say so", Joe laughs a bit.

  "Well, I've been complaining, but you know, I do like this school", Marc sighs.

  "Really, you like it? Battle obsessed classmates and all?", Joe raises his eyebrow.

  "I mean, that is my favourite part", Marc laughs. "Honestly, everyone here knows so much about pokemon", the boy adds in a lower tone, "there weren't this many people who knew this stuff back in Goldenrod". Looking away he adds: "I mean, there were people who liked pokemon, but they weren't this serious about it".

  "I get it, it's a similar thing back in Mali, in Alola in general", Joe looks at him, noting the boy's skin seems almost translucent under the dim morning sunlight.

  "Oh, right, I always wanted to ask, how do things work in Alola?", Marc turns to him again, "are there any pokemon trainers there? I've heard you guys are not really into that, so you know, I was surprised when I found out you're from Alola".

  "There's a few people who are into it, but you know, people usually don't like us better for it", Joe deadpans, "and you know, not really too many people who actually know stuff, since training pokemon is basically non-existent in the real sense, I mean, we have no gyms and we have no circuit".

  "Right, sorry for nosing around, I just found it a bit strange", Marc nods in understanding.

  "Do you find it strange that I actually have some colour as well?", Joe attempts a joke.

  "Actually, yes, you guys really have a lots of sun days, huh", Marc laughs.

  "Yeah we're earth's tourist trap richest with vitamin D", Joe nods.

  "Right, well, sorry for asking", Marc laughs, "I just wanted to know".

  "Hey, uh", Joe sits through the feeling of uncomfort, "that thing in Canalave, I'm sorry about that, you know".

  "Hey, Henry and I both know it wasn't your fault, we all know Riolu's a bit specific", Marc waves it off.

  "I wasn't talking about that, though I'm sorry for that too", Joe notes, "the whole friends thing, I guess".

  "Oh, right, that", Marc scratches his head, "sorry, sometimes I just get carried away, it's kind of strange, you know, guess I'm still getting used to the fact we're all still new to each other".

  "I get it", Joe reassures him, "I just meant to say, we are friends". Looking away at the ceiling, Joe adds: "I guess I was always kind of bad, at saying stuff like that".

  "Right, I'm glad to know", Marc's voice finally sounds like him, the morning raspiness gone. Joe kind of misses it.

  "Honestly, I'm kind of used to people not really liking me at first", Joe admits, "or you know, just people being kind of reserved around me, I think I require some getting used to". If he were talking to Ace about this, he could've reenacted the Jughead 'Riverdale' scene, just for kicks, Joe thinks. "I might be a little too much at times", the boy adds.

  "I got used to you pretty fast though", Marc nudges him playfully, "though both you and Hen can be a bit to rigid, but I like you guys".

  "In my defense, I'm used to being surrounded by kids, I think I kind of take up that role around people, of being the responsible one, maybe my peers don't really like it all the time", Joe tries explaining it.

  "Huh, surrounded by kids?", Marc laughs, "you Alolans do things pretty fast, huh?".

  "Not really, we just tend to have really branched out famy trees", Joe notes, "and I ended up being the first of the new branches".

  "Ah, tree metaphors", Marc sighs, "don't get to hear a lots of those".

  "Right, tree metaphors, the Alolan special", Joe smiles. "Anyways, I just wanted you to know, that's just how I am", he adds clearing his throat, "I really appreciate you and Henry, I'm just not used to having a lots of people like you two in my life".

  "Yeah, I get it, I mean, I never really used to hang out with people like you and Henry too much", Marc says, "I guess the two of you can be really intense and cut and dry, but it makes sense, with your family thing, and Henry's gym thing".

  "Henry's gym thing?", Joe wonders out loud.

  "Yeah, his father is the Dewford gym leader", Marc nods, "Henry's supposed to take over one day".

  "Oh, I had no idea about that", Joe says in surprise.

  "Yeah, well, that's how he winded up with a Mienfoo, his father raised his pokemon, you know", Marc says, staring at the bathroom doors, "I don't know, I think Henry's not really... into the idea of taking over the gym, but it's what's expected of him".

  "Don't the gyms usually have testings to assign gym leaders? I didn't know people could inherit the position?", Joe questions, "sorry, I just don't know a lot about gyms, Alola doesn't really have any".

  "Well, yeah, every 4 years there's an evaluation of the candidates, and the best one is picked to be a gym leader", Marc explains, "but with Henry, his family's been on the job for a while, his great grandfather was the first gym leader, his grandfather took over after him, then his father, and apparently, he has no plans of stepping down before Henry comes around to take over, so, Dewford gym's virtually a family business".

  "I'm really bad at this kind of thing, huh", Joe laugh uncomfortably.

  "What kind of thing?", Marc inquiers.

  "This. Talking to people, really, knowing them", Joe lowers his head.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  "Well, you're doing good right now", Marc shrugs it off.

  "Only because you're so good at it", Joe admits, "you're so... open".

  "Yeah, I mean... I just like knowing people around me", Marc says.

  "Right, which makes you a better friend to have than me", Joe offers.

  "I don't know, I guess sometimes I come on too strong, I'm too much for people", the boy says wistfully, "with you and Hen, sometimes, I'm not sure why you keep me around".

  "Why wouldn't we?", Joe asks, confused.

  "The two of you are so serious, and you always know what you're doing", Marc admits, "I guess sometimes I feel like I'm just tagging along, trying too keep up with you, so I end up snapping, like I did in Canalave".

  "Maybe we all have our own problems, then", Joe says thoughtfully.

  "Maybe", Marc agrees.

  "Look, I'm really bad at saying this", Joe says carefully, "but I don't...I don't think you're keeping up with us, I think we need you, and you need us".

  "You need me?", Marc questions.

  "Yeah, I mean, without you, Henry and I would never talk", Joe admits, "I mean, we're together all the time, and I didn't even know Henry has that gym thing going on".

  "To be fair, he had no idea you're from Alola until I told him", Marc laughs, "the two of you are pretty similar".

  "Exactly, and that's why we need you", Joe states, "otherwise, we'd end up battling ourselves to death".

  "Right, well, you two could use some social skills", Marc admits.

  "Sorry", Joe feels the need to say.

  "Hey, it's fine", Marc waves it off, "the two of you really just need to put your mind to it, that's all".

  "I don't really know how to do that", Joe admits.

  "Well, you just talk, like you're doing right now", Marc says simply. "Hey", he adds suddenly, "would you want to go to the karaoke with me?".

  "Karaoke?", Joe stares at him emptily.

  "Yeah, they have those in the entertainment district", Marc scratches his head, "honestly, I've been fishing for someone to come with me, but no one really wants to do it".

  "I mean, I'm not really a singer", Joe says.

  "Me neither", Marc says, "but I thought it would be fun, so what do you think?".

  "I guess trying it wouldn't hurt", Joe decides.

  "Cool, how about Thursday", Marc notes, "I'll probably take a trip home for the weekend, but I'll be here on Thursday".

  "Works for me", Joe agrees, thinking he doesn't really have better things to do anyways. Now that his pokemon were out of order, he couldn't spend his free time battling around. Forced into socialising, he thinks.

  "Great", Marc clears his throat. "I better get dressed now, Henry's already been in there for 20 minutes, I think he'll be done soon".

  *****

  "What do you want", Vinnie hisses at them. Her pajamas are black and white, and her bed hair gives an impression of someone who's ready to cut their throats. Not that Joe had expected a warm welcome, but the look in her eyes was a tad bit too hostile.

  "We came to see Dominic", Henry says simply, with Marc next to him, trying to sneak a peek into the room.

  "God, what do you need him for", Vinnie scoffs, "and at 9 in the morning on a Sunday".

  "Oh, we're on for a date", Marc deadpans.

  "Fuck off, you're not even his type", Vinnie growls. "You know, I just think this one's unfortunately obsessed with us, keeps following us around", she sighs, nodding her head towards Joe, "did my brother send you, or what".

  "Ves is not here", Joe informs her shortly, "besides, Dominic told us to find him".

  "Well, I doubt he meant you should come along at 9 AM", the girl says. "I am literally the only person here who knows how to fucking wake up", she turns around to yell to her sleeping roomates. "God, it sucks so much living with boys, they are swines who like to sleep in", she says in desparation, "and this room smells so bad, you wouldn't even know".

  "We know", the three boys reply in unision.

  "Ugh, I have to bully the school board into giving me my own room", Vinnie sighs. "I'm the only one who keeps things clean around here, it sucks", she says mostly to herself.

  Creating a team of Ace, Marc, Vinnie and himself might be beneficial, Joe thinks. Their room would be the cleanest place on campus. And they could definitely find one more clean freak amongst 300 students.

  "Could you just wake Dominic up?", Henry cuts off her rambling.

  "I'll see if I can", she sighs, "but he sleeps like a dead man". With that, the girl slams the door into their faces. For around 10 minutes, the three boys stand there, listening in to the yelling. Vinnie openly threatens death multiple times. They can hear her loudly lecturing about inviting idiots to their room, and she adds the 'keep the room clean' talk for good measure.

  They don't hear anyone else talk, but after some time the doors open up again, and Dominic shuffles outside.

  "Hey, sorry for the wait", he says with a smile plastered across his face. He's wearing jeans and a black wind jacket, towering over everyone else. He definitely doesn't seem like someone who had just woken up. "And sorry for the Vinnie welcome", the boy scratches his head.

  The doors open again, Vinnie peeking out. "First off, I've heard that, second off, don't aplogise to them, third, don't ever evr get undressed in front of me again".

  "Sorry, Vin, I was in a hurry", Dominic says innocently. "Now, let's go", the boy starts dragging them away from the doors.

  "You better bring me cake as an apology", Vinnie yells after them.

  "She's a bit psychotic", Marc notes as they get out of Vinnie's earshot.

  "Only in the morning", Dominic says in response. Knowing three of his teammates, Joe's surprised at how not-awful Dominic is.

  "So, you changed your minds pretty quickly, huh", the boys says in a deep voice, somehow coloured with excitment, "I'm roaring to have a battle".

  "Why are you sure we came to battle?", Henry says flatly.

  "And how are you already excited about it, you just woke up?", Marc adds.

  "Considering you came knocking on our doors, and my teammates don't exactly like you, I suppose you came to answer my challenge back in Canalave", Dominic says simply, "and the second one is a trick queston, I'm always roaring to battle".

  "You're an awfully polite battle maniac, reminds me of someone", Marc sighs, eyeing Joe and Henry.

  "Hey, no use in creating enemies, I always say that to my teammates, but do they listen, no, not really", Dominic raises his hands in a sign of honesty, "anyways, where are we going to do this?".

  "At the beach", Joe notes flatly.

  "Amazing, the weathers great, we're gonna take a walk, have a little battle, we could grab snacks later on", Dominic rambles cheerfully, "have to get that cake for Vinnie".

  "Actually, I can't help wondering how you handle the rest of your teammates?", Henry questions in response to Dominic's Demeanor.

  "Oh,they are actually nice when you get to know them, and I've known them since we were kids", Dominic waves it off, "they just have their defenses up for new people, and I guess you guys are technically competition, so there's that".

  "You're a chatty dude", Marc notes.

  "Thanks, I like talking, and I think I'm pretty good at it", Dominic laughs.

  "I actually think I like this one", Marc loudly exclaims. Joe doesn't really want to admit it, but he likes Dominic as well, he seems like a genuinely nice guy.

  But he's also a guy ranked above him, a guy he was about to battle. When he came back to Old King's, decisive on his decision to accept Dominic's challenge, he had no idea things with Espurr would take a sharp turn to the left. He expected he'd do much more, but now, he'd have to leave the matter in Henry's hands again.

  They make their way out of the dorms quickly, and their walk to the beach turns out to be similarly short. All four of them are fast walkers, as it turns out. The more Dominic talks, the more Joe likes him. Not an oumce if negativity in his entire body, and he's pretty smart as well. It dawns on him, if this was the team that was assigned to him, he would gladly take it. Maybe he'd have Dean or Ace filling the 5th spot, he can't really decide.

  The matter of the fact is, this does feel good. Like Marc said, there are people here who are just into pokemon as he is, who can talk about it on the same level. Even though it takes them only 10 minutes to reach the shore, they manage to get tangled up in specifics of certain strategies, and it feels good talking about it. With these people, it feels good. It's nothing like Alola. Save for Damian, most team skull members don't know too much about pokemon, not that Joe would ever blame them, Alola doesn't really offer much resources. And it's nothing like his team, with constant in-fighting, threats and insults. Maybe if he tried talking to his teammates like this, something would change, maybe it would feel good. But things didn't work like that. The five of them simply didn't click and that was that. Not that Joe had an issue with it until now. It was perhaps not something that could be changed.

  As they reached the beach, Joe let the salt air fill his lungs, freeing him from all the thoughts he had so far. Battle time was in front of him, and he had a single objective. Support Marc and Henry so the three of them could figure out how good Dominic really was. The sole fact Dominic so easily accepted a 3v1 situation didn't make him feel more at ease. For a split second, he considered using Riolu after all, but decided against it. He couldn't risk it. Not at school, not when he was battling against the rules yet again. If Riolu hurt someone now and they had to go into the nursery, they'd end up getting in too much trouble. Besides, he wanted to see how Espurr does in battle as well.

  "Good, this feels like a perfect spot", Dominic runs around in the sand, reminding Joe of a ground type that's desperatly trying to use Sandstream.

  "Are we just going to get on with it then?", Henry plants himself firmly on one side.

  "If you guys don't mind it", Dominic says, casually sending out his Scyther. The giant green mantis flies above the sand, and Joe notices how sharp adn shiny its blades look. Definitely a top notch bred pokemon.

  "I'm fine with starting right away", Henry responds by sending out Mienfoo. The weasel looks ready to go.

  "I'm in as well", Marc lets Sneasel hit the sand as well.

  "Good to go", Joe says, releasing Espurr. The small psychic type starts slowly twisting his legs as soon as they touch the sand. He proceeds to reluctantly dust off the sand that gets stuck in his furzall while keeping his wide purple eyes completely expressionless. Joe's pretty sure his new partner isn't a fan of beach battles. It looks like an emotionally overwhelmed child that doesn't really want to be there.

  "Okay, then, if we are all redy", Dominic states.

  "Let the battle begin", Marc finishes. His sentence.

  "Yeah", Dominic states.

  "Fake Out", Joe says instantly.

  "Go, Trailblaze, Mienfoo", Henry orders readily.

  "Ice Shard, now Sneasel", Marc follow up as well.

  "Fly up, Scyther", Dominic orders nonchalantly.

  As the praying matnis flies out of the reach of the attacks, Joe realises that flying types are goddamn problematic.

  Not only is it easy for them to fly away from the attacks, but the three of them had exactly one way of attacking him right now. Ice Shard. They had no other long range move between them. Joe knew Dominic had a Scyther as well. He should've known better. They'd have to let Dominc attack first and try to counter it, that was the only way.

  "Agility, now", Dominic says readily, and his partner gathers the energy necessary to enhance its movements.

  "Fuck, Ice Shard", Marc tries having Sneasel knock the bug out of the air with an attack, but Scyther easily dodges it again.

  If Espurr could use Confusion or Dissarming Voice, it would be a different story, but this way, Joe was completely useless. Espurr was slow, too slow, he couldn't keep up with Scyther's movements even on hid base speed. This would be a big problem.

  "Agility, again", Dominic order, and Joe is suddenly super thankfull Riolu is in his pokeball.

  He had no ways of helping out here.

  "Taunt", Marc finally says, "stop it".

  Joe wonders if that would be enough, Scyther already raised its speed twoce, there was no telling if Marc and Henry could keep up with Dominic now.

  An idea crosses his mind. He doesn't like it, but it's the only chance they have.

  "Henry", he sharply turns to his friend, "Trailblaze me".

  Henry picks up on it instantly. "Mienfoo, go", he says, as the dark energy wraps around Scyther, making it impossible for the bug to use energy to increase its abilities.

  The weasel flies across the sand, hitting Espurr with grassy energy, increasing his speed.

  "Quick Attack", Dominic orders swiftly having his partner drop down from the heights in order to stop Mienfoo from increasing his speed.

  "Protect, Sneasel, stop them", Marc yells out realising what Henry and Joe are doing.

  "Mienfoo, one more", Henry says decisively.

  "You're in my way", Dominic says, "Furry Cutter, Scyther". The bug slashes at Sneasel sending it flying back.

  Mienfoo connects the second Trsilblaze as well, knocking out Espurr and rasing his speed.

  Joe quickly recalls his partner from the battlefield. "Sorry, Kafka, this was the only thing we could contribute", he hates that things have come down to something like this again. But at least Henry was in the position to keep up with Scyther now.

  "Go, Furry Cutter again, keep it up", Dominic doesn't pay attention to Henry, as Scyther continues slashing at the Sneasel. With Protect already used, and Scyther's increased speed, the ice type has no chance of avoiding the blades. Two more slashes are enough to knock it out cold. Joe can hear Marc curse as he recalls his partner as well.

  "Aeiral Ace", Henry wastes no time ordering the next attack.

  While Scyther's still coming off of on attack, Mienfoo comes rushing forward, threatening a hit.

  "Get back with Quick Attack", Dominic says, "Fly up again".

  "Mach Punch", Henry orders as soon as Scyther succesfully escapes the Aerial Ace. Mienfoo goes into the second attack instantly, managing to connect it just before Scyther escapes back into the air. Henry squints his eyes in desparation, and Joe already knows the battle is over.

  "Sorry for the delay, we'll get right back to you as soon as Taunt wears off", Dominic promises casually.

  "Yeah, we figured", Marc sighs.

  "Hey, can't blame the guy for using the advantage, you know, you guys really weren't prepared for this fight", Dominic notes, "but that was a good effort to make up for things, too bad I'm not hotheaded".

  "Yeah, too bad for us", Joe notes.

  "We can stop now if you want", Dominic offers.

  "I'll go ahead with the battle", Henry says firmly, "I haven't lost yet".

  "I'm just noting, I will increase Scyther's speed as soon as Taunt wears off, and Furry Cutter is already loaded", Dominic informs him, "but I appreciate your willingness to go on".

  Joe grips his hands as he watches the dark bound around Scyther slowly fade away. Dominic's right, they were fully unorepared for a flying type that can raise its speed. What was even worse, Riolu would've stood a chance here. Joe figured it out quickly, Dominic had no long range attacks either. He had to come in close for an attack. Even with his speed emhanced, the bug would have a tough time with Detect into Bullet Punch combo. Henry could use the similar kind of strategy, Detect into Mach Punch, but a fighting move wouldn't do enough damage here. The best bet Henry had now was to use Aerial Ace.

  "Okay, all better now", Dominic says, as the dark energy disperses from Scyther, "Agility, now". Henry waits patiently as Dominic sets up two more times. Joe finds it just a little bit scary that Henry's planning to take this battle head on.

  "Okay now, go in Scyther, Quick Attack", Dominic orders with excitment. He seems to be enjoying this. Joe can't blame him. If he could bring Riolu's speed to its limit and let him loose on the battlefield, he'd have a great time as well.

  Scyther jolts down, rushing across the sand, creating the veil around himself.

  "Detect", Henry orders swiftly, "follow up with Mach Punch".

  Piercing into its opponent, Scyther goes for a slam, but Mienfoo manages to twist away from it, landing a Mach Punch the very next second.

  "Aerila Ace, now", Dominic says in exhilaration.

  "Detect", Henry counters instantly, "hit back, Mach Punch".

  Once again, Mienfoo manages to closely avoid getting hit, and fire back with a Mach Punch.

  "Quick Attack", Dominic pushes through.

  "Detect", Henry orders again, but Scyther hits into the weasel before the boy gets to call for a counter. Agility is nasty.

  "Aerial Ace, now", Dominic says rapidly. Scyther swings his blades at Minefoo, who can't regain his balance in time, taking the second hit in a row. So much for Detecting every attack, Joe thinks, Scyther was simply too fast now, and there was no space for Mienfoo to use.

  "Quick Attack", Dominic orders sharply and, even though Henry tries going for Detect again, Scyther is too close and too fast to be avoided. Mienfoo ends up on a ground, fainted.

  "Well, that was nasty", Marc snarks as Henry silently recalls his partner.

  "Yeah, did you see how fast my Scyther can get", Dominic exclaims cheerfully, "this was the best, I never get to raise Scyther's speed to its limit in battle, I can't believe I just did that, it felt amazing".

  Joe had learned two things from this very one-sided battle. Although they never managed to corner Dominic in any way, the guy clearly had a good head on his shoulders. He took the advantage and didn't rush in to attack. Second thing - flying types now firmly solidified themselves in 2nd place on Joe's ever-growing lists of types he hates to face in a battle.

  "He was like, swoosh-brrr-swoosh", Dominic basically skips over to them, with Scyther floating right behind him.

  "That was definitely dangerously fast", Joe admits calmly, only slightly dissapointed he never got to do that with Riolu.

  "Really, thanks for battling me, I mean I guess you didn't enjoy this too much, but I certainly did", Dominic word-vomits, "Mikey and Vinnie would never let me pull something like this".

  "Yeah, rub the salt on our wounds", Marc laughs.

  "Hey, not that I'm calling you bad, I mean, I had to get rid of you fast since you were problematic", Dominic adresses the blond boy, "please, take that as a compliment".

  "Well, since you ask so nicely", Marc scratches his head, his cheeks turning red.

  "And Henry, thanks for sticking this out and letting me test out Scyther's top speed", Dominic adds, "I actually did this a few times against Bo as well, but he always just forfeits as soon as I raise Scyther's speed too much".

  "It was a good practice for me as well", Henry nods, "and a reminder I need something to help me deal with flying types".

  "Well, you could definitely use more versatility", Dominic nods cheerfully.

  "Right, I was a bit to focused on building Mienfoo's moveset to counter Joe's Riolu", Henry admits, "kind of forgot there are other threats in this school, in my defense, I didn't really have many chances to battle too many of our classmates".

  "Right, and where's that Riolu of yours?", Dominic turns to Joe, "Vinnie also said he's a menace, thruthfully, I was a bit dissapointed when I saw you using Espurr against me".

  "Rio's on a break from battling", Joe says shortly, "besides, I wanted to see what Kafka can do, honestly, I thought we'd be a better match up for you".

  "Strange that you didn't go for any psychic moves on me, those would help", Dominic thinks about it, "your Espurr, or Kafka, I guess, seems developed enough to know some of those".

  "He does know them, I just don't think he can use them yet", Joe admits.

  "Well, anyways, that was a fun tactic, letting Henry hit you with Trailblaze to give him a speed boost, but a bit self-destructive", Dominic concludes.

  "I do what is necessary", Joe says simply.

  "I see", Dominic nods in understanding. "So", he looks at the three of them, "we going to get some snacks now, or?".

  "I'm in", Marc gets infected with Dominic's cheerfulness.

  *****

  Sitting in an empty dorm room feels strange. It was strange when he fell asleep last night, and it was strange when he woke up that morning. Joe stares at curtain he had brought from home and set up. He had nothing better to do. His day with Marc, Henry and Dominic was fun, but he couldn't fully enjoy it after that loss. It was such a stupid loss, he thinks. He did nothing. It was even worse than not being able to get a hit in on Damian back in Mali. At least with that, he knew Damian had way more experiance and training.

  There were other problems as well. Perhaps he'd have to face Dominic on his own someday, and at this point he had no secure way of dealing with his Scyther. Flying types were another problem he couldn't seem to get around.

  Riolu stood, looking through the window calmly. It was too early for Joe to start teaching it how to use Aura Sphere. He was not even close to developing that. The move required significatn amount of fighting energy to be gathered and controled. Joe spent most of his training focusing on training, pure power wasn't exactly his forte. But he did realise it, a pokemon he wanted to make into special attacker currently had 2 physical moves. And anything else was too far ahead for them to start working on it.

  Espurr, who sat on the bed and stared at the wall blankly, was not in better shape. More importantly, Joe didn't have a slightest idea on how to deal with it. Teleport and Shadow Ball would be good, he knew that much. However, they both required energy manipulation, and he had a hunch, Espurr wasn't that good at it. With his new partner being unable to use two special attacks, that was the only explanation Joe could come up with. Even if those were truly underdeveloped, Espurr should be able to use them to some extent. They might be extremely weak, but Espurr should be able to use them.

  He scoured the internet for advice, but it wasn't much help. Mostly, the advice came down to motivational speech and pure theory. He had no idea how he would, in reality, get Espurr to start firing off those moves.

  In an attempt to get it off his mind, the boy stood up and walked over to the window where he kept the berry pots. They were placed there to get as much sunlight as they could. It was dark outside now, so the small trees looked a little bit depressed. Still, Joe was satisfied with their progress. Seeing a few closed up flowers amongst the small branches, Joe concluded they should start bearing fruit by this weekend. Record timehe thought, realising that the life of a farmer might not be so bad after all. Farmers didn't have to deal with emotionally dependent fighting dogs or emotionally distressed furrballs.

  The doors opened slowly behind him, and Joe turned around to see Ace walk in. The blond boy tilted his head in a sign of greeting, before he launched his backpack onto his bed.

  "Oh, you already arrived", Ace notes shortly.

  "Flew in yesterday", Joe responds. "I brought curtains", he adds, gesturing towards the piece of fabric.

  "That's actually amazing", Ace twists his face in surprise, "and the room looks clean as well".

  "Did some cleaning, not much going on", Joe admits.

  "Nice", Ace stops abruptly, noticing Espurr sat on Joe's bed, still staring at the opposing wall in a show of eitger steely determination or a complete absence of thought. "This thing yours?", the boy asks.

  "Yeah, that's Kafka", Joe explains, "Teo caught him, and gave him to me".

  "Teo caught it for you?", Ace raises his eyebrow.

  "It's not like I asked him to", Joe says defensively.

  "The two of you are on good terms, huh?", Ace wonders.

  "Not sure", Joe answers shortly.

  "Well, doesn't matter",  Ace says producing two pokeballs from his pockets. He releases both, and Rockruff and Charcadet appear. Rockruff immediately takes interest in Espurr, with Riolu quickly joining them in a very one-sided conversation.

  Joe stares at the Charcadet, realising Ace had caught himself an addition as well. The small pokemon seemed pretty cheerful as it carefully took the room in.

  "Caught it back in Canalave", Ace notes, noticing Joe's curiosity, "didn't get to tell anyone yet".

  "Good, that's good", Joe says, approaching his drawer and finding the heal capsules. "Here, have this", he throws it over to Ace, realising he now has only 2 left. Splitting them between his teammates, and giving both Marc and Henry one quickly lowered the number. He did want his teammates to be able to somewhat heal their pokemon remotely, however, so it was a necessary trade. Especially after Sam was set up, Joe had no idea what to expect from this school.

  "Thanks", Ace says, quickly adjusting the heal capsule over Charcadet's pokeball. "Anyways, I'm glad that you're here", the blond boy says with a sigh, "I wanted to talk to you".

  "You missed calling me a dictator for the weekend?", Joe gives him a cautious look as he sits down on his bed next to Espurr. Rockruff and Riolu are still trying to communicate with the psychic type, but he's still silent as ever.

  "Not exactly", Ace clears his throat, "I have a proposal for you".

  "I'm falttered, but I'm too young to get married", Joe deadpans, "besides, you're not my type, Ace".

  "That was a terrible attempt at the joke, please don't ever do that again", Ace rolls his eyes as he steps closer in.

  "What was it that you wanted?", Joe says calmly.

  "I want to propose an alliance", Ace extends his hand.

  "That's... interesting", Joe says slowly, leaving Ace hanging. "Surprised you want anything to do with me", the boy adds, "I thought you hate me for 'trying to get us expelled' and simar rhetorics".

  "Look", Ace removes his hand, "don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily like you".

  "That's not how you negotiate", Joe says simply.

  "You and I are the only ones who take things seriously on this team", the boy ignores his remark, "we have the best test scores, and we are the only guys with any semblance of a plan, you have to admit that".

  "Ves is there as well", Joe notes.

  "Ves is just hot headed, how far do you think that will get him?", Ace raises his eyebrow.

  Joe looks over to the side. Maybe Ace is right. Teo and Sam were pretty much dead weight at this point, and Ves gets by on basis of powering through things. His battle record isn't that impressive either. It stings a little, realising that he's in the same boat right now. But he wasn't, Joe thinks, not truly. Riolu can still battle, it was a risk, but it's not like his partner was out of commission.

  "So, you and I, we start working together from now on", Ace spots Joe's reluctance, "mind you, what I'm suggesting here is purely a business parthership".

  "Right, what good does it do", Joe says.

  "For once, you get a training partner", Ace sits down next to him, "I'll do your crazy training routine from now on, waking up at 5 AM and all".

  "Frankly, that does more good for you than for me", Joe retorts.

  "You also get a study buddy", Ace offers. That does pick Joe's interest. Marc and Henry have been great as training buddies, but the two of them don't exactly like sitting down to study. Really, the only reason Henry wasn't ranked higher in the entrance exam was the fact that he hates studying, and he had to force himself to power through it in order to get in. Unfortunate, since even with the least amount of effort, Henry managed to land himself in top 100.

  "More importantly, you get me on your side in any future arguments that break out in this room", Ace sweetens the deal. "Plus, we can exchange tips and informations on training, that's bound to be helpful for both of us", the blond boy adds.

  What Marc had said comes back to him, in pair with the day he had just spent with his classmates. Having Ace to talk to about training might not be the worst thing.

  "Okay, so, what do you want?", Joe gives in, noticing Ace's expectant look.

  "Just to offer my companionship", Ace says innocently.

  "Cut it out, what do you want?", Joe says flatly.

  With a deep breath, Ace says: "Take me to Lilicove".

  Joe gives him a slightly surprised look. "What's this now", he says carefully, "are you suggesting we break the rules".

  "Look, don't give me shit on this", Ace rolls his eyes, "I am forced to fight for myself here, I'll fail the year at this point if I don't, and I see a little difference between that and getting expelled".

  "Glad you finally realised that", Joe says camly.

  "Don't get me wrong", Ace scoffs, "I wouldn't be doing this if there were other options".

  "Right", Joe nods.

  "Hey, you guys got me backed in the corner", Ace crosses his arms, "I'm taking the only way out here".

  "Huh, and what do you need in Lilicove?", Joe raises his eyebrow.

  "I need to get some TMs for Rocky and Private", Ace states, "I want Rocky to learn Taunt, and I need a new move for Private, since he knows only 3".

  "Huh, well", Joe thinks about it, "sounds like you thought that through, however...".

  "However?", Ace says expectantly.

  "A trip to Lilicove right now would only waste my time, it's an unnecessary and detrimental risk for me". Finding TMs for Teleport and Shadow Ball would be good, but even if he did, he'd still have to work with Espurr, which he had no idea how to do. A trip would just waste him a whole day of training and studying. "Sorry, Ace", Joe shrugs, "I'm in for setting up training and studying sessions, but I have no reasons to take you over the ocean right now".

  "Cmon, dude, do this one thing for me", Ace sighs, "it helps you out as well".

  "How does this benefit me at all?", Joe wonders.

  "If I get new moves, it gives the team an opportunity to advance further in the tournament, so more opportunities for all of us to score points, including you", Ace says simply.

  "Look, Taunt certainly sounds like an interesting strategy, but I don't think it will be some crazy power up that lets you just blow through the tournament", Joe concludes.

  "It will give me more tools to work with", Ace stays adamant, "besides, I want to teach Rocky how to use Sucker Punch as well".

  "Sucker Punch?", Joe raises his eyebrow, "Rockruff learns that?".

  "He does, with move tutoring", Ace raises his finger, "I checked, and there is a move tutor in Lilicove, I need to get there, alright, as soon as possible".

  "Move tutor, huh", Joe thinks about it, "they open up new energetic pathways in pokemon's body, right".

  "Yeah, it's some strange hypnotic therapy, something like that, but ultimately, it opens up new energetic paths that pokemon have but don't develop naturaly", Ace confirms.

  That might actually work on Espurr, Joe thinks. Maybe his energetic pathways have been closed off, the pokemon's been held in captivity after all. Maybe move tutor can help with it.

  "And you say you need to get there as fast as possible?", Joe looks at Ace.

  "Yeah", Ace nods.

  "Alright, let's go tomorrow morning", Joe says simply, "we'll cut classes, I hope you're okay with that".

  "You changed your mind pretty quickly there", Ace looks at him curiously.

  "Let's just say I'm in a hurry as well", Joe responds.

  "Alright, then, we're going tomorrow morning", Ace states confidently.