The sun crept over the treeline for over the horizon, and kissed the day with its radiance. With it came the cries of Spearow and Torchic to begin the day. The air was still chilled from the night prior, but the sunlight brought a pleasant warmth as it washed over the wild, untamed scenery.

Professor Hazel basked in the glory of the sunset. The sky was aflame with mesmerizing colors, a cacophony of pinks, oranges, and reds that painted the sky in a way no human hand ever could. In her old age, she had come to find that no matter how many times she watched the sunset, it never grew old to her.

Idly, she sipped her coffee, watching various Pokémon take to the sky to start their own morning. Professor Hazel rarely started her day with the caffeinated drink anymore; she had been told many times that it would be the end of her before she finally broke the habit, yet here she was, still holding a steaming mug. Today was a special occasion, though, and she would need the energy to keep up with her students. Today was an important day after all.

For the students, today likely started like any other day. So far, only a few weeks had gone by, and most of that time had been for basic conditioning while the students got adjusted to their facilities. Now, as she looked down, a few early birds were already starting their day. Hazel smiled at the notion. These young up-and-coming trainers seemed to have an unlimited reserve of energy. Like they were fueled entirely by their ambitions. She chuckled at the notion, then finished her coffee and retreated into her room to prepare for the day. She had roughly an hour before class started, and she was not about to be late

The training field still carried traces of the night's chill when Kaius arrived. The sun had only just begun climbing above the distant treeline, casting long shadows across the grounds and painting the world in soft gold. Most of the academy still slept. A few lights glowed in distant windows, but the majority of the campus remained quiet. Just the way Kaius liked it.

This wasn’t a workout, not yet. He began to move.

The sort his father always called, waking the body up before asking anything serious of it.

Slow laps around the field. He focused on controlling his breathing.

Then, transitioning to footwork patterns drilled so many times that they no longer required conscious thought.

Forward. Pivot. Reset.

Forward. Pivot. Reset.

Years of repetition carried him through the motions while the rest of Team Breakwater slowly assembled around him. He’d released all of them once he’d set foot onto the training field, and let them wake up, wonder about, and then do their own morning routines.

Umbreon, his shiny Umbreon, sat near the edge of the field, watching with the calm patience of someone who had witnessed this exact routine hundreds of times before. His tail flicked once as Kaius passed. No greeting was necessary between the two lifelong friends. They had already acknowledged each other.

Across the field, Rook moved through her own drills with unwavering focus. The Riolu's Macho Brace rested securely around her limbs as she practiced footwork sequences with almost academic precision.

One. Two. Pivot. Reset.

One. Two. Pivot. Reset.

Kaius glanced her way. Rook immediately straightened, "Riolu." Which meant they were ready. He nodded to them, and they nodded back. Entire conversation complete.

Nearby, Aegis was attempting stretches with enough enthusiasm to suggest she believed flexibility could be conquered through sheer determination. The Hisuian Growlithe had somehow transformed a simple warm-up into a personal challenge.

Umbreon watched this develop. His expression suggested he had concerns. Several, in fact.

Sitting atop a nearby fence post, Wattrel sat and, with a loud squawk, interrupted the morning. As he watched and judged, while pretending to be involved. The fact that his wings occasionally mirrored portions of the stretching routine was clearly unrelated. At least according to Wattrel.

A shadow drifted overhead. Kaius didn't bother looking up.

"Morning, Hex," came his husky morning voice.

A purple cloud drifted lazily into view upside down, "GASTLY!"

The tone suggested Hex had discovered something extremely entertaining, and nobody asked what it was. Experience had taught them that asking usually made things worse.

And as if summoned by the mere mention of chaos, Abra appeared in a brief flash of psychic light several yards away.

The Psychic-type sat quietly in the grass. Holding a spoon. Watching.

Kaius wasn't entirely convinced Abra had been there five seconds earlier. He wasn't entirely convinced Abra hadn't.

The morning continued with footwork, conditioning, and movement. The familiar rhythm settled over the field as naturally as breathing, and for a little while, there was no academy, no tournament, no expectations. Just another sunrise. Just another day of training.

Eventually, Kaius slowed to a stop and took a drink from the water bottle he'd left beside the field.

The academy grounds were beginning to wake now. More lights were coming on. People began to move about. Students preparing for the day ahead.

Kaius rested the bottle against his shoulder and looked toward the distant buildings.

A small smile crossed his face, "Come on," he said, glancing toward the team. "Let's get breakfast before class."

Six different reactions followed immediately. Somehow, against all reasonable expectations, it worked remarkably well.

Lucida "Luz" Prieto

Two hours before class started, with the first rays of the early morning sunlight just starting to peek through her curtains, the alarm that Lucida had set on her phone went off. Its shrill ringing filled the quiet dormitory as the figure hunched under the covers of the bed began to stir.

An arm appeared from beneath the sheet, grasping blindly for where she had left it the night before without having to lift her head from the pillow. Her hand slapped down next to it and felt only fake, varnished wood cold to the touch. Her hand jumped to its other side and touched the edge of its case with her fingertips as she accidentally pushed it further away. Target found, her hand came down unerringly on where it lay, only for her phone to fly out of the way and hover just out of her reach.

"Ugh, not todaaaaay." Lucida pulled the covers down, exposing her head for the first time and revealing a disastrous mess of bed head and a grumpy expression. She glared at her Rotom phone, the perpetual smiling face on its screen only making her frown deepen. Reaching out with her hand again, she made grasping motions towards it as it stayed just out of her reach. "Come 'ere."

The phone floated further out of her reach and then the volume of the alarm increased.

Letting out an exasperated sigh Lucida pulled the covers back over her head for a second, before throwing them entirely off of herself and sitting up in bed. "Fiiiiiine~. You win this time."

---

Lucida was more awake as she finished tying her hair up, the reflection staring back at her in the bathroom mirror looking less bleary eyed than when she first saw it. She then turned her attention to her makeup, getting ready to apply the eye liner and sparkly eye shadow now that her hair was out of her face.

Her hand moved with practiced motions and a steady hand, far more used to doing this in the middle of nowhere with a hand mirror, or even while on the move, than the luxury of a dormitory bathroom. That was still something she was getting used to actually; having her own bathroom, among other things. After spending several months essentially homeless, intermittently hiking, camping or spending nights in cheap hostels and Pokemon Centre lobbies, all while trying to maintain a certain level of physical appearance appropriate for camera appearances, having semi-stable living conditions again was a little weird.

She now had a bed that couldn't be rolled up and stored in a backpack. She had easy access to running water and electricity. She had privacy; as much as a semi-celebrity who readily posted details of her own life could get. She had a schedule that was set by other people that she had to adhere to. That last one was a bit of an annoyance really, but was also the cost of the opportunity she had been given.

Returning her attention to the mirror, she just had the coloured contacts to do for now. Her nails could wait until after she got to class. The sensation of pressing something against her eye was never pleasant, no matter how used to it she was, and she blinked rapidly once they were in until they settled.

With everything done, the face that now occupied the mirror was a familiar one; not too different from her own, it was just a little make-up after all and 'Luz' was not an entirely separate persona, but there was still something of a transformation involved. Her own face, enhanced, painted in bright colours like aposematism that drew attention as much as it warned people.

Looking at herself, Lucida couldn't help the camera-ready smirk that stretched across her face.

---

Lucida walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed, and carefully stepped over Chunk, her Clodsire, who had made himself at home in the most inconvenient spot in the room. She collected everything she would need for the day and put it all into her bag, before returning Chunk to his Pokeball and putting that in there too.

Approaching and opening the door to her doom, Lucida held her bag open and her Rotom phone smoothly and readily flew over and slipped inside. Closing and locking her room behind her, she began to walk towards the stairs that would take her down to the communal areas of the building.

There should still be enough time to get breakfast, before class started.

Felix Charron

Felix tried to steady his breathing, but felt a tremor in his hands nonetheless. He only had three Pokémon. The tournament called for teams of four. Somehow here he was in the finals. There had been no margin for error. Venus was his strongest Pokémon, and so she had to carry most of the weight. Nin and Royal had to beat at least one opponent each. If Venus ever had to fight more than two, the burden might be too much. They only had so much time to rest between matches. They just needed to keep it up.

Felix was wondering if he shouldn't have just caught a Zubat or something to fill out the fourth slot.



"Go, Litleo!" Aimeric sent out his first Pokémon. In that case, there was really only one option. Fire types were a bit of a problem for his team at the moment.

"You're up first, then!" Felix sent out his Nidorino, Royal.

They started out with a horn attack. The move was dodged, and they attempted to fire back with an ember, but now Royal was in melee range. A quick double-kick caught Litleo off guard, snapping its jaw shut before the ember could fire off. A headbutt from Litleo then clashed with another horn attack from Nidorino. It seemed to be an even exchange at first, with neither being pushed back. Then Nidorino shook its head, seeming momentarily dazed from the impact.

Their opponents went for another ember, able to get it off this time. Nidorino charged right through, tanking the flames and jabbing back with a poison sting. As the poison took hold, Nidorino was able to follow-up with another horn attack, landing it cleanly this time. Litleo was thrown down and could not get back up. They were off to a good start. Royal wasn't unscathed, but neither was he breathing hard. He had plenty of gas left in the tank.

"Mrr!" Venus threw her arms up in celebration from where she stood at Felix's side. The field was even. The math was now mathing more in their favor.

Aimeric recalled Litleo and took a deep breath. "Duosion, you're up next!"



BEEEP! BEEEP!

Felix jolted awake, not quite used to his new surroundings yet. He felt like he'd only just barely gotten to sleep and now his stupid holo-caster was screaming at him to wake back up. He hit snooze. He could wait a bit. He wasn't ready to be alive again just yet.

"Mrr!" No sooner had he closed his eyes than he was being shaken by Venus.

"Oh come on, I'm jet lagged..."

"Mrr?"

"Yeah, I know we took a boat. Same difference." Felix pulled his pillow over his head. "I'll just skip breakfast. It's fine."

Venus let out an exasperated sigh and trundled across the room to where Felix's trainer belt was hung. She tapped one of the balls and a moment later a Dunsparce, Rolls, popped out. He let out a confused rasp before Venus whispered something to him. His head whipped around as if dumbfounded, or perhaps offended. He then quickly inched over to the bed and began to slither up the side... as much as such a rotund creature could.

"What are you-?" Felix peeked out from under his pillow, just as Rolls was aligning his head against Felix's ribs. "Don't you d-" The next thing he knew, he was being catapulted out of bed, landing in a heap on the floor. With a growl, he grabbed the edge of the bed and pulled himself up. "Why you!" He leapt back over the bed, tackling Rolls... but a moment later found himself flying right back across the bed and landing just as ungracefully as he had before.

For something so squishy, Rolls sure was strong.

The Dunsparce let out an impatient rumble, having been told it was time for food. Felix knew he wouldn't rest now until he was fed.

"I'll remember this," Felix grumbled, once again hauling his upper body up onto the bed so he could glare across it at Venus. The Mawile just folded her hands innocently, seemingly only slightly embarrassed that things had escalated the way they did. That said, one could be almost certain she'd known exactly what Rolls would do when told breakfast was on the line.

In an act of pure pettiness, Felix took his time getting dressed, making sure his outfit was immaculate before heading out.

"Oh wow, he's kinda pretty."
"His clothes look expensive..."
"Is he a celebrity or something?"

Felix did his best not to react. He was aware he'd gotten into the habit of putting about ten times more effort into his appearance than the average guy, and he dressed a little flashy on top of that. He didn't love being gossiped about, but comments like that weren't exactly hurting his ego.

"He's so short."
"Isn't he from Kalos?"
"Ugh. Kalos..."
"Didn't they almost end the world? Twice?"

Then again, maybe it'd be best if everyone just shut the f-

Felix was assaulted by the not-so-dull roar of the cafeteria as Venus ushered him through the extra-wide double doors. Since he'd been dragging his feet, it was already filling up with people and Pokémon looking for their first meal of the day. Hopefully these people would all be too busy eating to pay him any mind.

The curtains in Jordan's room, whether home or here at the dorm he was still newly arrived at, were always left open to let the light in. It was also a handy way to wake up, when the sun rose and the rays shone in through the window. Thanks to that Jordan was up early most days, rising with the sun, never before it; he wasn't a masochist after all.

It also helped that Pamela, being a bird, was more sensitive to dawn and dusk and was always happy to be an alarm clock if Jordan waking natural didn't happen. She didn't need to squawk that morning though, just bop her trainer's head with her soft pom-like feathers when he squinted at the light in his sleep and then turned over. After a few taps Jordan let out a snort, followed by a long exhale through his nose, and then pushed himself up. It never took long for him to rid himself of sleepiness, so after stretching his arms up high over his head and rolling his neck along his shoulders until he heard a satisfying pop, he smiled brightly at his Oricorio.

"Morning!" he greeted her. Pamela just stared at him with her eyes lightly squinted and her beak part way open, leaning back away from him a little. Jordan gave her a strange look, then caught a whiff of himself, which she must have smelled when he stretched. The red head rolled his eyes, tossing his pillow at her (which she neatly dodged). "Oh whatever, I just woke up!"

Jordan flipped the covers off of himself and hopped out of bed, digging around for some easy clothes to slip into. Pamela flitted over to him, still standing on the futon, peeping and pointing to the adjoined bathroom.

"Just gonna get sweaty again so I'll do it later," Jordan replied, tugging a pair of dark joggers on over his boxers. Then he went over to the desk where two pokéballs sat. With a tap to both of them, his Boltund and Electabuzz were released into the room. It was suddenly a lot more cramped, especially with the Raitaro towering over the average size of his species on top of being bulkier too.

The Electabuzz stomped around the side of the bed and directly towards the mini-fridge that Jordan had immediately bought once he moved in and saw the provided rooms did not have them. The issue with Pokémon that had thumbs: they could get into anything and everything. It was in the middle of throwing an equally dark muscle shirt on after petting Bolt that Jordan caught Raitaro taking a pack of hard boiled eggs out of said fridge and dumping the whole thing into his mouth. Then reaching for the second one. "Hey! No! Pam!"

Pamela flew over to snatch it out of the Electabuzz's hands, much to the latter's disappointment. He grumbled and looked at Jordan over his shoulder, putting on his best pouting face. It was actually rather scary, but it worked on his trainer.

"Aw, fine. Pam-Pam, egg 'im."

The Oricorio let out a sigh and flicked one of the eggs at Raitaro, who caught it in his mouth. On the other side of the room, Jordan was pulling out a sealed tub of more Pokémon friendly food. He caught Bolt's eye, tossed the berry into the air and watched the dog Pokémon expertly stand on his hind legs to catch it.

"Nice. One more," Jordan said, tossing it a bit higher this time so that the Boltund had to jump. Then he turned his grin towards Pamela and Raitaro. "Now you guys. Then egg me!"

The next few minutes were a back and forth of trainer and three Pokémon tossing food around the room for each other to catch. Anything that missed their mouths was cleaned up by Bolt, though it was rare that any of them failed a catch. They'd have to get proper breakfast later on, but their daily morning jog came first.

Jordan and his team were out the door shortly after, doing a little warm up stretching in front of their building. Then, they were off.

"O- Ri- Co- Ri- O- Ri- Co- Ri-" Pamela chanted from the back of Bolt, alternating which arm she raised as she kept the group's pace even. Bolt himself never minded the passenger, as light as she was. Jordan kept up with the Boltund, breathing even and steady as they looped the academy grounds. Being more of a sprinter, Raitaro started lagging by the third lap.

"Buuuuu...!" he called from a few paces behind the rest.

"You're doin' better buddy!" Jordan called back to him. "Couple more to go!"

They passed a few of the facilities -the training field and cafeteria among them- and a couple people that Jordan nodded greetings to, but they wouldn't stop until they got their laps in. While the ran, Jordan considered his next stop of the day. The locker room showers in the pool area he'd spied the other day were probably the closest place to sort of freshen up without going all the way back to the dorms, but he'd also heard they had a sauna and even hot springs here which sounded pretty good!

While most of the academy still slept, an academy for fighters from across the world held multitudes. Kaius was not alone for long. Even as the sun groggily blinked at the horizon another had joined him. A tall woman with bronze skin and a gang if pokemon coming in behind her. Just like Kaius, they two began their own morning routine. As they each found their own area to begin their routines, she yawned, arching her back and stretching as far as she could. She did not seem quiet as comfortable with the dawn as the other man here.

The biggest of the group. A grizzled Hariyama big even for his species found an open area to begin with some general calisthenics, but they never kept to a particular workout for long. A diminutive Nuzleaf followed his every movement. Thirty or forty push-ups, then they went on to the next, sit-ups, squats, the likes. The large woman looked on with a nod; she knew exactly what they were doing. Greasing the groove, or at least the Nuzleaf, was. The massive hulking frame of Hariyama had a much harder time, and frequently the Nuzleaf finished his work out early, and cheered on his bigger buddy as they finished a push-up or crunch. It was harder when you were massive after all.

Not far away, A Sawk moved through a Kata, its slow, deliberate movements turning into an explosive burst of aggression. Frequently, he would find his footing off or a strike not quite sharp enough, and he would repeat the movement until he was satisfied, not with any shame or embarrassment, but with the diligence expected of a warrior.

A ledian stood not too far behind, studying these movements and trying to mimic them with much less precision. The longer one watched, the more it would become obvious that many of the Sawk’s repetitions were not for their sake, but for the Ledian. They seemed to want to do everything fast and add their own flair.

The woman watched while she stretched, doing what you might expect of an early morning warm-up. Getting the blood flowing, getting limber and ready for the day to come. Then suddenly, she shot up and looked about, eyes swiveling past the entire other Pokémon team as she searched for something. Her head whipped back after she finally noticed Kaius. A rapid flash of emotions flitted over her face in an instant: Shock, alarm, embarrassment, then a bright smile, brighter than the rim of the sun peeking past the horizon. She gently waved to him before looking around a bit more. Then, finally and somewhat begrudgingly, she made her way to this other person in the training fields.

“Excuse me, sir.” Her voice came off as trying to be gentle and utterly failing. Even trying to lower it put her voice well above that of a friendly conversation. Her voice was rich and energetic, the youth creeping in with it.
“Have you seen a little rabbit? About this big?” She added, putting one of her calloused and massive hands to her knee, having to bend down to reach.

---

The cafeteria was more like a cafe than anything. The dormitories, ‘blocks’ as the teachers and staff referred to them, provided the basics for survival in the communal kitchens. Not everyone was content with living off the same three bland meals for the foreseeable future, though, and the Cafe offered a wide enough variety of meals to supplement this. As such, many students flocked here, and over time, it had become a bit of a social hub.

Today, though, the students all seemed to be on edge. Any talking was more whispers, and people looked about shiftily, the way a coyote does, scared but opportunistic. The entire vibe of the cafeteria was wrong today.

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

A voice came just before someone sat down, not bothering to wait for an answer. They sounded posh, to put it bluntly, but they sounded delighted to be speaking to Felix, even if the two of them had never met before. They were a lithe figure, someone dressed bizarrely in a flashy yet tight fitting red gym wear. They had an androgynous look to them, lanky and lean but their golden eyes sparkled with a child-like wonder with something hidden just beneath the surface: an unyielding competitive spirit. They had skin that was bordering on pink, perhaps sunburnt?

A hand extended towards Felix, along with a wry grin.
“I’m Flint” They said as they sat down.

In front of Flint was a veritable mountain of food. Enough that the paltry provisions provided in the dorm commons would have been gone in a day. Such a skinny young person needed all of this?

---

The pools left the area a bit cooler than the rest of the facilities, though the heat from the saunas seemed to claw at the edge of the room in a constant and turbulent battle with cold. The largest one, an Olympic sized pool, smelled strongly of salt water. Chlorine and bromine from surrounding pools and other facilities. A bubbling tub of freezing water sat nearby, and a few doors in the back lead to the saunas, showers and snoring hot springs.

Snoring?

A loud and audible snore barely managed to sneak through the door to the hot springs. Or was it multiple snores? A chorus of snores gave the pool an ambient sound. There was something else too: a faint chuckling from the bathrooms, like someone had just seen the funniest thing.

---

The commons of block B were the same as all the others, aside from a few bumps and scrapes built up over years that weren't quite worth fixing. It made the place feel like a home.

The dorms were on the second story, but a balcony with stairs on either end connected the room. The room below was massive: a large kitchen and living room separated only where the tiles met the hardwood. A couch and coffee table sat in the living room: four cups on coasters and bowls of oatmeal with various berries sprinkled over the top sat on the living room table.

Across the room sitting on the counter was a young man, bordering on losing that title and being called a boy. His hair was a crew cut that had grown out a bit longer than standardized. He was squat, a sort of short but study build, and currently staring down at a steaming cup of tea before Luz entered. He smiled and offered her a brief wave.

Not far from him, a combee buzzed about in the large open space of the room. Beside the young man sat a tiny little brown bear pokemon. Teddiursa was currently munching down on his own bowl of oats.

“Good morning!”

He tried to sound cheery, but the whimsy was lacking in his voice.
“I had meant to wake up earlier, I wanted to make everyone breakfast” he stated, looking over to the oat meal.
“But they must have gotten up earlier,” he added bashfully, chuckling a bit to himself before taking a swing of his drink.
“I hope you slept well”

---

The sun was finally up, and the chirps of various bird pokemon sung in the air. A thin beam of the morning light cut through the mostly closed curtain lighting the room. Scarce specs of dust danced within the defined yet soft sheet of light. Messy and yet organized, several yet to be unpacked bags sat in the corner, and the desk covered in books. A circular rug of a jigglypuff as seen from above rested by the door. A bed was set neatly besides the window , yet just far enough away to keep the light from touching the comforts of those sheets. On that bed rested the form of the pokemon ranger, Sylvie, who took residence of that room just a few weeks ago.
Snoozing peacfully, the young trainer rolled over, tugging upon the blanket that a very pink pokemon with ribbon-like feelers was currently using as her own form of bedding. “Sylv…” The disturbed sylveon slowly opened her eyes before standing up. Pushing the sheets forward, the fairy pokemon streched her hole body, arching her back before moving to her hind legs, reaching as far as she could one at a time. She looked at the sun pouring through the thin gap of the curtain then down at the girl still sleeping. Sylveon hopped over Sylvie’s body sitting down in front of the girl’s face. After a moment of staring, Sylveon pawed her trainer’s nose.
“Nnngh” Sylvie groaned. Based on the sound it was clear that she did not want to wake up. Undetered, the sylveon pawed at her again. This time, Sylvie sighed and opened her eyes. “Good morning Belle. You couldn’t let me sleep in today?” she asked. She slowly sat up on the bed and looked around the room. She had meant to finally unpack everything earlier, but for one reason or another, didn’t. Still at least everything was roughly where it should go once unpacked. Sylvie stood up, her bare feet surprisingly warm in the spot the sunlight had been laying. Then she paused.
“Hold on, I’m not late, am I?” she spoke aloud to no one in particular. She scrambled to the desk where her capture styler lay. A kind of bulky red and black device sort of resembled a cross between a pokenav and a flip phone that still fit comfortably in her hand. She quickly flipped the red cover and looked at the screen. She let out a sign of relief. She wasn’t woken up because she was late. It would be kind of embarrasing for that, esspecially since she had to deal with that tendency when she went to the ranger school. Still, that slight scare she gave herself was enough to fully wake her up now. “Alright, time for a quick shower, and then we’ll go down for breakfast. We might even have some time to cook something. What would you like, Belle?”

The training field had changed almost imperceptibly.

Where moments before it had belonged solely to Team Breakwater, it now held another rhythm.

Kaius noticed it before he looked.

Different footsteps.

Different breathing.

Different cadence.

He watched the arriving trainer only briefly before returning to his water bottle. Another early riser. Judging from the practiced movements of both trainer and Pokémon, they weren't here to show off. Just train.

That earned a quiet nod of respect.

His attention drifted naturally between the unfamiliar team as they settled into their routines. The Hariyama and Nuzleaf working together. The Sawk patiently repeating movements while the Ledian attempted to follow along. Different methods. Same purpose.

The field was big enough for everyone.

Nearby, Umbreon had already noticed them as well. Golden eyes tracked the newcomers before drifting toward the Ledian trying to imitate the Sawk. His ears twitched once.

Aegis, meanwhile, looked positively fascinated.

"Hisu?"

She had stopped stretching entirely.

Umbreon gave her a look.

Aegis immediately resumed stretching.

"...Hisu."

Wattrel, perched comfortably atop the fence, loudly judged everyone equally.

"WATT!"

Hex floated lazily upside down overhead, drifting just enough to get a better view before deciding this was all very interesting.

Abra...

Abra was somehow already watching despite nobody remembering seeing him move.

Kaius took another drink.

Then the unfamiliar trainer approached.

"Excuse me, sir."

Kaius lowered the bottle.

"Have you seen a little rabbit? About this big?"

She demonstrated with her hands.

His eyes flicked briefly toward the direction she'd come from before returning to her. There wasn't even a hint of amusement at the oddly specific question.

Instead, he answered exactly as asked.

"No."

A beat.

"...but we can help."

He looked toward his team.

Umbreon was already standing.

Of course he was.

Kaius smiled faintly.

"Breakwater."

That single word was enough.

Rook snapped to attention instantly.

"Riolu."

Wattrel launched from the fence with an indignant flap, as though volunteering had been entirely his own idea.

"WAATT!"

Hex performed an enthusiastic midair spin.

"Gastly!"

Aegis bounded over before anyone else could react.

"HISU!"

Umbreon walked at his usual measured pace, passing Aegis just in time to gently shoulder her back onto the ground before she could enthusiastically bowl into the stranger.

The Growlithe blinked.

"...Hisu."

Kaius pretended not to notice.

"Let's spread out."

He crouched beside Rook.

"Look for tracks first."

She nodded once.

"Riolu."

"Umbreon, stay close."

The veteran simply flicked an ear.

"Umb."

"Hex."

Kaius looked upward.

"Think you can scout without causing an international incident?"

Hex froze.

The Gastly slowly turned upside down.

"Gast..."

Kaius waited.

"...ly."

Good enough.

Abra quietly stood, spoon still in hand.

Kaius looked at him.

"You already know where it is, don't you?"

Abra stared back with the same unreadable expression as always.

Nothing happened.

Then, after several long seconds...

Abra slowly raised one finger and pointed toward a cluster of bushes near the edge of the training grounds.

Kaius followed the gesture.

"...You could've led with that."

Abra blinked.

"Abra."

There was absolutely no indication of guilt.

Lucida "Luz" Prieto

Stepping out onto the balcony let Lucida get a view of the large combined living room and kitchen before she began to descend the stair. It let her see that there was only one other person eating breakfast at the moment, either because they were still asleep or, more likely due to her own lateness in getting ready, already gone.

As she crossed the line from hardwood to tile Lucida returned the boys wave and greeting. "Moooorning~!"

Skipping over the oatmeal she walked right to the breadbin and took out two slices to put into the toaster. While that was going, she opened the fridge and grabbed the half empty jar of jam to put on it. Jam on toast was a poor substitute for tostadas, but until she convinced someone here of the merits of buying international ingredients to cater for their international line-up of students it was the best she could manage. Besides, she hadn't had proper Paldean food since leaving her home region; she was used to it by now.

As she waited Lucida turned back to the boy and listened as he recounted his failed breakfast plans. It was a nice idea, though if he planned to just make oatmeal for everyone like he had for himself she wasn't sure how well the gesture would have gone over with everyone.

"Yeeeaah, some of these guys are real early birds. I could never!" Not if she could help it anyway. Early starts to the day were all but mandatory when you were travelling by foot everywhere; even sleeping until 8 or 9 meant losing half the day by the time you were packed up and ready to go. It was a habit she was more than happy to break however. "Making a meal for everyone is a nice idea though; maybe we should try for dinner or something instead? Pick a time when everyone will be around. Ooh! We could potluck it! Everyone makes something they like!"

The toaster popped and Lucida turned away to put her toast on plate and start spreading the jam on it.

A group meal could be a good way to get everyone to interact with each other, bond a little; share something about themselves with the food they chose to bring. If she could get her hands on some proper ingredients then it would be a nice way to introduce everyone to real Paldean food as well.

"Oh, I slept reeeally well. Having a proper bed again makes a huge difference; the problem is making sure I don't sleep too much. Luckily my Rotom phone is more responsible than I am."

Breakfast done, Lucida brought her plate over to the counter and sat down opposite the boy before digging in. "What about you? How are you adjusting to civilisation again?"

@Birdboy

---

Sylvie sat on her bed, knee up as she slid one sock on. The other grasped between her pinky and palm. She let her leg fall, as she looked out the window, the curtains finally drawn to let in the rising sun’s light. While she wasn’t a morning person, Sylvie did enjoy the beauty it brought. Watching the Pokémon awake themselves getting ready for the day. Bird Pokémon flying through the sky and various grass types spreading their leaves to catch the sun’s rays. Sylvie appreciated the lengths the league went through to make the academy both functional and friendly to Pokémon, both wild and tame.
“Vyah” Sylvie looked down at the pink and white Pokémon who woke her up earlier. She was sitting patiently not patiently on the circular rug near the door. Belle the Sylveon had made a habit of sitting there when she was ready to go. Usually when she was hungry. Belle was dexterous enough to open doors using her feelers, but every time, she waited for Sylvie to finish getting ready so they could head out together. Sylvie finished putting on her boots and did a half skip to the door. She kneeled down and gave her sweet partner a scratch behind the ears before unlatching the door.
“Decide on what you’d want for breakfast, yet” said Sylvie as she walked across the hall, Belle at her side. She got a quick yip in response as they turned the corner and walked down the stairs to the communal areas of the house. She paused a moment noticing that two others were up and still inside the house. She already knew she wasn’t late, but Sylvie got an odd sense of relief to see other people still casually chatting and enjoying the morning. One was sitting on the counter, a teddiursa by his side. And sitting across from him was one of the other girls. She was very stylish as usually, done up in a way that made Sylvie think she was a movie star. Sylvie walked into the kitchen.
“Morning. Don’t mind me, just grabbing some breakfast for myself as well.” she said as walked up to the fridge. A quick search and the door closed as she held a small container of rice and a bottle of moomoo milk. She paused to sniff a bit as the door slow shut. “The oatmeal smells good, whoever made it should get to it before it gets cold.”

The team's wind down from their morning jog did indeed take them into the building that housed all of the indoor water areas, and they walked the length of the cool tiles of the massive pool room headed for the heat. It was actually Jordan (and their Pokémon)'s first time seeing a pool the size of the salt water one, as there were no swimming events in Pokéathlon. Kind of a shame, now that he thought about it. Wonder if I could lobby to get that added, he thought to himself, squatting down to dip a hand into the water. Wait, what's the eleven version of decathlon??

Pam had hopped off of Bolt, curiously checking out the room as well while Bolt himself sat and waited patiently. Next to Jordan, Raitaro looked down into the water skeptically. He made faces at his transparent reflection until Jordan patted a hand on his head.

"Gonna have to teach you to swim so we can start some water resistance training," they said, which meant Raitaro turned their skeptical look onto their trainer instead. Jordan ruffled their fur and stood up. "It's fun, promise. Just don't shoot any lightning out in the water!"

"Cori~!" the bird Pokémon called them over, motioning with her pom-pom-like feathers towards the sauna rooms. It wasn't until they got closer that the group heard the noises coming from the next doors. Snoring and laughing was definitely a weird combo to hear considering the location. Maybe someone fell asleep in the hot spring last night? In which case... wasn't that really dangerous?

...but then again they couldn't be snoring if they were drowning, and the thought of seeing someone swelled up like a re-hydrated raisin due to too much time in the water did sound pretty funny. Jordan looked down at their Pokémon, giving the three of them a grin and fake-helplessly innocent shrug before throwing open the door to the bath and shower room. Though he was technically here to actually get showered and clean, it could wait. Instead he looked for the source of the chuckling so that he could get in on it. "What's up, what's so funny?"

If the other Pokémon had noticed Team Breakwater, then they hadn’t cared. The group was here to train, not to gawk or size up theoretical competition before they had hit their peak. The field was big enough for both after all.

Wattrel changed that. The team seemed to look with uncanny coordination at the Wattrel. They all stared at him for a moment, not in distaste or anger, but warily. Such a loud noise put them on edge.

The hariyama eventually guffed out a low, gutter growl to his party, a scabbard locking shut on a hastily drawn blade. Sawk seemed penitent for his rude stare and renewed his Kata from the beginning. Hariyama patted the Nuzleaf on the back with a loud thud. The Nuzleaf let his glare linger for a bit longer before he turned away. The Ledian was the last to look away, offering a polite wave to the bird up high.

The trainer seemed oblivious to all of this, her face sinking into a deep frown at the basic answer that he gave her. Luckily, Kaius added a small addendum to his previous statement, and her frown completely reversed. She watched him assemble his team, marveling at the soldiers he had honed his team into. She looked back at her own team, watching Ledian overextend a punch and nearly topple head over heels. Seeing her Hariyama struggle with another push-up. Her enthusiasm for Team Breakwater dampered slightly, her bright smile wavering momentarily.

Having not expected such a quick response, the tall woman prepared to call out to her own team but before she had a chance, Kaius seemed to already have a solution.

”you already know where it is, don’t you”

His abra seemed to knwo exactly where the rabbit was. His finger pointed towards the perfect hiding place. The woman shot of glare at the patch of land, but turned to look at Kaius, letting her eyes linger on his for a moment too long. The emerald colored eyes of the woman burned with a seemingly ceaseless fire, a warrior spirit vainly concealed behind pleasantries and casual conversation.

“Thank you so much” She offered a slight bow with the comment before she trudged towards the bushes with growing fury.

She plucked a raboot out of the bushes by the back of their jacket. The Raboot had a bag of chips that it dropped but it made no move to escape and instead just accepted it’s fate. There was no indication of guilt on it’s face either.

“Where did you get these? You know Professor Hazel has you on a strict diet!” She barked her frustrations at the Raboot like a scolding mother. The Raboot rolled it’s eyes, only furthering the anger of their trainer. The massive woman dropped them to the ground, nudging them forward his their foot.

“That’s it, young lady! I don’t care if we end up missing class, you’re making up for lost time! 3, no, 4 mile run! Right now! March!”

A vein was starting to bulge out on her forehead from anger, the more she talked she louder her already booming voice became. The raboot sighed but started off on a run. The tall woman started after her but stopped when they neared the other trainer.

“Thank you for your help” She offered, letting out an exasperated sigh before offering a hand to shake.
“I’m Val by the way. I have to say, it seems like you’ve got a good grasp on your team”

---

The young boy looked pained when Lucida passed up his morning meal, but that was quickly replaced by her pragmatic response. She was right, and though it could be discouraging to be denied her comments seemed to spark enough joy to replace the sad smile on his face with a more genuine, albeit thin smile.

“A potluck sounds great!” He chimed in quickly.
“Maybe one of these days I can get a list of ingredients from everyone and try to head in land for them?” The idea was already filling him with energy, and he hopped off the counter as if ready to go and find everyone, but stifled his restlessness by the time Lucida had turned the conversation to him.

“Yeah, the bed was nice” He offered plainly, but after a short pause he let his real feelings out.
“I sort of miss sleeping under the stars though, just me and my pokemon and Nature, you know?” He said, the nostalgic comment sounding wistful, like he still missed it.
“I’ll get use to it. At least this place still has a lot of untamed land for me to explore” He added that last bit with a bit of a chuckle.

Just then, the door to one of the other dorms opened and shut, and the young man perked up. Another trainer entered the main room, this one being a fair skinned girl with long green hair. The boy waved to her enthusiastically, like seeing a second face today provided more energy than his meal.
“Good morning!”

His smile faltered for a moment as another person scorned his morning meal, but by now he had come to terms with the reasonable presumption that this was a breakfast he would like, and not everyone would feel the same. He eyed her morning meal curiously, only for her to comment on the food he had prepared.

“Oh, I made it for everyone, feel free to take a bowl” He added, gesturing to one of the various uneaten bowls. The teddiursa had picked up a second one now and was currently scooping it’s contents into it’s mouth with a clawed hand.
“I picked some berries from the garden earlier, and used some of Combee’s honey to add some flavor” He said, before letting his eyes flicker to Lucida then to the other guest.
“Oh, we were talking about maybe doing a potluck at some point. Do you think you’d be interested?”

---

The hot springs where an open area, with sweat lodges and saunas nearby in smaller rooms. Despite the early morning sky still above them the area emanated enough steam to obscure it.

The snoring was bordering on rancorous once Jordan entered the area, this close she could see the water was vibrating with the phlegmy snores coming from their culprit: a massive blue bear currently submerged out to its waist in the water. Sitting, or more accurately slumped over, the snorlax’s massive, fluffy gut was a chubby young man in nothing but swimming trunks, nuzzled into the massive pokemon like it was a water bed. The two of them were snoring in unison, but Snorlax lived up to its namesake.

The laughter, however, petered off, but a silloihette in the steamy mist remained, peeking out form behind one of the saunas. There was a feint red glow around the silhouette

---

“Oh, really?” said Sylvie in slight surprise. She hadn’t expected anyone to be so generous. Perhaps because this was the first official day since arriving maybe? Whatever the reason, it means she didn’t need to reheat the rice. “Don’t mind if I do then. Come Belle, breakfast has been served.” Sylvie scooped up one of the unclaimed bowls and say down at the counter with the rest of them. She picked on of the berries off the top and tossed it towards Belle who easily caught it in her mouth.
“A potluck? Sound like fun. Sure I’m interested. I hope you don’t mind I only know how to make simple things.” said Sylvie. She scooped a bit of the oatmeal. It still had some warmth, but was not as hot as it might have been earlier. The honey added a noticable touch a sweetness that easily complimented the tartness of the berries. It was simple, but satisfying. Belle, the sylveon, had used its feelers to snag a bowl for herself and seemed started to eat.
“Don’t forget to tell the others. The more the merrier, and it would certainly help us get to know each other better. It feels like there hasn’t been much opprotunity to actually mingle since arriving. I’d especially love to see what pokemon everyone has. I’d love to see what else your combee is capable of if this honey is anything to go off of.” Sylvie sat in silence for just a moment longer as she finished the bowl of oatmeals. She rested it on the counter and opened the bottle of milk. She drank about half of it before the bottle was grabbed away by Belle.
“Oh, hold on a minute. I don’t remember your name. I actually… That’s embarrasing. Eheh.” said Sylvie shyly, rubbing the back of her neck.

Having expected to share in a quick laugh together with whoever else was in the hot spring section, Jordan was disappointed that the mystery person had seemingly disappeared and left only the sleeping duo behind. It almost felt like walking into a room and seeing its occupants quiet down and sneak furtive glances at the newcomer… though of course Jordan was too unfamiliar with the staff and attendants of the program to actually care about that happening to him at the moment. So they brushed that feeling away and instead looked with amusement at the Snorlax and who they assumed to be its trainer.

“What a set of lungs, huh?” Jordan commented, watching the pool of hot water shuddering. They poked an elbow against Raitaro's side. “It probably has good stamina - when it's awake anyway. Bet it'd be great in Ring Drop or Circle Push.”

The electabuzz raised his head and snorted his offense out in one big exhale. It wouldn't stand a chance against me! he seemed to say.

Jordan snickered and ruffled the fur on Raitaro's head. Then he returned Raitaro and Bolt to their pokeballs before the former could start making trouble and the latter started getting anxious over it. It had already started looking like Raitaro might have jumped right into the spring to challenge the stranger’s Pokémon.

Pamela hopped along after Jordan as he sauntered up to the edge of the hot spring bath, contemplating what would be the funniest way to wake this pair up. They kind of deserved a bit of a rude awakening, because even if the Snorlax wasn’t in danger of slipping under the water that wasn’t the case for its trainer. Better to learn some safety with a prank than the real deal!

While he thought up a scheme, the Oricorio rolled her eyes. In doing so she spotted the red-lined shadow through the steam and startled slightly. “O-orio!” she peeped, slapping a pom-pom against Jordan’s leg.

"Huh? Haunted?" her trainer replied absent-mindedly, not even glancing down at her. "...oh, good idea! Heh, nothing like a good rumor like that to spook someone awake. If we’re lucky maybe it’ll even spread and we’ll end up with the hot springs to ourselves for cooling down at the end of the day."

As Jordan turned to go find a storage cabinet to rummage around in for something suitable to produce spooky noises with, mumbling something about how actually maybe hot springs weren’t the best for cooling down, Pamela wiggled her wings and peeped to try and draw his attention, to little effect. After a moment she huffed and turned back towards the silhouette. She wasn’t actually afraid of Ghost-types (or… whatever the human equivalent of them would be), so she hopped towards it in order to find out exactly who or what was over there.

Oricorio would get closer and closer, but the ominous glowing light never seemed to get nearer. Another giggle emanated from the room after a few hops, this one far more coy than before. Then, another light split off from the red glow, getting closer and closer to the little bird in a swirling path. The closer it got, the more it became apparent this was something anomalous. A small orb of glowing red energy. A white tail at the end of it seemingly attached to its place of origin deeper into the mist.

A confusion ray.

Even as an athlete, the move was common enough to be known to most Pokémon, especially a seasoned combatant. The giggling started to crescendo, taking a sinister edge to it. Still, whoever or whatever was laughing was doing its diligence. It’s Laughter, never quite the sounds of a snoring Snorlax, much closer to the bird’s trainer.

It was the return of the laughter that actually got Jordan to turn back around, holding a mop with a rather large, white, cleaning rag draped over the top in a crude approximation of some cartoon ghost. "Heh, you came back huh? Well–"

They paused when they realized there wasn't actually anyone they could laughing around. A small chill touched his spine. There was no way this place actually was haunted, was there?? He'd just been joking about that!

He'd turned in time to also see Pamela hop sideways out of the path of the Confuse Ray, letting out an insulted "coco!" as she did.

Alright, poking fun at the slumbering twins was one thing, but targeting Pam-Pam was about to be crossing a line. Jordan shifted his grip, instead holding his homemade ghost more like a spear. "Hey! Not cool, bro!"

The laughter turned utterly rambunctious, bordering on a cackle now. The silhouette was moving about now, hovering well above where any human could be. Jordan's weapon seemed to elicit a great deal of joy for the misty figure.

Suddenly, they showed themself, though not without a sudden yell. They appeared through the steam suddenly to the Pokémon and trainer. A dark, flowing figure, roughly the same size as the bird. A band of red orbs around their neck currently glowed bright red, filling the room with an ominous red tint. Their face was contorted into a mean grimace, culminating with their sudden yell and use of the concealment.

If the Pokémon had been trying to get a quick scare out of the duo, well, it succeeded. If it had been night, or they'd been alone while the tension grew, it might have garnered a bigger reaction... but a quick jump scare was still enough to get the job done. Jordan flinched at the sudden noise and visage, while his Oricorio jumped up high in shock and flew over to cling to her trainer's head.

The Misdreavus disappeared into the steam as quickly as it came, laughing wildly. The red tint faded just as soon as it arrived. So it was a bit of a delayed reaction when Jordan regained their wits and thrust the broomstick handle at the space it had been in, yelling a "hah!!" dramatically as he did.

A few seconds went by with nothing else happening, even as Jordan waved their 'weapon' around vaguely. When a few more passed with no paranormal activity, he set the end of the broom down onto the floor with a soft thunk and reached up with his free hand to pet Pamela's feathers.

"Looks like I scared it off," Jordan blatantly lied. Still, Pamela let go of his head and moved to perch on his shoulder, looking around the room and squinting. Then she let out a serious of fast-paced peeping, what might have been a string of threats and expletives if it had been in human language.

Well, that was the mystery of the hot spring solved... no, wait...

Jordan turned, jabbing the end of the room into the Snorlax's large belly. Somehow the trainer and Pokémon in the water still hadn't woken up, even after all of that!

"Hey, how long are you gonna keep sleeping?! You missed the whole thing!"

Lucida "Luz" Prieto

Despite being something that she only came up with in the spur of the moment, it was nice to see her idea of a potluck being so well received. Whether everyone else would share their enthusiasm remained to be seen, and sourcing some of the ingredients might be difficult, but even just a shared meal with half of their fellow trainees would be a positive.

Lucida nodded along as the boy began reminiscing about their time on the road and sleeping out in nature, continuing to eat her breakfast as he did. She could relate, a little bit; travelling everywhere by foot and sleeping outdoors and not having easy access to things like, well, indoor plumbing was more of a chore than anything. A draining experience if you did it for long enough. But there were things that she missed and moments that she wouldn't trade for anything.

It was always something she did because she had to though, because it was part of the trainer lifestyle, than anything else. The nomadic life of a league challenger sounded romantic until the firs time you got caught in a sudden thunderstorm and had to set up camp while soaking wet.

"Yeah, I get it~. Some of the views in Northern Sinnoh were incredible to see, if you could stand the hike. Showers though~. And food that isn't freeze dried or out of a can. I pick an indoor life."

Someone else arrived then; another girl that Lucida vaguely recognised. Wow, they really did need that potluck; she should at least know everyone's faces, if not their names. She waved lightly in greeting and returned to her own food.

They talked about the potluck as she ate and it seemed like there was at least one more person who was interested. Lucida would have to get one that, sooner rather than later; gathering names, getting a vague idea of what kind of ingredients they'd need, talk to someone on the staff about arrangements. Nothing concrete yet, but just to get an idea of how big of an ordeal this was going to be.

Speaking of names... "I'm Lucida. Or Luz, if you catch me when I'm streaming~."

@Birdboy@Randomness