Four days before the college entrance exams.
After everyone had trained on their own for a while, Jace Rowan still didn't feel confident. He posted in the group chat:
Jace Rowan: "@Auron Vale I'm freaking out a bit. How about a group training session—I'll sign us up? What about you guys? @everyone"
Auron Vale: "Works for me. Meet at the Pokémon Battle Center?"
Serena Elm: "Sure."
Tim Wynn: "Sounds good."
Simon Greaves: "Okay."
Lena Greaves: "Alright. Tomorrow?"
Jace Rowan: "Tomorrow. Exams are almost here—I'm seriously nervous. What about you all?"
Auron Vale: "Not feeling it."
Tim Wynn: "Not feeling it."
Serena Elm: "Not feeling it."
Simon Greaves: "Not feeling it."
Lena Greaves: "Not feeling it."
Jace Rowan: "…@Simon Greaves, kid, you've gone bad."
They settled on a time amid the banter: gather the next morning at nine.
The night passed without incident.
The next day, Auron arrived early at the Pokémon Battle Center and booked a large training room. He dropped the room number in the group chat, then released his three Pokémon.
Golbat and Charmander only had short, fine fuzz—no real fur to brush out. Only Munchlax had longer downy fuzz, so Auron pulled out a small comb and had Munchlax flop belly-down across his legs.
He took the comb and started brushing Munchlax's coat.
After a while, Charmander wanted in on the treatment too. It scrambled up with all four limbs, climbed onto Munchlax, then draped itself across Munchlax's back in utter bliss, tail swaying as it patted its own rump with its tiny forepaws.
("C'mon, big bro—over here, over here~")
Auron couldn't help laughing. He gave Charmander's butt a playful pat, then ran the comb over it a few symbolic strokes.
After all, Charmander did have a bit of fuzz—but it was sparse and very short.
Seeing Charmander squint in contentment, Auron chuckled again, set the comb aside, and began to give Charmander a proper massage instead.
It didn't take long before Charmander climbed off Munchlax's back with a wounded look and trotted away, turning around to face the wall with its back to Auron.
Sulk mode: on.
Auron scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and called to Charmander's back. "Don't worry. Once I'm in university, I'll really study proper massage techniques and make sure you're as comfy as can be."
Golbat fluttered over to Charmander and wrapped it in a wing, murmuring comfort.
Auron muttered helplessly, "Those online tutorials are useless…"
He went back to brushing Munchlax's fuzz, waiting for the others to arrive.
…
Charmander was still young—its little moods came fast and went even faster. After Golbat coaxed it for a bit, it forgot the whole thing.
It was running merry circles around Auron when, suddenly, it spat a burst of Ember at the empty air beside it.
Auron, who was brushing Munchlax, glanced at Charmander in puzzlement.
A moment later, a Haunter materialized out of the air—face sooty and expression sheepish.
Charmander puffed up with pride and looked at Auron, eyes plainly saying: "Praise me. Praise me, now."
Auron recognized the Haunter as Simon Greaves's. He was just about to compliment Charmander when the door slid open and Lena Greaves walked in with Simon.
"The second I saw Haunter, I knew you were here," Auron said.
"Morning."
Lena greeted them, eyes smiling as she watched Charmander inch step by step until it stood squarely in front of Auron.
Charmander lowered its head, clasped its little paws behind its back, and pretended to scuff the floor with an air of indifference.
Auron decided to tease it, deliberately not looking its way and chatting with Lena instead.
Lena played along and kept the conversation going.
Charmander's ears drooped at once. It lifted its head, eyes shimmering with grievance, and stared at Auron.
Catching this from the corner of his eye, Auron decided not to push it. He quickly set his palm atop Charmander's head, ruffled the smooth scales, and said, "I saw that—nice work. How did you notice him?"
Simon and Lena watched Auron coax Charmander like a little kid and said nothing, both amused.
At Auron's praise, Charmander brightened instantly. It launched into a pantomime, gesturing excitedly.
One moment it twisted its face into a goofy grimace; the next it tip-toed stealthily behind Munchlax, then sprang out with a "boo!" pose.
Auron pieced it together. "You mean, Gengar's scared you so many times you can sense where he is now?"
Charmander shook its head, then pointed up at the clearly disgruntled Haunter in the air.
"So you're saying Haunter isn't as good at hiding as Gengar, so you caught him?"
Charmander nodded proudly, satisfied that Auron got it.
Haunter only got more miffed. It whirled and dove into Simon Greaves's shadow and, no matter what, refused to come out again.
The three of them chatted for a bit longer. Tim Wynn arrived soon after, then Serena Elm, and—as usual—Jace Rowan came last.
Once Jace showed up, Auron proposed, "Let's all do solo training this morning. Then in the afternoon we'll run some matches, figure out where we're weak, and cram for the next two days. How about it?"
"Yeah, works for me."
"Same here."
"+1."
"+2."
"Okay then—training starts now."
Auron spoke, then led Munchlax over to the heavy bag to work on its "Farmer's Three Punches," Mega Punch, and overall coordination and strength.
Next he took Golbat into the evasion training room. Golbat's move proficiencies were already solid, so today's focus—same as before—was raw speed and evasion.
As for Charmander, that was simpler still: it ran laps with Auron to build stamina.
While jogging, Auron glanced around to see how the others were training their teams.
Simon and Lena's Pokémon were all Ghost-types, so they were chiefly working on move power.
Jace's Charmander ran alongside an Arcanine, following its pace, while Torkoal practiced for accuracy with its moves.
Serena's regimen was simpler. Her Darumaka had only just hatched—there wasn't much it could do yet—so it bobbed in the pool with Skrelp and watched the other Pokémon train.
That didn't mean they weren't doing anything. Tim had set several bowls along the pool's edge.
Skrelp spat water into the bowls, and then Darumaka used Powder Snow to freeze the water solid.
Milotic and Cloyster were in the pool as well, firing off moves at distant targets to practice release speed and accuracy.
Tim's Dragonair meditated with Calm Mind, and Swablu—like Golbat—was in the evasion room working on its ability to dodge.
At first, everyone stuck to their own routines. But with Auron setting the pace, the others felt awkward just sitting still.
Simon took the lead, then Tim, Lena, Serena, and finally Jace—all of them fell in behind Auron and started running.
Ahead of Auron, an Arcanine tore along at a blistering pace. Behind it came two gleaming, golden Charmander. Trailing the pair were Simon, Lena, Serena, and Tim, with Jace bringing up the rear.
Time in training flew by. Before they realized it, three hours had passed.
"Phew. Let's take a break, hit the showers, and then grab some food," Auron said, slowing to a stop and letting out a long breath.
The Pokémon Battle Center had separate facilities for trainers and Pokémon alike.
After everyone rinsed the sweat away, they headed out together and found a place outside to eat.
(End of chapter)