After having taken a good look at Natus' moveset, Valerie went on to the next idea in her training regimen, “Very good, Natu. Now, I didn't expect to get a second Pokémon so quickly, so I didn't really plan this, but do you want to have a spar against Larvitar? It might reveal some more things about both of your fighting styles.”

  The bird hummed in thought for a second before bowing in agreement with a coo, “A thoughtful idea.”

  Larry also nodded along eagerly, his instincts always crying out at the idea of a fight, “I’d love to!”

  Valerie nodded along as well, “Alright, just don't go too crazy on Natu. Ok, Larvitar?”

  He was already nodding along before she could even finish her sentence. Valerie walked a short perimeter around the two to delineate their arena in the larger Training grounds. She slid her foot along the ground, carving a shallow rectangle around the two of them, roughly the size of one of the PokeCenters' dorms, “This'll be your arena, you go outside of it or get pushed out, you lose. Otherwise, you'll fight until I call for a stop, alright?”

  She took place in the middle at one of the long sides of their arena and raised an arm,

  “Ready?”

  “Set?”

  “Go!”

  Larry shot forwards as his trainer's arm fell, but Natu simply flashed forward in a shimmer of light, appearing right in front of him just a second after the fight began.

  ‘Damn! She preloaded a Teleport!’ Larry cursed internally, dodging to the side as the Psychic's beak just missed his torso. He leapt into a roll as he tried his best to make distance from the bird, but she didn't chase after him, instead simply stood still and eerily watched him.

  So Larry charged a Rock Throw, ‘No matter how crazy that beginning was, this is a practice fight. I'm not going to crush my teammate in a damn Rock slide.’

  As he got his feet back under him, Larry pushed Rock-TE into his hands and pulled a simple rock straight out of the dirt of the training grounds.

  Larry threw the rock with all his might, but before the stone could impact the bird, she instead hopped to the side effortlessly, ‘What?!’

  ‘Doesn't matter!’ Pulling at more of his Rock-TE, Larry pulled out a rock with each of his arms and flung one at Natu, planning on using the other one when the bird would inevitably dodge to catch it off guard.

  Natu, though, didn't dodge. Instead, it dematerialized once again, the rock he’d thrown simply flew through where it had stood.

  ‘Where?’ She hadn't reappeared in his view, so Larry whirled his head around to find Natu standing behind him. He wanted to just dodge underground once again, but the Flying-Type Peck attack hit him in the back before he could take action.

  ‘Argh! She got the first hit!’ Larry cursed internally, already charging another attack. If Natu was going to put on the pressure, then he could do so as well.

  The Flying-TE in the attack hadn't done much to Larry, with Larvitar being resistant to Flying Attacks, so he instead pulled the TE into his next attack, a Payback.

  Larry whirled around backwards and saw Natu standing just an arm's length away, as it was forced to to be able to deliver its Peck. His body pivoted and spun around, and with a Dark-TE-enhanced arm, he backhand-slapped Natu across the face.

  The Psychic-Type took the Dark-Typed Attack just as badly as he imagined, immediately losing its footing and rolling around on its spherical body. It didn't stand up anymore, having been knocked out by the single super-effective attack.

  ‘Oh crap…’ Larry cursed internally, ‘I went too hard…’

  “Stop! Arceus, Larvitar!” Valerie admonished him as she knelt next to Natu’s unconscious body, “I said don't go too crazy!”

  “Sorry…” Larry vocalized, “I got too invested…”

  …

  Natus' injuries weren't anything major, as it turned out, it woke up after a short thirty seconds or so, just as Valerie was caressing the bird's feathers back down onto its face while cradling it in her arms.

  “You alright?” She questioned the bird, who in turn hopped up and sat itself down on one of her arms with a nod. Valerie sighed in relief, “Alright, that's good. Larvitar, go ahead and apologize to Natu.”

  “Sorry for going so hard on you suddenly…” Larry apologized from the ground, the bird spun on the girl's arm with a hop and then bowed, “You have nothing to apologize for, it was my loss.”

  Trying to break the ice, Larry commented on the fight, “That teleportation of yours was impressive, I didn't see it coming that you'd teleport so fast.”

  “Natu are flightless birds,” It spoke wistfully as it showed off one of its feet, “Teleportation and a nimble set of feet are our only ways to move. My siblings could even climb trees using only their feet.”

  “That sounds amazing.” It had never occurred to Larry that Natu couldn't fly, but something else caught his attention, “You said only your siblings could climb trees?”

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  “Indeed,” It nodded, “I was never as skilled at it, so instead I trained my teleportation to overcome the weakness.”

  “Now that's some dedication! That's going to come in useful in the future, I think. Teleportation can be a great asset!” Larry pointed out.

  “You guys made up?” Valerie cut in, “That's good, you guys did well on the practice fight. I didn't expect your fighting style at all, Natu. You fight like some sort of trickster, don't you?”

  Natu nodded back, “I see…I'll take that into consideration in my training.” Her eyes turned to the mostly empty training area before returning to her Pokemon, “We could go for some more rounds, or you guys want to take a break?”

  Larry was already hollering up at his trainer, so Natu also agreed, and they fought a few more rounds.

  …

  Speedwalking along the edge of the training area, Michelle made her way over to the three as they were relaxing after another fight, “Hey, Valerie!”

  “Michelle,” Valerie answered in a guarded tone as her mother neared, “What can I do for you?”

  The woman closed in on their trainer with a large pack slung over her shoulder, “Aww, don’t be such a grouch, Valerie. We’re gonna have to spend a lot of time together in the future, so I’d be happy if you started calling me mom.” Valerie didn’t give her an answer, though, simply staying quiet.

  Michelle sat down on the ground next to her and set the bag down between the two of them. “I made you some lunch! I might not have spent a lot of time with you, but I know you can’t live on the stuff they serve in the cafeteria.”

  Valerie looked conflicted at the lunch boxes Michelle pulled out of her bag, “The cafeteria is pretty good…”

  “Nonsense!” Michelle countered as she pushed a sandwich into her hands, “You’re a growing gal, you’ll need some nutrition inside you! Else you won't grow!”

  “I’m not some baby…” Their trainer countered as she bit into the sandwich, her eyes widened in response, “Wow, this…Mrgh…is good…”

  “See? I knew you’d be hungry.” Rummaging through her bag, Michelle pulled out another lunchbox. “Here’s some more.” Her gaze traveled over to Valerie's Pokemon, “Hmm, the rangers told us about the second Pokemon you caught, but I still can’t believe it. How long has it been since you got Larvitar?”

  “Mmgh!” Valerie quickly swallowed, “A week or something like that?”

  Michelle pointed at Natu, “And you’ve already got a second Pokemon?!” She leaned over Valerie's lap and picked up Natu by the sides, cuddling her into her chest, “Aww! And he’s so cute!”

  “She, and she’s a Natu.” Valerie corrected as she pulled Natu out of her mother's grasp, “Anyway, you shouldn’t treat Pokemon like that. They’re not plush toys!”

  “Who might this person be, Larry?” Natu stared at the proactive woman in shock, unsure of how to react to the physical contact.

  “It's Michelle, Valerie's mother. She’s a bit annoying,” Larry noticed the woman had stopped using the extremely fragrant perfume she’d met them with the first time, also adopting a far less corporate look than the last time. She’d stopped wearing high-heels, “but alright, I think.”

  “She is quite…expressive,” Natu noted as she was set down next to Larry by Valerie.

  The mother leant around Valerie again in an attempt to grab Larry, but Valerie pushed her back, “Aww, again, don’t be such a killjoy! Let your mom pet your cute lil'’ Pokemon!”

  “Later…” Valerie’s sudden, angsty teenager self called back as she pushed against her mom.

  Michelle relented, but didn’t give up entirely as Valerie bit into the next piece of the sandwich, “Sooo…I thought we could go shopping together when you’re done training. What about it?”

  “Mmrg.” Valerie grumbled as she swallowed, “There are almost no shops around here, and I can go shopping alone.”

  “C’mon, I wanna go shopping with my own daughter!” She pushed, “Besides, if we go together, I’ve got a strong incentive for you.”

  “What is it?” Valerie questioned, taking another bite.

  Her mother leaned close for effect, before whispering, “I’ll pay.”

  Valerie swallowed as quickly as she could. “Deal!”

  …

  Swept along by the allure of free things, the mother-daughter duo made their way towards the Pokemon Center's very own PokeMart for starters. They browsed the same sections Valerie had browsed with him before. Natu sat on Valerie's shoulder, and Larry followed along on ground level. Michelle carried a shopping basket as Valerie followed along, her eyes still stinging while looking at the prices.

  “Now, what is a trainer going to need?” The mother looked everything over until her eyes fell on the healing items. “Some potions are going to be useful, aren’t they, Valerie?”

  “Yeah, I think we’ll need a few…” She agreed with a nod, only to have her eyes bulge out of her head as her mother pushed five of the little spray bottles into her basket.

  “That should do you well, shouldn’t it?” The woman hadn’t even looked at the price tag, she simply kept walking as she browsed the shelves. Valerie and her Pokemon followed along behind her, slightly numb. As they walked past them, the blue and green boxy and futuristic-looking spray bottles of the Max Potion and Full Restore lorded over Larry's position on the ground from the top shelf, ‘Man, those were great in the late game…If we’re already buying expensive stuff, why are we not buying those?’

  His trainer noticed where he was looking and turned to him, “Are you interested in these, Larvitar?”

  “Something caught your attention, dear customer?” Valerie jumped at the voice behind her, where a male store clerk in a company-issued jacket and an apron stood, “Your Pokemon seemed quite interested in some of our assortment.”

  “T-That’s right,” Their trainer rose as her mother turned up next to her, “Larvitar seemed interested in these spray bottles over here.”

  “Larvitar has some good eyes,” The clerk answered with a smarmy way, “those are Max Potions and Full Restores. Unfortunately, they’re only sold to trainers with a minimum of seven and eight badges, respectively.”

  “Oh,” She slumped, “I guess that’s a no-go then.”

  Michelle also spoke up behind her, “That is unfortunate!”

  The clerk's smile didn’t deteriorate, his eyes fell on Michelle's shopping basket, “Indeed, how about instead you invest in some sprays against status effects, like a Paralyze Heal and an Antidote.” He flourished his arms over to the display with the sprays. “It will come in handy when you’re out in the wild and a Bug-Type Pokemon blocks your way. They’re going to become more prevalent again with spring finally coming up.”

  “A great idea, I’ll take two each!” Michelle called out behind Valerie, much to her shock.

  “Michelle!”

  The clerk pushed more, “How about some Pokeballs as well? You never know when you will meet your next team member.”

  Valerie didn’t mind this one as much, her thoughts traveling back to the Safari Ball Natu had been forced to be caught in, “Yeah, I think that would be nice.”

  Her mother was already looking over the displays, with the clerk looking over her shoulder with a special white Pokeball with red accents, “If you buy ten or more Pokeballs, you will get a special Premier Ball on the house!”

  “No!” Valerie cried out, pulling her mother away from the clerk.