Astra had only used Nincada for battle a handful of times—barely any more than Swablu, really. Most of them had been against fellow trainers in the Rustboro Gym, while they'd been scrounging up money prior to May getting paid by Devon. There'd also been a bare few random encounters in the Petalburg Woods while they were travelling to meet Mr. Briney, and most recently her ill-planned struggle against Brawly.

  Juke left, then go for his leg.

  She hadn't had a lot of time or incentive to examine how he fought during all of that. There always seemed to be other things that took precedence in her thoughts and actions, and whenever he'd been brought out the battles had either been fairly simple or...well, she hadn't exactly been thinking straight in Dewford.

  Mud-slap, then back up and harden.

  But more than that, she had to admit that she was still a little uncomfortable with the Bug. The unblinking green-on-black eyes, the sharp snout, the wriggling antennae on his cheeks, the tiny buzzing wings—it all fed into a deep part of Astra's mind that screamed disgusting vermin. Nincada swarms had attacked the village before, and that had left a bit of a negative impression, to say the least.

  Leap onto his back and drain him!

  Here and now, wincing as the Guard once again smacked Nincada an eighth of the field away, she was finally able to notice something she had taken for granted from her entire team:

  Nincada was really good at following directions. Weirdly good. Where other trainers needed a couple breaths to convey their orders, it usually only took Astra's mental plans a blink or two—simply because even if all of the information was conveyed instantly, a mind still needed a moment to run through it all. But for Nincada, it was more like he followed each step as he came across them, blindly following the plan without knowing where the next step would lead. It was faster, much faster. But...

  "Get up, Nincada!" she yelled. Then, as a test, she only gave half an order. "Concentrate; I know you can hit him when you focus!"

  Her Pokemon obeyed instantly, the command barely having been sent before being put into action. No delays, no pause to think, no hesitation, nothing. She had spoken, and had barely time to blink before Nincada had flipped upright, deadly calculation replacing his usual protective outrage. His eyes flashed, and he readied himself to dash forward—then he paused, hesitant.

  Astra frowned. That ability of his was always followed by an attack, but because she hadn't given him a followup direction he hadn't done anything. Glade and Luna had always had at least some notion of what to do once their instructions had run their course—or been interrupted. She'd basically given Luna free rein after she launched herself into the air. But as one second extended into two, it looked like Nincada would take a lot longer to take initiative. Their mental link was two-way, but even if he couldn't communicate in truth Astra was now realizing she couldn't recall a single moment where the Bug had tried.

  And it wasn't as if it were impossible for him to do something on his own: he'd clearly been doing alright before running into her on Route 116, and even after he joined up she did vaguely recall him slashing at Brawly's Pokemon right before he was knocked out. But his previous methods were obviously not carrying over, and one exception in a dire situation did not a pattern make.

  That was likely going to be an issue…

  "Come on, you hard-shelled half-wit!" the Guard goaded, crouching low in anticipation. "We've been dancing for long enough, either show me something good or get lost!"

  …But here and now it was just something to note down for later examination. "Get his ass, Nincada!" Astra shouted, finally giving her Pokemon an actual plan—and only a fraction of a second passed before he shot off, eyes utterly fixated upon his target.

  He darted around the spear-Kirlia, eked past a fierce spear thrust with only a minor cut along his wing, blew a flurry of grit and dust into his opponents face, and then—at long last—scuttled up his leg and very carefully thrust his Bug-wreathed mandible straight into the Kirlia's buttcheek.

  A noise similar to a harshly grated violin string shrieked throughout the clearing—and Nincada promptly received a polite, Psychic-assisted introduction to the sediment two feet below the topsoil. The Guard breathed angrily, eyes wide and one hand tenderly clutching his wound.

  "Really?" he demanded, glaring at Astra—who was currently laughing her own ass off. "Really?!"

  "It's not like I didn't warn you!" she exclaimed, smiling brightly at the other Kirlia's rolling eyes and irritated grumbling. Shaking her head, she walked over and, after a moment of hesitation, gently yanked Nincada out of the soil. The Bug buzzed irritably as she put him down, brushing at his eyes and head in an attempt to rid himself of a thin layer of dirt.

  "Good job, Nincada!" Astra said, then paused, retracting her hand from where she'd been about to pat him. Right, he didn't like that. Uh...she settled for picking a bit of clumped soil out from the crevices of his carapace, which he seemed to appreciate. "The aftermath was rough, but the plan went off perfectly!"

  "Nin," Nincada said coolly, as if excellent performance was merely what was expected of him. Though he was standing taller, insomuch as that sort of posture could apply to a bug.

  Soft footsteps drew Astra's gaze to the Scarred, his face blank as usual save for a hint of amusement playing at the corner of his mouth.

  "It may have gone off perfectly, but I see you didn't follow my instructions," he said, giving her a level stare. "You've gravely wounded my student with that last attack of yours."

  "What?!" Astra exclaimed, momentarily stunned. "What are you talking about? Nincada barely nibbled him!"

  "Indeed, and I guarantee my other disciples will bring it up every moment they can for the foreseeable future," the Scarred sighed, shaking his head sadly. "The emotional trauma cannot be overstated," he continued, expression unchanging in the face of Astra's stifled giggling. "I hope you can recognize the severity of what you have subjected him to and atone accordingly."

  "I—I'll think of something, for sure," Astra wheezed. The Scarred didn't smile, but his eyes seemed to twinkle for a moment.

  "In any case," he continued, turning his gaze upon Nincada. "Your Bug performed well. There were no deficiencies compared to other Nincada I have fought in the past, and he decidedly outperformed most of them tactically, though I would hazard most of that is your influence?" Astra's affirmative nod was returned with one of his own. "Mm. Perhaps it will be best to focus on accuracy, identifying weak points, and striking power. Do you agree?"

  Astra blinked at him. "That sounds...fine?" she said, a little confused. That would certainly allow Nincada to make the absolute most out of every blow he struck, but… "Is that...it?" she asked, brows furrowing.

  The Scarred blinked back at her. "The specifics of how could be refined, but yes. That is, as you say, 'it.'"

  "But where's the—the thing?" Astra asked, searching for the words. "The big advancement? You taught Glade how to speed himself up; Luna learned how to zip around the battlefield like she's playing Rebound as the ball; and Stew can heal himself now. Shouldn't...shouldn't there be something for Nincada?"

  The Scarred just stared at Astra for a long moment. He sighed, rubbing his hand against his forehead.

  "I did warn you that my help would be limited," he said at last, looking up. "That I intuited compatible techniques for two of your companions was a stroke of fortune, not a standard. And Luna merely had to refine what she already possessed; I had no input aside for perhaps spotting a lead for further improvement. I intuited nothing of the sort for Nincada, and he showcased no exotic abilities to iterate upon."

  "But you must have seen a dozen Nincada swarms go after our gardens!" Astra protested. "Surely some of them must have done something interesting!"

  "I have, and they did not," the Elder stated, his tone even flatter than usual. He looked at Nincada, lips thinning. "He may be an excellent specimen, but he is the exact same as innumerable other Nincada—with the sole difference being that you are directing him."

  "So you can't do anything?" Astra checked, disappointed. The Scarred shook his head.

  "I will remind you that no matter how many Nincada attempt to swarm the village, and despite their innate strengths against Psychic powers, we sweep them aside with only mild difficulty every time. I am only able to work with what I am given—and no matter the quality, what you have given me is a pest." He turned away, showing no care for Astra's enraged glare. "I will make him as capable as I am able, but vermin are not my exper—"

  "Okay, enough with that shit!" Astra yelled, stomping up to the other Kirlia and circling until they were face-to-face again. "Listen, I don't care if you don't like Nincada, but don't you dare call him a pest!" she snarled. "That goes for the rest of my team too! They've been helping me every step of my journey to save us all! They aren't beasts or animals; they are my partners and you don't get to talk about them like that!"

  Silence filled the clearing. The Scarred stared at Astra, a hint of genuine surprise lurking in his eyes.

  "Hm," he said at last. "Perhaps you are a more worthy leader than I thought."

  Astra's eyes narrowed. "If you're about to say this was some sort of test...!" she warned, and the Elder huffed.

  "Hardly…and yet I do feel some redress is in order." He stared at the sky for a moment, then exhaled slowly. "You are correct. Your team has done more to address humanity's looming threat than all the rest of us combined. They have performed admirably as your subordinates, and my words have disparaged the respect they are owed. That is an error I will not repeat."

  Astra frowned, giving the Elder a searching look. It wasn't quite an apology, but she felt that it was as close as the old warrior could get to such a thing.

  "See that you don't," she settled on, turning away. She looked to Nincada, and was surprised to find the Bug staring right back, something akin to deep gratefulness pouring from every minute twitch of his antennae. Astra considered her options, and then gave him a simple, encouraging nod. Nincada stood straighter, nodding back resolutely, and then he was shuffled off to meet the three rather reluctant looking spear-Kirlia who would mind him for the rest of the day.

  That was another demonstration done—but before she could return to her Ralts friends, the Scarred called out one last time.

  "There is still nothing to be said of Nincada as he is now," he said, "but it is likely that he may evolve under your care. When he does so, he will gain the ability to fly."

  That stopped Astra in her tracks. Nincada had an evolution? He could fly?! She whipped around, boggling at the Scarred. "Why didn't you say that earlier!?"

  "I cannot work with what is not there," he stated simply. "And their kind were so fast that I have only even glimpsed them twice. And it would have been self-evident when his metamorphosis occurred, so I saw little point. My task remains the same."

  He observed Nincada for a moment more, as if considering something, but then shook his head and turned away, the Bug following in his wake. Astra watched them go, frowning.

  Flight, huh? Something to keep in mind, she supposed—and as the thought continued Astra wondered if she would be able to fly, someday. She'd been able to reduce her own weight significantly as a Ralts, and she was fairly certain she could lighten herself enough to float like a leaf now. If she somehow became a Gardevoir...

  Astra looked at the sky and dreamed of touching the clouds.

  Then she went off to fetch Swablu, who was both more convenient and whose airy fluff was vastly superior, as was only right.

  "Right, so," Astra said, clapping her hands. "Any ideas for naming Nincada?"

  She looked around, the cast of Ralts arrayed before her a sea of uncertainty, disinterest, or, unfortunately, mild revulsion. Astra frowned. "Nobody?"

  A chorus of shrugs was all she received. "Weren't you all complaining that I kept ignoring your suggestions? I can't use your ideas if you don't give me any."

  "Meanie!" one Ralts declared, looking sullen. "He wouldn't let me pet him at all!"

  "Maybe we should call him Rudy, 'cause of how rude he is," another Ralts said, crossing her arms. "I tried giving him a berry and he ignored me!"

  "We didn't really get to know him," Acorn interjected, piping up from the side. Swablu was in her arms, and she hugged the yellow bird closely as eyes turned her way. "He, uh, he mostly just...stood there waiting? Sometimes he did a few of those exercises or ran around, but if anyone tried to do...pretty much anything with him, he just...buzzed until they stopped or he scuttled away."

  "Maybe we should call him Buzz," Pyre speculated. "I kinda like his wings."

  "Ah!" Starsurge said, excitedly. "Actually, I heard that bug wings have a special name! They're called elytra."

  The crowd considered this for a moment.

  "That does sound pretty cool," Pyre commented, to general agreement.

  Astra peered at Starsurge curiously. "Where did you hear that?"

  "I heard it," the Ralts unhelpfully repeated, smiling proudly.

  "Right..." Astra said. "Um, well, it does sound nice, but he doesn't really do anything with his wings." He might in the future, apparently, but she was naming Nincada, not...uh, whatever he would change into later.

  The cast grumbled, discontent filtering into the air from yet another denial.

  "It—it might help if you told us more about him?" Acorn ventured. "Maybe what he's like or something he's done? Anything at all. He didn't...he didn't do much."

  About him? "Ah!" Astra exclaimed, brightening. "That's a good idea! Let's see," she began, thinking through all of the admittedly scarce times she'd spent with the Bug. "Well, most of all, I'd say Nincada is...clingy?" she hazarded, much to the confusion of her audience.

  "Even you didn't get to pet him!" Pyre exclaimed, pointing a finger at her accusingly. "How is that clingy?!"

  "No, no, that's not what I meant," Astra said. "He just sort of...if he's able to do what he wants, he sticks near me without fail. I remember a free day we had a while back: while the rest of my team were messing around on an obstacle course or swimming in the lake, he was perfectly...I'm not sure happy is the right word for it, but he never strayed far from me the whole time. He even put himself between me and a Poochyena. Very...protective?" she ventured. "Dutiful? Oh, that sounds right." Astra nodded, pleased. "He's very dutiful. I think he's been trying to follow me around while I'm here, too."

  "He's been following you around the village?" Starsurge asked, worried. "I'm not sure about your other partners, but if my mom saw a random Nincada wandering around she'd probably try to toss it in the nearest bonfire."

  "Glade's been watching over all of them, don't worry," Astra assured—only to frown as she considered her own words. "Or, at least he was supposed to. The day after I got back, Nincada must have spotted me while I was taking a break from talking to the Elders—" A flare of excitement and curiosity surged from her friends, but the Kirlia pressed onward. "—and snuck away from everyone to come after me. Then I let something slip to a skewer-cook and, uh." She paused, scratching her reddening cheeks and averting her gaze. "He sort of accidentally flung something into my eye. Nincada got really mad and latched onto his face. Things got a bit crazy, but everything turned out fine."

  "Aw, that's kinda sweet!" Acorn said, smiling over the rest of the crowd's laughter. "He's all serious, follows you around constantly, and even jumped in to protect you twice! He's like your own little protective shadow!"

  "Hey, that might be a good one!" Pyre exclaimed. "How about Shadow?"

  Astra considered it. "Huh. I like it!" she said, her smile growing. "The concept, at least. 'Shadow' sounds a little...off?"

  "Skulk?" one Ralts suggested. "Stalk?" said another. Astra shook her head.

  "No, not the 'following' bit. I meant the...the darkness? I think?" Astra looked around, pondering. "Nincada usually live underground, don't they? They also, uh...usually eat tree sap, which they get by eating their roots...?" she continued, uncertainly.

  "Oh!" Starsurge jumped up and down, waving his arms wildly. "Wait, I got it! If Glade is your strongest partner, that's, um—your team is like a big forest!" What? "And if Nincada is the darkness under the trees, that means he's the Shade, right!?"

  Astra blinked at the Ralts. Did he skip part of his thought process? She'd made the same sort of comparison when she'd named Glade, but how did he...? Maybe it was just an easy comparison to make. And the theme did fit nicely.

  Slowly, she started nodding. Yeah, that was good. She turned away from her giddy friend and looked out toward her insectile teammate, still listening attentively to the Scarred as the Elder spoke to a trio of spear-Kirlia.

  "Hey," she said, grinning as the Bug snapped his head toward her, antennae twitching attentively. "I think we've come up with a good name. How do you like 'Shade'?"

  The nearby spear-Kirlia all jumped as Nincada started buzzing, the volume louder than anything Astra had heard him produce before. A moment later he stopped, utterly motionless and radiating embarrassment and indignity. But no amount of regret would erase the all-encompassing pride that had suffused Shade's mind, shining brighter than the very sun that created his namesake. Astra giggled, though she spared the Bug the mortification of hearing it. Turning back to the cast, she shook her head in amusement as she watched her friends celebrate 'winning' the name. Then she levitated a couple items to her side and called out to her next teammate.

  "C'mon Swablu!" Astra said, smiling as a pile of white and yellow fluff arose from the chaos and perched atop her hat, cooing happily. The Kirlia palmed a Pokeball and held up a shiny disc, the TM for 'Steel Wing' glinting in the afternoon sunlight. "Let's find out what you can do with the Champion of Hoenn's favorite technique!"

  "Swa!" her fluffiest companion chirped.

  "What—"

  Rushing wind brought forth a descending sun. The Guard dove, narrowly avoiding a shining beak.

  "—are you feeding—"

  A roaring fwoosh forced them back together, wood clashing against talon again and again in a furious flurry before a heavy spear-slash finally tore the two apart.

  "—this bird!?"

  Swablu dipped and wove through the sky, a sky-hued whirlwind circling her cloud-like form and urging her ever onward. She circled above the training grounds, looping and twirling without a care in the world.

  "Oh, you know," Astra said, casually gesturing toward nothing in particular. "Berries, fish, stew, Poke-kibble, cloud-dew, and sunshine!" The Guard shot her a flat glare, and Astra widened her eyes, gently dropping her fist into her palm. "Oh, I just remembered! I also taught her how to eat fear!"

  The other Kirlia stared at her. "You what—?"

  Swablu fell like dusk before the Guard's face and shrieked. Something deeper than mere sound pierced through her opponent's very soul, wracking his spirit with a terrible, ghastly pain. His spear, already a mere sliver from striking Swablu out of the air, drew back as he did something Astra had never seen him do in all the years they'd known each other.

  He flinched.

  Steel wing!

  A fierce flap of her fluffy wings flung Swablu upwards, the yellow bird letting out a warbling cry as she looped back down. Her wings gleamed, a subdued teal overtaking pristine white. Inconceivably soft fluff stiffened, its plush replaced in whole by a cloud of razor threads.

  The Guard raised his spear, shimmering with Psychic power. Wing met Will with a painful shriek as the metal strands resonated along a mental wavelength beyond mere vibrating air. Light shattered. Wood splintered. Swablu's wing struck the Guard's shoulder, and only a hasty barrier saved his arm from laceration.

  Then he spun, Swablu's flight faltering as her opponent abruptly withdrew. As she flew past the sudden lack of an obstacle, she only had time to let out a startled "Blu?" before the Kirlia whirled around and bashed the haft of his now-headless spear directly onto her head.

  Swablu crashed into the earth, digging a shallow furrow into the dirt.

  "Swablu!" Astra cried out, rushing forward—only to stop as her teammate popped up, no more than minorly scuffed from the blow. The Kirlia let out a sigh of relief at the sight, slowing her approach. "Oh good, you're okay," she said, smiling at the bird. Astra noted that she'd turned yet another shade deeper into pale teal; the energies she had tapped into to use the new technique seemed to linger on occasion. Was it making her sturdier?

  Swablu chirped happily despite the hit—then stiffened, turning a baleful glare at her own wings. "Swablu!" she squawked, frantically grooming the dust off of herself. Astra giggled at the sight.

  "Hey, I'm fine too," the Guard called, looking down at his broken spear in dismay. "My weapon isn't, though. Shit, I liked that one..."

  "Maybe you could swap it out with a shield?" Astra innocently suggested, though the smirk on her face doubtlessly tarnished the purity of her tone. "You've been getting hit a lot more, recently!"

  An annoyed look flashed across the Guard's face. "Big words coming from someone who's just been standing around," he retorted. "You try fighting all of your team over and over again for half a day! I'm good, but I get tired too!"

  "Rest assured," The Scarred interjected, stepping forward. "You will have the rest of the day free after one more trial. One far more lax than the rest, I believe." He turned toward Astra who had begun helping Swablu brush dirt out of her fluff. "Astra—"

  Astra yelped, jerking back and clutching her hand to her chest. Swablu squawked, looking doubly panicked and worried as her trainer stared at the beads of red glistening along her fingers. What in the world? She'd just been brushing them through Swablu's off-colored wings, and then—it was like the fibers had just sliced into her fingers! But the attack had ended, so why had they...was the lingering discoloration from her usage of Steel Wing the cause? If the energies were making her fluff take on the properties of actual metal, then she'd just shoved her hand through a cloud of incredibly thin steel fibers! Of course that would cut up her hand; she was lucky she hadn't lacerated herself! Or the Guard! Again!

  On the upside, now she knew why Swablu hadn't been hurt by that last attack very much. Metal was much sturdier than mere flesh or fuzz. Given her relative frailty, that could be incredibly useful.

  "Well now," the Scarred murmured, peering between Astra's hand and Swablu, who was fretting over the injury in sorrowful chirps and hesitant brushes of brightening wing-fluff. "That is very interesting. A result of the new technique? If so, it appears less than consistent; it would do to practice heightening the occurrence of that effect."

  "I'm fine, by the way," Astra said, shooting the Elder a flat look. He huffed, eyeing her amusedly.

  "I can recognize when a wound is worthy of concern, and I would hesitate to call that more than a shallow cut. A welcome insignificance, regardless. Now, your Aron," he began, absently waving yet another trio of spear-Kirlia forward. Oddly, they were the last trio that Astra could see; all the rest were helping her team train. These were obviously for Swablu, but then where were the ones for Aron? "It is freshly caught, yes? You have not even battled with them properly yet."

  "Yeah?" Astra said, standing up with Swablu in her arms. The bird gently nuzzled against her patting hands, bouncing between regret and relieved joy through the reassuring strokes. "I more-or-less went straight from catching her to here; there weren't any opportunities to fight in the past few days. When I first found her she was being attacked by a Makuhita," she added, frowning. "But she wasn't exactly fighting back."

  "As I thought," the Scarred nodded. "Then it would be unwise for any of my students to handle their training. You must understand," he continued, noticing her confused expression, "that her habits are as of yet unformed; her reactions to commands unknown. While a spar would give you the first shred of influence, my students would be directing her for the vast majority of today, and she would grow used to their direction, not your own. I have seen similar conflicts arise when differingly trained troupes are mixed. Also..." he hesitated. "I am not one attuned to sentiment, but it seems to me rather unkind to promise to train her, and then foist her off at the first opportunity. For the rest of your team, this is an opportunity. For her, it would be foundational."

  Astra slowly nodded, mulling his words over. "You're right," she said. "Aron is supposed to be my teammate, and I need to make her part of the team before anything else. And I can't do that if I'm not the first one to train her."

  The Guard sighed, trading the broken halves of his spear for a whole one from the other spear-Kirlia. "Guess I'll be giving the metal midget her first taste of combat, huh?" he said, examining the weapon and giving it a few test swings. "I won't be an idiot and say it'll be easy, but at least it'll be simpler." He thrust forward, the speartip glimmering as it easily pierced the air. "The basics are the basics, after all."

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Indeed," the Scarred agreed. "That being said, new blood always tires easily, so this session will likely focus on establishing a baseline and not pushing limits. Unless her stamina is prodigious, it will likely not be long before our parts in this are finished." He blinked slowly, eyelids seeming to catch and flutter as he did so. "Perhaps mine sooner than his," he murmured, shaking his head.

  It struck Astra that despite (theoretically) sharing a position with the battle-worn Kirlia, the Elder was far more emblematic of the definition of elder than she was. She didn't doubt his skill by any measure, but seeing him so unmistakably drowsy this early, when he hadn't even been fighting...there was only so long that skill could make up for growing frailty.

  "I will see Swablu off and then leave Aron to you and my student," the Scarred finished, unaware of Astra's musings. "I must ponder what I have seen today. Perhaps with some warm steamneedle..."

  Shaking aside her thoughts, Astra nodded, relieved that the numerous training sessions were soon to end. Battling was fun, but a whole day of nothing but practice was very tiring. Well, for her it was only mentally; the Guard must have been aching something fierce. Gently releasing Swablu into the care of the other spear-Kirlia, she turned to see him moving through an attack pattern, growing accustomed to his borrowed weapon.

  She didn't think she'd ever understand what drove some Kirlia to pick up a spear and swing it around day in and day out. She knew the necessity of it, of course, but the satisfaction in the other Kirlia's glimmering magenta eyes as he stabbed into the wind, thick limbs whirling gracefully as he danced through a pattern of sweeps and jabs, muscles flexing underneath snow-white fuzz as sweat trailed down his glistening aaaAAAAAAA—

  Astra stiffly turned around, biting her cheek hard.

  Right.

  Ahem.

  She was...happy...that he enjoyed doing that. But that sort of self-training was not at all appealing to her.

  Even if the benefits were—

  Astra tasted metal. She left the clearing, dearly hoping the hue of her face didn't match the liquid oozing across her tongue.

  Judging by the faint amusement being intentionally radiated from the lazy, empty-headed asshole behind her, this was regrettably not the case.

  Idiot...

  "Sunbeam!" Acorn declared. Around her, the rest of the cast nodded in unison, determination flashing across their collective faces.

  Astra stared. "Er, what?"

  "Swablu's name," Acorn said, arms folded, eyes narrowed, and only slightly failing to not tremble. "W—we've decided that it's Sunbeam!"

  "Okay..." Astra said, blinking. "But—"

  "No buts!" Pyre interrupted, voice as firm as bedrock. "It's been decided!"

  "Don't I get a say...?" Astra started, smiling in bemusement.

  "No!" the cast chorused.

  Alright, apparently this was a done deal already. Still, she couldn't let something this important go without a fight!

  "It's kind of obvious though, isn't it?" she tried. "Just because she looks like the sun—"

  "Simple is good!" one Ralts cried.

  "Yeah, you make things way too complicated!" another complained.

  "Acorn named herself after the first thing she thought of and you didn't complain about her!" Starsurge argued.

  There were some fairly obvious differences between that and this, but Astra supposed the point was fair enough. "Still, it's a bit wordy, isn't it?" she attempted, one last time. "The 'beam' part is kind of jarring. How about 'Sunny'?"

  Acorn raised a hand, then paused, considering the suggestion. She turned back to the group and in a moment the whole cast was huddled together and communing silently, albeit with some rather evocative gesturing and irritated huffing.

  After a moment, they broke apart and stared Astra down.

  "Sunny is acceta—acceptatal! Acceptable." Acorn flushed. "It's fine."

  Astra nodded magnanimously. "Hey," she said, turning her head to look at Swablu. "How do you feel about 'Sunny'?"

  Sunny perked up, then started sparkling. "Swablu!" she sang, flawing her wings out excitedly.

  Astra laughed, raising her hand as if to shield her eyes from the overpowering cuteness on display. "I think she likes it," she said, grinning as she watched her bird flap around her assigned Kirlia, chirping and singing for all to hear.

  Then she blinked as all three Kirlia started to yawn, and then gasped as one outright fell over, a faint snore suddenly ringing into the air.

  Everyone stared, and even the Scarred was left speechless. The Elder prodded at his students, eyeing a still-exuberant Sunny warily.

  "...You know what? I'll figure that out later," Astra decided. She looked over to Aron, beckoning her metallic teammate over with a nod. Aron bounded over to her, large cyan eyes sparkling in excitement as Astra grinned, reaching down to pat the Steel-type as she continued to run without any signs of slowing down—!

  Astra's terrified shriek abruptly cut out as a hundred pounds of compact metal bowled her over. All that remained was a pained wheeze, followed by Aron's confused warbling as Astra tried to shove her off.

  "Well, at least we know she's got a good tackle going for her," the Guard observed. He listened to Astra's response, nodding knowingly. "Man, those humans sure know how to swear!"

  Astra just groaned.

  Given that Aron hadn't battled at all before, they decided to use a grass dummy to explore what she could actually do. Astra didn't really believe that Aron had the capacity to use anything Dark, but she hadn't expected Stew to slice open the Guard's back either.

  As expected, her speed was abysmal; her metallic carapace was an extremely dense, extremely massive weight that Aron couldn't really compensate for. On the flip-side, if she had a few seconds to actually build up some momentum that same weight meant she did not stop.

  Astra stared at the broken stump where their heaviest wooden dummy had once stood, the faded ache in her chest from Aron's enthusiastic affection twinging at the sight. It brought to mind Steven's enormous Aggron, and then the dead titan inside Rena's cave. She really needed to break that habit of Aron's before she started breaking ribs.

  Moving on, another dummy slathered in weighty sludge proved Aron capable of slinging mud like Nincada, and a Steel-teal glow covering a limb neatly carved a big gash through its leg. After a handful of repeats, some of the Steel energy lingered and seeped into Aron, and the dummy was nearly bisected outright upon her next attack.

  "You think all Steel moves do that?" the Guard asked, looking down at the blue-tinted Aron. "Your bird—Sunny?—got real tough after that wing attack, and now this one's carving through the wooden dummies like they're still grass. Gotta say," he added, smiling wryly, "I'm real glad I'm not the target this time."

  "You're still a dummy, however." Astra jabbed, reaching down to pat Aron's head. She squealed like a very happy door hinge. "I don't know if all Steel techniques do that, but it's certainly a pattern."

  "You think it feels weird?" he pondered. "I bet it makes 'em real sad."

  Astra paused, then squinted at the other Kirlia, bewildered. "What? No! You can sense what she's feeling just as well as I can; how in the world can you think that?"

  "Well, you know," he said, gesturing to Aron straight-faced. "She just seems really blue to me."

  Astra coughed and nothing else, then flicked a pebble at the now-grinning Guard's head. "Awful."

  "Hey, if it got a smile I'd say it's quality enough!"

  "Shut it."

  Shaking her head, Astra looked back down to Aron. "Alright Aron; is there anything else you think you can do?"

  The Steel-type tilted her head, thinking deeply. Her eyes wandered, seemingly aimlessly—until suddenly a spark of recognition lit them both up from within. Astra followed her gaze, spotting Stew in the distance being pelted by small rocks and alternating between healing the resulting bruises and trying to Rock Tomb some low-flying rock discs. For a few moments Aron considered her teammate's training, and then she ran off toward the latest ravaged dummy.

  Stopping a fair distance away, she reared back on her hind legs, coated her front limbs with what was unmistakably Rock-energy, and then slammed onto the ground.

  And with a rumbling crash, the dummy was abruptly impaled by a dozen very familiar and very much thicker rocky stalagmites.

  "Was that Rock Tomb?!" Astra exclaimed, eyes wide. "What—but—Stew only knew it because I used a TM! How did you...?"

  "Maybe she learned it from watching him?" the Guard suggested, blinking at the decimated splinters poking out from the stone spikes. "I will reiterate: I am so happy we used a dummy first. If I got hit by all of those I might've been on my way to my pyre."

  "Ro-ron!" Aron refuted, trotting up to them and shaking her head. Astra frowned.

  "You didn't learn it from watching Stew?" she asked, brow furrowing at Aron's nod. "Could you always have done it, then? That...doesn't make sense; why hadn't you used it against that Makuhita in the cave? It wouldn't have hurt him much, but you definitely could have slowed him down enough to run away."

  Aron gaped at her like she'd delivered an epiphany straight from the stars themselves. "Ron..." she whispered, awed and...ashamed?

  Astra stared at her blankly. An idea came to her, and she thought back to moments ago, when Aron had recognized Stew's technique. No. No that couldn't be it. Aron couldn't possibly have—

  "Aron," Astra sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Did you forget that you could do that?"

  Aron averted her gaze, furtively shuffling on her stubby legs. "Ar…ron?" she falsely denied.

  The Guard snickered, then smoothly transitioned into an innocent hum as Astra shot him a look.

  She glowered a moment more, then rolled her eyes and turned back to Aron. "Listen, we all forget things sometimes," Astra said, stroking her teammate's head. "Earlier this season, I did the same thing: I didn't remember I could attack Poochyena indirectly by throwing rocks until he—" she nodded to the Guard. "—had already been fighting them for a minute."

  "Panic tends to blot out your thoughts," the other Kirlia agreed. "It's something you learn to deal with over time."

  "And it's about time I gave you that time," Astra finished, smiling down at Aron. "Come on, it's about time we get some actual practice in!"

  "Ron!" Aron cheered, the pep talk doing much to restore her earlier enthusiasm.

  "Oh goody," the Guard groused, hefting up his spear. "I can't wait."

  "Oh, okay!" Astra said, smiling innocently. "Tackle."

  Aron charged. The Guard's eyes bulged.

  "Wait wait wait I didn't—!"

  Weakened from the five previous battles, the other Kirlia found his reflexes just battered enough that he didn't get a barrier off in time.

  Aron hit him in the stomach, and he went down hard.

  Astra sauntered over and peered down at the wheezing spear-Kirlia. "Looks like I got you this time!" she said, grinning.

  The Guard glared up at her, a hundred pounds of steel nestled square across his legs. "We'll see about that," he snarled, and then with a sudden smirk and a wink, he popped out of existence.

  Astra only had a moment to stiffen in shock before a wooden pole conked her on the head. She yelped, stars flashing in her vision as she fell to the dirt. Clutching at her head, she twisted to find the Guard standing right behind her, resting his spear across his shoulder.

  "Hey, look at that!" he exclaimed. "Turns out I had to use this thing on you after all. Funny how that works, isn't it?"

  Astra pouted at him, then rose to her feet, Aron returning to her side. They both stared him down, determination written fiercely across their faces.

  "Oh, it is on," Astra growled, Aron humming dangerously alongside her.

  The Guard just grinned, dropping into a low stance and brandishing his spear. "Bring it."

  And so the last battle of the day began.

  Sweaty, shaking, and trembling from the extended bouts, the Guard finally fell to his knees, tiredly leaning on his spear to stay upright at all.

  "I—I'm done," he gasped, brushing sticky hair from his face. "Stars above, trying to scratch you is just a waste of effort, huh?"

  "That's what happens when you try to cut metal!" Astra exclaimed, proudly stroking a battered and bruised Aron. The Steel-type hummed contentedly, nibbling a few Oran berries from Astra's hands. "Especially when she apparently knows some kind of super-Harden!"

  Unlike Rock Tomb, that ability was something Aron legitimately hadn't known that she could do until she'd gotten more comfortable with the flow of combat. A few false starts and some careful coaching had allowed her to actually think instead of panic, and soon enough Aron was actually having a good time—especially when it turned out that she could very nearly ignore every non-Psychic attack the Guard threw at her.

  Psychic attacks did hurt her, but Astra could hardly complain about her being only half-invulnerable.

  "It does make it hard to incentivize sight-sharing practice, though," Astra mused. "If she can just ignore thrown pebbles I'll have to find another way to make her need to dodge."

  "Sorry, what?" the Guard asked, trudging over with a perplexed look on his face. "'Sight-sharing practice?' You've been linking your senses together?"

  Astra blinked, looking up at the other Kirlia. "Yeah? I've been letting them see what I see whenever we fight."

  His expression twisted as though she'd said her favorite food was Dustox. "That's..." he trailed off, grimacing. "Unusual," he settled on. He looked at her, curiosity replacing distaste. "What made you start doing that?"

  Astra frowned, thinking back to when she'd first come up with the tactic. "Well, I was fighting another trainer, and her Pokemon threw mud into Glade's eyes. Since he couldn't see anymore, I figured that my vision would work just as well and sent him what I was seeing, and that let him dodge and attack like normal, which let me win. Afterward I figured that I might as well do that all the time, and started training everyone so that they could use it without getting disoriented." She tilted her head. "Is...there some sort of problem with that?" she asked, hesitant. It didn't break any rules she knew of; she wasn't forcefully poking into their minds, and what she provided was freely given, so...?

  "I...guess not..." The Guard scratched his head, looking away. "I'm just...used to qualia being a more private thing. I can see how that'd come in handy, but I don't think I would have ever thought to do something like that."

  "Ah." Astra hadn't really considered that. "I mean, it's not like I'm sharing anything that deep with them," she pointed out. "Maybe some empathic stuff, but I can't really help it; they don't have shields. And it's not like we've never played Abysense before."

  "You might've, but I didn't," the Guard said. "Trying to one-up my cast in finding the worst smell or sound or whatever in the village wasn't my style. And one specific thing doesn't really compare to a contiguous stream."

  "Either way, I don't really think it matters," Astra said, standing up with a sigh. "I only do it for battle and I need every advantage I can get. Besides, it's not like they're Ralts or anything; they're just Po—"

  Astra's words died mid-stream, replaced with an expression of confusion and mild horror. She stared into nothing, mind blank. What...had she just said?

  The Guard looked at her, lips downturned. "Wasn't really arguing against it," he sighed, looking away. "'S just surprising, is all. Unusual." Silence lingered as they both grappled with their thoughts. The other Kirlia looked down at Aron, humming thoughtfully. "Come up with a name for the metal midget yet?" he asked.

  Astra grasped the topic change like her life depended on it. "I did have an idea," she said, smiling at Aron's sudden giddy foot taps. "And given how my own cast seems to have found themselves—" she looked to the entrance to the field where, bereft of foreign Pokemon and thoroughly bored of training, her friends had pestered their Kirlia minder—who she'd never spoken to, come to think of it—into setting up a decent Rebound game. "—occupied," she continued, turning back to the Guard. In the distance Acorn nailed another Ralts in the horn with a ball and was sent off-field. She really needed to work on that; it seemed to happen every game she ever played! "I figure that I can just go ahead with it without their input. Especially after they forced me to pick Sunny."

  "Never really thought about names much before you got yours," the other Kirlia mused. "Even when you showed up with it, I thought it was just a 'you' thing. But then those Ralts started naming themselves, and I've been seeing more and more people doing the same."

  "You've also been giving my teammates little nicknames, too," Astra pointed out, smiling. The Guard barked a laugh.

  "I guess so!" he said, grinning back at her. "It's fun. So, what've you got in mind?" He asked, looking down at Aron. "Something about metal, I'd guess?"

  "Yep! So, you've seen that Aron can be a bit scatterbrained, right? Kind of an air head?" at the other Kirlia's nod, Astra smiled. "Right, well, she's also really heavy, so I figured I'd name her after a really light metal."

  "As is only natural," the Guard agreed, proving that he did have good taste after all. "So what, like...copper? Or, uh..." he scratched his cheek, lost. "I don't really know what metals are called. I've got iron and steel and that's it."

  "The one humanity makes those cans out of," Astra explained. The other Kirlia stared at her blankly. "The hand-sized hollow metal cylinders?" she tried. His eyes lit up.

  "Oh, those!" he exclaimed. "Those aren't steel? Alright, so what's that, then?"

  "They're made from 'Aluminum'." Astra revealed. "Combine that with how Aron showing up really brightened my mood when I was in a very dark place literally and figuratively, I think the best name for her would be 'Lumi'."

  The newly named Lumi lit up, squeaking out a flurry of excited yips as she tapped around their legs.

  "Nice," the Guard said, giving Astra a nod. "Wordplay is on point. Though, wouldn't it be pronounced 'Luma'?" he asked, brow furrowing. "Also it sounds really close to Marill's name. Luna, Lumi..."

  "Huh." Astra blinked. "Yeah, I guess they are kinda close. Well, Luma might match how you say the metal better, but that'd just make the similarities worse, and that's not how it's spelled."

  "You don't think it'll get confusing regardless?"

  Astra shrugged. "It won't for me, and I can't see how it'd really trouble anyone else."

  "Now that I think about it, doesn't Shade rhyme with Glade too? You really picked a troublesome assortment."

  "It's fine," Astra insisted, though she hadn't realized it until just now either.

  "If you say so," the Guard shrugged, then looked around. "So, guess we're done here?" he asked, leaning on his spear.

  "Yep," Astra said, giving Lumi another pat. The Aron leaned into the touch, yawning like a very cute door hinge. "Lumi's all worked out for now, and the rest of my team will finish sooner or later. Their minders can teleport them back home, so all that's left is situating Aron for the night and then I can..."

  She hesitated. What...was she doing next? It wasn't quite late enough for her to turn in yet, but there wasn't really anything she had to do left either. She looked over at her friend's Rebound game, vague notions of joining crossing her mind, but on closer inspection it seemed to be on the verge of winding down as well. Ralts just didn't have the stamina to play for very long, and as a relatively fresh Kirlia Astra would just trounce them unless she hindered herself too much to be fun.

  "Practice my violin?" she eventually said, though the idea made her feel like she perhaps could just sleep the evening away anyway. "I'm supposed to perform for everyone tomorrow before I leave, so I guess I should go make sure I know the song—"

  "You know," the Guard interrupted, planting his spear tip-first into the dirt and resting his hands and chin on the butt. "It seems to me that the entire time you've been back here you've just been running from one responsibility to another, am I right?"

  He held up a hand, listing off fingers as he went. "Rescuing all those Abra, the big Elder meetup, disappearing into the wasteland to train, coming out here to train your team. I gotta say," he finished, giving her a wry smile. "None of that sounds like you've actually done anything fun since you returned. You only get a bit over two days away from that mess out there and you're gonna spend it all working?"

  "Hey, all of that was super important!" Astra protested. "Just because I'm back doesn't mean I can slack off! And playing my violin isn't work; I picked it up because I wanted to! It's fun!"

  "Not if you're practicing because you feel like you gotta meet an expectation," the other Kirlia said, lifting his head again. "And you can't 'slack off' when you're not supposed to be working, idiot!"

  Astra scowled. "Listen, just because you feel comfortable sleeping at the gate doesn't mean that I—"

  "Did you even celebrate evolving yet?"

  Her thoughts stuttered to a halt. A sudden chill swept over Astra, silence falling as she stared at the other Kirlia. Celebrate...her evolution? How could she have? There hadn't been any time. Hadn't been any space.

  Hadn't been anyone to do it with.

  Just her, in a lonely bathroom stall, frantically trying to fix her disguise. And after that...a great and terrible hatred. A great and terrible power.

  Her vision went blurry. Astra looked away, one hand clutching at the ache in her chest even as the other wiped at her eyes.

  "No," she admitted. "I...I guess I never did."

  "Well, guess I know what I'm using that favor for now, huh?"

  Astra blinked, looking up to see the Guard smiling at her. "W—what?"

  "You know, my favor!" he said, cheer both real and sarcastic dripping from every word. "From when Stew over there carved out my spine! I'm calling it in, and we—" he emphasized, pointing to the both of them, "—are going to go party!"

  "I—but—what?" Astra stammered, utterly baffled. "I nearly crippled you and—and that's what you want for it?!"

  "I know, it's such a demanding ordeal," he commiserated, stepping beside and throwing an arm around her shoulder, patting solemnly. "You will simply have to agonize and suffer over a long-mulled cup of spirits at the Zigzag."

  "I—wait, you want me to have fermented drinks?!" Astra asked, incredulous. "No way! I tried one before and it was terrible; I've told you that every time I came back with a bag full of berries!"

  The Guard gave her a flat look. "When, whose, how much, and what was it like?"

  Astra hesitated, partly because she had to remember the answers, and partly because doing so was suddenly much harder now that she was rapidly becoming aware of how close the other Kirlia was. "Uh, I, um. Years ago," she started. "It was my grandpa's, and he left a cup of it on the table one time. I only had a little sip, but it was one of the most bitter things I've ever tasted. Even though it was still kind of sweet? But it tasted so bad that I started crying on the spot."

  "Did it only taste bad," the Guard asked, "or were you just suddenly really sad?"

  ...Huh? "Uh, well, I..." Astra frowned, thinking. "...now that I think about it, I did feel really awful for a while afterward. Weirdly awful."

  "Sounds like your Grandpa left out a cup of something potent," the Guard mused. He patted Astra on the back again, and stepped away. "Of course you wouldn't like that! You were a Ralts; they can't handle spirits that strong, especially when they're that shade. But now you're a Kirlia, and there's a whole forest of new stuff you can do that you couldn't before! Come on," he said, grinning. "I promise, it'll be a blast!"

  ...Well, it had been a long time since that first sip, and she'd seen and done all sorts of things she never could have imagined since then. Maybe her tastes could have changed? Or perhaps he was right, and she'd never even gotten a good taste at all. Still, she'd been vehement about not liking fermented drinks for so long that giving it another try almost felt like losing.

  "I don't know..." she hedged. The Guard sighed.

  "Right, listen, if you really don't like it, you can always just switch to water or juice," he said. "I'm not going to force you to do anything you really don't want to. I'm just asking you to give it a try. You deserve a decent evolution party! Please? For me and my poor mauled back?" he asked, transitioning into some awful plaintive voice at the end.

  Astra snorted, rolling her eyes. "Fine," she huffed, reaching down to hold Lumi's back spike. "I've still gotta get her home, though."

  The Guard grinned, bright as the dawning sun. "Fantastic!" he cheered, faint trickles of power swirling around them both as he prepared to follow her teleport. "I don't know what those humans have out there, but trust me; the feeling you get when you down your first good spirit will be a treasure you'll remember for the rest of your life."

  For those keeping track, we now have the full list of names!

  Glade the Grovyle

  Luna the Marill

  Stew the Slakoth

  Shade the Nincada

  Sunny the Swablu

  Lumi the Aron

  I literally didn't realize Glade and Shade rhymed until I was about to post this. Wow, Astra really has an inconvienient naming sense!

  For those getting a bit tired of village life, we're almost done! Only two more chapters and then we're back in Dewford; counted them myself! One, two...two! Eh? Something seems off with that. One, two...two. Hm. In any case, they *should* be much easier to write than this last one was. Note to self: never put myself in any position where I have to do the same thing multiple times in a row ever again.

  Also have some terminologically insisted busts of some villagers! Astra, the Guard, Acorn, Pyre, and Starsurge.

  'Wow, thats neat! Hey wait, why did the narrative never mention any of those details—'

  Thank you, Dexexe1234 for the art! I will now spend the next month monofocused on defending Silvermoon from the Void.

  Discord! Update my !

  Thanks as usual to my editors Fuzzy, Cat, Slain, and Irony.

  Thank you for reading, and tell me what you think!