Despite Edward’s prodding, Adriano insisted they get the camp all set up before the training began. Finally, the two squared off in a small clearing off the main road. Even with the tents and campfire to the side, there was still enough space to battle on. The remaining Pokemon were sitting off to one side, spectating.

“Alright Edward let’s have you start with Oshawott. All I want you to do is try and land a hit on my Pokemon.”

“Got it!”

With twin flashes, Oshawott and Audino appeared in the clearing.

“Huh? Audino? Are you sure Adriano? I don’t want to hurt her.”

Adriano laughed as Audino puffed and shook her hand at Edward in anger.

“Don’t worry, Audino is very capable. Dear, I want you to dodge Oshawott’s attacks.”

Audino nodded and put her game face on.

“Oh, and Audino? Whenever, he misses an attack, I want you to slap him.”

Audino paused for a moment in confusion, before revealing a wicked smile mirroring his own. Oshawott flinched a little, but its confidence soon returned, and it took a fighting stance.

“Alright Oshawott, let’s start with tackle!”

Oshawott gave a cute growl and charged Audino. Its feet pounded against the ground, and as soon as it was in range pushed off with a mighty leap, launching it shoulder-first at the helpless Audino in front of it. Closing his eyes, Oshawott braced for an impact that never arrived. Snapping his eyes open, Oshawott flailed as its momentum carried it on a collision course with the ground. The impact never arrived, as a dainty hand reached around and gently swiped Oshawott’s cheek upward, catapulting the poor Pokemon backwards, skipping on the dirt like a stone on water. When the battered Oshawott slid to a stop, it weakly raised its head and looked through the tears in its eyes to see Audino standing there, seeming to have not moved a single finger.

Audino caught Oshawott looking at her and flashed him a brilliant smile. To the downed Pokemon, that smile might as well have been from the depths of hell. Shivering, Oshawott slowly dragged himself back to Edward, who was just frozen in shock, and hid behind his legs where he promptly fainted.

“That’s enough Audino. We’re trying to train him, not give him PTSD.”

Audino grumbled a bit and wandered over to where Ella was sitting by Tor.

“Sorry about that.”

Adriano addressed Edward.

“I guess Audino wasn’t so happy to have to spar with such a weak Pokemon.”

Edward managed to pick his jaw off the floor and hurriedly kneeled to check on Oshawott. After feeding him a berry and dousing him with a potion, Edward returned the fainted Pokemon to its ball before addressing Adriano.

“That was so cool! I never knew Audino was that powerful! How did she do that?! I didn’t even see her move!”

Adriano was a bit taken aback by Edwards sudden outburst.

“Audino is level twenty, you know. Your Oshawott hasn’t even broken ten yet, right? It’s normal to lose when you’re out leveled.”

Edward pouted for a moment before firing back.

“Yeah, but Audino just looks weak.”

Audino shot the kid a sharp glare and Edward hastily added.

“No offense Audino.”

Adriano crossed his arms.

“You know, you should be more concerned with how Oshawott is doing right now. It looked like he got beaten down pretty badly.”

Edward waved away his concerns.

“I’ll be the strongest, no problem. Oshawott will catch up eventually.”

Adriano raised an eyebrow in surprise and examined the serious kid in front of him. ‘He’s suffering from some serious delusions of grandeur. With that attitude, it doesn’t matter how talented he is, he’ll end up a failure like me.’ One sigh later, he got his thoughts back on track. ‘It’ll be fine. At worst, he’ll fail this year and have to do it again, no big loss. And at best, he might grow out of this.’ Making up his mind, Adriano decided not to interfere.

“Well, alright then. Got any other Pokemon you want to practice with? I’ll make sure Audino actually goes easy on them.”

Edward fidgeted a moment before pulling out a second pokeball.

“Just this one.”

With a flash, a familiar shape appeared in the clearing. Covered in scars and bruises, the defiant Purrloin stared down Adriano with a meow. Looking to Edward for an explanation, Edward ducked his head sheepishly.

“I kinda stole it from the Pokemon Center. But there was no way that bad guy was coming back for her! I couldn’t just leave!”

“Fine, fine. I wasn’t judging you, just curious. Well, let’s see how she performs.”