There was a light mist hanging in the air, wrapped and twisted between crumbling stone walls and dilapidated buildings. Thick grass had sprung up everywhere, taking over the original walking paths and roads. As Alto flew overhead, Adriano noted that the sunlight, which had been bright and cheerful up until now, abruptly stopped at the edge of the clearing. There was only dusk within the Dreamyard. Alto circled for a while looking for a good spot before landing off to the very edge, a small rest area carved out from the oppressive atmosphere. A flickering fire crackled away in the center, with several groups of tents dotted around the perimeter.

Adriano looked around for a minute before pulling Edward towards an open spot and directing him to set up his tent and claim it. The kid complied, uncharacteristically quiet. As Edward did that, Adriano prowled around and checked out the other campers, seeing if there was anything interesting or unusual going on. Nothing particularly jumped out at him, and he exchanged nods and greeting with several other trainers before looping back around. As he drew closer, Adriano was somewhat startled by the scene in front of him. Edward had finished building and had taken a seat on a nearby rock, trying to cheer up a despondent Oshawott. The poor Pokemon was slumped over and gloomy, barely responding to Edward’s passionate speech.

“What’s going on here?”

Edward glanced up at him before returning his attention to Oshawott.

“Oshawott and I are trying to come up with a plan to beat that mean Lillipup.”

Oshawott shook his head and whined. Edward immediately returned his attention to him.

“It’s okay Oshy, we’ll figure something out. I promise!”

After giving a few encouraging words of his own, Adriano moved off to set up his own campsite. Though really, it would just end up being a big pile of Pokemon again. Alto did make for a good bed and blanket combo. It had been a while since he had seen everyone at once, and Adriano was sure that they would be ready to stretch their legs.

Tor came out first, looking around sleepily before rolling over onto its back. Ella came out next, skipping around happily and poking Tor’s nose, trying to get the big lug awake to play. Alto flew out with a cry, guard up and ready to attack if necessary. Upon seeing she wasn’t needed, she flew off and perched on Tor, head on a swivel to be ready for any trouble. Audino came out fiercely, giving Adriano a sharp pinch to the leg and a disapproving look. Moving off after he pacified her nagging concerns, she took up residence besides Alto, giving the lookout some company.

Looking through his remaining Pokemon, Adriano decided not to release Miltank or Zoura, if anything happened the deal he had spent a lot of effort making would fall through. That just left one more Pokemon. Grimacing, Adriano examined the Pokeball containing one of his oldest friends.

The Mienshao was deeply asleep, to the point it appeared comatose. Slender, tan colored tinged with gray and silver. Long strips of fur draped from his arms and sagged slightly everywhere else. Adriano sighed. Ace was old. He had been old when Adriano first won him but looking at the weathered and frail Pokemon in his hand felt different. Thinking for a moment, Adriano still decided to open it. If Edward were serious about using Oshawott in his team, he would need a trainer. And Audino, though he would never say it to her face, was not the best teacher.

As the white glow faded, Ace took form on the ground, lying there quietly. Adriano gently lifted him and leaned him against Tor before calling Audino over. The other Pokemon came as well, exited to see their friend again.

“Audino, can you wake him up?”

Audino gave him a somewhat disdainful look before kneeling beside Ace. Placing both hands on his chest, she channeled a Healing Pulse into him. After a few moments, the old Pokémon’s face softened, but he still didn’t awaken. Frowning, Audino upped the intensity, pumping more and more energy into Ace. A solid minute later, Ace still hadn’t awoken and Audino was getting tired. With one final push, Audino stopped and closely scrutinized the sleeping Pokemon. With a twitch, Ace stirred… and promptly began snoring, so loud it shook the earth. With a roll of her eyes, Audino bent down and gave Ace a crisp slap across the face, hard enough to make his whiskers jump and dance.

With a final snort, the Mienshao opened his eyes and sleepily regarded the crowd that had gathered around it. Spotting Adriano, Ace grumbled before getting to his feet, a little unsteady. Looking around, he spotted a good branch lying on the ground. Waving his arms, his fur caught it and launched it into the air. Swiping horizontally, he caught the flying and stick and spun it around a few times before rapping it against the ground with a satisfying thunk. Ella applauded while Audino just rolled her eyes again.

With his makeshift cane, Ace hobbled over to Adriano, who was in the eye-rolling category. ‘I guess he hasn’t loss his sense of flair’, he thought. Upon reaching Adriano, Ace looked up at the trainer’s face for a moment to make sure it was him. Adriano smiled back, a little stiffly. Satisfied it had the correct person, the stick in Ace’s hand rose and descended on Adriano’s knee, drawing a yelp out of him.

Not letting up, Ace continued to beat Adriano for several minutes, despite his pleadings. Ella was still applauding, and Audino had started clapping as well. Gazing down on the mass of bruises and swollen lumps that used to be a trainer, Ace snorted contentedly before joining Alto on top of Tor and going back to sleep.

It was hard work being this cool.