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Tristen found his way into the class room and as usual, Mr. Jacq was late. Tristen wondered if this teacher at this point would be late to his own funeral somehow. As he made around, he got near his usual company. A wave to Matteo as he made his way down in response to his nod to him. He’d sit down close by, sitting his pack down on the floor and got ready to just coast through this point in the day. “Hey everyone. Yea, it’s been kinda busy, actually, but not too bad.” Tristen said to them. It wasn’t long before Fela would then show up. But before he would get a word in edge wise to her, here comes Nemona, still battle crazed as any. Tristen sighed. He did mention to Matteo he wouldn’t mind a battle here and there, but still. Never mind the fact he was still pretty anxious to go toy with that laptop he got from Sub just this morning. Well, perhaps he could figure out how to get Pokémon withdrawn from it, but still.

A realization would then occur to Tristen just then, and a look of confusion went over him as he looked back at Nemona. “Weren’t you going after your next gym badge this afternoon?” Tristen asked. Just how much time did she actually have left in the day to do all of this just to make it to bed tonight and be up for the last day of class this week? He could have sworn Cascarrafa was a fair ways away from Mezagoza the way it was talked about to him.

Tristen sweat a bead, double taking between Nemona and the other friends who were honestly not surprised at Nemona at this point. Tristen at this point shouldn’t be either and yet here he sits, still surprised. Tristen had been perhaps her toughest opponent here at school in quite a long time and it was an addiction now. He had mentioned to Matteo that he didn’t exactly want to rest on his laurels, admittedly, though he also conceded he wasn’t sure how well it’d go if he went toe-to-toe with Nemona like that, if albeit as constantly as Nemona wanted to battle. It was insanity, to say the least. “Well, I mean-I…uh…” Before Tristen could actually come to a decision on that, Mr. Jacq finally made his way in. Tristen had to hold in a sigh of relief. Another bullet dodged, for now.

Tristen would listen to Mr. Jacq, would address the teacher when called for attendance. Tristen once again wondered if Mr. Jacq and Mr. Salvatore got together about the whole Gloria and Matteo incident. Frankly, he did all he could do in this particular moment. All he could do was wait and see. Well, hope Matteo doesn’t do anything stupid in the meantime. When Mr. Jacq was finally done, he left the students to go about their own devices, provided they remained quiet. Tristen was left a bit at a loss as to what to do, however. When given this sort of time to do whatever, Tristen usually had something he could work on. He thought about the remainder of the Language homework that he had still to go, and the more that he worked on that, the less he had to worry about it later. In fact, best case scenario, he could perhaps get it done before Saturday so he wouldn’t have to worry about it over the weekend when he hangs out with Matteo, let alone any thing else he wanted to take care of over the weekend. He practically convinced himself at that point to go for it.

He would reach over in his pack and start pulling out the various Language materials and started to go over it. Tristen felt a little bit more confident in going into this make up work. While it did still feel a bit dicey to go through, considering that he managed to work through Mr. Salvatore’s assignment today meant that everything that he has done was not for naught. He started to pick up where he left off on the assignments given to him and proceeded to go down the various phrases that were given to him. He was still slow on it, however. Having to read each exercise twice, maybe even three times, just to make sure he was comprehending what was being said. The assignment still wasn’t easy by any measure.

Tristen slowly but certainly worked on the assignment though at the pace he was at it, he wasn’t going to be able to finish it before the end of this homeroom session. Though maybe by tonight? Albeit after indulging in playing around with that laptop, obviously. Once again, he found himself trying to imagine talking to Larrimore, perhaps Aile or Beau even, in these phrases. Like where was a particular place was or how to request Pokémon Center services. Phrases commonplace, but still completely alien to the Manectric hybrid. Tristen had started to indulge in the illusion a bit in talking Kalosian to the likes of them in order to outmaneuver someone in a mission in Snagem, which the thought seemed hysterical to him. That was going to take more work, however. Who knows how much longer Mr. Salvatore was going to keep on these kinds of lessons. Maybe something to figure out on his own time? It was interesting to say the least.

As he continued working on the sheets, he started to notice movement about the room. He noticed Nemona occasionally giving gestures, subtly trying to imply she was not going to let a battle get away from her. There was only so long he could dodge this. Tristen couldn’t help but to sweat a bead again; continuing to be astounded by her Pokémon battle addiction. Practically a contact high like no other. Maybe he should just bite the bullet finally. Just long enough to get her off his case for at least the weekend. As he tried to focus back on his work, he then noticed Gloria starting to move about and thanks to his hearing, he could very well hear probably what Matteo just did. Apparently Mr. Salvatore did get in touch with Mr. Jacq. Hopefully at the very least, she now knew that she was going too far and now the teachers were keeping an eye on her. As long as he can keep Matteo in check, everything should be fine.

Time flew by as Tristen delved further into his assignment and before he knew it, homeroom was over. He would pack up his things once again and start making his way out of the classroom, tailed by Nemona and Matteo. Tristen sighed, almost wanting to agree with Matteo’s comment pertaining to Nemona’s relentlessness. Maybe he could spare at least a half-hour on a Pokémon battle. “I…guess off to the rec courtyard battlefields. Provided that you are okay with battling with Pokémon that are unevolved.” Tristen said. He did want to train the likes of his Rookidee or Litten for example. Maybe get Sprigatito in its first battles, even. If push came to shove he did have Espeon and Mienshao with him, but he’d have to take a detour to get stronger Pokémon than that if Nemona was preferring to go full throttle.

“Well, like I mentioned before, I don’t want to rest on my laurels that much when it comes at least to my Pokémon training.” Tristen said to Matteo. “And maybe I can figure out how to beat Nemona eventually. She’s good, don’t get me wrong. Perhaps too good. But there’s always something that can be exploited out of someone. She probably knows that too. In a way, I’m thinking that she’s trying to find someone to find it, as crazy as it might sound. Not to mention, if nothing else…I don’t have too much going on this afternoon. I’m pretty much caught up myself other than finishing Mr. Salvatore’s make-up work but I got a few days on that and I did a good bit of it during homeroom, so it’s not really a big deal right now and it makes this Saturday a lot freer than it already had been.”

Tristen thought for a moment. If Nemona was serious about using only one Pokémon, he probably needed to make it good. He had a fair idea as to whom to use. “Well, lets get this over with…” he then said, making his way off towards the courtyard.

Tristen would go down the halls and find his way back out into the courtyard with Matteo and apparently word got around fast that Nemona was about to battle. There were a few that were already here, ready to watch. It wasn’t exactly the numbers that were around during the tournament, but it was a fair number for what it was. Either way, it didn’t go unnoticed by Matteo. Once the Growlithe hybrid broke off to go spectate as well, Tristen would make his way off towards the opposing trainer box from Nemona.

The Manectric hybrid listened to Nemona, staring in confusion. He knew much about Dunsparce, but they could evolve? Seriously? It must be a thing here. And if he was possibly ‘close’ as Nemona suspects, then this could probably spell trouble. Sprigatito was definitely not going out against the likes of that. And he was worried about Wimpod retreating mid battle and effectively disqualifying him since this is supposed to be a one-on-one. Truthfully, however, Tristen also had one that he suspected might be close to evolving as well and needed that extra push, and the Pokémon just outside of Mezagoza were probably not going to get him there. While this battle against Nemona felt like a blessing in disguise and an opportunity lying in wait, it was going to be easier said than done considering the trainer in question. It was time to see where this went. “Alright then, go! Litten!” Tristen shouted, tossing the ball out onto the battlefield.

Upon the battlefield the ball lands and in a flash of light, the black cat arrived on the field. “Nyaaah.” The Litten mewed out.

“Alright Litten, we got a battle on our hands. Let’s see what we can do here.” Tristen said to his fire cat. The Litten would stare at the Dunsparce, staring in confusion for a moment then got hunched up. The Dunsparce unnerved the Litten, though the cat was unsure as to why. Tristen incidentally wasn’t sure if Nemona knew much about Litten herself, like what type it was or what it was capable of. Truthfully, that sort of thing he was trying to do back during the tournament, but by the time he would reach Nemona in that, it was effectively impossible, having to lay the proverbial cards on the table and show what he had gradually throughout the entire tournament.

“Okay, Litten! Get to it! Fake Out!” Tristen commanded. The cat would quickly sprint towards the Dunsparce, then quickly started to juke left, then right, practically leaping, its cat like reflexes trying to keep the Dunsparce off balance. The cat would then lunge in and started to swat furiously at Dunsparce’s face, then bounced off the Dunsparce. “Now hurry! Fire Fang!” Tristen then shouted. As the cat landed, it had to strike while the getting was good. In a harsh sprint, the cat pounced on the Dunsparce and started to n** and then try to get harsh sunk-in bites, mouth lit ablaze with flames as it snapped on the Dunsparce.

“Drill run!?” Tristen asked. As much as he knew of Dunsparce, that was one thing he didn’t know. And he didn’t need Litten to be caught up in that at all costs. “Litten! Look out!” Litten with maw still lit ablaze, relented long enough, noting the Dunsparce poised to strike down the cat. The cat, now emberless, scrambled off of the Dunsparce, but not before getting clipped by the Dunsparce’s strike. Litten yelped out; even a glancing blow like that was not kosher to the cat. As Dunsparce dug down into the earth below, the cat quickly sprinted towards the hole but the Dunsparce had disappeared into the ground, nowhere to be found.

“Wait up, Litten! Don’t go after it!” Tristen shouted. That would be everything that the Dunsparce could ever want. Granted, being above ground wasn’t the greatest either, but at least Tristen would still be able to watch out for anything happening. The cat would step backwards away from the hole, trying to look about the battlefield while he was at it. The cat was officially on edge. He needed Nemona to make a move.

Tristen and Litten was completely compromised in this position. The Dunsparce had all manner of attacks that would be able to ruin Litten’s day easily and Litten didn’t really have much going for it. Worse, Tristen didn’t have the means to actually get Dunsparce out of that burrow that it made for itself lest he risk Litten getting buried in there. This was the game plan. A game of keep-away. He needed that Dunsparce to get out of the underground, reveal itself. A thought came to mind, but there was the matter of trying to weather the Ancient Power attack. “Litten! Watch it!” Litten was already super defensive when the Dunsparce retreated to its hole. The attack didn’t escape the cat’s notice.

As the rocks rained down, the cat quickly started to avert the attack, the various rocks falling down. Litten however didn’t go unscathed. No matter how agile the cat was, there was only so much one could do when an attack was shotgun’d in such a fashion. The Litten was wincing, not feeling too hot from the attack, but all that did was stoke the fires deep within. A mere breath out of the cat was spitting embers. Blaze was already starting to take hold. All well and good, Tristen thought, but that fire was not going to do any good if Nemona kept that Dunsparce underground.

Something Tristen started to realize just then, as memories flooded back from his tournament battle, was that Nemona was apparently very tempo focused. It was not surprising mind, but it was what made her far different than most trainers here. While any person could command their Pokémon to fire off a super effective attack or tell them to run all over the place, Nemona had intent with every last attack, every last motion. While she probably wouldn’t get off flawless, it was to serve a bigger goal in the end. Tristen was taught to do relatively the same during his time in Snagem, but he had to admit that Nemona was on a far other level. He needed to disrupt Nemona’s advantage; get her to play his game. Not the other way around. “Litten! Taunt it!” Tristen shouted.

“Narroww!” The cat howled out, prancing, yelling, hissing. Challenging the coward snake under the ground. He needed to lure Dunsparce out of the ground, disrupt her game plans. Tristen knew once the Dunsparce was out, he wasn’t going to have long to take it out. That was, if he could. Nemona to his recollection didn’t really put too much stock into dealing with various tactics like this, using overwhelming might and strong, passive traits like Goodra’s sticky body or her Pawmot’s striking power to get the better of her opponent. She didn’t seem like the one to waste time on set ups and combinations. The Dunsparce now was no exception. Using the underground to his advantage, using super effective attacks from…well, anywhere Litten could set foot on. It would be a no wonder; Dunsparce would excel like that as opposed to the surface. Tristen needed to ruin her advantages. That may be the weakness he was looking for.