"Huh?"
Maki and Lilie blinked in unison, visibly caught off guard by Lana's sudden question. This… was not the quiet, reserved Lana they were expecting.
"It's just that… you two came together, right? And you kind of gave off the vibe that you've known each other for a while," Lana said, trying to sound serious, though her line of reasoning sounded anything but.
"I—I mean, Maki and I do know each other, but it's not like that… it's just…" Lilie stammered, her cheeks flushing red as she tried to explain—only to trail off, unsure of how to continue.
If she told the truth… that Maki was currently staying at her house… that might come off the wrong way. Not that anything was actually going on, but still—some misunderstandings are best avoided.
"I'm currently staying at the Aether Foundation," Maki said with a polite smile. "Helping President Lusamine with a bit of research."
"Oh… that's it?" Lana asked, visibly deflated. She had been hoping to pry out something a bit juicier.
"All right, all right… enough about that—my turn!" Mallow chimed in, practically bouncing. "So, does Kanto have any amazing regional dishes? You know, that kind of food that makes you go, 'Wow, this is it!'"
She spoke so quickly it sounded like a tongue twister.
Now that she mentioned it… did Kanto even have any standout signature foods? Unova had Castelia Cones, Sinnoh had the Old Gateau…
When it came to Pokémon cuisine, though, Maki had shared quite a bit of his experience with Mallow over time.
And what he discovered was… this girl definitely had some "unique" perspectives when it came to food.
For example, whenever the topic of mixing two wildly incompatible flavors came up, her eyes would light up in the most unnerving way.
Even the Togedemaru nearby had curled up into a ball, visibly nervous, as if traumatized by Mallow's cooking experiments in the past.
To be fair, Mallow was a good chef—very good, even. But every now and then, she'd be seized by inspiration and whip up something utterly bizarre… borderline "culinary horror."
Bong~
The dull sound of a bell echoed from outside the classroom, signaling the end of the lesson. Not that Professor Kukui had actually taught anything this period.
Hearing the bell, Maki let out a sigh of relief. Being bombarded by questions from all sides was more exhausting than he'd expected.
"Well then," Kukui said, half-smiling as he looked at Maki. "Next class is battle training. I'll let you choose the format."
"Wait, what?" Maki blinked, confused. First day and they were already doing live battles?
"That's tradition at Pokémon School," Kukui said with a grin. "So do your best out there!"
Sophocles, munching on a bag of chips, chimed in helpfully, "Yeah, good luck!"
Maki glanced at Lilie. To his surprise, she was looking at him with soft, encouraging eyes.
"…What are the rules?" he asked.
"Simple," Kukui said cheerfully. "Either you take us all on one by one… or we gang up on you all at once."
He flashed a toothy grin.
Maki's thoughts: This guy may have bushy eyebrows and a smile, but he's no saint.
"Umm… I think I'll sit this one out," Lilie said, raising her hand meekly. After all, she didn't have any Pokémon she could use in battle.
"Well then, excluding Lilie, we've got four participants…" Kukui paused, as if something had just occurred to him. "Maki, how many Pokémon do you have with you?"
"Four."
"Perfect! Four opponents, four Pokémon—you get to choose your matchups," Kukui said with a rather sinister smile.
Maki: Just wait till you come to Kanto. I'll have Dodrio give you a proper welcome.
The Pokémon School campus was enormous, complete with multiple specialized training fields.
Once they arrived at one of the open fields, Maki released all four of his Pokémon.
"Wait… Maki, how come you don't have any Water-types?!" Lana complained almost immediately upon seeing his team.
"Don't you think Water-type Pokémon are adorable!?"
"I'll go first!" Mallow declared, stepping forward and—quite literally—shoving Lana aside.
"But I was here first!"
"Yeah, well, I'm standing here now," Mallow said, wagging a finger playfully at her.
Lana pouted and moved to the side.
"Since your team includes a Grass-type like Whimsicott, why don't we settle this Grass-style?" Mallow said, tossing out her Poké Ball.
Out popped her partner: Tsareena!
From a glance, Tsareena looked like an elegant woman in a tropical dress. Her skirt-like body was clearly based on mangosteen, while her leafy green "hair" was actually a tough outer rind adorned with small yellow patterns. She also had long, slender legs—which, Maki knew, was probably why some Trainers were especially fond of her.
But Maki frowned when he saw her.
Tsareena posed a very real threat to Whimsicott—mainly because of her ability.
She possessed a signature Ability: Queenly Majesty, which prevented opposing Pokémon from using priority moves.
However, in practical terms, this wasn't as all-powerful as it sounded. Queenly Majesty only blocked priority moves targeting her side. Moves like Nature Power, when used by Whimsicott, essentially functioned like standard moves after activation and weren't stopped by the ability.
So, all things considered, it wasn't a complete disadvantage for Maki.
As the battle began, Maki's first command was:
"Sunny Day."
Besides prepping for Growth, he also wanted to test Tsareena's Ability.
Under the sunlight, Tsareena's body gave off a faint green shimmer. Subtle—only visible if you were really watching for it.
As he suspected, this Tsareena didn't have Queenly Majesty. It had Leaf Guard, which protected her from status conditions in sunny weather.
Not that it mattered—moves like Stun Spore wouldn't have worked on her anyway.
"Trop Kick!"
Tsareena lunged forward in a flash—determined not to let Whimsicott power up uncontested.
Tsareena was a kicking specialist, and Trop Kick was her signature move—no other Pokémon could learn it.
"Tailwind," Maki said calmly.
Sure, Tsareena was no slouch in the speed department—definitely Great Ball-tier strength—but against Whimsicott?
Totally outclassed.
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