The clash of fists and blades echoed through the marble courtyard, each strike resonating like a war drum.
Ren moved first.
He rushed in, Blaziken beside him, the fire-type's tall frame leaving afterimages of red and gold as it launched forward flames roaring to life across its wrists.
Across from them stood Commander Seris, her white and silver armor lightly scuffed from previous spars, her Gallade standing at her side with swords already extended from each arm. Calm. Balanced. Focused.
Gallade's eyes shimmered reading every motion.
"Blaziken, Flame Charge low angle!"
Blaziken lunged with astonishing speed, fire flaring around its legs as it swept toward Gallade's side.
"Gallade, Psycho Cut."
The answer came sharp and simple.
A crescent of purple energy arced from Gallade's arm and struck Blaziken mid-motion, halting the momentum with a spray of sparks. But Blaziken twisted, hit the ground in a roll, and bounced back up with barely a breath lost.
Ren's eyes narrowed.
He could feel it. The pulse of energy behind each movement not just his own commands, but the Aura beneath it all. His Aura control had grown sharper these last two days. He could channel it, not just in combat but in clarity. His focus was deeper. His awareness broader.
Still…
Seris hadn't even moved.
Blaziken darted forward again, crossing the distance in a blink. It struck with a flurry of kicks fast, hot, controlled.
Gallade dodged with elegant steps, blade-arms spinning in practiced arcs, deflecting each blow. Even when Blaziken managed to graze him with a swipe, Gallade didn't flinch just pivoted and countered with a sweeping leg and a flat-handed strike to Blaziken's chest.
The fire-type stumbled.
Ren clenched his jaw.
Seris isn't even trying.
The Commander finally stepped forward just once and spoke for the first time since the match began.
"Push harder, Ren."
She raised a hand.
"Gallade. Close the gap."
In a blur, Gallade vanished teleporting.
Behind Blaziken.
Ren's eyes widened. "Dodge!"
But Gallade struck first. One precise blow to the back, then a flash-step to the side, then another faster than Blaziken could react. The fire-type grunted, flames flaring briefly, trying to retaliate with a Blaze Kick, but Gallade had already spun past the strike.
They clashed again and again.
Five more exchanges.
Six.
Seven.
By the eighth Blaziken was staggering.
Its breathing was ragged, heat rippling off its body as it dropped to one knee.
Ren exhaled, raising a hand.
"That's enough."
Gallade stopped mid-motion, blades retracting in a shimmer of light.
Blaziken slowly stood, shaking its head but nodding at Ren ready to go again if needed.
Seris gave a nod. "Well-timed call. Any longer and he'd collapse."
Ren returned Blaziken, his other hand flexing slightly.
Seris walked forward, Gallade at her side.
"You're improving," she said, her tone professional but not cold. "Your coordination is tighter. Your responses are quicker. And your Aura… it's stabilizing."
Ren looked up. "Still not enough, is it?"
Seris didn't answer right away. She turned her head to the distant tree line where the wind rustled the leaves. Then, finally:
"No. But it's close."
Ren nodded slowly, taking in the words.
It had been two days since he woke in the recovery ward, his body still marked by the brutal clash with the corrupted Hydreigon. In that time, he hadn't wasted a second.
He trained.
He meditated.
He sparred.
He healed.
His Aura control, once raw and flickering, had become something more something guided. His Pokémon had improved too. Lucario was now sparring with his newly evolved Blaziken daily. Fraxure had finally refined its Dragon Claw to precision-level strikes, and even his Braviary had stopped crashing into training dummies and started anticipating commands mid-air.
Ren's mind had been quiet.
Focused.
He had only broken that rhythm once.
To write to Mila.
And though he hadn't sent many words, each letter was etched with thought.
Seris stepped back and gave a short nod.
"Clean up. Then meet me at my study."
Ren saluted slightly. "Yes, Commander."
---
After showering and changing into fresh training clothes, Ren made his way toward the barracks courtyard where Thomas and Lia were resting. Lia was seated beneath a tree, a soft wrap around her arm still healing from the Hydreigon incident but already back to her usual sharp gaze. Thomas was polishing Doublade's hilt nearby.
"Ren," Thomas greeted, setting down the blade with a grin. "Back from the fire?"
"You could say that."
"Blaziken still has a face?"
"Barely," Ren said, chuckling. "Gallade's no joke."
Lia looked up. "You're getting faster."
"Trying to."
She tilted her head. "You'll need it. That fight with the Hydreigon wasn't the last."
"I know."
They sat in silence for a while.
Talking about simple things supply shortages, training rumors, how the kitchen had overcooked the berry rice again.
But underneath it all was an edge.
The kind that came after a near-death mission.
And the knowledge that worse was coming.
---
Later that evening, Ren entered Seris's study.
The walls were lined with mission scrolls, maps, and sketches of s known corrupted Pokémon sightings. One large parchment was pinned with crimson lines connecting dots regions hit hardest.
Seris stood by the window, arms crossed.
"we'll leave for Ravios in two days," she said without turning.
Ren didn't react.
"I understand," he said simply.
"You'll be returning not as a student. Not even as a trainee."
She turned now, eyes catching his.
"You'll be acting as an official knight of Ravelle."
Ren stood straighter. "I'm ready."
Seris studied him a moment longer. Then walked to the map.
"There's going to be an assignment. A mission that cuts deeper than training or guard patrols. The red-eyed Pokémon are increasing. Towns once considered safe have reported sudden incidents."
She tapped three red-marked towns.
"We believe there is a source. Or multiple."
Ren's fingers curled slightly.
"Your Aura makes you one of the few who can stand against this level of corruption," Seris said. "And the truth is we need you on the front."
Ren didn't flinch.
His voice was low.
"I'll go."
"And Ren," Seris added, "you may find that this goes beyond Pokémon. You'll see things that test more than your strength."
Ren nodded once.
"I'm not just fighting for myself anymore," he said. "I'm fighting for the people we couldn't protect. For the ones who've already fallen."
His mind flashed not to the Hydreigon, not to the tower
but to Riverleaf.
To Mila.
To the world that didn't know what was coming.
"I'll find whoever is doing this," he said. "And I'll stop them."
Seris didn't smile.
But her voice was steady.
"Good."
---
The sun had long dipped below the treetops when Ren found his quiet place.
It was a small glade at the edge of the training grounds secluded and calm. The grass here was untouched by boot prints, and the wind carried the soft scent of cedar and spring.
No missions.
No mentors.
No orders.
Just him and them.
He stepped into the clearing and took a deep breath.
Then one by one, he released his team.
Lucario appeared first, landing in perfect silence with eyes half-closed, arms crossed.
Fraxure, always impatient, growled low as it stretched, its tusks glinting in the moonlight.
Braviary landed heavily with a rush of wind, shaking out its wings and letting out a sharp cry.
And finally, Blaziken emerged in a flash of red light, its body still steaming slightly from the sparring match earlier.
Ren didn't speak for a moment.
He simply looked at them. All of them.
Then sat cross-legged in the grass and leaned back against a smooth stone.
"You've all grown stronger."
Lucario nodded solemnly, the Aura sensors on his head flickering slightly.
"Much stronger," Ren said. "I've asked a lot of you. Pushed you harder than I should've, sometimes. But you never broke."
He reached over and pulled a small canteen from his belt, poured water into the stone bowl at the glade's center, and watched as Fraxure immediately dipped its snout to drink.
Ren's eyes softened.
"You've come so far."
He looked to Lucario first.
"You were there before any of them," he said quietly.
The fighting-type blinked once. Calm. Focused.
"I found you in Riverleaf forest, remember? You were a wild Riolu back then. Just a pup. Hurt. Hiding in a hollow tree."
Ren chuckled faintly.
"I thought you were going to bite my hand off when I tried to help you. But you didn't."
Lucario said nothing but there was a flicker of warmth in his eyes.
"I still don't know why you stayed. Why you followed me home."
He gave a small smile.
"But I'm glad you did."
He turned to Braviary next.
"Rufflet was a menace," he muttered. "You remember, right?"
The bird puffed its chest proudly, giving a sharp squawk.
"You tried to steal my lunch for three straight weeks before I finally caught you."
A beat.
Ren smiled. "Still worth it."
Blaziken stood tall beside him, silent.
"You were wild too. Found you injured in a broken cart outside a burned village. Torchic with too much fight and not enough sense."
The fire-type narrowed its eyes, feathers bristling slightly in indignation.
"Don't look at me like that. You know it's true."
Blaziken scoffed but didn't argue.
"And you," Ren said, turning to Fraxure. "You nearly broke my arm when you were an Axew."
Fraxure growled low, tusks gleaming, but this time with pride.
"You didn't trust anyone," Ren said. "You fought everything. Everyone. But eventually… you stayed."
His gaze swept across them all.
"You all stayed."
The words faded for a moment, lost to the rustle of trees.
Ren leaned back and stared at the stars above.
"I used to dream about being a knight."
He said it softly. Not for them but for himself.
"When I was younger, working the fields with my father, I'd look up at the sky and imagine riding a Salamence or commanding an army. I used to draw my own crest in the dirt and pretend I was giving orders."
Lucario tilted its head.
"And now… here I am. On the edge of that dream. Officially a knight in two days."
He exhaled slowly.
"And I don't know what to feel."
The team didn't answer. But their presence was enough.
"I thought reaching this point would make everything make sense. That I'd feel… proud. Accomplished. But all I feel is how much further there is to go."
He paused, then smiled faintly.
"But I'll keep going."
He looked around at them all again.
"You've carried me this far. I promise I'll carry us the rest of the way."
His Pokémon gave a chorus of responses growls, cries, one sharp Braviary screech into the night sky.
A symphony of shared resolve.
Ren smiled.
Then pulled out a folded letter.
Mila's handwriting.
He hadn't read this one yet.
He opened it slowly, eyes scanning the page.
As usual, it was longer than anything he'd send.
Mila wrote about her training how her Luxray had perfected Discharge, how Gardevoir was working on a new move with a tutor. She mentioned sparring against nobles, including Vince, who still hadn't stopped pestering her with questions about him.
Ren smiled faintly at that part.
She wrote about her classmates. The garden she'd started tending again. The way Ravios was preparing for the royal festival though she wasn't in the mood to celebrate.
She ended the letter with a familiar phrase:
"I hope you're taking care of yourself, dummy. Stay safe. ."
He held the letter in both hands for a long time.
Then looked to the sky.
Stars shone, quiet and clear.
And for once he let himself breathe.
---
Bellmire Outskirts
The wilderness just beyond Bellmire was thick with brush and fading light. The forest canopy swallowed the sunset, leaving behind long shadows.
Shion stepped into the clearing, coat fluttering slightly, silver badge glinting on his chest.
In front of him
Three wild Pokémon, growling low.
A feral Arbok, coiled and ready.
A Raticate, its eyes narrowed and tail whipping.
And a Pidgeotto, wings flaring as it shrieked overhead.
Shion's hand hovered over his belt.
"Kiba. Rune. With me."
He tossed the Poké Balls.
Flash. Flash.
Time to prove he earned that silver badge.
Time to fight.