The walk toward Drestal’s training grounds was oddly silent. Styles could hear nothing but muttering and plotting from her trainees as they got close to the dusty old town. It left her a bit worried to not hear the usual ‘pip cheerio’ from the rabbit or the odd stare from Costello, even when he wasn’t looking at her. They all seemed so focused today and that seemed to continue on to the training grounds.

  “Well aren’t you four looking chipper,” she asked, looking down on her merry band of students. “All silent and plotting. What’s the occasion?”

  Liam, Costello, Zata, and Floe all shared the same look in their eye. The same impatience. It resonated in their souls as well. Even Costello’s weird multilayer soul had a newfound smoothness to it. Even if she asked, she already knew what drove this change in them, though it was Costello who talked first, surprisingly.

  “We’ve been working hard,” Costello said matter of factly. “We don’t have any other option but to keep moving if we want to get accepted..”

  “Ah, you and the gang want in on that whole Ghost Hunting trip.” Styles nodded her head as she leaned against an errant signpost. “The whole guild is getting antsy about it. Everyone trying to get in under the wire.”

  “Yep! Liam brightened up at the mention of the mission, dropping the serious air around him like it was never there at all. And we’re going to be the ones who got next on the list.”

  Styles could only smile at the enthusiasm. “Ooh cocky! I like it. Let’s see if you and yours have what it takes to back it up then.” She motioned for them to continue following her as they approached Drestal’s training grounds.

  The wind shifted the dust on the abandoned houses. They fell like orange waterfalls as the debris and errant rocks fell from the rooftops onto the ground. On one side of the town stood a squad of Pokemon, hardened by weeks of getting their asses kicked on and off the record. On the other stood a feline who’d seen more blood spilled than most spilled their ale. The latter looked at his opponents with a wild glint in his eyes.

  “So, ye feel you can do better than yesterday,” he questioned, yelling from the other side of the invisible line dividing them.

  The four of them exchanged looks, all their faces steeled and prepared as Liam stepped up to respond.

  “Today is the day you get put down, you old slag!”

  Drestal threw back his head. “Hah! Filthy mouth, right attitude! Strike when ready, greenhorns!”

  The abandoned town had its dust softly blown on the wind. Orange and sandy, it swept through its entirety. From the windows to the walls to the floors, it covered every inch. As it blew past the Pokemon standing beside one another, each one had their eyes focused on the densely packed steel type in their path. A piece of iron strengthened by combat and wizened by the years, an intelligent berserker whose unkempt beard and wild smile betrayed the predatory look in his eyes. Not a being whose agenda was simply to smash weaklings until they stopped, but to plan accordingly and leave them battered.

  Drestal on the other hand saw his four little trainees start to stretch and get set. Four mons who when they first came, were just as soft as steel wool. However, through the days and weeks of sparring and their own bout at true combat, they had become promising pieces of razor wire.

  The four huddled around each other as Drestal got into position. It was their usual strategizing, though he noticed the change occur throughout their training sessions. Each one stopped with the strict adherence to a plan and instead sought out a proper outline. Flexible and manageable. Such growth in combat was enough to make someone cry. However it may seem, It wasn’t Drestal’s job to beat the spark out of them just yet. Just to see if it had the will to burn.

  “Alright! Break!”

  Liam had finished with his little pow-wow. Now it was time to see if the little firestarter had anything brought anything new with him this time. With the huddle over, the group began their plan of attack. Would it be the usual encircling tactic? Or something desperate like that frustrated group mauling they tried a few days back. It brought Drestal warm feelings of Team Dangan as he saw his four students begin to get in position.

  The first offense was a rush by the Scorbunny, who had engulfed himself with flames and hustled himself straight forward. While Drestal got his hands up, the spiked-up furball seemed to miss him by an inch, leaving Drestal off guard until he felt the chill going down his spine. In comparison to their past Blizzards, it was like comparing a hailstorm to a drizzle.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Oh! You’ve certainly gotten stronger, haven’t ye? Might as well see how far that gets ya!” Drestal began to move through the storm, the chill not letting up as ice began to form on his fur. Through the sleet, he moved closer and closer towards the source until he was in swinging distance. With a flex of his wrist, his blade unsheathed, and with just as quick a movement, he brought it down only to hit the dirt.

  “Oh? Where could you have gone?”

  The metallic feline pivoted quickly to be beset by a loud noise pounding away at his eardrums. Drestal could already surmise the strategy that they were trying to employ if they were to aim for distractions already. The usual back-and-forth, death-by-a-thousand-cuts type of tactic. Baby’s first battle plan. With his body just barely adjusting to a sound reminiscent of claws on a chalkboard, he forced himself to open his eyes at the screaming foe in front of him. They wanted to distract so he’ll have to-

  Again, interrupted. This time the interruption came from a living flame charging directly into his side while he tried to charge into Zata. Drestal tried to swipe at what hit him but could only catch the remaining embers. Knocked off his feet, he tumbled a few feet until he could roll himself out of his stupor and back on two legs. As he faced the rabbit that caused him harm, he could see the look on his face. Smiling, but focused. Both eyes were on the feline as they jumped back.

  “They wouldn’t give me room to breathe,” he thought, as a sudden clang came from the Quick Attack-fueled knee to the back of his head.

  As his head started to ring, the Screeching soon resumed. Before he could even get himself steady, he was beset by a Blizzard on top of it all. Drestal’s chilled fur soon turned solid as ice formed across his body and up to his neck. With each moment that passed, he felt himself turn stiff as the ice set in and became solid.

  Costello could see the plan working. Keep him busy and distracted, don’t let him grab you, and don’t bunch up too close. Hit and Run on a wide scale. Costello could also see the change in expression on Drestal’s face.

  First came mild surprise at where he was.

  Then a sort of confusion as to how to answer such a stellar performance.

  Then the smirk- always an Arc-damned smirk - as he started to move.

  With one sudden move, he burst out of his icy confinement. Drestal’s big eyes seemed to convey not just his enjoyment of the battle but a pride that Costello could only notice in small glimpses. The smirk was still there but any annoyance of that look was replaced by the pain of the blunt edge landed straight to his stomach.

  Costello saw it coming. He saw Drestal sprint towards him yet he couldn’t react before he was left spiraling. As he was launched airborne, he could swear he could see a hint of pride on the face of the warrior cat. Soon that glimpse of pride was replaced by the hard finality of the ground, ending his airborneThe first few tumbles were fine. Painful but fine.

  “Cos!”

  “Don’t worry about me, stick to the plan!”

  Drestal had suddenly sped up, moving into a previously unseen gear. However, the team had thought of that. As Perrserker began to rush at Zata, she opened her mouth for another screech. However, Drestal put on another gear of speed and rushed towards the wyrm. With his extended blade grinding against the ground, he brought it up for a slash straight against the throat. As she felt the Throat Chop connect, she could feel her throat start to close up on her as she struggled to find her footing.

  “No more fancy words from you now, huh lass,” Drestal taunted.

  However, as Zata began to stabilize herself, a red glow surrounded her body and she gave a wicked glare as prepped herself and launched her head straight into Drestal’s solar plexus. Zata could swear she heard some of his bones give way as she landed the headbutt. A bit of blood dripped on top of her scales as his insides started to reposition themselves. “He certainly wasn’t expecting a Counter,” she thought as she felt some accomplishment from the force of her impact. A small bit of pride was soon dashed as Drestal picked her up by her underside.

  Turned her 12 to 6.

  And dropped her straight down on her head and neck as she lost consciousness upon the sheer drop.

  “Arcdamn. Ye got me to bleed.” Drestal touched the blood on his lips.

  Liam could see the blood drip down from Drestal’s face as he stood up. Floe could see the slight wobble in his legs as re-extended his claws. Costello could see-

  Hone Claws.

  Costello didn’t have time to respond to the sudden interjection by the voice in his head as he could see the sudden grey aura outline Dresta as he sharpened his claws.

  Goddamn it. This won’t work as well twice in a row, so you’ll have to hope that the Floe acts fast.

  In one instant, there was only the blur of Drestal rushing towards him to strike him down. In another, there was everything in high quality as he could see the glint of the blade and feel every second of the blade graze past his skin as he only narrowly sidestepped the attack.

  “The hell was that,” he thought to himself.

  Detect.

  “When could I do that?”

  Since now. You don’t need to handle the move list. That’s my job.

  As Drestal lunged forward, he could feel his body attempt that move again. Though his eye twitched, he couldn’t see with the same hyper clarity though he could see a green field surround him before Drestal struck at him. As he looked over, he saw Liam whispering into the ear of Floe before swiftly rushing the battle cat. He moved in serpentine as Floe fired short bursts of blizzards behind him, leaving Drestal on the backfoot as Liam engulfed himself with flames. Drestal kept his guard up, keeping the brunt of the wind chill on his forearms and protecting his upper body. Leaving his lower body exposed to a sudden Flame Charge to his stomach.

  “Keep him off,” Liam yelled as he pushed forward. Costello scampered to his feet and began to wrap his arms around Drestal’s neck. The battle cat gave a mighty yell as he began to thrash wildly, the rabbit keeping his hold on Drestal’s stomach as he kept his flame up and Costello keeping his arm tightly around Drestal’s neck, a choke hold taking the air and a giga drain taking the stamina. Combined with a Blizzard that hadn’t let up, turning to a mix of hot slush splashing into the eyes of Drestal, it was a hell of a hail mary.

  Zata stirred from her position, her eyes opening at the sight. Two Pokemon hanging on for dear life as Drestal bashed and slashed at them, covered with a chill wind just as likely to take them out. She saw them give their all. Everything they had.

  She wasn’t going to be left behind.

  She was worthy, she was so damned worthy.

  She got back to her feet. The ache in her bones was only tampered out by the combination of determination and spite flowing through her veins. She got up on her hind legs, a dark orange coming over her front paws, and slammed them down onto to the ground, a wave of energy launching straight at the them.

  It wasn’t much.

  It caused him to stumble.

  It was all she had and it was all she needed.

  Costello could feel the sudden shift in Drestal balance and tightened his grip. Both legs wrapped around and his grip on the neck tightened, uncaring of the flames lapping at his legs as he shifted his weight over and let Drestal fall back first on top of him.

  Liam only needed to share one glance with Costello to know that he was prepared, even if they didn’t know how. One more burst of flame to melt the metal.

  With that one flame, Costello was nearly out. With the Blizzard dissipating, Floe could barely breath with the ice freezing her throat. Zata could barely keep her eyes open and Liam was just plain spent.

  Everyone was tired, unable to put up a proper fight anymore. Though that didn’t matter.

  Drestal was out.