Ari and Dulse exit the cake shop talking amongst themselves. 

“Dulse, you’re such a riot.” Ari laughs.

“What do you mean, I was being serious.” Dulse tilts his head.

Ari laughs some more and then notices how dark it got while they were in the shop. “Woah, time flew by, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Dulse looks to Ari. “I’ll walk you back to the Pokemon Center.”

“No need!” Ari waves her hands around in a declining motion. “There’s one more place I need to go tonight.”

“Oh? I’ll accompany you then.” Dulse gestures for Ari to take the lead. 

“I’d love that but unfortunately it’s somewhere I need to go on my own. Well, with Eve of course.” 

“Eevee!” Eve seems excited.

“Well, okay then. See you later.” Dulse waves to Ari and Eve and walks back towards his lab. Ari waves back and starts walking towards her destination.

—

Ari and Eve find themselves in front of a Pokemon and Trainer Training Gym. Its look is identical to the Pokemon Gyms back in Hoenn, except you just train here. No gym badges. 

“Okay! Ready to train!?” Ari asks Eve while pumping her fist.

“Eve-Eevee!” Eve makes a punching motion with her front paws.

Ari and Eve make their way through the doors and into the main lobby.

“Oh, hello. How can I help you today?” A short haired blonde, green eyed, woman at a desk greets Ari and Eve.

“We’d like to sign up for a one hour training session with a personal trainer.” Ari says pointing at the training options board. 

“Of course! Do you have your trainers license?” The desk lady asks.

“Yes!” Ari hands over her trainers license.

“Oh, you’re from Hoenn! That’s where my family is from.” The woman puts in Ari’s information.

“Yes! Hoenn is my home region! It’s a beautiful place!” 

“So I’ve heard!” The woman smiles as she gives Ari her license back. “Now, let me see which trainer is available… Ah! Blaze and his Incineroar will be your trainers today!”

“Incineroar… haven’t seen one of those yet. Now I’m excited!” 

“Alrighty, he’ll be in the fourth room to the right down the hall.” She points to a hallway leaving the lobby. “Here’s your ticket. Show it to your instructor when you enter the room.”

“Yes, ma’am! Thank you!” Ari and Eve make their way to the room the receptionist mentioned. She opens the door and looks into the room. Ari sees a oranged hair, red eyed, man and a giant red cat Pokemon. -That must be Incineroar! It looks so cool!- She thinks to herself.

The man notices Ari and gives them a smile. “Oh, hey! You must be my trainee!”

“Y-yes!” All of a sudden Ari feels nervous. “Oh, here!” Ari walks up to Blaze and hands him her ticket.

“Great, you have it. Now, let’s get started!”

—

Ari and Eve are laying on the ground breathing heavily. “Whew.” Ari says. “That was intense.” She says between breaths.

“E-Eevee…” Eve agrees.

“You two did well! You were able to keep up and that’s half the battle!” Blaze kneels down to get closer to Ari’s level. “You’re pretty impressive, Skitty!”

“Skitty?” Ari sits up. “Why Skitty?” 

Ignoring her question Blaze stands up. “Welp, Skitty, times up! I’ll see ya next time!” He smiles.

“R-right!” Ari picks Eve up and makes her way out of the room, closing the door behind her. “Skitty… not sure how I feel about that nickname…”

“E-Eevee!” Eve laughs.

“Rude, Eve!” Ari pouts.

Ari and Eve exit the building and start walking back to the Pokemon Center. While walking, they are startled by a voice coming from behind them.

“Hey, you!”

Ari quickly turns around. “Y-yes?” Adjusting her eyes to the dark, Ari is able to see who it is. “Wait… you’re the man from before! The man I beat in battle!

“Pipe down pipsqueak! I have a bone to pick with you!” The man steps closer to Ari.

“S-stay back!” Ari steps backwards, nervous. “I’ll fight back, you know!”

“Heh, I’m not scared of you.” The man starts running up to Ari. He goes to grab her but Ari dodges him and falls to the ground. 

“H-hey!” Ari screams. Eve readys herself to fight. “Eve, no! I can’t have you attacking people!”

“Eevee…” Eve backs down.

“Wrong move, kiddo, should’ve let you Pokemon attack me.” The man grabs Ari by the pony tail and he pulls her head towards his face. “You’re going to pay now!” The man holds his fist up and readys himself to punch her. Ari closes her eyes and looks away, preparing for impact. But… it doesn’t come.

Ari opens her eyes and sees that someone is holding the man’s fist. “H-hey, let go!” The man yells. 

“Going after a lady! It’s shameless.” Ari recognizes the voice. “Hey, are you alright?”

Ari looks up and sees that it’s Blaze who stopped the mans attack. “Blaze!?”

“Hey there, Skitty. Don’t worry, I’ll handle this!” Blaze winks.

“Let go of my hand!” The man yells.

“I have no problem letting you go. But you will leave if I do. Got that?”

“You have no idea what’s going on! This girl deserves it!” The man glares at Ari.

“I highly doubt that.” Blaze hardens his grip on the mans hand and then throws him aside, causing him to stumble.

“H-hey!” The man falls to the ground.

“I’ll advise you to watch yourself.” A shadow is seen over Blazes face.

The man backs up. “Grrr, fine, you’re safe this time girly! But I will get my revenge!” The man stands up and runs off. 

“Hmph.” Blaze looks to Ari. “You okay, Skitty?” He walks up to Ari and offers a hand to help her up.

Ari takes his hand. “I’m fine. Thank you!” She gives Blaze a warm smile.

“What was his problem?” Blaze asked.

“Oh, he’s just upset that I beat him in battle.” Ari shrugs. 

“That’s all? All over something so trivial?” Blaze sighs. “That’s just absurd.” 

Ari laughs. “Hehe, yeah… anyways, thanks again!” 

Blaze gives Ari a smile and puts his hand on Ari’s head. “No problem, Skitty. Now, I’ll walk you home.”

“Sure, thanks!” Ari agrees. And they start heading to the Pokemon Center.