Cheers and shouts echoed in the main auditorium of Petalburg Primary School. All the children around ten years of age stood on the stage at the front of the auditorium and tossed their small red and white graduation caps into the air. Family members and friends sitting in the stands clapped to congratulate the children for graduating from primary school. A few happy Pokemon cries mixed into the congratulations.

Sporting a wry smile, Spike joined the other kids in tossing his cap into the air, but he didn’t put as much strength into it and caught the cap on its way back down in a smooth motion that only a bubbly redhead standing next to him noticed.

Flannery smacked Spike’s shoulder, smiled widely, and yelled over the cheering, “Come on, Spike! Put some heart into it!”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Tch. Life isn’t all about training, y’know?”

“Says the battle addict.”

“Ugh. You’re so mean.”

Nonchalantly shrugging, Spike looked at the girl who was starting to look more like her game and anime counterpart with every passing day. The only differences at this point were her stature and her hair that she often straightened instead of styling it into her iconic fiery ponytail.

Rather than focus on such things, he looked out into the crowd and quickly noticed his family members thanks to his keen eyesight. Upon making eye contact with Mara, he smiled, and she smiled back. He also saw Ares standing on a seat next to her and Aria sitting on her lap. Ares nodded casually at him while Aria quietly smiled while fidgeting a little. He briefly chuckled since he could tell his little Ralts was doing her best to ignore the strong emotions around her.

Other than them, he also saw Deidre, who waved at him with a gentle smile on her face. One seat to the right of her, a younger man who looked just like Deidre and Davi also smiled and clapped along with a brown haired woman who was hugging his arm. A small kid who looked no older than five or six sat on the green-haired man’s lap while looking around at everything with wide eyes while occasionally coughing.

After taking in the sight of his current family members, Spike glanced at the empty seat left of Mara and frowned.

‘Davi’s not here, huh?’

“Something wrong?” Flannery asked, noticing the frown on his face.

“Nothing.”

“Liar…”

Glancing at the redhead, he snorted upon seeing that she was pouting with puffed cheeks. Unable to ignore the cute expression, he said, “My father isn’t here.”

“Oh, um. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” He replied. His lips then warped into a wry smile, and he added, “I guess we’re in a similar boat, eh?”

The girl’s lips curled into a frown, and her eyes lowered.

Spike sighed and placed a hand on the girl’s head before saying, “My bad. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”

“It’s okay… and can you please stop touching my hair now? It gets really frizzy in summer. You’ll mess it up.”

Spike smiled and removed his hand before looking at the crowd again, which caused him to miss the conflicted look in Flannery’s red eyes.

“...Want to battle when this is over?” Flannery asked while scratching her cheek out of embarrassment.

“Why not?”

“Awesome! I’ll win this time!”

“Doubt it.”

After his provocation, Flannery harrumphed and turned to her blonde and brunette friend as though trying to ignore him.

The moment the principal ended the ceremony, Spike and Flannery tore off their graduation robes and tossed them to their mothers before running off toward the school arena with Aria in Spike’s arms and Ares following on foot.

Unsurprisingly, Flannery’s mother had spent most of her time during the ceremony with Mara and Deidre. The three women spending time together had become a common sight during the last four years.

Mara and Carrie resignedly shook their heads and followed after their children alongside the rest of Spike’s family members. The group settled in the raised bleachers to watch the battle.

Inside the arena, Spike set down Aria and asked her to go first as usual. The Ralts nodded and shuffled to the center. In the stands, the green-haired kid’s eyes twinkled upon seeing his cousin’s Ralts again. On the other side, Flannery sent out Mag. The kid also looked at the Slugma with bright eyes before refocusing on Aria.

“Can you be the ref, mom?” Spike asked, looking up at Mara who was sitting in the bleachers.

Mara nodded and walked down to the arena. She then raised her hand and said, “Three, two, one…” She dropped her hand and yelled, “Start!”

“Mag, use Yawn!”

“Don’t let him touch you, Aria,” Spike said.

Before Mag could let out the yawn, Aria’s body split into multiple copies, startling both Flannery and Mag.

“Eh? You didn’t even tell her to use Double Team. You can do that?” Flannery asked.

“If you both know what you’re talking about, why not? Anyway, use Hypnosis, Aria.”

“Ah! Mag, use Ember!”

Purplish waves shot out from the eyes of each one of Aria’s copies. Mag barely spit a small burst of flame at the multiple Ralts bodies before the purplish circles flew through him. His eyes slowly drooped and closed. Flannery scratched her head and frowned.

“Hit him with Confusion,” Spike said.

Yawning tiredly, Aria nodded and raised her hands. The air warped around both her and Mag before slamming Mag with the mental impact. Mag flinched. His eyes flickered open for a moment but quickly closed again. Aria’s head drooped the next second as she also fell asleep because of the yawn.

“Wake up, Mag! You can do it!”

“How about this round is a draw and we switch out?”

“Gah! So frustrating! How come this always happens?”

“Haha. You need to train more, bro.”

“I’m not a bro,” Flannery grumbled. However, she returned Mag to his Pokeball and pulled out a different ball. Tossing it into the air, she called out, “Go, Numel!”

“Go ahead, Ares,” Spike said while walking over to pick up Aria and carry her back in his arms.

“Ri!” Ares excitedly replied before hopping into the arena.

“Do your best Numel!” Flannery called out.

The small fire camel glanced back at Flannery with droopy eyes for a few seconds and then nodded.

“Did you not name her yet?” Spike asked.

“No. I’m still trying to think of a good one. We’ve only been together for a few days, y’know?”

Spike shrugged before kneeling next to Ares and whispering, “Take it easy on her still. She isn’t ready for our full strength, yet.”

Ares nodded in understanding since he would hate to crush the spirits of one of his sparring partners.

“Are you both ready now?” Mara asked. Both Spike and Flannery nodded, so she again yelled, “Start!”

“Numel, use Focus Energy!”

The Numel narrowed her eyes and straightened its stance. A yellow-white energy gathered from the atmosphere around her.

“Ares, work yourself up.”

Smirking, Ares flexed his entire body, and a red aura glowed from his body. A second later, puffs of smoke popped up around him.

“Now, use Bulldoze!” Flannery said after Numel finished gathering energy for a couple seconds.

“Quick Attack into a Counter.”

Numel’s eyes narrowed. An dark orange aura covered its body, and it charged forward a few steps with a small battle cry before stomping the ground. In retaliation, Ares’ body shone with white light, and he charged forward. A white blur curved toward Numel, avoiding sand and rocks that erupted across the arena in a straight line toward Ares’ previous position. Before Numel could rebalance itself, Ares planted his fist into Numel’s side, causing it to tumble a few meters across the ground.

“Hang in there, Numel!” Flannery exclaimed.

“Numel!” The Pokemon cried out. After smacking the ground a few times, it stood up with a firm gaze.

Ares smiled at his opponent’s bravery and danced back and forth on his toes to prepare for the next command.

“Quick Attack into a Feint.”

“Use Embers in a wave until you hit him, Numel!”

“Power through it, bud!”

“Ri!”

“Nu!”

Arcs of small flames fanned across the arena. Ares lowered his stance, gathered more energy, and charged straight through. Flannery clenched her fist and grinned when a few Embers hit the Riolu, but then she frowned when he charged straight through the flames with a happy grin while ignoring the fact that his fur was singed in multiple places. Ares’ head slammed into Numel’s chin in a flash, knocking it over. The Numel whimpered, but awkwardly rolled back onto her feet. Her legs trembled as though she could barely take another hit.

Still frowning, Flannery sighed and said, “We give up.”

“Spike wins the battle!” Mara exclaimed with a wry smile.

Spike gave a thumbs-up to Ares and walked over to the two Pokemon while pulling some potions out of his pocket. He tossed two over to Flannery and used another on Ares. Flannery remained unusually quiet while spraying a potion on Numel’s bruises. In contrast, both Pokemon preened under the spray of the potions like a person might enjoy a warm shower in the middle of winter.

Noticing how quiet Flannery was compared to normal, Spike asked her, “Is something wrong, Flannery?”

The girl flinched at the question. Her hands stopped for a moment, but then she continued spraying the potion on her Numel a moment later. An uncomfortable silence fell between them until Flannery mumbled, “...I wonder if I can be a good trainer.”

Not expecting this development because of the redhead’s normally spunky attitude, Spike frowned. He immediately stepped over to her, gently placed his hands on her shoulders, and turned her to face him. She didn’t resist and hesitantly looked at him for a second or two before averting her eyes.

“Flannery.”

“What?” She mumbled, still avoiding his gaze.

“You can become an amazing trainer.”

“But I always lose to you…”

“Look me in the eyes.”

After hesitating for a few moments, Flannery finally looked him in the eye.

“Anybody can see that you love your Pokemon. I know you can be a good trainer, and I believe in you. Got it?”

Averting her eyes again, she asked in a quiet voice, “You think so?”

“Might be cringe, but I don’t just think so, I know so.”

“Really?” Flannery asked, subconsciously raising a hand and twirling her hair.

“Yeah. You’ve improved a lot since we first started battling each other. You’re the only one here who can keep up with me. Go battle anyone else in school, and you’ll win for sure.”

Still twirling her hair, Flannery finally looked him in the eye again and smiled a little. The two remained like that for a few seconds until she couldn’t take anymore and turned away with a shade of pink coloring her cheeks.

“You’re too close,” The redhead mumbled.

“Heh. Whatever,” Spike replied while letting go of her shoulders. “Just remember you don’t need to doubt yourself. And, if you do, come find me, and I’ll slap some confidence back into you.”

Grinning happily, Flannery gave a small nod. Then, she turned around and resumed applying the potion to her totally oblivious Numel. She briefly looked up to see Mara and Carrie smiling at her, which made her lower her eyes with reddened cheeks.

After a few silent moments, Flannery glanced at Spike again and watched him carefully treat some of Ares’ singed fur with a burn heal for several seconds. Eventually, she quietly said, “Thanks.”

“No problem. You’re one of the few people who puts up with me, so I got your back.”

A bright smile appeared on Flannery’s face, and she started humming a tune while spraying the second potion on Mag after releasing him from his ball. When Spike and Flannery both finished healing and grooming their Pokemon, Spike and Flannery left the school grounds with their family members.

Before parting ways to their respective homes, Flannery grabbed his sleeve and asked, “You’re going to Hoenn Intermediate School for a few years before going to Ranger training, right?”

“Yep.”

“Good. Let’s walk there together.”

“You thought we wouldn’t?” Spike teased her with a snarky grin.

Turning away, she walked off with her mother while yelling back, “No takesy-backsies, then.”

Spike chuckled to himself and followed Mara back to their home along with the rest of his family. Eventually, Mara stated, “You two get along quite well.”

“I guess.”

Mara stared at him for a moment with a thoughtful expression and then said, “She’s a nice girl. I’m glad you were able to make friends with her.”

“Yeah. Most of the other kids still don’t like me. You’d think they’d get over it by now,” Spike disinterestedly commented.

“One close friend who stays with you no matter what is better than having many who turn their backs on you at the first sign of trouble,” Mara said while looking at the setting sun with a forlorn expression.

Spike took a moment to observe Mara’s face. Without hesitation, he shifted Aria to one arm and then reached out to hold Mara’s hand with his freed one. For a moment, she flinched, but then looked down at her son and smiled.

“I’m glad I gave birth to you, Dilon.”

“I know.”

“That’s not what you say in this situation,” Mara grumbled, drawing a snicker from Deidre who had been quietly following behind them.

“I know,” Spike said with a smirk.