Entry #7: Big Brother Instinct.

In many forms of entertainment media, the interpersonal relationships that fall between Friendship and romantic Love occasionally get sidelined, but they are no less important. Case in point, sibling relationships.

The protective big brother is a classic trope, one seen all over the place. From family matters to tales of powerful platonic bonds, it just seems to be an instinct in good-hearted souls to protect those smaller and weaker than them with their Big Brother Instinct. (Though this isn't limited to just males, as Big Sister Instinct is just as valid. I'll stick to using Brother for this entry just for simplicity's sake.)

In a character sense, Big Brother Instinct is often used to show that gruff or unfriendly people do have a softer side and the capacity for affection, though it's a trait perfectly personable people can have too. In a trope sense, Big Brother Instinct can manifest as a sizable Power-Up when the person or people the instinct holder cares for are in danger. They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but there is indeed a similar fury to that around children, and siblings with a sense of duty can muster up that kind of All-Consuming Rage or Desperate Strength if pushed hard enough. These feats can range from something just barely enough to win the day to something so absurd even Rule of Cool takes a metaphorical step back and says "Holy shit."

Big Brother Instinct doesn't just manifest with blood relatives. The holders of the instinct can regard half-blooded or even adoptive siblings with that same fond regard, triggering the inherent boost and Narrative shift when roused. I'll be working closely with Aniki on dissecting this one.

"Are you sure about this, Jules?"

Julian looks up from the pair of orange fight shorts he's inspecting to Aniki, who is leaning against the changing room door of the Jubilife sporting goods store they're perusing.

The morning found the new team of Julian, Lulu, and Aniki out and about in Jubilife city, roaming about with little purpose other than to have a good time. As they walked and took in the sights with Aniki playing guide, Julian's mind began to wander. His wish to make a legendary team is going to take a bit more than letting fate string them along, he realized. He also knows full well that fate enjoys throwing curveballs at aspiring heroes. The sun glinting off of Lulu's gauntlet into his eyes gave him a fantastic idea.

Protagonists stand out nine times out of ten, usually with some sort of style that sets them apart from others. That can be tricky with pokemon unless they're shiny or otherwise differently patterned. Lulu is in superb health and is much more cut than a domestic Lucario. The abs visible through the yellow fur of her belly are proof enough, but that might not be apparent to the layman. Her gauntlet, though? That's eye-catching. Some might consider it tacky, but it circles back around to being cool when skill and unique looks are combined. It gives her a gravitas that other Lucario lack.

Aniki is in the same boat. The Fighting-type is built like a brick house and ripped up like Rambo, but without a normal Machoke by his side for comparison, that can be overlooked. The easiest way to fix that is with some sort of cosmetic accessory, but it can't be something too goofy or outlandish. A balance is required.

Then Julian wanted to slap his forehead.

Machoke are some of the few pokemon that always wear clothes. Just changing his shorts and belt would set him apart from his peers.

So the team's random wanderings turned into a search for a sporting supply store, and here they are.

"Trust me, bro," Julian grins and taps a knowing finger on the rack filled with different colored fight shorts. Luckily there are few people in this part of the store, so no one will look at him funny for talking to his pokemon if he keeps his voice down. "The way to the top is a long one, and we're going to need to play the media game along the way. Everyone on the team is going to need a kind of…" He raises his hands and spreads his fingers. "Pizzazz to 'em. We have to stand out and make a bold statement with looks, and that'll make our performances all the more memorable, right? With popularity comes opportunity."

The Machoke doesn't quite frown, but his lips aren't smiling either. He crosses his arms and stares down at Julian. "I know you said you weren't planning on taking a new pokemon this early in your journey, and you've already spent so much on me. Too much, I think! I can do without 'till the money situation is figured out, okay?"

Julian's grin lessens. "The money we spent was just on some food and training supplies, Aniki. You know? Stuff we need?"

Aniki's stern face doesn't so much as twitch, and the blonde teen can't quite push down his annoyance.

Earlier that morning, Julian learned that a name literally meaning Big Brother is all too accurate for the Machoke. After only one night together, Aniki took it on himself to let himself out of his pokeball early in the morning, spiff up their hotel room quietly enough that not even Lulu woke up, lay out fresh clothes and a shower towel for Julian, and then to top it all off, cooked a mean breakfast just as everyone was waking up. He even did it on the tiny crummy kitchenette that trainer hotel rooms often have (or so says Paul, who claims hotels aimed at trainers generally have more amenities).

Despite being a little overwhelmed, Julian still had to giggle at seeing Paul's face as Aniki served both teens meals fit for powerlifters.

Now if only Aniki would get over this weird self-sacrifice complex.

"Look man, we gotta spend money to make money," Julian reasons. "I'm A-OK with spending a bit here because I know we're going to make it back big time later." When Aniki still doesn't budge, Julian sighs. "Lulu? Help me out here?"

Lulu, who is over inspecting some wearable ankle weights on a rack with a pondering paw on her chin, looks over to Julian and Aniki. She visibly thinks her words over for a moment. "Aniki, I understand your concerns and I agree for the most part…"

The Machoke smiles, turning to an even more annoyed Julian with a 'see?' hand gesture.

"...But Julian often has a method to his madness," Lulu continues with a sure nod.

Julian smirks when it's Aniki's turn to look irritated, then the teen frowns as he digests Lulu's words. "...Often? You mean 'always,' right?"

"As such," Lulu continues, ignoring Julian's question, "I think you'd be better off letting him have this one. You've already done your due diligence as a good pokemon by questioning a decision you have doubts about."

Aniki takes a deep breath and releases a long-suffering sigh, letting his crossed arms fall. "Fine…" He finally agrees. "What do you have in mind, Jules?" He addresses the blonde teen unhappily.

"All we need to do," Julian turns back to the rack of clothes and rifles through them, "is get you a little something to set you apart from other Machoke. It doesn't need to be anything extravagant, so something as simple as…"

Then he sees them and feels his jaw drop.

Hidden near the back under several other pairs of loose shorts is one with a supremely familiar yet unexpected pattern. Near the back in size XL, perfect for Aniki, are several pairs of fight shorts with an American flag pattern printed on them.

"No way…" Julian breathes, taking the tag of one and peering at it.

Pattern: Stars and Bars.

'These have to have been put here just for us…' Julian realizes. 'There is no other explanation. It's too much of a coincidence.'

"Jules?"

The blonde blinks at Aniki's voice and files his thoughts of divine meddling away for later. "Well, have a look here!" Julian grins once more, taking a pair of the freedom-themed bottoms and tossing them to Aniki, who catches them with an unsure blink. "That looks good, don't you think?"

Aniki holds the shorts up and inspects them. "Well, it could be worse…" Another sigh escapes his muzzle as he turns and shuts himself in the fitting room behind him. After a minute, he re-emerges in his new attire and crosses his arms.

Julian's grin becomes almost painful. "Aniki, it's fucking perfect!"

Such a small change has made a world of difference in Julian's eyes. Aniki seems to take on an entirely new presence just by swapping a few colors around. He both looks and feels more imposing, Julian can sense the change deep in his aura.

The Machoke lifts a leg and raises it high in a display of balance, testing his range of movement with a hum. "Now that I have 'em on, I guess it's not so bad," he murmurs. He sets his leg down and inspects his new attire closely. "Sized right, easy to move in, and they stop right above the knee like they should, too. Good eye, Jules. One pair should be good."

"Glad to hear it," Julian takes the other gloriously patriotic XL-sized pairs from the rack, feeling Aniki's disapproving stare on his back as he does so. "Look," Julian rolls his eyes. "I know money is tight, blah blah blah… If it's that big of a concern to you, then we'll go look for an odd job or a battle with an ante after we're done here, okay?" He turns and meets Aniki's stern red eyes without a flinch. "All we need to do today is to stop by the Pokemon Center to get tickets for the contest tomorrow, so we'll scan the bulletin board for whatever jobs are floating around, okay?"

Aniki sends a still unsure look to Lulu.

"Between you and I, I believe we can win most battles we find," Lulu offers her teammate a small smile. "And most labor jobs won't be much of an issue with all three of us working together."

The tall Fighting-type shakes his head and raises his palms in surrender. "Fine…"

After making their purchases and leaving bereft of another hundred dollars, the trio begins the leisurely trek to the Pokemon Center.

'Ech. Maybe Aniki had a point…' Julian's wallet feels thinner and thinner in his back pocket as the day wears on. 'Now that we've got the essentials, we should probably hold off on any more nonessential spending until we get some work and a few battles won. I think those tickets to the contest are going to be the last splurge. Hopefully, we can make some decent cash.'

"Say, Aniki…" Julian lowers his voice so as to not draw stares on the street. "If we find a battle later, do you mind going first? I already know Lulu is a professional ass-kicker and I'm eager to see what you can do."

The Machoke smiles. "You're the trainer, Jules. I think you get to decide who fights first."

Julian smirks back. "Maybe, but I thought I'd ask anyway. Teamwork makes the dream work and all that jazz, you know?"

Aniki's face breaks out into a grin as he claps Julian's shoulder with a dinner plate-sized hand. "You're alright, you know that?"

"I try," Julian makes a playful show of shrugging the large hand off of him. "So what moves do you know?"

"Hmm…" Aniki thinks for a moment, twisting around a pedestrian on the sidewalk as he does so. "Low Kick, Revenge, Scary Face, Foresight, Karate Chop, Seismic Toss, Vital Throw, Focus Energy, Mega Punch, Fire Punch, and Thunder Punch. I could never really figure out Ice Punch…"

"No ranged moves?" Julian gives the taller pokemon a sidelong glance.

Aniki looks away, seemingly embarrassed. "Not really. Sorry."

"Hey, it's no prob. I'm sure Lulu and I could teach you Aura Sphere to cover that hole up," the teen trainer assures. A second later, he looks over to Lulu. "Right?"

The Lucario smiles brightly. "If you could learn Aura Sphere, Julian, then I don't see why Aniki cannot."

The humanoid pokemon lets out a relieved sigh. "Thanks, you guys. The last thing I want to be is a burden, and…" He pauses, brows furrowing as he processes Lulu's words. "Wait. Jules? You know how to use a pokemon move? Not just teach it?" He locks his eyes, which shine with doubt, onto Julian.

Julian grimaces and stretches his aura out.

The Kricketune street performer playing the violin with his trainer across the road is unbothered.

There's no reaction from the sash-wearing Staravia flying close overhead with a parcel in his talons. He zips by with only inches of clearance overhead to spare.

"Please, Kay?! When was the last time you did something nice for me?" The pouting Braixen they pass is too focused on guilt-tripping her lanky trainer into taking her into a confection shop to care. When her trainer averts his eyes, the Braixen stomps one of her dainty pawed feet.

To Julian's relief, none of the pokemon on the street around them have surprised jumps in their auras, so Aniki's words must have been lost to the din of the busy city. Lulu seems to realize that she fouled up too because she covers her mouth with a paw, aura colored in embarrassment.

"I never went into detail on how Lulu and I met, did I?" Julian lowers his voice, making it so quiet only the sharp ears of a pokemon standing less than a foot away could possibly hear him. "Lulu and her pack found me lost in the woods after I was… left adrift following my home life taking a sour turn. They took me in, taught me, and cared for me. Lulu even put her ass on the line and broke a taboo by unlocking my aura just so I would fit in better." He lets his aura brighten, and from the corner of his eye, he sees Lulu smile.

"So if you were wondering why I can understand pokemon or how I managed to nail you in the jaw, that's how," Julian continues. "After months with the pack, Lulu and I decided to take on the world, sending us to Jubilife. After that, we met you."

Aniki blinks, his aura rising with finger-like spikes of amazement. "Geez Jules… Were things really not that great at home?" He asks softly, the amazement petering off for something more melancholic.

Julian huffs and crosses his arms, but the genuine concern warms his chest. "After mom passed, no one was really the same, but why are you fixating on that part?"

"Because that's the important part," the Machoke insists, giving Julian a stern look.

Any doubts about Lulu and Aniki not getting along fly out the window at the larger Fighting-type's words, as Lulu's aura bubbles in agreement. Outwardly, she gives Aniki a smile that very much approves of his words. That smile proves infectious, as Julian's face breaks out into a smile as well.

"Don't worry so much about it, bro," Julian elbows Aniki's arm with a grin. "I've got Lulu, and now you too, so everything will work out."

Aniki's eyes widen, then he returns Julian's expression with a lopsided smile. "You're a good kid, Jules." A large, affectionate hand comes to a rest on Julian's head. "I had some doubts about this 'being a trainer's pokemon' business, but I think I can say those are gone," he says, his tightly wound aura glowing with Friendship.

The rest of the trip to the Jubilife Pokemon Center is spent in comfortable silence. Inwardly, Julian finds himself a little amazed that Aniki has clicked so well with himself and Lulu after only a day. 'Anime, Julian. Quit forgetting that. Lifelong friendships can totally start instantly… We're still going to wait before showing Aniki how the world works behind the curtain, though. He'll understand.'

As they walk, the trio weaves through the people along the sidewalk and eventually come to a stop with several other people and pokemon at a crosswalk with a red light. Several people are chattering and laughing amongst themselves, but one voice is accompanied by a somewhat distressed flicker of the owner's aura, drawing Julian's attention.

"Did I get a bogus map…?" A young woman murmurs close by. "The Pokemon Center isn't even marked on here…"

Turning slightly, Julian takes in the visage of the woman in question. Just a few feet away is a teen girl perhaps a year younger than him, but no older than fifteen. The first thing he notices is her shortly cropped, bright auburn hair and the pair of thin-frame sunglasses atop her head. She's clad in a burgundy shirt with long sleeves, and overtop her shirt is an open, midriff-length, orange colored vest. Her pants are simple yet clean jeans rolled up enough to expose her brown hiking boots. She stands several inches shorter than the blonde teen, letting him see her displeased frown as she scans her eyes over the paper map held in her hands.

'Where have I seen this chick before?' Julian wonders. 'Oh, wait! This is Dawn's rival! What's her name again? It starts wit think.' Remembering clearly what he missed out on the last time he didn't offer help to someone in need, Julian clears his throat and asks; "Hey, you lost?"

The girl looks up from her map, her wine-colored eyes meeting Julian's own greens. "Uh, maybe a little…" She laughs unsurely and lowers the map in her hands. "I'm trying to get to the Pokemon Center as quickly as I can. Can I bug you for some directions?" She asks hopefully.

"The Pokemon Center, eh?" Julian rubs his chin in thought. "My team and I were actually heading that way to snag some tickets for the upcoming Jubilife Contest. Since we're going to the same place, we'd be glad to show you."

Lulu nods along cooly with Julian's words while Aniki grins and offers a cheesy thumbs-up.

The girl's face lights up with a smile. "That would be great! Thank you! My name is Zoey, by the way!" She stuffs her map in her pocket and offers one of her petite hands for a shake.

'Zoey, that's right. I remember now.' Julian engulfs Zoey's hand with his own and gives it a shake. "Julian Angelo. With me are Lulu-" he releases Zoey's hand and gestures to the Lucario on his right, "-and Aniki," the taller pokemon is next.

The street traffic abates as the crosswalk light turns green, letting the new group of four start off. Aniki abdicates his prior spot beside Julian to Zoey, instead taking a watchful place behind everyone.

"You said you're getting tickets to the Jubilife Pokemon Contest, right?" Zoey isn't shy at all about resuming the conversation. "I'm actually on the way to register for the Contest as a competitor."

"Is that so?" Julian hums. "You've done this before, I take it?"

Zoey nods happily. "Yep! It took a few tries, but I won my last contest and I intend to keep the ball rolling!" she preens. "My Misdreavus and I have quite a performance planned, so we expect to pass the appeal round no problem."

"That's some spirit you've got," Julian grins.

"A Pokemon Coordinator is nothing without spirit to spare," Zoey says with a resolute nod. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but why the interest in pokemon contests? No offense, but you and your pokemon don't look like the contest type," she sends a glance to Lulu and Aniki.

'Odd question.' Julian thinks to himself, reaching his aura out and feeling Zoey's. His eyebrow rises when he finds uncertainty tinged with a minor undertone of agitation. 'Ah, right. She has some kind of weird hang-up with people who do both the gym and contest circuits at once in the anime. Always seemed like forced drama to me.'

Zoey averts her eyes, her uncertainty replaced with embarrassment and a bit of discomfort. It's then Julian realizes he was giving the girl a harsh stare as he was reading her.

"Well," Julian begins calmly as he returns his eyes forward, hoping to gloss over the awkward moment. "I have every intention of being a Pokemon Master, and to me, that means understanding and mastering each and every facet of pokemon. Coordinators and dedicated battlers approach situations differently, so it would be remiss of me to not learn from the other side of the coin, yeah? We're watching the contest to learn more than to be entertained."

That doesn't seem to be the answer Zoey was expecting. She blinks twice rapidly and returns her eyes to Julian. "Really?" She sounds incredulous.

"Really," Julian nods. "Does that seem strange?"

"I mean, maybe a little?" Zoey verbally flounders for a moment before recovering. "Your pokemon are definitely battlers, I can tell just by looking, and it seems like battlers everywhere look down on coordinators. I guess your answer just kind of surprised me, is all."

Julian smiles thinly. "Then I don't think the dedicated battlers you've spoken to know what they're talking about. I understand what you mean, though, as my traveling partner seemed skeptical of learning from coordinators. I'm sure his eyes will be opened tomorrow."

His words put a bright smile on the red-headed girl's face, and her aura flares up into a joyful little fire that tickles Julian's 6th sense.

The rest of the trip to the Pokemon Center is spent with idle chatter, most of which comes from Zoey. She tells Julian about herself, her hometown in the far-north town of Snowpoint, and her pokemon. Julian, in turn, tells the teen girl a bit about himself and his team.

"A Fighting-Type specialist, huh?" Zoey questions as she, Julian, Lulu, and Aniki cross the threshold of the Center's sliding doors. "You definitely break the meat-head stereotype," she jokes.

"I've worked with Lulu one-on-one long enough that it's left me uniquely equipped to train Fighters. I won't turn down an interesting pokemon if they aren't Fighting-type, but I'm not looking to spread myself too thin in the early stages of our career here," The blonde explains. 'Was saying "coordinators are worth as much as battlers" all that was needed to get into Zoey's good graces?' Julian idly wonders.

The Pokemon Center isn't busy at the moment, so the group of four is free to approach the front desk where the local Nurse Joy sits, humming a tune as she fills out some paperwork.

Without meaning to, Julian reaches out with his aura and scans the nurse. 'I can't tell any physical difference between Jubilife's Joy and Sandgem's Joy, but their aura signatures are certainly not the same. I guess that fan theory about clones is no good.'

Nurse Joy perks up as the teens and the pair of pokemon stop in front of her desk. "Good morning!" She greets cheerfully. "What can I do for you kids?"

'I'm a grown-ass man, damn it…'

"Good morning Nurse Joy," Zoey greets back with a smile. "I was hoping to have my Contest Pass renewed, and my friend Julian was wanting to buy tickets for the Contest tomorrow." As Zoey speaks Julian's name, he can feel the embers of Friendship starting to ignite inside of the girl.

'We've known each other for like twenty minutes and she's already calling me a friend?' Julian can't quite hide the disquiet in his aura, and he feels Lulu's eyes regard him for it. 'Again with the fast-friends thing. I don't think I'll ever get used to that.' He turns his head just a bit and mouths don't worry about it to Lulu, who crosses her arms but doesn't question him.

"Easily done on both accounts," Nurse Joy nods and holds out her hand. "May I see your Trainer ID and your old pass, miss?"

Zoey fishes both cards from her pocket and hands them over to Joy, who hums to herself as she runs both through an aging, yellowed card scanner on her desk. The scanner groans, several windows flash past the computer monitor behind the desk, then the computer itself produces an annoyingly upbeat jingle.

"There we have it, Miss Zoey," Nurse Joy takes both plastic cards from her scanner and drops them into Zoey's waiting hand. "Your Pass is good for another year. Good luck in your Contest endeavors!"

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Zoey puts her ID and pass away, inclining her head to the nurse as she does so. Then steps to the side, making room for Julian to take her place.

"Good morning, Nurse Joy," Julian offers the nurse a cordial smile. "I understand I can buy tickets for the Jubilife contest here, right?"

Joy nods and returns his smile with one of her own. "Indeed you can, young man. How many would you like?"

As he opens his mouth to answer, the blonde stops short. "Is there any extra cost for pokemon seating?"

"The Contest Hall will allow free admission for smaller pokemon who can be held in their trainer's lap," Nurse Joy explains, taking in both Lulu and Aniki behind Julian. "If an actual seat is occupied, then another ticket must be purchased. Each ticket in general seating is fifteen pokedollars."

"I see…" Julian clicks his tongue and reaches into his back pocket, fingers closing around his wallet. "I guess I should have seen that coming. Four tickets, please."

A large hand closes firmly on Julian's shoulder. Following the blue hand up a muscular blue arm, Julian looks up at Aniki's frowning face. "Three, Jules. You, Lulu, and Paul can have seats. I'll watch from my ball and you can save that fifteen bucks for something else."

"What? Are you not wanting to watch or something?" Julian narrows his eyes and carefully phrases his question, aware of the eyes watching him and Aniki. "This isn't about money, is it? An extra ticket isn't that much."

The Machoke narrows his eyes in return. "Watching from my ball will be fine," he insists. He takes a firm, totally uncompromising stance with his arms crossed. While he's already tall, Aniki seems to grow further into something gargantuan and unbreakable to Julian's 6th sense, filling the whole Pokemon Center lobby with an ironclad sort of aura that isn't aura. No one but Julian seems to notice it, however.

Julian's protest dies in his throat, and for the first time in years, he feels small. It's an experience long forgotten, one last inflicted on him by his eldest brother before his mother's passing sent the family adrift. "Fine…" Julian grounds out with reluctance, as no other words come to him. "Whatever your reason is, I won't push the issue," he pretends to not understand Aniki and turns back to Nurse Joy. "Three tickets, please," Julian takes his debit card from his wallet and forks it over to the nurse.

The oppressive aura flees the room at the sight of Aniki's smile.

After a swipe through a card reader, Julian receives his debit card back along with three tickets for Jubilife's Contest Hall, all of them dated for tomorrow.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, young man?" Joy asks kindly.

"That's all for now. Thanks, nurse," Julian mutters, stepping away with his pokemon in tow, making way for the small line that's formed behind them. 'We should probably say goodbye to Zoey before she goes.'

As they approach the red-headed girl, Zoey actually speaks first. "Are you having money issues, Julian?" She asks with a concerned frown. "It can be a tough pill to swallow, I know because I had to do it when I was starting out, but you might want to call your parents if you're not making enough to get by."

'A nice thought, but there are no phone lines in the woods back home,' he smirks sardonically, already visualizing Pops smashing a telephone if the thing had the gall to ring. "My folks aren't really in the picture anymore, Zoey. It's just us three. We'll find some work, though. Don't worry about it."

The pokemon coordinator blinks, then Julian's words hit home and her hand flies up to cover her mouth, which is dropped open in shock. "Oh my goodness, I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"You couldn't have known, so no worries," Julian waves away the platitude. "As I said, we're going to find a battleground and separate some other trainers from their money, or find a one-day job around the town. No prob."

Zoey lets her hand fall, placing it on her hip instead. "Well, I'm a little short on cash as well," her aura wavers in dishonesty even if her face gives nothing away, though the lie is free of any negative emotions. "Do you want to go to a battleground together and find a double battle? I've seen dummies agree to some big bets just because they feel confident having their friend with them."

"Hmm…" Julian looks back at his pokemon, silently asking their opinions.

Aniki smiles and offers another cheesy thumbs-up. "Sounds like a plan to me, Jules."

"I think…" Lulu gives her answer some thought, no doubt having felt Zoey's lie just like Julian. She smiles along with Aniki after only a second. "...It's a good idea." Her smile turns into a smirk. "Why couldn't you find someone like this to travel with over Paul?" She clicks her tongue and plants her forepaws on her hips.

"Still bellyaching over that, huh?" Julian scoffs and turns back to Zoey, who is waiting expectantly. "Three votes for yes, so let's get going, yeah?"

Zoey grins.

The trip to the nearest set of battlefields doesn't take long, as Jubilife central park plays host to basic, packed dirt fields where trainers can fight and train with their teams. Along the way, Julian returns both Aniki and Lulu to their pokeballs so none of the trainers loitering for a match know what to prepare for.

Aniki went without any fuss, but Lulu huffed and practically demanded to remain out of her ball after being revealed for the first time. Wisely, Julian agreed.

"Your Lucario has some spunk to her," Zoey comments as they stand off to the side of one of the unoccupied battlefields. "And you seem so in sync with her." Zoey pulls a pokeball from her belt and rolls it in her fingers.

Julian mirrors Zoey, readying Aniki's ball and silently announcing to the people in the park that he's awaiting a challenge. "She's both my first pokemon and my best friend. I practically understand her word for word at this point," he smiles, remembering that night he felt Friendship for Lulufor the first time. "Can't imagine life without her now. What about you, Zoey? Who was your first pokemon?"

The red-headed girl lifts the pokeball in her hand and stares down at it fondly. "That would be Glameow, here. I was so inspired by Top Coordinator Johanna Berlitz and her Glameow that I begged my parents for one, but they turned me down every time," she raises her nose with a 'Hmph!' Her face softens."Then I found Glameow here on the streets as a kid, and my trainer school let me keep her there until we were ready to set out…" As she speaks, Zoey's aura ignites into a beautiful, loving glow that takes Julian aback.

That Love is a deep, wonderful color that he can't look away from no matter how hard he tries. It's painted with shared hardship and struggle just as much as it is triumph and glory, creating a mosaic that tells a wordless story. It's entirely different from the Love that ties Ma and Pops together, and perhaps if he squints with his 3rd eye, he could maybe call it akin to the motherly Love Ma gifted freely to him and Lulu, but even then it's not right. Zoey's Love for Glameow brushes against Julian's aura, and he shies away.

It's deep. Deeper than what he and Lulu share.

"She's never ever let me down…" Zoey smiles and hugs the pokeball to her chest.

The pokeball wiggles gently in Zoey's hand. Through the shell of the ball, Glameow's Love for her trainer shines.

Stunned, Julian schools his face before his companion can see and loses himself in his thoughts.

As they wait, both trainers watch the ongoing battles currently taking place.

In the furthest field, a pair of girls seem to be practicing a pokemon contest routine with a Sunkern and Tangela. Both pokemon appear to be young, however, as their clumsy Razor Leaf attacks can't quite hit the clay target disks the girls are tossing into the air by hand. The bladed leaves either miss entirely or don't shatter the clay disks.

Another field has a few spectators gathered around. The gathered people clap and cheer for the nervous, tween boy underdog and his surly Bidoof, who bravely stares down the opposing Furret and the Furret's adult trainer. The man and his Furret are going easy on the boy and his Bidoof; almost throwing the fight, even. Julian shunts a bit of aura to his ears and sharpens his hearing, taking in the cheers with more understanding. Only then does he realize it's a friendly training match between a father and son.

The rest are battles that aren't much to write home about, like a Starly versus a Mankey, but Starly's trainer doesn't seem to remember that Flying-type attacks would make quick work of a Fighting-type pokemon like Mankey.

It doesn't take too long, maybe fifteen minutes, for a pair of rather average-looking trainers - a tall teen with glasses and a shorter, younger boy in a beanie hat - to approach Julian and Zoey as a pair.

'Does standing together signal that we're looking for doubles?' Julian wonders to himself, looking around and seeing most of the other loitering trainers are waiting alone.

"Hey there!" The taller boy greets with a wave. "Are you two waiting for a double battle?"

Zoey smiles back. "That we are!" She raises Glameow's ball and expertly twirls it on the tip of her finger. "Are you boys looking for an ante battle? Because a hundred bucks says my friend and I will win easy!"

The older trainer rubs his chin in thought, but the younger boy scowls, seeming to take affront with Zoey's confidence. "Oh yeah?" He challenges. "Two hundred says we thrash you!"

"Jacob!" The glasses sporting trainer hisses. "Don't go making bets for the both of us!"

"Oh?" Julian dons his most infuriating smirk and his smoothest 'asshole' voice. "You're not frightened, are you? If you are, that's fine, you can go," He waves his hand in a dismissive shoo motion.

From the balls on his belt, Lulu's aura remains flat and neutral. She likely sees no issue so long as their opponents are given a fair chance to back out.

Aniki's aura flickers, though. It's a touch annoyed and a bit disapproving, as the people-savvy Fighter probably sees Julian's goading for what it really is.

Inwardly, Julian feels somewhat bad for playing children like this, but on the other hand, there is money to be made. 'And this is what a fifteen-year-old with powerful pokemon would do anyway.'

The taller trainer scoffs while Jacob, his companion, goes red in anger.

"Right, sure," the taller of the two pinches the bridge of his nose behind his glasses. "Two hundred dollar ante, double battle, one pokemon for each trainer, and no subs. Sound fair?" He asks, offering his hand.

Julian glances over to Zoey, who nods with a satisfied smile, so the blonde smirks once more and takes the boy's hand, giving it a shake. "Julian is the name. Nice to meet ya."

"Arthur, and my brother here is named Jacob," the now named boy introduces himself and his sibling.

When Julian releases Arthur's hand and offers it to Jacob, the younger boy just gives Julian a flat look.

"Tough crowd," Julian clicks his tongue, turning and falling into step with Zoey as the two teams walk to their chosen sides of the field.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Julian closes his eyes, clears his head, and focuses intently, reaching out with his 6th sense. He reaches not for Zoey, or Jacob and Arthur, but for the pokeballs in the pockets of the brothers.

'Let's see here…' In Jacob's left pocket are three pokeballs with auras. Like with Paul's balled team, the auras of the pokemon inside overlap and form a sort of 'white noise', but Julian does his best to separate and read the three. His brow twitches as he tries to capture every detail emanating from what little aura he can feel from the pokemon inside.

'That one… Is probably a Normal type. I don't see hints of anything else. The second one is… Normal? Flying? Maybe both. The last and strongest one is… Water, I'm sure of it.'

His focus swaps to the two pokeballs in the breast pocket of Arthur's button-up shirt. 'That one is awfully weak… I think. Fucking pokeballs make this such a chore. Feels like… I don't really know…' His brow furrows further. 'Second one is way stronger. Maybe… a Rock and Ground type. Definitely a dual type that isn't a pushover.' He opens his eyes and pulls himself out of the near-meditative state, a plan forming in his head. 'Water and Rock. Both trainers are pretty tweaked even if Arthur is hiding it better. I'm willing to bet both bust out their aces.'

"Zoey," Julian whispers. "Do you have a pokemon that can deal with Water and Rock-types? Grass, maybe?"

The redhead blinks at the unexpected question. "Yes. My Leafeon is a Grass-type. Why do you ask?" She has the sense to lean in slightly and whisper back.

"Use Leafeon for this battle," Julian replies quietly.

Her eyebrow rises and she crosses her arms. "Any reason why?"

"You'll see," Julian smirks and gives Zoey a wink.

The pokemon coordinator seems skeptical, but she replaces Glameow's ball and selects another one from the six on her belt.

As everyone takes their places on each side of the field, Arthur takes charge once more. "Everyone ready?!" He calls, taking a pokeball from his pocket and expanding it.

Julian, Zoey, and Jacob all raise their own pokeballs. Then all at once, the four trainers toss the balls into the arena.

"Leafeon, I need your help!

"Shellos, go!"

"Rhydon, get ready!"

"Aniki, show them what you can do!"

Zoey's Leafeon pops into the field first. The Grass-type eeveelution materializes and stands with a cool grace, patiently awaiting instructions. She shares a strong resemblance to her prior form just as all eeveelutions do, with a short beige coat, shiny black eyes, and a body like a fox's. Her ears and tail are where her more outlandish features reside, as both have the shape and coloration of green tree leaves.

Jacob's Shellos is next. From the thrown pokeball comes a little sea slug pokemon only a foot tall, colored pink, yellow and white with two beady black eyes.

Rhydon instantly steals the show from the other two, though.

From Arthur's pokeball emerges a huge shape, six and a half feet tall and so broad it would have no hope of fitting through a human-sized door without a struggle. As the light of the pokeball fades, everyone is greeted by the sight of a bipedal rhino covered head to toe in thick, rocky armor. On his broad head, a drill-like horn sits just above his nose, and behind him, a thick tail smashes into the ground with a deep crunch, breaking the packed dirt like dried mud. Rhydon's eyes, small, bloodshot things, take in the field with hostility.

Aniki is the very last to materialize in the field. Julian threw his ball a little higher than the rest, so as the Machoke appears, he drops two feet into a crouch, then slowly rises back to his full 6'4" with a stoic expression, arms crossed.

'A Rhydon? Jeeze, that's a lot of firepower to be carrying around. No wonder Arthur didn't back out after his kid brother stupidly doubled the bet.' Julian focuses, reading the aura of the large Rock pokemon and disregarding Shellos. 'He's strong aura-wise, too. Maybe only a notch below Lulu. If she and this guy clashed, it would be a struggle if not for Fighting-type beating Rock-type.' He eyes Aniki's back. 'Your control obsession won't do you any favors here.'

Across the field, Jacob's smile begins to wane as he takes in Aniki and Leafeon, and Arthur's mouth twitches downward into a frown. It must seem like bad luck to them, being counter-picked like this.

Beside Julian, Zoey looks over the pokemon in the field as well, blinking as she realizes that she and Julian hold a definite advantage in type matchups. Her Leafeon's Grass typing will make her super-effective against both Shellos and Rhydon. The pokemon coordinator stares at her blonde partner, but the silent question burning in her eyes goes unanswered.

Rhydon and Aniki's eyes meet, and the hostility on the battlefield flares up. From both pokemon, a trickle of Killing Intent rolls across the ground, making Shellos quiver and Leafeon stiffen.

"Before we begin," Julian clears his throat. "Aniki, can you come here for a moment?"

The Machoke breaks his staring contest with Rhydon, turning and slowly walking to Julian's side. Julian beckons him to lean down, and when Aniki does, the teen raises his mouth to the pokemon's ear and begins to whisper.

"I'm not going to instruct you much during this fight," Julian begins. "I'll keep an eye on your back and make callouts as needed. You know how you fight better than I do, and I don't feel like I can coach you well until we train one-on-one and I get a feel for how you like to approach battles, okay? All I can do here is offer advice, but it's up to you how to use it."

Aniki mulls the info over, then nods. "I understand," he whispers back.

"Good," Julian grins. "Obviously, focus down Rhydon first. He's going to be slower than you, and his sides are going to be his least-defended points. Flanking also keeps you away from the horn and tail, his least pleasant bits to deal with. If you decide to get in his face and he tries to use a breath attack to get you to back off, grasp his mouth and hold it shut. No one ever seems to expect that, and the backfire will hurt. Lulu and I have used that tactic before. If an opening presents itself, attack the base of his horn. If you disable it or even break it, then he'll be much less of a pain in a straightforward fight."

The Machoke's aura rolls with confidence and maybe even a bit of excitement. "Gotcha, Jules. I won't let you down."

"Hey!" Jacob calls from across the field. "Are you done with your pow-wow yet?" He asks, impatient.

Julian rolls his eyes and gives his pokemon a pat on the shoulder. "Knock 'em dead."

Aniki stands straight and returns to the field beside Leafeon, falling into a loose stance with his hands raised and half balled, ready to swap between grappling and striking instantly.

People are beginning to gather around the edge of the field to watch, some of them with cellphones and camcorders raised to capture the fight. Seeing three evolved pokemon in a double battle has roused the curiosity of everyone in the park, and Julian smirks.

An audience only makes things easier.

"Ready?" Arthur calls. A bead of sweat runs down his forehead. "Begin!"

"Leafeon, Baby-Doll Eyes on Rhydon!" Zoey's command is by far the fastest, and she even throws in a dramatic point of her finger.

"Rhydon, Horn Drill on Machoke!" Arthur orders.

"Water Gun on Machoke!" Jacob calls, his fists balled up.

"Block Watergun with Leaf Blade next!" Zoey gets a second order out in the time it would have taken another trainer to issue one.

Aniki explodes into action without an order, rushing down Rhydon with his fists raised and a scowl on his face.

Rhydon roars, a bone-rattling sound that echoes off the distant buildings of Jubilife, then he lumbers forward towards Aniki like a train, slowly gaining speed until his footsteps are tearing at the ground. At the same time, his drill horn begins spinning, picking up speed so fast that the air distorts and screams. The distance between him and Aniki shrinks rapidly. A hundred feet, fifty, twenty…!

Then Leafeon's eyes glow a sinister, cloying pink, aimed right at Rhydon. A moment later, she twirls on her paws, her flat, leaf-shaped tail cleaving down in a green arc that splits the incoming fire-hose of water from Shellos's mouth down the middle. The pair of streams deflect off to the sides, little more than harmless sprays of water with their power halved.

With Rhydon, the rhino pokemon stumbles as the invisible rays of Baby-Doll Eyes seep past his armor and sap at his muscles. One of his steps falters and he slows, trying to correct himself before he tumbles. For a second, Horn Drill slows to a stop.

Aniki steps right into Rhydon's wide-open guard, chopping a savage knife-hand coated in off-red Fighting energy right into the point where Rhydon's signature drill horn and his skull meet.

Crack!

A crack runs up the horn, several chips falling free, and Rhydon bellows in pain. He tries to spin up Horn Drill once more to gore Aniki, but the horn makes a terrible grinding noise that transforms Rhydon's bellows into a scream of abject agony.

"Rhydon, no!" Arthur's eyes bug out, his aura suddenly spiking in fright. "Back off! Make some room and use Rock Blast! We still have this!"

Rhydon bellows again, this time in anger, and swipes widely at Aniki with his three-clawed hands.

Three bleeding lines are scored into the Machoke's chest, and Aniki steps back before he can get any more.

The instant Aniki is out of his face, Rhydon hops backward a step and raises his three-fingered hands. From seemingly nowhere, pebbles take form and coalesce into solid stones sized for a catapult. "Eat this!" Rhydon growls, throwing one then the other as if they were softballs.

"Karate Chop through them!" Julian orders for the first time in the match.

The order to attack rather than dodge makes a wave of murmurs break out amongst the onlookers, and from that, Julian feels Rule of Cool stirring.

Aniki doesn't hesitate, raising his hands and taking a breath as the boulders scream toward him. With a grunt, he chops a hand down with the speed of a lightning bolt.

Cra-CRASH!

The first boulder is split in two like a melon, the two pieces passing by Aniki's sides harmlessly. The ruined boulder halves smash into the dirt and crumble with plumes of dirt, rumbling the ground and kicking dirt up into Julian and Zoey's faces.

Zoey raises an arm to cover her eyes, but Julian remains still with his arms crossed even if the dust makes his eyes itch something fierce.

Rule of Cool surges again.

Aniki's other charged chop smashes into the second Rock Blast boulder, and rather than split it, the entire rock explodes into chips of stone with a bang like rolling thunder. Several sharp shards hit Aniki's chest, but all of them bounce off or even shatter, leaving the Fighting-type utterly unharmed.

Rhydon steps back, just as stunned as his trainer behind him.

In the lull, Julian hazards a look toward Zoey's half of the battle, silently berating himself for hyper-focusing on Aniki and Rhydon.

Leafeon is still fresh and fighting fit, her only injury being a scrape on her shoulder. She dodges around Shellos' panicked Watergun attacks without needing to be told, weaving and bobbing with the grace of a dancer.

Shellos, on the other hand, is looking much rougher. The little slug is covered in painful-looking cuts that ooze blood, and on his right side is an ugly bruise. He pants between every Watergun, looking more and more dehydrated the longer the battle goes on. The Water-type's flagging aura tells Julian that Shellos is on his last leg.

"Leafeon, finish Shellos with Razor Leaf!" Zoey calls for the end of their part of the match.

"Shellos, shoot the leaves down!" Jacob frantically orders, his voice cracking.

Leafeon twirls once more, and from her tail shoots a wave of scythe-like leaves that whirl as if they were throwing stars. The wave of leaves curves in towards Shellos' injured side at a harsh angle, and Shellos winces as he tries to turn to meet them.

Schick-schick-schick-schick-schick!

It's for naught, as Shellos is just too slow. The Razor Leaves rip and cut at the slug's soft flesh, opening up new injuries. With a groan, Shellos' consciousness slips, leaving him to go limp.

"I'm sorry for hurting you, but such is the nature of battles…" Leafeon murmurs, leaping back and standing ready for a new order.

'Not bad at all,' Julian rubs his chin appreciatively. 'Leafeon knew to strike on Shellos' wounded side without instruction. I wonder if all of Zoey's pokemon fight with that kind of brains.'

"Arceus, damn it, Jacob!" Arthur glares at his brother from over his glasses. "If we lose this, you're explaining to mom how you lost all of our money in one battle!"

The beanie-wearing kid chokes and goes white as he recalls Shellos into his pokeball.

"Aniki, move in and keep the fight going!" Julian's words snap both Rhydon and Arthur out of their reverie.

"Hammer Arm!" Arthur hastily throws the move out without any further instruction.

Aniki runs forward, ducking under the savage swing of Rhydon's club-like arm, then mirroring what Julian did to him on the night they met, the Machoke grunts and throws a blazing fast uppercut into Rhydon's chin.

Unlike Julian, though, Aniki's punch lifts the nearly half-ton Rock pokemon right off the ground and fifteen feet into the air. Rhydon's aura falters, telling Julian the brain-rattling blow nearly knocked Rhydon out.

"Seismic Toss! One more blow to end the fight!" Julian orders with a wide grin.

Aniki mirrors the grin and hops behind Rhydon before bending his legs and leaping up after his foe. He shoots up, then decelerates into a stop behind the Rock-type, hands outstretched. The Machoke grips Rhydon's tail so hard the armor on the limb cracks, then grunts and torques his whole body mid-air, bending backward until he's parallel with the ground.

Julian's brain is washed with the chilled sensation he's come to associate with Rule of Cool, and he can't help but watch what follows like an eager child.

"Here!" Aniki growls and pulls.

They turn in a full circle, Rhydon getting a glimpse at the ground and then the sky a moment later.

"We!"

They spin again, even faster. Rhydon cries out as the world turns into a blur of color.

"Go!"

Aniki releases Rhydon's tail.

Rhydon shoots into the ground like a cannonball with the wind whistling past him, kicking up a plume of dust, dirt, and rock that covers the whole arena. The entire park is rocked by a miniature earthquake, and several people scream.

Aniki falls down and lands in a crouch, barely visible in the dust.

Slowly, the wind carries the floating dust and debris away, and gasps break out.

In a deep, circular crater of blasted away dirt lies Rhydon, his natural armor spider-webbed with cracks, some of which slowly weep blood. The Rock pokemon lays limp, out cold.

Numbly, Arthur withdraws Rhydon's ball from his pocket and recalls his pokemon in a wordless flash of red. He mouths the words what the fuck was that to himself.

Slowly, Aniki rises back to his full height, grin still in place and aura singing from the victory. Standing there tall and proud in the noon sun, wearing those stars and stripes, he's picturesque in Julian's eyes.

Aniki points a finger at the crater. "That's power, son!" He laughs. "That's power!"

Although none but Julian could understand him, the Fighter's words seem to break the spell keeping the onlookers silent.

One person claps.

Then another.

The whole field breaks out in cheers and applause.

With a grin so wide it hurts a little, Julian walks out onto the field with Aniki meeting him halfway. The Machoke seems to read his mind, as both pokemon and trainer reach out and clasp each other's arms with a clap!

"You killed it out there, brother, just killed it," a laugh bubbles out of Julian's throat. "Hot damn, I knew you were going to be good, but you rocked! To think you could go even harder if you felt like it is mind-boggling to me!"

'...Oh Arceus, Aniki could have gone way harder. When he showed off his full power, he was the closest match to Pops I've ever seen in person. We need to break him out of his control-freak shell.'

Aniki looks away bashfully, face a bit pink. "You're embarrassing me, Jules. I just did the best I could for you, is all."

Julian snickers. "C'mon, everyone can do with some flattery every now and then. Do you feel up for any more battles?"

On Julian's belt, Lulu's ball shakes impatiently.

"...After Lulu gets a turn?"

Aniki touches the cuts on his chest, finding they've already scabbed over. "I'm down."

As the cheers quiet down to an excited buzz, the pair of brothers Julian and Zoey just defeated sullenly walk over, meeting Julian out in the field.

"Good match…" Arthur sighs, face not matching his words. He hands Julian two hundred dollars in twenty dollar bills. "Here's our ante, and you," He turns and glares at his brother. "You better think of a good story to tell mom, because I'm not covering for you."

Jacob, pale and lifeless at the thought of motherly fury, is dragged off by his brother.

With Aniki in tow, Julian walks back to Zoey and counts out five of the twenties with a grin. Five go into his pocket, and the other five are presented to his partner.

"A hundred brouzouf for five minutes of work. Not bad, eh?" Julian's grin begins to fall when Zoey and her Leafeon just stare at him. "Something wrong?"

"No, nothing wrong…" She looks between Julian and Aniki, seemingly searching for something. "I guess I didn't expect a double battle with someone I met today to be that easy," she takes her wallet from her pocket before taking the offered cash, neatly storing it all away.

Julian snorts. "Give yourself some credit, there. You made a nice call at the start of the match with Leafeon's Baby-Doll Eyes. Giving Aniki an opening to disable Rhydon's main weapon made him much easier to deal with." He raises his arms over his head in a stretch, trying to bleed off some of his giddy energy. "Stick around. I know Lulu is itching for a fight, and there are still more punching bags who want to be separated from their money."

While Aniki's performance cowed some of the surrounding trainers, more than a few have auras alight with a cocky competitive spirit and the teen needs no focus to feel those. In fact, now that Arthur and Jacob have vacated the field, Julian can feel two more approaching.

Zoey smiles and puts a hand on her hip. "You know what? I think I might," she says. "Thank you for the help, Leafeon!" Zoey thanks her pokemon before returning the Grass-type to her ball.

"It's my pleasure, Zoey," is Leafeon's cool reply before she's sucked into the pokeball in Zoey's hand.

"So…" Zoey begins as their next challengers, an older teen girl and a slightly younger boy approach. "Got any insight on who to use for this fight? I've got Glameow, Leafeon, my own Shellos, Misdreavus, and Kirlia."

Julian closes his eyes, focusing once more. 'Is that Ice? An Ice-type and a… Psychic-type. They're trying to counter Leafeon and Aniki. Too bad for them.' Opening his eyes again, Julian answers. "Misdreavus will be a good pick, I bet."

They didn't lose a single match that day.