“Bro, how many points do you have now?” Flavio asked. Melody leaned in, eyebrows raised.

  I opened my Pokédex. My eyes widened.

  Student ID: #202501004

  Name: Gabriel Santos

  Grade: First Year

  Ranking: Unranked (63 pts)

  Courses

  Training 101 – 11 pts

  Battling 101 – 12 pts

  Pokémon Care – 5 pts

  Physical Conditioning – 10 pts

  Battle Wins – 25 pts

  Team

  Teddiursa (Teddy) – Level 13

  Totodile Egg – Level 0

  So Teddy leveled up from the Bagon fight. No surprise. Still… Sixty-three points?

  “Take a look,” I said, flipping the screen toward them.

  Melody blinked. Melody blinked. “Sixty-three? I’m barely at thirty-nine—and that’s with four bonus points!”

  “I’m at thirty-five,” Flavio sighed. “Which I guess is standard if you showed up all week and didn’t screw anything up. I even lost the Normal-type mini battle. No bonus for me.”

  “At least you’re not in last,” I said. “Jeremy’s probably Twenty-five points below everyone else now.”

  Flavio laughed. “Yeah, that’s gonna hurt.”

  He scrolled on his Pokédex. “We still need two more battles. Have you checked your challenges yet?”

  “I haven’t.”

  “How many do you think you’ve got?” Melody asked.

  I tapped open the Challenge tab.

  “Seventeen.”

  “Seventeen?!” Flavio echoed. “Man, they really don’t know what Teddy can do.”

  “They’re underestimating Teddy,” I said.

  I scrolled until I saw her name—Irene Redstone—and hit accept. A messaging window opened. Finally.

  “Teddy, we’re popular now.”

  He yawned and rubbed his belly.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Flavio flicked through his challengers. “There’s a Machop here—Max, I think. Could be fun to have a proper fighting-type duel.”

  “I’ve got a Shinx,” I said. “Might be good practice before I face Irene.”

  Melody pointed to her screen. “Colton. He’s using a Kantoan Vulpix. Not a good matchup for Meli, but hey—could be fun to have a mirror match.”

  “That’s what these battles are for,” I said. “Test stuff out. Learn. Score points. We need three, right?”

  “Let’s train first,” Flavio said. “Teddy could show Meli and Koa a thing or two.”

  Teddy perked up at the sound of his name. Suddenly, he wasn’t tired anymore. He puffed out his chest as Meli and Koa trotted over, giving him their full attention. Teddy gave a few grunts and gestures like he was giving orders. Show-off.

  “What moves do they know?” I asked.

  Melody handed me her screen.

  Alolan Vulpix (Meli)

  Level: 9

  Type: Ice

  Moves: Powder Snow (Initial), Tail Whip (Initial), Disable (Initial), Ice Shard (Early), Baby-Doll Eyes (Initial), Moonblast (Initial)

  “Only Ice Shard’s at Early Mastery?” I asked. “You’ll want to work on that before the Vulpix fight.”

  “She inherited Moonblast from her dad—my brother’s Sylveon. That’s probably why she has Baby-Doll Eyes too.”

  “That’ll help. Teddy can train her on Baby-Doll Eyes. And Disable might be useful to shut down Ember, maybe.”

  “Good idea.” Melody looked fired up.

  Flavio showed me his Pokédex.

  Hawlucha (Koa)

  Level: 7

  Type: Fighting/Flying

  Moves: Tackle (Early), Hone Claws (Early), Wing Attack (Early)

  “Solid training across the board,” I said. “Wing Attack gives you an edge against Machop, but your move variety’s limited.”

  “I know. Right now, Koa’s a three-note melody.”

  “How about a practice battle?” Flavio asked. “Just… don’t go full power this time.”

  I smirked. “Deal.”

  We were still in the Battle Center, so we stepped onto one of the open fields. Teddy padded forward. Flavio and Koa took the opposite side.

  “Melody, want to ref?”

  She stepped forward, grinning. “1v1 battle. First to faint or surrender. Begin!”

  “Koa, show them what you’ve got!”

  Hawlucha sprang forward, claws glowing red, spinning in mid-air before landing in a pose with energy radiating off him.

  “Koa—Wing Attack!”

  “Teddy, Counter.”

  Koa’s wings gleamed white as he launched forward.

  Teddy tanked the hit and delivered almost twice the damage back, sending Koa flying back.

  “Finish him with Play Rough!”

  Teddy surged forward, his body bursting into pink-white light as Play Rough ignited. The glow swallowed them both.

  When it cleared, Koa lay unconscious.

  Flavio returned him quietly.

  “You call that going easy?”

  “Teddy gets excited,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “I kind of… forgot to tell him not to go all out.”

  Flavio shook his head. “Two fights back-to-back. You should have him checked out.”

  I looked down. Teddy was sprawled out, breathing hard. I knelt beside him.

  “You crushed it, buddy.”

  He gave me a lazy grin, too tired to stand but proud all the same. I smiled back and returned him to his Pokéball.

  I turned to Melody. “Sorry. We’ll have our match later.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said. “When I beat you, it’s gonna be fair.”

  As we left the field, I looked at my Pokédex again—63 points. Seventeen challenges to choose from. Teddy at Level 13.

  We weren’t just catching up.

  We were climbing to the top.

  And everyone was going to notice.