Tanyu didn't know how long he'd been staring at the girl and her Vulpix. The more he looked, the more the memory caused him to begin to tear up. A smile formed on his face as the happy memory ran through his mind. Wiping his face, Tanyu turned away, only to be met with a pair of black eyes and glasses that seemed to be staring him down.

"Uh...can I help you?" Tanyu inquired, getting a raised brow from the woman before him.

"That depends," the woman stated, her eyes drinking in the amethyst gems that were staring back at her. "Is your mother's name Lydia?"

Pokémon

Moon's Rising

'Umikūmālua

Tanyu fixed the woman with a serious look. Who was she? And how did she know his mother?

"It is...what of it?" Tanyu replied with narrowed eyes.

And there's that attitude, the woman thought, a soft chuckle slipping out as she envisioned Lydia standing right beside the young man in front of her. Same eyes, same face. Yep, this is definitely Lydia's boy, she mused, dawning an amused smile as she observed him.

"You certainly have your mother's looks, and by the sound of things, her attitude as well," she added, getting a confused expression from Tanyu. "Oh! How rude of me. My name is Emily, I'm a teacher here at the Trainer School!" Emily informed in an excited tone.

I'm just going to stop being surprised by the energy of these people, Tanyu sighed inwardly, maintaining eye-contact with Emily as she spoke. "Thanks for the...compliment?"

"You know, I was told that Lydia had a son, but," Emily smirked, adjusting her glasses as her eyes trailed over him in a studious manner, "I never expected to meet her male equivalent."

"This is all very flattering, but where are you going with this?" Tanyu asked, slightly irritated by the current topic of conversation.

Emily's smile grew as she heard the tone in his voice. Reaching down to her belt, Emily unhitched a sphere and expanded it.

"Does this answer your question?" Emily inquired, watching as Tanyu's expression shifted from light annoyance to a combination of serious and excited. There's that look...

"Now you've caught my attention," Tanyu grinned, reaching down for one of his partners as well.

As the two exchanged glances, one of the students who was out playing with the other kids, stopped what he was doing and beckoned the others.

"Hey everyone! Teacher Emily's gonna battle!" The student exclaimed, prompting everyone to scamper towards the site of the soon-to-be underway battle.

"We've got company it seems," Tanyu stated, priming the ball in his hand as he readied himself for the confrontation.

"It's always like this. Just think of this as another way to welcome you to the island," Emily grinned, hefting her first partner a few times before locking eyes with Tanyu. "Ready?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Tanyu replied, gripping his sphere as he met her gaze.

"Let's begin then. Magneton, time to battle!" Emily shouted, releasing the magnetic Pokémon from its chamber.

"Meowth, battle's on!" Tanyu declared, thrusting the Scratch Cat into action.

The feline immerged onto the playground with a stretch and a yawn, her eyes slowly shifting to survey her surroundings. Sitting down, she began to scratch the back of her right ear, a disinterested look on her face as she observed her opponent.

Great. A Steel-type, and an evolved one at that. Starting my journey on hard mode it seems. I guess I can live with that, Tanyu pondered, knitting his brows as he tried to come up with a strategy for the situation at hand.

"Well, are you gonna attack, or stand there pulling a Lydia?" Emily asked, getting a raised brow from Tanyu.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Tanyu shot back, clenching his fists slightly.

"Nothing, she just thinks way too much," Emily added, tapping her chin. "Then again, we all have our faults. I tend to ramble on a lot and-"

"Flatter!" Tanyu ordered.

"Ack! Oh no you don't! Magneton, Thunderbolt!" Emily countered.

Meowth, released a torrent of crimson waves towards the floating trio of magnets, only for it to miss as it was deftly evaded. Magneton powered up its magnets and hurled a blast of lightning that tore through the air, powering into the ground behind Meowth as she barely slipped away from the deadly blast. Tanyu looked at the charred grass that was left in wake of the assault, nervousness creeping up on him as he turned back to the fight at hand.

This isn't going to be easy. I'll have to keep her on her toes. Meowth's attacks aren't going to be very effective unless I risk Flatter, Tanyu contemplated, watching as Meowth avoided yet another bolt with her quick reflexes.

"Magnet Bomb!" Emily commanded.

"Fury Swipes!" Tanyu countered, knowing Meowth couldn't avoid this particular attack.

Several white spheres formed around Magneton and hovered for but a moment before launching themselves towards Meowth. Extending her claws, Meowth lashed out at the incoming bombs, carving through each one as they came. As she occupied herself with the bombs, a few exploded at her feet, sending her flying away.

Meowth skidded across the ground, her claws scraping across the dirt of the playground in attempts to regain her footing. She looked up to see yet another set of bombs coming her way, forcing her to dig in. As they closed in, she sprang up high at the last second, the bombs exploding beneath her. She landed in front of the smoldering ground behind her and hissed at the floating magnet trio.

"Your Meowth's pretty scrappy. You caught a real fighter there," Emily commented.

Tanyu shifted his gaze towards Meowth, noting how exhausted she was getting from the battle. She had several bruises already and her fur was a mess. She was breathing heavily. Tanyu heaved a sigh and reached for Meowth's ball.

"Good job girl, I think we know where we stand on this one," Tanyu said with a smile, recalling Meowth into her ball.

"You did well Magneton, come back and rest," Emily stated, recalling her magnetic friend.

Her eyes trailed up to Tanyu's, taking note of how calm he seemed. "You knew just when to throw in the towel. It's always good to think of our companions over victory."

Tanyu shrugged and nodded. "She looked tired. I knew that if I tried to push her it wouldn't end well. That," Tanyu paused, fixing Emily with a serious look, "and you're clearly the stronger of the two of us."

Emily shook her head and laughed. "That don't matter, what matters is the bond you share with your Pokémon. Trainers and Pokémon are only as strong as the bond between them," Emily lectured.

Tanyu paused for a moment, letting what she'd just said sink in. It was an odd thing to hear. Then again, he'd been friends with someone who could talk to Pokémon, so there was that.

A bond huh? Tanyu thought, N's words echoing in his mind once again as he pondered the thought. It must be more to do with that whole choosing thing Hala talked about.

"Yo yo yo! What's goin' down over here?" Came an obnoxious masculine voice from behind.

"Looks like we got a couple of trainers yo!" Came another voice, prompting Tanyu to turn his head to see the source of the annoyance.

Before him stood two individuals garbed in black tank-tops, white sneakers and shorts. A bandanna was tied around their mouth while a cap with skull-like eyes adorned their heads. Both wore shorts, the difference being the female's were white and torn. Tanyu gave them a slow once-over.

"And just what are you supposed to be?" Tanyu said, unamused by the duo before him.

"They're-" Emily began, only to be interrupted by the oddly dressed twosome.

"We're Team Skull yo! The baddest brotha's and sistahs around! You don't mess with the best yo!" The male stated, his hands moving into different poses as he spoke.

"That's right yo! Ain't nobody harder than us," the woman added quickly.

"Do you hear that? It's the sound of no one caring," Tanyu retorted bluntly, getting an appalled reaction from the thuggish individuals before him.

"Yo what'd you just say bruh!? I'll buss you up right here!" The male thug growled.

"The two of you would be wise not to make a scene in front of the keikis," Emily said flatly.

"And what you gonna do teach? We ain't your students. You don't own us yo!" The woman shot back.

Emily sighed and shifted her attention to Tanyu. "It seems these two aren't inclined to listen are they? Students? Pay close attention here. This is an example of what happens when disrespect is shown," Emily said as she reached for Magneton's ball. "Tanyu, join me..."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Tanyu smirked, reaching down to grab hold of Rowlet's ball, priming it to release the owl into the fray.

"Yo sis, let's check these fools! Zubat, fight time yo!"

"Right behind you brah! Gastly, let's buss'em up!"

Tanyu frowned as the Gastly appeared on the field. It was a Ghost and Poison-type, which put Rowlet at a huge disadvantage. Zubat was also concerning. Remembering he had a few potions in his bag, he shrunk Rowlet's ball and reached for Meowth's.

"Meowth, battle's on girl!" Tanyu shouted fiercely, sending the ferocious feline into battle.

Meowth materialized and staggered forward with a wince. As Tanyu was about to spray the potion on her, an uneasy feeling took over, forcing him to swiftly dive for Meowth, tucking and rolling with her as a blast of air crashed into the ground where Meowth would have been. Tanyu shot the thug a glare, his amethyst eyes flickering with slight malice at the action that occurred.

Swiftly spraying Meowth with the potion, the Scratch Cat hissed in irritation, only to feel all of her wounds begin to close up. Tanyu and Meowth both refocused their attention on their adversaries.

"Attacking before we can get set up is a bit of a cowardly thing to do," Tanyu said through gritted teeth. "Not only do you have no brains, you have no honor either," Tanyu spat.

"Yo, ain't nobody got time for that! This is a battle, and we're here to-"

"Thunderbolt!"

The high pitched screech of Zubat was heard, followed by him collapsing to the ground in a heap after being blasted by a powerful burst of lightning.

"Yo! Not cool teach!" The male thug growled.

"Hmmm? I'm sorry, what was that? You're sore about that, but it was perfectly fine for you to do what you did earlier? I don't think so," Emily snapped back.

"You're gonna pay for that! Gastly, use Shadow Ball!"

"Meowth, use Flatter!" Tanyu interjected.

Gastly opened his mouth wide, gathering ethereal energies inside in the form of a ghostly looking sphere. Before the ball of poisonous gas could react, Meowth had fired off a wave of crimson energy in his direction, the attack connecting and sending Gastly into a confused fit. Power flooded the ball of gas, however, due to the state his mind was in, it was all for naught.

"What'd you do yo!" The female thug hollered, getting a smirk from Tanyu.

"It's my strategy, something you don't seem too familiar with," Tanyu muttered, cracking his knuckles while Meowth sharpened her claws.

"Now, since Emily took down Zubat, I guess Meowth will have to sharpen her claws on Gastly. Punishment!" Tanyu commanded.

A dark aura surrounded Meowth's frame as power rushed through her like a roaring flame. With a loud battle cry, she lashed out at Gastly, claws encased in darkness as she slashed across the gaseous orb's face, sending him spiraling through the air before falling on his face, out of the fight.

"That was wack yo!" Said the woman, her eyes popping out in astonishment.

"Yo, let's bounce sis. These fools are killin' our vibes," the male thug frowned, recalling his fallen Zubat.

"Remember this yo, Team Skull neva forgets stuff like this! We'll be back yo!" The male grunt called out as they began to leave.

"Is there a problem here?" Came an unfamiliar voice, causing the crowd to turn around.

"Oh shoot yo! It's the Captain, let's blow this joint!"

Tanyu has met with an old friend of his mother's; Emily! Since it was necessary, I had him take a loss here to establish some sort of balance with him. Like a lot of OC's I've seen, they tend to get a little too overpowered from the very start. I'm going to do my best to avoid that with Tanyu, and save all the kick-ass stuff for his progression. He's a strategist, and like most of them, they plan carefully, every move they make. If he sees no way out of a current situation, he'll make a tactical decision based on his assumptions, like throwing in the towel so his Meowth wouldn't get anymore beat up than she was.

He also knew that Rowlet wouldn't do him any good in this particular matchup either. Rowlet's just starting and while Meowth is tough, she wouldn't have been able to hang in there for very long. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! More is on the way. Captain Ilima is here!

Ciao!