"So... ya'll got a place to stay when we get to Crestwood?" Shifty asked trying to start up a conversation.

"Yeah, our parents own a house in Crestwood near the university, what about you Shifty?" Zeus responded.

"Eh, not yet. I was thinking that I would just get a dorm room."

"Nonsense, stay with us. We need someone to keep us from strangling each other." Zeus said beaming.

"Um, Zeus, it's only a two-bedroom house," Frost said looking between the two.

"We can figure it out." Zeus shot back.

Shifty only shook his head in exasperation before turning back to the road. It was empty apart from a car off in the distance coming towards them. Time seemed to be moving slower than in previous days, maybe because they were all bored, or maybe it was to due seeing nothing but open fields after leaving town. Not even a gas station was in sight.

Just a few more hours of this and we'll be so close to Crestwood. I might just have to take Zeus up on the offer of staying with them, they're nice enough. Shifty was abruptly snapped from his thoughts when Zeus started talking to him.

"So, you want to stay with us Shifty? I'm sure Frost would love to have ya within cuddling distance." Zeus said looking teasingly at his sister who responded by punching him in the shoulder.

"S-sure sounds n-nice," Shifty responded flustered by the comment.

The next thirty minutes were filled with Zeus laughing and teasing the two while Shifty hopelessly searched for somewhere to pull over and get a beverage. Eventually, he saw a gas station and decided that was his best bet.

Zeus elected to sit in the truck while Shifty and Frost went in to pay and get snacks. Shifty knew Zeus did it on purpose, even if he had no way to prove it. He could tell Frost was thinking the same thing by the scowl on her face.

"Sorry about my brother, I've never seen him act this way," Frost said glancing over at Shifty.

"It's fine, he's just being a brother hehe," Shifty responded awkwardly.

The rest of the day was a mix of things, from playing guessing games when bored to Zeus teasing the two. Even the three of them sang along to songs on the radio, even if they all sounded terrible.

That night in the hotel went similarly to the one prior except Shifty and Frost slept in the same bed from the moment they decided to call it a night. The next day went by smoothly with nothing of note as well as the next. Then came the day they arrived in Crestwood.

"Welcome to Crestwood!" The three shouted as they saw the welcome sign go by.

"Finally! We're here!" Zeus shouted looking out the window.

"It's going to be so nice not having to be in a car all day anymore," Frost said in relief as they pulled up to a stoplight.

"Tomorrow we have to go to the university for the tour, then it should be smooth sailing."

"Hey Frost, did your boss manage to transfer you to one of the restaurants here?" Zeus asked glancing over at his sister.

"Thankfully yes."

"Where do you work Frost?" Shifty asked while driving past some tall glass buildings.

"I work at Audino's cafe as a waitress," Frost said proudly.

"Well, I'll have to stop in and see what the place is all about. We only had a couple of small diners in Summit Hills."

"You won't be disappointed, the one Frost is going to be working at is apparently the best location." Zeus chimed in wagging his tail.

"Your destination is on the right." Shifty's phone suddenly said startling the trio out of their conversation.

When Shifty saw the house his jaw might as well have hit the floor, the outside was a mix of brick and walnut siding giving it a nice appeal. It was also fairly large with a wide driveway and a garage. Parking his truck he turned the engine off and unlocked the doors.

All three of them got out of the truck and grabbed their bags before heading inside. Zeus grabbed a key from his bag and unlocked the front door. Stepping inside they were met with a beautiful foyer, the walls were white in the foyer and there was a coat rack.

To the left was a staircase leading to the second floor. To the right was the living room with a large couch and recliner facing a large TV. In the center of the living room was a large orange and black rug with a walnut coffee table in the center. To the left was the kitchen and downstairs bathroom as well as the dining room. The dining room was put together with a round oak table with a few matching chairs.

Going upstairs there were four doors. One room was the upstairs bathroom and another was a large storage closet.

Next was the master bedroom which was home to a large bed and closet, there was also a TV facing the bed. A blue rug in the center of it with the walls painted blue. Zeus and Shifty agreed it would be Frost's bedroom and Zeus would take the smaller one while Shifty just slept on the couch for the time being. The bedroom Zeus was going to be sleeping in was also quite nice with a queen bed and closet of a similar size, it had a smaller TV than the master bedroom but it was still nice.

They all sat in the living room to relax and were deciding where they would get dinner, they ultimately decided on a local cafe that wasn't far from them. They all hopped back into the truck and went off.

The drive was only around two minutes but a lot of it was spent at red lights so it wasn't all that enjoyable for Shifty, Frost and Zeus on the other hand were enjoying the sights.

When Shifty finally parked the truck he got a look at the outside of the cafe, it had glass windows all along the front with a white and pink awning hanging over some tables and chairs to keep them dry when it rained. The inside was quaint with nothing really special but still nice, the pink and white checkered floor brought out mixed emotions from Shifty.

Being a dark type they weren't his ideal colors but he thought they went surprisingly well with the theme of the cafe. Zeus was content with the colors based on the look on his face while Frost adored it. Her smile said it all, as they sat down a Miltank walked over to their table to take their orders.

Shifty went with an Oran berry stuffed donut and some milk while Frost and Zeus got a pecha berry bagel and a cheri bagel respectively.

They ate in silence just savoring the wonderful flavors they were all experiencing. The meal may not have lasted long but none of them cared, they were just happy to have a good meal in their systems.

The rest of the day they spent resting from the journey and sleeping. Shifty found the couch surprisingly comfortable to lay on. This is somehow more comfortable than any bed I've ever laid on. Sweet.

After saying goodnight to Zeus and Frost Shifty fell asleep quickly.

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"Here we are!" Shifty exclaimed as the campus came into view.

The campus was extremely large and had a very modern feel to it. Most of the building had Blue and White walls and there were more windows than Shifty could count. However, one building stood out the most, at the back of the large campus sat a very large futuristic-looking arena with a large glass dome.

While they explored the campus they all looked for their specific classes. Shifty found most of his classes were on the complete opposite side of the campus from one another.

"I'll be getting my steps in at least," Shifty commented as they reached the arena.

"That's certainly one way to look at it," Zeus responded chuckling at Shifty's misfortune.

Shifty and Zeus quickly said goodbye to Frost as they were going to meet their teammates for the upcoming year and they didn't want to be late. Entering the arena left the two of them in awe. It was obvious the interior was still being worked on as there was lots of space that was being filled by workers.

"Ah you two must be a part of the battling team, Grim is waiting on the courts for you all. Though you are the first ones here so good job on being punctual." A Gurdurr said to them pointing down a flight of stairs. They appeared to be putting a stall together for Arceus knows what.

"Thank you," Zeus responded before they headed down the stairs.

The stairs were a lot longer than Shifty or Zeus had expected, it took them a couple of minutes before they reached the court which had a brand new look to it, and in the middle sat Grim as he looked down at a clipboard.

As they got closer Grim looked up at them and beckoned them over. "Hey Zeus, Shifty; get a good look now, this is where you'll be doing a good chunk of your battling for the next few years."

"It's incredible," Zeus said looking around.

"Haha, I told the school they went a bit overboard for a first-time battling program but they insisted on building the biggest and most advanced arena they could, and who am I to say no? Anywho, we're just waiting for the rest of the team to get here, which shouldn't be much longer."

So the three of them waited patiently for a whole three minutes until they saw six Pokemon enter from the stairs.

"Ah perfect, right on time. Welcome everyone."

Shifty took the time to look at the newcomers, standing before Shifty were a Floragato, Arcanine, Flareon, Furret, Swellow, and a Raichu that Shifty recognized as Makoto. Makoto saw Shifty and ran up to him and bumped into him.

"Hey Shifty, didn't expect to see you here!" Makoto shouted excitedly.

"Hey Makoto, I don't remember you being this energetic last time we talked."

"Well last time we talked I was nervous for the semi-finals, I have nothing to be nervous about right now haha! I'm also just glad to see a familiar face!"

Shifty noticed the confused faces of their teammates and couldn't help but chuckle. "We met during a tournament, we were both in the semi-finals. We also both ended up losing."

"One of us losing more dramatically!" Makoto said jabbing Shifty in the side.

Their teammates still had a surprised expression, except for Zeus who was nodding. Shifty quickly connected the dots and looked at the ground.

Grim also seemed to take notice. "Alright, seeing as everyone's here, why don't we do some introductions. I'll go ahead and start, I am Coach Grim, I battled professionally for ten years and now I'm your coach. Makoto, why don't you go next."

"Of course! I'm Makoto, I'm from Harmony and I've been battling since I was ten!"

Zeus went next, "I'm Zeus, I'm from Mountain Haven and I've been battling since I was seven."

The Flareon decided to go next. "My name is Flare, I'm from Hillcrest City and I've been battling since I was eleven."

The Furret was next, "You can call me Iggy, I'm from Meadowville and I've been battling for three years."

"I'm Javelin, I grew up in Pine Valley and I have been battling for seven years." The Spearow said giving a side eye to everyone.

"My name is Helios and I grew up in Volca, I've been battling for nine years." Helios the Arcanine said giving them all a friendly smile.

The Floragato stepped forward next, "My name is Meadow, I grew up in Grove Hills and I've been battling for four years."

And finally, it was Shifty's turn, taking a deep breath he started speaking. "I am Shifty, I grew up in Summit Hills and I've been battling since I was four."

"Okay, now with that all out of the way..."

"Hold on a moment! I thought that this team would possibly take battling seriously, so why is some random Zorua here?" Javelin said interrupting Grim.

Shifty just rolled his eyes, meanwhile Zeus and Makoto both had surprised looks on their faces.

"Well, I guess I'll be naming the lineup first then. Okay, so our reserve for this season is going to be you Javelin. You are inexperienced and lack the power behind your attacks to win matches often."

"That's ridiculous! anyone with half a brain could tell I'm the best battler on the team, I mean just look at me!"

"Javelin... you have one career win and you battled in the weakest overall region on the continent, and that win was against someone doing their first organized battle... need I say more."

"Well, who has the most career wins then?" Javelin said not backing down.

"That is actually a three-way tie between Zeus, Makoto, and Shifty. They all have twenty-four, but Shifty has the most tournament-related wins with six." If Grim didn't have everyone's attention before he did now.

"Now if there are no more interruptions, Iggy is battling at the seven spot, which means he will be matched up against the opponent's number seven battler."

Iggy nodded in approval as Grim continued. "Alright, Our number six battler will be Meadow, number five will be Flare, number four will be Helios, number three will be Makoto, and then number one will be Shifty. Any questions about the lineup? No? Good."

Grim quickly looked over his clipboard before continuing. "Okay so next up I'll be going over how the schedule will work, first there are two different kinds of matches. First and the most common match will be Lineup matches, which will have your opponent be based on where you are in your team's lineup. Then there is the free-for-all, which is where all seven members of both lineups will face off against each other at once, those only usually happen during midseason invitationals. So this season we won't have any of those kinds of matches as we are not eligible. Then the regular season is twenty matches long and then there are conference championships." Grim took a deep breath and looked at each of them before continuing further.

"Now comes the end of season tournaments, now there are two different tournaments at the end of the season. The Team Tournament, and the Player Invitational Tournament. The Team Tournament is when the team as a whole is selected to compete for the Continental Championship, the Player Invitational Tournament is for certain players who get invited to the tournament. This is for players whose team didn't make the Team Tournament, it's kind of a way for players on weaker teams to showcase what they can do for pro teams. I'll give you guys all a little pamphlet that has all this information so you can understand what all I said, but once the season starts I'll need ya'll to give it your all because we want to be in the Team Tournament for the most exposure for each one of you. Next Friday the season schedule will be released so you can just pick one up from me when the time comes. For now rest up because once the school year starts practices won't be easy, and the matches will be the hardest of your life."

With those final words, Grim walked away from them towards the exit and they all followed suit.

When they exited the arena Frost walked up to them smiling. "Hey guys, how'd it go?"

"Went great, found out the team lineup, and ran into someone Shifty knows apparently," Zeus responded.

"One conversation while recovering after we both lost our matches during a tournament," Shifty said rolling his eyes.

"Did you ever manage to find out who won?" Makoto asked Shifty.

"Lily won, apparently it was a match for the ages. This was the first time that the tournament had to have a judge's decision because both battlers were unable to continue at the same time. They apparently considered having a rematch but neither was in any shape to battle for a few weeks so Sprout got second, you were placed fourth and I was placed third."

"Makes sense, I nearly fainted immediately and your match had that dramatic ending where you both just stood there waiting for the other to faint! I was awake towards the end of that match and man I was disappointed that you lost. The underdog trying to capture his school's first championship just to come up short. But hey, that's all the more reason to make it pro huh? Put your hometown on the map!" Makoto said patting Shifty on the shoulder.

"Was it really that exciting?" Frost asked giving Makoto a confused look.

"That whole tournament was incredible, so many new faces in the tournament. Where were you ranked at the start of the tournament Shifty? I know you weren't that high up but I never checked other mon's ranks."

"I was ranked twentieth out of thirty. That was the furthest anyone out of the top fifteen made it in the tournament."

"Yeah, I was ranked fifth so finishing in the top four was pretty good, but ranked twentieth and finishing in the top three is incredible."

"Dang, bring that underdog talent this season and we may make the Team Tournament. Now what do you guys say about getting something to eat, I'm famished."

This chapter did take longer than I expected, but here's hoping the next one comes out sooner. But knowing how I am that's not very likely.