“Okay Growly, watch Mimi closely. That is Iron Head. Iron. Head. You understand?”

  Chloe was on the deck of the boat, the SS Northern Lady, attempting to cajole her unruly little dragon into some training. It wasn't going well. She wasn't sure if he was even listening as he gnawed away on a big chew that she had bought for him back in Snowpoint. The guy at the store claimed that it was good for his teeth. She wasn't entirely sure how accurate that was, but he certainly seemed to like it. He liked it so much that she really should have bought several. This one was already falling apart.

  Fiona meanwhile was having far more success with her own dragon. Noodle was proving to be a model battler, jumping to instructions as swiftly as either Thistle or Heather.

  Chloe suppressed a surge of jealousy. Growly wasn't disobedient. He was just… slow. Different. It wasn't his fault, he was a baby! He was also not that much younger than Mimi was when they first met, and Mimi listened very well…

  That wasn't fair. Growly was doing his best. He was just from another time. Still, she had no idea how she was supposed to get him tournament ready.

  “Now that's not something you see every day.”

  A male voice and the sound of approaching footsteps had Chloe looking up to see a man walking over to her. Her eyes widened as she recognised the wizened face of the captain. She popped to her feet and gave a clumsy salute.

  He laughed, and returned it with his own sloppy gesture.

  “At ease, sailor,” he said, before his gaze turned to Mr Growly.

  “Quite the Pokemon,” he remarked.

  “Umm, thanks,” Chloe said, “I found him in Coronet.”

  The captain nodded, “Strange place that mountain.”

  He watched Growly chew away for a moment, before speaking again.

  “Having trouble getting him to listen?”

  Chloe sighed.

  “He’s a good boy, he’s just… different.”

  The captain laughed again.

  “That's fossil Pokemon for you. I had the same issue with my Tirtouga when we first met.”

  Chloe's eyes brightened.

  “You have a Tirtouga?”

  “Carracosta now,” he replied, “He’s swimming beneath us now, keeping any troublemakers away.”

  “How did you get him to listen?” Chloe asked, “If you don't mind me asking.”

  “Food.”

  “Food?” repeated Chloe.

  “Food,” confirmed the captain.

  “Fossils aren't like regular Pokemon. They don't have the same social instincts. You have to condition them to follow instructions first, before you can teach them battling.”

  Chloe frowned. It made sense.

  “So, I just bribe him with food?”

  The captain shook his head.

  “You could try, but from what I know of Tyrunt, a different approach would work better.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment, before responding.

  “Tyrunt are famously spoiled brats. Bribing him probably won't help, he’ll assume he deserved the food anyway, not see it as a reward. So if the carrot won't work, the stick is the way forward.”

  Chloe's eyes widened.

  “I’m not hitting Growly with a stick!”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  The captain raised his hands, chuckling again despite himself.

  “No, no. Not what I meant. Let me guess, you’ve been indulging him the way you do the rest, hoping that he will grow attached and start listening.”

  “I… yeah, that's right,” Chloe admitted.

  “What you should be doing is the opposite. You need to be strict. Enforce discipline.”

  “How do I do that?” Chloe asked, looking across at where Growly was currently menacing a deck chair.

  “Observe.”

  The captain walked over, grabbed Growly by the scruff of his neck. Chloe's eyes widened as Growly meekly allowed the captain to drag him over to Chloe.

  “The back of the neck is how their parents would carry them,” he explained to a gobsmacked Chloe. “A firm grip will trigger his ‘shut up and listen’ brain.”

  “Doesn't that hurt him?” Chloe asked, fingers itching to go rescue her boy.

  “Not at all. He can barely feel it. A solid smack on the nose will work too. Nothing hard, just enough to make him notice.”

  He demonstrated by giving Growly a boop.

  “Bad. No chewing chairs,” he said.

  Growly, to Chloe’s amazement, didn't protest. The captain released his neck, and Growly immediately darted to hide behind Chloe.

  Chloe looked down at her cowering dinosaur. She almost melted, but she held firm.

  “No eating chairs,” she confirmed.

  “You can still baby him,” the captain said, seeing the war in Chloe’s eyes, “But be firm when you need to be. He doesn't need encouragement, he has the enthusiasm. He needs discipline.”

  Chloe nodded.

  “I guess I can try,” she agreed.

  “You’ll do fine,” he said, “You have the spark.”

  Chloe blushed, and changed the subject.

  “How come you know so much about fossil types?”

  The captain grinned.

  “I did a lot of underwater caving. Spent years digging fossils up. It's how I met my Tirtouga.”

  “That sounds amazing,” Chloe said.

  “It was. But now I run this boat. It's not as exciting, but it's plenty rewarding getting to see youngsters like you and your friend, and occasionally offering some advice.”

  Chloe looked down at Growly, who was obediently waiting by her side.

  “Thank you, you were a big help.”

  “My pleasure,” he replied with a salute, “Helping the youngsters is my job. Good luck.”

  Chloe emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered, to find Fiona sitting cross-legged on her bed with her laptop and a notebook, writing something down.

  “What are you doing?” Chloe asked, moving over to grab her hair dryer.

  “Hmm? Oh, just research,” Fiona replied idly.

  “Research?” Chloe asked.

  “Yeah, for the tournament.”

  Chloe dropped her hair dryer in surprise, staring at Fiona, eyes wide.

  Fiona looked up.

  “What?” she asked defensively.

  “I just… you know. I didn't picture you as the researching sort.”

  Fiona snorted.

  “I don't do much, but yeah, I do some.”

  “Wow. Awesome! What sort of research are you doing?” Chloe asked, picking up her hair dryer to go sit next to Fiona on the bed.

  “I’m checking out some of the two badge Aces we might encounter there,” Fiona replied, positioning the screen so Chloe could see.

  It was the official page for a trainer named Aaron Coombes. It gave a small profile, he was apparently seventeen and from Johto, as well as containing links to his battles and interviews. It also had a link to his community board, which, as Chloe discovered when Fiona followed it, contained the real information.

  Chloe was stunned at the sheer amount of… stuff there was. The fan-made and moderated page contained a profile for every one of his known Pokemon, and discussions on his strategy.

  “Woah, this Aaron guy is popular,” Chloe remarked.

  Fiona snorted, “Not really, this is about normal for a two badge Ace. You should see my page. I wouldn't say I’m popular, but it's way more active.”

  “Why wouldn't you be popular?” Chloe asked, genuine confusion in her tone. “You’re awesome.”

  Fiona raised an eyebrow, “I’m a raging bitch of a nepo baby, remember?”

  “Oh, right. That.”

  Chloe reached over to give Fiona a side hug.

  “That's okay Fi, I know that you're awesome. You're definitely a bitch though.”

  “I am pretty awesome, aren't I?” Fiona replied, “But, I really don't give a shit what they think about me.”

  “Mmm? And that's why you have your own page open in another tab, is it?” Chloe asked in a teasing voice.

  Fiona froze.

  “It's not like that,” she said quickly, “I want to know what they think my weaknesses are.”

  “Mhm, sure thing Fi.”

  They sat in silence for a moment, the only noise being the sound of Chloe drying her hair, before she spoke again.

  “So, are you going to show me?” she asked.

  “Show you what?”

  “Your page. I wanna see!”

  “Yeah, no,” Fiona replied.

  Chloe rolled her eyes, “Come on Fi, you know I’m just going to look it up myself anyway.”

  Fiona sighed.

  “Fine, whatever.”

  She switched tabs to bring up her own profile.

  “Woah, there are a lot of comments,” Chloe said, impressed, “And this is all about you?”

  “Mostly,” Fiona replied, “You get mentioned as well.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “Because we declared a mutual rivalry on camera?” Fiona deadpanned. “Remember?”

  “Oh yeah, we did. Shift over, let me see.”

  Chloe shuffled so that she was sitting next to Fiona, shoulders and thighs pressing together as she got in close to see the screen properly.

  “I wanna see what they're saying about your team,” Chloe said, “Scroll back up.”

  Fiona dutifully moved up to the discussions on her Pokemon, revealing a detailed list, and full profiles on all of them. Chloe read the entry for Thistle:

  Rufflet:

  Name: Thistle

  Sex: Male

  Known Moves:

  Heatwave

  Aerial Ace

  Tailwind

  Air Cutter

  Slash

  Hone Claws

  Acrobatics

  Notes:

  Thistle is Fiona’s most known Pokemon. She has used him as her opener in both of her gym battles, and in all of the known battles from her time in Trainer School. He is fast, with excellent reflexes and utterly fearless, as is the norm for his species. Thistle was assumed to be her starter, until Fiona stated that he was not.

  Below that were a ton of comments, which Chloe read with growing awe. However, she soon found herself frowning as she read.

  “Everything is just talking about how strong or fast he is, or trying to compare him to other Pokemon. It's all about battling.”

  Fiona shrugged, “Yeah? What else would it be about?”

  “How fluffy and determined and brave he is! He's not just a robot for battling!”

  Chloe reached over to grab her phone, typing furiously.

  “What are you doing?” Fiona asked.

  “Fixing this,” Chloe replied without looking up.

  Chloe quickly found Fiona's page, signed in to her trainer account, and began to type.

  Chloe_Bellamy: Thistle is the fluffiest, best boy I know! He’s perfect in every way!

  Then, for good measure, she dropped comments on all of Fiona's other Pokemon, making sure everyone knew exactly how fantastic they were.

  “There,” she said, satisfied, “Now they know.”

  That's when she realised Fiona was laughing.