The Beginning Of The End [1/2]

The following day, Max and his pokemon were awoken very early by some maids, to Mad-Ji's demand. Not even giving them the time to eat their breakfast, Mad-Ji made them run all across the garden, just to wake them up. The sun had barely started rising half an hour later and Mad-Ji was sitting on the patio's fence, screaming at them.

{Come on, you lazy pack of slugs! If you want to get stronger, at least put some effort into this warm-up!} She yelled with crossed arms. {You're all so sluggish, you're starting to look like a group of disabled shellos!}

Max's pokemon, minus Luna who wasn't present, were doing pretty fine since they were physically in shape, but Max along with Scarlet, who was instructed to run on her legs like the others, wasn't doing so well. Both were visibly exhausted as they were going at the same speed, with Max slightly slowing down so Scarlet could keep up.

{Damnit! My legs… extremities hurt!} Scarlet complained.

{Keep running on them Doll-Face, and you will get used to it. Now move!} Mad-Ji shouted before launching a Shadow Ball close behind them, making them go a little faster.

They then ran a little bit more until Mad-Ji was out of sight.

"You doing… okay?" Max asked, worried about his gardevoir.

{No… my legs… are about to burst.}

"You can do it... Scarlet. I believe… in you."

{Easy for you... to say…}

"If this is only… a warm-up… I'm scared of what… she will do next."

{Don't make me… think about that. I already want to die.}

A moment later, Bonny and Aurora got past them.

{Come on, slowpokes. We already have a couple of laps ahead of you.} Bonny nagged before they were already far away.

{That rabbit… she will get… what is coming for her.} Scarlet growled between breaths.

"You should… save your breath… for running."

{Don't… tell me what to do.}

"Just… saying."

After another half an hour, they could finally take a break, with Scarlet panting the most, closely followed by Max.

"I don't understand. I trained… with you girls… all the time. I thought… I should be able to keep up better than this." Max expressed.

{This is real training Nemako, not one of your fuck sessions.} Mad-Ji responded. {Alright, warm-up over. You have forty-five minutes to eat your breakfast and get back here. For every minute you're late… actually, no. I think I'll save it as a surprise if you delay me. So by all means, take as much time as you'd like.} She informed them with a slightly sadistic grin.

With the group catching their breath, they headed inside.

{Wait.} Mad-Ji said while stopping Max.

Upon noticing, Scarlet stopped to look at him, wondering what was going on. After a brief glare from Mad-Ji, she glared back a short moment before continuing.

{...Where's the zoroark?} Mad-Ji asked.

"I… don't really know. She could be anywhere."

{When I asked everyone, I meant everyone.}

"I know, but Luna is a very free spirit. Even after catching her in a pokeball, she stayed quite wild."

{I don't really care. However, if she doesn't participate, then she's on her own. No way I'm wasting my energy and time guarding someone so undisciplined.}

"Luna can fend for herself. Despite her appearance, she's pretty strong."

{Pfft. Not for long, she ain't. After I'm done with all of you, she will fall behind.}

"She's not that much into fighting, so I wonder if she will even bother. Though, the more I get to know her, the more I realize that she's just a bit lazy."

{What part of 'I don't care' did you not understand? Forty-three minutes and counting, go before you miss the only source of energy I'll allow you to have.} Mad-Ji said before walking away.

Briefly scratching the back of his head, Max headed inside as well, where he joined the others for breakfast.

"Rough morning?" Helene engaged when he sat at the table.

"Yeah," Max replied. "I wonder how I'll survive the entire day like this."

"It sure seems difficult."

"Yeah, but I have to do this, especially not after the beating I just went through."

"You won't have it easy though," Aristide commented.

"I figured that..."

"No, I mean she will do everything in her power to make you fail. If I were to tell you that a long time ago she became an instructor, what do you think is the reason she didn't last very long in that position?"

"Because… she was too violent?"

"Indeed, but it wasn't the main reason. To her, weakness shouldn't even exist, at all. She pushed all of her trainees way beyond their limits, which resulted in them pretty much failing their boot camp, thus bringing her squad's success ratio to nearly zero percent. The very few individuals that did manage to survive her training were already exceptional. She is extremely demanding to a fault, and normal people can't succeed with her."

"That was unnecessary, honey." Helene intervened. "Don't discourage him."

"I'm not, I am simply making him understand what he's about to go through. I don't know what you were thinking when you asked her to train you, but it's almost a death wish." He added, making the room completely silent. "However… she may have seen something inside you if you were able to convince her."

"Yeah, my guts. I almost saw them myself." Max replied sarcastically.

"If she truly thought you were that weak, she would have never accepted."

"I didn't really 'convince' her. She tried to kill me, and when she saw that I survived, she accepted."

"If she really wanted you dead, you would already be on your way to the Hall of Origins, no doubt. She probably hit you with an attack that you were meant to endure, whether you could survive it or not. And another thing, if she didn't sense something in you, she wouldn't even give you a chance."

"So what? I'm like 'the chosen one,' or something like that?"

"Not really. You're probably just someone who can withstand pokemon attacks better than the average human."

{It makes sense. You did endure a lot of mistreatments since you started your journey, both physically and mentally.} Scarlet pointed out.

{Yeah. You survived when I went berserk during my first mega-evolution.} Bonny mentioned.

{You also endured a few of my attacks when you first caught me.} Aurora mentioned as well.

{You've managed to stay on your feet despite living horrible things.} Dusk stated.

{Maybe that's what she saw. Maybe she sensed that you could actually keep up with her training, or at least stay alive.} Aurora said.

"...I don't know."

{I've said this from the very beginning, master. You are exceptional, in more ways than one.} Scarlet reminded him.

"We'll see. I have yet to get through today before praising myself."

"You're the best. I'm sure you will show her just that." Dimitri claimed.

"Hehe, thanks."

{Aww. Isn't that cute?} Scarlet mocked.

[Shut up.] Max said in her head, making her grin a little.

Quickly, they were done with their meal and back to the garden forty minutes later. They waited for the remaining five minutes before Mad-Ji joined back with them.

{You're early, good. At least when it comes to pigging out food, you're fast. Now everyone, on your faces for push-ups.} She instructed.

Not questioning her, they did as they were told and all got down.

{Let's start with ten, see how you do.}

(Ten? That's way too easy… Is she up to something?) Max suspiciously thought.

{Ready? Exercise!}

Before they could even start moving up, Mad-Ji instantly increased the gravity around them by five times, making Max, Scarlet, and Dusk drop on their chests immediately with Aurora and May struggling to push themselves up. Surprisingly, Bonny had a bit less of difficulty than the others and was rising a bit faster.

{You've gotta be shitting me!} Mad-Ji shouted. {That's the best you Slugmas can do?! Fucking hell.} She added with a facepalm. {Clearly, there is a lot of work to be done. You maggots are gonna be very sorry soon.}

Mad-Ji then increased the gravity to a factor of seven, resulting in Aurora and the others barely being able to get up.

{I won't stop until everyone does at least one.}

Upon hearing that, the rest of Max's pokemon put more strength into the exercise. It took them a moment, but all managed to complete one, except for Max.

{Figures. Of course, it's Nemako slowing down the group.} Mad-Ji commented while glaring at Max, who was giving his all to just do one.

However, each time his stomach was barely leaving the ground, the tremendously amplified gravity pulled him back down, making him fall again and again. He even had trouble breathing due to how much his lungs were pressed against the ground. Next to him, the girls weren't under the increased influence anymore.

{Come on, master. You can do it.} Scarlet encouraged.

{Yes, master. I believe in you.} Dusk did the same.

"It's… too hard…" Max complained with a sweaty forehead.

{Too hard? Too hard?! I'll give you something that's 'too hard' Nemako!} Mad-Ji growled.

In an instant, the gravity went up another ten levels heavier. He was now so heavy that his own bones were on the verge of crushing him, unable to move at all and unable to breathe properly.

{He can't do it. Now stop!} Scarlet told Mad-Ji upon hearing him lacking air.

{Listen to me, you pathetic little shit. Never, say the phrase 'it's too hard' in front of me, got it?! It quickly gets on my nerves as it's an excuse for the weak to not try hard enough and to give up.}

"Yes...ma'am…" He said with the remaining air he had.

Mad-Ji held him for a short moment before finally releasing him.

{The same goes for all of you, as well.} She said, looking at the others. {You're all painfully weak as it is, so the least you can do is have a stronger mindset. Now back on your faces. This time, I want fifty.}

As soon as she changed gravity again, the group noticed that it was roughly one factor less intense than the first time. They then became aware that in a sense, Mad-Ji was more or less fair in the training. They still doubted that they could reach their objective in her conditions, but she at least gave them half a chance to succeed by increasing the gravity to a factor of three and a half instead of five. Again, Aurora, Bonny, and May were ahead, with Scarlet and Dusk slowly following behind. Luckily, Max managed to make a few as well, but as he was approaching his eighth, he was wondering if he could even reach twenty, making him the slowest. Bonny and Aurora were about to complete thirty push-ups, but May reached her limit and dropped at her twenty-eighth. Scarlet and Dusk had only reached their fifteenth but were still moving. Unfortunately, Max couldn't get past eleven, struggling to go for twelve. Soon enough, both Bonny and Aurora were in a tie for forty, with Aurora ahead by two.

{That's not good enough, Muks. I'm not seeing any determination or drive from any of you. All I see is a bunch of human-fucking cocksuckers who aren't even trying.} Mad-Ji shouted, hoping to push them to do better.

Unfortunately, her words didn't seem to have any effect.

{Un-fucking-believable.}

Her eyes then landed on Max, who was pathetically trying to keep up in vain. She then grinned.

{Maybe I need to change things up a bit.}

Still keeping the gravity on the others, Mad-Ji used her power to drag Max next to her. Now out of the gravity field, Max dropped on his knees, now able to breathe properly.

{I think you all need the proper motivation.}

Now using her bare hand, she grabbed Max by his shirt's collar and made him stand.

{Alright, maybe this will bring the best out of you.}

In one finger snap, Max found himself unable to breathe at all, with his entire respiratory system shut down by Mad-Ji. Grabbing his throat instinctively, Max dropped on his knees, unable to make a sound. Max's pokemon immediately panicked.

{What are you doing?} Scarlet demanded aggressively.

{You have roughly three minutes to come over here and save him. Otherwise, he's dead.} She announced with a dead serious face.

The girl's instinct then kicked in. In a rush of adrenaline, they all managed to get up, even Scarlet and Dusk who were physically the weakest, albeit with extreme difficulty.

{Better, but still not good enough.} Mad-Ji said before increasing the gravity back to a factor of five.

Almost immediately, Scarlet and Dusk collapsed on their knees, unable to stand due to their legs lacking the adequate strength to stand. May was still up, but struggling to move forward. With a determined and angry expression, Bonny and Aurora were getting closer, their eyes locked on Max.

{Aww, the power of love. Let's see how much good it will do you.}

Again, Mad-Ji increased gravity, this time to a factor of eight, now incapacitating May. Fortunately, Aurora and Bonny were still up but had gotten awfully slower. After two steps, Mad-Ji made them heavier again up to a factor of ten this time. At this point, both the lucario and lopunny stopped without falling, their legs shaking from the sheer amount of force they had to exert to remain standing. Bonny then made one step forward.

{Willpower. That's what I like to see.}

Not letting up, Mad-Ji increased the gravity yet again to a factor of fifteen, finally enough to make Aurora fall. To everyone's surprise, Bonny was still standing, her mind focusing only on one thing; saving Max. It had been around one minute and the gravity around Bonny was now sixteen times heavier, yet she was still standing, her legs slightly bent and barely able to put one leg forward. Mad-Ji then stared at Bonny with narrow eyes before turning up the gravity around Bonny until it was twenty times heavier. She was now unable to move, but was still up and lowered into a squat position. For a moment, Mad-Ji stared at Bonny again, a bit taken by surprise by the lopunny's resilience.

{Alright, Cheerleader, time for you to calm down.}

In one last attempt, Mad-Ji increased gravity as much as she could, to a whopping factor of forty, in fact. Violently, Bonny dropped down, slightly sinking in the earth. Shortly after, she canceled the gravity change as well as allowing Max to breathe again, making him loudly gasp for air with blurry vision and a dizzy head.

{...You were close.} Mad-Ji told Bonny with crossed arms.

Slowly but surely, she got on all fours and crawled towards Max.

{Are you… alright… master?} The lopunny asked with a shaky body while heavily panting.

"I-" *Koff* "...Think," Max said, on his back.

{Great…}

{Alright, you've had your rest. Get up.} Mad-Ji ordered everyone.

Everyone except Max stood up rather easily, however, the lopunny had trouble doing so, and when she got back up, her legs were madly shaking with fatigue.

{I thought those pole-dancing legs of yours were stronger than that. How disappointing.} The yellowish-green gardevoir mentioned.

Choosing not to respond, Bonny limped her way back to the others.

{What are you waiting for, Nemako? A kiss?} Mad-Ji growled to Max, stomping on him with her pointy footless leg, making him moan in slight pain. {Get your lazy ass back up, now.}

With her leaving him, he rolled on his stomach and used all of his limbs to get up.

{Alright…} She started while Max lined back up with his companions. {You now have a slight idea of what my training is all about. Expect your exercises to be rough, expect them to be seemingly impossible, expect me to not tolerate weakness in any form. But most importantly, expect yourselves to sweat like a water faucet, shed blood like an underground cage fighter, and have your willpower pushed to its absolute limit. I now officially welcome all of you to 'Mad-Ji's Playground', also known as 'the tenth circle of hell'.} She informed them, almost inspiring terror to everyone. {Now back to the push-ups. On your faces!}

Not wanting to annoy her even by the slightest bit, they did as instructed and got ready, with what Mad-Ji increased gravity by just a factor of two, leaving Max a chance to work at a bare minimum.

The group went on like that for the entire day, only receiving a break at noon for lunch. The excruciating exercises were lined up one after another, leaving the group barely any time to rest. In the end, Max couldn't keep up anymore and failed every exercise Mad-Ji threw at them. From physical training under a heavy gravity field to sparring under the same condition to actual fights with her, as well as working on pain tolerance and damage resistance, nothing was left out and they felt it.

Now close to the evening, the group was in a squat position and had to hold it like that under four times normal gravity.

{Alright Muks, that will be enough for today.} Mad-Ji announced before canceling the gravity change, making them fall on their knees, panting. {Tomorrow, same place, same time. Dismissed.}

With sore bodies, the group stood up and headed inside the mansion.

{Except you, you stay.} Mad-Ji said to Max, halting him.

Again, the girls instinctively looked behind but knew that it was pointless asking what's going on, so they kept walking, in the hope he wasn't about to get beaten up due to his poor performance. Mad-Ji waited until they were all inside before looking back at him.

"I sucked, I know, no need to tell me."

{If I want to tell you how much of a filthy, weak, and slimy scumbag you were, then it's my goddamn business to do so. Understood?}

"..."

{Understood?!} She said louder.

"Yes. Yes ma'am."

{Trust me, I'll break that ignorant attitude of yours.} She threatened while glaring at him, making him look down. {...Anyway, that's not the reason why I wanted to speak with you. Mind walking with me?} She proposed to him with a raised hand.

"Not at all." He answered before she began walking at a rather slow pace so Max could keep up with his exhausted body.

While doing so, he told himself that even though he didn't want to, she would have probably dragged him along anyway.

{Well, look at you, Nemako. You're actually learning.} She said, hearing his thoughts.

They then walked in silence for a couple of seconds.

{You know, despite what you may think of me, I'm a fair gardevoir. I'm the first to tell you what you lack and what needs to be improved on, which would be everything in your case. I can also tell when someone is doing pretty well or just not as bad as I anticipated.}

"...Okay."

{I must admit, I may have misjudged you a bit. For a human, you actually did better than I expected.}

"Really? I don't really th-"

{When I speak, you keep that filth-sucking mouth shut, is that clear?!} She commanded aggressively with a glare.

"...Sorry."

{As such, you've done shit compared to the privates I've trained, and I've met humans way more exceptional than you. Yet, despite the difficulty and the unfairness of the training, you kept your head held high and continued without much complaint.}

"..."

{You're not fooling me, Nemako. I knew from the very start that you couldn't keep up. I made extra sure of that.}

"...Why then?"

{To see how long you would last in a training regime that was way beyond your abilities. First, I wanted to test your resilience and the strength of your motivation. You even cheated death with your resolve alone, which isn't all that common. Today, I wanted to test your resistance and patience towards unfairness and your ability to follow orders, even if they are senseless. Again, you proved that you have more guts than you seem to let on. Your motivation may be lacking, but the results are there.}

"I… thanks, I guess."

{I'm not saying this to praise you or give you any recognition. I simply think that a well-informed soldier is a better soldier. What I actually wanted to tell you is that you have more potential than I gave you credit for.}

"So, what's gonna happen now? Will I still need to attend the pokemon training?"

{Fortunately for you, no. If I keep you there, you'll just slow the others down and might even get killed. I went soft on you today, but if I trained them for real, that would be too dangerous for even you to handle. No matter how tough you are, you're still a simple human. I doubt you can withstand a full-powered Fire Blast to the face.}

"Probably not."

{So, here's what's gonna happen…} She said while leading him to an open area of the garden. {...I'm gonna train you personally with an adapted program.} She announced before stopping.

"It makes sense, but…"

{But what?} She demanded aggressively.

"Wouldn't that… mean more work for you?"

At that, Mad-Ji only raised an eyebrow.

{The only one you should worry about the most right now is yourself.} She said before making the bag he saw in her room the other day appear next to her.

Kneeling down, she opened the bag, revealing a vast arsenal of weapons of all kinds; knives, firearms, even a couple of shortswords. She then grabbed a combat knife and gave it to Max after standing up.

{Like I said, no matter how hard you train with them, a human will never reach the same level as pokemon in terms of power and capabilities. The only way for a human-like yourself to at least have a slight chance of survival against them is to use weapons.} She told him while making the knife dance a bit between her fingers.

"Are you sure? The master at Aurora's dojo seemed to be a strong human, maybe even able to beat a couple of pokemon."

{Ah, Master Setsui. I know him. As you might have noticed yourself, he's an abnormally large human and has strength beyond what even his size implies. You can say he's one of these 'exceptional humans.' Sorry for telling you this, actually, not really, but you're not exceptional. Besides your decent resilience, you have nothing special. Just a plain and boring pile of average.}

"I… I understand." Max replied, hurt by that statement a little, even if it was true.

{Aww. Did I hurt your feelings?} She mocked. {Well too fucking bad, you better get used to it. Neither I nor the world will spare you. You're not the hero of any story here. At best, you're that one weird fan of the hero that no one likes.}

"Okay. I think I get it."

{Do you, now? Like I said, surviving in this world as yourself requires knowledge and experience of many things, one of which being the mastery of weapon-wielding.}

"No hand-to-hand combat practice then?"

{Of course, you're gonna practice that as well. Nine times out of ten, you won't use weapons against other humans, so I'll teach you a couple of ways to fight back.}

"I've beaten a few humans here and there."

{Bwahaha!} Mad-Ji laughed in mockery. {By seeing how easily I got past that 'defense' of yours, you have seen nothing yet. In the state you are in right now, pretty much half of the world could kick that flat ass of yours.} She added, making Max sigh at her non-stop onslaught of insults. {What is it? Can't take any form of criticism? Do you want to cry like the little bitch you are?}

"No… Could we just start already?"

{Well…} She started, hand on her hip. {Normally, I would have just asked whether or not you wanted to wuss out, but for once, you're not half wrong. Catch.} She admitted before tossing the knife at him.

Max planned on catching it, but when he noticed that his hand was about to get stabbed, he withdrew it, making it land near his feet.

{*Sigh* Fuck me in my war-torn ass. This is going to be a long session.} She commented, discouraged with a hand on her face.

Growling quietly to himself, Max bent down to grab the knife and faced Mad-Ji again. However, she suddenly disappeared, making Max look around to find her. Quickly, she appeared to his side roughly two or three inches away from him.

{I'm about to kill you. What do you do?} She said while charging a punch.

Not wanting to get hit, Max plunged his knife forward to try to stab her, but instinctively aimed beside her so as to not stab her for real. Not even dodging, Mad-Ji kept her momentum and hit Max with a right hook, making his head almost spin. Surprisingly, her hit was weaker than he was already used to as the pain was just moderate.

{Seriously? How do you plan to defend yourself if you don't even try to?}

"I did try, but…"

{But you hesitated, again. For fuck's sake, where the hell did you leave your balls and spine?}

"Where they belong." Max retorted. "Honestly, you're the first individual that I ever met to think that caring for another living thing is considered weak."

{And yet, you're not done meeting pokemon or humans just like that. And don't go giving me that crap. You don't care about me, you're just afraid of retaliation.}

"Bullshit. I'm not a psychopath."

{Oh really? I can see in you that you crave stabbing me. Making me bend to your will so you can feel superior to the one you despise.} She accused, walking near him, making him back up slowly.

"The hell are you saying?"

{You live with and fuck a psychic-type pokemon, so you should know by now that you can't hide anything from us. I know everything about you. About the part of you that wants to hurt me, to dominate me, to violate me.}

"W-What?"

{Tell me. How would your precious and overly possessive 'girlfriend' react if I were to tell her that you want to fuck me?}

"Shut up. Shut up!" Max shouted before pushing the blade towards the junction of Mad-Ji's neck and head.

In a flash, Mad-Ji grabbed the blade with two fingers, stopping the course of the blade half an inch away from her throat.

{Not bad. You aimed well, but you're still too slow.} She professed him before pushing the blade away, making Max back up.

"...Why would you say that? You and I both know that it's not true. I made a promise with Scarlet, and I intend to keep it."

{You're still keeping that promise if you have thoughts and desires without actually doing anything.}

"I. Don't."

Staring at him, Mad-Ji couldn't help but crack a chuckle.

{Even if it would have been the case, I'm not the kind to mind others' business. I just wanted to motivate you a little.}

"By using twisted methods?"

{Your naivete is both cute and very annoying. Anything goes when it comes to survival in the wild. If you're restricting yourself by using rules and morals to deal with problems, you won't last long. If it wasn't for your pokemon carrying your weight, you would be dead by now.}

"Probably, that's why I'm allowed to stay humane at least a minimum because I can afford it."

{*Sigh* That's just plain stupid. If only you didn't have that child-like way of thinking, you could've been something more. What a waste. Anyway, now that you know you can't actually touch me, you should be able to aim straight. Again.}

Even though he was more accurate than before, it took him a few more tries until he was on point with his aim. Even though he indeed couldn't bear her attitude and personality, Max didn't want to hurt her for real. He did wish to be able to smack her though.

{You put way too much power in your arms for nothing. You should be putting your entire body into your strikes.} Mad-Ji instructed after deviating a couple of his attempts. {If you want to pierce through thick skin, your noodle arms alone won't be enough.} She added before grabbing the knife from him. {Let me show you.}

In a swift movement, Mad-Ji used her entire body, mostly her upper part, and went to stab Max, stopping just as the tip barely touched his shirt. The force and speed were such that he felt a small breeze from the movement and barely saw her moving.

{You probably won't ever reach this level, but I can try to get you as close as possible.}

"Alright." Max nodded.

{Again.} She said, giving the knife back.

For a little while, Mad-Ji taught Max the basics of knife combat. The first volley was to defend himself against creatures, and the second was against other knife users, which should mostly be humans. Later, they took a short break from that and moved on to train self-defense techniques. What she was teaching was something similar to krav maga, a self-defense martial art that he had seen a couple of times on the internet, but harder and with a lot more content and add-on strikes. He recognized a couple of lingering techniques inspired by karate, muay thai, wrestling, and so on. Since the weapons were lethal to Max, Mad-Ji was pretty reasonable with the training, not actually stabbing or gutting him. However, when it came to hand-to-hand combat, she was ruthless, not hesitating to punish him when he made mistakes. Choking him to the limit, almost breaking his joints, wounding him, everything; his defense wasn't good enough. As the sun was set after a day of training, every part of him ached, but at least he was still in one piece.

"GHaaa!" Max growled in pain, landing hard on the ground after being projected by Mad-Ji.

{Maintain balance in your fucking stance, goddamnit! Are you even listening?!} Mad-Ji yelled.

"Yes, I'm trying. You just…can you at least... give me…some openings?" Max replied, slowly standing up.

{Yeah, sure. I'll do just that. Just like the next pokemon or human that wants to kill you, they will definitely let you hit them if you ask nicely.} She mocked. {*Sigh* Alright, that's gonna be it for today. I've had enough human incompetence for one day.}

"So… no training with the girls tomorrow?" Max asked, dusting himself.

{You can do whatever the fuck you want, but I don't recommend it. I was planning on training the "girls" during the day and you in the evening. And trust me, I'll make them all work just as hard in a shorter amount of time. Every day is gonna be harder than the last, so you better save your energy if you don't want to end up in pieces.}

"I… Won't that be a waste of valuable training time?"

{Heh, now you're starting to learn how it works. Not bad, but how many times do I have to tell you that you're just a frail little human? You can't keep up with training meant for pokemon. The regime I have planned for you will be plenty enough and trust me, it will be a miracle if you get through it. Now, go take a shower, eat a proper dinner and go to sleep. You're gonna need it.} Mad-Ji suggested, walking past him.

"I… will, but… what could I do during the day? If we only train in the evening, I have the entire day free."

{I'm not your fucking guidance counselor. Be creative, fuck one of the houndooms, I don't care.}

Not knowing what else to ask, Max began to think about it while she crossed her arms.

{...You're willing to do anything for your companions, right? Then try to think of what else you can do for them. Getting physically fit won't help them at all as they can fend for themselves and will be the ones protecting you. Use that time to ask yourself how you can be really useful to them.}

"But… that's why I'm training with you. What's the point if they are the ones protecting me again?"

{To be less of a burden and a dead weight to them by increasing your survival skills a little. You don't train for them, you train for yourself.}

"But… I already do everything for them. What more can I do?"

{Do you really?} Mad-Ji inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"You're goddamn right I do!" Max assured her with intense determination.

{Nice try, but that's just bullshit.}

"What? How fucking dare you?! You don't even believe my-"

{What's Matchstick's favorite color?}

"W-What?"

{Your Braixen; what's her favorite color? If you do everything for them, surely it's something you know.}

"It's…umm…"

{...No clue, huh? Figures. Cheerleader, the Lopunny. What's her favorite meal?}

"You mean Bonny? Easy. Anything that has nuts in it."

{And her favorite nut?}

"It's… the…"

With Max unable to answer, Mad-Ji only glared at him.

"I… don't know…"

{You, conniving, piece of shit.} The gardevoir snarled. {Were you born a selfish, fucking hypocrite, or did you have to work on it?! And to think you had the balls to try to bullshit me by pretending to be a caring trainer? Seriously, you piss me off so much that I could unscrew your head and use your body as my personal toilet!} She said angrily, making Max look away in utter shame. {You know why I hate you so much? Well, let me fucking tell you. You. Are. Full. Of. Shit. You act like a nice and caring human, but you're not. You pretend to be doing things for the sake of your team, but you're not. Everything you do and say is to fuel your lousy, fucking, pathetic little ego.} She accused, pushing him on the ground with one finger. {You're a facade and a fraud, one who lies not only to others but to yourself as well. Your pitiful excuse for a girlfriend may turn a blind eye, but I recognize a selfish, lying Nickit when I see one.}

"I-"

{Shut the fuck up or your days of traveling, battling, and fucking pokemon will end today!} She yelled. {Your whole life, all you ever think of is yourself, your little harem being one example. It's bad enough that you're a polygamous asshole who likes having girls throw themselves at your dick, but being so hypocritical that you wouldn't even allow any one of them to mate with someone else other than you? Not to mention that you tell yourself that you 'love, care and groom them for their wellbeing?' Ha! Hilarious! You only do that just to get recognition in return, to have them acknowledge you as their 'loving master.' You want to get stronger for their sake? Sure, I'll give you that, but only because you wish to fulfill your delusions of being some kind of an alpha male to them.}

Again, Max wasn't able to retort with anything and only looked away.

{I saw the real you the second I laid my eyes on you. You're the kind of human that I loathe the most. Scumbags looking to disrupt the peace of this region are one thing, but you? You make me so sick, not even a Trubbish would want anything to do with you.} She spat some more before starting to walk away.

A couple of steps later, she was about to disappear behind the cedar hedge when she stopped.

{Oh, and one last thing before I forget…} She started, looking over her shoulder. {Should I injure you during training, your 'girlfriend' isn't allowed to heal you in between sessions. Break this rule and I will rip both of your hearts out.} She told him before getting out of Max's sight.

Speechless, Max took a moment to process what he was just accused of. Almost a minute later, he stood up.

"Hmph, no wonder why I hate myself so much." He mumbled.

With his hands in his pockets, Max faced the direction of the mansion but decided at the last second that he didn't want to go there just yet. He instead turned around and walked towards the direction of the forest. Before entering the woods, he was already lost in his thoughts for quite some time.

(Tch. She's just jealous of how many people actually love me. She has no one to love and vice versa, that's why she's targeting me.)

He walked while telling himself that kind of thing for a moment before stopping in front of a rock.

(...Ahh, who am I kidding? Everything she said was true.) He thought while sitting before the rock with his back on it. (A good trainer? Ah, I'm mediocre at best. I say that I love them, but I've never even asked any of them about their interests, passions, or ambitions.)

While dropping his hands on the ground, he felt something cold and hard. Upon further inspection, he picked it up and recognized the object as the knife he and Mad-Ji used to train earlier.

(How did this end up here?) He wondered.

Inspecting it for a short moment, Max's eyes stopped as he observed the sharpness of the blade.

"*Hmpf* It sure is made to kill."

He then put the blade on one of his wrists.

(I know I've gotten mad at you for trying to take your life away, but hey, I'm just a 'selfish, fucking hypocrite,' so I can do it too.)

He then pressed the blade harder without much movement.

"They would be happier here without me. They've got everything they need and Mad-Ji is keeping them safe. Hell, she's even training them. Me? I'm not good at anything anymore. At least I was for a good amount of time. I saved Scarlet and May from horrible environments, helped Bonny, Aurora, and Dusk become part of a loving family. I think I even helped Luna feel better about her past. But… now that they are okay…"

Then, he tried to go for it. The blade was firmly pressed against his wrist. All it needed was one swift and decisive swipe. Just as he had gathered the courage to do it, he had remembered what he told Scarlet when she told him about her attempt on her life and stopped at the last moment.

"Tch. Can't even do it. Once a coward, always a coward." He said, tossing the knife away.

Loudly sighing, Max dropped his head on the rock behind him, hurting himself a little. Not caring in the slightest, he simply stared up at the sky and contemplated what he could see through the tall trees. For a moment, he tried to think of nothing, trying to forget about his existence until he heard a commotion not very far away. With the sound getting closer, he heard barking.

"Ah. Probably the houndooms chasing away some Rattata." He said to himself, not caring much.

Quickly, the barks stopped and the last one sounded pretty close.

"Or an intruder. Huh, that could be interesting to see." Max mumbled while standing up. "I wonder if they will burn them or tear them apart."

Heading towards the noise provenance, Max walked for a little while through the woods until he found it. Hiding behind a tree, he then spotted three houndooms surrounding a familiar-looking cinderace, who didn't appear to be in the best of conditions.

{For the last time, you are trespassing on private property. Leave at once or face the consequences.} One of them threatened.

{I would, but… I don't know where else to go.} The cinderace replied, looking scared.

{How about where you came from in the first place?}

{I… don't remember the way back.}

"Wait a minute…" Max mumbled, leaving his hiding spot. "S-Sally?" He called out while getting near them.

With everyone turning to look at him, the cinderace went from feeling fear to relief and happiness in an instant.

{Max!} She loudly exclaimed before rushing at Max furiously quickly, tackling him into a hug on the ground. {Oh, Max! You have no idea how happy I am to see you!}

"Sally? Is that really you?"

{Yes.} She confirmed with her eyes getting watery on his chest.

"Uh, not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here?"

{Who the hell is she?} One of the houndooms asked impatiently.

"It's okay, guys. I know her." Max assured, rubbing Sally's back.

{That doesn't matter, she's still trespassing.}

"I get it, and I'm sorry about that. I'll bring her right away to Helene and inform her of the situation."

{If we don't kick intruders out, then our job doesn't mean shit.}

"Don't worry, guys. I'll take full responsibility if anything goes wrong."

The houndooms then looked at each other.

{Tsk. Fine, whatever. She better not cause any trouble, alright?} The houndoom said before the three of them left.

"I sure hope so," Max mumbled.

Once the houndooms were out of sight, Max gently pushed Sally away, making her sit right in front of him, and began noticing her execrable condition. Her fur was almost entirely covered in dirt and she even had a few cuts and bruises scattered across her body. He wasn't sure, but she also seemed slightly skinnier than the last time he saw her.

"...Well?" Max asked with curious eyes.

{Well… What?} Sally started while playing nervously with one of her dropped dirty ears.

"*Sigh* Nevermind. Let's get you cleaned up." He said, standing up before helping Sally to do the same.

Taking her hand, Max headed towards the mansion. As soon as he stepped out of the woods, Scarlet appeared.

{You called for me?} She asked.

"Yeah, we got an old friend who is in rough shape. Care to heal her a little?"

{...Sally?!} Scarlet exclaimed upon recognizing the cinderace.

{...Hi, Scarlet.} She shyly greeted her, looking embarrassed.

{What is she doing here?} She asked Max.

"I'll get into that as soon as she doesn't stink anymore." Max jested.

{Sorry.} The cinderace apologized.

{...Alright. Hold still.} Scarlet conceded, shrugging her shoulders before going near Sally and used Healing Pulse on her.

Since she had just a few benign injuries, it only took a couple of seconds before she was fully healed.

{There you go, all patched up.}

{Thanks.} Sally said gratefully and with a smile.

"Can you teleport us into a bathroom as well?"

{Naturally.} She affirmed before all three of them were standing in one of the mansion's many bathrooms in an instant.

Immediately, Max turned the faucets on and started filling the tub. Since Sally was a fire-type, he guessed that she liked it extra hot, so he adjusted the temperature in consequence. However, he made sure not to make it boiling hot so he could at least dip his fingers in.

"It should fill up in a few minutes so I can start washing you," Max told Sally, making her nod shyly.

{Care if I stay?} Scarlet asked.

"I don't mind, but what about you?" Max asked Sally.

{I don't mind either.} She answered.

{Great.} The gardevoir replied with a small smile, sitting on the edge of the bathtub with crossed legs and crossed fingers.

Only a minute later, the water level was high enough to start.

"Hop in," Max instructed.

With another shy nod, Sally got in and sat with her back facing him. With Scarlet watering her, Max grabbed a nearby shampoo bottle and dropped a fair amount on Sally before starting to rub her. For a moment, nobody spoke, but Sally quickly understood that they were waiting for her explanation.

{I… just couldn't bear it anymore.} She stated.

"Couldn't bear what? Togetheart?"

{No. Well, not… exactly…}

{What do you mean?} Scarlet interrogated.

{The place was nice, but…} She said before looking at Max over her shoulder. {...You weren't there.}

"Me?" Max asked, a bit perplexed.

{You're the first person I've ever fallen madly in love with. No one had ever shown me the same level of compassion and concern the way you did. Sure I… I've had a few crushes here and there, and we've talked for a bit but… they were nothing like you. So… I just couldn't stand being away from you. Every day without you was way too cold and empty.}

"I… see."

{I love you so much, Max. I just couldn't live another day without you.}

{So you left Togetheart to try and catch up with us?} Scarlet theorized.

{...Exactly. It was hard finding you guys in that big city, but I managed to follow you into this town.}

"Wow. That's... actually pretty impressive."

{Even I don't know how I managed to do that. I understand next to nothing, yet…}

{Ah, the power of love. Such a mysterious but unstoppable force.} Scarlet commented with a smug face, making Max look at her desperately in a playful way.

"So in short, you changed your mind?"

{Yes. I didn't care about the risks. I just wanted to be back with you again. I know you don't have any more space in your team, but I'm willing to stay wild and follow you around, just like Scarlet.} She suggested, making Max and Scarlet look at each other. {I-I'll even keep my distance if you think I'm too annoying.}

"...Sally…" Max said with a gloomy tone.

{So, can I come with you?}

"There's… something you should know."

{What is it?}

"We… our team isn't full anymore."

{Really? Did someone end up leaving? Gosh, I hope it's not Bonny. She's so pretty and strong, not to mention she's a bunny Pokemon like me, so I guess it makes us sisters or something. Hehe.}

"It's… Jade." Max said, rubbing Sally with less energy.

{Really? Jade left? Well, that's a shame. She may have been very shy, but she was kind and nice. I hope she's doing alright.}

"No. She…*Sigh* She's dead."

{Wha-? She's… what?} Sally asked as if all of her enthusiasm left instantly.

"Long story short, old enemies came back for us, she got caught in the crossfire, and…"

Now speechless, it took a moment for Sally to process the information.

{She's… d-dead? For real?}

No one answered, but the silence afterward was speaking for itself.

{There's….no way. If this is your idea of a sick joke, I'm not laughing.} She said, her eyes already getting watery.

{...Unfortunately, Sally, we're not joking. Jade… is no longer with us.} Scarlet assured softly.

Again, a heavy silence settled, soon broken by Sally's sobs.

{That's… That's not fair. She was so nice.} She bemoaned.

"Yes, she was."

{And me, speaking of love as if nothing happened. I'm such an idiot.} She said, frustrated.

"You couldn't have known, Sally. It's been a little while since then, so we're slowly getting used to it. Even just thinking about her hurts so much."

{I'm…*sob* I'm so sorry. Maybe if I had shown up-}

"No, Sally. No one is allowed to go there. We're sick and tired of asking ourselves 'what if'. Things are the way they are and we can't do jack shit about it. No need to contaminate everyone with remorse. Neither me, you nor Scarlet could have foreseen that."

Since she was facing her, Scarlet could see the disarray and pain on Sally's face. The scene had become one of those rare instances where she felt sorry for someone.

{...I think I'll leave you two alone for now.} Scarlet said, standing up.

"Thanks a lot for your help, Scarlet."

{Anytime.} She replied with a smile before disappearing.

"*Sigh* Sorry, Sally. I take it that it wasn't the welcoming speech you were hoping for."

{No. It's… *Sob* It's okay. I just wish that I could have said goodbye to her properly.}

"Her grave is not too far from here, I could ask Scarlet if she's willing to take you there."

{I… *Sob* ...would like that.}

"Alright. I'll ask her later. Now, how about we talk about something a little more positive. How was your trip from Togetheart to here?"

{I don't know about 'positive'… but it was quite something.}

"Good. I like stories. I'm listening."

{Well, it goes like this…}

For the next half an hour, Sally narrated her misadventures and encounters during her journey.

{...I tried my best to escape, but despite their bulky appearance, ursaring run pretty fast.}

"Well, you did steal his lunch, so…"

{I told you, I didn't know it belonged to him. I tried to tell him, but…}

"Ah! Good luck trying to reason with an angry ursaring. It's like they turn their brain off and rely on pure instinct."

{Well, the good news was I managed to hide from him and escape.}

"I hope you learned something from that at least."

{Yeah. Don't eat food that you didn't gather yourself.}

"Good, I say that because it would be terrible if something ever happened to you," Max said, petting her wet head.

Hearing how much he cared for her, Sally got all shy and flustered, barely able to contain her excitement.

{S-Same for you.} She mumbled, but loud enough for Max to hear it. {...S-Say… M-Max…}

"Hmm?"

{Is it possible that a-after the bath, we could… y-you know…}

"Oh, um. I'm very flattered and it pains me to say this to a pretty girl such as yourself, but I'm not feeling very touchy lately. Heck, not too long ago, I even rejected one of those houndooms you just met."

{Oh. O-Okay. I understand.} Sally quickly replied, as if she had made a mistake.

"I've got a lot on my mind as of late, so…"

{No, it's okay. You don't have to explain yourself.}

"Plus, even if I try to force myself into the mood, it would probably be bad."

{C-Come on now. How could m-mating with you possibly be bad?}

"For a number of reasons, not actually feeling any pleasure being one."

{I understand. I should've known that was the case. Stupid Sally, stupid.} She accused while lightly hitting her own head with her cute little paws.

"Whoa, calm down, there," Max said, grabbing her arm to stop her.

{S-Sorry. Again, despite trying my best…}

"It's okay, Sally. I'm not mad at you for anything."

{...}

"Anyway, you're free to stay as long as you need. I'll go tell Helene about your arrival."

{Who is that?}

"One of the owners of this mansion. You'll see, she's a nice lady."

{Okay. I… hope I won't be a bother.}

"How can you? Well, besides playing soccer indoors."

{That won't be happening. I left my last soccer ball back at Togetheart.}

"If you promise to only play outside, surely Helene can get you a new one."

{I will don't worry. For us, cinderace, Soccer is pretty much in our blood, but even then, I'm not that good.}

"You're still passionate about it, at least. That's what matters, right?"

{...I guess.} Sally replied, not convinced.