Jaden set out a meal in their room in the pokemon center. His team was happy to see it. It wasn't just their ordinary food, no. Jaden had put effort into it, mixing in slices of berries and adding in extra flourishes where he could to make it look even fancier and cooler. He had put in effort for his own meal even, a large sub that was maybe a bit too big for him to eat but looked super delicious.
Jaden was quick to start retelling the group's adventures, telling about what he saw in the meteor lab and how cool the different stones they had were. He hadn't been able to crack the pink one, but he knew he could have, if there hadn't been glass and a ton of scientists in the way. Sam chimed in with tales of his valiance and great prowess in battle, describing how he saved the day. Oliver's contributions were a lot funnier, with the linoone fully ready with slapstick humor in his own tales. And he wasn't always the one targeted by the slapstick. Sam looked shocked at being targeted by Oliver's jokes, the linoone as fearless and playful as when he'd first been caught.
Uri was more than happy to tell about jokes and games he'd played in the psychic realm, even if the majority went over everyone else's heads. He was happy, that was what counted. Even Zahra joined in, though her tales were entirely focused on the long trip to the waterfall and how close she was. Soon, she promised. She would get strong, and she would be ready.
Zahra's sense of drive towards his goal infected everyone. They would do their best too! Jaden was ready as he headed to the gym and to his class on defense. The teacher welcomed everyone and began. "The offensive is often seen as the most important part of pokemon battling. If you can't hit your opponent you can't win. But neglecting building your team's defense can be just as detrimental as failing to train at all."
The teacher covered how to train pokemon to safely block blows to minimize damage, and demonstrated how to alter the training for different body types. Winged pokemon would defend differently than bipedal pokemon who would defend differently from quadrupedal. Jaden sat and watched. He hadn't expected it to be exactly like this, especially when the teacher began to go over how the trainer could move with their pokemon to keep themselves safe in a shifting environment. Battles against other trainers had set limits, but wild battles could have pokemon coming at any angle.
The teacher promised to put aside time for the students to practice the techniques she showed every other day, and Jaden was thrilled to get to move around with the training. Almost his entire team save for Zahra were trained to dodge first, and Zahra only wasn't trained that way because her training was still so fresh. Sam was eager to get the chance to tank blows and prove himself. Uri tended to simply use psychic barriers. Oliver proved to have the most talent for it, with his determination to dig down and hold his ground whenever necessary.
The best news was at the end of the week Zahra finally passed Nurse Joy's check up as returned to full health.
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