Liana was leaning against the crossroad sign with her arms crossed and tightly kept to her

chest. Her head was down as the wind blew her hair gently over her shoulder. The gust was
enough to snap her out of her deep thoughts as she turned to check on Ivan, waiting patiently
as he hadn't budged an inch from his spot. Ivan had been looking towards the end of the road
for a while, waiting anxiously with a bag in both his hands.

"I still think you're being too open-hearted about this. What happened to Sean was awful but he
did have it coming. Besides, we already helped him out" Liana says while Ivan just replied with a
smile and returned his attention to the road. Only mildly annoyed, Liana huffs and waits a little
longer with the persistent Ivan.

Time went by just a while longer before Ivan sees a police car coming along. Officer Jenny was
driving with Sean sitting in front, keeping his head down after he had gone through a rough
struggle before at his house with his big brother. Luckily, it seems he was the only one in the car
and for now, Sean's brother wasn't coming back home anytime soon. Officer Jenny sees to her
left that Ivan and Liana were waiting by the road sign. Seeing Ivan wave to her to pull over for a
moment, Jenny obliged as she trusts him to have good intentions. The car slowed and rolled to
the side of the road, gradually coming to a stop to where the kids waited.

"Hey there Ivan, you wanted something?" Jenny cordially asked while Ivan smiles and runs over
to the passenger side of the car where Sean sat. The two looked towards each other with Ivan
coming up to the window. Officer Jenny taps the button to bring down the window and Ivan
offers a little bag for Sean. Sean was a little hesitant as he didn't expect anything from someone
he had bullied for a long time. He looks inside the bag to find an apple slice and pulls it out.

"Aw, that's sweet. You got him a treat from the bakery?" Officer Jenny looked to Ivan, speaking
with a praising tone. Ivan nodded with a smile to confirm his gesture of generosity while Sean
pulled out the apple slice from the bag to see if the gift was genuine. The soft and fresh texture
did confirm it was made recently. Ivan did indeed buy a treat for him. Sean felt embarrassed and
didn't want to look at Ivan right away from the realization. Hesitant to even meet eyes for a
moment with Ivan, Sean kept quiet until Jenny asked him "what do you say, Sean?"

"Thanks" Sean said as he looked briefly in Ivan's direction and looked back down again. Ivan
looked down and saw Sean's fingers pinch tightly on the treat bag, closing it for safekeeping.
With a little nod, Ivan sidestepped back the way he came and returned to Liana's side. Officer
Jenny didn't force Sean to say anything else as she understood the two boys have things to
absolve later as she lifted her foot off the brake and spoke out to Ivan "see ya guys and thanks
Ivan".

Stepping away to allow room for the vehicle to continue along the road, Ivan waves them off as
he watches Jenny drive away. Feeling content with his good deed, Ivan spun around and
walked back over to Liana to sign to her. Liana sighs as she rolls her eyes, replying back to Ivan
"yes, I know. But I still think he had this all coming. Who's to say he really felt bad? He probably
only apologized just to use your Breloom to get Hitmonchan back".
Ivan smiled and shook his head as he continued signing to Liana. Scratching the side of her
cheek, Liana answered back after interpreting Ivan's adamant signing "yeah you're right. But, he
gets out of line again and he doesn't get any more chances". Liana glanced back to the now
distant police car and then scoffs to herself. She places her hand on Ivan's shoulder with a
hearty slap and pushes him forward to continue onwards.

Ivan was stunned and walked forward clumsily as he tried to regain his posture, walking close to
Liana's side. "Now that all of that is done and dusted, how about we go get some training
done?" Liana asked with a reinvigorated tone in her voice, leading a stumbling Ivan back to the
park.

Though the afternoon was fading, Liana was adamant to get some training done as she sent out
her pokeball. The pokeball opened with force to unleash the contained Granbull. With a styled
spin and smirk, Liana poses as Granbull runs over to her side on all fours. "Being a pokemon
trainer is pretty soulless if you can't bond with your pokemon. You've got to be on the same
mindset, same wavelength, and same energy level!" Liana explains with such excitement and
confidence. She stands with Granbull, making an impressive pose in front of Ivan.

Ivan lets out a huff of a nervous laugh as he reaches for his own pokeball. Pulling out his
pokeball from his pocket, Ivan ponders on how to best show off his own charismatic energy to
Liana.

One idea came to Ivan and feeling the need to meet the standard, he acts immediately on his
idea. Ivan threw his pokeball upwards. Just like before, the pokeball snaps open and releases
Breloom out into the world. "Bre-loom!" Breloom cried with his arms outstretched. Ivan focused
on doing his spin and thrust forth a fist, creating a powerful pose behind Breloom. The
improvised presentation did impress the overjoyed Liana until she looked to see the forgotten
pokeball, falling straight towards Ivan's head.

Unable to call out in time, Liana couldn't warn Ivan of his mistake. The pokeball lands hard right
on the curly-haired head of Ivan, making him break from his pose. He grips his head and rubs
where he had been hit. The empty pokeball wasn't heavy but it had enough weight to make the
meek boy abandon his cool presentation.

Breloom turned, confused about what had happened while he wasn't looking. He hurried over to
Ivan's side to check up on him. Ivan took a moment before waving off the worries of his friends,
giving a soft thumbs up with his other hand.

Liana exhales as she shakes her head as she ponders out loud "maybe I should get you to
wear headgear and other safety equipment first, eh?". She chuckles awkwardly as she tries to
press on with training. Flicking her hair back, she resumes her stance in preparation for battle.
"Alright, Ivan. One thing we need to be on the lookout for is counter-attacks. A lot of skilled
trainers will be looking for openers just like what Sean did before with Hitmonchan. Granbull
here will be taking whatever blows you can throw at him. The real goal is for you to keep your
guard up and be ready to call to Breloom" Liana laid out the ground rules, sounding more like a
professional instructor for Ivan.

Ivan nods as he readies himself but his spirit deflates as he hears his phone start to ring a text
message. Checking quickly, Ivan sees his mother is wanting to see him back before it gets dark.
Typing a small message of confirmation as quickly as he could to his mother, Ivan puts his
phone away and gets ready for battle.

"Alright, are you ready now? Yes? Alright. Let's begin" Liana points forward as Granbull leaps
forward to the battlefield. Ivan nodded but froze as he realized he didn't even have his drum with
him. The boy signed quickly to put training on hold. As much to Liana's dismay, Ivan again
couldn't do any proper training.

"Oh, what!? Are you serious?" Liana yelled with frustration. She took a moment to bury her head
into her hand, relieving herself back to a calm state. "Sorry. It's just that it's crucial to get some
proper training in. We'll be leaving to go on our adventure and it's not like we have the time to
waste…" Liana said, still showing signs of suppression as she tries to be understanding.

Ivan was saddened to hear Liana's woes as he couldn't help but recall the times when things
didn't work out for her. The failed Aggron catch, the issues of helping Sean out, and the time
she spent helping Ivan get a good start on his pokemon journey. It all seemed unfair which
made Ivan feel guilty for taking so much time from Liana.

Ivan signed towards Liana with a sad look on him. Liana was puzzled at first by what Ivan was
trying to say until the boy started tearing up. Quickly, Liana ran up to Ivan to settle him down to
explain to him "no Ivan, you're not a burden on anyone. If anything, I feel like I'm failing you.
Everyone else has been trying to tell you to stay out of their way, making you ashamed of who
you are. But, honestly, you're the best guy I could ever hope to be best buds with".

Ivan's watery eyes looked up to Liana to see her genuine expression. He looked to his side to
see Breloom and Granbull join in supporting him. "You see, you inspire me to be the best I can
be. Without you, I'm sure I wouldn't be half as decent as I am today. That strength of yours
growing up, I can't help but think what sort of trainer you'll end up being. An amazing one. I just
want to be a good enough mentor to get you going is all" Liana continued her heartfelt speech
as she had a sparkling stare looking towards Ivan.

Breloom and Granbull smiled as each of them snuggled up against their respective partners.
Ivan wiped the tears from his eyes as he gave Breloom a few pats, responding with a good
smile. Liana had also given affectionate headpats to her pokemon as she returned her gaze to
Ivan.
Ivan signed to Liana the same sign he gave Breloom the day they met and the day he evolved.
"Partners" Liana said as she nodded, smiling brightly again as the sunset on the two. Despite
another day of missing proper training, the trainers felt better with each other. They'd rather hold
on to their friendship than their desire to become stronger trainers.

The two walked back to their homes, waving each other off for a good night as they made it
back after a tiring day of unfiltered drama. So much has happened today that all the trainers still
thought about themselves while winding down. Easing their tired muscles and encumbered
thoughts as the night grew late, the trainers slept deeply tonight.

Sean couldn't get Ivan and Liana out of his head as he lay in bed, still worrying about how he
could absolve things and move on with his pokemon league journey. Liana still worries about
Ivan, wishing some good fortune would come soon for him as she wonders what she could do to
give her friend a better chance at succeeding. Ivan too worries about whether he has what it
takes to prove to everyone what he's capable of. However, as Ivan looks at Breloom sleeping
and the old childhood pictures of him and Liana, he smiles as he thinks that all he needs to do is
do his very best for them.

Ivan signs to Breloom who signs back the same thing, wishing each other a good night.