Violet and Evan strolled outside the town, looking out at the beautiful fields before them. The fields gradually descended to the coast of Paldea, as well as the city of Levinica. The city's many giant buildings and glowing lights helped it stand out even from far away.

A pack of Tauros stampeded across the ground, dashing through the grassy lands. A breeze billowed up the hills and past Violet's face, they were in an entirely new part of Paldea now.

"It means a lot that you were honest with me," Evan suddenly said. The two began walking down the dirt path as they descended. "I know it's hard to apologize, and I'm also sorry for how I was acting. I'm not great around people I don't really know, which is something I need to work on. I wanted to say something to you, but I was also scared. It's tough to trust people, especially people you haven't really spent a ton of time with."

Violet was surprised by the vulnerability from the boy but nodded. "I get that. Don't worry about it, I'm just glad I was able to find you again and talk about everything. I've got to be better at taking criticism, and understanding that you don't have bad intentions. Right now, I appreciate the reality check you gave me. Everything's been a complete disaster."

Evan raised an eyebrow. "What's happened? If you want to talk about it, that is."

Violet recounted her day to Evan, describing her battle against Aya as well as her match against Kofu. The girl winced upon telling the boy about how poorly both fights went. She finished recounting and sighed. "So that's what I've been through today. I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Really? I think it's pretty clear," Evan replied, coming to a stop. Violet turned to face him, and he smiled. "We've gotta have a battle so you can train your Pokémon for Iono's Gym!"

Violet was a bit taken aback by the proposition. "R-really? Are you sure? No offense to you obviously, I've just been doing a lot of battling already and it doesn't seem to be making me better."

Evan nodded. "Well, yeah. That's because you haven't been training during those battles, this'll be more focused. Send out your first Pokémon!" He encouraged.

Violet was unsure, but there was no reason not to try. She sent out Sprigatito, and Evan began to think. "What would you say that you and Sprigatito need to work on most for battling?"

Violet pondered the question. "Probably some kind of new strategy or moves, we're pretty limited as is."

Evan called out a small blue Pokémon that had spikes all along its body. The Pokémon was a bit familiar to Violet, and she recognized it as a Pokémon native to Alola, Mareanie. "Mareanie here is super defensive, so your usual attacks won't work!"

"Sprigatito, we're going to try mastering a new technique!" Violet explained to her partner. "Start with Leafage!" Sprigatito flung a flurry of leaves into his opponent, dealing some damage to the foe.

Evan's Pokémon shook off the damage and seemed mostly unbothered. "Now, use Poison Sting!" Mareanie opened its mouth and fired dozens of stingers into Sprigatito's body. The stingers battered the small Pokémon, and Spirgatio suddenly shuddered as a wave of purple energy blew through his body. Violet's Pokémon had been poisoned.

"Hang in there Sprigatito!" Violet encouraged. "Use Scratch!" Violet felt herself slipping back into her former strategies, having her Pokémon charge directly at his target and strike it with a claw swipe.

Sprigatito's claws bounced harmlessly off of Mareanie's body, and Sprigatito was afflicted by the poison again. "Now, use Venoshock!" Venom erupted from Mareanie's body and infected Sprigatito, blowing him back.

The grass cat Pokémon rolled across the ground before staggering to his feet. "Sprigatito! No!"

Evan shook his head. "You've gotta think, Violet! You're not getting through our physical defense! Use Pin Missile to finish this!" Violet racked her brain, trying to think as multiple glowing pins shot up from Mareanie's body and started to fly at Sprigatito.

"Wait a minute!" Violet gasped. "Sprigatito! Throw out your leaves at the pins, and then hold them in place!" Sprigatito flung a volley of leaves out, willing himself to control them as they collided with Mareanie's projectiles.

The leaves absorbed the impending blows, floating in the air. "Now, Magical Leaf!" The leaves all flew directly into Mareanie, knocking over the Pokémon. "Finish this! Use Scratch!" Sprigatito ran forward, jumping into the air and bringing his claw down on the purple Pokémon within the protective blue barrier.

Mareanie passed out, while Sprigatito endured another round of poison damage. Evan grinned as he returned his Pokémon and Violet called back hers. "Just what I was hoping for! Magical Leaf will be super useful for Sprigatito once you learn to hone it more! Now, who's next?"

Violet called Tinkatink out next, who seemed to be pretty terrified upon entering the battlefield. "Tinkatink? What's wrong?" Violet asked her shaking Pokémon. Tinkatink seemed to try to hide behind her bat, looking down at the ground. "Hey, it's alright. We're going to get stronger together, you don't have to be scared. This is just training."

That seemed to calm down the fairy Pokémon, and Evan called out his Klawf. "We're gonna be training Tinkatink to really master using her weapon, and Klawf's the perfect Pokémon for the job!"

Violet thrust out her arm. "Run in and use Metal Claw!"

Tinkatink scurried across the dirt path, swinging her bat at Klawf. "Counter with your own Metal Claw! Then use Vise Grip!" Klawf swung one of his claws into Tinkatink's bat, deflecting it. Then, the stone crab grabbed ahold of Tinkatink in its other claw.

Tinkatink squirmed in its grasp but wasn't able to do anything. They were trapped again, a common struggle for the trainer and her Pokémon. "Hang in there Tinkatink!" They needed to think of a new way to deal with this situation. Tinkatink was fully panicking, weakly smacking Klawf's arm with her bat.

There was no budging, Tinktink just couldn't get free with her brute force. "I've got an idea that I think might help," Evan cut in. Klawf freed Tinkatink from his grasp, and Evan strolled over. He produced a TM disk from his bag, and offered it to Tinkatink. "This is the TM for Thunder Wave. It'll be super accurate when up close, and control their speed for later."

Tinkatink reached out and touched the disk, absorbing it into her body. "That's awesome! Thanks so much, Evan!" Violet grinned.

The boy nodded and walked away from the two Pokémon. "Alright, now we should try and get Tinkatink's reflexes up to snuff. Klawf, use Crabhammer over and over!" Klawf's claws started to glow, and he swung the mighty moves at Tinkatink.

She barely dodged to the side and held up her bat weakly. "Tinkatink, keep it together! Hit it back with Metal Claw!" Tinkatink countered the colossal claw, barely managing to repel it. Another came crashing down and Tinkatink tried to knock it away again.

Violet's Pokémon was clearly struggling, and Klawf's barrage was only beginning. Tinkatink was slammed by a third strike, collapsing onto the ground. "Tinkatink!" Violet rushed over to her Pokémon's side, checking in on the little fairy. "Are you ok?"

Tinkatink's eyes flickered open, and she sat up. The tiny Pokémon seemed completely dejected, looking away from her bat and Klawf. "Tinkatink, I know you're trying your best. You're doing great, and we're going to keep working at helping you use your weapon so you can be the best you can be!"

Tinkatink looked up at Violet and smiled a bit. "It feels like you're failing, I know. I want you to know that I'm super proud of you because despite all the trouble you're having you're still trying. I wasn't told that enough, but it's true."

Evan seemed to be a bit speechless, but Tinkatink shot to her feet. She picked up the bat and turned around to face Klawf. "I think she wants to try again? Go for it, Klawf!" Klawf swung his claws at Tinkatink, but this time she repelled the first and second ones with ease. The third strike came around and Tinkatink seemed to have found her rhythm.

The Pokémon was holding her bat with everything she could, trying to keep her form together. "You've got this Tinkatink! You're in the groove now!" Violet cheered.

Tinkatink roared her name and began to glow. The Pokémon started to grow, as did her bat. The weapon expanded outward, taking on a form closer to a hammer. Tinkatink's hair expanded outwards as well, growing into a ponytail.

Violet's Pokémon stopped glowing and had transformed into a Tinkatuff. She swung her hammer into Klawf and blew the opposing Pokémon back. Violet couldn't help but run over to her Pokémon and throw her arms around the evolved fairy.

Evan grinned and returned Klawf. "Alright! Great job, Violet!"

Violet shook her head. "I didn't do anything, it was all Tinkatuff."

"That's not true," Evan corrected. "It's your training that helped Tinkatuff get through the mental block she had and evolve." Tinkatuff flexed her arms and hoisted her hammer into the air, clearly agreeing with Evan.

A tear slipped down Violet's cheek and the girl returned Tinkatuff. "I think that's plenty training for now... I can't believe it. Who'd have thought that a bit of encouragement was all she needed." Violet couldn't help but feel her soul break a little as she said this.

Evan nodded. "They're not so different from us in that way," Both trainers fell into silence, Violet wanted to ask Evan what he meant but the boy moved on. "Anyways, who's next?"

Violet shook herself out of her headspace and sent out Charcadet. The tiny fire Pokémon shot some flames from his hands and into the air. "Charcadet has some synergy with his Flash Fire Ability he can use to boost his own firepower. I'd really like to hone it so we can properly use it."

Evan sent out Rowlet. "Well, for starters, nobody is going to just let you set yourself ablaze. Rowlet, use Gust!" Evan's ace began to flap his wings, creating a vortex of wind that began to surround Charcadet.

"Charcadet, use Fire Spin!" Violet called to her Pokémon. Charcadet tried to release flames into the wind, but his flames were all carried away. "Use Fire Spin on the ground! Turn this into a firestorm!" Charcadet braved the winds to fire flames into the ground, creating a burning tornado around the Pokémon.

The pillar of fire rose into the air and Rowlet stopped feeding into the burn. "Now, use Flame Charge!" Charcadet leaped from the flames, tackling Rowlet head-on as a burning fireball.

Evan was about to give another command when a new voice distracted both of them. "Now there's some firepower!" Both trainers looked up on the cliff above to see a girl dressed in red and black standing atop it. She had bright red hair with yellow on the top and extremely pale skin.

"Who are you?" Evan questioned, tilting his head.

The girl sighed. "I'm Mela, leader of the Team Star Schedar Squad." She introduced herself, jumping down the cliffs and somehow enduring the fall. "I saw the fire from my base and rushed to check it out, sorry for interrupting your battle."

"Actually," Violet said. "We were trying to train Charcadet here to use his Flash Fire, maybe you could help with that?" The girl remembered being recommended to seek out Mela for training, and now the opportunity had been presented to her.

Mela considered it and sized up Charcadet. "Sure can! Let's head back to the base, and I'll have him whipped into shape in no time!"

The trainer turned around and started marching down the path. Violet, Carcadet, and Evan followed her from behind. "What exactly is Team Star?" Evan questioned.

"They're a group of students at the academy, who have bases scattered around the region to help prospective trainers on their journeys," Violet explained. "They used to be known as troublemakers, but Florian helped Director Clavell understand Team Star."

Mela nodded. "That about summarizes it. I take it you're not from around here?"

Evan shook his head. "Nope, I'm from Alola. We have Team Skull back there, but they're more troublemakers than helpers. A lot of them are just misunderstood, though. This Florian guy, is he the Champion?"

Violet shrugged. "He's one of them. The most recent trainer to become a Champion, at least. It's been around three years since he went on his Treasure Hunt and became Champion."

"Afterwards, he went on to found the Twilight Research Team with my friend Penny. They've been hard at work trying to do some sort of research related to Miraidon and Area Zero." Mela continued. "I owe both of them a lot,"

Violet and Evan looked at each other. "So, you know the Twilight Research Team then?" Evan asked.

"Yeah, that's what I said," Mela confirmed. "Not sure what they do, but it doesn't really concern me."

"They're an... interesting group," Violet said tentatively, hoping not to mention their own altercation. "It's cool you're friends with the founders though!"

They arrived at the entrance to the Team Star Base, pushing the doors to the gate open. The base was populated with numerous members of Team Star, denoted by their helmets with stars printed on them. There were a few structures where the members were battling against some trainers.

The base was decorated with red flags that had fire insignias on them. Mela led the group over to some sort of stage and then turned around. "I've worked with my fair share of Charcadets, so I can definitely train yours pretty easily." Mela produced a Poké Ball and sent out a Pokémon.

The Pokémon was an Armarouge, a tall Pokémon with a red body and yellow armor on its torso and arms. The Pokémon was one of the evolved forms of Charcadet, and Violet saw her Pokémon oggle at the more powerful form.

Mela's Pokémon glanced down at Charcadet, and then the flame on its head exploded with some more fire. "Charcadet needs a special item to evolve, one of two sets of armor," Mela explained. "In the meantime though, it's still a pretty tough Pokémon. We'll have a brief sparring match, and that should give me an idea of Charcadet's strengths and weaknesses."

Violet and her Pokémon nodded in unison, and Mela grinned. "Use Expanding Force!" The two pieces of shoulder armor shot off of Armarouge's arms and around her hands as she fired a purple beam at Charcadet.

"Use Fire Spin around yourself!" Violet called to her Pokémon. Charcadet conjured flames around his body and began to absorb them. The flames were unable to block Armarouge's attack, and Charcadet went flying into the air. "Flame Charge!"

Charcadet exploded into a bright ball of fire and raced across the battlefield at Armarouge. He slammed into Armarouge and the flames were absorbed by the opposing Pokémon. "Armarouge has the same ability as Charcadet, but we've got way more firepower. Use Armor Cannon!"

Armarouge threw back Charcadet and its armor morphed back into a canon around its arms. An orange ball of fire began to charge in its hands, and Violet looked to Charcadet. "Take all that firepower head-on!"

Charcadet braced himself as the projectile was launched across the battlefield and into his body. He seemed to be absorbing the flames until the attack overwhelmed him. Charcadet was flung back to Violet's feet and passed out.

Mela nodded. "Now I've got a good idea of his limits, so we can get to the actual training."

Violet was able to heal Charcadet at a machine placed in the Team Star Base, and then Mela and her Armarouge showed Charcadet how to better utilize his fire, raising the speed at which he could use fire moves.

Charcadet seemed to desperately want to spar with his evolved form further, but the Pokémon was uninterested. Charcadet did at least learn how to better hone his firepower, and as the day came to an end, Violet felt far better about taking on the next Gym.

"Thank you so much for your help Mela, it means a lot to me," Violet said to the girl.

Mela nodded. "It's my pleasure. Good luck on your journey, and keep an eye out for evolution items for Charcadet. He has a lot of potential."

Violet thanked Mela again, and she and Evan turned to leave. "Also, don't interfere with the Twilight Research Team anymore." Both trainers immediately came to a stop and looked at each other with shock. "Word spreads around quickly, so take this as a warning. Accidents happen, but the Twilight Research Team is run by my friends. Let them do their research from here on out."

Neither trainer had it in them to turn around to face her, they both just nodded and hurried out of the base.

What an embarrassing end to an exhausting day.