You Teach Me, and I'll Teach You

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The two buizel, Xeno and Bui, had come from Pecha Forest and were now arriving in the Small Pond area. Bui had been here many, many times before—if he were to pick a favourite place, this would be a candidate.

"I don't know if you've ever been around here before, but it's a nice, calm place. Pokemon tend to come here to swim or have picnics and whatnot." Bui examined the area, looking for a nice place for the two to set up camp.

If Xeno doesn't want to go near towns, then this place will make a fine alternative. I just hope the night doesn't get too cold—I'm not very confident in my fire-making skills; I'm a water-type, after all.


Bui spotted a decent-sized tree close to the shore of the lake. "That looks like a nice spot," Bui said as he pointed the location out to his companion. He began to make his way over, expecting Xeno to follow.

Cirrus let out a little giggle at the phrase, finding it to be rather amusing for some reason. She wasn't really bothered by the egg comparisons. At Bui's question of her plans for today, nothing in particular was coming to mind...

"I haven't really got anything planned either..." she admitted to him and Xeno before an idea crossed her mind. "Ohh, but there is something I've been wanting to show you. I learned this move not long after our exploration in Shadowhue Forest." As she'd said earlier, she had been here to practice her TM learned move Double Team before taking a nap. Ready for a display, she used the move to send out a pair of shimmering illusory copies with herself in the middle. It had quickly become a favorite of hers.

Snapping quickly up and realizing that he was surrounded by Cirrus's. His first reaction was that he was having a bad dream and naturally dived into the nearest bush, normally that would jolt him awake. This time however, all that happened was that he landed face first onto the ground of the bush. Figuring out that he wasn't in a dream, Xeno rubbed his face while a throbbing ache pulsed through his head. Peering through one eye and seeing out of the bush, Xeno thought that he should've known what was going on.

A bit of a warning please?

He knew Cirrus was using double team, he saw someone else do it and it wasn't exactly the smartest move he would use in combat. However, Xeno thought that Cirrus would've been quite adept to moving that quickly despite being an egg.

"Impressive, but I'm not sure I'd want to learn that move personally—I'm more in favour of offensive moves." Bui wanted to say more, but he was distracted.

Bui turned to face the bush Xeno dived into. Something really bad must have happened to you, Xeno. I won't pry, though, don't worry about that.


Bui had always been out for himself—a trait that comes with having to raise yourself because of your parents ignorance. But now, with Xeno, something was different. Bui was having sympathy for the other buizel—he had gone and cried about his own past to Cirrus, but it must have been nothing compared to what Xeno had gone through.

"Xeno, come on back outta there, lie back down, relax a bit, mate."

The copies vanished, leaving the real Cirrus standing there. Between Morning Sun, Double Team, and the Heal Bell move that she was wanting to learn at the dojo, the Togepi had noticed a fledgling supportive moveset beginning to emerge and spread out its wings. One or two offensive moves would be nice to carry around however.

"Say..." she wondered, her curiosity stemming forth. "What happened to that Buizel?" Cirrus had never seen any Pokémon be quite as timid and skittish as Xeno. Psychology was not the area that Cirrus intended to develop within but she had begun growing steadily more interested in the Buizel's behavior.

Surrounded by the wall of leaves, Xeno felt a bit safer and thought that nobody would go looking for him inside shrubbery. "W-Well... I-Is it o-okay if I s-stay here?" Sinking down, rubbing his head, and shutting his eyes, Xeno still was horrified of basically everything going on lately. To him, it was completely unnatural and it didn't help much that he was essentially on the run.

Essentially, Xeno felt like he was in a deep state of sadness right now, almost to the point where he wished he could curl up and die. What are we going to do.... You know I can't cry .... you know that stupid promise we made.... It's helped me, but it's also hurt me....

Xeno gradually sank down and curled up in silence under the bush.

"Yeah, that's fine too..." Bui watched the bush for a moment. There was an odd silence—the only sound was from the wind blowing through the trees. Bui sat and leaned closer to Cirrus.

"I don't really know, but whatever it was, it was something bad—had to be worse than what I had gone through," Bui spoke in a hushed whisper. "...I—I really want to help him somehow, but I don't know where to start. Even if I do teach him how to fight, I realise I'm not necessarily the best in that department, and frankly, considering how easily scared he is of practically everything, I'm not usre he'll be able to make the skills very useful until he get's over his fears. But, like I said, I don't know where or how to start helping him..."

Bui turned to look at the bush again, with a pitiful look on his face. What happened to you, Xeno?

"I'm sure you'll find some way to go about this." Cirrus whispered back. "As soon as he feels comfortable enough to open up about his woes, things should begin to pick up from there." She kinda wanted to help too, but she knew even less about Xeno than Bui did, on account of her never meeting the clearly troubled Buizel before now. She thought hard on something that could help their predicament.

"The best advice I can give you is just to simply be there. This doesn't look like something that could be forced, it'll only be a matter of time." she managed to come up with whilst beginning to lay down in the shade. It was still a nice and warm day...

Still buried in the undergrowth, Xeno could hear the hushed whispers of Cirrus and Bui outside. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but he wasn't sure if what they were talking about concerned him or not.

You know I'd rather not have anyone worry about me. Why in the world do you think I try and distance myself all the time.

Still curled, Xeno re-positioned himself so he could barely see out of the bottom of the bush. He could barely see Bui talking quietly to a sideways Cirrus.

I wonder what they're talking about... I won't ask about it... probably doesn't concern me...

Giving a pause, Xeno added to his friend, It's kinda comfortable here. Nobody would dare to look inside a bush, and nothing can bother us...

"Yeah, you're probably right..." Bui said as he readjusted his placement and relaxed. Bui stared up at the sky. These two, Cirrus and Xeno, they're friends. They've both been around me longer than anyone else I've ever tried to befriend. What am I doing differently here? Or is it something about these two that's made this last longer than normal? Huh, I think I've done more thinking in the last few days than I ever have before.

Today, I think we'll just rest. Tommorow? Cirrus and I want to get stronger to take on that dungeon. Xeno wants to learn to fight better. And I don't suppose searching around for pecha berries would be a bad idea, since we have to go through Shadowhue to get back there...

"Hey, Cirrus, Xeno, how about tomorrow we three head into Pecha Forest? We can all train while we gather berries—Cirrus it will prepare us for that dungeon; and Xeno, think of it as a field study. And don't worry bout' getting attacked, Xeno, I'll cover ya', and Cirrus can hold her own pretty well, too." Bui stretched in place and yawned. "So what'd y'all say? Sound like a date?"

"Oh? All three of us?" Cirrus absolutely adored the very thought of that. She had yet to go into a dungeon with more than one teammate, let alone with a Pokémon whom she had previously explored with. The Togepi totally understood Bui's reasoning too, she and him would definitely need more items than what they had in their last run.

"Hehe, it's a date. I'm all for it." she replied. "I'll play my part and back up Xeno."

With that, Cirrus begun to relax in peaceful contentment before an idea struck her. "Xeno, perhaps me and you could train after you've given Bui some lessons?" she called to the bush.

Startled and suddenly bolting upright at the sound of his name, he realized it was only Cirrus. "O-Oh... S-Sure...." Nervous at the prospect of training with this new pokemon, Xeno hesitantly poked his head out of the bush and saw Cirrus looking straight at him. Surprised, Xeno jumped back and accidentally hit a sharp thorn. With a yelp of shock, Xeno stumbled forwards yet again. (I think I might be getting too repetitive) With the lower portion of his body still in the bush, and his top half outside of the bush straight downwards, tears started to well in his eyes.

Oh no, I can't do that... I... I promised...

Quickly scrambling, he rubbed the tears away from his eyes in hopes that Bui and Cirrus didn't see.

Hearing the sudden movements in the bush, Bui tilted his head back far enough to see Xeno standing up in the bush. Bui was suddenly aware that something was wrong. What do I do? I don't know what to do, but... I have to do something. For just a moment, Bui couldn't help but wonder why he felt he needed to do something—but he disregarded the thought; he didn't care why.

Bui stood up and faced the other buizel, taking a cautious step towards him—for some reason Bui felt that making an abrupt action would cause Xeno to attack or flee. "Xeno, something's wrong. What's wrong? Are you alright?" I know you're not... Please, talk.

"Uhh..." Cirrus could only manage when she saw Xeno tumble forwards from the bush, now halfway out of it. "Well... I thought it would be helpful for us to see what the other two can offer, if there's talk about the three of us trying a dungeon together. I've explored with Bui before, we've both seen the other in battles, and now I've seen you. You really are better than first impressions would imply." she went on, trying to jack up the Buizel's confidence.

"Bui does bring a good point as well, Double Team's not something he would learn so I think a battle between us two would help you learn to deal with a defensive opponent this time." Especially, she thought, with this warm weather bolstering her health restoration move...

"Geez..." Brushing Bui away while still rubbing his eyes, Xeno muttered, "I-I'm fine." Looking at Cirrus, he had to admit he made a good point, plus the extra training might help himself somehow. What do you think about this one?

Turning back and looking at Bui, Xeno noticed a sort of sadness that Bui felt. Not sadness. Sympathy? Empathy? Something like he feels bad? You know I can't read people well...

Still teary-eyed, Xeno forced himself to grin a little. "I-I'm f-fine. R-Really." It was a complete and utter lie, but Xeno felt that he had to do something to help Bui feel better. Did I accidentally screw something up again.

Why do I feel something for people? I never did this. You know that...

You're lying. Am I supposed to just let this go? Cirrus said not to force anything... Maybe I'm over reacting? I don't know. I have no idea what I'm doing, really...


Bui looked away from the two for a moment, suddenly feeling awkward for some reason, and unsure what to do now. Bui moved and sat down next to the bush Xeno was standing in. "Uh, so, yeah. Tomorrow we'll go to Pecha Forest. Today we'll just... Hang out I guess."

Bui wasn't trying to force a happy expression—his confusion and concern would be clear to any observer.