Alex sat in the Center, holding his arm out and cringing slightly as a Blissey finished bandaging his wound. "Blissey, Blissey Blissey Blissey!" she chided at him. He didn't speak Pokemon, but Alex caught the gist of what she was saying. He merely shrugged in response, causing the Blissey to sigh and walk off.

"Alex?" called the nurse. Alex glanced up as stepped toward him, a Pokeball in her hand. "Your Houndoom is all better."

"Thanks," he said, accepting the Pokeball from her. As the nurse returned to her desk, Alex pressed the button and opened up the ball, revealing one fully recovered Houndoom. He looked at Alex's injury, then stared pointedly at him. "...What? We've both endured worse." Houndoom's gaze did not falter. Alex smirked and held out his hand, palm up. Houndoom stared at it for a moment, then sighed. Smiling, he held up a paw and placed it down on Alex's hand. It was their promise, the oath that took them both through thick and thin. No matter what, the two of them would always stand beside each other.

Alex stood up and walked toward the doors, Houndoom following in faithful pursuit. Heading out, the pair headed for the nearby woods, where after about fifteen minutes of searching, they found a small clearing surrounded by trees. [i]Perfect,[/i] Alex thought. Reaching down, he pulled out all three of his remaining Pokeballs and threw them into the air. Suddenly, all four of his Pokemon were out in the open. Ruby, his Sableye, glanced around shiftily. Milotic yawned and stretched as though she had just been awoken from a nap. Roserade struck a heroic pose, to which Alex sighed and shook his head. Even in his eyes, his Pokemon were definitely an unorthodox bunch of misfits, to say the least. Still, they were his, and he was glad to have them all.

"Alright," he said, causing each of them to snap to attention. All but Houndoom glanced at his torn jacket sleeve, but he decided to ignore it. "It's time for warm-ups. Ruby, Houndoom, play Hunt. Start approximately 100 meters from here. Houndoom, focus on tracking; we won't be fooled by illusions anymore." Hunt was how Alex liked to warm the two of them up before training. Ruby would hide in the surrounding area, and Houndoom would try to catch her. If she could make it back without getting captured, she got a poffin. If she was caught, her hunter would get the poffin. "Milotic, stretch and do some spring-bounces. Roserade, ten laps around this area from the tree branches above. Meet back here when you're all done." Each Pokemon gave its version of an affirmative and headed off to begin their assigned exercises. Alex, meanwhile, took off his jacket and tossed it to the side. After some quick stretches, he dropped down to do some push-ups of his own. To Alex, being the best meant a strong trainer was just as necessary as strong Pokemon, and a strong trainer was strong both physically and mentally. His arm throbbed painfully in protest, but Alex gritted his teeth and pressed on; one stupid injury was not going to stop him from becoming the very best.