Pasio University: Sophomore and Junior Years

Chapter 7- Title Defense

Brendan POV

I stood by Elio, we were waiting for the rest of the team to get here so we could start the first official practice of the year. I looked to him, "Should be an interesting roster this year. You think we're the frontrunners to repeat?" Elio nodded, "Yeah. As long as I can improve my shot calling, and the others are as good as they have been about improving, I think we'll repeat this year." I nodded, "I think so too, plus that Paulo really is as good as they say." Elio nodded, "He's the real deal for sure. I think we might need to work on him being a team player though." I looked at him in a surprised way, "Really? Just not aware or what?" Elio shook his head, "Anxious would be my best guess. We'll see though." Just as I finished, May, Dawn, and Ethan came through the practice facility doors. I smiled, "May!" I ran to her and lifted her up, she squealed, then giggled as I let her back down. She smiled widely, "How was your day Brendan?" I scratched my head, "All good. Ready for your first practice?" May shrugged, "Hope so! Swampert has been pretty restless." We held hands and walked to gather where we always did for the Captain's address before practice. I'm sure Elio is well prepared and calm as ever.

Elio POV

Holy Arceus I'm about to give my first Captain's address. What am I doing here. Do I know how to words? Alright Elio calm down... Ok I know where I am and what I'm doing. I watched as the rest of the team filed in. Selene shot me a smug smile and I returned a happier one to my sister. I then clasped my hands and looked over the team."Alright! Welcome to the first official team practice of the year everyone!" Most of the team clapped their hands at just that, maybe this is easier than I thought... "So... For those of you who don't know, we have a few new faces, and for those of you who are those new faces, I'll go ahead and introduce ya. Everyone, this exciting Unovan with the Serperior is Rosa. She's super friendly, so I think you'll all love being on the team with her." She waved to everyone and smiled. A few people greeted her quickly as I moved on to the next, "Next, the other Unovan next to her is Nate. He's an ace with his Braviary and he's calm under fire. He'll be a great teammate!" He nodded and smiled as I moved on, "A lot of you know her already... Some really well... Brendan... She's Brendan's neighbor, and now girlfriend, and she is also really good at this battling stuff, she's giving our team a shot this year with her Swampert, so be prepared to be amazed by the one and only May!" May giggled as I finished her introduction, not many people moved to talk to her since most of us already knew her. "And lastly, not at all leastly, is the number 1 ranked trainer in last year's recruiting class! He and his Lycanroc led Pasio High School to many accolades and now he's here to lend his many talents to us. Everyone, this is Paulo!" He looked stone faced at me as a few people clapped, and a few people went to talk to him but he didn't seem to respond. I looked to the other side of the crowd, pretending not to see it.

"Alright...welp, best way to practice in my eyes is a scrimmage, so I'll split you off in to two teams, Brendan, Dawn and I will observe, Dawn looked at me, "Me!? Why will I be..." I cut her off, "We'll talk about it in a second, scrimmage team captains will be... Eenie meenie... Uh... Ethan and Lyra. Team Lyra has first pick, you guys do your best yeah?" They nodded and began to pick teammates from the available roster.

Dawn walked up to me with a concerned and quite frankly sad expression on her face, "Why am I sitting out Elio? Did I do something wrong?" I shook my head and smiled, "On the contrary, you did something very right... Uh you're gonna be a starter this season, so I already trust you in battle practice, so like Brendan and I you'll be more focused on battle theory for this season. So yeah, you, me, and Brendan will be the starters." Dawn shrieked with glee and hugged me, then hugged Brendan, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!" I scratched my head, "Again, I didn't win anything for you, but hey whatever..." Once again my comment was ignored as Dawn gushed about how excited she was to start for the team. I smiled, she'll make a great starter.