The Pantheon

Shiny Trio

Ashley sat on the grass and watched the training in front of her.

Mars and Janus were trading blows again. The training had been going on for almost an hour now. Mars rushed forward with Dragon Claw. Janus blocked it and answered with a quick punch to Mars’ side. Mars pulled back, twisted his body, and swung his tail low with Iron Tail. Janus jumped to avoid the hit, and Mars followed immediately with Steel Wing, just as Janus had been teaching him.

The attack landed on Janus’ guard with a loud impact.

Mars landed and exhaled heavily. He was already starting to get tired.

That was expected.

The whole point of this exercise was to make him fight in a way he normally wouldn't. Mars was used to overwhelming opponents with power and endurance. Janus was trying to teach him something different.

He wanted Mars to chain physical moves together the way a fighting type would.

Moves like Brick Break, Iron Tail, Steel Wing, even Dragon Claw could all be used in quick combinations if the timing was right. The idea was to force the opponent into reacting to one move and then punish that reaction immediately with another.

For example, Mars could sweep low with Iron Tail to force someone to jump. The moment they left the ground; he could hit them with Steel Wing while they were still in the air.

It sounded simple when Janus explained it but doing it in an actual fight was much harder.

Mars had to constantly switch between different attacks, different positions, and different timings. That constant adjustment drained more energy than simply throwing stronger attacks.

Which was impressive, considering Mars had more stamina than almost everyone on her team.

Only Janus could really match him there.

Ashley leaned back slightly against Pluto’s side.

The shiny Absol had curled up beside her like he always did when she sat down to watch training. His head rested comfortably on her lap while the rest of his body stretched along the grass.

Ashley absentmindedly ran her fingers through his fur.

Two smaller figures rested on Pluto’s back.

Diana and Juno had apparently decided that Pluto made a comfortable place to lie down.

Juno, who had recently evolved into a Kirlia, sat upright, watching the fight quietly. Diana, now a Dartrix, had her wings tucked close to her body while her eyes followed Mars’ movements with obvious interest.

Ashley looked at the three of them and smiled slightly.

Her shiny trio.

She had been thinking about that recently.

All three of them were shiny Pokémon, but that wasn’t the only thing they had in common. Looking at them together, Ashley couldn’t help noticing how neatly they seemed to fall into a pattern that trainers sometimes talked about when discussing the strange relationship between Psychic, Dark, and Ghost types.

The Mind Arts Trio.

Heart, soul, and mind.

Pluto was the heart.

Not because he was emotional—far from it. If anyone filled that role on the team, it was Venus. Pluto was something else entirely. He was the steady center, the quiet presence that everyone instinctively trusted would still be there when things went wrong. He rarely reacted first and rarely raised his voice, but he was always watching.