A new world

Chapter 3: The first assigment

"Dusk can I talk to you for a sec?" Ace said
"Uhm okay. Leo wait here I'll be right back, "Dusk said. Leo nodded.
When they were alone. Ace said:
"I noticed that you chose your partner very quickly. Do you really think that you made the right decision?" Ace noticed the mostly confused but slightly hurt look on his daughter's face
"I mean Chikorita aren't exactly known to be very strong. And Leo doesn't seem like much of an exception. So what makes you choose him above everybody else?" before Dusk could answer they heard a sob followed by a few quick footsteps. Dusk glared at her dad
"Hey genius, I think he heard you. You know most people don't appreciate it when you call them weak. And besides neither are Zorua, and yet you chose mom, maybe you should think about that first!" Dusk yelled
"That was...."Ace tried to say. But Dusk interrupted him she was furious at her father's words
"Shut up! For once in your life just shut up!" She yelled. And without giving Ace another chance to respond, she ran after Leo. Usually Ace would have been furious at his daughter's behavior, but he knew that she had been right. And he regreted his words.

It took Dusk twenty minutes to find Leo, but when she finally found him, he was still crying. Ace's words had really hurt his feelings. Dusk came up to him and gently nudged him with her nose
"Hey, Leo are you okay?" she asked even though she knew it was a stupid question to ask. Just by looking at him she could see that he was not. But it was instinctive to ask that question, so she did.
"Of course I'm not okay. How would you feel if a hero like Ace would call you weak," Leo sobbed
"If it makes you feel any better, I don't approve of what my dad said, and I definitely don't think it is true," Dusk said
"Really?" Leo said momentarly stopping with crying.
"Of course not. Why would I? It must have taken a lot of courage to leave everything you know behind and come home. To me, that is way more important than any level of power," Dusk said. At first, Leo did not respond, but after a while, he pulled Dusk into a hug. This took her by surprise, but she did not hesitate to return it.
"Thank you" Leo whispered gratefully.

They spend the rest of the day getting to know each other a bit better as instructed. After dinner, each team was assigned a room in the headquarters and they were told to go to sleep because tomorrow would be a very long day. They wouldn't tell them why so Leo and Dusk decided that it would be best to take the advice they were given and went straight to sleep.

The next morning they had breakfast after which they were all told to gather in the main hall for their first assignment.
"Today is the day you begin your training as explorers. As an explorer, it is essential to know how to survive in the wild. Therefore todays assignment is to set up a camp and spend the night in it. You'll all be given a camping spot and some supplies to help you out. Before we do this however, each team needs to pick who will be the leader. You can depart as soon as you have decided that. So I would suggest you don't take too long as all the daylight left will be of great importance," Ace instructed. Dusk turned towards Leo
"I think you should be the leader," she said.
"What...why?" Leo asked surprised.
"Because I believe in you," Dusk said
"Besides it will be nice to not be the leader for once," she added with a grin. Up until that point Dusk had always been picked as the leader in every group she was a part of. The only reason for this was because she was famous.
"Okay, but you have to promise that you help me out if I don't know what to do," Leo said hesitantly.
"Of course. I promise. Now let's go see our campsite." Dusk said.
"Hey, I thought that I was the leader. Don't I get to say that?" Leo said timidly. They both laughed at his little joke.
Afterward, they went and told Ace that they were ready. No one said anything about what happened the day prior. Ace simply noted down the leader of their team and assigned them somebody, to show them to their campsite. Both Dusk and Leo were determined to make it through this training, So they were ready to give it all they got to make sure they did not fail.