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"Can you believe we've been assigned teams?" Misty asked excitedly, stars in her eyes.
"This is gonna be great, a chance to prove myself!" Ash agreed, pumping his fist in the air.
"Pika!" His Pikachu chirped happily.
"It's really exciting, but I just can't wait to meet all the girls!" Brock said, a blush upon his face. Misty rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"Here we go again..." She mumbled.
Ash simply laughed. "We can meet girls after we battle trainers!" and with that, he took off running and laughing.
"So we're getting new trainers?" Henry asked Blanche, looking up at his leader with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, word got out that Valor Mystic Instinct wanted more people to sign up and they heeded. I've accepted over 100 trainers this week." Blanche stated, looking over some paperwork.
"What about us?" Thomas looks to Spark, curious. Spark smiles and rubs his assistant's head. "I got over 200 trainers accepted! Not trying to brag, babe." Spark grinned at Blanche, who let out a small smile and rolled their eyes.
Elara looked at Candela, her eyes asking the question. Candela chuckles. "We got over 150 trainers signed up. We're good." Candela assures Elara, who smiles and nods.
"Hello!" A voice calls as the door opens. "We're here to meet the leaders of Valor Mystic instinct?"
"Oh, we've got company!" Spark grins. "Thomas, stay here and finish some paperwork up please!" Thomas nods and heeds his leader's words.
"Henry, I'll be back, you do the same." Blanche says, standing up.
"Elara, you know the drill." Candela says, walking out with her best friends and coleaders.
The trio walks out and sees three trainers, they smile.
"Hi!" Candela chirps.
"Can we help you?" Blanche asks.
Brock freezes as the background between the two turns pink and bubbly. His face is burning and hearts are in his eyes.
"YOU TWO ARE THE PRETTIEST WOMEN I'VE EVER SEEN!" Brock kneels and takes both their hands. "Please, what are your names?!"
"Brock!" Ash and Misty yelped, not believing he just did that.
Candela jerks her hand away, out of surprise. Blanche, however, froze out of anxiety of being touched so suddenly. They looked to Spark, their green eyes begging for their boyfriend's help.
Spark was furious. He wanted nothing more than to strike the teen with his powers and burn him to ashes. Instead, he forced a smile, walked over and ripped Brock's hand away from Blanche.
"My partner is nonbinary, they prefer the pronouns they/them. Also, Candela is aromantic and doesn't want any romantic relationships. Don't ever touch them again."
Brock jumps back about ten feet. The blonde's tone sounded friendly but he could hear the growing fury under it. "I-I-I understand! Please forgive me!" He bowed in apology.
Spark wrapped a comforting, firm arm around Blanche as they clung to him. They thanked him silently by nuzzling their face into his shoulder.
"A-Anyway, do you know what teams you're in?" Candela said, glad she had her gloves on to protect her hands from Brock's touch.
"I'm with Team Valor, my name is Ash Ketchum!" Ash proclaimed proudly. This made Candela feel much better as she smiled. "Then you're with me, I'm your new leader Candela! Nice to meet you, Ash!"
"And I'm on Team Mystic, I'm Misty!" Misty smiled.
After composing themself and gently pulling away from Spark, Blanche nodded. "You're on my team then, I'm Blanche."
"And I'm Team Instinct, I'm Brock, nice to-" Brock cut himself short as he realized who's team he was on. A chill went up his spine and he started to shake as Spark let off a devilish grin.
"It's nice to meet you, Brock. You and I are going to have fun."