"Okay!" Juudai stepped closer to the ocean and flung the balls into the air haphazardly, letting them fall where they would. "I've got Feather, Thrasher, Horn, Morph, and Puff! They have longer names, too, but those are just nicknames to tell them apart from others."

All but Thrasher the Gyarados landed on the sand, looking at their trainer attentively. He moved over to them and started introducing them individually.

"So I have Feather, who's the only girl so far, and she's got a little bit of an attitude, but she's pretty cool. Then there's Thrasher, and he's stubborn sometimes, but that can come in handy, too, because he's also determined to win, hehe. Morph is still a baby, but he's pretty relaxed, kinda like Puff. And finally, Horn is a real fighter, like Thrasher. And I'll let you meet Flare later, but he's as protective and loyal as you are."

He realized after the fact that was kind of an awkward thing to say, but judging by the warm smile when he said it, it wasn't meant as snarky or insulting at all. More of a compliment, it seemed.

"So this is my team so far! They're all my friends, and we help each other out." He stood in front of them, grinning at Yubel, when Morph the Eevee started headbutting his leg affectionately like a cat, wanting to be picked up, and Juudai obliged, ruffling its head fur idly.