“I,” I hesitated. “There’s not much to say, I was born and raised on Flaaffy Farms, just, you know, helping around the place. Doing the chores around the place take up all day, so really, it’s the only thing I do. And drawing, I like drawing too. Anyway, we’ve only recently finished processing the wool from shedding season, so it’s quiet this time of year. That’s why Daddy had the time to bring me here. That, and it was my birthday yesterday, so I could finally get my licence.”

  “Happy birthday!” said Sunny, far too loudly. “What age are you, fifteen?”

  “Fourteen,” I said.

  “Fourteen, that’s... young,” said Darren.

  “Old enough,” I said with a little too much heat in my voice. Darren flinched slightly, and I quickly looked away.

  “Well I’m eighteen,” said Sunny. “And Darren’s seventeen. That makes me the clear leader.”

  “No way you’re the leader of anything,” protested Darren.

  “Woo, woo,” said Hector.

  “See, he agrees with me.”

  Sunny gasped dramatically at Hector’s betrayal and punished him with severe head rubs. On the other end of the lobby, the group that had been arguing for a while now stood up suddenly. Their voices were raised to the point of shouting when a low rumble spread across the room, crawling up my spine and pressing into the base of my neck. An Audino trotted towards them, Growl causing them to tremble. Nurse Joy walked up behind her Pokémon and crossed her arms.

  “This is your one warning,” she said. “Keep the discussion civil or take it outside. Understood?”

  Her rebuke was answered by a mumbled chorus of “understood.” There was a moments hush in the Pokémon Centre before conversation picked up again,

  “That’s a powerful Pokémon,” noted Darren.

  “I think I felt that in my bones,” said Sunny. “How come you can’t Growl like that?” she asked Hector. He wooped sadly in response

  “He’s probably saying Woopers don’t learn Growl,” I said.

  “Pity,” said Sunny. “Anyway, my turn. I’m from Silverwind Village originally, but I live here with Mom for most of the year. I like rock climbing and gaming, and even though I got my trainer ID a few years back, I only got Hector recently. He’s Mom’s Quagsire’s son and he’s very young. I’m participating in the circuit because, well, I think Mom was going to kick me out of the house soon and this way I can get some funding from the state. At least for the first year.”

  “How noble of you,” said Darren. “I, on the other hand, get absolutely nothing. It’s what I get for not being from Silín. I was born in Johto, moved here a bit over a year ago, and wound up signing up for the circuit because my parents said it would be a good experience. This circuit thing is weird though, and overly complicated. In Johto we have gyms you can challenge. Defeating them all gets you into the Silver Conference. When I become champion, I’m going to get them to set up gyms here too.”

  Darren was very excited by his proposal, explaining how he would find the strongest trainers in the region to set up, what he termed, “a proper Pokémon journey.” The conversation eventually turned to when we would be setting off. They had been planning on staying in Nocturne for another week, there was plenty of time until the tournament in Rondo city kickstarted the circuit year after all. However, they also seemed keen on the idea of stopping by Flaaffy Farms for a few days when I thought to invite them. For some reason, the idea of seeing all the Mareep grazing the fields appealed to them. In the end, despite the fact that Father would be returning to the farm by boat, I decided to walk there with Darren and Sunny. It was only a day's journey and it would be good for us to get to know each other properly. We would be leaving in two days. I would stay the nights in the Pokémon Centre, which had rooms for trainers to stay in that I could take advantage of now that I had ID.

  ***

  Daddy gave me a big hug when I told him of my decision. He took some convincing to let me stay, but eventually he came to the conclusion that it would be a good trial run to see how I would do on my own. He told us to make sure we always had at least one Pokémon out at all times when we were travelling. I told him to stop fussing and to go home.

  I ate at the Pokémon centre with my new companions. Everyone was pretty tired by that stage, so we separated and I went to see the kind of room I would become very familiar with during the next few months. It was big. I mean very big. And also empty, there was a bed and a window and that was it. At least the mattress was comfortable.

  The next day, Sunny, Darren and I went shopping for some last minute supplies for our journey. Nocturne was a beautiful city. Bordering Sonata Bay, it was by far the largest in Silín. It was home to a fifth of the regions population and it showed. Massive skyscrapers towered over the streets. Some buildings had Pokémon statues carved into or attached to them. Slowpoke were probably the most common, though Vigoroth were popular too. If it wasn’t for the Pidove flying around it would have been perfect.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  My companions caught me looking awestruck a couple of times. They made some well-meaning jibe comments about me being from the country and I reacted badly. The first couple were okay, but I let things get under my skin too easily, and when Sunny said I looked like a Golbat with my mouth hanging open so much, I erupted.

  “Leave me alone! Just because I’m from the farm and have never been to a city before!”

  I clamped up when I realized I was shouting and embarrassment flooded my face like it did every time I lost my temper. Worse, this wasn’t home where I could run and hide in a corner somewhere, I had to stay next to the people I was yelling at.

  We walked in an incredibly awkward silence for what seemed like an eternity before I managed to mumble out an apology.

  “I’m sorry I shouted,” I said. “I get angry too easily.”

  I kept my gaze cast downwards, prepared to hear that I’d ruined everything, and that they didn’t need an emotional child with them on what could potentially be a very dangerous journey. Instead, Sunny put her arm around my shoulders.

  “It’s okay, we were being a bit mean,” she said.

  “Don’t worry about it. Is this your first time away from home?” asked Darren.

  I nodded, tearing up. I wiped my eyes on my sleeve.

  We finished shopping and found a nice restaurant shortly after. I had a cauliflower burger with chips. After, we decided to turn in for an early night and meet early in the morning. I had trouble falling asleep that night, nerves and doubts making me wholly unable to relax.

  Next morning, at dawn, I was desperately trying not to yawn as we left the city. Sunny was also looking overcast, even while she cuddled Hector. She soon admitted she had been playing games on her phone half the night. Darren took an uncomfortable amount of glee at our tiredness, particularly Sunny’s. He had a bit more sympathy for me, since he seemed to understand my nerves, but he was ruthless with his barbs towards her. Sunny laughed it all off and her mood quickly perked up with an ease that made me jealous.

  The Sonata Coast Road had cliffs overlooking the bay on the east and rocky wildflower fields on the west. An icy wind blew up from the south, despite it still being the end of summer. Thankfully, I was well wrapped in a heavy Mareep wool coat Grandma knit for me. Sunny was also well prepared, but Darren hadn’t seemed to realise how cold it could get once you left the city. Sunny took great pleasure with her verbal payback. In the end, he pulled out a thicker jumper from his backpack. He and Sunny had matching bags stuffed to bursting or their backs. I only had my small one with me that I brought to the city. I had a proper sized one waiting for me at home.

  Close to the city, there were many trainers with their Pokémon around. We saw a couple of battles and even stayed to watch a particularly interesting one between a Corphish and a Buneary. Buneary was quick, but when Corphish caught her leg in his claw, the battle was over. A point blank Bubble finished the job. As we got further down the road the number of people we passed reduced drastically. Darren called for a quick pause.

  “I’ve yet to introduce you to Auri,” he told me. He clicked open his pokeball and a squat, green Pokémon with a spike on her head landed heavily on the ground.

  “That’s a...?” I asked. Auri let out a roar in reply.

  “This is Auri. Auri, this is Calla, we’re going to be travelling together. Calla, Auri here is a Larvitar.”

  Auri’s skin was rough and stony and by the depth of her footprints, it was clear she weighed as much as a rock too. She glared up at me with red eyes. Letting out a growl, she showed two small fangs jutting down from the top of her mouth. It was a pity I'd left my notebook at home, I would have loved to draw her straight away.

  “What are Larvitars?” I asked.

  “They’re pretty rare Pokémon, even in Johto where I found her,” said Darren. “It’s a pretty funny story how I got her, though not as dramatic as you might expect. We used to live near Mt Silver for my father’s work. Dad’s a geologist and he’s got this massive collection of rocks. I used to sneak a few outside to play with them when I was young. I always brought them back, of course, except for this one time. Auri must have gotten lost because somehow she ended up wandering around the foot of the mountain. It was a weird encounter. She seemed incredibly interested in the rocks I was playing with. When I gave her a closer look she nearly bit my hand off. I managed to keep all my fingers, but sadly I couldn’t save the aurichalcite. Dad was livid until he saw Larvitar following me. Then he probably figured that Auri was worth the loss of a rock.”

  Auri roared again in agreement.

  “She’s a massive glutton though,” he added.

  At around midday, Darren began to complain about the state of the road. Or, as he pointed out, it wasn’t so much a road rather than a trail of flattened grass. The rocky ground, uneven terrain and lack of shelter from the wind or sun were doing him no favours either. I explained that this was Mareep country, and that meant hills and rough grasses. He wasn’t satisfied. Apparently, the roads in Johto were paved.

  “Most of the travel here is by boat anyway,” said Sunny, joining into the conversation. “Land routes are seen as too unstable for ordinary traffic. You never know when a hoard of wild Pokémon, or even just one powerful one will create major blockages.”

  “Isn’t that what the rangers are for?” asked Darren. “By Ho-Oh, please tell me you have Pokémon rangers here.”

  “Understaffed and underfunded,” she said. “The government seems to think its better to pump money into the circuit so that trainers do some semblance of the rangers' job for them. Just having people on the roads already deters most Pokémon from settling there, and they hope trainers will be equipped to deal with the more troublesome ones. Even still, the water is seen as much safer.”

  Darren looked to be in a state of shock.

  “Just one more thing to fix when I become champion,” he muttered.

  We stopped for lunch shortly after. To my surprise, I seemed to be the most in shape out of the three of us. It had nothing to do with the fact that they were carrying full rucksacks with all their stuff, while I only had the small bag I brought with me to the city. Sunny collapsed on a patch of grass as soon as we stopped and took her shoes off to massage her feet. Darren wasn’t a whole lot better. He blamed the road. Even Auri, who had managed to keep up perfectly fine with her stubby legs, was giving him an exasperated look. Lunch was sandwiches that we had prepared the day before. As we ate, Sunny fed Hector some kibble and Auri was happy enough eating a small mound of earth, with the occasional pretty stone thrown at her by Darren. I had been wondering why he was picking them up along the way.

  It was abundantly clear was that my companions were not prepared for hiking. I lent Sunny a spare water bottle, because I always bring extra water wherever I go, and she had managed to drink all of hers before lunch. As for Darren, He tried to take a nap as soon as he finished eating. I had to kick him awake to tell him that if we didn’t get going, we would have to sleep outside tonight, and I didn’t have my tent or sleeping bag yet. With that and their fitness levels, I found myself wondering if we’d even get to the next city, never mind finish the circuit on time.