The mid-morning sun shined brightly in the sky, clear of clouds and perfect weather conditions to go out and enjoy the day away. The air held a faint scent of flowers, baked goods, sweet scents, and clear clean air.
People were out and about in the small town, busying with their to-do's and just enjoying the good weather. Which was okay with him since none of them would stop to take notice of him walking down the street with a bag full of items he bought almost all morning. And he really didn't want someone to notice him, because if they did they would probably notice that his clothes were not in the best condition and was a little too dirty to be viewed as healthy looking.
He could just tell them that he'd been traveling for a while out in the woods and hadn't had time to concern over his basic needs, but then they might press on and ask more questions than he would like to answer. But luckily, no one seemed to want to press on his case. Or maybe it was because most of this town's residents were Pokémon Trainers from all around that it was normal for them to see people a little scruff up and dirty.
Whatever the reason, he was just glad that no one wanted to stop him for questions and wined up find out what was really going on.
"Okay, food, check. Water, check. Books, compass, and map, check. Alright, looks like things are staring off on a good-OUF!" He stumbled backwards, looking up to see a young male fall on his back. "Oh man! I'm so sorry! I didn't look where I was going! Are you okay?!"
He held out a hand, helping the stranger up on his feet. While doing so, he took notice of the stranger's features, most notably his clothes and wild electric blue hairdo that stood out from his dark skin. Short white jeans went down past his knees with three belts wrapped loosely around the hip. A ripped sleeveless yellow and black lighting pattern shirt with a Pokémon that looked like an orange mouse with a long black tail that ended in a thunder bolt, and thick grey rubber shoes with at least five or six straps on them.
A choker of gold with spikes poking out was wrapped around his neck, along with a small metal craft dangling underneath it. Goggles sat on top of his head with lightning bolts craved into the glass.
"No worries man. I wasn't looken' either." The stranger smiled, showing off his white teeth as he got up, folding his arms behind his head. "Man, I really need to stop walken' while I'm thinken'. I keep runnen' inta stuff! But hey! Least it helps me clear my head!" He beamed, holding out one hand. "I'm Gregory by the way! Nice ta meat cha!"
He looked at the hand, unsure if he should shake it or not. The stranger, Gregory, might start asking questions, and, worse, he might accidentally spread out that information to ears he really didn't want hearing about. But, looking at Gregory's face, those big green eyes of his, he somehow didn't really seem the type that would do something like that. But he had to be careful about this. "… Uh… Dipper." He smiled, a little uneasy but still a smile, reaching out and shook Gregory's hand. "My name's Dipper."
"Cool name! I don't think I evah met someone with a cool name like that!"
"Oh, it's not my real name." He shrugged, tucking both his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I just go by it because…" He paused, suddenly realizing that he was getting too comfortable around Gregory that he was already giving too much information about himself. "Uh… listen, I have to go somewhere."
"Ain't ya gonna need some help picken' up your stuff first?" Gregory pointed out, looking down at the ground towards his feet.
Following the taller man's gaze, he almost had a heart attack. The bag he had been carrying had spilled over, spilling out its contents on the stone ground. "Ah jeez!" He exclaimed, hurriedly gathering the supplies he had spent all morning gathering.
"That's a lot of stuff ya got here." Gregory commented, bending down and picking up a can that was closest to his feet, looking it over. "What cha' be needen' all this stuff for? Ya goen' on a trip or somethen'?"
"N-no. It's just some supplies." He avoided looking at Gregory as he finished putting the last of the items back in the bag. "For… emergency cases."
Gregory nodded, handing the can back to Dipper. "Reasonable." He shrugged, standing back up. "So, where ya headen' to man? Ya need some help getten' around here since you're new to the Shallow Islands?"
His heart leapt in his throat, letting out a shrill squeak as he tumbled backwards in shock. "H-how did you know?!"
"Easy man." Gregory held up his hands. "No need ta overreact. It's easy ta spot new people here. First been' your clothes." He gestured to his green hat that sat lopsided on his head, his white long sleeved shirt that had more tears than he could count and his jeans with holes in them to his shoes that were on their last legs. "You obviously hadn't gotten them form anywhere here on the island. They're too dirty 'nd torn 'nd not many shops sell that type of fabric ya wearen'. Second is that I know just 'bout everybody here on the island. Lived here long enough ta remember faces 'nd names." He tapped the side of his head, smiling with a wink.
Dipper's heart was pounding against his chest, thundering so fast it was painful and loud. His whole body was trembling, staring up at Gregory in mixed horror and fear.
"… You okay man?"
"I… I… I-I…" His voice was trembling, and he was 99.9% certain that his hands were getting moist from his sweat.
"It's nothen' to be scared 'bout man." Gregory took a tentative step forward. "Why don't you 'nd me—"
"THANKSBUTNOTHANKSGOTTOGOBYE!" He shouted, grabbing the bag and hightailing it out of there.
"H-hey! Wait!" He heard Gregory shout, but he kept running, not looking back as he maneuvered through the crowds of people and Pokémon and kept running till he rounded a building corner and ducked into an alleyway, slamming his back against the brick wall as he tried to catch his breath. Once his heart rate went back to normal, he peeked out from behind the building. Sighing in relief, he slumped against the building, shaking his head.
It was a close call.
Too close.
He certain that his cover would have been blown right then and there if he stayed with Gregory any longer. Not to mention what might have happened if…
No. He wasn't going to think like that. He didn't give enough information about himself. He was still in the clear zone. Gregory was going to be a problem though. He'd have to be careful and keep an eye out in case they ran into each other again.
Getting back up on his feet, he scanned the area to make sure the coast was clear. Once he deemed it was safe enough, he headed out.
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Staying at an old hotel room was not an ideal place to stay in her mind, but it cost less than the more decent hotels and had less people about that cheeked into the place. Plus, her brother had picked it out, deeming it safe for them to stay while they made a plan of action.
She didn't mind it all too much once she figured out that the hotel had a swing set and some pretty good TV channels she could watch.
Glancing at the clock hung on the wall, she frowned. Her brother had left early in the morning to go get supplies and already it was getting close to noon. That meant either two things. One, he was going over the things they needed and thinking that they needed something else while shopping or number two… he got caught.
She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. "Think positive Mabel." She mumbled to herself. "Dipper's not so easy to catch. He'll be back soon. You know he will."
She shifted her focus back on the TV screen, trying to ignore the pit in her stomach that started to grow in her as the hours ticked by with no brother in sight. Dipper was smart. Dipper knew how to avoid getting caught out on the street. He got them this far with just a few hiccups in the plan but they still managed to get here. He could handle being out on his own for a bit…
Glancing at the clock to the door, her mind was made up. She would give him a half hour before she would go looking for him.
Just as she turned her eyes back on the small screen, the door opened with her brother carrying a bag walking through before shutting the door behind himself, smiling apologetically. "Sorry for the wait Mabel. Some of the items were harder to find than I thought."
Relief flooded her body, but her face didn't agree with it as she shot her brother an angry look. Though, she was sure that there was no real heat to it. "You big dummy! I was worried that you got caught or worse!"
Dipper rolled his eyes as he went over to the far corner of the room where the only table sat against the corner, placing the bag on top. "Pfft. Like I could get caught that easily Mabel. Anyway, I got some food for us to eat while we make up a new plan." He dug through the bag, pulling out bread and a jar filled with jam in it.
A distinctive grumbling emanated from Mabel's stomach. "Heh, nice timing bro." She jumped off the bed, helping her brother make lunch for the both of them.
"Okay, from what I could gather on some information, I might have found a simple yet efficient plan for us." Dipper reached into the bag, pulling out a folded paper that he proceeded to unfold and layout on the bed with both siblings sitting on one side opposite form each other. "As we know, the Shallow Islands in by far the largest known island in the world, and for being the only place where every single Pokémon in the world can be found."
He pointed to small section on the map, right at where the land was at the borderline of the sea. "We arrived here exactly ninety six hours ago on the ship we stowed away on, and now we're currently staying here at the hotel."
"Is this place really okay enough to be considered a hotel?" She glanced about the room, munching on her PB and J with gummy worms and glitter sandwich.
"Yeah. It is Mabel." Dipper huffed, taking a bit out of his own sandwich. "Mis mace is mety mep."
"Huh?"
"I said this place is pretty cheap." Dipper repeated after swallowing. "And an excellent spot to find out where to get registrations. Apparently, this place is a good rest stop for Pokémon trainers."
"So all we have to do is ask a trainer where to get registrations and boom! Instant twin Pokémon trainers!"
"Right! But remember. We still have to keep a low profile. We don't want anyone getting to much information about us or anything major."
"Yeah, yeah." She stuck out her tongue. "I get it. No talking to strangers unless we can get any good info out of them."
"I'm serious Mabel! If anyone found out anything about us, that could lead to total disaster! And all this planning, all the effort we put into everything, it'll all be for nothing. We can't go back to the life we were in. Not when we made it this far. If we go back now…"
They shuddered.
"Okay." She wrapped her arms around herself. "You make a good point there."
"We just need to be careful. That's all there is to it." Dipper folded the map up, hopping off the bed, reaching down underneath and pulling out an old two strap travel backpack and placing the map inside. "After that, things should be okay. We would still need to keep a low on our profile but other than that we should be good."
"Then what are we waiting for? An invitation?" She jumped off the bed, making her way to the door.
"Wait!"
Her hands paused just on the door handle, looking back at her brother in a confused glance.
"Mabel, we're the only ones checked into this hotel right now. There not a single trainer here that we can ask."
"… oh… okay." She went back to the bed, flopping backwards onto the soft mattress. "So, we just have to wait till some checks in?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Phooey."
"Hey, it's not all that bad. I mean, we can plan on what we can do once we're registered while we wait."
She glanced at her brother. "What do you plan on doing once you get registered?"
Dipper shrugged, climbing back up on the bed after hiding the bag away. "I don't really know. Maybe I'll know somewhere along the way. What about you?"
"Same deal I guess." Mabel sat up, snatching up the remote. "Maybe the TV has some ideas for us."
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"Aw man, can't believe I lost him. 'Nd he was such a cool man too." Gregory sighed, slumping down in his booth. The booth in question belong to a small restaurant that sat at one of the small town's corners. The rush hour had already passed, so there were plenty of seats to choose from. Preferably, he chose the more secluded area of the old place in the back where not many people would go. "Man, can't believe how I lost track of him that quickly. 'Nd ta think, I'm usually the best at runnen' after people. Though, that man was sure fast. 'Nd small. Runnen' after someone small as him in big crowds is hard man."
Sighing, he stretched his arms, relaxing into his seat more. "Alright G, no use a dwellen' on it. Time ta look over the facts." His face went serious, placing both arms crossed on the table. "From what you were told, reports of two small individuals were seen sneaken' out of the ship that ported four days ago, both looken' to be small children."
"Reports say that the two looked similar in facial features, meanen' that they might be related. Noted ta be… yay-high, brown hair, dirty clothes, male 'nd female, 'nd no parents reported any child of theirs missen'. So in conclusion, both children were stowed away hidden in the ship, where exactly is still unknown, but it's certain that they managed ta evade getten' caught 'nd now they're somewhere here on the island."
Gregory groaned, running a hand through his wild mane. "So much for trailen' them down without getten' caught. Would have been easy ta earn their trust 'nd find out what ta do with them then. Returen' them ta their parents seemed like a good option, buuuut now that I think of it, kids don't usually run away looken' all rattled 'nd dirty."
He shook his head. "Somethen' bigger is goen' on here. Somethen' not too good 'nd I need ta find out what. But that's gona be hard since Dipper got real rattled by the end of our conversation. It's not gona be easy ta get his trust back. I'm obviously outta question. I need someone who's good with people. Someone who can go under cover 'nd gain trust easy."
"… 'Nd I just might know who ta call…"