Tommy trained his eye on the horizon. The last few dying rays of sunlight succumbed to the darkness. Red orbs developed in front of the old mansion. He felt his body chill. The old, abandoned mansion stood tall by the immense trees of Eterna forest, its windows illuminated by purple lights. The orbs bounced inside their host Duskulls' heads. "Old Chateau," Tommy whispered, "that place… it isn't normal." Tauros nudged him. The young bull was a fierce competitor, but it too felt the disturbance of the mansion. Tommy turned from the mansion, and headed down through the forest.
Pulling through the forest, he held his jacket close to him. He was chilly, being used to the temperatures of Solaceon. He stopped under the bridge. It was a great place to set up for the night. Water and grass were close for Tauros to eat and drink from. The bridge supplied shelter, in case of rain. Grabbing some nearby sticks, he struck some flint he carried with him for fire. He pulled some food from his bag, and heated them with the fire. He heard some rustling in the bushes nearby. A Buizel emerged from the bush, carrying a pecha berry. Tauros lowered its head, but Tommy calmed him. Buizel completely ignored them, jumping in the water and Aqua Jetting toward some more Buizel. Tommy then became aware of the Shinx gathered around. Their rivalry was intense, as the tried to intimidate the other. One tried to tackle the other, bringing them both to the ground. Soon, a mother Luxio came and picked them up, one after the other, into a small den.
Laughing, Tommy unfolded the sleeping bag from his pack, and crawled inside. "Tomorrow," he said to Tauros, "We will reach Floaroma, and by the end of the week, we should pass Jubilife, and reach Sandgem. Then we can talk to Professor Rowan and find out all we need for our journey."
As he awoke in the morning, he noticed a boy and a girl battling. An Oddish used stun spore on the Starly, and capitalized with a rattling tackle. The Starly rocked and fell over, knocked out. "I won!" shouted the girl.
The boy handed some money to the girl. "Yeah, but when it learns gust, your Oddish is toast!"
"Oh, you mean my Gloom? By the time you get that thing trained enough for that, Oddish will have evolved!"
"Then my Staravia will take it down!"
"You'll be an old man before you can evolve that!"
"Will not!"
"Will too!"
Tommy walked over with Tauros by his side. "What's up? What's the problem?"
"Oh, my baby brother is trying to raise his Starly to be able to beat my Oddish."
"I will someday!"
"Okay, good luck on that."
Tommy walked off with the two children making fun at each other.
Tommy came up to Floaroma riding on Tauros. He entered the Pokemon center, and was greeted by Nurse Joy. "Hello, you're up late. Welcome to Floaroma Pokemon center! Can we heal your Pokemon?"
"I'd love it if you would. My Tauros really needs a good rest. We've been traveling for days."
"Okay, right this way!"
"Tauros seems to be in good shape. You really take care of it well, considering how hard the road is from Eterna."
"Thank you. Let's hope I can continue that through the rest of the country."
Tommy came crashing to the ground. He tried picked himself up, but a blond boy was on top of him. The blond boy got to his feet, and so did Tommy.
"Ow, sorry about that. I was paying attention."
"No problem. Who are you?"
"My name is Benji. Who are you?"
"Tommy."
"Hey, would you like a battle? My Piplup needs some training."
"Okay, one on one okay?"
"Sure!"
Tommy and Benji exited the Pokemon center. Tauros stepped forward, as Piplup was released from its ball.
"Piplup! Bubble!"
Piplup shot out bubbles at Tauros. "Tauros, charge right through them for a tackle!"
Tauros charged at Piplup. I started slowing down, and Piplup easily dodged.
"What just happened?"
"I don't know. I guess charging through the bubbled really slowed down your Tauros."
"Well, it won't happen again!"
