I came downstairs packed to the brim, ready for anything. So I hoped. Dad met me at the bottom of the stairs and sighed happily. "You remind me of me when I left for my journey. Here, take this."

He placed a blue and orange cap on my head, adjusting it to make sure it was straight. "I wore this, your grandfather wore this…and now it's your turn. It brings us luck, so I like to think."

I chuckled and adjusted the hat. "Thanks, Dad. This is great."

He smiled, and I asked, "So am I gonna get help from Eoniai and the others?"

He laughed. "Oh, I love your sense of humor."

"I was serious."

He looked at me, still chuckling. "You're on your own. It's your journey to take, your friends to meet, your relationships to make, your enemies to conquer."

"Kill?"

He sighed and bent down to my level (he wasn't much taller than me, but he still was). "Graham, I'm going to tell you something very important."

I nodded, my attention rapt. "Graham, you do not kill unless there is absolutely no other option. You're a superhuman now; you have to have restraint and morals. This was tough for me during my journey, and for your sake, I hope your friends slap you out of it whenever it happens."

I nodded, and he stood up straight, looking up the stairs. "I wonder if Gracie'll be pissed you left…"

Timing is amazing. Gracie came down the stairs as he said it, and we both grinned at him. "Dad, she's coming with me."

He looked at me. "Graham, you won't have our artifacts. No shoes, no staff, nothing unless you find something somehow. Gracie'll be vulnerable."

She pouted. "Dad, did Eoniai, Tardon, or Mom have powers when they joined you?"

He looked at her. "No, but-"

"Exactly. They helped with fists and kicks. I can do this, alright?"

Dad sighed. "I still don't like it…my little girl going off with her brother to save the world. Again."

I looked at him curiously. "Again?"

He turned to me. "I'm referring to me. I thought we were done when the Revivers kicked ass…but I guess not." He hugged us both tightly. "Both of you, look out for each other and stay safe. I expect to see both of you when you come back, got it?"

He let us go, and we nodded. I looked around and asked, "Where's Mom?"

Dad looked towards the kitchen. "Your mother's…taking this in. Not as well as me."

I looked at him, then went into the kitchen, where Mom was crying next to a box of tissues. Guessing from the amount surrounding her, she'd been there a while. I went over to her. "We're leaving, Mom."

She hugged me tightly and continued crying. I chuckled and said, "Mom, we'll be fine. We find the evil, we kick ass, we come back. Cake."

She let me go and looked at me. "Graham…I just…you…" She choked up, and I hugged her. "Mom, relax. I'll call when I can."

She nodded and went back to her box, pulling out another ten. I walked out of the kitchen and back towards Dad and Gracie. "We'd better be off, Gracie."

She looked at me curiously. "Mom's not coming out?"

I shook my head. "Crying too hard. Dad, you might wanna buy more boxes."

He shrugged. "I'll get to it. You two, go. And good luck."

We smiled and walked out the door, taking in the idyllic Pallet Town landscape. I turned back to the house, with its light-blue paint job and two-story loom, and smiled. "Gracie, any ideas?"

She shook her head. "Walk until we get a hit."

I nodded. "Good idea." I turned back around and saw movement in the distance. "Gracie."

"Yeah, got it." She pulled out a handgun and jogged towards the movement. A minute later, I heard screams of "Don't shoot!"

I went over to where Gracie was, and I saw someone with her. He was about 6'8", had green hair and eyes (seriously, green hair?), and was wearing brown pants and a button-down shirt. Gracie lowered her gun, and I asked, "Formal much?"

He looked down, then back at us. "I like looking nice. Why were you gonna shoot me?"

"We weren't gonna shoot. It was just a precaution."

"Oh, and they're all blanks, is that right?"

"Yeah."

He blinked. "That actually makes me feel better." He extended his hand. "Reledre."

I took his hand and shook it. "Graham. Trigger happy here's my sister, Gracie."

She nodded. "Pleasure."

He glanced at her, then looked at me. "So why do you have a blank gun?"

Gracie scoffed. "Two magazines with real bullets in my pack. Blanks for non-battle situations."

He looked at her curiously. "How do you switch between the two quickly in battle?"

She smiled, and I groaned. "You had to ask…" She said, "Act like you're shooting at me."

He blinked. "Uh…"

"Do it, man. She's serious."

He shrugged and put up his hand, his fingers looking like a gun, and instantly, Gracie whirled her backpack in front of her over one shoulder, took a magazine, and shouldered it over the other. She dropped the first mag, put in the second, cocked it, and pointed it at him. He blinked again. "Whoa. That's actually quite fast."

She nodded and replaced the live mag with the blanks. "In case it isn't, the backpack's lined with bullet stopping material."

Reledre gave a low whistle, and I sighed. "It's not that impressive…you get used to it."

Gracie looked at me and flicked me. I flicked her back, and soon we were slapping each other. "Hey, quit it!"

We both looked at Reledre, who sighed. "You two don't get along well, do you…"

I shrugged. "We're decent. We have our spats, but we're pretty okay relationship-wise."

She nodded, and Reledre looked at the gun again. "So why exactly are you carrying that around?"

She opened her mouth, but I cut her off with "So you good at anything, Reledre?"

He shrugged. "This and that."

"Anything that could be useful in a fight?"

He thought a moment. "Well, nothing. Except maybe these."

He extended his arms at a 45 degree angle downwards, and a pair of knifes dropped down into his hands from his sleeves. He twirled them a bit, then put his arms straight up, and they slid back in. "How's that?"

"Not bad. How are you not cutting yourself up doing that?"

"Took a lot of time to master, but I have. Now tell me."

I grinned. "Have you ever heard of White Fury?"

Relendre gasped. "White Fury?! Yeah, I know him! My grandpa met him once!"

I chuckled. "Really? Who's your grandpa?"

"His name's Spencer. He lives in Viridian if you wanna meet him."

I shrugged. "Sure. Gracie?"

"I see no harm. Let's do it."

Relendre smiled. "Cool! Let's go." He turned and started to walk, and we followed him towards Viridian, eager to meet this Spencer guy.