Last time, on Unova Grand Tour...

We caught up with our heroes Tony and Lucky by the beach on Unova Route 1, where the two were fishing for a worthy opponent to test their new techniques on, powerful new moves that they learned while training with Pokemon Professor Juniper. Despite Gyarados' massive size, Lucky handled him with ease and sent him packing after a brutal attack! With their training now complete, Tony feels the time is at hand for him to leave Nuvema Town once more and head to Nimbasa City, where he will win his next Gym Badge and reunite with his friend Skyla!

What will happen next? Find out now!


"Okay, seriously, kid. Did you not read the note I put in the Pokedex? I specifically told you not to go anywhere near a Pokemon with a threat level now!"

If there was one thing Tony hated it was a scolding. Sadly, his completely-deserved reputation as a danger magnet constantly landed him under the unhappy gaze of his superiors. It was bad enough when his Aunt Sally did it, but when Professor Aurea Juniper was the one giving him a tongue-lashing he couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.

"Sorry," Tony said meekly.

"You'd better be," said Professor Juniper as she folded her arms and leaned back into her coach. Professor Juniper, Aurea to those closest to her, was a beautiful woman just entering her thirties, with cream-colored skin, well-kept short brown hair and a pair of shimmering green eyes. Like most Pokemon Professors, she showed a visible fondness for big white lab-coats, which she wore over her green blouse and skirt, even when off-duty. She was eccentric, quirky, intelligent and prided herself on her keen eye for potential in Pokemon Trainers.

One such trainer who was oozing with potential was Tony, who Juniper had met nearly half a year ago. Thanks to Juniper's interest in Tony, which stemmed from a rather controversial event in which Tony foolishly tackled a huge Bird Pokemon called a Braviary and managed not to get his face torn clean off. Juniper had been sure that Tony could be a trainer with an incredible amount of skill, if only he could tap into his own hidden power. So, she managed to convince his extremely overprotective Aunt Sally to let him go on his journey. Deep down, Juniper had fully expected Tony to make it beyond the Gym Leaders and face the Unova League Champion for the title. She expected him to be gone for quite some time.

However, Tony was taking a break after about half a year of his Pokemon Journey. During this time, Juniper had been teaching him everything that she knew. She thought that it would keep Tony occupied during his stay. In reality, Tony and his team had managed to blast through everything she had to throw at them in just one week. A horrendous case of boredom would have set in had Juniper not ordered him to find worthy opponents to test the skills of the bug-catcher and his Bug-type friends.

So, you see, this was all Juniper's fault! Right? ...Right?

Yeah, Aunt Sally probably wouldn't buy it, either... Or maybe she would. It was hard to tell with her, sometimes...

Well, for better or worse, Tony was done with the grueling training that Juniper had prepared for him, blazing through it faster than Juniper had ever seen anyone get through it. The laps she made him and his Pokemon run for every failure probably helped discourage him from giving into fatigue during training. Now, with his training done, both professor and protege knew the time was come for him to leave the nest - eh, again.

The two were sitting in Professor Juniper's living room, sipping canned lemonade (Lucky loved lemonade) as Tony finished reporting his extremely risky training session with the Gyarados. "Picking fights with Pokemon like Gyarados is not something you should do just for training," Juniper scolded, popping open her second can. "Besides, it was a waste of perfectly good cheese!"

"Actually, it was that sliced stuff," Tony said distastefully. "You know, the ones in the little plastic baggies?"

"Oh..." Juniper chuckled, feigning disgust. "Well, that hardly constitutes as real cheese."

"But it worked!" Tony said happily. "And we won, too! He didn't stand a chance against us!"

"Freeh!" Lucky agreed in-between sips of her drink.

Juniper sighed. "Look," she explained, "I know that I told you to find more powerful opponents, but..." she grabbed her protege by the shoulders, looking absolutely mortified, "if you get yourself killed your aunt will murder me, so please stay safe...!"

Tony sweat-dropped. "Alright, alright!" he exclaimed. "No more attacking migrating Gyarados, I promise... Sheesh..."

Juniper gave a breath of relief. "Thank you," she said gratefully. When she had sent Tony on his Pokemon Journey, his Aunt Sally had made it perfectly clear to Juniper that if anything was to happen to Tony it would be Juniper who would be held responsible. Aunt Sally was insanely overprotective of her nephew, and had never quite forgiven Juniper for sending her beloved Tony into the dangerous world. Sure, both Juniper and Sally got along quite well with one another, but when it came to Tony, Sally could be downright scary, even to her loved ones.

Needless to say, Juniper didn't drink anything that Sally offered her.

"I'm sure there are less-dangerous Pokemon around here that you can train with," Juniper promised the bug-catcher.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Tony replied nonchalantly. "I'm leaving Nuvema Town again."

Juniper's eyes widened. "Already?" she asked, surprised. "You were here for only a month!"

Tony nodded. "I know," he said. "It's just..."

"Itchy legs?" Juniper asked.

"Eh?"

"You know... You just can't stand staying in one place for too long," Juniper explained. "You want to travel and see new places, right?"

Tony nodded with a grin. "Exactly!" he said. "That's that weird trainer wanderlust thing that Pappy keeps talking about!"

"Yeah, it is," Juniper said simply. "I shouldn't be surprised, I guess. I mean, even while you were in town you were wandering around everywhere with no rhyme or reason. So, when do you leave?"

"Tomorrow, if I can," Tony replied. "It's a long way back to Nimbasa City, but with all that running you made me do I'm sure I can manage."

"Why bother walking?" Juniper asked. "There's a train station in Accumula Town. You can just get a ticket to Nimbasa City there!"

Tony brightened. "Really?" he asked.

"The tickets are a bit pricey, but yes, really!" Juniper confirmed with a grin.

"Awesome!" Tony cheered. "You hear that Lucky? We don't have to walk to Nimbasa again to see Skyla!"

Lucky rolled her eyes. "Freeh..." she muttered, not looking forward to seeing Skyla again.

"You seem excited to see her again," Juniper commented.

Tony froze in the midst of his celebration, turning bright red. It was true that he and Skyla had gotten rather close during their travels together. Far closer than any relationship that Tony had formed with anyone outside of his family before. It was a little awkward, really; Tony never had much experience with girls who were around the same age as him. "Uh..." he stuttered, trying to think of something to say before this got really uncomfortable for him.

Unfortunately, Juniper smirked in a teasing way that seemed odd on the face of a mature woman. "I get what's going on, you sly dog..." she teased, taking way too much interest in Tony's personal life.

"It's nothing like that!" Tony squeaked. "Really!"

Juniper chuckled. "Relax! I'm joking." She leaned back into her couch with a smirk. "I'm sure she misses you, too," she added, making Tony's face all the redder.

Tony swiftly changed the subject. "Y-yeah, well, I also need to beat, uh..."

"Elesa?" Juniper asked.

"Yeah, her," Tony confirmed, grateful that they had gone from one Gym Leader to another. "Uh... How much should a ticket to Nimbasa City cost, anyways? I'm not exactly rich or anything."

"It shouldn't be too pricey," Juniper replied. "Small Pokemon ride free, so you'll only have to pay for yourself."

"Great!" Tony cheered, feeling energized and excited. "Um, do me a favor and don't tell Skyla about it if she calls you. I want it to be a surprise."

"Sounds romantic."

"It is not!" Tony sighed, shaking his head. "She's been training really hard with Elesa in Nimbasa City... Last time I called her she looked really exhausted. I think she could use a nice surprise to perk her up."

"Sounds..." Tony winced as he prepared for Juniper to say "romantic" again, but she only said "very nice of you, Tony. You're a good friend."

Tony turned red. "I try," he said. "Well, I've got to get going now. I promised Auntie I'd actually be on time for dinner tonight without smelling like a corpse." He sniffed his sweat-soaked shirt and wrinkled his nose. "Better get going. Thanks for the lemonade! Come on, Lucky."

"Freeh."

"Thanks for dropping by!" Juniper called as Tony and Lucky made their way to the door. "Be sure to come see me before you leave, okay? I'd like to see you before you go!"

"I will! Thanks again"! Tony said politely. And with that, the boy and his Butterfree shut the door behind them and made their way home.


"Last stop! Nuvema Town, Unova!"

The door to the large, silvery bus slid open, depositing a single passenger to the side of the dusty road. The bus's motor roared as it drove off, leaving the blonde by the side of the road all alone.

A cynical look crossed her icy eyes as she scanned Nuvema Town. It was in the midst of a truly tranquil spring, with flowers blooming and bright green glass growing tall and proud. The calls of Bird Pokemon in the distance filled the air and echoed throughout the seaside hills.

She frowned. She wasn't used to all this... nature. She was a creature of the city, really, used to the shrieking of sirens and blaring of horns. This peacefulness was really kind of unsettling.

She shook it off and pulled out a piece of paper, which read: Miller Residence - 102 Nuvema Town. Shouldering her worn purse, she started walking.


Author's Note:

Tony's preparing to go on his adventure once more! But who is this mysterious woman arriving on the bus, and why is she looking for the Miller residence? Tune in next time to find out!

No worries, everyone, Tony will be outta Nuvema Town in no time! The kid belongs out in the world, not cooped up in a cramped, albeit extremely lovely, house. He just needs to say goodbye to his family before he gets his train ticket.

Reader Question Time! What sort of adventures do you think await Tony on the train ride to Nimbasa City? Answer after you review!