Chapter 3: Arrival

Silver blinked as the bright sun hit his face. He groaned, moving his arm to shield his eyes.

"Good morning~." Ameythests' singsong voice rang through the air.

Silver turned his head, opening one eye to look over at the girl. She was eating something. "What are you doing?" He asked sleepily.

"Sharpedo caught me some fish and Chandelure helped me cook it." She responded. "I made some for you."

His eyes widened, and the red-haired man sat up. "You made breakfast?"

Ameythest nodded, handing him some cooked basculin on a large leaf. "Eat carefully, fish bones are nasty small sometimes."

Silver nodded, accepting the food. It smelled delicious. "How'd you get it cut up so well?" He wondered aloud, looking at the cube-shaped pieces of fish in the makeshift plate.

"I never go anywhere without my knife." She responded simply, presenting the tool to him. She then stuffed the weapon in her boot.

"You really are full of surprises." He continued, popping a piece of fish into his mouth. He chewed thoroughly, making sure to spit out any hard pieces he came across.

Ameythest stopped to stare at him quizzically, raising an eyebrow. "Why, because I carry a knife?"

"Multiple reasons." The fish really was delicious. He wondered how many times she had cooked like this before. "I mean you really have accomplished a lot."

"Well, if there's anything that I do regret at this point…" She paused, taking a bite of her breakfast and chewing slowly. "It's that I didn't get further in the league when I had the chance."

Silver gave her a funny look. "You're only twenty-five." He stated accusingly. "Your team is probably more than capable of getting you through to the league again."

"Yeah. But with my business actually taking off now, I'd rather stay there. I'm just saying, I could have gotten a little more out of it while I was travelling around if I had tried a little bit harder at other things but…I was pretty focused on my goals."

"So you're not easily distracted. That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"My mom keeps saying I'm only experiencing one side of life. She wants me to be 'not so high strung', as she puts it."

"You seem pretty lax to me."

"Not when it comes to doing things. I'm actually fairly annoyed you've dragged me out here."

"Well you hide it well."

"Thanks. Either way, it's about time we got off on our merry way. I'd much appreciate being able to go home soon as I can." She said, standing to stretch.

"Right." Silver rolled up his sleeping bag, checking his surroundings one last time. "Did we have any trouble last night?"

"Dunno. Chandelure didn't bother waking me up so if there was any problems…she took care of it silently."

A shiver went down Silver's spine. Of all Pokémon she had to carry around. "And Tropius?"

"He's right over there." She said surprised, thinking her Pokémon plainly visible as it ate amongst the trees.

Silver altered his view slightly, spotting the saurapod nearly hidden amongst the brown and green of the jungle. "Oh. Wow. Well, he certainly seems like he's in better condition."

She smiled, walking over and petting the large Pokémon. "Yeah, much better after an all you can eat leaf buffet. C'mon Tropius, we're gonna take off soon."

Tropius bellowed softly, getting to its feet slowly.

Silver finished packing up, and himself, Ameythest and Tropius made their way to the edge of the beach.

Ameythest clambered up the creature, getting herself rightly comfortable. She offered a hand to Silver, who pushed it away with a cocky smirk.

"Thanks but I think I can get up." He climbed up the Pokémon with less grace, and eventually seated himself comfortably behind her.

"What, my hand too good for you?" She asked sharply.

"I'm still a man; I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, sure. Hold on tight. Tropius!"

Tropius roared, stomping it's feet once or twice as it started to flap its wings. The wind started to whip about them a bit, waving their hair in their faces.

"A little slow isn't he?"

She frowned. "I said hold on tight."

He looked down; noticing they had just moved maybe an inch of the ground, but the Pokémon's flapping had become more insistent. Then he felt his entire body nearly squish under the pressure as they shot upwards suddenly, and his grip on the small frame in front of him tightened for the few seconds and they got used to the speed.

"HA! Told you."

"He's really fast." Silver said, astonished.

"My Tropius is one of the fastest. We should get there soon, right?"

"Yeah." He agreed, nodding. "Just a few more hours."

"Well. What shall we do in the meantime?"

"Kinda hard to talk like this, isn't it?"

Ameythest frowned. Even when they were this close to each other, the wind was unforgiving when it came to trying to have a decent conversation. They had been half-shouting this entire time. "Well then, since this flight shouldn't be nearly as tiring, let's turn it into a big ride!"

"What?!"

"Hold on! TROPIUS, ROLLER COASTER TIME!"

The beast gave a happy bellow, and spun for a triple-corkscrew in the air.

Ameythest shouted delighted screams, elation filling her body. Tropius dipped fast and leveled back out slowly, much like a real roller coaster.

"I think. I'm gonna be sick." Silver groaned from behind her.

"We've only been going a few minutes…hm?" She turned to face his paling features. "I thought you'd been through worse than this, Silver, geez."

"Yeah but…you don't notice those kind of movements so much when your mind is elsewhere. Plus I don't think I've ever ridden anything quite so fast before!"

"Not much for thrills, are you?"

"I try to think of myself as a little more of a serious person than that."

"Huh. Seems like we both need to explore how to relax a little more?"

Silver paused, mulling over the statement. "Relaxing in different ways isn't a bad thing it's just different."

"Yeah, but being too serious sometimes is just as bad as being so focused on something you miss the things around you, isn't it?" Tropius had slowed down a bit, making it easier for them to have a conversation. "Either way, we're both missing out on parts of our lives at this point."

"I've missed out so much on a normal life already that it hardly matters…"

She was glad he couldn't see her face. She didn't know if he meant to say that or not, or if it was meant to even be heard or not. Either way, the statement shocked her, and she wondered just what kind of life this red-haired man had been living up until now.

They were silent for awhile, unsure of how to continue the conversation. "Sorry. Did I make you uncomfortable?" He finally asked, although he knew the answer already, at least it was something he could say.

"You just surprised me is all." She could answer honestly at least. "Try not to worry about it. In fact, try not to worry about anything at all."

"Not worry?!" He sounded like he took the statement as an insult.

"Well I mean worry. A little. Just don't dwell on anything too much. Keep a clear head towards your goals, you know?"

"Is that how you've missed out on life around you?" He asked accusingly.

All he got was a sharp glare as a response. A moment or two more passed in silence.

Silver tapped her shoulder. "There. Gateon Port."

"Oh goody, we made it!" Ameythest said enthusiastically. The port city seemed to grow as it came into view, and she gained an appreciation for the simple, small town. She took a glance around the rest of the surrounding terrain while she was still high enough in the air. "Woooooowww….look at that desert."

"Orre is a harsh place to live sometimes. There are a couple of 'nice' spots, as someone might say."

"This town looks nice. A little small, but nice." They circled the air a little bit for their descent, and Tropius landed safely at the entrance of the port. "Gateon Port, huh. Well, let's go experience! I've never been to Orre before."

"'Experience'?" Silver questioned. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't decide to travel the world on my journey because it was convenient." She said matter of factly. It was so I could experience new places and people." She recalled her Tropius, strolling forward through the entrance of the town.

"Like I said. You're just one big surprise after another."

"And you're still a giant mystery that I have yet to figure out. Why the hell didn't we fly over here in a plane?" She suddenly asked ludicrously, as if the thought should have been addressed long before.

"Too expensive. And a boat would have taken way too long. Either way, you're here now, so-"

"HELLO HELLO!" A loud voice drew their attention, and a brown haired man in a lab coat waved frantically towards them. "HELLO?!"

Ameythest pointed to herself. "Us?" She asked dumbly.

Silver shrugged.

The man caught up with them, obviously excited. "Oh my, are you the two I'm looking for?" He adjusted his glasses, a goofy look hanging on his face.

"That depends." Silver said shortly. "Who are you looking for?"

"A uh, Silver and Ameythest, from Johto and Hoenn?"

Ameythest folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah, that's us. Who are you?"

"Professor Krane, the leading expert in Orre. Though there's not much to be an expert on around here…" He coughed. "Anyway, which one of you is the capture specialist?"

Ameythest raised her hand in response, like she was in a class or something. "That'd be me."

"Ah, good. And you're as good as they say I hope?"

"Well I dunno what they say about me." She smiled, laughing a bit.

Krane adjusted his glasses again. "Yes, yes. I see. And you're Silver?" He asked, turned towards the other foreigner.

"What of it?"

Ameythest glanced at her escort. He was giving Krane a cold glare, which she doubted the professor noticed by the way he was bobbing about.

"Good, good." The professor pressed on. "Now you two will need a hover transport, it's too hot in the desert for any non-local Pokémon, and even then it's risky…and anything with wheels can get stuck in sandpits so come along."

"Whoa, I'm not staying!" Silver exclaimed, indicating Ameythest. "I'm just her escort over here-"

"Well surely you don't expect her to traverse Orre alone?" He adjusted his glasses again. "It's kind of dangerous to go it alone out here, especially if you don't know the area, and I don't have anyone that can help around here anymore."

Silver's glare flashed, and Ameythest saw the anger in his eyes. He approached the professor, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him an inch off the ground. "What exactly did you call us over here for that you couldn't tell the other professors over the phone?!" He demanded, a threat dripping in his tone.

"Oh wow, so this is what they meant by watching out for you. Ahehehe." The professor giggled a little, despite being put in the awkward position. "Anyway, I'll tell you what's going on. Just not out here."

The flame-haired trainer reluctantly let the professor drop, forcibly trying to subside his anger. It wasn't working well. "Fine. Lead." He spat, shoving his fists into his pockets.

The professor turned to walk, and Ameythest worked her way over to Silver as they followed him towards a rickety old shop. "See? Relax a little."

Silver jerked his head away, not in the least bit interested in being talked to.