The docks were just slightly north of Petalburg City. Charlie gave me a hug goodbye and said he was staying on the ship till they ported elsewhere. Liam told me to meet him back to Petalburg City in one week's time. We would be taking a bush plane from Petalburg to Lilycove where we would fly to Sinnoh.
Once we were in the city I stopped by the post office that I had rushed the shipping to. I picked up what had to be four good sized packages, none too heavy, and borrowed a trolley, leaving my ID with them so that I could unpack it at the pokemon center and return with it.
I unpacked and organized as swiftly as possible. Most of the camping pieces all came from the same company so they all attached and fit cohesively. Figuring out how to put it all on my bike was a bit more work and finagling, but eventually I solved that issue as well. I packed my new clothes away neatly, knowing I wouldn't need them until I was in Sinnoh, though they were new and felt well made. I was tempted to put them on.
After retrieving my ID, Sirius and I spent the remainder of the day picking up travel hygienic products, a few poke'balls, and potions. We weren't in any hurry to leave so we stopped by the pokemon gym to glance around. There was a suggested trainer level of at least five badges, which left us turning tail and heading back around the city. I contemplated going to the Petalburg Woods for fun, but we just ended up throwing our rod into one of the local ponds.
We stayed at the pokemon center for the night, enjoying the free accommodations for trainers.
The next morning we were off and onto route 102. It was a bit irritating to be stopped by so many young trainers. They spotted Sirius in my basket and immediately wanted a battle, in which they swiftly met their demise. Just as Charlie had told me, their battle tactics were not developed and they were slower. On my part, it was a bit perplexing having to hold back so that it did not seem like an unfair fight when Sirius could put in three moves before they even managed one.
Having to battle them all was probably the most exhausting part and due to all the stops we ended up camping on the route for the evening.
We could hear the Poocheyna howling and growling out in the woods around us, but we knew they wouldn't approach our fire. We settled down for the night, bike chained to a tree and supplies inside the tent with us.
The next day was much of the same, though we made it to Littleroot by noontime. The battles were not hard, there were just so many young and aspiring trainers that it took forever.
Littleroot was a cute little rural town, reminding me much of my own home in Johto. People milled around, enjoying their mundane lives. I had heard that many great trainers hailed from such a quaint little hovel.
The laboratory was not hard to spot seeing that it was the only building that appeared decades newer and had a more modern appearance to it. I put away my camera that I had been using to snap pictures of the cute place. I found myself logging our adventures so far with pictures here and there that I would later upload to my cloud on my computer once we go to a pokemon center.
The lab was huge and intimidating. I felt as if I were intruding as I went in, white coats swirling around and tending to their own business. Charlie had described to me what Professor Birch looked like and after a bit of perusing I found the man hunched over a computer, typing some sort of research material up.
"Excuse me, are you Professor Birch?" I asked.
It took the professor a moment to snap out of his concentration. He turned and acknowledged me before finishing the sentence on the screen.
"Yes I am, what can I help you with- Oh! What a beautiful vulpix, I've never actually gotten to see an Alolan form Vulpix before," he said, smiling down at Sirius once he had observed him.
"Thank you. We're here because we're starting our pokemon journey together and an older woman, claiming to be your mother sent us this way."
"Claiming to be my mother?" he asked, his brows furrowing.
"Yes, she gave us this ticket for a cruise ship so that we could get over here," I pulled the ticket out of my pocket and showed it to him.
"I- Very well. It looks like you're well situated with supplies. Let me see if I've got another poke'dex. I had a lot of aspiring trainers this year," he told me before he went off to rummage through drawers. Finally he returned with a poke'dex. "Do you know how to work one of these?"
"A boy named Charlie showed me his, I just assume you point it at pokemon you want to learn things about?"
"It will also show you habitats of pokemon you spot, so if you wanted to catch them you could find them. There are many other features as well, but I suppose you'll get to playing with it and will unlock what it has to offer… You're quite a bit older than most others who want to become trainers."
"I had aspirations of my own, I'm trying to become an advocate against pokemon abuse and this is a stepping stone."
He gave Sirius a long look. "Hm, that must be how you acquired him, then?"
"Yes…" I drawled.
"I have another pokemon, if you're interested. I've had a bit of trouble working with her because she was bred for an illegal betting ring. Your vulpix is very attached to you, perhaps you could try training the pokemon I have. She is very shy and easily scared, she's aggressive in reaction of any of her fears. Training will not be easy."
"What will happen to her if I don't take her?"
"If she doesn't improve, which she hasn't, we may have to put her down. She's already bit one of my associates."
Sirius gave me a sidelong glance. This might be more than I could handle. "I'll take her," I told him. If I wanted to be an advocate for pokemon abuse how could I turn down any pokemon?
Professor Birch retrieved a black luxury ball and handed it to me as if it were a hot potato. "Don't release her in here, she might tear the place apart."
"What is… she?" I asked glancing down at the ball.
"A Gible, already a hard pokemon to take care of, add traumatic birth and upbringing to that and you've got this one."
"Oh dear," I muttered wondering if I could give the poke'ball back or if it were too late. I hesitantly clipped the new ball to my fancy new poke'ball belt and looked back at the professor.
"Now Rustboro city is where you can find your first gym to battle and kick off your pokemon adventure. It's about a four day walk, three day bike ride due to the density of the forest, making it had to simply pedal through it-"
"Actually, I'm heading to Sinnoh in a few days."
"Sinnoh?" he echoed. "You could have just went and saw Professor Rowan instead of me… but I suppose things happen for a reason. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"I've taken up enough of your time, Professor, thank you," I gave him an appreciative nod before Sirius and I went back out into the town. "How bad do you suppose this Gible is?" I asked him.
Sirius glanced up and let out a low chattering noise. I suppose he didn't have a good answer either.
I went to the post where my bike was locked up and unlatched it, slipping Sirius into the basket before we took back off toward Petalburg. Dusk fell upon us and we unpacked as we had the nights before, only this time I sat by our fire holding the Gible's poke'ball.
"I suppose we should meet her, this is the best place, away from others."
A dark light emitted from the ball and a small, bluish pokemon sat groggily in front of us. It blinked open its tiny eyes. While it was still waking I pulled out my poke'dex.
"Gible, the land shark pokemon. It nests in horizontal holes warmed by geothermal heat. Foes who get too close can expect to be pounced on and bitten," the poke'dex told us.
The sudden voice immediately stirred it and the Gible opened its enormous mouth. I swear the little beast was 70% mouth and then the rest of her was contained in the tiny 30% left. She leered at me and lunged forward without me saying as much of a word. The Gible moved so fast I didn't even have time to react.
Sirius yowled and stood in between the Gible and I. His fur stood on end and he glowered at the Gible who had been forced back and to her rear. He panted heavily and glared at the opposition the Gible had given me. He then began chirping, somewhat like a lower talking.
I obviously did not know what he was saying, but he sounded as if he were speaking with the Gible.
She sat up and gave me a dubious look before turning back to Sirius. She retorted something but then calmed down as Sirius took his seat in between us, his fur settling. He then began grooming himself, though his ears twitched at the slightest noise.
The tension between us all did not leave, but at least Gible seemed somewhat complacent. I opened my bag and pulled out the poke'food, sliding it past Sirius so that Gible would also have access to it. Gible was pleased by the heat of the fire, sidling closer. She eventually picked up some of the food with her paw and tossed it into her mouth, swallowing it suspiciously. Once she deemed it good enough she continued to eat it with her paws.
Once or twice I caught Gible stealing a glance at me, but the moment I turned to look at her she immediately looked away.
Eventually, we settled down and I returned Gible to her ball, knowing she wasn't ready to be left out for the evening. Sirius snuggled up to me in the tent, I could see the dipping out the embers just through the skin of the tent as they dwindled down to nothing, every so often a distant pop stirring me.
The next few days of travel pass with issue for the most part aside from one with Gible. She was getting a little better and I decided to try her out in battle. It had been a terrible mistake and misjudgement on my part. It had slipped my mind that in betting rings the pokemon killed each other and the winner pressed on. Once I realized that Gible wasn't going to leave my opponent's Ralts alone I had to send Sirius in to stop her before I could return her to her ball. Fortunately no one was harmed that time, but it seemed that Gible would need conditioning before she could be used for battle.
We made it back to Petalburg with a day to spare and so I spent half of it fishing and then went to train Gible. Sirius was a good opponent for her seeing that he had the type advantage and he was faster. I had been told frequently by observers of my battles that Sirius was one of the swiftest vulpixes they had ever seen. I knew he'd only grow so more when he evolved.
It didn't go too badly, I had to reinforce that attacking without command was negative, but it was difficult to train her not to fight after the opponent had fainted because Sirius wouldn't lose to her. He seemed to be able to speak with her in some way, coaching her in ways that I could not. I thought I could almost see a gleam of admiration for the vulpix in Gible's eyes, but she had not shown me the same yet.
Finally, the day to leave for Sinnoh came. I had my bike folded and packed away, only my satchel and heavy, overstuffed hiking bag to show for it. Sirius sat patiently beside me as we waited for a sign of Liam.
He was hard to miss.
The moment he came into the small airport, Kojak panting beside him, tongue lolling, I spotted him for he towered over everyone and made them look like dwarves, especially me.
He appeared a bit more tan from his trip.
"How was the rest of your vacation?" I asked him as he headed in my direction. I suppose I was hard to miss as well with Sirius.
"Splendid, although I didn't meet another girl like you. They're all pinheads," he grumbled, flashing a smile at me as he led me toward one of the gates. "Looks like you've got all your supplies… I thought you said you were poor."
"I didn't say I was poor," I scowled. "My parents helped me out when I explained what happened. They're good, honest people."
"Ah, you're just like em then. Kojak calm down," I could feel the arcanine's breath on the back of my neck.
I turned and gave him a good scratch on the head, sating him for the moment. "It seems like someone else is more excited to see me," I jested as I pat him again.
"I am pleased to see you," Liam huffed. "Oh, you've got a new pokemon!" he swiftly averted the subject.
"Yes, Professor Birch gave me a Gible who had been rescued from betting rings, but I'd prefer not to release her here. She doesn't like crowds or small places."
"I was going to say cool, since Gible are rare, but a betting ring? That pokemon is going to be a nightmare to train."
"She is," I groaned. "I mean, she's gotten better. I haven't really gotten to handle her yet, but she listens to my orders in battle. It's just self control, since she was trained to kill instead of stop I had to somehow kick her out of the habit."
"Have her fight wild pokemon. That way if something does happen, it's not someone's beloved pokemon. Use positive reinforcement, such as treats when she does well," Liam suggested.
"Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. I just had her sparring with Sirius, since he has the type advantage."
"I used the same tactic with this fellow here," he grabbed Kojak's mane and pulled him close, giving the doofy pokemon a noogie. He didn't even flinch and just kept slobbering.
"Kojak was aggressive before?" I asked incredulously.
"Yes, canine partners are trained since they're pups. It's very easy for them to develop over aggressive tactics. He also attacks people, but he was getting to rough. We have kill commands, but every attack shouldn't be an automatic kill. Very rarely do we want to kill the criminals we are chasing. So, I used that wild pokemon tactic to train him… and loads of treats."
To think that the slobbering beast behind me was a trained killer was certainly beyond what I could imagine. It was hard to imagine that Liam also was highly trained and probably knew how to fight due to how goofy and easygoing he was.
"So I'm assuming from the way you haven't told me to go away that I was cleared to go with you?"
"Yes, you were. One trip to Sinnoh, coming right up."
"You said we're taking a bush plane to Lilycove, right? Who's flying it, one of the locals?"
"Nah, I am."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah, why is that so unbelievable?"
"Oh dear lord."