"You're a rookie trainer, aren't you? I can tell!"
Theo could tell immediately how annoyed his trainer was. Kamon was gritting his teeth, scraping his shoes against the pavement, and trying to drone the old man out. They'd barely set foot in Cherrygrove City before encountering this strange old man, who'd insisted on accompanying them as their tour guide. For an old man, he was surprisingly persistent.
"That's OK! Everyone is a rookie at some point!" The old man continued his tour without noticing Kamon and Theo's discomfort. "If you'd like, I can teach you a few things."
Kamon groaned. "That's alright. Really."
"OK, then! Follow me!"
Theo didn't move. Neither did Kamon. They were both considering making a break for it.
"Ohh… I'm sorry. I forgot that you weren't wearing the Running Shoes!" The old man laughed. "I'll try to go as slow as possible, so try keeping up!"
Theo squeaked in terror.
"No!" said Kamon. "I have running shoes! Really, these are running shoes! They're shoes! And I run in them! You can go as fast as you want, please!"
The man laughed. "Nonsense! Now I'll take you on the special, extra-long tour of Cherrygrove City."
Kamon sighed. Theo figured that at this rate, Mr. Pokémon's egg was likely to hatch before they got there.
The old man walked over to the nearest building. "This is a Pokémon Center. They heal your Pokémon in no time at all. You'll be relying on them a lot, so you better learn about them."
Theo wondered if there were any trainers in the world who actually didn't know what a Pokémon Center was. If there were, Theo didn't imagine they'd be trainers for very long.
The old man scurried next door. "This is a Pokémon Mart. They sell Pokéballs for catching wild Pokémon and other useful items."
Kamon looked faintly excited at that. Theo knew his trainer had been looking forward to buying his own Pokéballs since the journey had started. That said, the gigantic blue roof of the PokéMart was fairly easy to spot. Theo was sure Kamon could have found it on his own.
The man next pointed out a path leading outwards. The wood-cloaked path extended as far north as Theo could see.
"Route 30 is out this way," said the old man. "Trainers will be battling their Pokémon there."
Theo was excited at that. By winning trainer battles, he could prove himself to his trainer. He could show Kamon that he was the best choice of starter. What Kamon had said the day before about wanting Totodile as his starter had really stuck with Theo. He had ruined his trainer's first chance at the Pokémon he wanted. What kind of starter did that? They were supposed to have a special bond, but his relationship with Kamon had been built on something horrible. How could they be lifelong partners like this?
"Just put it aside," Theo thought to himself. "It's over now and there's nothing you can do. You'll be a great Pokémon for Kamon. The best thing to do is try your hardest and be the best Pokémon he could ever want. You'll make him forget all about that Totodile."
"If you go a little farther," the old man continued. "You'll see Mr. Pokémon's House." He walked further along. "This is the sea, as you can see."
"I have to stop you," Kamon said. "But your tour's been growing more and more pointless. First you pointed out buildings that any five year old in this world could identify, and now you're showing me the ocean, as if I don't know what that is. Why? What are you going to show me next, the grass? The air? My own face!?"
"Some Pokémon are found only in water." The old man smiled.
"He's not listening," Kamon said. He turned to Theo. "Alright, here's the plan. We run on three…"
But the old man had been listening to that. He grabbed Kamon's wrist as he prepared to run. "Tour's not over yet!" He dragged him down the street. "Here… It's my house!"
"What a fascinating tour," Kamon wrenched free. "Is it over now? Please say it's over and you're not going to show me the thread count of your carpet or something."
"For your effort keeping up with me, I'll give you my Running Shoes!" The old man smiled.
"Oh…" Kamon stammered. "Gosh, now I feel kind of bad. You didn't have to get me anything, and I've been kind of a jerk to you. Really, you don't…"
"They're still warm!" said the old man.
"Aaaand the guilt's gone," Kamon continued. Theo wrenched his nose in disgust. If Kamon wanted him to attack this guy, he was starting to think he didn't have a problem with it after all.
"Got you, didn't I?" The old man chuckled heartily. "Don't worry, these are brand new!"
"Heh," Kamon gave the old man a tired grin now. "That's funny. Really. Funny. Are we done now? Please say we're done."
"The instructions read…"
"Oh sweet Arceus, not more instructions."
"Touch the Sprint Button on the Touch Screen to sprint."
"What…" Kamon didn't even appear sure what to say. "What does that even mean!? What's a Touch Screen!?"
The old man blinked. "I'm not sure."
"Fantastic," Kamon snarled and Theo groaned. The old man didn't look like he was done.
"It also says 'Hold the B Button down to sprint'." The old man grinned, showing false teeth.
"Oh sweet Arceus…" Kamon turned to Theo. "Alright, I think this guy might have Alzheimer's or something, just play along. He seems really out there, so now I feel bad for him."
But the old man seemed to have been finished talking. He pushed the shoes happily into Kamon's hands, and walked into his house without so much as a goodbye. He latched the door behind him.
"Well that was pointless," Kamon said. "I'd sort of hoped to explore the first city I visit alone, but that works too, I guess." He examined the shoes. "Huh, these are even the right size. I… I'm not sure I want to know how he knew my shoe size."
Theo sniffed. He wasn't sure he wanted to know either.
"Well I guess we're done here," Kamon said. "There doesn't seem to be much to Cherrygrove City. Honestly, I'm not sure why it exists at all. We can keep north on Route 30 until we find Mr. Pokémon's house."
Theo barked in agreement. Then he snuggled up against his trainer's leg.
Kamon managed a faint smile. "I guess you're right. It could be worse."
The two of them began to head north, to the Cherrygrove City exit.
"He might have wanted to show me how to catch Pokémon or something." Kamon laughed. "If he tried that, I think I'd lose my mind!"