18:55 - 11th October, 2007 - 14 days until October 25th


Dear Professor...

Connor's attention was firmly fixed upon the dimly lit LED of his Pokédex as it shone in his face, illuminating it in the dark of Oreburgh Gate. Connor had never liked caves, in all honesty; something his mining dad would always bemoan. Sure, he could deal with the dark, no problem. It was when said dark was vast, completely empty and rolling in all directions like an endless ocean, full of unseen monsters and unknown terrors that it became a problem. He knew it was a dumb thing to be afraid of, and having Ronnie plodding alongside him was some help. It still did little to quell the fear of not knowing what lay around the corner.

In reality, most of the time, the only thing that was around said corner was an angry Zubat or two; something that had happened a fair few times on their short expedition through the cave. An annoyance, sure, but nothing that the pair and their Pokémon couldn't handle.

He decided that the introduction he had so far wouldn't work. It was too formal, and after all, he would insist on being called Murphy. It had to be changed.

Dear Murphy,

I am writing to you to inform you…

No, that didn't seem quite right, either. Too stuffy.

I'm just letting you know…

That didn't work, either - Connor felt such a tone didn't match the content of his email.

Just wanted to tell you that…

"Connor? Hello? Is there anybody ho-ooooome?"

Connor jerked in shock as Reyes' voice brought him back to reality, a panicked "Gah!" leaving his mouth as he looked up - a sound that was loud enough to prompt an astonished yelp from Ronnie, and in turn made Connor rush to cover his mouth with his free hand. The sounds reverberated off the rocky walls of the apparently barren cave, unanswered echoes lingering in the dank air for a couple of beats. Once the hush settled, the boy huffed and puffed for a moment as he corrected his stance, making doubly-sure his Pokédex wasn't harmed before replying in a strained whisper. "You spooked me!"

"Ah, I didn't mean to startle you, friend. My bad," was Reyes' reply, his voice subdued and closer to a whisper than usual.

A hangdog look adorned Connor's face as he responded, feeling as though he had caused offence to his companion. "Oh, it's fine, uh - p-please don't worry about it," he said.

"Are you still having trouble with that message?"

Glancing back at the screen and checking if he had accidentally edited anything (he hadn't), Connor looked over the greeting and half of a line he had so far. "Yeah."

"Hmm. What is it you're not finding so good?"

"I just… I'm not sure how to start this, is all."

Reyes considered this for a moment, resting his finger and thumb on his chin as he hummed deep in thought. "Well, how do you want to start it?"

"I don't know..." the boy sighed, tapping his fingers on the edges of the Pokédex like the beat of a drum to ease his nerves. "I… would it be stupid to start it all formal?"

Reyes moved a hand towards Connor's shoulder to try and calm him; the boy recoiled in response, however, and he quickly recalled his friend's stance on being touched. An uncomfortable quiet lingered for a moment before Reyes cleared his throat and continued.

"I... don't think it would be stupid to start it in any way, really, friend. Who're you writing it to?"

"The professor."

"Professors tend to be pretty uptight dudes, I suppose, so I say make it formal. If you're telling him about Byrne, then don't poke around the eyes, go straight ahead and tell him!"

"Poke around the eyes…?"

"Oh, you know."

Connor didn't, but nevertheless thought he got the gist of what was being said (well, that and he would have felt guilty for questioning such an expression). He'd try and be upfront to Murphy about Byrne, then - before he could keep on writing, though, a sliver of sunset from the far end of the tunnel illuminated his face. Figuring that now was probably a good time to take a break, he slid the screen of the Pokédex back over its keyboard with a click and placed it back in his jacket pocket, carefully zipping it up.

"Rrrr…"

It took Connor a glance in the direction of the noise to figure that this growling, like that of a quiet motorcycle engine, came from an arched up Ronnie, who seemed to be a little more on edge than usual. Noticing that he seemed to be scouting the area with narrowed eyes, he guessed that it was probably safe to get closer to his little metal companion to figure out the issue. Meanwhile, Reyes and Baggo, who had been kind enough to only attack his trainer's ankles twice that day, were put on alert.

It took a moment for Connor to pick up on the sound of heavy boots from behind and his heart almost stopped, the panic button having well and truly been pressed. Surely, not him again…?

"Oi!"

The gravelly voice boomed around the tunnel, reverberating off every wall and filling the air, broadcasting itself to what felt like everyone in a 500-foot radius. At the very least, Connor noted, it wasn't Hawley's voice - he just hoped that it wasn't calling out to him.

"You! With the Aron!"

Cripes.

The tunnel was lit in a fading orange hue just enough for the features of the man approaching them to be visible. Easily as tall as Reyes, he was a rugged man, wide in frame, over his smile he wore a brown beard of thick foliage, debris from a hastily eaten bowl of cereal tangled in it.

Connor felt as though the most intense spotlight conceivable shone on him at that very moment, and it showed as a choke built up in his throat. "Wh- uh, m-me?"

Perplexed at the boy's reaction and a little mortified, the hiker's tiny eyes opened in surprise as he let out an affable laugh. "Yes, you! Don't worry, I don't mean any harm - just wonderin' if ye'd be down for a wee battle, is all!"

The atmosphere had definitely thawed a little, with Ronnie's grumbling now considerably more muted and marine eyes much less hostile. Reyes, meanwhile, decided to compensate for his colleague's timid response with a beaming mouth, diverting his attention from Baggo - who looked as though he was about to attack the hiker himself any moment now - as much as was safe to do so in order to wave at the hiker, moving a little closer to him.

"Hey, compadre! My friend here's not really a people person, just to let you know, and he's got somewhere he's needing to be - I can battle if you'd like, but-"

"Ah, do ye, pal? If that's the case, I shan't keep you if you don't want, but I'm just a wee bit curious about that Aron. Ya don't really see many of 'em in Sinnoh, and to be honest I've always had a soft spot for the buggers, really."

Flattered as he was, the situation didn't seem one hundred percent safe to Connor. After all, would someone he hadn't even met before really take such a sharp interest in him with no ulterior motive? Sure, battling fellow trainers one hadn't met before was a vital part of the trainer experience, and Ronnie was a pretty neat Pokémon, but was there something Connor wasn't picking up on that made either him or his Pokémon particularly interesting? Or perhaps he was just being dumb and getting himself worried over nothing - as per usual, he thought.

"Kind of you, but we really should be going somewhere. We've an injured Pokémon to save, after all," replied Reyes.

The hiker grew more desperate. "Well, it'll only be right quick, I swear, and I need a bit of experience for that gym; I'm sure we both do, eh, lad? I'll even throw in an HM I don't need - eh, Rock Smash, I think it is?"

As much as he hated it, Connor's mind could not drag itself away from the possibility that this guy was some sort of creep who was going to steal his Pokémon or beat him up, or something along those lines. It just didn't seem reasonable to him that this stranger was only interested in seeing his Pokémon.

Ever the optimist, aren't you, Connor?

"Well, I don't think it is fair that I don't let my friend decide for himself. Connor, what do you say?"

Reyes' question pushed Connor's panic button. He dreaded that things apparently just couldn't go off without a hitch - and whilst saying no would have been impolite, he feared the possibility of this man running off with Ronnie, or killing him, or just generally being some sort of creep.

He filled his lungs and took a long breath out.

Relax and get a hold of yourself!

Weighing it up, he realised - Rock Smash was a move that would likely come in very handy against Roark. Was he really willing to let that go, just because this man was potentially a creep? That'd be moronic - there was nothing to be afraid of, after all; not with Reyes right behind him, and much less likely to let him get abducted this time.

"Alright, I can do that. Bring it on!"

He stood up straight and wore a new-found mask of confidence as he replied, suddenly feeling invincible. Nothing he, or anyone else, could think, say, or do could break that spirit!

But what if he does and you get killed?

Except from that.

As every single muscle in his face dropped and his determined smile morphed into a panicked gasp, he thought about taking his affirmation back. But it was too late for that, though; the hiker was already reaching into one of his pockets to dig out a Pokéball. Connor feared the worst as he looked towards Reyes with the look of someone facing a firing squad.

Just what had he gotten himself into? What sort of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad fate awaited him?

"Right, Rocky! Let's go!" said the hiker as his Pokéball bounced off the rocky ground. It released what Connor recognised as a Geodude - a floating, jagged rock with thin arms and a ticked off look upon its face, posturing with all the intimidating presence of a deflating beach ball. Possibly one with angry eyes doodled on it.

Oh.

Connor felt almost underwhelmed, as a wave of relief washed over him - in all honesty, when he properly thought about it, he almost felt a little silly for getting himself so worked up.

"Uh… Ronnie, start with a Metal Claw!"

"Rocky, go at 'em with a Tackle!"

Almost.

As he watched the pair charge at each other, he mulled this over. On paper, it seemed easy enough. Geodude - a Rock and Ground-type, he recalled, who didn't really learn many Ground moves at lower levels; physically, quite tough - however, so was Ronnie, who was more agile and had access to Metal Claw, a super effective move.

None of this loosened the knot that wrung in his stomach, though, as the sound of heavy plodding filled the air and the pair drew nearer and nearer to each other.

Nearer and nearer.

Nearer and nearer.

Connor conceded that "charge" may not have been the best term to describe whatever was going on. Rocky was a Geodude, after all, and not a Starly; as such, neither party had the pace to make up the distance between them with much haste.

The sound of heavy plodding filled the air as the two inched ever nearer.

"Is everything so slow in Sinnoh?" called out a perplexed Reyes.

Finally, after a good fifteen seconds, the two were in striking range. Connor found himself with his thumbnail in between his teeth, nibbling away in sheer anxiety - what if this hiker had some sort of trick up his sleeve? Oh, what if this was another Hawley situation? Had he gone and gotten Ronnie roughed up again?

With a soft clang, Rocky bumped his head into Ronnie's metallic outer shell. It was as though an underpaid postman had knocked on him, he was so unfazed, and now it was his turn to reply. He raised one sharpened, stubby front leg and brought it down upon Rocky with all his torque, leaving a nasty bruise.

"Geeeraaaaaaah!"

The attack drew an anguished screech from Rocky, and the plucky little rock was reduced to a quivering heap of rubble in an instant, his guard completely shattered.

In spite of this, and the stunned gasp forced its way out of the hiker's mouth, Connor still found himself being eaten away at.

"Quick, Ronnie, another Metal Claw!"

There was absolutely no way, he thought, that it was really going to be so easy. Surely there was something he had missed, some hair-brained mistake he had made, and he was merely being lulled into a false sense of security? He watched on, barely able to stop his nails going into his mouth as an icy shroud of dread descended upon him.

As such, it was a great shock to him when Ronnie's second attack descended upon the Geodude without interruption, the harsh screeching of metal cutting into Rocky's jagged epidermis going through Connor as his defences were torn through. He was left sprawling on the ground, unmoving, unconscious and with a nasty cut above one eye.

Silence fell upon the palpable scene for a few moments.

Silence that was broken by the sound of Reyes clapping and cheering, a fist raised in the air.

"Alright! Nice going, Connor!"

He'd done it. He'd won his first trainer battle.

Free from dread's frosty grip, he couldn't stop a jaunty grin creeping from ear to ear despite his best efforts. Fireworks went off in his eyes as he approached Ronnie with urgency in his movement and a spring in his step; in turn, his Pokémon let out a pleased chirp and dawdled towards him, rubbing against his leg in glee. Connor replied to this by dropping to his knees and wrapping his arms against Ronnie for the second time that day. "Good job, boy!" he said, his voice squeaky with joy. "I'm proud of you!"

"Rrrrrrr!"

As he hugged Ronnie, he got to thinking that he was perhaps being too cautious, too anxious about everything. Thinking about it, it was silly to have gotten so worried about things. Silly to have put such little faith in himself, and silly to do the same for Ronnie. Perhaps, he thought, he was better than he gave himself credit for - as a matter of fact, the more he thought, the more he considered it absurd that he thought a battle against a Pokémon who was both at a typing and level disadvantage to his was unwinnable.

Your parents were right, he'd been told last night, you should have just stayed at home. You have no hope. You aren't fit to be a trainer. The world's just going to chew you up and spit you out.

Those were just voices in his head. Mean, stupid voices in his head. Voices that were wrong. He was good enough, and if he ever dared tell himself otherwise again, he'd… he'd… he'd kick his own butt!

"Good work, laddie!"

Looking up at the huge frame of the hiker, he saw a wide smile shine at him behind that tangled mess of a beard and a clean silver disc from an outstretched hand shimmer at him. Three hundred and fifty Pokédollars, by his count, were also in that hand. "Ye've earned it!"

Regaining his composure after seeing the sight of such a large hand so close to him, he released Ronnie from his grasp and got back to his feet. While he would have appreciated this guy respecting his personal space, it would have been inappropriate to point that out now - besides, he was sincerely grateful for the gift, and held his hands out for it.

"Oh, eh… you can just take it… ah… theeere you are," said the hiker as he fumbled the disc into Connor's hands with a decided lack of elegance. "That there is a move called Rock Smash, laddie - the law says you're not permitted to use it outside of battles until ye've got one gym badge… I think that's to do with needing to prove you're responsible enough with Pokémon to not damage the environment? I dunno, the government's weird - but anyway, you can smash rocks with it out of battle. Pretty nifty Fighting-type move, too. You know how HMs work, right?"

"...Erm-"

"Basically, you just plug 'em into a DVD player or something, wrangle your Pokémon over and show it to 'em and take it from there. Like a workout tape, or something! Same with TMs, but they don't really have much of a league-recognised use out of battle - I don't really get the huge difference, honestly. But I'm just a hiker, what do I know, eh?"

Connor knew how they worked, of course, but thought it rude to interrupt the hiker. "T… thanks."

"'S alright! Now, don't you kids have a Pokémon Center to get to?"

"That's right, we do!" beamed Reyes from the side. "Now, Baggo, let's- wait, where's Baggo?"

Indeed, the little blue ball of pure, scaly rage was nowhere to be seen or heard, and the hiker could only watch on in confusion as Reyes gestured Connor over to help look for him.

"Baggo! Where are you? Please don't be killing some poor Zubat, or daddy's gonna be upset!"

"Daddy?" asked Connor, face screwing up as he tried to mask incredulousness like he had just bit into a lemon.

"Quiet, you!" sniped back Reyes.

Connor couldn't muster up a reply, and the duo continued to look high and low. It took them about five seconds to find him, due in no small part to the cacophony of wings slapping and Zubat screeching not far away from them - following the cave walls to the right revealed the cause of this was, indeed, the Bagon, and at least seven of the little winged beasts, purple as poison and with O-shaped fanged mouths.

Reyes quickly went tense, hoping that Connor didn't notice his frightful shuddering.

"Alright, Connor, here's what we're doing," he whispered as quietly as he could. "I put him back in his Pokéball and hope they don't try and kill us."

Connor nodded with a gulp.

Like a gunslinger from those Unovian westerns, Reyes drew the Pokéball, mashed on the button, and Baggo disappeared in a flash.

Seven blind, gaping faces fixed their gazes upon the pair, wings eagerly slapping against skin against a backdrop of nothingness.

"I don't think they liked that, Reyes."

"I think you're right."

The two were off in a flash, a whirlwind of flapping violet wings giving chase.


"Sir, please calm down-"

"Calm down? Calm down?! Me and my buddies are workin' our damn asses off in that damn mine, another one of my pals got laid off, and this is the third time this damn week we've had a Pokémon get injured down there, and you're telling me to calm down?!"

In contrast to Jubilife, Oreburgh's Pokémon Center was quite a sorry sight. The passage of many years in the mining city had taken their toll, time slowly gnawing away at the building. Thin patches of dust clung onto the building, a layer of grime caking the windows; the once brilliant orange beacon of hope that was its roof decayed by the sands of time. Regardless, it still stood at almost twice the height of the (decidedly much better for wear) house beside it.

As Connor and Reyes noted through heavy panting when they entered the building, its interior was not much better off, either; particularly not today. Not when a horde of angry miners, trainers and other such folk sprawled the building's length, feet tapping in impatience along the line. The situation, thought Connor as his face contorted under sheer disgust, was far from ideal.

"Ah, dammit," grumbled Reyes under his breath, "why can't things be simple?"

At the front of the serpentine queue, meanwhile, tensions did not seem to be cooling despite the nurse's best efforts. "Sir, I assure you, I am trying the best I can, but please understand, trying to cope with all this has been difficult for the Center, too. We can take him in to look at for now, but I'm afraid any proper treatment would probably have to wait until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? We'll need him at the mines tomorrow! The poor guy could have ruined his ar, and you're telling me that - I dunno, some asshole's Chatot with a cold is more important?!"

"We, ah, we don't have any bunged up Chatot at the moment, sir. I'm sorry - if you would allow us to keep him overnight, we can monitor him overnight and treat him in the morning, but we do have too many other Pokémon that legitimately need help to offer immediate assistance."

The miner's face was pink as a particularly miffed slice of ham as he conceded defeat, slamming his Pokéball onto the desk and storming off. "Fine! Whatever! Roark's gonna bust a vein one of these days, and it sure won't be at me, lady!"

After the miner's seemingly unending tirade finally ended, the nurse took a moment to compose herself before calling up the next in line.

Shuffling along, Connor's eyes drifted towards the sterile whites of the Center's wall. In places the wallpaper seemed to be peeling a little, unveiling the aged plaster that lay behind it. The sprawling map of the region creased where it would have been folded, the safety pins keeping it on its board only barely hanging on, and Connor couldn't help but feel the proportions were a little off - it had taken him about an hour to get from Jubilife to Sandgem and ten times that to get to Oreburgh, which certainly wasn't reflected in both routes apparently being of equal length. The clock on the wall was a little off, too; by his count it was seven minutes late.

His attention was drawn to the people waiting around him, whether in the queue or on uncomfortable chairs and grimy benches, all of which seemed to have been eaten away at to some degree. The atmosphere in the building, Connor felt, was not a happy one. While the nurse seemed to be trying her best, the weary expressions worn around him didn't really fill him with hope. To his left, among the dense crowd, he saw a man who looked as though he was running on about three minutes of sleep trying to reassure a visibly distressed Bidoof, rubbing its head whilst trying to keep his one up. To his right, he noticed the miner with a slumped posture and crossed arms, the tapping of his boots audible even through the hullabaloo around him.

His focus fell upon Ronnie alongside him, who seemed to be huddling closer to him and distancing himself from the disorienting wall of sights and sounds all around him. He felt an anxious shiver on his left leg, and bent over to soothe his Pokémon's worries with a pat of the head and a soft "There, there."

"...Next?"

Connor was caught off-guard. He had barely even realised that the queue had whittled down, and now he was next. Looking at the clock, the realisation that almost ten minutes had passed hit him - once again (unsurprisingly, he thought), it seemed he had gotten lost in his thoughts.

"Ah, hello!" began Reyes, who had decided against letting either of his Pokémon out into the sea of chit-chat around him. "Sorry to bother you, but my friend and I - well, actually, just my friend - we came across an injured bird earlier today."

"I see. What bird was this, exactly? A Starly?"

"I think so?" Reyes turned to Connor for confirmation, who hesitantly nodded.

"And what was wrong with it? Do you have it on you?"

"Uh… a, uh, burnt wing - which was there when we found it, I promise - and it really doesn't seem to… how can I put this… er…"

"He's a spicy little lad," chimed Reyes.

"Y-yeah."

"And when did you find him?" The nurse leaned in as she spoke, something which threw Connor off a little.

A shiver ran down his spine as he slowly turned to the clock, thinking back.

"Nine hours ago," he gulped before pausing, the gears of his mind churning out the best excuse he could think of for such a delay. "B-but we were already on our way here, and we had to get here today, a-and… I'm sorry-"

"Oh, gosh, please don't get so worked up over it. It's quite alright, I swear!"

Reyes rubbed his chin as he thought about the next course of action. "Didn't I hear you say that you were full at the minute?"

A vaguely crestfallen look fell upon the nurse's face as she responded. "Yes, I would assume you did. Are you kids new in town?"

"Yeah, we're here to kick the gym's badge and get our butts!" declared a fiery Reyes, fist clenched and eyes full of determination.

"Other way round," hastily interjected Connor.

"That too!"

"Oh, um… about that; the gym is sort of off-limits at the moment."

It took a moment for this to sink in for Reyes, but sure enough it took even less time for him to deflate. "...It is?"

A heavy breath escaped the nurse's nostrils as she nodded. "You see, the mines here have been under new ownership for a few weeks now, and things have been… contentious, to say the least, with regards to working conditions. We've had more and more injuries as of recent, too; the guy you saw earlier, for example, came in with a Machop. Poor thing's arm got caught in a faulty conveyor belt, apparently - they've needed replacing for a while, and there was talk of them doing it before. Now, though, I believe it's been put on hold. Roark's not taking any challengers until the situation's resolved, and there's talk about the miner's going on strike, I believe."

"But… my dad's a miner," said Connor, "and, um… I don't think he's ever said anything about this to me."

The nurse could only offer a shrug of her shoulders and an apologetic look. "Well, that's what I know, anyway. Now, about that Starly - you boys are staying here overnight, I'm assuming?"

"Aye," replied Reyes.

"Alright, in that case… your room is the eighth one down the hall. We'll be sure to update you in the morning."

"Cool! Thank you!"

With that, the pair took their keys and headed off.


Dear Murphy,

It's me, Connor. You might not remember me, but I was at your lab two days ago to get my trainer's license. Thank you for that, and this Pokédex! I hope you are doing well! I'm very pleased to tell you that me and Ronnie are good. As a matter of fact, I'm writing to tell you…

As he felt Ronnie's cold and rather heavy head upon his lap, eyes shut and peacefully resting, Connor was pleased with what he had written so far. Sure, it was only a single paragraph, but at the very least he'd settled on a tone he felt satisfied with.

He thought he had, anyway. Perhaps it was a little incoherent, actually, the more he thought about it - what if he didn't remember him? He did tell him who Ronnie was, right? Was he coming off as too chummy - or was it showing, that he really wasn't sure on his tone?

"Connor, my guy, how is that email coming along?" came Reyes' voice from the upper bunk, his voice inquisitive as his red headband dangled down and green eyes peered expectantly at him.

"I, uh… well, I think? Maybe? I dunno, it's just starting it that's tough."

The look became more judgmental, the voice desperate. "Man, just pour it out - if it looks good, it looks good; if it doesn't, you can always fix it. It's not going to write itself if you keep stressing over it. I tell you, you've got to take it easy sometimes, friend. Just make sure that you take it!"

As was evidenced by his face scrunching in thought and the corners of his mouth curving down, he really had no idea what Reyes meant with his last statement. That being said, perhaps he had a point. Perhaps he just needed to crack himself open and let the words flow out… or something.

Connor had never been good at metaphor.

"What I wanna know is when that pizza's coming, anyway," bemoaned his colleague once more in an exasperated tone.

It had been about twenty minutes since the pair had gotten settled and ordered from the first pizza place in town that they'd found - Gianluigi's, it was called. Apparently, it was supposed to be pretty good; Reyes wasn't too sure what Sinnoh's definition of "pretty good" was, but it had better have been worth the wait.

An incensed Garra grumbled next to Reyes, his little eyes narrowed and mouth in a frown.

"You're damn right, buddy!" declared his trainer in reply, as Connor tuned out and went back to his letter.

I'm writing to you to tell you that I caught another Pokémon today. He's a Starly with a burnt wing, and I don't think he's too happy to be around people. I named him Byrne. I've handed him in to the Pokémon Center for the night, though, as I feel as though it would be best for them to evaluate him.

He was promptly snapped back to reality by the sound of heavy thudding on the door.

"Ooh, that'll be the food!" declared Reyes, a ray of sunshine seeming to materialise within him as his face lit up with a beam. "Connor, do you mind getting it?"

"I can't. Ronnie's asleep on my legs."

"Well, surely you can move him?"

Connor paused before responding, looking down at what was essentially a mass of steel and rock on him. "Um… no offence, but he weighs one hundred and thirty pounds, Reyes."

Another set of four thuds on the door, almost ripping the door off its hinges.

"Ach, alright, alright! I'll get it," conceded a defeated Reyes as he launched himself off the top bunk and opened the door. "Hi, how ar- …"

Reyes wasn't quite sure what he expected a pizza delivery person to look like here in Sinnoh. Perhaps because of cartoons, he was expecting a pubescent, squeaky teen with a poorly shaved moustache to be on the other side of the door. Or at the very least, probably just an average Joe, really.

What he certainly had not anticipated was this person being a) a woman at least two years his senior, b) at the very least three inches taller than him (and at six foot two, he was no dwarf himself), and c) built like a brick shithouse in every sense of the word. Her colossal muscles, from the looks of things chiseled from granite, seemed to block the entire corridor. Her biceps were wide as boulders, and her shoulders broad as a mountain. Reyes was frankly amazed that there were uniforms that fit her, in all honesty; hazarding a guess, she was at least two hundred and twenty pounds.

The gaze of the titan that towered over him lay in the shadow of the brim of her grass green cap, her short blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. Her dark blue eyes seemed as though they were up in the clouds as she looked at Reyes with an unmoving expression, before speaking in a flat tone.

"Pizza time."

"Oh, here you go," replied Reyes as he clawed out some slightly crumpled notes from his pocket. "There should be enough there."

She effortlessly held both boxes in one massive splayed hand as she looked over the notes, and as she did, Reyes noticed a name tag that was no longer blocked by said boxes - "Hello!" it read, "my name is: Lucia," the name written neatly in marker.

"Thanks. Have a good night." With that, she forced the boxes into Reyes' arms with enough force to send him back a step or two before easing the door shut.

A few seconds passed before Reyes carefully lay the smaller box on Connor's bunk, so as to not disturb Ronnie. "Just cheese and tomato, right, friend?"

"Yeah."

"Cool." With that, he promptly made his return to the upper bunk, holding his box out of the reach of his ravenous Gible - or, as evidenced by the sound of teeth gnashing through cardboard and into some pizza, attempting to keep it out of reach. At the very least, he considered himself lucky that Baggo had tired himself out in his relentless pursuit of Zubat and stayed in his Pokéball that night.

Connor, meanwhile, pulled out and bit into a slice before continuing with his letter. He wasn't a pizza connoisseur by any means, but at the very least, he enjoyed this one greatly - the cheese, in particular, was just right, smooth and yet also a little tangy as it melted in his mouth. He very carefully wiped his right hand to remove any grease on it before going back to soothing his sleeping Pokémon while continuing his email.

I have to wait until morning to check back on him, as Oreburgh's Pokémon Center seems to be in a rough place. Something's going on in the mines, apparently, and everyone's upset about it. We (oh, I forgot to mention, I've found a travelling partner - his name is Reyes, he's from Hoenn and he came with some dragon type Pokémon) are in town to take on the gym, but Roark's on strike. Hopefully, it'll all be over and done with in a week or two, though.

Before concluding, Connor had a think about if there was anything about Pokémon he could get out of a Pokémon professor, perhaps the person best suited to do so in the entire region. He recalled talking a bit about legendaries in his previous meeting with Murphy - perhaps that was a good route to pursue?

By the way, out of curiosity, do you have any further reading you'd suggest on the legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh? I think I told you that I find it an interesting topic, and I suppose it also makes for good conversation - I figured that maybe we could find out more about each other's regions?

That worked.

I hope to speak to you soon!

Yours sincerely,

Connor


Oreburgh City - an overview

Population: 21,500

Gym leader: Roark Swanson

"Oreburgh is an amicable city with its famous mine at its heart. This mine is amongst the biggest in the world, and at the heart of the community - a working-class one, known for its welcoming yet resilient people. It's also home to a host of other famous landmarks, such as Gianluigi's pizza parlour, a favourite across the region, and the Oreburgh museum, an attraction for lovers of prehistory across the globe. It's a fairly dusty place in climate, and a warm one too."