Jayde hopped lightly into the air as the ball of her foot sprung off of the moss-covered root. She landed softly on the leaf-strewn forest floor and pivoted to avoid a thicket of brambles just to her right. Her steps picked quickly and carefully through the deep shadows of the dusk-lit undergrowth, and she gently adjusted her shoulders to balance the weight of the Pokémon resting there. In the late afternoon Syn had begun muttering complaints, and by evening he simply refused to walk any further. She had tried explaining why they needed to hurry through to Viridian City, but he wanted none of it. He hadn't seemed particularly upset, but he had apparently harbored an expectation of languidly moving through the forest – the hurried pace to leave the natural world and enter a large city did not seem to sit well with him.
Nonetheless, Jayde had continued on through the darkening trees as the stars slowly brightened in the sky and the orange-pink hues of the sunset faded away through the silhouetted branches. Syn had also decided that he wanted to enjoy the outside world until they finally stopped for the night, so he had refused his Pokéball yet again, choosing instead to be carried as though he were a king. Some Pokémon did choose to travel on their trainer's shoulders, but the squat, heavy Grass-type currently weighing her down was not overly well-suited to balancing – Jayde had to hunch her shoulders and stretch her neck to give him enough room, and she swore she had heard him sniggering at the absurdity of the resulting position. She was by no means weak – handling Pokémon since childhood tends to afford one at least some measure of endurance – but the strain that the added weight put on her spine finally pushed her to concede after just an hour.
She knelt down beside a large tree and rested her right forearm on the soft nest of leaves that had gathered within the mass of sprawling roots, tilting her shoulders to urge him back onto solid ground. He pushed off with his hind feet and landed with a thud – surprisingly soft for such a dense creature. He looked expectantly at her as she leaned back against the crook of one root, and she smiled and drew out some Pokémon food from her pack.
"Here you go. You must be starving after sleeping and letting me walk all that way," she said, sarcastic but with a tinge of tired amusement.
He flicked one stubby ear good-naturedly as he began devouring the food before him. She hadn't expected him to be quite so ravenous after snacking on berries all day, but within minutes he had finished the entire container. He nosed it around to make sure he hadn't missed any and, with a satisfied grunt, curled up beside her. She laid a hand on his head and gently stroked the soft, leathery skin with one thumb.
"We'll sleep here tonight, but we have to wake up early if we want to make it through this forest in time for the conference."
Perhaps "conference" was a bit too formal a word – "carnival" might fit more aptly, or "party". Her mind flicked back to the flyer Gary had handed her outside the lab – he had said that it was exclusively for trainers who had been on their journeys for less than six months. This would include all those classmates of Jayde's that were still training and near enough to make the trip, as well as the two other trainers who had left the lab that morning. Gary had told both of them about the fair before they left (the two had decided to travel together until at least Viridian City) but said that the boy had seemed too nervous and the girl, while excited about the prospect, had been torn between attending and training in the forest beforehand – there wasn't time for both. The fair was in two days, and even at the pace Jayde was pushing she wasn't sure if she would arrive until the day-of – if she stopped to train or catch more Pokémon, she would likely miss it.
"You might get to see Char and Squirt again – or whatever their names are now. And we might even get to battle them."
Syn's only response was to turn away and give a short grunt. Jayde's eyebrows drew together, and she reached out a hand. Syn allowed her to touch him, but she didn't miss the tension and slight recoil in his stance. She dropped to her stomach, propping herself up on her forearms, and looked at him with concern.
"What's wrong? Do you not like them?"
Yet again he turned away and grunted, but it seemed to be a negative response – she hadn't gotten it quite yet.
"Then what is it? Are yo- oh. I know what it is, I think. You think the only reason you're my partner is by default. You don't think I would have picked you otherwise."
He rested his head on his forelegs, silent. She paused and considered him sadly, lowering her head until pine needles brushed her cheek.
"You know, on cereal boxes there are trivia facts about different Pokémon. Things like 'Meowths collect shiny objects' or 'Spearows are very aggressive'. Those cereal boxes also say that, of the starters, Charmander is the strongest but the most difficult to train. They say that Squirtle is a nice mixture of traits. And they say that Bulbasaur is the easiest to train but the weakest."
Syn shifted his head slightly, but still he uttered no sound.
"But you know what? I've seen Charmeleons that are the sweetest, gentlest Pokémon you could ever meet. I've met Squirtles who refuse to come out of their shells because they don't like taking orders. And I know Venusaurs that can kick a Charizard's ass."
She held out one hand, cupping the air a few inches away from his head – a silent offer.
"Those cereal boxes are bullshit. Don't believe them. As long as you don't, I won't either. Okay? Promise."
Syn remained silent… but his gaze had shifted to her, and after a moment he pushed his head forward into her palm. She gently moved her thumb back and forth just under his chin, smiling. Even though he couldn't speak, she knew what this gesture meant all the same.
Promise.
They made good progress the next day, and Jayde refused to stop after, on the large hill they had rested on near nightfall, she caught a glimpse of lights in the distance. Thankfully, Syn finally relented and agreed to stay in his Pokéball for the last part of the journey after Jayde playfully but sternly threatened to trade him for a less lazy Pokémon at the carnival, and at some point just after midnight her feet finally sounded on pavement. Her eyes, grateful for the light of the surrounding buildings, quickly set on a red roof some way down one of the main roads, and she soon found herself wearily pushing open a metal-and-glass door and wincing at the bright fluorescence of a Pokémon Center lobby.
"Let me guess," a voice said from across the room, where a young brunette receptionist stood behind a large desk bearing the Center symbol. "Here for the conference tomorrow? Well, technically later today, but you know what I meant."
"Yeah," Jayde responded, her voice scarcely more than a mumble. "Can I-"
"Get a room?"
Jayde nodded, but she already knew what the receptionist's response would be before the words had left the brunette's mouth.
Sure enough: "I'm sorry, but all of our rooms are full. The conference is drawing tons of trainers. There's a bit of a campsite in the fields out back. We've sent a few dozen people back already, but I'm sure you can find a spot. You're free to eat and shower in the building – just no more beds." She seemed genuinely apologetic.
"Alright, that's fine. I'll have a shower in the morning, but can you tell me where I can grab a bite to eat before I set up camp?"
The young woman showed Jayde to one of the smaller cafeterias and pointed out where different foods were stored. After she left, Jayde plucked Syn's ball out of her belt and tapped the large white button – with a grouchy squawk, the plant Pokémon emerged onto the waxed floor and squinted in the sudden light.
"Alright, buddy, we're finally back to civilization," she said as she began poking through the light-colored wooden cupboards. "The conference is tomorrow morning, but it doesn't start until 9, so we can sleep in. Do you want something to eat before we turn in for the night?"
After both had satisfied their hunger (Jayde with a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and Syn with some Grass-type Pokémon food found at the back of a shelf), they found their way outside to the small tent-city which had formed in the large field to the rear of the Center. There seemed to be an equal number of tents and lone sleeping bags, so Jayde paid careful attention to the ground before her to avoid giving a dozing trainer a rude wakeup-call – she wasn't great at making friends (with humans, anyway), but even she knew that wasn't a good way of going about it.
She finally picked a soft, grassy spot a bit farther away from the other sleepers, curling up and using her backpack as a pillow. Syn wormed his way under her arm and cuddled against her, quickly lulled to sleep by her steady heartbeat. Jayde herself took a few minutes to fall asleep, despite the exhaustion in her bones. Her eyes traced patterns in the stars and her fingers curled absently at the long grass, already damp with dew, next to her chest. She couldn't wait to see what surprises the conference would hold, but all the same…
She looked down at Syn's sleeping form. They hadn't even been in a battle yet – what if they lost one tomorrow? She was one of the three victors this year, and she was supposed to be better than the rest – she knew that was ridiculous, of course, but that was how most viewed the victors: the best… or, at least, soon to be the best. Failure to meet that expectation would be humiliating.
But that wasn't really what kept her awake those last few minutes, nor was it the cause of the vague nightmares she suffered – nightmares which, in the morning, she couldn't even recall the existence of. There was something else… a nameless, nebulous worry tugging at her thoughts and causing an ache in her mind deeper than the ache in her body. But her eyes soon grew heavy and, without even realizing they was no longer gazing at the bright lights above her, they drifted together and met, hemming in the uncertainty that skirted about the reveries of her sleep.
