Back To Kanto

"Where are we?" asked Rina, looking around. We were in Vermillion City! How could Rina not know that? It was obvious: the smell of sea-salt was fresh in the air, modernised houses were everywhere and not to mention the distinct Tetris-shape of the area.

"So how far is it from here to Pewter?" Rina quizzed me. I was beginning to get the feeling that she had no idea where we were – then I remembered Rina probably had no clue. She wasn't from Kanto, like me and Andy. Rina and Rikki came from Sinnoh, so this was unfamiliar territory for them. For once I felt superior to them.

"It's quite far, actually." I frowned in confusion. "I thought we had to see Professor Oak?"

"We decided you should see your family first," said Rikki. I brightened immediately. AWESOME! I was finally going to see Mom, Dad and Sunshine after so long.

"Yay! I'll lead the way: c'mon troops!" I enthused, suppressing the urge to embrace Rikki for telling me the good news. Somehow, I didn't think she would appreciate my public display of affection towards her. We walked for AGES before we got to Saffron City: Route 6 was full of little kids with Pidgeys, Rattatas, Meowths and Zubats that were laughably weak and wanted to battle with us. It was so annoying telling them all no and seeing them look disappointed afterwards. Much to my chagrin, we didn't take a break in Saffron City, pushing on until we reached Cerulean at some time during the evening.

"We should stay here for the night and leave early tomorrow. There is a hotel we could try and stay in," suggested Andy. I felt like falling to my knees and hugging his legs. He was my saviour! If we hadn't stopped then I think I would have actually passed out. My legs may be long but boy did they tire easily. The four of us followed Andy's lead towards a small, run-down hotel and I suddenly had doubts about this. I was quickly assured though, as we stepped inside and discovered that the inside was a lot better looking than out, with a nicely furnished foyer to welcome us. We clubbed together and got one room between us; it had two sets of bunk beds so we wouldn't have to share a bed with anyone. Since Rina was more tired than hungry (it felt like YEARS since I had eaten my sweets and that one bite of chocolate cake...) she stayed for a nap while the rest of us went downstairs to the canteen.

Once in there, I could smell a wonderful mixture of all different kinds of foods. Knowing a certain Snorlax who would love it as much as I did, I released Tubby from his ball. A few people gaped at the size of him as he stretched his limbs out. We looked at each other excitedly: the sign said all-you-can-eat! Tubby and I got to work, munching everything in sight. Pasta, chicken, rice, pizza, vegetables, chips, turkey, potatoes, noodles, lasagne, fillet burgers, bread rolls, soup – not to mention the desserts! In the blur of food, I distantly heard Rikki mention she had to 'do something that would benefit us in more ways than one'. Truthfully I was paying my glorious dinner more attention than anyone else – which was why it came as such a surprise when Andy hissed that he hoped I had enough money to cover my meal. I stared at him blankly. Money? Between the sweets and the hotel room, I didn't have two pennies to rub together.

That was when the hotel owner appeared, red with fury and dragging a resistant Rikki by her arm. He glared at me, his cold eyes penetrating my very soul. I gulped. Boy was I ever in trouble. I was scared for my life and Tubby to his ball quickly so he wouldn't pick up on my fear and try to defend me, which would undoubtedly get me in even more trouble with the manager. The manager completely lost it when Andy stammered that I didn't have enough money to pay for anything Tubby and I had consumed – and neither did her or Rikki. We were screwed, especially when it turned out that Rikki had only tried to rob the place. If she'd asked for my assistance, we could have pulled it off together without getting caught: I was a master thief.

Long story short, we got thrown out of the hotel. It was dark by now and the Pokémon Centre was already filled to the brim. Our only option was to sleep outside and pray that it didn't rain since we didn't own any camping equipment. Rina was really ticked off with me and Rikki for 'being stupid' as she put it and didn't stop going on about how irresponsible we had been. She nagged us like a mom and strangely, instead of feeling guilty I only felt comforted by her scolding. Maybe I missed my real mom more than I realised.

We found a couple of public benches and I laid out on one where I fell asleep almost instantly. I hadn't thought I was that tired but apparently I was. When we woke early the next morning, I was astonished to find that Rikki had slept on the ground because I had taken up all the space on the bench. It wasn't my fault I was unnecessarily tall.

We all looked like castaways as a result of sleeping rough. Rikki looked particularly bad but I didn't want to make a comment in case she killed me – her facial expression was stuck on 'thunderous'. Rina was still in her pyjamas because she had that nap yesterday and so had to duck behind a bush to get changed. I felt embarrassed for her. I was extremely hungry yet again but all the food shops were closed because it was so early in the day. Andy came up with the idea to 'ration' our goods. I shot him a dark look when he said that but I don't think he noticed.

We left Cerulean City, heading west until we got to Mt Moon. Going through a cave still left some painful memories and therefore I was against travelling through it, no matter how hard my friends tried to convince me Terry and his goons wouldn't be lurking in the dark shadows. I absolutely refused to step foot in another cave even when Andy said it was the only possible way to get to my hometown. Just thinking about it made me go into a hyperventilating state. In the end Rikki released Tubby and he carried me into the cave while I wriggled around, trying to get out of his bear hug.

I was pleasantly surprised when Mt Moon turned out to be a million times cheerier than Mt Coronet and after a few steps got Tubby to put me down. I discovered that I didn't mind being in another cave so soon after what had happened, especially a familiar cave like Mt Moon. Numerous newbie trainers appeared to us, challenging us to battles. They owned fairly weak Pokémon so Tubby managed to destroy all of them with is super amazing Hyper Beam. He was so cool when he did that; it made my heart swell with pride.

The sun was up properly in the sky by the time we left Mt Moon but we still had a fairly lengthy walk until we arrived at Pewter City. Next stop: Family Reunion!

Note: I can't wait x)