Galar wasn't quite what Cameron was expecting. Kanto was a relatively warm and somewhat dry place with its fair share of sun. Rain was present enough, but the sky usually cleared when the storms died down. Galar, well, Galar didn't seem to do that.

The sky over Wyndon was overcast, and the wind had a chill to it that made Cameron glad she had taken her mother's advice on wearing a jacket. Taking a deep breath, she found the air was thicker and damper than she remembered it being back home. There was also a strange metallic taste to it. They had told her that Galar was an industrial country and relied rather heavily upon machinery. For some reason, she had thought it was like Lumiose City in Kalos, where electricity was the order of the day. It seemed that steam power was vital here, and it showed.

Leaving the airport terminal with a silent hope that the lands beyond Wyndon were fresher, Cameron began to search for her escort. Even though she'd insisted on finding her way to Postwick, they had told her someone would pick her up, but she didn't know who that would be.

The main foyer of the airport was a lot bigger than the sister one in Saffron City, and at first, Cameron had a hard time figuring out where to go. There were three stories to the place from what she could tell, and her departure ramp was on the third floor to the rear of a large balcony. The baggage claim for her flight was easy enough to spot near the stairs down, but it was swarming with people. Saffron had been busy, but Wyndon was something else.

Shouldering her egg case and carry-on bag, the researcher made her way towards the bag area in hopes of finding whoever it was she was meant to meet.

About halfway to her destination, a sign caught her attention. It was plain white with the name Oak printed in red bubble letters on it. A young woman was holding up the board with pretty beads in her strawberry blond hair. Before Cameron could even begin to make her way over, the woman started to wave her free hand and shout her name.

"Cameron! Over here!"

With no other direction to go, the researcher inched her way through the crowd towards her summoner, whom she believed was likely her escort. The fit was tight as people pressed in around her, but after some wiggling, she made it through with her bags intact. A small opening in the flood of passersby, about half the balcony away from the woman, gave Cameron some breathing room, and she paused for a minute before trying to press on. However, once in the small opening, Cameron felt a strange chill, one that had nothing to do with the damp air, run down her spine.

Through many years of living in the forests and caves and raising a Charizard amongst many others from eggs, Cameron knew very well what that chill meant. There was a predator nearby. And she was being watched. The question was, was it human or Pokémon?

Keeping a close eye on the crowd around her, Cameron made her way towards the woman. The last thing she needed to do was to alert her stalker by acting too spooked. Nothing seemed to stand out immediately, but that wasn't unusual. You would never see a good hunter, not until it was too late. This hunter, however, had made a mistake. She wasn't prey. And she wasn't going to pretend to be.

"Ah, I thought it was you!" The woman greeted the moment Cameron was within arm's reach. "It's rammed in here. I wasn't sure you'd see me. I'm Sonia. We've worked together on some of my Gram's projects. Wow, you look exactly like you do on yer Gramp's show. Not a hair different."

Taking the offered hand, she smiled at Sonia. That would explain how the woman recognized her. Cameron wasn't a stranger to her Gramp's talk shows and had often been the reporting researcher when dealing with hatching advice and proper baby pokemon care. She'd even been coerced to co-star on his poetry readings a time or two. Both her brother and sister were a lot better at pretending they had something better to do than she was. It hadn't occurred to her that anyone watched those shows, though.

"It's a pleasure to meet you in person, Sonia." Returning the greeting with one of her own, Cameron tried her best to remain passive despite the building unease she had. Something was very wrong. The fingers she currently had wrapped around Sonia's itched to reach for Cheri's Pokeball and the safety her partner could provide. That would be the wrong move, though, and Cameron knew it. So instead, she just grinned at her fellow Professor's grandchild and motioned towards the baggage claim. "I still have to pick up my monitoring equipment from claims. Then we can get moving."

"Of course. Lead the way." Stuffing the sign into a nearby waste bin, Sonia closely followed Cameron towards the stairs.

Her bags were easy to find, and the recovery process was surprisingly quick. It took barely half an hour before the two women were free and clear and on their way to the train station.

"I hope you don't mind taking the tram to Wedgehurst," Sonia apologized as they walked the manicured streets. "I was going to drive, but my poor old beater kicked the bucket about halfway to Motostoke."

"No worries, the train is fine. We don't have railways in Kanto, so it isn't often I get to ride one." The feeling of being watched faded upon leaving the airport, but there was still a nagging itch at her nape. Cameron didn't like the tension and decided to set up her cameras sooner rather than later. "I usually fly where I need to go."

"Oh, that's right, you have a Charizard, don't you? I can't believe I forgot about that." Sonia let out a laugh and turned a toothy grin to Cameron, who was trying her best not to appear suspicious as she studied every nook and cranny around them. Least an alleyway manages to hide her hunter. "For me to forget even after Leon spent the last week wagging his chin at anyone who'd listen about it. You should have heard him. He was pretty miffed when your arrival time fell on his exhibition match. If I were you, I wouldn't be surprised if he pops up. Though that would mean he'd have to manage to find his way for once."

Some of what Sonia said took Cameron a bit to decipher. Her mother had been born in Galar and used many of the idioms herself during Cameron's childhood, but most of what she could remember she'd spent with non-Galarian's. Kalos had been home the longest and then Kanto and Johto with her father's family, so while the phrasing was familiar, it wasn't fluent. She'd have to brush up on the local lingo.

"The champion did seem pretty infatuated with Cheri," Cameron replied. She had to admit to being a bit surprised that he had likely intended to meet her on arrival over it, though. "Doesn't he have his own Charizard? I thought that was kind of what he is known for." The truth was that Cameron didn't have any idea what Leon was known for. She barely watched television as it was. Her show of choice was more wild and eggy. She'd only ever seen one match of his, and that had only been because Red had been his opponent. Heck, she'd missed most of that match and had only caught the end when Leon's Charizard had managed to best Red's Blastoise. A feat in and of itself when one looked at the type match alone.

"Leon is probably the biggest Charizard fan you'll find. Charmanders are pretty common enough here, but their evolutions are rare. Not to mention you have one that is pretty ace." They finally came to a large station that looked just as packed as the airport had been. Sonia didn't look too happy with the situation and halted just outside the crowd of people. "Isn't this the perfect storm? It looks like everyone has started to arrive for the exhibition match. I had hoped to get around the crowd and be well on the way to Gram's before the bulk arrived."

"Is the train the only way?"

Sonia paused and seemed to think for a moment before she gave Cameron a calculating look. "Well, there is the Flying Taxi. They can take us as far as Motostoke. From there, we can probably catch the tram down to Wedgehurst with no issue. Beyond that, we could wait till the exhibition match starts and ride down after that. The line should be pretty empty then."

"When does the match start?" Cameron didn't like the idea of waiting, but it would give her a bit more time to figure out what exactly she was dealing with stalker-wise. With luck, she could solve the mystery and either deal with it or report it back to her brother and Red. If it was Team Rocket or some equivalent, then the sooner she solved it, the better.

Glancing at her phone, Sonia shrugged. "About an hour. Leon just messaged me, though, so it could be longer. Give me a sec to see what he wants."

Moving back to give Sonia some privacy, Cameron decided to do another quick survey of her situation.

The train station nearby was packed with more people coming than going. Sonia was off to the side, now arguing with Leon over the phone. Several inquisitive pedestrians were eyeing Cameron and her bulky case and bags warily. And her stalker was nowhere in sight, at least not noticeably so.

Cameron couldn't remember feeling hunted on the plane or in Saffron City, so her pursuer was either Galar centered or in her imagination. Both were plausible. From now on, it would be a waiting game to see which was the correct guess.

"You can't be serious," Sonia's exasperated exclamation made Cameron look over at the young woman who was flopping her hands uselessly. "You were here in Wendon. I took you to the stadium myself. How are you on a mountain?" Whatever Leon said on the other side of the call wasn't whatever Sonia wanted to hear. "What do you mean you can see Wyndon from where you're at? You're supposed to be IN Wyndon."

"Is everything okay?" Cameron approached Sonia to halt the tirade that had begun to attract more attention to them than she wanted. The last thing she needed was someone besides Sonia to recognize her. That hassle could wait till after she made it to Gloria.

Removing the phone from her ear Sonia gave her a hassled look and sighed. "Leon managed to get himself lost, and his match is in less than an hour. I'm sorry, but I need to figure out a way to get him here. I promise we will head to Wedgehurst right after."

"I could go get him." Cameron could see this as an opportunity. A train ride was one way to get the feel of Galar, but the best way was an excellent old flyover. Being cooped up in a train wasn't Cameron's idea of fun anyway. It was also probably a bad idea to trap herself inside a room on wheels if someone was following her. What better way was there to lose a tail than to wing it. "Cheri has

been in her Pokeball since I left Kanto. She's probably fuming at me right now."

"I, but you just got here. Are you sure? Even if you get to him in time, can you manage to make your way back?" Sonia appeared skeptical, and Cameron couldn't blame her.

"Finding my way back is my specialty." Fishing around in her bag Cameron pulled out a small flat disk with a narrow switch embedded in the top. She held it out to Sonia, who cautiously took it with a quizzical frown. "Well, finding where I put my tracking disks is my specialty. That device is one of my monitoring trackers. If you keep it with you, I can follow its signal back here once I find our wayward Champion."

"If you're sure," Sonia began, "But be careful. The area around Wyndon is pretty frosty. You'll catch your death of a cold if you aren't." Giving the train station one last look, Sonia lifted the phone back to her ear, and Cameron heard her say, "Stay where you're at, Leon. Cameron is going to head your way." She paused, then a solemn expression landed on her face. "Don't move." Her eyes flicked to Cameron, who was already busy donning her riding goggles and stowing her egg case on a hook latch attached to her backpack.

"Alright, all ready," the researcher announced and gave Sonia a nod. "If you head to the stadium, I can bring him straight there. The tracker you have is good at pinpointing locations down to a Diglett sized spot."

"I'll head there now. I'll let Grams know we will be a bit late getting back." Sonia turned to head back the way she and Cameron had come from before stopping and pointing off towards a large boulevard that led to a plaza further down the path. "The gate is just down there. Unless you want to draw attention to you and your Charizard, you should take off from outside the gates."

"Good idea."

With a wave, Cameron watched Sonia jog off towards where she figured the stadium would be. Her first visit to Galar was undoubtedly different than she had thought it'd be. Not even there for an hour, and she already had a stalker and was about to save the Champion.

"Well, let's get to it," she muttered to herself as she made her way towards where Sonia had said the gate was. "Gloria is gonna kill me for getting distracted."