Tyler: *watches a movie on a tablet with Epsilon and Type Null, casually answering any questions the latter had*
Samuel: *gazes intently at the TV screen, determined to not give Noir her third win of the day*
Jewel: *talks with Ava about various topics, mostly about any technology she's unfamiliar with*
Josh: *connects a piece of the model he's working on very carefully, capturing the attention of Autumn*
Ruby: *cuddles with Helios*
BM: *busts down front door* AWWWWW YEAAHH, I'm finally done.
Samuel: Nice repeated joke, loser.
BM: Sh-shut up. Anyways, hello dear readers and welcome back to another chapter of Roadtrip! Yes, I've finished my school work and I have more time to focus on other stuff, such as writing. What a joyous occasion!
*gentle applause by Jewel, Ava and Tyler with mocking cheers by Samuel*
BM: Alright, a few more things. One, I'm older now as my birthday was all the way back on March (woooh). Two, my keyboard is slightly broken. It's W key and right arrow key are pretty fucked (honestly, I don't think any of you care) and thirdly, I will start addressing reviews in future chapters, both for Roadtrip and Delta Six. Please leave one and I'll respond if I have the time!
Tyler: Hey, don't you think you've been going on for too long?
BM: Oh damn, you're right! Right, onto today's chapter! Also, what're you watching Ty?
Tyler: No Country for Old Men, it's pretty go-
BM: DUDE YES.
Disc-lame-r: I don't even use brand names all that often anymore, why do I still have these?
"Well, I reckon that's bout all of em. We'll be taking our leave now, friend." The Ranger announced with a sweat on his brow. Tyler took off his gloves and wiped his brow before shaking the Ranger's outstretched palm.
"Alright, thank you guys for coming. Also, any special things we should do?" Tyler inquired, tying his jacket around his waist whilst eyeing the progress made. With everyone's help including a hesitant yet curious Type Null and a somewhat unwieldy Metagross, the once charred section forest looked to be in much better shape compared to before. Gone was the burnt earth and torched grass, in its place was fresh soil imbued with special additives to accelerate plant growth, courtesy of a team of Venusaur and other grass types.
"Not much to say really, all you need is a steady stream of that good ol' blue liquid of life and boom, you've got yourself some great greenery!" The Ranger informed with a hearty chuckled. Tyler nodded with a small smile, waving the team goodbye. As soon as they were out of sight, he exhaled before slumping forward.
"Oooogh, that was harder work than I thought." Josh proclaimed as he walked up to the black haired teen.
"You got that right. Man, who knew burnt trees put up such a good fight?" Tyler answered back. Josh chuckled as he opened his mouth before Noir suddenly materialized in front them both.
"Maybe, it's due to the fact that you lack strength, Tyler? I had no difficulties in dealing with my share." Noir remarked with a smirk, as did Josh with a short chuckle. Tyler characteristically rolled his eyes, ending with a scoff.
"Oh yeah? Wrong." Tyler said with grin before catching Noir off guard, picking her up with both arms and lifting her up with her feet dangling above the ground.
"T-Tyler- ahaha! P-Put me d-aahha!" Noir yelled while laughing, as she was fairly ticklish. Tyler simply smiled and began walking back to the group, with an amused Josh following suit.
After placing the Zoroark who was on the verge of tears down, the two best friends waited for the others to finish up. To nobody's surprise, Epsilon was the last one to finish who at this point acknowledge that he isn't the fastest Pokemon among them.
"Good work today, everyone. This forest should be prim and proper in no time. And that was great fun, how about you guys?" Tyler asked curiously.
"Yes yes! That was exhausting but super fun!" Jewel yipped happily.
"Tree. Fun." Type Null said with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"Oh, indeed but little Lios here should be a bit more careful." Ruby mocked slyly, causing Helios to turn away shyly.
"Come on, I'm a fire type…" Helios spoke embarrassedly, not knowing that Autumn was finding the juxtaposition funny.
After a bit more chatting the group got ready to head back. As they did however, Tyler was stopped by two voices behind him.
"Excuse me, Tyler? Can we talk with you?" Aru, Autumn's mother, asked with Tirka, Autumn's father, beside her along with Autumn herself.
"Oh, sure. Uh hey guys, you can go ahead. I'll catch up later, alright?" Tyler said before jogging back to the fire foxes.
"So, what's up?" Tyler asked as he kneeled down in front of them. Aru and Tirka trotted forward and bowed their head in gratitude.
"Thank you, thank you so much for caring for our daughter. You've given her a better life than what we could give her." Aru said with honest tears in her eyes. Tirka nodded in a respectful way as well. Meanwhile, Autumn smiled lightly in the back.
"It's no problem, Aru and Tirka. I strive to help others. Plus, Autumn is such a joy to be around." Tyler spoke with a smile, flustering the younger Ninetales.
"Now now Autumn, take the compliment alright? Now, it's getting late and you two should go back to your camps." Tirka said while patting Autumn's shoulder, proud of her.
"Oh, r-right. Well, bye mom, bye dad. Love you!" She exclaimed happily before hugging both of them. As Tyler and Autumn departed, both of them looked back and waved goodbye to the pair of Ninetales.
Walking along the side of the lake, the duo crested the hill as the stars began to show.
"Hey Autumn?" Tyler asked out of the blue.
"Y-yeah? What is it Tyler?" Autumn responded. Tyler smiled before planting a kiss on the startled Ninetales. Immediately, Autumn practically melted into a flustered mess with Tyler chuckling to himself.
"Hahaha, oh Autumn. Never change." Tyler exclaimed proudly as he lifted his arms in the air.
"Mrrr, don't do that…" Autumn said with a heavy blush. Tyler chuckled yet again.
"Sorry, couldn't resist. Oh, looks like Josh has begun cooking." Tyler informed while pointing at the smoke in the distance. Suddenly, he began bolting down the hill, surprising Autumn yet again.
"Race you there!" Tyler yelled in a childish tone. Autumn adopted an amused look before giving chase.
…
The crunching of snow made way to the clatter of rubbery footsteps atop old stone. Though he was now in the shadow of one of the multiple enormous pillars dotted about the ancient site, Cyrus kept the cloak covering him tight. Leaning on the familiar pillar, he kept track on the progress made by the scientists and the grunts who volunteered to study the location itself.
"Sir, this is incredible…" One of the scientists muttered loudly to combat the strong winds. Cyrus shuffled, moving away the piece of cloth covering his mouth.
"I suppose it is." He answered coolly, a hint of nonchalance in his tone. The scientist looked at her superior in slight confusion.
"Suppose? No offense, but I think 'suppose' doesn't cut it! Come sir, we've made plenty of interesting discoveries." The scientist retorted before walking away. Cyrus looked irritated but followed, nonetheless.
Thankfully, the wind had died down a notch thus increasing the overall visibility throughout the ruins. Upon realizing this, Cyrus could finally observe the ruins with new clarity.
The massive stone pillars that reached up towards the heavens had seen better days, much better days. Fragments of chiseled stone lay about the large stylobate which itself had begun crumbling at the edges.
Stepping onto the larger steps of the ruins, Cyrus noticed the distinct cross pattern which the pillars formed, as if to support a large roof structure which was long since lost to time. He nodded in confirmation to himself before continuing upwards.
Touching the eroded pillars, he felt their grainy and rough texture on his palm. In the distance, the scientist from before stood waiting.
"Sir, over here! We discovered what appears to be a new form of ancient script. These share some similarities to Unown but there's still too many unknown glyphs for us to find out what they mean." She explained with excitement. Cyrus gave an approving grunt.
"Interesting. I'll divert some resources to deciphering it. Next." He stated matter-of-factly. The scientist nodded before walking off to another location in the ruins, right in the intersection of the two perpendicular lines the pillars formed.
Engraved into the floor was a huge embossment depicting two beings, one quadruped and the other a strange sort of biped. Squatting down to take a closer look, Cyrus noticed faint traces of blue and pink pigmentation of the quad and the biped respectively. He also noticed what seemed to be a strange silhouette engraved in the background of the embossment. After eyeing it for a few seconds, Cyrus stood up and allowed the scientist to continue.
"And finally, there seems to be some strange fragments strewn about. Here's one of them." She explained before handing Cyrus a small, fractured rhomboid. Feeling it around in his palm, apart from the section where it broke off it was smooth to the touch. Though the wind was still quite strong and visibility was still fairly poor, Cyrus took note of the iridescent amber color it emanated.
"Hm, interesting. Quite interesting." He said before pocketing the fragment. The scientist was about to raise her hand to ask for it back for research but decided not to.
…
Awoken by the furry alarm clock beside him, Tyler yawned deeply before stretching nearly tossing Autumn off the sleeping mat in the process. Petting Autumn lightly to wake her up, he noticed that his Sylveon and Zoroark were nowhere to be seen. Their voices outside the tent curbed any worry he had.
"Mmmmm, morning Tylerrrrr…" Autumn groaned as she got up, her fur a bonafide mess. Tyler chuckled whilst attempting to fix her coat.
"Morning to you too. Slept well?" Tyler inquired. Receiving a nod is response, Tyler gave her one in return before changing his clothes. Upon finishing, it was then he realized Type Null's presence in the room with them. As Tyler was about to greet him, he was struck with a fairly crucial oversight.
"Oh fucking hell, me…. I forgot to give you a name." Tyler muttered with a sigh as he sat back down on his sleeping bag. Type Null tilted his head in curiosity before following Tyler's movements to a tee. Autumn just mentally snapped her fingers (paw?) as she had realized as well.
"Name. Unnecessary." Type Null flatly said, though he expressed curiosity through his body language. Tyler shook his head in disagreement.
"Nonsense, you're a member of my team and you need a name. How about …. Rocco?" Tyler suggested. At this, Type Null's attention peaked.
"Rocco. Nice." Rocco replied with another glimpse of joy. Tyler nodded in satisfaction and beckoned both Pokemon out of the tent.
Covering the early morning sun with his hand, Tyler spotted the others sitting around the campfire. Noir and Jewel seemed to be gossiping about something. Epsilon was laying down, enjoying the warmth that the sun provided. Josh could be seen sitting in the shade of a distant tree, with Ruby and Ava looking at his phone. In the center, a pot of cream soup was hanging on top of the recently put out fire with toast on the side.
Hearing the tent unzip, Jewel and Noir looked back and made their way over to Tyler as he and the others had their breakfast. Josh looked up from his phone and waved the group over.
"Hey there Josh, Ava, Ruby, sleep well?" Tyler greeted the trio. Josh and Ava simply nodded with a smile, Ruby still had a small hint of annoyance that she couldn't be with Helios.
"I slept great. Now, we should probably talk about the road ahead of us yeah?" Josh asked. Tyler nodded in response and sat down under the tree with the others following suit.
"Alright, so logically our next location is Pastoria City which we can reach by taking this road right here, the Veilstone – Pastoria highway." Josh explained whilst pointing at the fairly straight road on his phone. Checking the map on his own phone, Tyler remembered something about the powerplant.
"Wait, why don't we head over to Hearthome? Since the power plant's fixed, I've been curious on what's happening over there." Tyler shared. Upon hearing this, Josh put his hand on his chin as he looked through his phone yet again.
"Ah, that's gonna be a bit of a problem. Look." Josh said in a slight mix of surprise and disappointment as he showed Tyler his phone.
'R224 crumbled under avalance: No casualties reported.'
"Well, shit." Tyler and Josh said synchronously. Ava and Noir peered over Tyler's shoulder to his phone.
"What does that mean, Tyler?" Ava inquired. Tyler turned around as he placed his phone down, screen side up.
"See, the R224 is the only quick way of heading over to both Pastoria and Hearthome as it splits in two over the East side of Sinnoh. Though…. Ah, it looks like the collapsed section is the one that leads to Pastoria." Tyler explained, pointing out the section in the article to Josh.
"Oh, I see…. Well, the alternative would be taking the backroads and the under paths but that'll take quite a bit longer… Looks like we're heading over to Hearthome." Josh concluded whilst dusting himself off.
"Righto, it'll be quite the drive to reach there though. Do we have everything we need?" Tyler asked. Surprisingly, Epsilon was the first to answer.
"We're all good to go." The Metagross buzzed with confidence. Tyler cocked an eyebrow.
"How do you know?" He asked curiously. Epsilon responded with a metallic chuckle.
"I ran through all our supplies this morning, including Josh's. We're good on all fronts." He reported promptly. Tyler blinked once or twice before nodding.
"Well everyone, let's hit the road!"
BM: A bit shorter than what you were expecting huh? Yeah, this is gonna be another multipart chapter folks! Thank you for being patient and I'll catch you all in the next one, bruhmeister out!
Epsilon: Huh, who knew a bolt gun could be such an effective weapon?
BM: I know right, I mean can it even do that in real life?
Tyler: *walks into the room with a bolt gun in hand* One way to find out!
BM: TYLER NO.