Though Hilda was a bit grumpier than usual when we woke up, she eventually turned back into her snarkier self and was willing to talk to me after our small discussion over the campfire. There really wasn't anything special about the trek through Route 2, the only difference was it was even more lively than last time.

Pokémon and trainers were everywhere, much to my surprise, and many were ducking it out in Pokémon battles to see which trainer was better than the rest. They all shouted at the top of their lungs, commanding their Pokémon to do their bidding.

I even spotted a small tent with a nurse there and an Audino, a very loving Pokémon with quite a skill called a Heal Pulse. I felt like I didn't need to explain what that would do.

It looked like it was a small event or something, and I didn't know anything like that was a thing. Granted, I didn't know much, but something like this wouldn't go under my radar normally.

Well, that and the place was filled to the brim with very small fields drawn with white chalk on the road. Two trainers, one on each side occupied a single field with their Pokémon in front of them while everything was overlooked by the police. They had very intimidating hounds the size of regular people and very impressive and long whiskers that reached the ground with ease.

"Um, Hilda?" I said to her, bringing her attention from the fields to me.

"Hmm?" She hummed.

"Is that a Pokémon too?" I asked while pointing at the menacing dog. Hilda gave me a look of disappointment.

"Well duh, what made you think otherwise?" She shot back.

"I don't know. Shouldn't Pokémon look a little less… threatening?" I said. Hilda's disappointed look morphed into a smug smile while she chuckled in anticipation.

"You're in for a rude awakening then," She said ominously while I stared at her.

"I don't want you to ruin your fun, but as much as I looked like I was paying attention to Juniper, she drained me of all my energy the second she started explaining anything," I rebuked with crossed arms and Hilda gave me a pout of all things.

"You like to tease other people but then you won't let them tease you back?" She huffed, "You're such a sore loser."

"There is a difference between teasing and withholding information, Hilda. You're doing the latter," I pressed before Hilda let out a groan.

"You're annoyingly good with words, you know that?" Irritated was one way of describing her expression before a sigh escaped her lips. "Fine, it's just the last evolution of Bunni."

I blinked once before my eyes widened at the dog before I snapped back to Hilda.

"That little puppy is going to turn into that!?" I loudly exclaimed while pointing at the hound.

"Yeah, Pokémon evolve to become better fighters which is why some Pokémon are considered really good at battling… and then there is something like a Stunfisk," She explained.

"The way you said that name already allows me to assume that thing isn't impressive," I remarked, making a small chuckle escape from Hilda's lips.

"Well, you aren't wrong."

Seeing Hilda smile was quite the sight since usually she just scowls or groans whenever I talked to her. The thought made me smile as well, even though she did try to make fun of me a few moments ago.

It was meant to be harmless anyway.

Or at least I hoped.

I shifted my gaze back at the training fields, contemplating for a second about what we could do here, but nothing really came to mind, at least for me. I had no intentions of challenging the gym anyway, but Hilda was a different story.

"So… Willing to sink a few hours into making yourself and your Pokémon stronger?" I asked her.

"You bet! I have to make sure I mop the floor with that first gym, and the only way to do that is by defeating everybody here!" She declared, before picking an empty field, and was ready to take on anybody willing to fight. I was close by, leaning on one of the trees before letting Diana out of her ball.

She sniffed the air before happily laying on the bed of grass and I soon plopped on the ground as well, eyeing Hilda in the process.

It didn't take long before the first challenger appeared, and… an orange T-shirt-wearing boy was the first trainer that challenged her.

"God, it's that brat," I muttered. If I had a nickel every time I met the same people or Pokémon, I'd have two nickels. It wasn't a lot, but it was weird it happened twice in such a short amount of time.

Diana picked up on my irritated tone and sniffed the air once more. The smell of that trainer with the Patrat alerted her and soon began growling in his direction. A quick pat on the head calmed her down, and I lightly pushed her to lay on my lap before eyeing the trainer with an emotionless stare.

"Don't worry," I whispered to Diana, "Hilda will mop the floor with him."

"Dei," She nodded in agreement, making me scratch her chin and allowing her to ease, much to my amusement.

"I'll show you how it's done, missie!" The boy on the other hand was boasting again, seemingly forgetting our encounter altogether or was too hot-headed to change. "I'm what people call an actual trainer!"

"Back up those words, buddy, because not a single one means anything until you can prove it!" Hilda shot back before throwing her pokéball, revealing Bunni. She appeared with a small, excited bark.

"A Lillipup? Hah! This will be too easy! Go, Treck!" He shouted before the Patrat emerged from the pokéball, still willing to fight for the guy.

"Don't think this will be easy. Bunni is tough as nails," Hilda shot back while Bunni let out a defining "Pup!" that still sounded cute no matter how much she tried to be menacing.

Unlike that mature hound who could probably take down Pokémon with its whiskers alone.

"Winners strike first! Tackle that Lillipup, Treck!" The boy shouted, seemingly using the same strategy again against me. The Patrat went out of its way to do a small salute before charging Bunni.

"Odor Sleuth, Bunni!" Hilda shouted before Bunni started to sniff sporadically as if looking for something to find. She locked her eyes at the Patrat soon after before withstanding the tackle from the Patrat.

"Hah! Wasting your time on such moves will not help you! Treck, tackle it again!" I had to resist the urge to groan at his poor strategy. Was there really nothing else the Patrat could do?

I stared at the Patrat for a solid few moments before a small flicker of light ran through my vision. I flinched and immediately closed my eyes shut with a grunt before burying my head in my arm.

It didn't feel painful, more irritating than anything, like your younger sibling pointed a laser at your eye on accident.

"Dei?" Diana asked, lifting her head from my lap, concerned.

"I… I'm fine," I eventually replied before opening my eyes. They adjusted to the light before I spotted Hilda still fighting with that brat who was on verge of losing if that limping Patrat was any indication, and with Bunni standing tall and proud.

"What was that?" I thought, running my hand through my head. Diana was still a little concerned, but I calmed her down with another pat on the head.

Did I look into the sun by accident? No, I was under a tree. There was no way for me to see the sun from here, so what was that?

My thought process screeched to a halt when a victorious cry echoed in my ears from Bunni, standing proud over the fallen Patrat before he quickly disappeared inside the boy's pokéball.

"Why!? Lillipup's aren't that fast! How could she dodge Treck's attacks so easily!?" He was throwing another tantrum while stomping with his legs. Hilda had a hand on her hip, probably disappointed at the display as well, though she didn't say anything yet.

Might as well beat her to it.

"Diana, get his attention," I told her. She nodded and let out a loud "Deino!" in the boy's direction. He annoyingly turned to us, and his frown was quickly replaced with fear. Since he probably recognized us, I gave him the same piercing glare as last time. He gulped before scurrying away to the medical tent with no fanfare or tantrums.

I closed my eyes before breathing a sigh and giving Diana another head pat, who purred at the sensation. Hilda turned to me with crossed arms and a smirk on her face.

"Well? What do you think?" She asked though I wasn't sure what she was referring to.

"Do you mean the battle?" I asked her and her smirk fell into a deadpan stare.

"Seriously, how can anyone say there are no stupid questions," She muttered.

"Of course I mean the battle!" She suddenly shouted, annoyed, "I name you my rival and instead of training like me, you are lollygagging with Diana like you're on a field day trip!"

I hid my face in my hand before a small chuckle escaped my lips.

"Hilda, you know I won't be fighting the gym leaders anytime soon, and while it is nice that you call me your rival," I shifted my gaze at Diana who was laying on my lap with content, "Diana wants to rest now, and I won't force her into any fights she doesn't want to."

"Fine, don't complain when I leave you in the dust," Hilda huffed before going back to the field and eagerly waited for the next challenger to come, but nobody came.

She started to impatiently tap her foot before throwing her hands into the air with a loud groan and stormed to the next field, ready to knock everyone's teeth out.

Not literally of course.

I stared at her before letting out a sigh and leaned my head against the tree. The leaves cast an infinite amount of light spiderwebs down my way while they shook in the light wind. The sight made me forget a lot of things that were happening before my eyelids slowly closed. The slight wind caressed my cheek but wasn't cold while gliding my hand across the blades of grass, massaging them.

I was contentious like Diana, but I didn't have the need to fall asleep, just to have a small rest.

"It's good to meet you again, friend," Oh for the love of—

I opened my eyes with a small frown before lifting my head and spotting a mess of green hair. I looked up further, and I could now say that I would have three nickels.

Three goddamn nickels.

"N," I said to him, punctuating his name while he chuckled lightly with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Is this how you greet old acquaintances?" He asked innocently.

"No, I only did so because I still can't wrap my head around the fact that your name is just N," I explained before hoisting myself up into a more comfortable sitting position while still letting Diana sleep on one of my legs. The other I used to lean my wrapped up arm and hand.

"I told you I find my name not all that important," He said with a small laugh before eyeing the bandages.

"What happened?" He asked, his voice barely lowered to signal any concern.

"Got attacked by a group of Patrat," I explained while moving my bandaged arm around to indicate it wasn't as bad as it looked, "One of them bit me deeply into my arm, the small critter."

He hummed his answer while still eyeing the arm before shifting his gaze at me, making us see eye to eye. For some reason, his eyes seemed to have dimmed a little since the last time we met.

"How are you holding up so far?" Again, another question that didn't reflect his tone.

"What do you want from me?" I asked back, throwing his pointless small talk away, "Buttering me up won't get you anywhere, N."

His fake smile fell, leaving behind a passive expression on his face.

"Have you heard of Team Plazma then?" He asked suddenly, making me tense up.

"No, why would I?" I answered, and N's lips slightly quivered into a smile by a fraction.

"It's an organization that helps Pokémon by freeing them into the wild where they belong, not in the hands of incapable trainers that only use them for entertainment," His voice was leveled, but the amount of venom that was dripping from his words made me pause.

"Did you not see that Patrat?" He asked, suddenly pointing in the direction of the boy that went into the medical tent, and… was battling with the Patrat again, this time, against somebody else.

The sight made me scowl.

"That kid doesn't know how to treat it correctly," I thought while N's smile widened at the sight of my deepened frown.

"You know, don't you? Wouldn't that Patrat be better off in the wild? Somewhere where it belongs and would live a free life?" He said matter of factly.

I hummed in agreement before eyeing the Patrat again. I stared at once more, and again, another flash of light ran through my vision, yet this time it was much bearable. Though the flinch was still noticeable.

"Again, what the hell was that?" I asked myself, the flicker of light fading all the while, leaving me behind in nothing but pure bafflement.

I turned to N who had his eyes widened, from what, however, I didn't know.

"Interesting…" He muttered while having his arm under his chin in thought, seemingly forgetting the fact that I was here.

"What is?" I pressed, but N shook his head.

"Nothing," He dismissed my question, "Say, Radko? Would you like to battle me now?"

I perked up at the question but not positively or negatively.

"What sparked the sudden interest? I thought you were the type to not force Pokémon into battle," I pointed out and N shrugged.

"If my Pokémon want to fight, then who am I to stop them?" He said with a light chuckle, "Mine are quite eager."

"Well, does Diana look like she wants to fight?" I asked him, shifting my gaze at the still dozing-off form of Diana.

"Diana… What a fitting name," He pondered, looking at her as well. There was a sudden surge of barely visible green light in his eyes that made me want to do a double-take, but once I blinked, it was gone.

God, did I have a seizure today that made me see things?

"No, looks like she doesn't want to," N said, burying his hands inside his pockets, "She is very contentious."

I just stared at him for a short moment before shaking my head, not wanting to ponder about what I potentially saw. This place was already weird with Pokémon that I never heard of, but people with glowing eyes would be pushing it.

Maybe that small nap would be of some help after all.

"Well, is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" I asked N, "Because if not, I would like to go back to napping now."

"Oh don't be like that, I can't be that annoying, right?" He asked.

"Maybe, but you are pushing my limits in patience here. I want to just relax here and you aren't helping," I explained before leaning my head against the tree again, using my arms as a cushion.

"Very well, Radko. We will meet again, I'm sure," He bid farewell with a small wave before disappearing into the wilderness. I looked up at the tree again before closing my eyes and rewarded myself with a small power nap.

And no, I didn't need a reason to do so.

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

After my small nap, and a few battles under Hilda's belt that she all won apparently, we moved on to Striaton City, and, again, nothing had changed since the last time I was here a week ago.

It was still filled with prefabs that blocked most of the harsh sun that beat down at us mercilessly. Thankfully, I was used to sporadic weather anyway, extreme heat included.

Once we got a quick check-up in the Pokémon Center to make sure all of our Pokémon were in tip-top shape and spent a night there, we entered a prefab with some sort of pokéball statues surrounding it. Hilda told me this was a way to indicate where the gyms were.

How convenient.

It only made things worse for me that I completely missed this building that looked different enough to be noticeable. Hilda did make fun of me because of it, but I didn't mind. If anything, I was happy that she was able to relax a little, since she was anxious.

What was a surprise for me however was that the gym wasn't just a gym for people to challenge. It was a full-blown restaurant.

I wasn't joking, you had to literally book yourself a fight with the gym leader, and guess what? Since it was a restaurant too, challengers would get a free meal before the fight as well.

I didn't know if I should be impressed or absolutely baffled by the absurdity of it all. I could only hope the gyms won't have any similar gimmicks, because I knew human imagination could run wild.

But I had to give credit where it was due since it was a perfect way to make sure there wasn't a sudden influx of challengers. Having a booking system like this made it easy for the gym leaders to prepare themselves for every challenger that comes by, and from what I had seen yesterday, there were a lot of them.

Second, there was an order to the gym challenges a trainer had to undertake. The first four gyms had to be taken in given order to make sure the trainer was ready for the upcoming four where the gym leaders didn't hold any punches and went all out.

Now I knew why so many trainers ended up with only the fourth badge in their cases. The gym leaders were a force to be reckoned with if Hilda said trainers tend to give up right after obtaining the fourth badge.

Made you wonder what they were like.

Anyway, after booking a single table for two and waiting a day to enter the gym, we were now inside the restaurant, and to say it looked a little extravagant would be putting it lightly.

Tables lined with a white cloth and chairs with green cushions were sprawled out everywhere under a red carpet. People's chatting filled the air, almost echoing inside the restaurant and everything was overlooked by a golden chandelier while waitresses were briskly walking from table to table.

The only thing that broke the extravagant look were the trainers themselves who were wearing far from something formal. Some even were wearing caps on their heads.

The great equalizer.

Hilda was in awe from the looks of the place while I wasn't all that surprised. It wasn't the first time I was in a more expensive restaurant.

"This place is so big!" Hilda admired, looking around, trying to find a way to ignore her still plaguing anxiety. How could I tell? She sometimes brought her hands against her chest while being on the lookout for anything, though her face was always determined.

"It certainly is," I agreed, before spotting the reception, "We should announce ourselves."

"Hmm," She hummed her answer before following me to the reception. The waitress greeted us with a smile before leading us to our designated table, already prepared with all of the essentials.

"What can I offer you?" The waitress asked, bringing a notepad and a pen.

Hilda was checking the menu with a critical eye, yet her expression told me a completely different story. She had no idea what to order, making me inwardly chuckled before addressing the waitress.

"What would you recommend for us?" I eventually asked, taking Hilda by surprise. The waitress immediately perked up, happy to be of assistance.

"We have freshly caught Basculin meat on the menu today. It's grilled on a bed of Citrus berries with only salt and pepper, alongside a fresh salad," She said, making me touch my chin in thought.

"I suppose Basculin meat is very mellow?" I asked and the waitress nodded.

"Then we will have two portions with a bottle of very subtle dry white wine," I said, giving the menu to the waitress who was a little surprised at first before another smile graced her lips.

"Of course, I'll be right back," She said before taking Hilda's menu as well, much to her chagrin. She stared at me for a second before huffing in defiance.

"I could order for myself, you know?" She pointed out with crossed arms, "Plus, I don't drink wine."

"Then we ought to fix that," I immediately replied, "Wine is one drink everyone needs to try, whether they think they won't like it or not."

"And what if I don't want to? What if I want some Oran berry juice instead?" She shot back, making me send her a flat stare before crossing my arms as well.

"I'll have you know that I know what an Oran berry is and what it tastes like. Having a juice made of that with mellow meat wouldn't be appetizing," I explained, "Besides, broadening your horizons is always nice. And wine is definitely something nobody should miss out on."

Hilda grumbled a few words I couldn't pick up on before breathing a sigh.

"Fine, I'll admit I never had wine. My mother always said she was more for hard alcohol than anything else. Her stash reflected that," She said, making me stifle a chuckle.

"What? Don't tell me you haven't snuck up to your parents' stash once or twice?" I wanted to laugh and nod to her incredulous question, but I couldn't. The sudden stink of pain flooded my stomach, almost making me want to lurch.

Withholding it made me grimace, and Hilda took notice of my expression. She was concerned for a second before realization dawned on her as she slumped her head and put her hands on her chest before looking up.

"I… I'm sor—"

"Don't apologize," I cut her off while looking away, "It's not your fault."

I tried to hide the pain, but I didn't know if I was doing a good job at it, as a small tear flowed down my cheek that I immediately wiped away. A heavy silence hanging between us felt suffocating, and nobody was willing to break it.

Until the waitress arrived with an ice bucket and glasses. We both gave her a pained smile before leaving us again.

"Let's try the wine," I said more emotionlessly than I intended before grabbing the wine from the ice bucket, letting all the water drop from the bottle. I poured Hilda a small glass for her to taste, and, much to her bafflement, didn't pour myself anything.

"You… aren't going to drink?" She asked, her voice quieter than normal.

"It's common courtesy to pour the first glass to someone to try the wine and make sure it even tastes well," I explained, prompting her to take the glass, "Go on, taste it."

She eventually reached out for the glass, gingerly taking it before swirling it a little in the glass before taking a small sip. She puckered lightly, before putting the glass down. Her expression then shifted into one of surprise, content, and curiousness.

"It's… much better than I expected," She admitted, prompting me to fill her glass a little more before pouring myself one while allowing a shadow of a smile to grace my lips. I sipped the wine, allowing the flavors to invade my tongue.

"Hmm, the citrus and a hint of sugar hide the bitterness of the wine very well," I contemplated out loud while Hilda began her trademark stare.

"What was that?" That was all she said, bringing me from my trance before adorning a sheepish smile.

"I… sorry, it just has been some time since I had wine," I said while rubbing the back of my head. I was happy that the tension between us seemed to fade away with Hilda's sigh. She took her glass and sipped it, before looking at it incredulously.

"This is something you could get addicted to very easily," She remarked.

"Well, you aren't wrong," I agreed before I spotted the waitress with our plates of food. She served them, before taking her to leave and we silently began eating. I guessed we were both hungry after our small talk, and the wine was much appreciated as well.

We soon finished our meal within adequate time, because as soon as we finished the last glass of wine, the stage that overlooked the entire restaurant seemed to huddle all the lighting.

I could barely see Hilda, let alone the rest of the restaurant before bright three spotlights shined on the stage, revealing three chefs with…

"Alright, what is up with people and weird haircuts?" I asked out loud, and the shrug wasn't visible, but definitely palpable on Hilda's side.

"Beats me, they look kind of funny to me," She said while gazing at the stage. The one with the much vibrant green hair and in a chef suit picked up a microphone and tapped it a few times. The taps boomed in the restaurant while I tried to find the speakers in the darkness.

"Welcome, trainers, to the Striaton Gym. We hope that, well, you've enjoyed my—I mean, your meals and now we can start the main course," He said in a meek tone. Before he could continue, however, the one with red hair snatched the microphone from his hand, much to his chagrin.

"I'm Chilli! And I like to light things up!" He shouted while posing with a pointed hand up the ceiling. Awkward silence was his answer from his audience before getting hit across the face by the blue-haired one.

He yelped into the microphone, earning chuckles from the audience and the blue chef took it from his grasp.

"Please excuse our colleague's antics. We try to keep him in check but fail miserably. His dishes reflect that too," He said in a professional tone while bowing slightly, "My name is Cress. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

He gave the microphone back to the green chef who was rubbing the back of his head and a sheepish smile on his face. Cress left the stage, probably to bring something with him.

"And my name is Cilan. As to why we are all here is because, well, each trainer has different Pokémon and… and, well, we need to make sure that we fight you that matches your..." He trailed off, before turning slightly red from embarrassment while scratching his cheek.

Did they never work on stage or something?

"Oh give me that, Cilan!" Chili said, snatching the microphone from his hands, "Alright people, listen up! We are going to fight you in a way that gives us type advantage against your Pokémon! Your job is to figure out something to overcome that and make it your own advantage!"

Well, at least he was able to get straight to the point.

In the meantime, Cress came back with a glass bowl filled with golden painted spheres inside. He set it on a table before Chili passed down the microphone to him.

"To make things a little interesting, we are going to randomly select the trainers that will fight us while our Pokémon can rest between battles," Cress explained, "Don't worry, everyone here will get their turn eventually."

"As for the rules, each trainer can have a set of two Pokémon to battle with. If you don't have two Pokémon yet, we gym leaders will match that number, but the next gym won't," He said before turning to Cilan.

"Now, would you do the honors of choosing the first trainer?" Cress prompted, and Cilan nodded before he started digging inside the glass bowl.

The balls moved around in accordance with his hand motion, before grabbing a single sphere from the pile. He uncorked the ball and took out a piece of paper before grabbing the microphone.

He was about to call the name but turned to his colleagues for help. The mic didn't pick up everything, but the words 'name' and 'pronounce' were among them.

Once they all nodded, Cilan shouted "Radko Rieger! Come on stage!"

Wait, what!?

AN: I don't really have a whole lot to say than this chapter has some setup, as well as fun moments.

Anyway, hope you liked today's chapter.

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God's speed.