Robert stretched his arms as we made our way to Aquacorde Town. "Ah, yeah. It sure feels good to be on the road again."
"I know what you mean," Alex said, looking at the sun. "Though not as warm as Alola."
"Kalos has its own charms," I said, breathing in the sweet air. "And as far as I can tell, it's people are quite nice."
My thoughts went back to Ash's and my battle against Clara in Lumiose. She was interesting to say the least.
"What are you thinking?" Alex asked, looking at me.
I shrugged. "Just of this girl Ash and I battled in Lumiose. She was battling this kid and if she won, she'd take his Pokemon. If I or Ash hadn't stepped in..."
I shook my head. "We probably won't run into her again."
"Anyway," I said. "I don't think I asked. Why are you two here in Kalos?"
"What, didn't want us here?" Robert joked.
Alex smiled, but it was merely to hide her sadness. "I came, well, because of my family. I had to get away."
I nodded. "Yeah, that I understand."
Alex raised her eyebrow. "Speaking of which, why did you leave Kanto? Weren't you supposed to be reconnecting with your father?"
I grimaced. "Yeah, some things don't turn out well. "
Alex nodded and I could tell she was trying to stop herself from shouting "I knew it!" Honestly, I didn't blame her for thinking that. I'm pretty sure I knew it was probably never going to work from the start, but I had to try. If I never did, it would haunt me for the rest of my life.
Robert cleared his throat, breaking the silent tension as we entered Aquacorde Town. "Anyway, to why I'm here."
He scratched his chin. "Recently I was hired on as Professor Juniper's assistant back home in Unova. Pays well. But Juniper sent me here to get data on Kalos Pokemon. I was going to meet the Kalos Pokemon Professor, but-"
"But Sycamore was out in the field," I finished. "Yeah, Shauna and I found that out when we went to speak to him about Froakie. We did contact him though with some sort of device."
"Oh, yeah," Robert said, swinging his backpack around, shuffling inside for a second, before pulling out the hologram device. "It's called a Holo Caster. It's used for news and talking to people. Juniper really pulled through when she had Sycamore hook me up with the latest tech. This version isn't even on the shelves yet."
As he adored over his gadget, I turned to Alex. "So your family still hasn't gotten better."
She gave me a small smile. "I guess. Listen, you don't have to worry about it."
I still didn't know her background, but I still felt a rush of emotion to protect her. "I swear, if I'm ever in Hoenn..."
I let that hang in the air and Alex brightened, laughing softly. "Thanks, Zeno."
I smiled and I could feel something between us. Near the end of our time in Alola, Alex and I definitely got closer, but I felt as if there was a sort of gap between us, kinda like the six months apart had become a tangible thing. But now, now I could feel us getting closer again. Maybe it wouldn't be the same as before, but it was a start."
In no time, we made it to the bridge leading out of Aquacorde.
I looked at Froakie. "Here we go. Time for our journey to truly begin."
"Froakie!" he cried, pumping a fist into the air.
"Hey," I said as we crossed the bridge. "What Pokemon do you two have with you?"
Robert held up a pokeball. "Just good ol' Snorlax. Me and him are here for the food and the Pokemon. And gadgets as well."
Alex tapped her belt where I saw several pokeballs. "Only Kantonian Ninetales. I got the rest of my Pokemon transferred over to Kukui with the help of Professor Birch."
"Huh," Robert rubbed his head. "I might do that with the Pokemon Juniper's holding onto for me."
I grinned. "Well, I came here with just one Pokemon as well, Arcanine."
I tickled Froakie. "But now I have you, don't I?"
Froakie made a bubbling noise and jumped on my head. "Froak!"
"By the way," Robert said, his hands behind his head. "Where exactly is our first destination? Lumiose again?"
I shook my head. "No, Santalune City. The first gym is located there."
"I'll let you challenge the gym leader first," Alex said slyly. "That way I can see their strength beforehand."
I snorted. "Not that'll matter. You have a high leveled Ninetales and no other Pokemon. I feel bad for the gym leader."
"Fine then," Alex pouted. "I'll go and catch myself a Pokemon in the forest up ahead. Will that make you happy?"
I shrugged as we neared Santalune Forest. "It'll make the gym leader happy that's for sure."
Alex rolled her eyes as we entered the cover of the trees, the temperature cooling. Light streamed in through the leaves and I saw that the path split into two, one leading right and the other left.
I pulled the Kalos map out from my backpack and looked at it. "Says we have to go right. Just follow the main path."
Alex leaned over my shoulder. "Huh. If we ignored the path we would have a straight shot to Santalune City."
"No," Robert said firmly. "The path is here for a reason. It's there to make sure the Pokemon and their habitat is maintained."
He set off down the path and Alex and I shared a look before I said, "Becoming a Professor's assistant really changed him."
She nodded. "It's not a bad change though."
We jogged after him until we were walking side-by-side. After several minutes, Alex's eyes widened and she darted off the main path and into the undergrowth.
Robert sighed in frustration. "Jeez, seriously. And after what I had just told you two."
"Hey," I said, patting him on the back. "When did you expect a girl to listen to you."
"Good point," he said as a we saw a flash of red light where Alex had just disappeared to. She came trudging back, a smile on her face.
"Well," she said contently. "I have a new Pokemon. A Fire type by the looks of it."
"You know," I said. "I'll feel really bad if the gym leader is a Grass type user."
Alex glared at me while Robert pulled out his Pokedex. "Can I see?"
"Nope," Alex said, latching her pokeball to her belt. "Not until my battle."
Robert looked downcast as he put his Pokedex away.
"Oh cheer up," Alex said, patting him on the back. "It won't be too far off until you can see him."
I smiled and Froakie made a noise and he pointed ahead of us. I followed his gaze and saw a little girl wearing a white dress, just standing in the middle of the path. A Drifloon floated down near her and wrapped its rope things around her arms. I blinked and they were gone.
"Huh?" I blinked several more times just to make sure, but they had just vanished. I looked at Froakie and he seemed equally confused.
"What?" Alex asked as I rushed forwards, looking around the area where the little girl had been. Froakie jumped off my shoulder into the bushes, but came back with nothing.
My two friends jogged back up to me, Robert looking around wildly. "What? Pokemon? Where?"
"No," I said, ruffling my hair in confusion. "I just... Never mind."
I knelt and let Froakie jump back onto my shoulder. Alex gave me a weird look, but didn't press the matter. She'll likely ask later, but I kinda hoped she would forget. Things like this are best left forgotten.
Later, the trees began thinning out ever so slightly and daylight could be seen up ahead.
"We're here," Alex said as we came out into the sunlight, Santalune City in the distance. It was a quaint looking place, not outrageously big like Lumiose, but it was pretty big. From the hill we were standing on I could see dozens of houses and several cafes. Kalos sure liked its cafes.
"Over there," Robert pointed to a building somewhere close to the middle of the city. It had a green roof and a lighter green colored walls. In the back I could see a huge glass building where I could see tall trees growing inside. A huge gym symbol was stuck into the side of the building, bringing a grin to my face.
"That's it," I said, looking at Froakie. "That's where the Kalos League begins."
"Froakie!"
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! INDEPENDENCE DAY! WOOHOO! Huh, those were the exact words I said exactly one year ago. That's when I uploaded Chapter 24 of HBoD, Invasion of the Dittos. Feels just like yesterday when I wrote that. Well, anyway, short chapter, but those tend to happen. I don't got much planned today, so I might work on my stories. Besides that... AMERICA! YEAH! TOODLES!
