Calling it a birthday "party" was pretty generous. After Scarlet dropped them off, Oliver and Moira had some cake (a pretty standard chocolate cake) and spent the rest of the night playing Mario Kart while Oliver's mother and Moira's parents played a board game in the other room. Moira's mother was also built like a brick, much like her father. Oliver found it somewhat odd that the parents were so well-built while Moira and her brother were nowhere near as big as they were.

It was getting late, and Oliver and Moira were in the backyard chatting, and generally just enjoying the other's company, letting their Pokémon play with each other. The backyard wasn't too big, and the lawn was barely holding on (Allanza isn't exactly chilly) but the Pokémon were rather small. Even Wooloo, the largest among them, was considerably shorter than both of the trainers. It was Moira's idea, hoping to get Sobble to open up a bit more.

One thing Moira noticed, though, was that she was the only one here, Well, and the parents, but no one else was here at the party. Scarlet said she would've come but she was needed at Professor Pine's lab.

"So the openin' ceremony of the Gym Challenge is at... Neoshine, is it? Where is that from here? We'll only have three days tae get thare."

"Oh, not far at all. We just need to head east up Route 1, pass through Searrow Town, then head north up Route 2." He leaned back in his chair, smiling. "Shouldn't take us long to get there at all."

Moira couldn't help but crack a smile of her own in return. After Oliver's battle with Amber and the aftermath, it was nice to see him in a good mood again. She decided to look over to see how the Pokémon were enjoying themselves. Joltik and Wooloo were having a good time playing something resembling tag, and Ralts appeared to be chatting it up with Sobble. Moira chuckled. "By the way, how hard was it tae get Professor Pine to endorse us?"

Oliver blinked. Then his skin paled. "Ah crap," he croaked out. "I forgot to actually call Professor Pine about getting sponsored."

Moira whirled to face him, a shocked look crossing her own face. "Ye WHAT!? Ah thought ye called her that day when we met!"

Oliver held out his hands in a defensive motion. "I know, I know, I was going to, but then I heard about the champion stepping down, and I got distracted, and then I completely forgot!"

Fer two whole weeks?! "What the f***, Oliver?"

"Look," Oliver continued, hoping to calm her down. "Pine lives in Searrow, just down Route 1, it's like a two hour walk. We still have plenty of time to-"

"Hou the f*** coud ye juist forget somethin like thon for twa whole weeks, ye daft bleeding baw juggler?! Hou f***in' stupid can ye be?!" Moira snapped, slipping back into her native accent, massaging her forehead in frustration.

After a moment, Moira suddenly realized Oliver hadn't said anything in response. She looked back up at him and he had the expression of someone who'd been punched in the gut. In fact, he seemed to be on the verge of tears.

She turned her head back towards the Pokémon. Wooloo didn't seem to hear, nor did Joltik or Sobble. However, Ralts was staring right at her. If her eyes were visible, Ralts's gaze likely would've drilled into her soul.

Moira blinked a couple times before what she said caught up with her. She gasped, putting her hand to her mouth in shock. Oh sh**! Why do I keep doin' this?! "O-Oliver, I…"

"No, no, you're right," Oliver said, clearly upset. "It was my fault for forgetting. That's my bad."

Moira shook her head furiously. "Na, Oliver, wait, A dinnae think ye're an idiot, A'm really sorry I said that. I'm mad that ye forgot but-"

"No, I get it. I, I have a pretty bad habit of getting distracted and forgetting stuff that should be blindingly obvious. You don't have to sugarcoat it. I've been like this since I was a kid."

"Ah dinnae really think you're an idiot, Oliver," Moira said, uncharacteristically softly.

"I-I know that, but I still screwed up big time. I'm really sorry."

He's just as worried about ruining our friendship as I am! "Ye said it yourself, we still have time tae fix this. Ye messed up, aye, but so does everyone else. I'm the one who stepped out o' line and called ye an idiot."

"I already told you, I know you didn't mean it."

"How can ye be so sure?"

Oliver sighed. "I've been thinking about what your dad told me the other day."

"A juist wantit tae thank ye for bein' Moira's friend syne we movit here. Ye ken howfur abrasive she kin be, she hud a trachle getting alang wi' fowk back in oor auld steid."

Translation: I just wanted to thank you for being Moira's friend since we moved here. You know how abrasive she can be, she had a real hard time getting along with folks back at our old home.

"Truth be told, I've been wondering why you had such a hard time back in Galar. I mean, sure you got a pottymouth-"

"Hey!"

"-But you seemed pretty nice, if a bit loud at times. But… I think I get it now. You don't have a problem saying whatever's on your mind. And I like that about you, I really do. But then you get wrapped up in the heat of the moment, a-and you say things you don't mean. I'm guessing this probably happened to you before?"

Moira nodded, starting to tear up herself. "Aye…"

Oliver looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry you had to put up with that. I-I still want to be your friend. I know how it feels to not have many friends."

This was news to Moira. "Ye dinnae have friends? How is that even possible? A mean, a know ye can be a wee bit scatterbrained but you're probably the nicest lad I've met in a good long while."

Oliver looked away, not saying much for a moment. Then he answered with one simple word:

"Amber."

Moira blinked. That's right, he and Amber had a history together. But she didn't see what that had to do with-

Wait.

Oh.

Oooooooh.

Amber's rich. She'd have to be to get that Vulpix specially bred. And she's not exactly ugly either. She would've have been a real popular lass at their school. An if she doesn't like Oliver…

Oliver could see the gears turning in her head. "I mean, it's not all bad. I mean, I have my Pokémon. A-and Scarlet still comes by occasionally."

"That still isn't fair that ye got left out like that. Ye deserve better."

"So do you."

The two didn't say much for a moment or two. There wasn't really a whole lot to say after that. Ralts's implied glare seemed to let up, and Sobble (who had taken notice of the conversation a while ago) waited with apprehension for what would happen next.

Oliver offered Moira a hand. "So, uh… we still friends?"

Moira looked at the outstretched hand for a moment, but didn't shake it.

Rather, she opted to just hug him instead.

Off to the side, Ralts breathed a sigh of relief. Wooloo and Joltik still didn't notice but Sobble did, as he had been watching to see what got Ralts so upset about.

Oliver was completely unprepared for this, and awkwardly returned the hug. Moira giggled in an uncharacteristically feminine manner.

"Aye," she said. "Still friends."

Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when Moira's parents came outside to get her, took one look at the hugging teenagers, and wasted no time relentlessly teasing the two.


There they stood, two fledgling trainers. One had a little bit of experience, the other was out on the road on his own for the first time. Just them and their Pokémon, and the things they were bringing with them on their trip around the region.

Oliver, in his green jacket and khaki pants, had an oversized backpack stuffed with multiple changes of clothes (though they were also all green and khaki), various assorted bits of camping gear, a few packs of instant noodles (he was never that great a cook), and, of course, one Psychic/Fairy passenger.

Moira, in her red sweater and purple skirt, had her own backpack, which had similar supplies, but more was packed in there since, unlike Oliver, she was perfectly okay with her team staying in their Pokéballs.

The two had said their goodbyes to their parents. Oliver's mother had known for years how important this was to him, and always knew this day would come, but that didn't stop her from tearfully hugging Oliver longer than usual when it came time to depart.

In front of them stood Route 1, the road between Shorevul and Searrow. The road's pavement was old but still decently well-maintained, with gold-colored grass and brush littering the right side of the road. To the left was an old waterway that used to bring fresh water here, but they, too, were old and had since dried up, as better means of pumping water to Shorevul had since been devised.

Oliver took a deep breath. Before now, he hadn't been allowed to go down Route 1 on his own because of the possibility of being jumped by wild Pokémon, and he wasn't allowed to battle Pokémon without a license. He always had his mother, or occasionally Scarlet to come with him. He'd say this was his first time setting foot out there on his own, but Moira was right beside him.

"Ye feelin' nervous, there?" Moira asked.

"Erm… kinda," Oliver admitted.

Moira shrugged. "'fit makes ye feel any better I'm totally unfamiliar with Allanza, so I'm just as nervous as you are."

"That makes me feel a little better," Oliver admitted. They both turned to the road ahead. "I don't know why I'm so nervous. I've been looking forward to it since I was a little kid."

"The hardest part is the first step. After that, it gets easier," Moira supplied.

Oliver nodded. "All right then. I guess it's time."

And with that, the two of them took a simultaneous step outside the Shorveul Town limits. Moira was right, after that first step, a lot of the tension disappeared and the two of them were walking down the road, nonchalantly chatting. Ralts was enjoying the ride, as was Joltik.

"Hey, Moira, I've been meaning to ask you for a while," Oliver asked.

"Fire away," she replied.

"Didn't you say you took part in a Gym Challenge back in Galar before you came here?"

Moira's smile faded into something that wasn't quite a frown, but could almost be called that. "A-aye…"

"Well, both of your Pokémon are unevolved, so I'm guessing you didn't get too far. What happened?"

Moira began stammering, searching for an excuse not to answer when a distraction came from the grass to the right of the road in the form of a wild Pokémon.

The Pokémon in question, as it turned out, was a Nidoran. It was a male one, to be precise, and the pointy, horned, purple Pokémon let out a small shout as it stood in the road in front of the two trainers.

Moira's eyes lit up. "I haven't seen this one before!" she shouted, excited. "A'm gonna catch it!"

Oliver turned. "No way, I want it!"

Moira cracked her knuckles. "Well, then, I guess there's only one way to solve this…"

"ROCK!"

"PAPER!"

"SCISSORS!"

Oliver's hand formed scissors, while Moira's hand was curled into a fist, forming rock. The Nidoran was just sitting there watching the display with a confused and annoyed expression. Oliver groaned in disappointment, then brushed it off. "You know what? I'm not even mad. I don't think I've actually seen your team in action."

Moira stepped forward and pulled a Pokéball out of her pocket, wound up, and threw it. 'GO, WOOLOO!" Out from the ball popped Wooloo, the Normal-type sheep faced the wild Poison-type.

The Nidoran ran forward, readying Horn Attack.

"Wooloo, use Defense Curl!"

Wooloo curled into a ball, and the wool heavily reduced the impact when Nidoran jabbed its horn into it. Wooloo bounced backwards, then uncurled and slid to a stop.

"Now use Thunder Wave!"

Oliver, watching the battle, knew what was coming. Joltik had really enjoyed feeding off the static electricity in her wool in the past, so he figured it'd be easy to weaponize it for Electric moves. He found himself wondering what other moves Wooloo could harness it for.

Wooloo's wool began to spark, then a ring of yellow sparking energy shot forward and enveloped Nidoran, causing it to begin trembling uncontrollably. It tried to let loose a Double Kick, but froze in place, numbed by the electric show.

"All righty then, use Tackle!"

As Wooloo began to charge forward at the immobilized Nidoran, Oliver's eyes widened. "W-wait, don't do that!"

Moira turned back to face him. "Eh? Why?"

"Because if she hits one of the pointy bits, Nidoran can poison on contact!"

Moira's eyes widened. "Wait, Wooloo!" But the sheep had already slammed its full weight into Nidoran, accidentally striking Nidoran's horn. She recoiled from the sharp pain, then stumbled back, looking slightly green and sickly.

Seeing its opportunity, Nidoran retaliated with Poison Sting, launching a small spike from its body and striking Wooloo.

Moira grunted in frustration, pulling out Sobble's Pokéball while preparing to withdraw Wooloo. "Ye couldn't have told me that before?"

"I'm sorry! It slipped my mind!" Oliver said defensively.

Moira rolled her eyes. "You're using one of your own Antidotes on her," she shot as she tagged Wooloo out and sent out Sobble.

"Just one more hit oughta be enough! Use Water Pulse!'

Sobble built up water in its mouth, and launched a large ring of water towards Nidoran. It burst on impact and the water pressure threw Nidoran back a couple feet, and it stumbled around a bit in disorientation.

Moira grinned. "That oughta do it," she said to herself, and pulled an empty Pokéball out of her pocket, throwing it at the confused, paralyzed Nidoran. Light burst forth from the Pokéball and enveloped Nidoran, pulling it into the ball.

The ball snapped shut and the ball sat on the ground where it landed. It shook as Nidoran attempted to break out. It shook a second time, then a third time, then it locked, snapping shut with a small spark and an incredibly satisfying click!

Moira pumped her fist in triumph, and Sobble himself bounced a bit.

"Nice work, Moira! Your team did awesome!"

She smiled at the complement, pocketing her new catch.

"Ye think that was cool, ye haven't seen anything yet."

With that, the two trainers continued up the road, the morning sun getting closer to its noon position as they passed a street sign that said "SEARROW TOWN - 1 ½ Miles," the town itself visible in the distance.

"Ye still owe me an Antidote though."


Okay, I really want your opinion on this: Does anyone want to see my own original Pokémon in this story, considering the Allanza region is an original location? If I don't hear anything within the next couple chapters I'll abandon the idea, though I'll still include regional variants.

I'd like to see some feedback regardless. I'd like to know what I can improve going forward, and I might come back and retroactively fix those problems in previous chapters one day. Who knows?

The confrontation in the first half of the chapter was really hard for me to pull off. I'm still not sure if I was being to harsh or not harsh enough on these two for their respective mistakes. I'm not entirely 100% satisfied with how it turned out, but I needed to establish some more character stuff before they hit the road, and I think that purpose was accomplished just fine.

I'm hoping to get into a rhythm of uploading bi-weekly on Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday.