"That's it!" Lucas yelled. He jabbed Barry in the chest with his finger. "You have no idea where you're going do you?"

The five of them were standing in the middle of a forest.

The sun was going down. The forest was slowly descending into darkness.

"We should've been in Oreburgh by now!" Lucas yelled. Dawn looked around, listening. Rowan sat down on a large rock.

"It's gonna take a while!" Barry shot back. "It's a long way, you know!" Lucas rolled his eyes.

"We shouldn't have gone with these brats!"

"Oh quit complaining," Barry waved Lucas off. Lucas fumed, starting for Barry. Lou stepped between them, glaring at Lucas.

"Leave them alone," Dawn spoke up. "We might as well set up camp."

Lucas glanced between Lou and Barry. He shook his head before walking away.

Barry took a deep breath. Lou sighed. She pulled Barry away, getting some distance from the others.

"What do we do?" Barry asked.

Lou signed a few quick angry remarks at him. Barry scratched his head, unable to keep up. She smacked his arm and pointed a finger at Rowan.

Rowan was watching them in the dim light. Dawn and Lucas were setting up a tent.

"Oh crap, he's onto us!" Barry tugged at his collar. "What do we do? If he finds out, he'll take our pokemon back!"

Lou massaged her temples. She started signing again. Barry paid close attention and nodded when she finished.

"Alright. We'll do it when they go to sleep." Lou nodded.

The two of them looked at Rowan. He was watching them like a hawk.

THE GUIDES

Dawn and Lucas set up two relatively large tents. Both tents were the size of Barry's living room.

"Here you go," Dawn presented Barry with two sleeping bags. "You two don't seem very prepared." Barry passed one of the bags to Lou and shrugged.

"I guess not," He admitted. Lucas was starting a campfire. Rowan was reading a book.

"We'll find our way to Oreburgh," Dawn said. She revealed a small flask and took a swig from it. "It's no big deal."

"Uh, yeah," Barry said. "It's not that far away, I'll show you tomorrow."

Barry and Lou set up their sleeping bags close to the fire. Lucas brought out two packs of marshmallows.

"Hey, brats!" He tossed a bag at Barry. "Find some sticks!" Barry set the bag down and jumped up.

Lou watched, disinterested as Barry searched the area for sticks. Lucas sat down next to Dawn, offering her a marshmallow.

"Found some!" Barry returned, carrying a pile of sticks. He gave Lucas a few and returned to his sleeping bag.

Barry offered Lou a stick. She refused.

"You don't like marshmallows?" Barry asked. Lou slipped into her bag without a reply.

Barry stuck a marshmallow over the fire. Dawn and Lucas were doing the same.

"What's it like in Hoenn?" Barry asked.

"Oh, it's great," Lucas said. "Lot better than this dump." Dawn elbowed him.

"What other technology do you guys have there?" Barry asked.

"They're making all different kinds of pokeballs," Dawn said. "For specific pokemon and such. Silph Co. has been working their ass off on them."

"What kind?" Barry wondered aloud.

"Well, there's a Pokeball specifically for catching bug pokemon," Dawn explained. "And one for fire pokemon… Actually, hold on."

She started searching around in her bag. She found a Silph Co. Magazine and got up.

Lucas rolled his eyes as dawn sat next to Barry. He checked his marshmallow and took a bite out of it.

Dawn flipped through the magazine, showing Barry many different inventions from Silph Co.

Barry watched, starry-eyed as she did. Each invention was more fascinating than the last. His marshmallow ended up melting over the fire.

"Whoops," Barry replaced it with a fresh marshmallow.

"Don't waste this one," Dawn chuckled. She closed the magazine. Barry noticed the front cover. A trio of people was pictured on the cover.

A man with silver hair, a woman with black hair, and a round man with brown hair.

"That's the champion of the Hoenn region," Dawn said. "Steven."

"He looks cool," Barry said.

"He's awesome!" Dawn grabbed Barry's shoulder. "She battled him a few weeks ago. That's Zinnia. The battle was insane!" She seemed giddy thinking about it.

"It wasn't that insane," Lucas commented. "You're just as good a trainer as both of them, you know." Dawn patted her cheek.

"Aw, that's sweet."

"Who's that?" Barry pointed at the round man.

"Oh that's the professor of the Hoenn region," Dawn said. "He's a bit of a weirdo but he's alright." She set the magazine in Barry's lap. "Why don't you keep that?"

"Really?" Barry's eyes lit up.

"Sure," Dawn shrugged. "It was like a buck anyway." She returned to Lucas, snatching the marshmallow off his stick before he could eat it.

Barry flipped through the magazine, looking everything over again.

Dawn and Lucas whispered to each other. Lucas laughed. Dawn threw a marshmallow at him, snickering.

Barry didn't realize he'd melted another marshmallow until Lucas pointed it out, laughing his head off.

"Oh leave him alone." Dawn playfully shoved Lucas. Lucas laughed louder.

"Alright," Rowan said. He rose from his spot and popped his back. "Good night everyone." Rowan disappeared into his tent.

Lucas whispered something to Dawn. She smiled slyly at Rowan's tent. The two of them left the marshmallows and scampered off to the other tent.

The moment Lucas closed the tent, Lou sat up in her bag. She looked Barry over.

"You ready?" Barry asked. She nodded. The two of them slipped out of their bags and took off into the forest.

"Which way do we go?" Barry asked. Lou wasn't paying him any mind. The two of them ran together.

Barry could run for a while. He had great stamina. Lou was faster, but he was sure he could run further without stopping. Barry ran into a tree.

The world swirled around him and he fell over.

Lou appeared over him, frowning. Barry groaned, feeling his forehead. Lou looked away, her eyes widening.

The tree moved, shifting towards them. Lou started backing away. Barry stumbled to his feet.

The Exeggutor seemed to laugh, stomping towards them.

"Oh crap, run!" Barry grabbed Lou's arm. The two of them broke into a run.

Exeggutor fired off a volley of seed projectiles. The tree in front of Barry exploded. He ducked, pushing Lou to the ground.

Lou jumped up getting between Barry and the Exeggutor. She sent out Chimchar and pointed at Exeggutor.

Chimchar looked curiously at Lou.

"Oh no, he can't fight!" Barry sent out Bulbasaur. "Protect us!"

Bulbasaur looked around and walked away.

"Oh come on! Please?" Bulbasaur looked back and grunted.

Exeggutor fired another volley of seeds. Lou yanked Barry to the side, dodging the projectiles. Chimchar ran after them, panicking.

"What do we do?" Barry yelled. "That thing's crazy!" An egg flew across the air, hitting Lou in the side. She was knocked off her feet, landing hard against a tree stump.

Barry sunk to his knees beside her and tried to pull her onto her feet. Lou grunted. She wiped yolk off her face. Chimchar hopped into her lap.

Exeggutor was getting closer, laughing louder.

"Stay back!" Barry yelled. He jumped up, blocking Exeggutor's path. Chimchar hopped onto Barry's head and chittered angrily at the Exeggutor.

Exeggutor fired another volley of seeds.

"No!" Barry grabbed Chimchar and shielded it with his body. Several seeds pelted his back. Barry collapsed, letting go of Chimchar.

Chimchar spat a few flares at Exeggutor. Exeggutor cried out, waddling around.

Chimchar hopped forward, spitting more flames. Exeggutor roared. Purple energy glowed around Chimchar. It was thrown across the forest, landing in a tree.

Exeggutor stomped closer, looming over Barry and Lou. Lou was moving, tugging at Barry's arm. Barry didn't budge. She glared up at Exeggutor.

A pair of vines whipped across Exeggutor's chest. It spun around.

Bulbasaur was there, growling at Exeggutor. Lou jumped up, running for Chimchar.

Exeggutor was moving on Bulbasaur now, firing seeds.

Barry slowly sat up, wincing. He caught a glimpse of Bulbasaur past Exeggutor.

"You came back?" He perked up. "Dodge, Bulbasaur, look out!"

Bulbasaur turned and ran, the ground around it was battered with seeds. Barry jumped to his feet, filled with energy.

"Hey!" He grabbed a stick and charged at Exeggutor. "Don't forget me you overgrown pineapple!"

Nearby, Lou found Chimchar stuck in a tree a few feet up. She took a breath and scaled the tree with a bit of effort. Chimchar was limp. Lou embraced Chimchar and slowly descended the tree.

She spotted Barry, hitting Exeggutor with a stick. Bulbasaur appeared, bashing its head into Exeggutor. Exeggutor stumbled back, groaning.

"That's right!" Barry yelled. Bulbasaur whipped at Exeggutor with its vines. "You show him!"

Bulbasaur glowed purple.

"Oh no—" Barry started. Bulbasaur was embedded in the ground, crying out.

Exeggutor laughed louder. Several trees nearby started to glow purple as well. They were ripped from the ground and flew at Barry.

The trees seemed to dissolve in the air. An instant they were there, the next they'd been reduced to logs. His eyes widened.

A Sceptile landed in front of Barry. It perked up, looking Exeggutor over.

"We couldn't have five minutes to ourselves?" Lucas appeared from the nearby brush. He was out of breath and shirtless. "Seriously?"

"What are you doing here?" Barry asked. Lou appeared at his side, cradling Chimchar.

"Sceptile!" Lucas ordered. "Tear it up!" Sceptile moved like a blur. It charged Exeggutor, slashing at its face.

Exeggutor cried out, staggering away.

"Finish it!"

Sceptile raised its hands to the night sky. The night faded, revealing a bright sunny day.

Barry and Lou shielded their eyes. Bulbasaur struggled to get free of its earth cage.

Sceptile opened its mouth generating a sphere of green energy within. Exeggutor started to charge.

Sceptile fired a giant green beam of light, consuming Exeggutor and several trees behind it. The beam faded, leaving nothing but a crater in the ground.

The sunlight faded a few moments later, returning the forest to nighttime.

Lucas stomped over to Barry and Lou, ignoring their dumbfounded faces. He returned Sceptile.

"Can we please go back to bed?"