Jubilife City was not far away. A mile or two according to Brock. But the night was falling. Rowan was tired and Dawn hated traveling at night. The group decided to set up camp.

Ash, Brock, and Misty went on ahead. They said their goodbyes, promising to see them again before heading off.

Dawn helped Rowan prepare dinner over the fire. Lucas was adjusting one of the tents. Barry and Lou headed out into the woods.

"Don't stay gone long!" Lucas called after them. "It'll be time for dinner soon!"

"Yeesh," Barry said. "What is he, my new dad?" Lou did not comment.

The two of them found a small clearing. Lou sent out Chimchar. She signed a few comments at Barry, gesturing to Chimchar. She was asking questions. She wanted to know how she could order Chimchar around.

Barry tapped his chin.

"Maybe with hand motions?" He suggested. Lou adjusted her glasses and signed a comment at him. The glasses weren't working very well. She added a few complaints, blaming the design.

"To be fair, they are broken," Barry said. He spotted a figure moving through the trees. Lou followed his line of sight and narrowed her eyes. "Is that…" Barry sighed.

Lou folded her arms, watching the figure. The figure paused, watching them.

"Paul?" Barry asked. "Is that you?"

Paul emerged from the foliage. The dim moonlight revealed a deep frown on his face.

"What do you want?" Barry asked.

"I just want to talk," Paul said. "Privately, I guess." Barry shared a look with Lou, waiting for her thoughts. She glanced between them questioningly.

Barry sighed. Lou wouldn't be any help.

"Alright, let's talk." Barry signed Lou, giving her a quick rundown of the situation. He wasn't sure if she entirely understood his amateur signing but she seemed eager to be left out of the situation.

Barry and Paul walked a few paces away. Barry looked Paul over, pursing his lips.

"Well?" Barry said. He tried his best to sound annoyed.

"Is there anything I can do to change your mind?" Paul asked. Barry raised an eyebrow.

"About what? Talking with you? You're the one who wanted to—"

"No!" Paul cut him off. "The Sinnoh League. You're going to be hurt. This isn't like whatever region you came from, this place with crush you."

"I'm from here," Barry said. "Born and raised in Twinleaf."

"Then why were you so lost?" Paul asked. He gestured in the general direction of Lake Verity. "You guys had no idea where you were going!"

"Well, I've never really been out of Sandgem town," Barry admitted. Paul scoffed.

"Then you don't know Sinnoh. You're no better off than the tourists." Heat rushed to Barry's cheeks. He balled his fists.

"Whatever," Barry turned away from Paul.

Lou was right where he'd left her. She was kicking the air. Chimchar was copying her.

"That's one way to do it," Barry said under his breath.

"What's her deal?" Paul asked.

"She doesn't have a deal," Barry said. He scratched the back of his head. "Look man, I guess I understand what you're trying to do. But you're not going to stop me, and you're definitely not gonna stop her."

Paul didn't respond. The two of them watched Lou for a moment. She hopped from foot to foot kicking at the air. Chimchar tried to copy her and ended up falling over. Lou dropped down beside it, grinning at it.

"She wants this so bad," Barry said. "It's all she…" He trailed off.

"Well, be careful," Paul said. He turned and disappeared into the woods.

"Bye," Barry said.

THE REJUVENATION

"I can't wait to sleep in a bed again," Dawn said.

The five of them were seated around a campfire. They were eating meat strips. Barry had already gotten tired of them.

Lou had Chimchar in her lap. It was staring at Barry.

"I wonder why they didn't set up a gym in Jubilife," Lucas said. "It's the biggest city in the region." He had finished his food and buried his face in a guidebook. Brock had given it to him.

"Maybe it's just a really crappy place," Dawn suggested. Lucas didn't reply. Dawn frowned and took a bite from one of her strips.

"Do you guys think Sinnoh is a dangerous place?" Barry asked. Rowan and Dawn looked over at him. Lucas didn't look up from his book.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

"This region has a complicated history," Rowan said. "It's been closed off from the other regions for years. Dangerous is a strong word, but it's not inaccurate."

"That's the most roundabout way of saying yes I've ever heard," Dawn said. She shook her head, waving a strip at Rowan. "Even for you."

Rowan ignored her comment, focusing on Barry.

"What do you think of this region?" He asked. "You've spent your entire life here."

"I feel like I haven't though," Barry said. Lou had noticed the conversation and was paying attention. "I feel like I don't really know anything." Rowan nodded.

Lou signed something. Barry wasn't paying much attention. She smacked his shoulder and signed it again.

"Lou says that she thinks Sinnoh is a…" Barry gave Lou a questioning look. She nodded at Rowan. "A terrible place." Rowan nodded, getting up.

"I can't disagree," He said. "Well, I'm off to bed. Goodnight everyone."

"Hey, there's a trainer school in Jubilife," Lucas said, perking up. "Apparently most trainers in the region get their first pokemon there."

"A school?" Barry asked. "What do they teach?" Lucas shrugged.

"Maybe they teach you the proper way to throw a Pokeball or something," Dawn said with a laugh. She elbowed Lucas, trying to get a laugh out of him. He ignored her, focusing on his book.

"Maybe you two should enroll," Lucas closed his book and looked at Barry and Lou. "Maybe you guys could learn something."

"That sounds awesome!" Barry exclaimed. Lou had lost interest in the conversation, she was poking at her strips.

"I mean what could they possibly teach that you cant figure out on your own," Dawn spoke up. She massaged her temple, frowning at Lucas' book.

"Why would they need to figure it out if they can be taught," Lucas shot back. Dawn narrowed her eyes at him.

"We didn't get taught," She said. "When we got our pokemon, we just set out and learned shit as we went."

"And how did that work out?" Lucas asked. "How many times have you almost died?"

"Just me?" Dawn straightened up, jabbing a finger in Lucas' shoulder. "You were just as bad!"

"Yeah, that's the problem!" Lucas pushed her hand away. "They can be taught, do things properly." Dawn rolled her eyes.

"That's lame," Dawn said finally. She turned her attention to Barry and Lou. "That school is just gonna be pompous old people trying to tell you that there's some rulebook for everything, it's really not worth it."

She got up, scowling at Lucas.

"Its still their choice," Lucas said.

"I know," Dawn raised her hands in defeat. "Choose whatever you want." With that, she went to bed.

Lucas yawned, getting up.

"Well, goodnight you two," he said.

"Goodnight," Barry said.

Lucas started for the tent. Dawn unzipped the opening and hurled a sleeping bag at Lucas before zipping it back up. Lucas caught the bag, confusion plastered on his face.

"Wait, what?" He dropped the bag.

Lou nudged Barry and signed goodnight. He returned the gesture. Lou picked up Chimchar and sauntered off to her sleeping bag.

"You know I hate sleeping in the open!" Lucas begged. "Please!" No reply came from the tent. Lucas groaned and picked up his sleeping bag. He dragged it over to the campfire.

"You okay?" Barry asked.

"Peachy."

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Well, goodnight again," Barry said. He got up and hurried off to his sleeping bag.

Barry slept like a baby.

X

Lou was up early. She was returning from training when Barry woke up. Lucas and Dawn were taking down the tents. Rowan was eating a fruit bar.

Barry got up, stretching and groaning. Lou patted his head as she walked by. Chimchar grinned at him.

"Morning," Barry said.

It was a few minutes before the group was ready to take off. Barry was the last one to be up and going.

"Where are we going to sleep in Jubilife?" Barry asked as they continued their trek. He was walking beside Rowan. "Are there houses?" Dawn was walking ahead of the group. Lucas and Lou were walking in stride behind them.

"There's rooms to rent out," Rowan said. "That's where we'll be staying."

"How long are we going to stay there?"

"That depends," Rowan said. "Don't worry, we won't hold up your gym challenge much. We'll make sure to head straight to Oreburgh as soon as possible."

"That's right, you're looking for a place to put your lab thing, right?"

"That's right," Rowan said. "I also want to get a good feel of this region. Especially if I'm going to be the professor." Barry nodded.

It was a few hours before the skyline of Jubilife city came into view. The group paused on the path, taking in the sight.

The city was a collection of large buildings gathered together. If Barry focused, he could make out dozens of dots dancing around between them.

"Finally," Lucas said.

"I can't wait to shower again," Dawn said.

"Me too," Barry added.

Lou walked past them, walking ahead. The others started after her.

X

Jubilife was overwhelming. The streets were crowded with people. Everyone had somewhere to be, and they had to be there five minutes ago.

Lucas led the group, following his guidebook. Lou got separated from the group, several times. Barry started clinging to her hand, making sure not to let her out of his sight.

It was nearly an hour before they found the hotel. Except it wasn't the hotel. It was the Jubilife TV headquarters.

The fast-talking clerk gave them terrible directions to find the hotel. It took them another hour to find the actual hotel. It was already late in the day.

Barry, Lou, Lucas, and Dawn hung back as Rowan spoke with the receptionist.

"Three rooms should suffice," Rowan said. "Thank you." He returned to the group, holding three keys.

"I'll have my own room, you can decide how you'd like to room."

"I'll go with Lou, actually," Dawn said. She took a key. "Barry can stay with Lucas."

"What?" Lucas asked, turning to Dawn.

"What?" Dawn asked innocently. "I just want to bond with my new friend." Barry took the other key.

"I'm fine with it," he said. "It would be weird to share a room with Lou."

"Exactly," Dawn piped in. "Boys and girls cant room together, that would be weird." Lucas huffed. She smiled at Lou. Lou didn't return the expression.

The rooms were on the third floor of the hotel. The boys and Rowan's rooms were a few doors apart. The girl's room was on the other side of the floor.

Lucas and Barry settled into their room.

The room was the size of Barry's living room. There were two queen-sized beds and a chair in the corner.

A large tv was on a stand in front of the beds and there was a large window on the wall opposite of the door. The curtains were open, lighting the room in warm sunlight. Under the window was an a/c unit.

Barry emptied his bag onto one of the beds and jumped on with a sigh.

Lucas sat down on the chair, wiping his brow.

"This is awesome!" Barry rolled onto his back.

"Yeah, sure," Lucas said. Barry glanced over at him.

"Okay, if we're gonna be roommates, I need to ask you something." Barry sat up, turning to Lucas. Lucas just looked at him, waiting. Barry tapped his knee.

"What?" Lucas asked. "I'm waiting."

"You have to respond!" Barry insisted. "You can't just sit there, staring at me, how can I know if you heard me?"

"Fine, what do you want to ask."

"What's the deal with you and Dawn. Are you guys a couple or what?" Lucas seemed to shrink in the chair. He took off his hat and groaned.

"It's complicated."

"Oh geez." Barry dramatically ran a hand over his face. "Is this one of those things?"

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked.

"Like, those on again off again things."

"What are you talking about?"

"I think I'm gonna fix you guy's relationship!" Barry perked up. "Starting now!"

Lucas gave Barry a tired look.

"Please don't."