Pokémon: Hoenn Travels.

-The Important Stuff:-

1) I am not at all affiliated with Game Freak nor Nintendo, or any other companies that write/produce Pokémon.

2) I do not own any part of Pokémon.

-A Waiver:-

1) This is not a direct steal from anything already Pokémon-related that exists, not the show or a game or a novel/book. It is my own creation, therefore I may bend the rules a little bit to fit my needs.

2) The names of Professors, Gym Leaders, and Cities were taken from Ruby Version.

Chapter Fourteen:

The Next Steps

It felt like someone was watching me closely and it was hard for me to remain comfortable and asleep. I readjusted, trying to ignore the feeling, but it wouldn't cease. I finally forced my eyes open and I found myself laying on the edge of the hotel bed, facing out into the room. Directly beside the bed, sitting beside where my head was resting, was Doug.

He was seated in an armchair that he had obviously moved closer to the bed. He was looking down at the floor, but he was seated on the edge of the seat, with his back heavily hunched forward. His knees were spread wide and his hands were clasped together and hanging between his knees. Looking behind him, I noticed it was still dark outside. He seemed disheveled; his hair was a mess, he looked like he was covered in dirt or dust.

As I shifted on the bed, his head flung up and his eyes met mine. I managed a tired smile in his direction.

He almost seemed relieved, but then he cleared his throat.

He lifted one of his arms, in his hand he held a pokéball. It expanded to its full size as he held it up. I felt my brow furrow as I slowly pushed myself into an upright position. He followed my movement, straightening up too.

"I'm winning again," he whispered, but then he held the pokéball out towards me.

I raised my hands, cupping them together and he dropped the sphere into them. "You were out catching Pokémon?" My voice was still soft.

He shook his head. "Not exactly."

I tossed up the pokéball, releasing the Pokémon inside. The Pokémon formed on the bed beside me, I immediately recognized it. It was the grass-type Pokémon with that long face and longer tail that had been caged in the bait room of Nikolai's underground fight club. Though when it made eye contact with me, instead of releasing the pitiful wail I heard before, it chirped happily.

"You know, I didn't even know what kind of Pokémon this is," I admitted, my eyes glued to the Pokémon. It was enamored with the soft bedding and was covering itself with the top-most blanket.

"A Breloom," Doug answered me.

"There was one in the bait room," I whispered.

"That is the one from the bait room, Rowan."

I immediately focused on Doug's face. His expression was calm, unreadable. "Doug," I said, my voice was soft. "What did you do?"

"You don't have to worry about any of the bait Pokémon," he assured me. "They were all released to the wild, except for him." He waved to the Breloom. "He was injured from trying to get out of the cage, so I caught him and took him to the PokéCenter. The nurse said he likely would not do well released back into the wild, so I thought you'd be the best place for him."

I looked to the Breloom again. He was sound asleep, nestled in the blankets, and was snoring softly, completely at ease. I felt a sadness well up in my chest. "He'll just get more, Doug. Markov will just get more."

He shook his head. "No, he won't."

I tilted my head to the side as I regarded him, fighting the tears that had already welled up in my eyes. "How do you know?"

"I know, trust me, okay?"

As he vacated his seat, I pushed myself up onto my knees and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him against me. I didn't feel him return the embrace, but he grunted loudly. "Rowan," he said, "I'm filthy, I need to shower and change."

"I do trust you, you know?"

The tightness in his muscles relaxed and he returned my hug. He held me for a moment before separating from me. "Get some more sleep, it's only four in the morning. We will figure out what our next step is later today."

I nodded at him in the dark and watched his form as he left my room, softly shutting the door behind him. I had no idea what he had done to Markov, or how he had managed to get Breloom and the other bait Pokémon out. But I hadn't lied. I did trust him.

And I hoped with this, whatever this was, we were going to return to our status quo and be done with the squabbling from the day before.

"Is there a plan?"

I was seated on the patio, the door to my hotel room propped open behind me so that Doug could come in whenever he woke up. Luma occupied the seat nearby and we were both eating breakfast that I had brought back from the lobby.

"Not that I can think of," I told her with a shake of my head in between bites of bacon and eggs.

"Well, where were we before we got derailed by Nikolai Markov?"

Luma was aware of everything that had happened in the Markov Tower. She had been shocked, never getting any kind of concerning feeling from his thoughts that she had heard. But she commented that his thoughts had seemed very controlled, as though he knew she might be listening.

"Loss of power, powerplant destroyed by unknown causes," I shrugged. "And trying to figure out who was working against Team Magma."

"Team Aqua makes the most sense," Luma stated, munching on her own breakfast thoughtfully.

"And I like the idea of acting like Team Magma and approaching trainers, but we don't know where their next meeting is," I mused aloud. "So, that feels kind of like a dead-end."

"Why?"

"We only had that one confirmed gathering, we missed the opportunity," I explained, sighing loudly.

"I don't think so, Rowan." Luma finished her food, licking her plate clean and settling back in her seat to bathe herself. "Slateport might be a dead-end, but you and Doug are going to be heading to another city to continue battling gym leaders. Prep yourselves beforehand and approach trainers in the next town. We have found no evidence of Team Magma not approaching trainers, so all you have to do is make up some lie about how you know that they're a promising, young, new trainer and you just had to reach out as a member of Team Magma."

I pursed my lips, leaning back and sipping my drink as I thought about her suggestion. "You're right, we don't have to be credible, we just need to get a young kid to believe us."

"So, I say we leave Slateport behind as soon as possible."

I smiled at Luma, nodding in agreement. "I like this plan."

"Good," Luma hopped out of her seat and padded into the room. "Let me know when we are leaving."

I continued to sit on the patio, quietly, enjoying the soft breeze and the coolness of the morning. I heard the television in the hotel room turn on behind me. Luma channel surfed for a bit before settling on what sounded like a news story.

"Uh," Luma called out. "Rowan?"

I glanced over my shoulder. I saw her sitting on the bed, her eyes glued to the television. When she didn't speak again, I got up and walked into the room to see what she was looking at. The television was on a news network and the news anchor telling the story was standing in Slateport City.

"Thanks Ted! I am standing just in front of the remnants of the Markov Tower," the young newscaster began, waving over her shoulder and at the debris field behind her. "Overnight, something caused total destruction of the building; not just the upper floors, but the lower as well. Damage is estimated in the millions. Given that all surrounding buildings are undamaged, the police are assuming this is an unnatural event. Channel 7 News has been given this security footage, the last footage before the cameras cut out and the building was destroyed."

The camera cut away from the newscaster and to a black and white, stationary frame overlooking the lobby of the Markov Tower. I would have recognized the room anywhere. I watched intently, waiting, hoping Doug didn't appear in the frame. Thankfully, he never did, but after about two minutes of nothing, I watched a dark shadow shoot across the screen. The news station replayed the clip twice more, slowing it down and circling the shadow on the last play through. It then cut back to the newscaster in Slateport City.

"As you can see," she spoke, "something, what we believe to be a Pokémon, can be seen skirting through the frame. It is unknown what kind of Pokémon it is at this time. Law enforcement was hoping to find other cameras in the area, but due to the recent power outages, they have currently had no luck."

"Lucky," I muttered.

"You remember the Pokémon thief back in Johto all those years ago, Rowan?" Luma muttered, her eyes still glued to the screen.

"Yes, I do." I had already thought of the same thing. I had thought the same thing since Doug had woken me up at four a.m.

The story in Slateport appeared to be wrapping up. The newscaster finished it with one final statement. "Mr. Markov has declined to comment, in fact as of now, he has left the city. Back to you, Ted."

"I think we should get out of Slateport City too," Luma said.

"Today," I agreed.

Doug roused himself and appeared in my room around ten. He looked exhausted and his expression was one of annoyance. I opted for treating him gently, still unsure where his mindset was. He had never been a man who liked morning hours.

"I feel like you should have slept longer," I mentioned to him as he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

He was immediately shaking his head. "I want to get the hell out of here."

I waved to Luma, she was bumping heads with Phantom as he jumped up onto the bed next to her. "We were talking about that, trying to decide what our next step should be."

Doug slung his backpack from his shoulder, resting it on the edge of the bed next to our Pokémon, and dug through it. He produced a folded pamphlet and handed it to me. "I think our next step is Lavaridge Town."

"What's there?" I asked as I took the brochure. In bright red letters on the cover was the town's name, followed by the phrase: 'The perfect place for relaxing!'. I flipped it open and on the inner cover there was a short snippet about natural hot springs located in the town. The rest of the page was filled with pictures of said hot springs. The middle page mentioned nearby hiking trails on Mt. Chimney, the Jagged Pass, and the Fiery Path for those interested in nature. The last page had pictures of Pokémon that resided near and around Lavaridge Town. 'Pokémon Galore!' the page announced, 'Perfect for aspiring Pokémon Masters to get a well-rounded team!'.

"Aside from the next gym for us to battle, I assumed we might see a few trainers that we can talk to about Team Magma," Doug shrugged.

"As Team Magma?" I chuckled softly.

"I think it will work."

"Me too."

"Maybe too, if Magma lives up to their name at all, they have a base somewhere near a place called Mt Chimney," Doug mused, reaching out and taking the brochure from me. He stared down at it, flipping back and forth between all the pages.

"And we can flush a member or two out?"

"It would be helpful to get information directly from them," he said as he returned the brochure to his backpack. He flung the bag back onto his shoulder and looked at me. "So, whenever you're ready, let's get the hell out of here."

"Just one last question," I said, my curiosity getting the better of me. My eyes flicked to the television screen. The anchorman was recounting the Slateport City story, it was breaking news. Doug glanced over his shoulder, catching sight of the headline but having no reaction to it. "How'd you do it?" I asked him, hoping he knew that I was talking about the destroyed Markov Tower.

Doug glanced back at the television, his lips pursing. "Steelix."