A pounding throbbed through Mirus's head. He tried to ignore it and rolled over under the covers. The pounding continued. And Mirus probably would have slept through it, if a little pink tongue had not poked out and licked him on the face.

"Vul!" said the owner of the tongue as Mirus sat up. It was Chilli, and she seemed impatient.

Now shouts could be heard through the pounding. "Get up! Come on, you wanted me to wake you!"

"I'm up," Mirus said as loudly as he could. "Go away, Heron."

But Heron continued to bang her fist of the door every few seconds until Mirus hobbled over to the door and opened it. She was already dressed. "Come on! I've been kicking your door for ages. Are you dressed yet? We're here!"

Mirus tried to depher each exclamation at a time, and by the time he'd finished, Heron had already disappeared. He closed his door and went to the window to look out. Sure enough, a landscape could be seen. Mirus saw they were coming up to a city, but he also could see a forest, and- hazy in the distance- mountains.

He quickly showered, dressed and cleaned his teeth, Chilli and Grim playing again and getting under his feet. They seemed to know that the ferry had almost finished moving, and were getting even more excited.

Finally, Mirus was ready. He tried to make the bed look at least respectable, and brushed several plastic wrappers into a bin. Then he could leave, key in hand.

Heron was there again, waiting in the corridor. "You took ages," she complained. "Oh, by the way- this came for you last night, but you were asleep so I took it." She held up a small laminated card. "It's your license."

"Thanks," Mirus said, finally starting to emerge from his sleepwalking-like trance. He took the card and slotted it into his jeans, without bothering to look at it.

He and Heron were still in the breakfast queue when a tannoy announcement said that the ferry had stopped, and all keys should be handed into the main desk by nine, when everyone should leave. Mirus's watch read almost eight, so they took the time to wait in the already decreasing queue and have some toast to eat for them and their pokemon. Heron took a few spare packets of pokemon food, shoving them into her bag.

"For later," she explained.

They left the ferry soon after that, handing in keys and the passes they'd borrowed the day before. Then they could finally leave the boat, and Mirus could take his first steps into Tyoke.

It was quite hot- hotter than Kanto. Heron explained to him that it was the coolest part of the island, which did not make him feel much better. She seemed right at home, although Chilli was the only one who didn't seem to feel the heat change. It made sense though, Mirus thought, being the north part of the island. Kanto and Johto were north from Tyoke, and some of the mountains there had snow. He found it hard to imagine snow here, but Heron assured him he'd get used to it.

Flapping little pieces of paper or hats, the group of trainers made their way to a large hall that was near the dock. At the door, the trainers' pokemon were given another test to assure they did not cheat in the league with drugs- this took some time- until finally, they were allowed in. Instantly everyone felt cooler and the babble of talk resumed itself as people moved between large desks that hat been set up.

The nearest desk had a large sign reading "Pokedexes". Mirus grabbed Heron's hand, and after translating the scrawled shorthand on one of the sides, concluded they'd have enough for two pokedexes between them. Heron didn't mind giving up a little of her money for a pokedex when Mirus offered to pay- she explained that she could always win some more battles.

They both tried to shuffle through the crowd that had gathered itself at this desk. Trainers who were on their second or further league hung around the other desks or the door, waiting for their friends. Others had already left. After scanning the crowd, Mirus concluded that there could only be twenty or thirty trainers, though it seemed like a lot more.

Suddenly he realised he was at the front, facing a bored-looking man, doodling on a notepad. "Trainer card," he said, failing to smile.

Mirus pushed it across the desk to him. The man picked it up and nodded, typing the number on it into his computer. "Pokemon specie."

"Dog," he replied, feeling Chilli and Grim still at his feet.

The man nodded and found a smart black pokedex, pushing it forward. "Three thousand," the man said, waiting for the money. Mirus handed over his wad of notes, and took his pokedex and card in exchange.

Looking behind him, he saw Heron, Ekans still round her shoulders, pushing through the crowd. Ekans was hissing at everyone who got in her way, and they backed off quickly. Mirus had to stop himself from laughing, even though the ten and twelve year-olds looked genuinely terrified.

After Heron had received her pokedex (blue) she joined Mirus again. "No problem," she beamed.

He gave her a small push. "Why'd you scare them?" he asked.

"One of the little idiots trod on my foot," she said.

Mirus rolled his eyes, and looked back to his pokemon index. "Why'd they give use different ones?" he asked.

"The different types," she replied. "Yours tells you whenever you run into a pokemon that classifies as a dog type. Oh, and we need to register our pokemon when we leave."

"Hang on," Mirus said, looking at some of the other desks. "Shouldn't we buy some supplies and stuff first?"

They both left, fully prepared. With his remaining money, Mirus had managed to buy some potions and pokeballs- he'd only had one left after he'd caught Chilli. He had also bought some other random items he thought might come in useful. Heron was pleased with one of her purchases- a rather large thorn.

"What's that for?" Mirus asked her.

"To eat," she replied sarcastically. She laughed. "No, it's for Ekans, a Poison Barb. It makes his attacks more powerful. I would have bought some other items like this, but I didn't actually have enough money. It was a bit expensive."

"How much?" Mirus asked.

"One thousand."

"A thousand pokedollars for a thorn?" But Mirus was only a little shocked. He already knew Heron well enough to know that she always was convinced that she knew best. "OK then, fine. But it still looks like something you'd break off a plant."

Heron shrugged and put the thorn back into her pocket. They were back in the open air now, but they were all starting to get more used to the stickiness.

"By the time we get to Plainstown," Heron said, "You won't notice the heat."

Mirus was starting to believe her, because if they didn't find the gate to the route, it would be ages until they got there.

"We need to ask someone," Mirus insisted. He looked around, and saw an old man sitting on a bench, pokemon at his heels, under the shade of a small beech tree, which had been grown there.

"Excuse me," he asked, walking up to the man, Grim and Chilli at his heels. The man looked up at him. "Do you know where the gate to Plainstown is?" He felt embarrassed. "We're lost already."

The man smiled. "On your pokemon journey then?"

"Yes," Heron said, who had caught up with him. "We'd really appreciate it if--"

"Are you a canine pokemon trainer?" the man asked Mirus suddenly, ignoring Heron.

"Yes," he answered, surprised. He looked down at the man's pokemon. It was a houndoom, with grey fur around its muzzle and loose skin around its collar and back. The silver horns and plates were dull.

"Now, you don't see many of those around any more," the man said. He seemed delighted. "How much do you know about training dogs?"

"Not much," he admitted. "Only they work better in dual battles."

He sensed Heron's impatience: "Could you please tell us--"

"Yes, dual battles work well. Comes from a dog's instinct of living in a pack. And with dogs, you need to make sure that you're the boss. Respect drives a good dog pokemon. Another pack instinct. They like to be given strong orders."

Mirus nodded, absorbing every word. "Respect. Thank you, I'll remember that."

"Please, sir; about this gate--"

"Have you thought about your legendary?" the man asked him.

Mirus looked up. "My legendary?"

Heron waved her hands in impatience as the conversation turned another corner.

"Yes, the dog legendary. That's one of the reasons you don't see many dog trainers- only one legendary! And everyone wants their legendaries. The one you want is Suicune."

"Suicune?" Mirus thought. "What about Entei and Raikou?"

The man shook his head. "They're not dogs, those are cats. There are many cat legendaries." He nodded to himself. "Oh, and types- this applies for all trainers really."

Heron stopped making waving motions with her hands and listened.

"You want a good balanced team. Different types, but all dogs. You've already got a Dark and Fire, I can see that. So a pokemon like Ignight here would be no use to you unless you changed teams." He pointed to his houndoom. "Try not to copy types. It will give you a great advantage." He sat back. "Now, something you wanted to ask me?"

Heron had turned away from the conversation again when she realised it was about something she already knew. Now she turned back and began talking. "We're looking for the Plainstown Gate," she explained.

"Oh, that," the man said. "You want to just walk on that road-" he pointed in the opposite direction to which they had been traveling "-and you'll find the gate soon enough."

Mirus thanked the man for both of them, and jogged to catch up after Heron. "Well, you now know everything you need about dog pokemon," she laughed. "Do you want to catch Suicune?"

Mirus had not given it much thought before today, and he nodded. "Yes." Then he thought of something. "Is there only one?"

"Probably not," Heron admitted, "but people like to say it as singular. It makes it sound more special. But there are probably quite a few suicunes, enteis, raikous and all that."

"What's your legendary?" Mirus asked.

"Rayquazza," Heron said, "now you mention it. It's the only snake or dragon legendary there is, so I've got to fight to get to one. But that won't be a problem."

Mirus absent-mindedly nodded. He'd seen Suicune in books along with other legendaries, and remembered its dark, flowing cloak and the ice-coloured ribbons that always flickered as though a wind was blowing. He'd seen a suicune on television once, but had never really appreciated its beauty and power.

"Finally!" Heron said, stopping only feet away from the Plainstown Gate. "We're here." They looked up at the old stone arch and an old iron gate still attached, rusted with age. The other was missing. There was no name label, just graffiti, sprayed in bright colours across the inside and outside of the arch, marking names and crude drawings of pokemon. On either side of the gate was nothing except grass or bare ground. Mirus pointed it out.

"Isn't that a bit pointless?" he asked.

"Maybe," Heron shrugged. "But I think it shows you onto the right path. At least we know we're supposed to be here."

Mirus agreed with her, nodding. He then turned to his pokemon, and reached for their pokeballs. "We'd better recall them in case we run into a trainer."

"Good idea," Heron said, pointing a pokeball at Ekans. "And we need to register them."

So they both recalled their pokemon, and Mirus found himself wondering something else: how did they know which pokeball was which? Before, he'd just had one pokemon, but now he could tell which hand held Chilli and in which one Grim waited. But he didn't know how. It confused him, but he decided he'd work out the answer sooner or later.

Heron was already fumbling with her pokedex, reading whatever writing flicked up on the screen. "We need to attach the pokeball to this little thing here," she said, pointing a spare finger at the base of the pokedex.

Mirus quickly found the same page Heron was on. It worked a lot like his home computer- he guessed the manufacturers were the same- so he navigated his way around quite easily. Quickly he registered Grim and Chilli, trying hard not to drop either of them. A little screen flashed up telling him that he would be required to hand his pokedex in to the pokemon league before entering, and that he should record all new pokemon he captured, and record them again if they evolved. He canceled the message, switched the machine off, and tucked it into a pocket.

Heron was still pouring over hers. "It says that it won't stop you capturing pokemon of your type, but you will only be able to use your selected type in gyms and the pokemon league. Your pokedex will be required as proof of your selected type." She looked up. "It's all so... official. You know, like this isn't a game any more."

"It's not a game," Mirus said. "It's a sport."

"And there you go, reciting sport slogans," Heron said rolling her eyes. "Com eon, I want to battle someone." She started walking off, and Mirus followed her, only half-sighing.

They didn't have far to walk before another pair of trainers spotted them.

E/N: Ha ha, pair of trainers. That wasn't intended. But because I can't think what to say for this chapter, I'll rattle on for a bit about legendary names. If you don't want to listen, please submit a review now and you'll be spared. For you very strange people reading this now, here we go: I write Suicune with a capital letter, because people tend to think of there being only one, even though there isn't, as I made Heron explain. You'll notice that when I did write "a suicune" I wrote the S in lower-case letters. It's just that I was treating "Suicune" without an "a" or "the", which is how a name would be treated. Holy magikarp, I'm turning into an English teacher.

Oh, and Ignight is a name I made up from "ignite" and "night"- Fire and dark- houndoom. I know it sounds, the same, but at least you know now if you didn't already.

Keleri: Ekans can be draped around her neck beacuse... well, it keeps its head and tail up, of course. It just sounds nice- in one of my fics there was a dragonair wrapped around someone's body, and I know that's around... very big.

Well, off you go! Haven't you got a... review to write or something? (Hint, hint.) Oh, and thanks for reading this. Yes, thank you!