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 Three:

The Request

Standing within the walk-in closet of my bedroom, I pulled my winter jacket onto my shoulders. It hung down to my knees and it cinched my waist with a belt. I glanced up as I buckled it. "Want me to bring anything back?" I asked Luma, who was lying on my bed.

"What do you think he's going to ask you for your help with?" Luma ignored my question and asked her own.

"I have no idea, I really don't know why I even agreed to dinner with him," I muttered, pulling at the jacket to straighten it out. I then grabbed a pair of boots from my closet floor and walked to my bed, sitting beside my Pokémon.

"I do," Luma said, giggling. "You still find him attractive."

I had been leaning down, pulling a boot on, but I froze and looked over to her. "You're right," I agreed with her, returning to my shoes. "I do and I am afraid of getting sucked back in. It was hard to get out last time."

"That doesn't mean this ends the same way," Luma gently tried to soothe my worries. "It's been five years."

"And he has been the Champion that entire time," I reminded her. "He picked it once, he will pick it again."

Luma was silent as she sadly regarded me. Finally, she gave me a smile. "Would you bring me back some of those meatballs I like?"

"Of course, I will," I agreed as I finished tying my boots. I left my bedroom and returned to my living room, finding Doug where I had left him. He was staring at the photographs on the shelves in my living room. "Ready," I told his back.

"When is this from?" He pointed to a picture frame on one of the shelves.

"Uh," I squinted, then stepped down into the room and closer to him to view the photo in question. I was wearing a black dress, graduation cap, and my mother was squeezing me. Luma sat beside me on the ground, smiling at the camera. "Oh, that's right after I got certified to teach," I told him.

"And here?" He pointed to a second photo frame beside the first. I was seated on a sofa next to my sister, she had a large gift bag in her lap. "Oh, my sister's baby shower last year."

"Your sister has a baby?" He sounded incredulous.

"She has two," I told him and he looked perplexed. I laughed. "She got married shortly after you met her."

"Good for her," he murmured. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, facing away from my shelves. "Sorry, did you say you were ready?"

"Yea," I agreed, then made my way to my door. He came out after me and I locked the door, leaving Phantom and Luma in the house. She had told me that though she still had feelings for him, she planned on acting aloof for a while, if just to annoy him.

Doug and I walked quietly from my house and into Ecruteak. It had finally stopped snowing, but there was close to a foot of snow on the ground. While Ecruteak was small, really just a town that people passed through, there was a small, family-owned restaurant that served delicious, home-cooked meals all day.

"So, why Ecruteak?" Doug asked as we walked.

As I glanced at him, I was amused by him dragging his legs through the snow instead of lifting his feet out of it as I was doing. He seemed amused by bulldozing the accumulated snow out of his way. "It reminds me of New Bark, but it's closer to things," I answered. "Nothing terribly exciting happens here, but it's only a short ride to Goldenrod or Olivine."

"I always like when I get to come back over here," he replied, finally lifting his head and his feet in the snow. "I travel through Kanto cities far more often than Johto cities."

I wasn't sure how to respond, so I didn't. I stared at the ground and watched my feet, thinking about how cold my feet already were. Perhaps Luma was right about the cold toes.

"It's cold as shit here though," he added and I couldn't help but to laugh.

"Luma hates the cold too."

"She's talking out loud now." I felt him look down at me.

"Mhmm," I agreed, lifting my head to look out ahead of us. I couldn't bring myself to look at him, he made me feel like a teenager again. "Didn't take her long at all to master it, she taught Vapor too."

"Your Vaporeon?" He asked and I nodded. "Impressive."

"It's right up here, the restaurant." I pointed ahead of us at a small, well-lit building with a wooden exterior. In warmer weather, thick green vines grew up the sides of the building, but for now it was only empty trellises. The two small windows flanking either side of the front door were ablaze with warm, welcoming light. I could see people moving about inside.

As we came to the restaurant, Doug pulled the door open for me and I thanked him quietly as I entered. A host greeted us at the door and brought us to a secluded table in the back. Even though the day had slipped away into a cold evening, the interior was filled with patrons.

"This place must be good to be this busy when it's so cold outside," Doug commented as he lowered himself into his seat. He was looking around the restaurant, I glanced around too.

Just like the rest of Ecruteak, the interior design of the restaurant was rundown, though welcoming. The floors were a rich wood, scuffed from decades of customers walking across it. The walls were a tired, faded wallpaper with what I always assumed was a floral pattern, but I wasn't actually sure. None of the dining tables matched each other and the chairs at each table differed. Each table had its own lit candle and off-white table cloth. The overhead lighting of the restaurant was dim, making it all seem much more quaint. Quiet conversations floated through the air.

"Well," I replied to Doug finally as I too sat. "It's the only restaurant in town, but I think it's good."

He picked up a menu that the host had left with us and began to look it over. "They serve everything here."

"It's all family recipes too," I told him. "I don't think I have ever had a bad meal here."

"How often do you eat here?" He asked me with a laugh.

"Pretty frequently," I smiled. "Cooking is a pain in my side."

We silently looked over the menu and ordered food and drinks when the waiter arrived and asked if we were ready. As I handed my menu off to the waiter, I couldn't help but to notice his almost star-struck gaze on Doug. One of my eyebrows involuntarily arched and I looked around. There were several people at nearby tables with their eyes on Doug.

"I thought I would get used to it," he said and I returned my gaze to him. He glanced around the room too, shaking his head. "But the truth is, you never really get used to it."

"I can't imagine so," I replied, softly.

"The stares aren't the worst, nor are the requests for autographs or photos," he continued. He was playing with the napkin wrapped around his silverware. "It's the kids I have to battle," he sighed, "that's the worst."

"Why?"

He shrugged, wincing slightly as he did so. "Uh, I used to refuse, which I still think is the better option, but I was told to stop refusing, that it made me look bad, pompous, and overconfident."

"Well," I remarked playfully, earning a sideways glance from Doug before he continued.

"So, now I have to battle them and, you know, they're kids, and they're new at it so they're not great at it," he muttered, not sounding particularly proud of his actions. His eyes sheepishly raised to my face. "They always look so hurt when they don't win. And then I have to watch these little kids walk away with tears in their eyes and their dreams completely destroyed."

"That doesn't sound like the Doug I knew," I said to him gently.

"Ah, well, shockingly, I have changed, if only a little."

The waiter reappeared with our drinks and then our meals only a short time later. I took a few quiet bites before my curiosity got the better of me. "So, what is it that you're claiming you need my help with?"

"I was alerted to an ongoing issue with Pokémon trainers in another city," he readily began to explain after wiping his mouth. He took a sip of water before continuing. "I guess their authorities have had no luck, so they are hoping I will be able to quell the issues."

"Authorities?" I echoed. "Like the police?"

"No, actually their Champion and professors."

"There's another Champion in Johto?"

"No, not in Johto,"

"Kanto, then?"

He shook his head before nervously answering. "The Hoenn region."

"They want you to go to the Hoenn region?" I had to remind myself internally to lower my voice. "Who the hell is they?"

"My manager for one, it's good publicity," he answered. "And their Champion and equivalent to the Elite Four for another."

"Why does it fall to you?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. His gaze was on his food as he scooped up another forkful of the sauteed vegetables that came with his entrée. "I learned to stop arguing when I was assigned a manager."

"You just do what you're told now?" I scoffed, leaning into my arms resting on the table top.

His eyes cut up to my face and one of his eyebrows arched upward. "I vaguely remember you being nicer to me."

"Ah, well, shockingly, I have changed, if only a little," I jokingly mocked his earlier reply.

"Ha, ha," he said dryly.

I cleared my throat and leaned back in my seat. I crossed my arms over my chest. "So, honestly, why do you need me?"

"Honestly," he repeated, "I need your people skills." I gave him an incredulous look and he merely shrugged. "If it were something as asinine as a battle, I could likely handle it on my own, but it's going to be sitting and chatting with people and that's not a skill I've developed over the last few years."

"No?" I feigned surprise.

"No."

"You don't have like a PR team or something?" I asked him.

"Why would I have a PR team?"

"You have a manager," I reminded him and smiled up at the waiter as he came back to check on us. He assured us that he would bring us the check on the next visit. When I glanced back to Doug, he was staring at me with a mildly perturbed glare. "And let's be honest, if anyone could use a PR team, it would be you."

His eyes narrowed as he cupped his hands over his mouth. "I really do remember you being nicer."

I grinned brightly at him, then cleared my throat. The smile dropped as my tone became serious. "I am really the first person you thought of to help you?"

"First and only," he said. "Turns out when you're meeting someone for the first time and you decimate them in a battle, you really don't cultivate any meaningful relationships."

I stared silently at Doug, mulling over his words. I couldn't decide if I felt sorry for him or if I was irritated by his reason for taking me. My talking skills seemed a little pandering. Regardless, I knew I was intrigued by his request, I had only a single concern.

"I don't know that I can leave for a long period of time, Doug," I said with a shrug.

"It should only be the weekend."

I pursed my lips, pretending to consider the request. I knew I had already made my decision, but I continued to sit at the table silently.

The waiter returned with the check, I remembered to request the meatballs to go for Luma, and he disappeared to the kitchen again.

"So?" Doug pressed me when he'd decided I had taken too long. "To Hoenn?"

I met his stare. "To Hoenn."