You're probably wondering why there are four new chapters up today.

Well, the answer is quite simple. I won't say everything, just that I saw no point in a slow drip. This isn't going to be a terribly long story, and I'd hope it would be something one can binge if they want to. After this, updates won't be quite as frequent, but I still intend on seeing this through to the end.

Enjoy the next few chapters!


The following morning, Zen woke up early. He could still hardly contain his happiness; to some extent, this emotion had lifted up its feet and lingered into the next day.

I'd say things are going pretty well. I've made new friends, gotten permission from Valentina to go outside, and hopefully pleased my parents in the afterlife. Of course, I don't want to jinx things.

When the Riolu boy entered the kitchen, he saw that Valentina was already up. Unlike most days, however, she was not standing at the stove, cooking something for breakfast. This gave Zen pause.

"What's wrong, Valentina?" he asked her. "You're not cooking anything."

The woman turned to face Zen. "Nothing is wrong, Zen. In fact, plenty is right; today's another special day."

Zen frowned. "My birthday was yesterday." As much as I wish it were still my birthday today.

"That's not what I meant. I have decided that it's time for you to experience something new. You've had enough time being shielded from the outside world, which is why I'm going to take you to the market today."

Zen gasped, his heart pounding at the same time. He could scarcely believe what she'd just told him.

Valentina flinched. "I hope I didn't scare you. Really, there's nothing to be scared of. I go there all the time, and so do other Pokémon. It's not that frightening."

"I'm not scared," the young Riolu responded. "I'm just shocked. I didn't think you would let me go there."

"Well, I'm going to. So I'll take you out to the car right now, and we'll drive into town. Follow me."

Zen did as he was told, walking in Valentina's wake into the gravel driveway. She smiled as she opened the door of her old-fashioned convertible, and motioned for the Riolu boy to climb inside.

"Uh…excuse me, Valentina? I have a question."

The lady looked at Zen quizzically. "Yes?"

"What do I do with this buckle?"

Valentina chuckled. "That's your seat belt, Zen. It's so that you don't go flying out of the vehicle whenever we hit a pothole. And trust me, there are a lot of them on the way to town."

After Valentina helped the Riolu boy with his seat belt, she got in the car and started the engine. The sound made Zen wince.

When the lady looked at Zen worriedly, he shrugged. "It's the mechanical sound of it," he explained. "I guess it brings back memories of that day." Both of them knew exactly what day Zen was referring to.

Once the engine had roared into life, the convertible started gently making its way down the driveway and onto the dirt road. The young Riolu's fur stood on end, but not from fright.

I'm actually going to see a human town, for the first time in my life!

Valentina drove conservatively, slowing down considerably whenever there was a bend in the road. She explained that she was being extra careful that day because of her "precious cargo" - whether she meant Zen or the goods she was selling at the market, he didn't know.

Valentina also explained that Hisui was the least-developed region of the planet known as Nexus. On other continents, the woman told Zen, there were a lot more cars, and the technology was far more advanced.

"That's the reason some people settled here," she said. "They wanted to live life at a slower pace, not that I blame them. It's not a walk in the park to deal with modern life."

According to Valentina, the town they were about to enter was the most chaotic part of Hisui, not that this was saying much. "Stay with me when we're in the market, and we should have no problems," she said, taking her eyes off the road briefly to look at Zen. That's how the Riolu boy knew she meant it.

It wasn't too long before they turned onto a road that led its way into a collection of buildings. Zen's mouth hung agape at the sight.

The village his parents had gotten groceries from, which felt like such a distant memory now, had been built out of primitive materials. These buildings, however, looked a lot more advanced. Some of them stood three to five stories high.

What impressed Zen more, however, was the sheer number of humans milling around; some were with Pokémon, some without. The young Riolu lengthened his neck so that he could see better, not caring how many others saw his Shiny coloring.

Oh well. Once we get out of the car, everyone's going to see me.

Valentina eventually found a place to park the car, and then the two of them got out (albeit only after she helped Zen unbuckle his seat belt.) Then, Zen allowed himself to take the scene in.

There were other cars parked in this field of dirt, with red lines painted on the ground every ten feet or so. Zen's tail wagged as he fully appreciated that this was a different world from what he was used to.

His stomach also growled. "Valentina, are we having breakfast?" he asked the lady.

His owner turned to him and smiled. "Yes. We're going to eat at a restaurant today."

Zen frowned. "Restaurant?"

It was almost a foreign concept to him; the village his parents had gotten groceries from had no such things. Valentina simply chuckled.

"It's a place where you go and sit down, and they serve you food," Valentina explained. "I don't know how else to describe it."

The frown on the Riolu boy's face vanished. There was a new spring in his step as he followed his owner down the street and to what appeared to be a line of businesses.

A Braixen, a Pokémon Zen had hardly ever seen before, stood at the entrance to the establishment. While most Pokémon didn't wear clothes, this Braixen was decked out in a black-and-white suit, clearly intending to appear fancy.

"Table for two, please," Valentina told the Braixen.

The host smiled. "I'll set you two right up, Valentina. I see you have a Shiny Riolu with you."

Zen's stomach dropped; it was somewhat embarrassing to be referred to by the name of your species rather than your actual name. It was as if he were some object rather than a living being. Still, he didn't make a fuss about it.

"Yes, I do. His name is Zen."

The Braixen led Zen and Valentina to a table by the window. With the sunlight streaming in, the pair sat down in front of two small booklets.

"They're menus," Valentina told the young Riolu. "You read over the options, and then you tell the waiter what you want. I'll go first if you'd prefer."

"Thanks," Zen replied.

After both of them had decided what dish they wanted, the waiter came over and took their orders. Once the waiter was gone, Zen no longer felt so hungry.

The restaurant was decently crowded, mostly with humans, but also with a few other Pokémon. The Riolu boy was all too aware of many pairs of eyes being trained on him, and it made him squirm in his seat.

I know I wanted to see more of the outside world, Zen thought to himself, but it would have been nice to ease into it. The instant a golden Riolu is on the scene, it's like they all decided to draw their attention to ME.

"Don't let their stares bother you, Zen" Valentina whispered to him. "Remember, the vast majority of people in Hisui are good people who don't mean you harm. So don't give them a reason to look at you differently."

Zen nodded, but on the inside, it was hard for him to relax. It shouldn't have been, because he'd spoken with Grant and Emaire in the woods yesterday without a problem, but it still was.

Then again, they're both Pokémon. The beings here are humans.

The waiter eventually came back with Zen's order of a breakfast sandwich with hash browns, and he was relieved to have a distraction from the looks. Even so, he tried to eat neatly, simply because he didn't want any more attention than he'd already received.

"So what happens after this?" Zen asked Valentina in between mouthfuls of egg and cheese.

"Well, we'll get the goods from the car and carry them to the market. Then I'll sell them, see how much I can get. But also, remember to stay with me, okay? It's dangerous to go alone."

Once the meals had been polished off, and the bill paid, the pair made their way back to Valentina's convertible. By this time it was getting considerably warmer, and the sun felt great against Zen's fur.

The sidewalks, however, were still quite crowded, so Zen tailed his owner as closely as possible during the short walk to the car. Only once they were buckled in did he breathe a sigh of relief. They hadn't been separated yet.

Valentina negotiated the streets of town for another few minutes before they arrived in front of the largest building Zen had ever seen. It was only three stories tall, but it stretched out for a considerable distance. The sign over the entrance labeled it as BURROW MARKET.

"Wow" the Riolu boy mouthed, because there really was no other way to describe it. He'd never seen anything like this building.

"Indeed," Valentina replied. "Like I said, just stay with me, and we shouldn't have any problems."

Zen helped the woman unload the vehicle, carrying two heavy buckets of milk while she grabbed everything else. When Valentina saw what the Riolu boy had grabbed, her mouth hung agape.

"Are you sure you can carry all that, Zen?" she asked him. "Those buckets weigh a lot."

"I can do it," the young Riolu insisted, laying one of the buckets on the ground. The truth was, he didn't know how far he'd be able to carry them. He was much stronger than a human boy of the same age would be, but he hadn't put his arm muscles to use very much during his life.

"If you're sure," Valentina responded. "We could also take two trips if we need to."

"Nah" Zen grunted. "Let's knock it out in one."

The interior of the market was a lot cooler than the outside, at least in terms of temperature. Perhaps it was the way the building had been designed, but either way, Zen wasn't going to complain.

On the downside, the place was rather chaotic, to say the least. People and Pokémon were milling around in front of vendors, negotiating a buying or selling price for anything under the sun. Sunglasses, apples, cutlery…if you could think of it, it was probably being traded somewhere in this market.

Zen had to be extremely careful whenever he came close to a human. If the weight of the milk buckets in his arms was any indication, it would hurt like hell to bang one's knee into them. He wouldn't wish that pain on his worst enemy.

"Here we are," Valentina said, showing Zen to a specific stall. It was labeled with the name VALENTINA ROSEWOOD.

"Your last name is Rosewood?" the Riolu boy said, more of a statement than a question. "I didn't know that!"

"Yes, well, I don't tend to talk about it very much" Valentina responded curtly. "It doesn't exactly bring back happy memories."

Not for the first time, Zen wondered what, exactly, these memories were that his owner spoke of. Could it have something to do with her living alone all this time?

He kept his mouth shut as he assisted Valentina in displaying their wares for passersby to see. It was a relief to be able to put down the milk buckets, although Zen felt certain that his arms would ache tomorrow.

On second thought, they ache right now.

Anyway, he and Valentina sat behind the counter for about an hour. During this time, the Riolu boy watched the world go by; for the most part, he allowed himself to be amazed rather than terrified.

All of these people…all of these Pokémon…they've always been here in town, not too far from the woods I grew up in. And yet, I've never seen them until now!

The people of this town dressed in a variety of colors. Most of the men had beards or mustaches, although some didn't. Many of them also had a Pokémon partner, although, again, not all of them did.

Every so often, someone would come up to the stall and exchange money for a carton of eggs, or a bit of cheese. The milk, however, wasn't selling very well.

When a Monferno came to the stall, he mentioned that Ms. Rosewood's cheese was some of the best he'd ever had, and insisted on paying Valentina more than the listed price for it. Valentina herself looked fairly flattered by this, but she protested at first.

"I'm not going to make you pay extra," she told him. "I've never charged very much for my cheese, because it's not gourmet or anything like that."

"Yes, but I want to support you. This cheese…it's simply exquisite!"

Valentina chuckled. "Well, I guess I can't stop you. But I'm doing just fine financially, so don't feel like you need to."

The Monferno dropped an extra note in the stall's tip jar. Then, he looked at Zen.

"He's new," the Monferno said. "I didn't know you had a Shiny Riolu as a partner; Valentina, aren't you a bit old to be a trainer?"

The lady shook her head. "I'm not a trainer. I just took him in a few years ago, and decided that today was a good day to show him the market."

"Fair enough," the Monferno replied. "Still, you don't know how lucky you are to have found a Shiny like that. They're pretty rare."

Valentina narrowed her eyes. "Are you going to buy some cheese or not?"

"All right, I will." The Monferno grabbed a block of Ms. Rosewood's famous cheese and left the stall.

A few minutes after he was gone, Valentina frowned. "We haven't been able to sell much milk, and it will spoil if we keep it here much longer. I'm afraid we might have to dump it."

"But then we'll waste milk," Zen replied. "And isn't it bad to waste food?"

"It is, but it's already going to waste anyway. If someone drinks it, they might get sick. Would you mind carrying the buckets to the trash and emptying them?"

Zen didn't even hesitate. "Sure. Where's the trash?"

Valentina pointed him in the direction of the trash receptacles, and the Riolu boy lifted up the buckets and made his way in that direction. It was only once he was halfway there that Zen realized something.

She told me not to leave her side. She must have forgotten something.

Still, he decided not to let this bother him as he reached the trash barrels. He lifted up one of the buckets, a rather physically demanding task, and emptied it into the barrel. Then, he did the same with the other bucket, and as the bucket grew lighter, his heart grew heavier.

Mom and Dad always told me never to waste food. And now I'm breaking that rule.

Nonetheless, Zen forced himself to hold the milk bucket over the barrel until it was completely devoid of liquid. Then, he sighed, feeling as though he'd just committed a heinous crime.

He looked around the market and realized something important: He couldn't remember where Valentina was; or rather, he couldn't remember the way back to the stall.

Panic set in as Zen tried to retrace his steps. Come to think of it, he had turned once or twice on the way here, which would make it even more difficult to find the stall.

He remembered advice his mother had given him: If you're ever lost in the woods, stay where you are, and one of us will find you. Because we love you more than you will ever know.

Zen figured that this advice held for crowded, confusing marketplaces as well. However, on some level, he felt the urge to test another method aimed at reuniting with Valentina.

I'll just retrace my steps.

Although Zen was focused on trying to remember the exact route he'd taken to get to the trash barrels, he was also all too aware of the odd looks he was getting. So many people saw it as quite the spectacle to have a Shiny Riolu in their midst.

He could imagine them laughing and joking with one another, mocking him for not only being Shiny, but getting lost in the Burrow Market as well. They probably thought it was hilarious, but as the Riolu boy who was actually experiencing it, it was a nightmare.

Zen made his way down the line of fruit stalls, selling everything from apples to oranges to bananas. He walked on his tiptoes, as if that made a lick of a difference; he would be seen either way, and probably laughed at too.

He wandered aimlessly around the market for the longest time, getting more and more desperate. When he finally found Valentina (or, probably more likely, when Valentina finally found him), he would be in for a stern lecture about how he should have stayed by her side. He wasn't looking forward to it.

In addition, his arms began to ache more from carrying the milk buckets. They were quite a bit lighter than they were when they were full of milk, but that didn't mean they weren't still a considerable burden.

Eventually, Zen made the decision to head up to the balcony overlooking the market. From there, he would be able to see almost everything in the market.

After navigating his way to the stairwell and climbing up, the Riolu boy surveyed the area below. He looked for Valentina Rosewood's stall.

This was harder than he'd anticipated. There were any number of stalls selling the same exact goods, or near enough that they looked the same. Zen's eyesight was better than a human's, but the marketplace was still enormous.

He scanned for several minutes until he saw a tall, skinny woman in a light blue shirt, with long, flowing white blonde hair. It had been hard to see her at first, because her stand was no longer laden with eggs, cheese, and butter.

Dang it, she must have finished selling her stuff. Man, she is not going to be happy.

From this vantage point, Valentina seemed angry or worried; it was hard to tell which one. Either way, Zen knew that he had to find his way back as quickly as possible.

Once back on the ground floor, the young Riolu navigated his way through the crowds, trying not to jostle anyone else with the milk buckets, and eventually found the right stall.

Valentina's face was pink, but clearly not from embarrassment. As she looked down at Zen, he knew that there could only be one interpretation of her expression.

It was anger.

"There you are," Valentina hissed. "I was just about to go looking for you!"

Zen tried to play dumb, hoping it wasn't too late for this. "Really?"

"Yes!" the lady replied. "It's been almost an hour, and I've finished selling all my goods! Why wouldn't I go looking for you?"

The Riolu boy sighed. "I got lost. It happens to the best of us. I forgot the way back, I guess."

He stopped short of blaming Valentina for telling him to go to the trash barrels alone. He didn't think that would help his case.

For a few horrifying seconds, nothing was said. Valentina seemed to be considering whether or not to scream at Zen, and if so, how forcefully to do so. Zen, in turn, was bracing for an outburst, even if his owner had hardly ever raised her voice before.

Eventually, she simply sighed.

"Look, Zen, this just can't happen again. Of course, part of it is on me; I could have gone with you to the trash barrels, and I don't know why I didn't. Still, though, if you'd stayed where you were, I could have found you more easily."

"I get it," the Riolu boy sighed. "You're mad at me."

Valentina grimaced at the M-word.

"No, I'm not mad. Just disappointed, mostly in myself. Anyway, like I said, all my wares have been sold today, so unless there's something else you'd like to check out in town, we can head back home. If you're okay with that, of course."

Zen smiled again. "More than okay."

Although it had been cool to see a human town for the first time in his ten years of life, the novelty was already starting to wear off. Zen could hardly wait to be back in the forest, back where he belonged.


"Where were you?" Rizal asked, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"Why do you ask?" Zen replied.

"Well, given how thrilled you were yesterday to be allowed into the woods, I fully expected to see you here again today. I didn't expect you to disappear like that."

It was after Zen and Valentina had eaten their light lunch at home that the Riolu boy had gotten restless. He'd come back here to check on Rizal, as well as to apologize for ghosting the Zorua boy.

"It was nothing personal," Zen told Rizal. "Valentina wanted me to go with her into town, to see the market. It was…an interesting experience, to say the least."

The Zorua's bushy black tail wagged, and his eyes widened. He smiled.

"So you got to see town" Rizal replied, showing his fangs. "Tell me, Zen, was this your first time in a human town?"

"Yeah," Zen said. "Although…didn't you say you'd been there before?"

"Multiple times, yes. And it's a pretty nice place, as long as you know how to stay out of trouble."

Zen chuckled sheepishly, his cheeks flushing. "Well, I can't say I achieved that. I got lost in the market."

Rizal's lighthearted mood faded away fast. Suddenly, his facial features were tense.

"Don't you realize how dangerous that is, Zen? A Shiny like you…there are so many things that can go wrong in such a crowded place."

"Believe me, I know," Zen replied. And that's probably why Valentina wanted me to stay here until now. She was afraid something like that would happen.

The pair were silent for some time after that. While the Riolu boy couldn't speak for Rizal, he figured that, when it came to deciding what to say next, Rizal was just as stumped as he was.

Eventually, the Zorua boy smiled, which caught Zen off guard.

"Are you up for another game of tag?" Rizal asked.

Zen laughed happily. "I thought you'd never ask."

The Riolu boy knew that his youth wouldn't last forever. The period of time in which it was acceptable to run around in the woods and play tag, just like a younger kid would, was finite. Although the days felt longer the younger you were, this part of life was still fleeting.

Not only did this carefree period not last forever, but in the case of Zen and Rizal, it wouldn't last much longer at all.