Although Adrian enjoyed having the opportunity to visit new or interesting locations, even he had to admit that the traveling itself was nowhere near as enjoyable as the rest of the experience. At its least offensive, traveling was dull and time consuming, and at its worst, it was stressful, expensive as hell, and frustrating beyond measure.
Adrian had always been a frugal youth, even in his early adolescence. His family was by no means wealthy. They lived a comfortable enough lifestyle, but there were times when it had been obvious that money was tight. Outside of holidays and the rare special occasion, there were few luxuries or other trivial expenses, and Adrian was raised to understand that if he wanted something, he needed to work for it.
In addition, it was easy to underestimate just how expensive Pokemon training could be. There was the need for supplies and medicines, for Pokemon and trainer alike, and the cost of lodgings or camping equipment, and one would be smart to have an emergency fund...the list went on and on. If money became an issue, being at an age where one could legally be employed, even for part-time work, was a necessity.
Adrian had worked at a couple of part-time jobs as a young teenager, in order to save up money for his journey, and even once he discovered that he didn't care much for the competitive scene of challenging League Gyms and striving to be a champion, he greatly enjoyed the experiences, and had a knack for bonding with Pokemon. Friends and family often commented on how Adrian had a gift for training Pokemon, but it wasn't until he was contacted by a section of the Pokemon Control Bureau that he realized how significant this truly was.
Being told that he was a gifted trainer had seemed much like telling someone that they were good at a specific sport - a kind compliment, but only worth so much because they had no ambition for pursuing it on the professional level. However, it seemed that being a skilled trainer was a talent that was VERY marketable in almost every area of society. Police officers often worked with trained Growlithe or similar, construction workers worked with the Machop evolutionary line, and even business professionals found themselves interacting with Pokemon of different species and roles. For Adrian, the Pokemon Control Bureau wanted to have him work with Pokemon that had been abandoned, mistreated, or otherwise engaged in activities that required rehabilitation before that Pokemon could be safely released or placed under another trainer's care.
Most of Adrian's earliest assignments had been building up the trust of Pokemon who had been raised and mistreated by novice trainers, not out of malice, but simply ignorance. Through Adrian's effort and documented reports on the subject, it was found that many starting trainers had a subpar education on how to properly raise their first Pokemon, and attending a basic Pokemon care class became mandatory in order to receive one's license. This didn't solve the problem entirely, but the number of similar cases took a nosedive following the introduction of this prerequisite, and Adrian was given a 'full-time' independent employment opportunity.
Years had passed since then, but Adrian still took on various part-time employment positions around the region, staying at each one for a couple of months before moving on to the next. Some might have gotten skeptical of his reliability as an employee upon viewing his job history, but all of his previous employers had nothing but praise for his honesty, work ethic, and overall nature on the job, and he never had any trouble finding work. These jobs helped pay the bills when his main job had a slow period, and he tried to conserve his money in case of needing to pay for property damage or other restitution costs due to the volatile temperament of the Pokemon under his care. Ember had been a prime example of why he needed that.
Adrian had passed on much of his advice for working and saving to his younger brother, Marcus, prior to the youth obtaining his own Pokemon license. For whatever reason, Marcus had wanted to challenge the Sinnoh League, as opposed to Johto or Kanto, and so before that journey could even get off the ground, Marcus had needed to save up enough to travel out to Sinnoh in the first place. There were times when Adrian wondered whether Marcus had chosen Sinnoh so that Adrian's positive reputation throughout Johto wouldn't create any preconceived expectations of Marcus' capabilities as a trainer before he had a chance to prove himself. He would never outright ask this question of his brother, but it seemed like a possibility that Marcus didn't want to be stuck in his shadow.
They still kept in touch regularly, with Marcus calling with an update every few days or so. More recently, talk had turned to Adrian dropping by Sinnoh to spend time with Marcus for a while, and get to see how Marcus worked with and interacted with his team, and even offer some extra support. Working out the details had been more of a pain, as Adrian needed to negotiate time off with his part-time job, and ensure that he had enough money to make the trip there and back, to say nothing of the hoops he may have to jump through for the Bureau to approve him taking his current team outside Johto.
Thankfully, he had gotten everything straightened out in a relatively timely fashion. He had submitted a polished article, giving him some bonus leverage for taking some time off, and had also sent the Bureau an up-to-date report alongside his request to travel out of the region, both of which made for a smoother process.
His work with the Bureau did have the added perk of discounted traveling services, but going to Sinnoh via boat was still so much cheaper than plane that Adrian naturally chose that option, even though it was significantly slower. It gave him some more time to relax and interact with or observe his Pokemon, while in his cabin of the travel cruiser.
There also was the small matter of the male Eevee that Adrian tentatively (and privately) labeled as Aureia's crush. The youth glanced over at the corner of the cabin, where the male Eevee was napping, its fluffy body almost completely hidden behind a makeshift shelter of bath towels. Despite all his playful teasing on the subject, part of him genuinely hoped that the Vaporeon really did have some sort of feelings for the male, even if she was firmly in denial about it. He had been raising Aureia for over two years now, longer than he had kept any other assigned Pokemon. He had long ago determined that she posed no threat to the public, and could theoretically be released at any time, but things weren't that simple.
Aureia had deeply ingrained trust issues stemming from her abandonment, and after being recaptured by another trainer, only for that individual to be involved in criminal activities and get arrested, and the Vaporeon confiscated, it was unlikely that she would ever truly warm up to someone else. This wasn't particularly unusual, either, as it reminded Adrian of a few cases he had read about involving the foster care system for human children. There were times when a foster child might get moved from one caretaker to another after forming a bond with the first, and this could add a layer of developmental difficulties involving trust and attachment.
With that in mind, even the smallest indication that Aureia was developing a positive relationship with a male Pokemon was a huge step forward in his book. Even if it turned out to be nothing, Adrian liked to believe that it might one day grow into a fully-fledged romantic relationship, although he couldn't really be sure whether Aureia was likely to be a Pokemon that valued such a relationship.
Pokemon relationships were fickle, to say the least, much like human relationships, when he stopped to think about it. Some chose a mate for life, others were more sporadic or polygamous, and some just didn't care for any sort of relationship at all, and only selected mates by instinct, impulsive attraction, or convenience.
Ever since Adrian had first seen Aureia and the wild Eevee together, he could tell that there was some sort of chemistry between them, but it was so much harder to observe them for long before Aureia became self-conscious or irritated, and she would definitely have caught onto his intentions if Adrian followed her regularly. She was stubborn and spiteful in the worst ways possible at times. As he had tried to explain to Marcus a few weeks ago, separating Aureia from the Eevee would upset her, but pushing them together would be just as bad, if not worse, because Aureia would probably reject the Eevee to spite Adrian's efforts of playing matchmaker. It was definitely better to let things develop naturally.
For this reason, Adrian had opted NOT to officially capture the Eevee. The male Pokemon seemed incredibly antsy and wary of humans in general, but not in the same way that Aureia had been, early into her time under his care. Adrian had even written down a few observations in his notebook about the Eevee, mostly for his own reference.
'Very cautious and jumpy, seems to dislike open areas, and seeks shelter behind or beneath objects when startled'.
'Update - the Eevee's wariness extends to things offered by me, including food or water, and he bristles if I attempt to initiate reassuring contact. Fear seems to be based on proximity, as he will approach food he sees me place down, so long as I'm either absent from the room, or visible, but confidently out of range.'
'Update 2 - Aureia is exasperated by his flighty behavior if she is present, either because she finds the behavior annoying, or because he ducks behind her (Is this normal Eevee behavior when in the company of an evolved counterpart?). Further observations required.'
He paused to re-read what he had written, and glanced around the cabin room. At the moment, Ember was the only one of his Pokemon out of her ball, and she was looking out the cabin window at the ocean surrounding the ship, her tail flame crackling softly.
Contrary to Adrian's expectations in the wake of Ember's skirmish with the Charmeleon, her mood had been relatively stable. In truth, this worried Adrian more than if she was moody or hostile, although it was still better than an outright relapse. She didn't seem necessarily depressed, but she was definitely...down.
"Ember?" Adrian spoke softly. The Charmander looked over, her expression neutral. "Everything all right, girl?" he wondered, gesturing for her to come over. The Charmander gave a shrug, but obediently walked over to where her trainer was sitting, although she was avoiding eye contact, as she often did when she was feeling embarrassed about something. Adrian gently lifted her chin up with two fingers, and smiled when she was looking up at him again. "If you need anything, just let me know, okay?"
Ember gave a silent nod, and continued to stand there awkwardly. After a few seconds, Adrian reached over and carefully lifted the Charmander onto his lap. This wasn't a difficult feat, as she was just a little over a third of his size, and weighed less than his travel bag. Avis was almost identically proportioned, in both size and weight, but she liked to perch on his shoulders, which could get tiresome if carried for a long period of time. Adrian took care to reposition Ember's tail so that it wasn't too close to his body or any other flammable material, and he gently wrapped his arms around the fire lizard, and began to stroke her smooth, scaly back soothingly.
The Charmander didn't resist, apart from initial confusion, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Adrian had long ago discovered that simple affection like a hug or embrace could be effective for cheering Ember up, as part of her craving for affection, but if she was too moody, the efforts would be rejected, so her lack of resistance and overall acceptance of being cradled was a sign that she was definitely feeling down, and was not aggressive.
This was also partial confirmation for Adrian's developing theory of what Ember might need to grow past her present issues. Such things still needed time to develop naturally, but it was still a good sign that there was hope for the Charmander in the future, despite how badly she had been thrashed in the recent battle.
It wasn't much longer before an announcement went out to the passengers that the ship was approaching the final destination, and Adrian set Ember down in order to gather together his things and make sure he didn't forget anything.
Brisk Sinnoh air greeted Adrian as he stepped off the ship, his travel bag slung over his shoulder, and a visibly anxious Eevee following at his heels. Other passengers on the same ship had already disembarked, and were trying to orient themselves in their new destination.
Sinnoh had a number of destination points when traveling by boat. There was the more well-known harbor of Canalave City, but that was more of a cargo port than a destination. There was also an area just south of Sandgem Town that acted as a common port for travelers, and then for the higher-end spenders, there was Pastoria City.
Pastoria was a small town, built at the edge of an enormous swamp, famously known as the Great Marsh. It was a major tourist attraction, a Pokemon preserve with a comparable gimmick to the Safari Zones made popular in Kanto and Hoenn several years back. Despite the high traffic of the City, there were restrictions on how often ships could come in and out of the harbor, to ensure that the noise, influx of people, and potential fumes of the engines wouldn't negatively impact either the City inhabitants or the Great Marsh itself, and if that wasn't enough, it was also home to one of the Sinnoh League Gyms.
Due to the high appeal of the destination, and the restrictions on the harbor, tickets for ships coming into Pastoria were potentially very expensive, and often hard to come by. That's where Rachel had lended a hand.
Adrian smirked to himself. He had still been the one paying for the tickets, but Rachel had been the one to pull a few strings in order to get the ticket reserved ahead of time. Her Ampharos, Noblesse, was something of a rising star in Pokemon stage performances, and as his coordinator, she enjoyed a small amount of celebrity status. It was not comparable to the level of models or human actors, but give it a few years, and who knew how her career might take off?
It was a good thing that the bit of fame never went to the girl's head, or she might think herself too good for him. Again, Adrian had to fight back a smirk. They had been close friends growing up, even dated for a year or two, and kept in touch regularly before their respective careers forced them to spend more and more time apart, so it was always nice to get back in touch and know that they were still close. They didn't have enough free time to start dating again or anything like that, but if they did, Adrian knew Aureia would just love the opportunity to claim that "turnabout was fair play" and give him hell over it. Ironically, the Vaporeon would only support the relationship for that reason; Aureia utterly despised Rachel, and made no secret of the fact.
Adrian paused and glanced back at the male Eevee walking in his shadow. Now that he had put enough distance between himself and the rest of the disembarking passengers, it seemed like a good idea to figure out where exactly he was heading from here. He knew that there was a tourist hotel not far from Pastoria, but the idea of paying an extravagant sum of money for a single night's stay left a sour taste in his mouth. When it came to expenses, camping out was infinitely cheaper and less crowded than a resort or hotel.
Stopping at the Pastoria Pokemon Center before making any decisions seemed like the best choice for now. He had visited Sinnoh previously, but he was not immediately familiar with the geography, and taking some time to gather information was probably for the best. He also wanted to try to get in touch with Marcus and arrange a rendezvous point of some sort. Wandering blindly around Sinnoh in the hopes of running into his brother seemed like a preposterously stupid thing to do.
The glass doors of the familiar red-roofed building slid open soundlessly at his approach, and Adrian had to gently nudge the Eevee with his foot so that the small Pokemon wouldn't hesitate so long that the doors would close on him. An Eevee was too light for the weighted sensors to detect, and the Eevee was clearly unfamiliar with how such doors operated. As was typical of most Pokemon Centers, the lobby had a large number of people and Pokemon idling around. Some were in line at the reception desk, whereas others were seated in the 'waiting room', some of them glancing up hopefully whenever movement behind the counter caught their eye. To the young man's relief, the phone was presently unoccupied, and he made his way over to that side of the building, practically herding the increasingly anxious Eevee with his feet until he was in range of the phone monitor.
Every Pokemon Center usually came equipped with a few video phones, so that trainers could communicate with family or friends across large distances, while still having visual contact with one another. This was a clever way to ease the pain of homesickness for some, and just overall a useful feature for a public service.
Adrian set his travel bag down on the nearby chair, and glanced down at the Eevee again. Considering how high strung the male was around other humans and open areas, he had a feeling it would be best to have one of his other Pokemon out with him, to at least TRY and calm his nerves. Avis was an obvious 'no', and while Aureia would probably have been ideal, he had a suspicion that Aureia would not enjoy being enclosed in a public area while Adrian used the phone, and would quickly get self-conscious or irritated by the Eevee's possible affection towards her. With that in mind, Ember really was the only option.
"Listen, little guy," Adrian said to the Eevee gently. "I'm just going to use the phone here for a little bit, but I'm going to let one of the girls out to give you some company in the meantime. Aureia...really doesn't like being out in public areas like this, so I'm thinking of Ember. That okay with you?"
The Eevee looked a little disappointed at the exclusion of the Vaporeon, but gave a small nod. With an apologetic smile, Adrian clicked open his Pokeball marked with a red icon, and the bipedal fire lizard reappeared in a burst of white light. It had been necessary to withdraw her when disembarking, especially considering her flammable tail and the potential damage that could inflict to the belongings of other passengers, but the risk was minimized inside the Center.
"Just going to use the phone, Ember. Mind keeping the little guy company for a bit? Ugh, I've got to get his name, though. It just feels wrong to talk about him exclusively in pronouns," Adrian sighed.
Another little life lesson from his time as a wandering trainer - even wild Pokemon tended to have a name and identity in some form, even if they were captured by a trainer afterwards. Many of them adapted easily to whatever nickname their trainer chose for them, but others visibly resented being called by their species name, or some name chosen by their new trainer. If at all possible, Adrian liked to find out whether a Pokemon had a preferred name for themselves. Whenever wild Pokemon were injured and brought to a nearby Center for treatment by a concerned trainer, the nursing staff often tried to document the Pokemon's given name on the patient chart, and if that Pokemon later became adopted by a trainer after being discharged, it would already have a name on file.
This procedure was the main reason that Adrian knew Ember's name. After intervening on the conflict, and hurrying the Charmander to the closest Pokemon Center, two years ago, one of the Chansey had asked and recorded Ember's name on the file, and when Adrian volunteered to take her in, it had been nice to know how to address the fire lizard from the start.
Ember raised a claw in response to Adrian's comment, and the young man blinked at her. The Charmander snorted a wisp of flame, then gestured pointedly towards the miniature blaze, even as it fizzled out a moment later. Adrian looked at her blankly, so the Charmander repeated the action, pointing more incessantly at the tiny flame before it sputtered out.
"Ember, girl, you know I suck at Charades," Adrian sighed. "Um...Fire? Heat? Wisp?"
Ember smacked her forehead with her paw in exasperation, then raised a claw and slowly and deliberately traced a vertical line in the air. She then proceeded to make two sideways humps in the same space. Adrian stared at her blankly.
"Are you writing that letter backwards, so it's facing me properly, or from your perspective?" he wondered. Ember slapped her forehead again, and Adrian rolled his eyes. He opened his notebook, turned to a blank page, uncapped his pen, and wrote out the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, spacing them reasonably far apart and using larger font so that it was clearly distinguishable from one another. "Point at the letters," he said.
The Charmander immediately pointed to the letter 'B'. Adrian circled it and wrote the letter at the bottom of the page. The Eevee peered over Ember's shoulder to observe, as the Charmander next pointed at the letter 'L'. Again, Adrian circled and wrote it at the bottom, placing it beside the previous one. This went on for three more points, and then Ember glanced inquisitively at the Eevee, who simply nodded.
Adrian chuckled to himself and turned his attention to the letters he had assembled. "Blaze?" he read, raising an eyebrow. The Eevee nodded, and the youth stared at him. "...how the hell does a wild Pokemon know the alphabet, and how to read its own name?" Adrian wondered in bewilderment. Ember shrugged, and sat down on the floor next to the Eevee.
Adrian tossed his hands up, and turned his attention back to the phone monitor. He could worry about the details another time. Either way, he got the information he wanted, and had a name to call the Eevee.
Glancing back at Ember, Adrian suddenly laughed. "You and Aureia are WAY better at Charades than me," he commented, using his hand to imitate the way Ember had blown a wisp of flame into the air earlier. "Blaze...good clue."
Ember smirked proudly in response, and Adrian turned away to dial his brother's number into the video phone, holding the receiver to his ear. The line buzzed once, then a second time. Just as Adrian was beginning to get antsy and wonder whether Marcus was busy with something or otherwise unable to reach his phone, someone on the other line answered.
"Hello?"
The voice was instantly familiar, and Adrian smiled brightly. The image on the monitor was blank, meaning that Marcus didn't have access to another video monitor at the moment, unlike when he had called Adrian a couple of weeks ago when Adrian was on his computer.
"Hey, Marcus! Little man, it's Adrian, what's up?"
"Adrian!" Marcus' voice brightened at once, and Adrian could practically see the grinning face of his younger brother. "Things are great! Where are you even calling from? I didn't recognize the number."
"Heh, I just pulled into Sinnoh about a half hour ago," Adrian replied, glancing down at Ember and Blaze again. Surprisingly, Blaze didn't seem particularly intimidated by the Charmander, and although he was keeping a respectful distance between them, they were definitely communicating with one another. One of Adrian's initial concerns when bringing Blaze on this trip was how Avis and Ember might react to another Pokemon, particularly a male, coming into their living space, but he was relieved to discover that there already seemed to be some level of familiarity between them. If he had to guess, he would say they had met him visiting Aureia on that evening he had sent them down to the lake to fetch her, before they had left for Ecruteak.
"You're in Sinnoh already?" Marcus asked, dumbfounded. "Where?"
Adrian chuckled. "Pastoria. Yeah, my ship just pulled in, and I went to the Pokemon Center to call you. Where are you now?"
"I just left Veilstone about an hour ago," Marcus replied, and his voice nearly jumped an octave as he added, "I finally beat the Gym!"
"Nice!" Adrian praised, lightly clapping his hands together before remembering that Marcus couldn't see what he was doing, and applauding louder than that might annoy some of the other people inside the building. "You've been working on that one for a while, haven't you? What gave you the extra push? A new team member, a different strategy?"
"Not telling!" Marcus replied cheerfully, and Adrian could almost perfectly picture the younger boy's mischievous grin in his mind's eye. "I'll show you when I see you next! Where do you want to meet up?"
"Is there a map around here somewhere?" Adrian wondered to the air, peering at the nearby table, before his gaze was drawn to the wall, where a large map of Sinnoh was prominently displayed. It took him a few moments to find where Veilstone City was located relative to Pastoria, although someone working at the Center had gone through the trouble of placing a colorful pin in the box marked 'Pastoria City'. "Um...what direction did you leave Veilstone from?" he wondered.
There was an awkward pause from the other end, and Adrian's mouth twitched in spite of himself. Marcus could be a touch careless at times, and not taking note of where he was going was exactly the sort of thing he might do.
"Um...to the east? No, the...wait, which direction does the sun set on again?"
Adrian had to stifle his amusement with his hand, abruptly grateful that Marcus couldn't see him.
"Never mind, dude," he said, swallowing his laughter the best he could. "Have you been on this route before?"
"Uh...yeah, I took it to get to Veilstone...oh! It leads towards Solaceon Town...or Celestic Town. Where even IS Pastoria...is that near Eterna City or...?"
"Marcus, buddy, I don't even want to TRY to guess what City you're mistaking Pastoria for," Adrian said seriously. Even if Marcus had been taking the southern route from Veilstone, it looked like a LONG journey until he'd hit Pastoria, and it seemed like a better idea to try to regroup from the other direction, rather than force Marcus to backtrack...and still take a long route to a mutual meeting point. "Tell you what, the next time you hit a City or town, just STOP, get your bearings, and call me. I'll probably make my way north towards...uh...Heart...home."
"Hearthome," Marcus corrected. Adrian squinted at the map, and then shrugged.
"Yeah, there. We'll work out the rest from there, all right?"
"Sure!" Marcus answered eagerly. "Anyway, I've got to run, so I'll call you the next time I find a city. Bye!"
"See you, little man," Adrian said, and disconnected the call. He let out a deep breath and reclined against the wall beside the phone. Ember gave him a puzzled look, and the youth chuckled. "I love my little brother, but sometimes he can be a handful. Rough being the older brother, you know?"
Ember continued to look at her trainer blankly, whereas the Eevee twitched uncomfortably. Adrian chuckled and crouched down to their level, absently rubbing the Eevee's ears. The smaller Pokemon bristled and pulled away, but not before Adrian heard the tell-tale purr.
"Anyway, we're probably going to get moving right away. You guys hungry now, or can it wait until later? I've got snacks in my bag."
Ember was about to reply, but her stomach growled noisily, causing her orange-scales to flush into a shade of crimson. Adrian laughed softly.
"Answers that question. All right, we can eat first."
