Mikey and Zephyr made their way north toward the neighboring Viridian City. Mikey had been feeling a bit snacky, so he took out the crab cakes his mother had made and shared the one that hadn't yet been started on with his friend. "I always forget how good your mom's crab cakes are," Zephyr said in between bites.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss 'em," Mikey said as he finished off his. "Something to look forward to once we can come back, huh?"

"We only just set out and already you're thinking about when we'll go home?" Zephyr laughed. "Ye of little faith or something?"

"Well, it'll help in keeping our morale up to think of the people we left behind," Mikey said. "Makes it easier to leave, I think, knowing they've got our backs."

"I don't know if Dad's got my back," Zephyr mused. "I mean, it's not like I told anyone I was leaving..."

"You didn't?" Mikey asked. "No call or text?"

Zephyr shrugged. "Your offer was spur-of-the-moment, I just figured it was a good idea and went with it. I can tell 'em once we get to a good resting point." He took another large bite of his crab cake and, after swallowing, said, "Besides, I'm a legal adult with no restrictions. I'm not exactly obligated to ask permission if I feel like leaving."

"True." Despite the two-year disparity in their ages, Mikey and Zephyr had always been pretty close. At least Zephyr wouldn't have to worry about keeping up with his schoolwork, having already graduated and deciding to take a gap year. "Hey, I just thought of something," Mikey said. "You know how you said you were still looking into colleges? What if we're still taking on the league when schools start up? What are you gonna do?"

"Don't know," Zephyr said.

"I just...I hope you're not gonna regret coming with me," Mikey said. "I'd hate to be the one holding you back from your academic dreams..."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Zephyr laughed. "If I had any doubt in accompanying you, I would've stayed behind."

Mikey smiled, shoving the last of his crab cake into his mouth.

Soon enough, the two had arrived in Viridian City. They had left early enough in the day to where they thought it wouldn't start getting dark yet, but the moon was already faintly visible in the sky and the sun, while not truly setting yet, was starting to look a bit dimmer. Mikey took in the scenery around him. He hadn't been to Viridian City in a while, and while it honestly wasn't quite what one would call a "big city", it was the closest thing that one could presumably call a big city to Pallet Town, so his mind always thought of it as such. Viridian at least had a battler's center, which has been where he first become inspired to form a battle team of his own.

Mikey stared at the outside of the battler's center in a reverent awe. "This is it, Zeph," he said. "One step into this place, and it'll all be real."

"It's already real, dude," Zephyr chuckled.

"It'll feel more real to me," Mikey said.

They approached the doors to the battler's center, which slid open as they stepped close. It was almost exactly how Mikey had seen it that day years ago when he had been a rambunctious little scamp wandering into buildings he had no business being in while his mother and older sister had been distracted. It was, of course, updated to keep up with the needs of the times, but the basics were all still there. There were some tables with chairs placed by them, as well as comfy couches lining the walls. Televisions were placed in two corners of the room, one of which was currently tuned to a sports channel and was being watched by some very enthusiastic fans. A staircase led upstairs where people of certain titles could charge energy together in order to trigger new powers, as well as an arena for friendly battles in a safe environment and some bedrooms for those who would stay at these centers overnight. The main feature of the battler's center, however, was the reception desk with a nearby computer used to log battle team details, such as new members and team name changes.

Mikey made his way to the receptionist, his newly acquired battle ID in hand. "Good afternoon, young man," the receptionist said with a friendly smile. She then glanced out the front window. "Or maybe I should say 'good evening' at this point?" She let out a small, friendly laugh, and then asked, "What can I help you with?"

"I was wondering if I could use the terminal real quick," Mikey said.

"Of course!" the receptionist said, motioning to the computer beside them. "Do you need any help using it?"

"No, I think I can figure it out," Mikey said. "Thanks, though." He stepped over to the terminal and scanned his battle license. Almost immediately, the terminal brought up an interface for checking his team's data. Time to get that obnoxious string of numbers out of here, he thought. He quickly typed in the name he and Zephyr had decided upon: "Verdantia." He hoped that the spelling he had chosen was appropriate, given that he wasn't quite sure if it was a real word or not.

He looked over at Zephyr, who had found himself a quiet corner of the center and was talking on the phone with someone. He assumed he was talking with his dad, letting him know where he had gone. The two had always been pretty close; in fact, it was Zephyr's closeness with his father that had led to him becoming one of Mikey's best friends along with Hunter, as both of them liked to hang around Professor Oak's lab and that was usually where Mikey would go to meet up with either.

Just as he finalized the updates to the team files, Mikey's own phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered without taking the time to look at the contact it was from. "Yo."

"Hey, Mikey!" Hunter's voice cheerfully exclaimed from the phone. "How goes it? You got your team some members yet?"

"Oh hey, Hunter," Mikey said. "Yeah, I've already got a second member. You remember Zephyr, right?"

"How could I forget?" Hunter chuckled. "I actually tried to find him to get him on my team, but I guess he skipped town with you before I could get a hold of him."

"Really?"

"Yeah, coulda used a strategist early in the team development."

Mikey frowned. "I asked him to join because he's a friend."

"That too," Hunter said. "That's why he'd be a good strategist for the early battle team, he's smart and he knows our battle styles pretty well so he can plan accordingly. You got lucky snagging him before me, you know?"

"Yeah, guess so." Mikey then realized just what Hunter had said. "Wait, what do you mean by 'early battle team'?"

"Well, the people who join with you early on aren't necessarily going to be permanent members, at least that's what I've always been told," Hunter said. His tone was so matter-of-fact, as if what he was saying was supposed to be something obvious to everyone.

Mikey decided to change the subject rather than give too much thought to what Hunter might've truly meant. "So, uh, did you ever figure out a name for your team?" he asked.

"Uh, of course I have," Hunter said. He seemed just as hesitant about this topic as Mikey had felt about the previous one. "What about you? You come up with one yet?"

"Sure have," Mikey said. "As of just a few seconds before you called, we're officially Verdantia. What's yours?"

"...Lazuli." A good four or five seconds of silence had preceded Hunter's answer, so Mikey suspected he had either forgotten it or had just come up with it on the spot. Most likely the latter. "Yep, my team is called Lazuli. I, uh, haven't gotten around to making it official yet, but that's totally what the name of my team is and I came up with it at least an hour ago."

"Yeah, sure," Mikey said playfully.

"Well, I gotta go," Hunter said abruptly. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Will do, and back atcha," Mikey said. He hung up, then made his way over to where Zephyr was sitting. "It's all taken care of, dude," he told him.

"That's good," Zephyr said. From the looks of things, he had already finished his own phone call. "Um, who were you talking to just then?"

"That was Hunter," Mikey said. "He wanted to check up on his old pal. Funnily enough, he said he wanted to get you on his team as well."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And he says he got his team named too, but I'm betting he just came up with one right after I told his ours, hehe."

"Nice."

"Well then..." Mikey adjusted his backpack on his shoulders. "Should we get going?"

"Yeah, probably," Zephyr said. "Might as well try and hit Viridian's gym while there's still at least a little daylight left."

"Pardon me," the receptionist interrupted them. "Did you say you were going to visit Viridian Gym?"

"That's right," Mikey said. "Why, what's wrong?"

The receptionist grimaced. "You're from out of town, aren't you?" she asked, and they both nodded. "That explains why you didn't know," she said. "You see, Viridian Gym's leader has been away on business for quite some time. And since he had no one to take his place while he was away, or at least that's what's been going around, the gym's been closed for months."

"What?!" Mikey groaned. "You gotta be freaking... Okay then, if that's the case, where's the next closest gym?"

"Oh, that would be Pewter Gym," the receptionist said. "It's of course in Pewter City, so you'd have to go through the forest path, but it's very much active at present and its leader is taking challenges almost daily."

"Okay, cool," Mikey said. "Thanks a ton, ma'am." He and Zephyr spent the night at the center, leaving the next morning and stopping by the nearby store to pick up some supplies, and then made the trek northward.

The northern road heading out of Viridian was considerably easier going than the long and winding path they had taken from Pallet. It was wide and straight, and apart from the hung-over old man lying belligerently in the middle of the road and his granddaughter trying to coax him back into a standing position, the travel from Viridian was initially uneventful (though they did stop to offer the old man one of the coffees they had bought to aid in his hangover). Soon they had reached a gatehouse, the outside of which had ivy covering it in such a manner that clued passerby in to what lay beyond its further exit, but not to where it would make the place look abandoned. "Viridian Forest Gatehouse," Zephyr read aloud. "Not gonna lie, I'm not too big on forests."

"There's not really any other way to get to Pewter City from here," Mikey reminded him. "Besides, there are gatehouses here. Nearby civilization. Nothing too terrible's going to happen, right?"

"I guess," Zephyr said with a shrug. "Do you think people still live in the forest?"

"Maybe a few," Mikey said.

They made their way through the gatehouse, exiting through the opposite doors into an area that was considerably darker than the cloudless sky they had previously been in. The foliage of the trees around them blocked out most of the sunlight, covering the forest in a vague darkness that seemed eerie yet inviting.

"It's actually kinda soothing," Mikey said. "Though there might be other battlers hanging out in here." It was fairly well known that Viridian Forest and locations like it were well favored by those looking for situational training.

"Yeah, most likely," Zephyr agreed. "Let's just try to get through here as quick as possible. I'm feeling a bit claustrophobic."

They kept on the path, listening to the various sounds of the forest as they traversed. As they kept going, however, they could hear the tree branches above being disturbed. "Any idea what that could be?" Zephyr asked.

Mikey shook his head. "No idea."

The sound of the branches' disturbance grew louder, followed by a loud crack and an obscene word shouted out in a guttural scream. Mikey and Zephyr turned to look at each other, the shock clearly written in both their faces, then ran deeper into the forest toward the sound. They soon came across a pile of broken branches underneath one of the trees, and sprawled out along the branch pile was a boy who looked to be about Mikey's age dressed in yellow. His face was twisted in a grimace of pain, and he was muttering curse words under his breath. "Hey, are you okay?" Mikey asked. "Need a hand?"

"I think I'll be fine," the boy said, wincing from the pain of his fall despite what he said. "Nothing's broken, at least." He tried to get himself into a sitting position, but ended up just flailing about. "On second thought, I might need that hand for just a bit."

"Sure, hang on a sec." Mikey and Zephyr stepped over one of the branches to get closer, each having a hand outstretched for the boy to take. He grabbed both of their arms, but almost as soon as he had done so they reflexively pulled away—a powerful shock had gone through them. "The heck was that?!" Zephyr shouted.

"Sorry about that," the boy said with a laugh. "Guess I built up some static during that fall, hehe. Give it another try?" They gingerly held out their hands again and the boy took hold, thankfully not shocking anyone this time, and they pulled him to his feet. "Thanks for that," the boy said, dusting himself off. "So what brings guys like you around here? Lemme guess, you're a battle team."

"Yeah, how'd you guess so quickly?" Mikey asked.

The boy waved his hand dismissively. "Oh please, this is pretty much a natural training ground for battle teams," he said with a smirk. "Not to mention it's smack in the middle of two gym towns, and you with the blue hair would stick out like a sore thumb around here anyway." His smirk turned into a genuine grin. "The name's Spark, by the way. Nice to meet ya."

"Mikey, and that's Zephyr," Mikey said.

"It's nice to meet you too," Zephyr added.

"So, since you guys are a battle team and all, can I ask you something?" There was an anticipatory gleam in Spark's eyes, and while Mikey could already guess what his question would be, he nodded rather than vocalize his guess. "You guys wouldn't happen to be looking for new recruits, would ya?"

"Well, I don't know if it was something we were actively considering at this point," Zephyr mused. "I'm certainly not opposed to it. What do you think, Mike?"

"It's only the two of us at the moment, but I'd say the more the merrier," Mikey said.

"Do you think maybe I could come along?" Spark asked, practically bouncing in excitement.

Mikey thought for a bit. "You're a Pikachu, right?" he asked, and Spark nodded. "If I remember correctly, Cerulean's gym is water-themed, and having electricity on our side would help. Sure, you can totally join!"

"YES!" Spark jumped in delight. "Thank you so much, you won't regret this, I promise! My house is just through the forest, we can get some supplies once we get there."

"We actually stocked up back in Viridian," Zephyr said.

"Okay, let me re-word that," Spark said. "I need some supplies, some things that I doubt very seriously you guys have."

"All right, then." Mikey didn't bother questioning what these supplies were, probably specific medical necessities that neither he nor Zephyr required, or otherwise something very sentimental. Either way, it likely wasn't something to worry about.

The now trio continued along the forest path, passing training battlers along the way. Most of them were using bug-like styles of fighting, with the occasional flyer. As the trees began to grow thinner, Mikey could make out the distant shape of a house, just as Spark had said there would be. Spark ran ahead, approaching the front door and knocking repeatedly. "Mooooom!" he called out. "Your boy's hoooome! Got something to teeellll yooouuuu!"

The door opened and a middle-aged woman with short brown hair emerged, a young blond girl clinging to her leg. "Well, you're back early!" the woman said warmly. She then noticed Mikey and Zephyr behind him. "Oh, hello there. What brings you two here?"

"We're a battle team," Mikey explained. "Spark wanted to join up with us and we said okay, and he wanted to grab some stuff before we headed on."

"A battle team, you say?" Spark's mother smiled. "Isn't that lovely? Spark has been wanting to get out and see the world by quite some time, and I'm so glad he's found his opportunity."

"Mom, please," Spark said with an annoyed groan. "Can't leave without my stuff..."

"Oh, pardon me, where are my manners?" Spark's mother moved aside to let the boys through the door, motioning for Mikey and Zephyr to come in as Spark ran through and up the stairs. "Come, have a seat," Spark's mother said, leading them to a sofa with a coffee table placed in front. "You must be exhausted from your traveling. Can I offer you boys a drink while Spark is getting ready?"

"That would be nice, thanks," Mikey said, taking a seat on the couch in the living room. Zephyr sat beside him, and soon enough the two were provided with glasses of fruit juice.

"It's so nice to see Spark making new friends," Spark's mother said warmly, patting her young daughter on the head as she sat on the floor and went back to her coloring. "He hasn't been very social lately aside from us and social media, and everyone he talks to there seems to live in Unova or Alola from what he's told me."

"Internet friendships can be just as strong as friends you meet in person," Zephyr pointed out.

"Oh, I know that," Spark's mother said. "Still, I figure not being able to meet up in person and talk face to face must be a bit sad for him. So, where are you boys headed to first?"

"Pewter City, ma'am," Mikey said. "We're both from Pallet and the Viridian gym wasn't open, so we're hoping to get our first badge there."

"Just starting out, huh?" Spark's mother smiled. "I wish you the best of luck, then."

Stomping could be heard coming down the stairs, and Spark was carrying a pack presumably filled with the things he had needed. "All right, Mom, I'm ready to go," he said. He gave her a light kiss on the cheek and turned to Mikey and Zephyr. "You guys ready, too?"

Mikey nodded. "Yeah, we can leave whenever."

"Wait just a minute," Spark's mother said. "I want to give you something before you head out." She made her way to a closet, opening it and pulling a lightly dust-covered box from within. "I was going to save this for your birthday, but since I don't know when you'll be coming home..." She held the box out to Spark and carefully opened the lid.

Upon seeing the contents of the box, Spark's eyes widened considerably and his jaw dropped a bit. Sitting snug in an indention in the box was a fist-sized green stone, glossy and reflective, with bright gold veins in its structure that resembled bolts of lightning. "Is that..." he said, barely able to get the words out in his surprise. "Is...is that a Thunder Stone? Like, a real one?"

"I got it in that trip I took to Celadon a few weeks back," Spark's mother said coyly. "Feel free to use it whenever you'd like, or if you'd prefer just keep it as a nice little trinket."

Spark took the stone from its place in the box, small tears in his eyes. It had a golden chain attached to one end, enabling it to be worn as a necklace. He slipped it around his neck and immediately pulled his mother into a tight hug. "Thank you so, so much," he said, choking up.

"Just promise me one thing," Spark's mother said, returning the embrace. "Call me whenever you can, and remember you're always welcome if your journey brings you back home."

Spark nodded. "I will, don't worry."

Just as the three guys were about to leave, the little blond girl gave Spark a hug around his middle, which she could barely reach. "You be good, okay, Sparky?" the girl said in a soft voice. "Eat your veggies and don't talk to creepy strangers like Mom always says, all right? I love you."

"Looking out for your big bro as always," Spark said with a laugh, ruffling the girl's pigtails playfully and receiving a giggle in return. "Don't you worry, Eva, I'm gonna be just fine. Love you, too."

One last hug between Spark and his mother, and the three of them made their way out the door. Despite not having any major victories just yet, the team was off to a great early start. Three members before their first gym was an accomplishment of some sort, right? Either way, they felt confident that they could take on whatever was ahead of them.

AN: On the road to and from Viridian City, hehe. I remember years ago when I tried to make a standard trainer's journey story based in Leaf Green, and with this chapter Chronicles of Tajiria has gone beyond those age-old meager efforts. Hooray! And we even get to introduce Spark! Hooray again! Hopefully in the next chapter we can have them take on the gym and make more progress beyond that, but that's something to worry about then, not now.

I think I should make something known right now for those who don't follow me where I post visual art (and where I've discussed this a few times previous): Spark is a transgender man. I make this known here because I'm not entirely sure how to bring it up organically without possibly being offensive, so any advice on this sort of thing would be greatly appreciated. At least I know not to say something along the lines of the highly insensitive "Spark used to be (deadname)", which was one of initially two options for having my typical nickname for female Pikachu be used in some way, and I'm glad I decided not to go down that route because like I said, it's insensitive. My other initial option was to give him a little sister with that name, hence the little Pichu girl who joins his mom on seeing him off, but then Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon happened and gave me a possible third option. I've since been able to take that third option (hence why she's called Eva and not my usual female Pikachu name), which was to give that nickname to a female Alolan Raichu. Unfortunately you won't be able to see her for a LONG while unless you follow my DA and Tumblr, but she's...she's certainly something, hehehe. And I mean that in a good way.

—Jess aka PuppyLuver256