The small white boat pulled up in the designated area, which had been marked off next to the entrance into the Ferry Terminal where the ferries entered. Sandra got out of the boat carefully and tied it to one of the posts, then tied the back end to another of the posts. Then, she knelt down and extended her hand to Riley. He grabbed it and she helped him out of the boat and onto the harbour.
Riley and Sandra walked close to each other as they stepped up the metal staircase that lead up to the main level of the ferry terminal. The bestower of the Hourglass Badge held the heavy-looking glass-and-metal door open for Riley, who walked in, smiling at her graciously. "I'll see you later, then, huh?" Sandra smiled, half-closing the doors. Riley nodded and gave her a polite wave. "Alright! Visit me in Suncoast City, and don't forget!"
The Pokemon Trainer stepped out into the surprisingly busy shoreline town, Peurt Town. A tall, beautiful young woman wearing a tuxedo and stylish dress pants, all in navy blue, greeted Riley, "Hello there, sir! Welcome to Peurt Town, where you're never far from the sea! Our little town in built out of metals and foundation as an extension of the mainland in order to optimize the shipment of goods. Cool, right?"
Riley had zoned out about halfway through her introductory speech, but nodded and smiled anyway. The greeter stepped to the side and let Riley through the sliding glass doors of the Ferry Terminal. She was right, this town was completely made of metal. It was mostly flat with the only protrusions from the ground being cozy-looking but slightly boring rectangular homes that were made of the same material as the ground. Some people had painted them, which was nice, but it was a little odd of a design choice.
Hey!, he thought. This was a route through Chinocko he's never been through before! He decided that the first place he would stop would be the Pokemon Centre, which looked out of place being the only round building among several rectangular ones, but was recognizable for that reason.
As he went to the computer, he heard something from the television in the waiting area, "-art-Topper is Once Again Sung by Polleniah." Polleniah? The woman in the flashy, out-there, but somehow stylish outfit that faced against him in the Contest Palace the one time he decided to go? She was a popular musical artist, wasn't she? He listened in from the back of his mind as he focused on rearranging the Pokemon in the Virtual Paradise.
"Feel the sorrow, notice the pain! Don't let yourself get drowned by the rain, oh no!" sang a voice that was quieted in order for the news anchor to be heard better, but was still just loud enough for Riley to hear from this distance, and very recognizable. It was the exact same voice as the Polleniah from the Contest Palace. Did she always sound like an angel?
Her song went on, "I believe in you, like the truth and the lies that my heart pumps out! Yeah, I know better than to imagine what's behind your mask, but I know that if I try hard enough, I'll see the crystal in those eyes that no one has ever seen."
Huh, Riley thought. She really did deserve her spot as the week's Chart-Topper. Maybe he could accomplish that... if he could ever muster the courage to even open his mouth.
"Tooth!" Bluntooth purred. Excited to be a part of reality again, it rubbed its ice-covered cheek against Riley's leg, who smiled brightly and picked it up, giving it a nuzzle with his nose.
Riley put Bluntooth down and returned both of the Darwing he had taken with him into the PC. He sat down, putting Bluntooth in his lap. All of his Pokemon were fully-healed, so he didn't worry with healing them, but he did hear some of the staff behind the counter.
"Polleniah got the Number 1 spot on the charts again!" said one of the nurses with girlish excitement.
"Really? Awesome!" The girl who was being talked to, a worker at the PokeMart section of the Pokemon Centre, held tightly onto a box of goods that her customer had ordered. In the corner of the box was a small round slot that had an odd-coloured white PokeBall stuck in it. The girl carrying the box hopped up onto one of her feet and bent the other slightly with excitement upon hearing the news. Riley watched them the entire time.
Then, he turned back to the TV, where a new news story had come on screen. "Miraculously, the Oil Spill in Emerald Atoll has Been Cleared! Could Team Delta Have Been Behind It the Entire Time? What Does This Mean for the Citizens of Chinocko? Find out at 5 o'clock!"
He walked through the boring town. Boring was right. Everything was so flat and similar. Nothing particularly stood out. He got it, how extravagant can you make a man-made city? But did it have to be this generic?
He sat at the edge of the town, watching the boats below as they parted and docked and he observed their directions and the people he could see on them. They were all small and hard to make out from so high up above the water, but they were people at least. Anything to get him away from the constant of organized rectangles. Thankfully, he knew he didn't have to find a gym in this town. How would he even know what to look for?
"Time to shed my old skin and show the world what's really inside!" a young man, about Riley's age but only a year or so older, sang quietly as he walked down the street wearing stylish black headphones that had Pikachu ears on them that even lit up yellow!
Jeez, was everyone in this town obsessed with Polleniah? Riley proceeded past a number of people who were as generic as their home. In order to keep his bored mind from going crazy, he stopped to talk to a girl who was wearing a crop top that had a Meowstic on it and jean shorts that had ripped at her knees. "What's up?" she asked him. He told her a little about himself and that he just wanted to say hi. "Well, hi then! My name's Rosa, and I'm a big advocate for Berry Farming. Have a nice day, eh?"
Riley waved goodbye. Thankfully, he could see the end in sight. There was a makeshift Entrance Gate made out of a hollowed-out one of the rectangular pieces that made up the blasted lifeless town, and on the other side was a refreshingly grassy route. No big trees, no scorching sands, no hard rocks, no forest marsh. Just calm, soft grass.
In the distance, he could see a wall. It looked like a castle wall, but there was absolutely nothing within it that he could see. He walked forward, being careful to avoid the tall grass. An Eevee skittered from one patch of tall grass to the next, nearly running into Riley's foot and knocking him over. He also saw an Aractric in one of the trees. That Aractric better not hurt that Eevee...
As he progressed on, he saw a Pokemon that he wasn't familiar with. It had two legs and each of its two big feet had wide pads on their base. Its two legs were attached to a head that had two big, blue, round eyes that looked especially blue because they were hidden under the shadow of the mushroom cap on the Pokemon's head.
"Tooth!" Bluntooth hissed at it!
"Fongu!" it chittered, its voice cute and soft. It scurried around clumsily on its feet, then ran into a tree that was on the side of the path. Riley couldn't help but giggle.
Bluntooth used Ice Fang! It bit into the Pokemon's mushroom cap! It did regular damage. Riley could have sworn this was an Ice-type Pokemon!
"Fongoof!" it shouted, stomping its feet! It wasn't playing around anymore! Bluntooth's body tensed up. Riley noticed that spores from Fongoof's mushroom cap were on Bluntooth's snout fur. Did it ingest any? Probably, because it was Paralyzed!
"Fongu-fongu!" Fongoof cried. It skipped happily up to Bluntooth's tense body and used Leech Seed! It planted seeds in Bluntooth's fur that drew Bluntooth's health from it! Riley knew Bluntooth could take this! He had it Ice Fang again! Even though it was paralyzed, Bluntooth landed its hit, landing a critical hit no less!
"Fong... gu... oof..." it sighed as it spun around on one leg before fainting. After the battle, Riley saw someone approaching. He had on a long scarf that was hanging over his shoulders and not tied as well as an outlandishly bright jacket that flowed behind him like a robe. That wasn't Chinockan style at all. Was it anyone's style?
"I am Ross, a Musician from Peurt Town," he introduced himself. Riley figured such an unusual man would be the dramatic type. "Route 8 is a fine location, is it not? You can even get to Mount Charm from here. Unfortunately, though, that location is closed off at the moment."
Ross? A musician from Peurt Town? This was the guy who Sandra wanted the White Rose delivered to. Riley tried to get his attention, but he was already walking away by the time Riley realized what he had for this guy. "Sorry, I'm late for a gig," he chuckled, overdramatically gesturing with his hands. "I'll see you later, if fate would give me that."
Riley followed Ross back into Peurt Town. He followed Ross to his home, a rectangular building that had a guitar design painted on the glass front doors which made up most of the front wall. He was sitting at his piano when Riley arrived.
"You know," he smiled, his eyes closed as his fingers instinctively traveled over the keys. "My friend, I knew you'd come here."
Riley gasped!
"I'm no psychic, no." Ross continued playing his piano, but when he got up, it continued to play. "I've just got that allure to me, you know? That allure." He smiled conceitedly. "One just has to follow me. And one such as you- I could see when I looked into your charming grey eyes- would follow me all the way home." He moved over to his guitar, playing that next.
Ross chuckled, "Aren't I lucky my home is built of steel, Mr. Lycanroc."
Riley's face turned red and he started sweating warm, uncomfortable drops of moisture that made his clothes feel uncomfortable and tight.
Ross stopped playing his guitar, but notes continued to play from it. "I assume you want something from me?" Riley handed him the dome-shaped capsule that Sandra had given him for delivery. "A rose? For moi?" Ross fanned his cheeks with his glove-covered fingers.
"I'm flattered! But aren't you a little young for me, boy?" Ross put his fingers on the strings of a harp and then began plucking them. "Oh well," he sighed, smiling. "A gift, after all, is a gift." He stopped playing the harp, though it too continued producing notes even with no fingers on its strings.
"From Sandra, huh?" Ross grumbled, looking disapprovingly at Riley. "If you were going to ask a man out, my friend, I'd put your own name on the card." Ross continued reading, grabbing his glasses off the side table beside him mid-sentence to help him read. He held them just in front of his eyes rather then putting them on for whatever reason. Riley was getting extremely uncomfortable.
"Ross, I'd like to thank you for playing music for my mother's birthday party. She was feeling downright miserable after the loss of her Krookodile, and so was my father who had raised Krookodile alongside her. It was your old music that they say all the time was their first song that they danced together to. I knew it would bring up their spirits if their favourite composer from ten years ago," he stopped reading after that word. "Geez, is everyone so cruel to musicians in this day? All the credit and fame goes to the singers. Why I ought to..." He sighed and kept reading, "If their favourite composer from ten years ago played at my mother's birthday party. This rare White Rose that I got from a bouquet that a sweet girl visiting my father's hotel from the Alola region gave me is for you, as thanks for accepting my request to play at my mother's party. It wouldn't have been the same without you, thank you. Signed, Sandra."
He took a deep breath in. "Sandra... who was that again?" He put his finger to his chin. "Was she that really underdressed girl from Suncoast City with the outlandish hair and fetch watch on her wrist?"
He was one to talk, Riley said underneath his breath. Sandra was an accomplished and compassionate young girl not even terribly older than Riley himself. She'd inherited her family's Hourglass Badge and she also assisted in the oil spill at Emerald Atoll. And Ross had the guts to speak of her in vain?
"Oh well, thanks to her, I suppose. A truly touching letter, really. I think I even remember that party. My, her mother was beautiful with her form-fitted sundress. But anyway, since you're a delivery boy," Ross said, looking to Riley when he paused. "Right?" he questioned, making a questioning expression with his face, before swiping his hand lazily at Riley in disregard. "You can deliver this for me." He took a Rotom-inspired necklace off of the same desk where he had found- and now was in the action of putting back- his glasses. He handed the pretty jewelry to Riley.
"It's to Polleniah's agent, who is named Asia. Got it? Pol-len-i-ah. You know, the self-proclaimed chart topper? I was a chart topper in my day, you know? What Polleniah produces is... rubbish, really. Oh, anyway, it's for her agent." Ross put his hand on one side of his mouth and gave Riley a sideways glance as he moved his body in towards the Pokemon Trainer. "It's technically bribery, but I really want another chance at success. Even if it means I have to work with that trashy Polleniah," the musician whispered.
Riley started heading east again, and this time he proceeded all the way to the castle-style wall around what he could only guess was a city. There were three arches built into the wall, each one tapering into a triangular angle at the top. The central arch was a rather large glass door. The outer two arches were more like half-arches that merged into the main arch, the door. The outer arches each had windows inside them. The windows were all made of small squares of glass with black rods holding them all together, but the door was tall and grand.
Riley looked through the glass of the door. His jaw dropped as he saw what was inside. There were skyscrapers inside this city's wall. He ran back and looked at the wall from farther away. The skyscrapers were nowhere to be seen from this perspective! More shockingly, though, was that there was a fire surrounding the entire city. It wasn't inside the city, but conveniently blazing in a circle around the city. In fact, the circle of flames looked to be the same parameter as the inside of the wall around the city.
Riley read a plaque that was beside the door. "Malasarri City," it read. "Modern technology doing what once only our minds could."