=Training with a Stranger=
Today marked the first day for Justin on his Pokémon journey. The first real day where for the next two years he would try to complete in the Kalos Championship League without his father to be there for him to help him on his journey. From today forward Justin's goal was to complete his journey without having to rely on his father to come to his aid if things got too hard. Part of the spirit of the challenge for many young aspiring Trainers was to test personal will and determination to see if they had what it took to become the next regional champion.
Try as he might, Justin wasn't able to get a good night's sleep. His thoughts stopping him from getting the rest he needed. He kept thinking about what his journey would entail, and what he would need to do to compete in the Kalos League. That and he had a stomach ache from the salty food he made for both him and Karen.
Slowly, Justin opened his eyes and was greeted by the warm light of the spring sun shining through the treetops of the Santalune Forest. It was still early in the morning, but Justin had the day planned out.
First order of business was breakfast. He hoped it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as dinner was last night, but he didn't want to kid himself.
Next, after they packed, he wanted to attempt to train Karen. He knew she was strong and would become powerful as she became older, but he needed to work on himself in becoming more confident in his calls and decision making.
The training was for more himself than for her.
It would still take at least the whole day to exit the forest if they walked all the entire time at a brisk pace, but there was no need for that. Training was more important, and he figured he would just embarrass himself if he made it all the way to the Santalune City gym and didn't plan out a halfway decent strategy with Karen and lost instantly.
He was about to sit up as he felt a weight shift on his lap. Karen was still curled up on him sleeping peacefully. Carefully Justin sat up and gently shook her awake and while rubbing her back and getting a soft coo from her. After a bit Karen finally started to wake up and began to yawn before looking up at Justin before sitting up and wagging her tail with a sleepy smile on her face.
"Good morning Karen." Justin yawned softly as he pet his Starter causing her to wag her tail more excitedly and yip playfully at him. "We need to start getting ready to move deeper into the woods to head to Santalune City, but before that I need to cook breakfast."
At that last part, Karen couldn't help it as she stopped wagging her tail and looked at Justin with a horrified expression. The look she gave him stung, but he knew it wasn't unfounded.
"Sorry girl, I know last night's soup wasn't very good, but the more I cook, the better I'll get. I promise it won't be as bad as that Whiscash soup." Justin said with embarrassment evident in his voice. "I haven't had enough practice, but I'll try as hard as I can to make it taste better."
At that Karen gave a small nod and resumed her tail wagging before running off to chew on the stick she found yesterday.
Justin wasted no time as he began to put on his socks and boots, hat, and belt. Making sure that he still had Karen's Pokéball with him. Karen's was the only Pokéball on his belt, since the ones he had recently bought were still in his pack. Not wanting to lose it, he took a marker from his pack and wrote a small "K" on her Pokéball. For a reason he still didn't understand, Karen really didn't want to go back into her ball, but he also didn't want to press the issue with her, not that he could even understand her if she answered him anyways.
As Justin began to roll up his sleeping bag and gather rest of his things, he wondered what he would try to cook for him and Karen this morning. Maybe the Whiscash soup was too hard for him to make as his first dish out on his adventure. Maybe an Oran Berry soup would be easier he thought. He did have a pack of fresh berries that his father bought for him the day before.
With Karen's help, he began to gather sticks to make a small fire to cook the berries. According to his cook book, Oran Berry soup needed a small amount of grated carrots to help balance out the sweetness of the Oran Berries. Along with fresh water and a bit of time, this recipe was a lot simpler than last night's soup.
He kicked himself mentally for not starting out with something so simple.
Justin spent the next thirty-five minutes preparing the Oran Berry soup and cooking it. The instructions said to squish the berries in a pot and wring most of the water out from them to prevent the soup from being to watery and adding in a grated carrot after half the berries were prepared and then add the other half after. Then add a few cups of water based on preference to determine the consistency of the soup.
Justin couldn't help but feel pride at the soup he was making. It didn't look amazing since it only used two ingredients and they were roughly prepared, it looked like some sort of chunky goop. However, as he learned from last night's dinner, just because it looked good didn't mean it tasted good.
He even tasted it before getting his hopes up. It tasted just like Oran Berries, but not as sweet and with a hint of carrots. It was easily the best food he had ever made. Even if it was something as simple as a few berries, carrots and some water, he couldn't help but feel pride.
"Karen come here, breakfast is ready." Justin called out for the Fennekin as she was busy playfully hoping around in a nearby bush and chewing on a branch with her tail wagging in the air.
At the mention of food, she ran excitedly towards Justin before slowing down as she neared him, remembering the food he fed her last night. She eyed the pot cautiously before looking up at Justin who was busy filling up a bowl for her. She couldn't help but feel a mounting dread, but the promise of food was too much to pass up.
Besides, Justin promised he would get better at cooking so the least she could do for him was support him she thought. Even if she couldn't get any sleep from the stomach ache the salty soup gave her. She had to run off in the middle of the night twice to avoid getting sick on him.
As she thought about her own lack of sleep Justin placed a bowl at her feet, its contents looking something like what she threw up last night. The sight of it almost made her gag, but she hid it as best as she could so Justin wouldn't notice. Despite the appearance, it didn't smell bad at all. It smelled sweet and she loved sweet foods.
"Don't be scared Karen." Justin said to her breaking her from her thoughts. "I tasted it and it's really good, it just looks weird." He said as he ate a spoonful and dug in for more.
Justin didn't act like it tasted bad and she trusted him. So, she closed her eyes and ate a small bite and braced herself. She was relived at the revelation, it tasted just how it smelled. Sweet like Oran Berries with a mild taste of carrots. The soup its self was chucky, but she didn't mind, she just wanted food that didn't make her feel sick.
Before she knew it, she had finished the entire bowl. She didn't think about pacing herself as she ate her bowl, excited at eating food that was sweet. That and she felt like she was starving from throwing up the Whiscash soup late into the night.
"Fenne Fennekin!" Karen barked happily at Justin while wagging her tail and pawing at his brown pants begging for more soup.
"What's the matter girl, want more?" Justin asked the excited Fox Pokémon, having a feeling at what she wanted. He was glad that she liked the soup, simple as it was, he couldn't mess it up unless he really tried.
However, he made a different over sight. While this time the food tasted a lot better and they could both go for more bowls, he didn't make enough.
In case the soup was a failure like the one before, Justin decided to make only enough for two bowls, so he didn't waste as much food as he did from last night. The pot was able to hold much more soup than he thought and there was a lot more than one bowl of Whiscash soup. The pot had enough for another three bowls of the foul salty soup.
Now that they both wanted more, there was nothing left in the pot.
"Sorry Karen, but I didn't know if it would come out well, so I only made enough for one bowl each of us." Justin admitted to his Starter and was met with her sad eyes and a soft whine. "I'm sorry Karen, but if you want, I can make us more later. Besides we have a lot to walk today so maybe not eating so much is for the better."
At that Karen nodded in agreement and ran off towards the bushes happily and pulled out a stick to chew on.
Justin was happy that Karen was understanding, more so that the soup tasted great. He knew however, that they couldn't live off Oran Berry soup for the rest of the journey and Karen would need meat in her diet at some point to stay healthy. He'd eventually have to get better at cooking more dishes and the ones that required meat where a lot harder to cook it seemed.
For now, they would be fine, but he had to try to cross that road again to keep them both healthy. At the moment the more pressing issue was gathering the rest of his supplies and leaving camp. It was still early in the day, so they had several hours left for walking, and the training he wanted to do.
It had been a few hours since Justin and Karen left their old camp and followed the path deeper into the Santalune Forest. Eventually they reached a large clearing with small bushes off to the sides. The tree tops letting in plenty of sunlight making this a great spot for the training he wanted to do today with Karen.
"Perfect." Justin said mainly to himself, gaining a curious look from his Starter. "Karen, I want to try doing some battle practice with you today before we get to Santalune City. I think we'll both need the practice before we get to the gym, so we don't have regrets when we get there."
"Fennekin?" Karen seemed to ask while looking at Justin and then the clearing. She then walked towards the clearing and turned around to face him before sitting down and looking at him expectantly.
"We need to practice your moves, and I need to practice making calls more quickly, so we don't get slowed down." Justin said as he moved towards a dry white log with black stripes laying by some nearby bushes. "I think we should focus on your speed and the power on your attacks." He continued as he dragged the log towards her.
"You're pretty small, so we'll use that towards our advantage." Justin grunted as he dug a small hole with his hands and then stood the log in it to get it to stand without it being able to fall over.
Karen wondered what Justin had in mind. He was right, she was small and maybe if she was fast enough, she could hit he opponent before they could act. If she became strong enough then maybe the one hit before they could act could quickly end a battle with her as the victor. It made sense to her, so she wanted to train. She might finally be able to win a battle for Justin she thought.
She didn't know how they would train her speed though, she could just run around but that didn't seem like it would help her as much. She got her answer as Justin pulled out a red frisbee. She couldn't help but get excited at the thought of her training as her tail began to wag.
"Okay so first we'll work on your power." Justin said as he placed the frisbee on the ground next to his backpack and began walking towards her with a bottle of water. "I know you can use scratch, but I'd be happier if you stayed away from the Pokémon you are battling so you don't get hurt."
Justin then began splashing water on the log with his water bottle on a spot facing her. "So, I want you to focus on using Ember and any attack you learn that doesn't force you to get close, sound good?" Justin asked as he emptied the rest of the bottle on the log.
"Fennekin!" Karen barked in response as she took up a battle stance and stared at the log with determination.
"Okay, so its simple, just aim at the wet spot on the log and hit it with your strongest Ember." Justin told her as he walked towards the Fox Pokémon and stood next to her and faced the log.
"Ready? Karen use Ember attack!" He shouted as he pointed to their target.
"EKIN!" Karen barked as she focused on the fire inside her and propelled it out her mouth and towards her target. She watched helplessly as it flew harmlessly past the log and fizzled out a few feet out behind her target. She couldn't believe how she could miss a log. A LOG. It wasn't even moving; how could she miss?
"Good try Karen, don't worry this is what this training is for." Justin said to her as he looked straight ahead, not taking his eyes off the striped log. He wanted to spare her the embarrassment of missing her target and he didn't want to make her feel bad.
"Again, Ember attack!" He shouted as he looked straight ahead pointing at the log.
If Justin was angry or disappointed in her he didn't show it. Karen felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she attempted to gather the fire within her for another attack. She was determined to do the best she could for him, no matter how long it took or how tired it would make her. She would make him proud of her.
"Ekin!" Karen barked again as she felt a fireball fly out of her mouth. This one was easily bigger than the last one, but they were still pretty small. She watched with anticipation as it flew towards her target and then smacked into the log with a sizzle.
That was it, it made the log sizzle a little, nothing else.
Karen felt her cheeks becoming warm again as she turned to look up to Justin. Even that Ember focused with all her might did nothing but fizzle before the striped log, as if taunting her.
He however was flashing a large grin at her with his white teeth.
"Great Job Karen!" Justin shouted startling his Starter with his outburst. "This is a good start, now we both have something to work with. I know it didn't look like much, but that Ember did look strong. I made sure to wet the log, so it didn't take too much damage from your attacks, but if it was dry it might have caught fire." He continued while still giving her a huge smile.
At hearing Justin's words of praise, she felt relief. She was so worried that her next attack was the breaking point for him. That he would deeply regret taking her as his Starter or worse.
Her relief turned to excitement as she yipped at him excitedly with her tail wagging madly before facing the log again to continue her training. No matter how long it would take, she was determined to light that log on fire now matter how wet it was.
Justin was thoroughly impressed with Karen's Ember attack. The log he picked looked like it came from a chestnut tree. He learned about them when he went camping last year with his father. That type of tree, even when dried out were difficult to light on fire which made them a terrible choice for using as firewood. Something about how hard the wood was and a chemical that reacted poorly to fire, he couldn't remember what it was called but it was perfect for training Karen's fire attacks. She even managed to singe the log despite it also being wet by his water bottle.
Justin couldn't be prouder of his Starter, she seemed so strong. Now he needed to work on being a better trainer for her.
"Again Karen, use Ember!" Justin shouted to which Karen took up her stance again and sent another tiny fireball at the log with similar results.
Justin and Karen spent the next hour practicing her Ember attack on the Chestnut tree log. The log had been scorched from Karen's relentless attacks making it almost completely black. At one point it even briefly caught fire before quickly going out and being replaced by a dark smoke that smelled like burnt plastic.
They stopped occasionally, however, between attacks on the log as every few minutes they would both hear a rustling in some nearby bushes. When Justin would go to check what the noise was. He'd expected to find a wild Pokémon like a Caterpie or maybe a Fletchling, both being common Pokémon in the Santalune Forest, but he'd simply see an empty bush or some wild flowers.
This continued for the entire hour that he was helping Karen practice her attacks on the Log. He couldn't help but feel that something was watching him. Justin figured that whatever it was, if it was dangerous, it might have done something by now. He simply ignored the noises after a while and focused on Karen's Ember.
Karen's Ember by this point had improved drastically. Not only was it larger and brighter in intensity, but it looked like it packed a strong punch. Her control of her Ember had drastically improved over such a short time.
He couldn't help but marvel at how strong she was and if they kept up the practice daily, he hoped that next time He and Jessie battled Karen wouldn't even break a sweat against Oliver. For now, he was simply grateful to take what little time he had between walking and camping to practice with her.
"Okay, I think we've had enough time to rest Karen." Justin exhaled as he stood up from the base of a nearby tree he was leaning on. "I don't think we should spend more time on your Ember, I don't want you to get too tired."
"Ekin Fenn." Karen yipped as she stood up and began walking towards him with her tail wagging cheerfully away from the stick she had been mauling since they began their short break. Quickly becoming excited as she saw him reaching for the red frisbee he had pulled out of his backpack an hour ago.
"Fennekin Kin!" she began to bark as she ran in circles around Justin's legs before pawing at his pants and panting wildly with an excited expression.
"Woah girl calm down, its not going anywhere." Justin said as he Karen began to calm down and stare at him expectantly, her tail still wagging madly as she sat down. "Now this is just a simple exercise until I can think of something better. I'll just toss this frisbee as hard as I can across the clearing, but you can't chase after it until I say so, got it?"
"Ekin?" She seemed to ask him with a small yip.
"Hopefully this will help you get faster since you won't have a lot of time to catch it before it touches the ground. It should also help me with making calls quickly and be able to adjust to your speed, so we can both react faster in battles…well that's the plan anyway." Justin basically whispered the last part to himself.
"Okay, get ready Karen, and remember, don't chase after it until I tell you to." Justin reminded Karen before taking up a stance to throw the frisbee as hard as he could.
He threw the red toy as hard as he could towards the clearing where they were practicing her Ember on the Chestnut log. The frisbee quickly reached the peak of its arc before slowly beginning to descent.
"NOW KAREN CATCH IT!" Justin yelled as the frisbee was about to halfway down to the ground.
The Fox Pokémon took off sprinting as soon as Justin gave her the command. Even then he threw it pretty far away from them. It was easily at the other side of the clearing. Karen not wanting to disappoint Justin pushed her tiny legs as hard as she could, feeling the burn of her muscles from the strain of the exercise.
To make things worse, the pain in her ribs began to ache her body again. She wouldn't let it stop her now though, even as it started to make her wheeze.
The frisbee was moments away from landing right as Karen sprinted up to it and managed to catch it with her mouth mere inches from the ground.
Karen couldn't help but jump for joy as she turned around and ran excitedly towards her trainer. She got a good look at the distance the frisbee flew as she ran back. There was no way she should have been able to catch it before it hit the dirt, but she couldn't help but feel pride at her achievement.
If she could keep this up, then maybe she wouldn't have to worry she thought as she hurried back to her Trainer.
Justin couldn't help but let his surprise and happiness show on his face as Karen ran back to him with an equally excited face. She dropped the frisbee at his feet and began yipping happily to him while pawing at his pants. He rewarded her by petting her vigorously on the back of her head and behind her ears but careful not to get too close to get burned by them.
"Good job Karen!" He congratulated her while continuing to pet her head and then her back. Justin was worried that he had tossed the frisbee too far on the first go, but his worry quickly disappeared as he watched his starter take off at a speed he didn't think possible for her tiny form.
Karen continued to yip and hop around as Justin pet her, and then finally calmed down as he stood back up and got ready to throw it again.
"I'm about to throw it just as far, so get ready Karen!" Justin shouted as he took up his stance.
"Ready?" Justin asked as he began going through the motions but stopped as he heard the rustling from the bushes again. He couldn't help but stop to turn around despite not finding anything every time he went to go check.
This time however he saw a small girl walking towards him from where he heard the noise coming from.
The girl looked strikingly like him, creepily so. She wore the same clothes along with the same colors on them. Her face while looking somewhat like his, was more feminine with the same blue eyes as his. She had short black hair that came down a bit past her ears and then curved towards her face. Her skin was a fair shade just like his as well, everything about her so like him, yet as a girl.
"Uh hello?" Justin asked as Karen turned to look at her.
The girl simply walked forward towards him without responding causing Karen to give off a light growl, before being quickly shushed by Justin.
Karen felt embarrassed in reacting this way to a stranger that hadn't done anything, but something about the strange girl creeped her out. That was without her looking exactly like a female version of Justin as well. She just couldn't help herself as she got between Justin and the stranger and bared her tiny canines.
"Karen stop being so rude!" Justin shouted at her causing the Fennekin to fold her ears in shame and walk towards him and hide between his legs.
"I'm really sorry I don't know what's gotten into her. My name is Justin, who are you?" He asked while extending his hand towards her for a handshake.
The girl quietly looked at his hand and then stared into his eyes without saying anything while continuing to walk to him. She was now right next to him, her face mere inches from his, all the while not saying a word.
"Uhh… I uhh… was just helping…. my Fennekin… practice for…. battles…" Justin stammered to the stranger as he was not used to a girl being so close to him, especially one that hadn't said a single word so far.
The girl continued to stare into his eyes without saying a word, her face expressionless.
The only sound around them was Karen's growing growls, which quickly became angry barks.
Then suddenly without warning, the girl turned around and took off running towards the bushes she came out of and then ran off past a tree hiding her from view.
"Hey wait!" Justin shouted after her as he went to follow her along with Karen, however when they got to the tree that she used to escape his sight he lost track of her.
The trees past this point were larger and could easily hide a child, but she got away too easily regardless. As Justin turned to look at Karen with a look of frustration for being so aggressive with a person they barely met for a minute he noticed something as she turned her head away in shame.
The only foot prints in the area where his.
Karen was too light to leave behind tracks, being just barely taller than a foot. Justin on the other hand, was much bigger and wore hiking boots which dug into the ground heavily. The strange girl looked like she had the exact same boots as well. She on the other hand left no such tracks, and he was completely sure she ran this way.
Justin didn't make eye contact with his Starter as he walked back to the clearing and picked up his frisbee. He raised it up for a second and then took up his throwing stance again as he heard the soft pats of Karen's paws next to him.
"Ready?" He asked with a hint of disappointment towards the way his Starter behaved.
"Fennekin." Karen barked softly as she readied herself. She had no idea what possessed her to act that way to someone else. When she met Kyler, she liked him instantly, she could tell he was a good person and a great trainer. She wouldn't have dared to act that way towards him.
Something about the girl on the other hand put her on edge. It was strange enough she looked like Justin, but there was more to it. Even the way the girl smelled was odd…
"NOW!" Justin shouted causing Karen to panic. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice that Justin had tossed the frisbee already and it was well on its way to landing. Just as far as he threw it the first time, but she wasn't ready. There was no possible way she could get there in time before it hit the dirt.
She wasn't even halfway there as she begged her body to carry her faster before it could smack into the dirt. She was so close, a few feet more and she could still make it. That is before the pain in her ribs caught her off guard and caused her body to cramp up, causing her to lose her footing just enough to not be able to make it in time to catch the frisbee.
She slowed to a crawl as it smacked into the ground and rolled away from her, seeming to further taunt her. She instinctively tucked her tail between her legs and folded her ears down as she walked towards it slowly and picked it up in her mouth.
She then commenced her walk of shame back towards Justin as she just stared at the ground, unwilling to look him in the eyes. She walked for what felt like hours before gently placing the red frisbee at his feet and sat down tucking her tail under her and whining softly.
Justin sighed as he reached down and picked up the frisbee and tucked it into his bag.
"We've had enough training for now, we still have a long way to walk before we need to set up camp." He said barely masking the annoyance in his voice as he walked away from her down the path towards the city.
Justin and Karen walked in an awkward silence for the next several minutes together as they headed towards Santalune City.
Justin wasn't really angry at her. He was more surprised at how she seemed so aggressive towards that girl. Coupled with the fact that she looked like him, down to the clothes. It was a bit much for the young trainer.
"I should apologize to her. I'm sure she had a good reason….things would be so much easier if I could understand her." He thought to himself.
Karen wished they could just go to sleep and start a new day. She knew they wouldn't start camp for several more hours at least. She couldn't tell what time of day it was but looking up at the sky made it quite clear, it was midday at most.
Even though there was clearly something wrong with that girl. All she could think about was why she looked like him, if someone saw them together, they would instantly think they were twins. Justin clearly didn't seem to know her however, and she refused to speak even a single word to him before staring at him creepily.
Even before all that something was off. She just couldn't pin down what.
"Hey Karen…" Justin suddenly spoke up causing her to tense up at being spoken to by her trainer. This was it, she would now get her punishment she thought.
"Listen about what happened back there…" He continued as they both slowly walked down a path through the Santalune Forest. Karen just closed her eyes as she tucked her tail between her legs. Her ribs starting to ache again.
"I'm sorry…I'm sure you had a good reason for getting defensive. Even if I can't understand you…. I believe you were just trying to keep us safe…." Justin said apologetically with shame evident in his voice.
At that Karen stopped walking forward and couldn't help but stare at her trainer as he kept walking. She expected to get yelled at, to get locked in her Pokéball and be traded off to some other trainer… or worse.
He, however, was apologizing to her.
"Fennekin?" She couldn't help but ask as he continued to walk forward, turning to look at her when she spoke up. "Fenn Ekin Fen Kin Kin." She couldn't help but whine softly to him.
Justin just shook his head as he slowly walked back to his Starter. "I can't understand you, sorry. I do want you to know that I'm not mad at you or anything though." He continued as he bent down and reached down to scratch behind her ears.
Karen knew Justin couldn't understand her. Their languages were nothing alike, but she still wanted to apologize to him as well. "Ekin Kin Fen Fenn." She continued to whine to her trainer in apology. Only slightly tensing as Justin reached down to pet her before relaxing at his intentions.
"I don't want you to be upset. I can't understand you and sometimes I'll just get the wrong idea. I just hope that as we travel together, we'll get better at talking to each other." He told her as he stopped petting her to look into her eyes.
"That's if you want to keep traveling with me as your trainer that is." Justin said as he extended his hand to her.
He told himself that he would be okay with her not wanting to keep traveling with him. He didn't immediately side with his Starter when she turned on the girl. There was something off about her, Karen clearly knew something he didn't, and he didn't trust his Pokémon. She had yet to fail him in anyway, every loss so far was his fault he thought, and she stayed with him. It was only fair to give her the chance to find someone else if she wanted.
Karen was taken aback from what Justin was telling her. Why was he apologizing to her she thought. True, he couldn't understand her. She did however cross the line, she was ready to attack despite the fact that Justin had everything under control and the girl wasn't a threat. He had every right to punish her or send her away.
When he extended his arm to her, she was confused. She wasn't sure what Justin wanted, but she wanted to tell him she would stay by his side as long as he was willing to keep her. Then she remembered what Justin and Kyler did when they first met. To her it seemed like the perfect way to give him her answer.
Karen looked into Justin's eyes seeing resolution on his young face before looking down at the ground to her paws. Slowly she raised one of her front paws and gently placed it on his hand. When she did that Justin slowly closed his hand on her paw giving her a grateful smile and then shaking her paw up and down gently.
Justin couldn't help himself as he felt tears streak down his face. Suddenly without warning he left go of her paw and picked her up before pulling her into a hug and crying into her warm fur. He was relieved that she wasn't going to leave him despite his failures as a trainer and for not trusting his starter. That and the fact that no one was around to see him crying.
"Ekin Kin Fennekin." She softly yipped at him. She wasn't sure why he was so sad, but she just wanted to stay with him and make him happy. She didn't want him to be sad anymore. She knew that eventually, they'd be able to understand each other, for now they just had to try the best they could.
After what felt like an eternity Justin let go of the Fox Pokémon and began to stand back up. He wiped his eyes with his sleeves, red and puffy from crying so much on her fur and looked at his Starter with a smile.
"Well that's enough of that I think." He said shyly as he looked back towards the path. "Thanks Karen, we can go practice more later if you want.
"Fennekin kin kin!" She happily barked as she ran up to him, wagging her tail and looking down the path they need to keep traveling to enter the city.
Karen and Justin still had much to achieve in terms of being able to understand each other. Ever so slowly however, they would slowly be able to communicate their thoughts and feelings to one another. It would just take time and patience from them both. Eventually, they hoped, there would be no misunderstanding between them and they would both be able to talk to each other.
For now, they were content with simply continuing their journey through the Santalune Forest and into Santalune City to tackle the City's gym and overcome the next hurdle in their adventure together.