Keran returned home late that night. Fully having missed her mother, the exact way she'd planned. It was with a grin that she slunk her way into her temporary room. A chime sounded from a phone that had been all but forgotten. Almost confused, she looked at the device and realized she didn't recognize the number. It wasn't from the league, so it wasn't important. At least, not enough to keep her awake that night. The pasty woman rolled her shoulder a bit, stretching her body and muscles before dropping her very short shorts to the floor. The next morning would be there soon enough and she'd want all the rest she could before taking off.
It wasn't a long night. Four hours tops. Keran was already wide awake and packing. The distance between Littleroot and Oldale Town wasn't that great, but she'd be moving constantly until she got to Fallarbor. Supplies were required, and this little torchic was in desperate need of training.
Finally ready for the second journey, Keran stepped one smartly shoed foot downstairs. It only took one look for her mother to know what was happening. Silently, she picked up the bag that was sitting for her on the table and walked to the door. "See you later." Ker mumbled, waving with her free hand. And with that, Ker had said her goodbyes and set out. The pale woman stepped into the sunlight, slinging a backpack onto her shoulders.
"Alright, time to get this party on the road. The sooner we get to Lanette, the sooner we can get the rest of the team back together." She spoke to herself. Her feet found the path they'd taken the day before, leading her out of town and towards her first stop. Oldale Town. The actual new trainer, Brendan, was supposedly collecting data from the nearby area. It would be the perfect opportunity to train up the little fire type at her hip and teach him how to battle.
A grim smile spread across her cheeks, letting the torchic loose. "Okay little guy. First thing's first. You need a name." Keran spoke to the pokemon. It chirped at her happily. "How about… Gerttie?" She joked, watching the pokemon reject the name. "Hmmm… Well, are you a boy or a girl?" Ker asked, being completely serious. "One chirp for girl, two for boy." The torchic responded with two chirps. Most pokemon professors had were boys. She still had to figure that one out. But then, that might have been why she wasn't a professor. Didn't really want to or need to know. "Blaze?" Keran offered, a real smile appearing on her face as the newly named pokemon gave his seal of approval.
"So, you have a name, I have a faux rival, and we have an adventure. And a father to go visit. Off we go Blaze." She tried not to groan, coaxing the little fireball up to her shoulder. Keran had no immediate plans to put him into his ball. He could ride along outside until he was big enough to walk along her. He was going to get a good deal bigger than her eventually.
The trip to Oldale town was fairly uneventful. They rousted a few poocheyna and zigzagoon from their home. Even managed to spot a seedot. A few pokemon she'd seen before, from other trainers, or even just running wild. She hadn't exactly bothered to catch every pokemon she spotted. Really it was just the ones that wanted to join her on her journey.
They made amazing time. They were in Oldale town in almost no time at all. It may have been because of Keran's running habit, or the fact that there was almost no space between Littleroot and Oldale. The place was so small, she could see almost from one end to another. With a sigh, Keran turned her brilliant green eyes to the nearest pokecenter. The place she thought all her problems would've been solved. Turns out it was just a traitor of false hope. If Blaze didn't need a quick check up, she wouldn't have stopped in. As it were, Blaze was looking a little worse for wear, and she was more of a breeder than a healer.
"Nurse Joy, my torchic needs a checkup." She called, seeing no one in the lobby. At least, no one that was being helped. There were always a couple of trainers hanging out at centers. They did provide free boarding when it was needed, and pretty much anything else a trainer might need in their journeys. She'd spent more than her fair share of nights on a cot provided by a nurse Joy. Keran snapped out of the train of thought, gently setting the pokemon on the counter and fishing his ball off her waist. The nurse took him for a moment, looking the little guy over. She smiled and returned him healed up.
"Thank you Nurse Joy." Ker took the strong little ball of fire off the counter and headed out the door. It was time to find her fake rival. The whole reason she was really even taking it slowly. North first, he might have taken off onto the trails between cities to study.
Not three steps towards her destination, a clerk came up to her practically throwing potions at her. With a grimace, she took them and tucked them into the pack that would carry her pokemon related items. Thank goodness for infinite storage in PCs. "Thank you…" She offered, not really meaning it. Mostly she just wanted the guy gone. She needed to get on with her trip, and seriously, she needed to get to Fallarbor and meet up with Lanette.
Finally free of the troublesome clerk, Keran made her way north, onto route 103. Sure enough, there he was, just a little way into the path. Well, far enough into it she'd almost lost the view of Oldale, not that she was complaining. It was a dinky little city and she'd much rather not linger anywhere too long. "Hey Brendan." She called, waving to him. "Want to battle?" Ker asked, smirking. She didn't really mean the expression, mostly certain she was going to whip his butt. The short time she'd spent with Blaze they had been training and been getting used to one another.
"Oh yeah! I'll teach you what being a trainer is all about!" He was super excited. Little did he know Ker and Blaze were almost on a completely different level. That didn't matter though, he was just thrilled to have an honest battle with what he believed to be a new trainer! He could go all out with his pokemon, and this would be so much fun!
"Sure sure~ Bring it on Brendan" She teased, setting Blaze on the ground. Two days in her care and he was already super spoiled. Blaze needed no prompting the second Brendan's mudkip was released. They'd spent enough time fighting already, he knew what to do. Ember, ember ember! "Wait, wait Blaze. That's a water type, your fire won't work." She carefully scolded him. He knew well enough to attack everything with all he had, but it wasn't the best course of action. And that was it. Blaze took the battle like it was cake, and crying out triumphantly.
"So… How was it for you?" Ker grinned, shoving her hands in the small pockets on her hips. Nothing said laid back like not really paying attention to the battle that had just taken place. No matter how she looked at it, Brendan had potential, just not the same kind she had. Maybe there was a good chance she could make a run for champion out here? Naaaaaah. Let Brendan have that chance.
"Wow Keran! You're a lot better than I thought!" He beamed. "I can see why my dad was excited to meet you! And your torchic, it already adores you! I feel like you could make friends with any pokemon with ease~" He spilled, seemingly thrilled to have the encounter.
"Thanks Brendan." She blushed a little, rubbing the back of her neck. He was really almost cute when he gushed like that. Almost. The boy was still just a bit too young for her tastes. "Are you headed back to talk to your father?" Ker asked, planning on getting out of this tiny little place as quickly as possible.
"Yeah, he wanted me to report in before I left on my journey. Are you going to Petalburg?" He returned fire, looking hopefully at her.
"Petalburg is on my way. I'm going out to Fallarbor to speak with someone out there. I guess I need to talk to my father while I'm in the area." She shrugged, the air of nonchalance resuming around her. She really didn't want to travel with someone, but it didn't look like she was going to have much of a choice if she didn't shake him now.
"O-oh." He blinked, surprised. He hadn't expected her to know her way around already. But then, she was a killer trainer, so it only made sense, right? "Wanna walk back to Littleroot with me?" Brendan asked, hopeful.
Ker shook her head. "I need to get moving. Tell your dad hi for me, k?" Instant rejection. She really didn't want to travel with him. Maybe there was someone else she could walk with, but not Brendan. No way she was going to dampen his intended rivalry with her by traveling together. He'd progress much more without her beside him the entire time. "I'm off to… Whatever town is after this one." She shook her head, emphasizing her lack of interest.
"Oh.. Okay." Dejected, he shoved his hands into his own pockets, and kicked at the ground. "I'll see you later?" Even with her instant rejection, he sounded a bit hopeful. Maybe there was a chance they could meet up after his business was finished at home?
"Mmm.. Sure. I'll see you around later" Again, that fake smile was plastered on her face. Her attempt to look cheery and upbeat. Ker waved, turning and walking away. Brendan had stood there for a moment, appearing to hope she would change her mind. When it was obvious that wasn't happening, he ran off towards their town. Nothing she was overly concerned with. There was a pokemon attempting to pounce them that was far more distracting.
"Okay Blaze, when this pokemon comes to us we want to show it how to be part of the team. Not to knock him out. Understand?" She was careful, Blaze had a lot of potential, but if they didn't take it cautiously, he could hurt a lot of pokemon that wouldn't have the ability to get better. Best to be gentle about it all. When Blaze chirped his confirmation, both their attentions turned to the poochyena that was trying too hard to be subtle about it's approaching attack.
Blaze jumped off his perch on her shoulder, rustling through the grass that was, quite honestly, as tall as he was. In a matter of seconds, the chick pokemon was blowing a puff of fire at his opponent's bum. Spook the other pokemon! Because that's what his trainer told him to do right?! Blaze snickered, releasing a puff of fire towards the opposing pokemon. He was so distracted he didn't even notice when it came back and chomped at his leg with an ice move! An ICE move?!
Ker smacked her palm to her forehead. This hadn't gone at all like she'd planned. Oh well, that was pokemon. They didn't always listen, and even more so, they all had a mind of their own. But that new guy. "Blaze, back off. Let's see if he wants to join our team." That was a rare move wasn't it? Something she hadn't seen on a dark type before. The not so new trainer fished a spare pokeball out of her bag and held it out to the poochyena. "Want to join us?"
Looking offended, Blaze backed up. Scary lady was scary and he didn't want to make her mad. But that attack really hurt! And she was just going to catch the other pokemon? Just like that?! He was even more appalled when the new guy practically jumped into the offered pokeball. Huff. He was supposed to be her favorite.
The ball didn't even shake. The poochyena desperately wanted to be part of her team. Keran smirked, pressing the ball to her lips before tucking it into the spot riiight next to Blaze's pokeball. She'd come up with a name later. But first, they needed to get back to a pokecenter and check both pokemon out. Blaze was favoring one foot over the other, while the poochyena was fresh from the wild. It would also be a good chance to check for fleas or other pests.
It didn't take long to arrive. Mostly because they hadn't gone far before the ambush. Nurse Joy took the two possibly injured pokemon to the back to look over them, leaving Keran to wait in the lobby until they were finished. "Okay, so everyone's getting checked out. Might as well see if there's any league news…" She mumbled, finding a spare computer and logging in. There was a new video message from her commanding champion. Keran's brow wrinkled with concern, opening the message. It was odd they'd contact her so quickly.
"Keran, I know you're off traveling in another region, but we have some league business for you to take care of while you're over there. It seems there's a few groups of extremists trying to raise a legendary pokemon and destroy the world. You know, the same old stuff." There was a pause, papers shuffling around, and another paper raised to provide more information. "It's either Team Magma or Team Aqua. I don't really know which. The local champion over there would know more about it than us. He asked if we could lend a hand in the search for these groups and to root out whoever it turns out to be. I've sent over all the information we have, but you'll need to get with Devon Co. in Robostoro." Another pause, attention elsewhere for a half second. "Keep in touch." And the feed cut out.
There was clearly no arguing about this. Keran sighed. It looked like there was work already. Hadn't she told them it would be weeks before she'd be ready to do anything while she was out here? A vacation had been demanded in her acceptance of the job. Was three days considered a vacation for these people? Keran sighed a little, closing out of her league email and wondering just what she'd gotten herself into. Maybe she really didn't need the time off like she thought she would. The distraction of raising these new pokemon was something she was enjoying. And investigating this possibly world destruction was enough to keep her occupied for a while, and it was a good excuse to start a new team in the process.
It was about then Nurse Joy returned with the two pokemon she was now raising. "Thank you." She gave the nurse her best fake smile and collected her two companions. Her father's gym wasn't too far away now and it was truly time to move along.