Aiden was sitting comfortably at home, carefully writing on a piece of paper, when Trevor suddenly burst in through the door with a look of manic excitement. In his right paw was a piece of paper which he began waving around eagerly.
"Aiden! I managed to nab a mission on my own! And it has a super good reward!" Trevor shouted, not mentioning the fact that he had found the flyer in her mailbox.
Aiden instantly shot upwards and flashed a proud smile. "Atta boy, Treph! What's the mission?!"
Trevor brought his nose mere inches away from his nose and began reading carefully. "It's from an anonymous requester. We need to find something called 'Dreamstone,' some kind of purple rock, from the Forlorn Mines in some city called 'Ore Point.' Seems simple enough, right? We've been through something like this befo-"
Trevor paused upon noticing Aiden's sudden shift in expression, her proud smile transforming into a distraught wince. "O-Ore Point? You sure that's right?" she whispered, snatching the flyer from Trevor's paws.
"U-uh, yeah," Trevor responded hesitantly. "Is there...something wrong?"
Aiden shook her head violently before crumpling up the flyer into a ball and tossing it aside, much to Trevor's shocked dismay. "Nope. Let's...not go there," she muttered defiantly.
Trevor picked the ball of paper, uncrumpled it, then looked towards Aiden in bewilderment. "What's the deal? The reward's three thousand Poké, enough to keep us going for a decent while! It's...not like you to pass up this kind of chance."
Aiden continued to shake her head while covering her eyes with her palms. "It's nothing, honest. Let's just drop this, okay? We'll find another job with an even bigger reward for sure."
"Aiden..."
"JUST DROP IT, OKAY?!" Aiden suddenly screamed, sending Trevor jumping back in shock. She could tell just from his scared gaze that she became practically unrecognizable to him in that moment. She hung her head ashamedly.
"I'm sorry, it's just that hearing that name doesn't really bring back the fondest of memories. Ore Point was my hometown, it was where I've lived for a majority of my life. And the folks back home...I don't think they'd be enthused about seeing me again. I've been sending letters home every day ever since I left and they haven't responded once. Bottom line is, I don't think I'm ready to go back. I...don't think they'd be too happy in seeing me again."
Trevor looked at Aiden looked in silence for a few minutes, then gave an understanding nod. "Alright, I understand. You shouldn't be forced to go if you feel that strongly about it. All I'll say is that whatever issues you may have with your folks back home, they're not going to get solved by simply avoiding them."
Trevor walked away silently, leaving Aiden alone to ponder in silence.
-
Holding three Iron Thorns in his paw, Trevor aimed for a few seconds before throwing them towards Aiden's battered punching bag. All three thorns hit their mark, each one landing within close proximity from one another. Trevor pumped his fist in silent celebration, then noticed Aiden walking towards him with the crumpled flyer in hand.
"Hey, Treph, Aiden mumbled, "Err, I've been thinking about what you said earlier, and...um, I guess I'm willing to give this mission a shot. You're right, I can't let my past scare me. I'm...sure that everything'll work out."
"Alright," Trevor said excitedly, taking his map from his satchel. "So where do we need to walk to?"
"Well, here's the thing. We're gonna need to travel by sea for this one."
"By sea?"
"Yeah, look," Aiden grabbed Trevor's map and pointed at the middlemost landmass. We're here, around the coastline of the Lush Continent. To get to Ore Point, we have to go here," Aiden pointed towards a giant landmass labelled "ASH CONTINENT." She then took a quick glance towards the orange sun, which was beginning to descend towards the horizon.
"If we wanna catch the sea ferry, then we...have'ta go right now."
"Alright, then let's go." Trevor began pacing forwards while following his map, then noticed that Aiden wasn't following.
"Aiden? What are you doing?"
"I dunno. My legs won't move."
Trevor walked back towards Aiden, grabbed her paw, and began dragging her towards the coast.
-
A massive expanse of pale, glistening sand covered the shore, peacefully coexisting with the calm, receding tides. The serene sea glistened orange as rippling waves eagerly reached out to touch the receding sun. After marveling at the beauty of the scene, Trevor managed to catch sight of a lean Floatzel standing behind a stall, its sign spelling out the word, "SEA FERRIES" in massive blue letters.
"Excuse me," Trevor called out, waving towards the Floatzel, "A boat for two, please! To the Ash Continent." He was met with a confused expression.
"Boats?" The Floatzel chuckled. "You must be new here, little buddy - we don't use boats here. You can hire a ride Pokémon instead. Three hundred Poké for a round trip."
"I- of course, sorry," Trevor mumbled while shakily taking a few coins out of his bag, "Yeah, you're right. I'm from...out of...I'm not from here. First time, haha!"
The Floatzel gave another quizzical look, then joined Trevor in hearty laughter. "It's all good, little buddy! I'll hook you up with one of our new recruits. You fellas came just in time too - we were just about to close up!"
From the corner of his eyes, Trevor could barely make out Aiden fidgeting from discomfort.
-
A massive, smiling Lapras greeted the pair as they approached the coastline. "Hiya, I'm Lily! I'll be your ride Pokémon for the next couple of days!" Let's see, you're Aiden, and you're...Treble?"
Aiden stifled a faint chuckle. Trevor began fiddling with his scarf, turning red in embarrassment. "It's...Trevor."
"Aah!" Lily squeaked, "I'm so, so sorry! I'm new to this job, so I'm not so good with memorizing names yet! I can't believe it, I've been training for this job for months, yet I still can't do something as simple as memorizing a name! You won't mention this to Seras, will you? My boss? The Floatzel you just talked to?"
"No, no, of course not!" Trevor exclaimed, quickly becoming overwhelmed. "So, um, should we get going?"
"Oh, of course! Just hop on my back and I'll get you to Ore Point in no time! You can count on me!"
Trevor and Aiden silently climbed onto the Lapras' hard shell. "Hang on! Oh wow, my first ride! This is the greatest day of my life, I'll make Seras so proud! Alright, the sun's setting that way, so our destination must be...that-a-way!" Lily continued to prattle passionately as she disconnected herself from the port, then began swimming away from the sandy coast. Trevor could feel small pellets of fresh seawater hitting his face as he began sniffing the salty air with delight.
Even as the sun faded out of view from under the horizon, Trevor could still make out the silhouette of Aiden wistfully staring out into the open sea. Trevor tried gazing his surroundings as well before tiredness swiftly caught up to him. Lulled by the sound of gentle waves, Trevor laid back, arms over his head, and fell into a deep slumber.