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Chapter 17: In the Big City

It was dark. He almost could bearly anything. He crouched and waited for his eyes to adjust from the bright desert sun outside. He did this alone; he was the only one that knew how. In the gloom he saw the outline of a hole. He approached cautiously and began planning his descent. He was about to begin his claimb when an arm touched his shoulder.

"Time to wake up Adie."

Aiden smiled as Skye's sweet voice woke him.

"Mornin'." He said groggily.

He rubbed his eyes as he sat in his sleeping bag. They had been walking for a few days and were at least another hour's walk away from the next city. From there they would decide where they would go next. Aiden already had a place in mind.

"I need to see my old house."

At least that's what he told Skye. Only he and Chance knew what Aiden's real reason was.

"I need to find my sister."

The party fed the Pokemon and ate breakfast. They then began walking down the long, winding road. The walking was easy over the flat path and the trees provided much needed shade from the summer sun.

"I'm glad we aren't far from the city, I really want a proper bath." Jed said in an attempt to break the silence.

"You need it." Katie jested.

Jed gave her a gentle shove on her shoulder. Aiden raised his eyebrow at Skye who answered with a shrug. The two dropped back a bit from Jed and Katie unnoticed as the possible lovers were engaged in their own conversation.

"Do you think?" Aiden whispered to Skye.

"I think it's possible, those two have been "just friends" for a long time."

"Well from what I can tell those two are inches from making out right now." A voice familiar to Aiden said.

Aiden turned around to see Chance walking behind them with his hands in his pockets. Skye was shocked. She had never seen him before. Aiden put his hand on her shoulder.

"He's okay, he's partly the reason I'm with you."

In that second the couple took their attention away from Chance he had disappeared into thin air.

"How do you do that?" Aiden thought trying to reach Chance with his thoughts.

His attention was taken away from the strange psychic as Skye sliding her hand into his. He turned to her and smiled. They walked hand in hand for the entire trip. When they reached the city Aiden was in for a shock.

"Whoa…" Aiden stood amazed by the size.

Skye released his hand and skipped playfully to catch up with Jed and Katie. Aiden jogged to catch up and when he did he threw his arm around the giggly girl.

"Shall we find a place with actual beds to sleep in mates? Jed said as he looked at a rather unwieldy map.

"They have to accept Pokemon," Skye said, "I don't think Eevee will want to stay away for long.

Aiden knew how much she adored that Eevee. It was very young and had a necklace with a capsule with herbal medicine for emergencies.

"We can check the nearest center, they should know." Jed said, still trying to figure out which part of the map was the top.

Katie tapped his shoulder and pointed across the street the red and white building Aiden assumed was a center. Jed nodded to her with slight embarrassment on his face and made a grand pointing gesture towards the other side of the street.

"The map reader has spoken!" Aiden said as he laughed.

Jed frowned at them as the others joined Aiden's laughter.

Crossing the street was no easy task. Aiden had very little experience with this kind of traffic. After narrowly dodging a barrage of vehicles they were across and into the shelter. A nice looking woman with long blonde hair asked the group,

"May I help you?"

"Yes," Jed spoke, "We need to know the nearest hotel that'll accept Pokemon."

"One minute please." The woman cordially said as she made a sweeping gesture towards some seats.

The large group sat down. Katie and Jed across from each other in single seats and Aiden sat scrunched together with Skye on what seemed to have been a one and a half seat. The Pokemon all sat in their owners respective laps except for Spearow who was perched on Katie's shoulder. The woman returned and spoke with the same politeness as before,

"This should tell you where you can go."

She handed Katie a sheet of paper with a red dot on hotels that accepted Pokemon. The group thanked the blonde haired lady and walked to the nearest hotel. A taxi was out of the question with the budget they had. Fortunately for them their situation would change for the better and Aiden would get the best opportunity they could have ever hoped for.

A/N: If you have finished the chapter and are reading this now you may have forgotten the "Adie" in the beginning. Yes he has a pet name and yes I am writing more fluff and no this is not going to get even limey and the closest we are going to get is kissing so ha. Those who want said relations to occur can write it themselves as long as the reference my story (though I really doubt I'm going to have a fandom like that). I also have a beta but she is on probation.