Kane made his way into Sunyshore City and upon entering he garnered many stares from the locals. As to why people were staring at him, most would assume it was his attire and in some cases it usually was. This time though it was his attire and the fact that he had a little pink-haired girl on his back clinging to his shoulder.

'Why do I feel as if I should spike my hair back and wear an eyepatch?' thought the samurai to himself with a grimace.

Glancing back at Sumomo, who was looking around with wide eyes, Kane thought back to why she was currently on his back like this. The two had left Veilstone City, traveling south on Route 114, and as they reached the Valor Lakefront…Sumomo accidently stepped on a jagged rock and cut her foot. Luckily for the crying child, Kane had a first-aid kit and was able to clean and dress the wound. Of course there was still pain and since Kane didn't want the wound to get dirty, he put Sumomo onto his back and carried her the rest of the way to Sunyshore.

"Kane-sensei! Are we going to be getting on the boat soon?" asked Sumomo, taking Kane out of his thoughts.

"Hai, hai. Let's go get our tickets so we can go."

Heading towards the docks, Kane bought the tickets for the next ship heading towards Kanto. Before he could go onto the ship though, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Oi, Kane! Long time no see!"

Kane bit back a groan as he turned towards the Afro-headed man. Luckily, Oba's friend Denzi was with him so Kane wouldn't have to talk with Oba for very long.

"What do you want, Oba?" questioned Kane. "I'm in a hurry."

"Aw, don't be like that! Just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out!" It was then that Oba noticed Sumomo, who was still clinging to Kane's shoulder. "What exactly are you doing anyway? Babysitting?"

This earned him a glare from the child, but it was ineffective.

"Not really. The little plum here wanted to travel with me because she wanted me to train her," explained Kane, earning a pout from Sumomo and a snicker from Oba.

"I'm not a plum!"

"Shush, little one."

It was then that Denzi spoke up for the first time in the conversation. "Sumomo, if you're here, who is keeping an eye on the Veilstone Gym?"

"Reiji is! He said he'd watch over it for me while I was Kane-sensei!"

"…Does Shirona know about this?"

"…No."

"I wouldn't really worry about her," stated Kane. "Just give her a few soft serve cones and she'll agree to anything."

Sumomo let out a few giggles while Oba laughed his ass off. Even Denzi smirked at the joke.

Once her giggles died down, Sumomo spoke again. "Come on, Sensei! Let's get going!"

"Hai, hai," said the samurai. He then turned back to the other two. "I guess I'll see you guys some other time."

With that, Kane turned and went up the ramp, taking Sumomo with him. After seeing them off, Oba spoke.

"What do you think Shirona will do once she finds out Sumomo is going to be gone for awhile?"

"Not my problem," said Denzi as he turned and headed back to his own gym. He had work to do.

"N-Nani?! Denzi! I don't want to face her wrath when she finds out!"

-:-

The samurai and the little fighter soon found their cabin once they boarded the ship. Once they settled in, Kane turned to his new student.

"Alright, let's up to the deck."

"Are we going to start training again, Sensei?"

"Something like that. Now follow me."

The pink-haired child did as she was told and followed Kane up to the deck. There she saw so many other people and Pokémon enjoying the sight of the ocean waves.

"So what are we going to start with, Sensei?" asked Sumomo, looking up at the man with wide eyes.

"We're going to train your mind today by meditating."

Sumomo gave off a pout. "Aw, can't we do more physical training?"

"Not today. Anyway, back to training your mind. Normally one meditates in complete silence with no distractions. The way I see it though, meditating while there are distractions is the best way to do it."

"How come?" questioned the girl, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"One must learn how to block out distractions. By learning how to ignore the noises around you will you be able to achieve true focus of the mind," explained Kane.

With a nod of determination, Sumomo was ready to begin. Before she did that though, she took out a Poké Ball and sent out the Pokémon from within.

"Medi!"

"Meditite, we're going to do some meditation to train our minds! You ready?!" exclaimed the little fighter, pumping her fist in the air.

"Meditite!" exclaimed the Meditate Pokémon, mimicking her trainer's actions.

"Then let's go!"

With that, the two sat down in a meditative position and began their training. Kane of course sweatdropped as he watched the child.

'So much energy in such a tiny body. Reminder note to self, never have kids.'

Finishing that thought, Kane took his own meditative position next to Sumomo and blocked out all of the noise around him. Unfortunately the same could not be said for Sumomo, especially since someone decided to interrupt.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

Sumomo opened her eyes to see a young girl, about a year older than herself, looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. The girl had white hair, which was pulled up into a spiky ponytail on top of her head, and was wearing a purple and turquoise shirt that looked too big for her.

"We're training!" exclaimed Sumomo with a smile.

The older girl frowned at that. "Training? That don't look like any training I've ever seen."

"But that's what we're doing! Sensei says this helps train the mind."

The other girl let out a few snickers. "Train the mind? Who needs to do that when you can just kick anyone's ass physically?"

Sumomo pouted at this girl's attitude. She was about to say something, but a sudden voice made both girls jump.

"You want to prove that?" questioned Kane, who was looking at the two out of the corner of his eye.

The white-haired girl turned to Kane with a cocky smirk. "You offering up a challenge then?"

"Not me. You'll be battling Sumomo here."

The pink-haired girl's eyes widened at that. "You want me to battle her, Kane-sensei?"

The samurai gave off a shrug. "I don't see why not. Of course your opponent would have to agree to this."

"I'm game. The name's Homika, by the way."

Nodding at that, Kane stood up and led the two children to an open battlefield that the ship provided. Before they could begin though, two people came running over.

"Homika! We've been looking all over for you!" cried out the female of the two.

Homika turned to glare at them. "Lou! Cook! I don't need a babysitter!"

Lou merely rolled her eyes at Homika's response before she noticed Kane and Sumomo. "I see you've found someone to battle."

"Damn straight I have! Watch as I beat this baby easily!"

"I am not a baby!" exclaimed Sumomo with a cute little glare.

"Enough, the both of you," stated Kane as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Getting back on track, he started listing off the rules. "This will be a one-on-one battle! Whichever Pokémon becomes unable to continue, the other will be declared the winner! Choose your Pokémon now!"

"I'll choose Meditite!" exclaimed Sumomo as Meditite ran into position.

"Ha! Then I'll use my signature Pokémon! Go, Scolipede!" exclaimed Homika as she threw her Poké Ball.

In a flash of light her Pokémon came into view. It was a very large centipede-like Pokémon that was red in color. It glared down at the now trembling Meditite.

'Not good,' thought Kane. 'While Meditite has a type advantage, it is clearly outclassed by this Pokémon. It doesn't help that Sumomo has most likely never seen a Scolipede.'

"Wh-What kind of Pokémon is that?" questioned a slightly scared Sumomo, proving Kane's thoughts right.

"You've never seen a Scolipede before? Can't say I'm surprised. They're native to Unova, which is where I'm from," explained Homika.

"You're from Unova?" asked Sumomo, curiosity filling her eyes. "How come you're here in Sinnoh?"

Homika jabbed her thumb towards Lou and Cook. "The three of are a band known as Koffing and the Toxics and we were here in Sinnoh putting on a concert. We're now heading to Kanto to put on another concert."

Sumomo's eyes lit up at that. "Oh! Sensei and I are heading to Kanto as well! Do you want to travel with us?"

Everyone else sweatdropped at the question. Kane was the one to speak though. "Sumomo, worry about that later. We have a battle to begin, remember?"

"Gomen, Sensei."

Kane gave off a nod before turning back to the battlefield. "Then let the battle between Meditite and Scolipede begin!"

Homika took the initiative and started off by having Scolipede use Sludge Bomb. Sumomo countered this by having Meditite use Detect, which allowed the small Fighting-type to dodge the incoming Poison-type attack. This didn't deter Homika as she followed up with Toxic. Sumomo had Meditite use Detect again, but it unfortunately failed and the Meditation Pokémon was badly poisoned.

"Meditite!" exclaimed Sumomo, worried for her Pokémon.

"Let's finish this now, Scolipede! Use Venoshock!"

Complying with his trainer's orders, Scolipede sprayed globs of a green liquid from his mouth. Due to being badly poisoned, Meditite took more damage than one normally would from this attack and it was too much for the Fighting-type. Rushing forward, Sumomo, who had the start of tears in her eyes, scooped up her Pokémon and held her close.

"I'm sorry, Meditite," hiccupped Sumomo.

"Ah, don't be too down, kid," said Homika, coming over with a Peacha Berry. "As a Gym Leader, I'm not an easy opponent to begin with."

Sumomo looked up in surprise at what Homika said. "You're a Gym Leader."

"Damn straight I am! I'm the Gym Leader of Virbank City back in Unova. Now take this Peacha Berry, it'll heal Meditite of the poison."

Taking the Peacha Berry, Sumomo gave it to Meditite, but she looked very downtrodden.

'Am I really that weak? Homika's not that much older than me, but she's much stronger than me!' thought the little fighter as tears built up in her eyes. Before the tears could fall, she felt a hand on her head. Looking up she saw Kane looking at her with a look of reassurance.

"It's okay, Sumomo. This is just another lesson that needs to be learned."

"Wh-What do you mean, Sensei?"

"Well, what was your first reaction to your opponent?" asked Kane as everyone else listened.

"I was surprised by seeing a Pokémon I didn't recognize," answered Sumomo.

"Understandable. At times, there will always be moments where your opponent could pull an unpredictable move. As a Gym Leader, you need to be able to be able to adapt to what your opponent does to give them the challenge they need to prove their worth as trainers."

A look of determination crossed Sumomo's face and she gave a nod of understanding. It was then that Homika spoke up.

"Hold on! You're telling me the baby here is a Gym Leader, too?!"

"I am not a baby! I'm twelve!" declared the pink-haired girl, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the Poison-type Gym Leader.

Homika glared back at her, while behind her Lou and Cook had smirks of amusement on their faces. The PA system soon gained everyone's attention.

"Attention, traveler's! We will soon be stopping for a bit in Pueltown of the Almia! That is all!"

Kane grimaced at that. "Just great."

"What's wrong, Sensei?"

Turning to his student, Kane explained. "The Almia region is one of three regions known to have what are known as Pokémon Rangers. The Pokémon Rangers are known for enforcing a very strict rule of not capturing Pokémon with Poké Balls and as such, Pokémon Trainers are nonexistent in those regions."

Homika had a blank look on her face from that explanation. "Why the hell would they live under those rules?!"

Letting out a sigh, Kane answered. "I think it has something to do with their belief that Pokémon should be free and not confined into Poké Balls. They see Pokémon Trainers as irresponsible because of that, I guess."

"…So they're more or less hippies," said Homika.

"That is a very good description of them. Anyway, I don't know about you three, but Sumomo and I might as well go into town instead of being cooped up on this ship."

"Like hell we're staying on this ship! I want to see how these people live without trainers," declared Homika. She then turned to Lou and Cook. "Get your butts in gear, you two!"

Letting out sighs, the two followed after Homika. Kane and Sumomo followed soon after and as they did, Kane turned to Sumomo.

"Make sure to stay close to me, Sumomo. I don't need you getting lost in a strange region."

Sumomo nodded, making sure to take Kane's words to heart.

CHAPTER END

-:-

It's been over a year since I started this fic and I feel bad for letting it gather dust.

Anyway, Kane and Sumomo continue on their journey, meet some new people, and make a stop in Almia. What sort of trouble will happen to our heroes? Find out in the next chapter!

Translations:

Oba – Flint

Denzi – Volkner

Shirona – Cynthia

Homika – Roxie

Lou – Billy Jo

Cook – Nicky