I woke up early, shortly after the sun rose. I immediately jumped into the shower and took a nice, warm shower.
Iki Town is surprisingly more active this early in the morning than I expected. There are a couple women outside throwing wet clothes on clothing lines, a man is working on the small garden he has in front of his home, and even a few children are running around.
The Pokemon are awake. Yungoos, Pikipeks, Rattatas, and even a couple Grubbin are loitering about.
Caleb had messaged me last night telling me to come by in the morning. We'd have breakfast and head off towards Route 2 and beyond today.
His home was this wooden structure located right down a small hill path in Iki Town. Going up the path leads to the town center where the ceremony earlier this week took place. There are a few homes in this little area, all looking pretty much the same.
His home has a small garden located on the right side of the property in front of the porch. Interestingly, the columns holding up the porch roof was light blue, which contrasted with the beige color of the overall house structure. It was peculiar but kinda worked, I guess.
There was a Meowth walking about on the porch, probably Caleb's, carrying a bottle cap from one part of the porch to the other. I poked a look into the window and saw that a light was on inside. At the very least someone was awake. Because of how early it was, I knocked on the door lightly hoping someone was close to it to hear.
A few seconds later a woman opened the door. It was Caleb's mom.
"Hello, my dear," she said not recognizing me at first. "Ah, Cameron, right?"
I nod my head. Her smile is broad, reminding me of Caleb's, as she tells me to head off to his room. The house is nice and tidy and kinda has this ginger smell to it. It might be the incense I see burning in the corner of the room. It's relaxing.
Caleb's Litten spots me as it walks from the bathroom into the hallway. She purrs and walks towards me, rubbing up against my left leg.
Caleb's room is located directly across from the bathroom. His door is boring. It just says Caleb on it in bronze letters. I knock on the partially opened door and he tells me to come in. I slightly open the door and slowly step inside. He is standing in front of his dresser digging through looking for a shirt to cover his tanned body.
He finally finds a shirt and turns around allowing me to see his somewhat defined abdomen. I look away distracting myself with the posters he has in his room.
There are several posters showing off locales from multiple regions. He even has one from Hoenn; Sootopolis City.
"Hey!" he says after throwing a shirt on. He walks towards me and tries to look at what I'm looking at. I'm looking at this poster of Celadon City. It shows a bevy of grass Pokemon dancing with the large apartment buildings and mall in the background. There are Pidgey and Spearow flying in the sky, but up in the corner is a rainbow with Ho-Oh flying. "Celadon is beautiful," he says.
"We last went to Kanto 2 years ago. They've been updating the architecture in Kanto over the last several years. Making it more modern and even building the towns up more. It looks so different now than it did the first time I went when I was 5."
He brought me over to his desk where he had a couple of photos of him at Cerulean City. Both of the pictures were pretty much the same, him in front of the Pokemon Center. The Center looks more modern and bigger in the newer photo. I also noticed this other picture with him, with glasses this time, hugging a Bulbasaur. He looked so happy. I looked up at Caleb, who's face dropped slightly, but returned to it's normal self.
Then he showed me a couple more pictures showing how they've added so many new buildings and homes in the city. Seeing the photos from when he was 5 to when he was 13 really displayed how drastic the change has been. He said the influx of people from other regions such as Unova, Sinnoh, and Alola have led to Kanto changing.
"I hope to go to the World Championships in Kanto later this year," he said sounding as if he is lost in his thoughts. "Whether as a competitor or as a part of the crowd."
He looked at me with a sparkle in his eye. The World Championship occurs in 7 months.
"Kukui says the Quarter-finalists in National League Championships in each region will earn an automatic spot in the Worlds. Then some special group of people from each region will pick wild cards."
I'm not quite sure how the Pokemon League in Alola will work, since there are no gyms. However, apparently there are several buildings being developed around Alola and rumor has it that they'll turn into gyms. Would we have to defeat gyms after the Island Challenge in order to take part in the Alolan League Tournament? The Tournament has to occur by July. Seems insane.
Caleb says Kukui is being tight-lipped about it, however he believes there will be gyms. Nevertheless, he's excited.
"We'll both be there, Cam." His tone was serious. Not hopeful, but certain. I looked at him somewhat set aback, not just by his tone but by him calling me Cam.
"You okay?" he said as I looked away.
No.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just I don't know if I'm as confident as you." I look back at him, and he smiles.
"That's okay. I have enough for both of us."
We both chuckle.
I quickly push aside the light reminder of Carl that invaded my thoughts.
Route 2 wasn't eventful. It was pretty quiet. There were a couple people taking a stroll, jogging, riding a bike, or just having a picnic near the Pokemon Center. There were also a couple trainers as well.
This young boy, Milton, caught a shiny Rattata. It's weird enough to see an Alolan variant Rattata, but a shiny one? A special kind of weird. It was maroon colored. Milton was overly excited to catch the Pokemon as his older sister stood by and watched.
One thing that did catch my eye when we entered the route was the cemetery to right. We walked by it, Caleb not recognizing it, and I had this odd sensation of guilt hit me. Caleb didn't see my face drop, but he immediately made it rise when he found this Delibird get stuck in some vines.
Watching him attend to the Delibird reminded me of how he been with my Skitty since we've met. Hell, Skitty walks closer to him than to me now. Although I think he is trying to make me jealous.
When the Delibird gets free it hands Caleb two berries; a Sitrus and Pinap Berry. The Pinap berry is a strange berry. The coating is very sour, but the inside is spicy. It's a nice Berry to give to two Pokemon with different tastes. Also, the skin is good for creating a salve for wounds on Pokemon and even humans.
Caleb looks at me and rubs his head with a grin. He then tosses me the Pinap Berry to keep.
Route 3 was a little hectic. It was a multi-level mountain side that had many Spearow flying above. It was also fairly windy. Skitty was not interested in walking because down below was the Ocean and he is a bit of a coward. Caleb decided to hold him, cause of course he did.
I battled this young boy, Rick. He specialized in Bug Pokemon. I was afraid to beat his Cutiefly because I didn't want to make a kid cry. However, he didn't cry when my Yungoos beat his Pokemon. He was happy. He congratulated and thanked me on the good battle.
Caleb also congratulated me. He said there was a beautiful garden nearby and so that's where we went. It was called Melemele Meadow. There were about a dozen or so people here just relaxing. The aroma was so relaxing and overpowering. It was like we were closed off from the rest of the Island.
A yellow Pokemon approached us as it sang a sweet melody. My Pokedex said it was Oricorio. Caleb told me that each island has it's own Oricorio. Same Pokemon, but different variants depending on the nectar it consumed. Each Island had a different type of nectar.
I got up from my seat and sent out Rowlet.
I wanted this Pokemon.
I captured it.
I was overjoyed to have my 3rd Pokemon. Plus, it's a flying type. Gives me an advantage against Hala when I get to that point. Of course, I'll have to complete Illima's trial. Unfortunately, Caleb hasn't clued me into it. Says that it wouldn't be fair and would detract from the moment when I complete it.
Meh.
As dinnertime hit Caleb and I finally left the Meadow. It was one of the better days I had in Alola. Just enjoying the beautiful atmosphere, the Pokemon and even the people was great. All while being with the only friend that I have here.
We took Route 3 down to Route 1. We were calling it a day for us.
I showed my mom my Oricorio and she was actually very happy. Aaron looked over and didn't say anything, at first.
Later on he came over to my room and asked, "So you are really going through with this?"
"Yeah, why?" I responded annoyed.
He took a deep breath. "It's what dad would've wanted." He took another deep breath and looked at me sternly. "Don't insult his memory, Cameron."
He turned around and left, leaving me to deal with the gravity of his pointed words. I looked over towards my desk and looked at the picture I had on it. It was in Petalburg City. Aaron and I with a Mightyena, my dad's Mightyena. Dad stood nearby looking at us. I was 9 years old, Aaron had just turned 12.
Things were simpler back then.
I got up from my desk chair and left the house. I didn't bring my bag or my Pokemon. I just walked. I walked and walked fighting back the tears. People talked, laughed, and sang. It was all background noise to the loud and booming thoughts in my head.
I walked right through Hau'oli City up to Route 2. Instead of going straight ahead and I turned to the right.
Hau'oli cemetery. It was pretty empty. There were 2 people here. An elderly women on the far side and a young man nearby.
I'm not exactly sure why I came here. My dad is the reason, I guess, but he isn't buried here. Aaron's words hit me hard. Dad's buried far from here, but today when I walked by here I felt this connection to back home.
I don't know, maybe I thought I could connect to my dad in the afterlife in this cemetery. Cause here I am staring at this gravestone that doesn't have a name on it. It just has flowers engraved into it. It's one of the few barren gravestones here. Almost every other gravestone has flowers or something else in front of it.
I just looked down and closed my eyes.
Then I felt a familiar hand grace my shoulder.
"You miss him, don't you?"
Caleb.
He looked at me, lacking his normal charm. I nodded at him. He bit his lip when I realized the redness in his eyes. He looked over to the right and slowly walked over.
He was the young man I saw when I entered. How didn't I recognize him?
He just looked down at the gravestone, sullen. I slowly approached him and looked down too. "Zachary Thatcher. September 21st, 2001 - October 14th, 2013." it said.
"He was my best friend. He loved to bake. He also loved to follow me everywhere. Becoming a Pokemon trainer was his dream. It was never mine. I wanted to breed and take care of them."
I watched as a tear streamed down his cheek. He didn't bother to wipe it away. I did what he had done to me, and place my hand on his shoulder and lightly rubbed it with my thumb.
"He was my twin brother Cam. We looked alike in ever single way except he wore glasses."
I'm reminded of the picture of the young boy with the Bulbasaur I saw in Caleb's room. I thought it was Caleb even though the boy in the picture wore glasses. I just assumed Caleb wears contacts now.
But it wasn't Caleb. It was his twin brother.
A large knot formed in my throat. I closed my eyes and struggled to compose myself. But I had to compose myself, for Caleb.
"I miss him so much. It's why I am doing this Island Challenge. I do it for him."
More tears begin to fall down Caleb's face as his words reek havoc on him. I slide my arm around him and nudge him towards me. He quickly collapses his head onto my shoulder and cries. A silent cry, but a cry nevertheless. We stand there for a few moments in an embrace as we both remember those we loved.