Chapter Six: Proud Of Where I Came From

"How long is this route?" Tally asked in wonder.

"I'm not sure." Carla looked up at the bridge towering above them, then at the building stationed in front of it. "Let's ask in there."

She pushed the door open and caught sight of a man in a smart blue uniform seated behind a desk. He smiled as Carla and Tally walked up to him.

"Hi! What can I do for you today?"

"Do you know how long it'll take us to get to Mauville from here?" Tally asked him.

He exhaled loudly. "Well, that depends. If you're cycling, you'll reach Mauville in about two days; if you're walking, it'll take you a bit longer than that. Four days, maybe five. But I'm guessing you don't have bikes."

"No," Carla replied flatly.

"We've got some rentals, if you want to use them."

Carla hesitated. She wanted to say yes, but she wasn't sure how much it would cost and she couldn't afford to waste any money.

"I've never ridden a bike before," Tally admitted.

"Well...I'd like to walk," Carla said after a moment. "We'd be able to do some training then, and my team needs more experience."

"But you spent ages training and battling on the beach!" Tally told her. "How much experience do they need?"

They had spent a lot of time on the beaches of Dewford - mostly battling surfers who'd wanted a rematch against Carla. As the days passed, Carla realised most of the beachgoers were expecting at least one of them to challenge Brawly and were curious as to why they hadn't.

After overhearing a conversation and realising this curiosity extended to Brawly himself, Carla suggested to Tally that they go back to the mainland.

"As much as they can get!" Carla said, shocked Tally would even ask that question. "And Treble might learn Magical Leaf while we're here."

Tally sighed. "Fine. We'll walk."

"Have a safe journey," the man behind the desk called as they left the building.

The road was surrounded on both sides by a wall that was low enough to peer over, but not quite high enough to climb over. There was a good reason for that, as there was a large stretch of water surrounding the route Carla and Tally would take. Clumps of grass had grown all about the route; they looked like the perfect hiding places for wild pokémon.

"It's not actually going to take four days to walk down that road, is it?" Tally asked uncertainly.

"I don't think so. We still have to get to Mauville from the other side of the road." Carla looked upward; it didn't look as if it was going to rain, but clouds were gradually starting to block out the sun. "Let's go while it's still light."

"Hey, wait up!"

The girls turned to see a figure jogging up behind them. He wore a red jacket, pale blue jeans and dirt-stained trainers; when he reached them, he doubled over and panted for a few seconds before straightening up and saying: "Hi. Can I battle one of you?"

Tally looked at Carla pleadingly.

"Do you want to..." Carla began, and stopped when the black-haired girl shook her head. She turned back to the newcomer. "I'll battle you."

"Great. One of my team's just evolved; I want to see what he can do." The boy took out a shining pokéball from his jacket pocket and enlargened it.

Carla chose Tess' capsule and threw it into the air just as the boy released his pokémon.

As soon as Carla saw the other pokémon, she knew she'd made a mistake. It was covered in blue and black fur, with blue paws and a black mane that surrounded his head in spiky tufts. His yellow eyes gleamed and his tail swished aggressively.

Carla gritted her teeth.

"All right, Frank, use Charge!" the boy shouted.

"Use Fury Attack!"

Tess launched herself at Frank's head, raining pecks on it. The pokémon growled and shook her off, taking a few paces backward. His fur crackled with electricity.

"You know what to do, Frank."

"Get out of the way!" Carla yelled. Tess scrambled to the side, but she couldn't evade the attack. She tumbled backwards, her feathers smoking.

Then she burst into tears, her wails bouncing off the walls.

"Yeah, nice try. Use Roar!"

Frank opened his mouth and unleashed a devastating sound that seemed to make the ground tremble. Carla shrieked and covered her ears. To her horror, a bolt of red energy shot out of Tess' capsule and sucked the Vullaby back in; the next second, Rakel was floating in mid-air, looking completely bewildered.

"A Ghost, huh? Use Bite, Frank!"

Carla needed to take control. "Astonish!"

Rakel screamed as loudly as she could; Frank stopped mid-leap and landed on all four paws.

"Now use Psywave, Rakel!"

Frank sprawled onto his side as the wave of purple energy hit him. Growling, he got to his feet and glared at Rakel.

"Wait a minute." The boy was pointing at Carla, his dark eyes wide. "It's you!"

"What do you mean, 'it's me'?"

"That night in Slateport. It was your Misdreavus, wasn't it?"

"Are we having a battle or not?" Carla asked, folding her arms.

"Yes, we are. Use Thunder Fang, Frank!"

Frank snarled and leaped directly towards Rakel, clamping his jaws shut on her. Bolts of electricity shot from his teeth and directly into Rakel; she closed her eyes and wailed in pain.

"Give up?" the boy asked, grinning.

"Astonish," was Carla's answer. She wasn't going to give up; not now, not ever.

But was there any way she was going to win this? Norman's words came back to her: It is important to know when not to give up - and just as vital to know when you're fighting a losing battle.

Frank let go of Rakel, shaking his head; Rakel floated a little higher, her crimson eyes narrowed angrily.

Both trainers shouted an attack at the exact same time.

"Psywave!"

"Spark!"

The two attacks collided, sending black smoke everywhere. Carla coughed, raising an arm to shield her eyes. When she lowered them, Frank was panting slightly, his fur slightly singed.

Rakel lay motionless just in front of him.

Carla rushed over and knelt beside her. "You did great, Rakel," she said as she took out the pink heal ball and tapped the Misdreavus with it. Rakel disappeared in a flash of crimson light.

The boy was walking towards Carla, one hand outstretched.

Carla got to her foot, took out some notes and put them in his palm.

He laughed awkwardly. "I was going to shake your hand, but OK. Thanks."

It was just a loss, Carla told herself as she ruthlessly squashed down the mixture of helplessness and emotion threatening to well up inside her. It was just one loss.

With that thought, the emotion completely disappeared. Rakel had done well. There would be other victories.

The boy stuffed the notes into his pocket and held out his hand again.

"Good match," Carla said, shaking it sincerely.

"Thanks; you too. But hey," he said, his expression changing, "it was you, wasn't it?"

"What was you, Carla?" Tally asked as she came up to stand beside Carla. "What's he talking about?"

"When I went out for a walk that night in Slateport," Carla said slowly, "some thieves tried to steal pokémon from two girls. I had to use Rakel to distract them. But how did you know about that?"

"Because that was my Noctowl."

There had been a large bird flapping its wings at the thieves - and the other trainer hidden in the alleys had been wearing a red jacket.

Seeing the recognition on Carla's face, the boy said: "I'm Bruno Ellis. Nice to meet you."

"Carla Saverre."

"And I'm Tally McBride." Tally shook the hand Bruno held out to her, beaming happily. "So you guys stopped the thieves? That's awesome!"

"No, it wasn't," Bruno said. "Those girls just needed help and I didn't know what else to do."

"Neither did I," added Carla.

"Oh. Well," Tally mumbled, "I think it was awesome."

Frank was standing next to his trainer, his yellow eyes roaming over the long grass behind the two girls. Carla looked at him curiously.

"He's a Luxio," Bruno explained. "Evolved from a Shinx half an hour ago. So, where are you guys going? Are you going to Mauville City?"

"Yes!" Tally said eagerly. "Why don't we all go together?"

"Where are you from, Bruno?"

The three trainers were seated around a small campfire, their tents pitched in a tight circle. None of them wanted to travel through the night, so they decided to make camp before moving on in the morning. An orange and crimson sky blazed above them; the edges of the sunset were just beginning to turn a deep purple.

Nearby, all three pokémon teams were eating from their bowls. Pinch, Bruno's Corphish, kept eyeing Hazel's bowl, but a single glare from the Noctowl was enough to make him keep to his own food. There was a small gap in the wall that might have been used by fishermen; Tally had quickly taken advantage of that by releasing Boing into the water and laughingly throwing food into his open mouth.

"I'm from Floe Island," Bruno said through a mouthful of sandwich. "That's one of the Sevii Islands."

"Really?" Tally sounded intrigued. The Sevii Islands were officially part of Kanto, but from the way people talked about them, they were almost an individual region.

"Yup!" Bruno was smiling. "My parents run the daycare centre there."

"You must have seen all kinds of pokémon!" Tally breathed.

"We do. That's how I got Frank." Bruno reached out and ruffled the Luxio's mane; Frank growled softly but allowed the rough affection. "Raised him from an egg."

"That sounds amazing," said Tally. "My parents run a berry farm."

They both looked at Carla, who shrugged. "My dad works in a museum."

She hadn't meant to make them both laugh but when they did, she found herself smiling as well.

"Why'd you come over to Hoenn?" Carla asked, curious about what had drawn Bruno from his home region to a place like Hoenn.

"Well, I want to sign up for a breeding course, but I haven't really seen much, you know? I hadn't even left the island before. Just wanted to get out there and travel for a bit before starting the course. A breeder friend of my dad's is arriving in Mauville soon; we're gonna meet up and talk about basics. What about you? Why'd you start a journey?" Bruno asked before taking another bite of his sandwich.

Carla hesitated. "Same reasons you did. I wanted to travel before starting a course."

"Ooh, what kind of course, Carla?" Tally asked. Treble clambered onto her lap, holding the tiny pink bow in one hand; Tally gently fastened it onto the Cleffa's curl. Treble hopped down and ran over to her bowl before Pinch could swipe what was left of her food.

"A coordinating course," Carla replied offhandedly.

"You didn't say anything about that earlier." Was it her imagination, or did Tally sound a little hurt by that?

"I guess I never found the right time to mention it." Carla smiled apologetically at Tally. The other girl seemed to accept the non-verbal apology, but Carla felt a little sad inside. She'd wanted to be a coordinator for so long and it looked like that path was closed off to her now.

It's not closed off.

"I got a call from my mum this morning." Bruno said, leaning in a little closer. "She said there was an incident with a rogue on the island."

"Really?" Tally asked. "What happened?"

"This rogue had been hiding on Floe Island for a week before any of us knew he was there. When someone new arrives, we normally know about it in five minutes, but Mum got a knock on the door at seven in the morning. It was a couple of hunters; they told Mum and Dad to stay indoors because this rogue was...well, he was..."

"Dangerous?" suggested Tally.

"Yeah, that's the word. He managed to get halfway up the mountain before the hunters caught him."

"Wait, I thought bounty hunting was illegal in Kanto." As far as Carla knew, the only other region that had outlawed hunting was Sinnoh.

"It is, but only on the Kanto mainland. Sevii's a different game."

By now, the sun had very nearly set. Carla was about to suggest they turn in for the night, but realised they were in no hurry at all. They didn't have to be anywhere at that moment and the fire was still burning strong.

They could stay up as late as they wanted.

"We met a hunter a few days ago," she said.

"What happened?"

"She was looking for this trainer and asked if we'd seen him in Granite Cave - that's the large cave in Dewford - but we hadn't, so she went inside with her pokémon."

"That doesn't mean he wasn't in there," Bruno pointed out.

"He was." Tally ran her fingers through her windswept hair, wincing as she encountered a knotty tangle. "People on the beach were talking about it for ages. They all wanted to know how he got on the island in the first place."

"Maybe he caught a boat or something."

"But people would have seen him if he'd arrived on a boat," Carla told Bruno. She kept a watchful eye on her team. Tess, Zoe and Rakel didn't seem to mind the new arrivals at all. In fact, Tess almost seemed in awe of Hazel.

"Could he have got there at night?" Bruno asked as he fed another stick to the fire.

"He might have," Carla said doubtfully. "If he did, he didn't get a boat from Slateport. Trips to Dewford only take place during the day."

As Bruno and Tally continued to talk about how the rogue might have reached Dewford without anyone knowing about it, Carla's mind drifted back to her lost ambitions. Once her journey was over, and Glennis had the money she needed, what would happen afterwards?

She knew exactly what would happen afterwards. Her family wouldn't be in danger, and they would be left in peace. Her father would never find out about the threat hanging over them.

The stronger Carla and her team became, the more battles they would win. The more battles they won, the more money Glennis would receive and she'd be able to pay off that monster even quicker. That was what mattered.

And if Carla ever came across Will, she would...

"So what's Mauville City like?" Bruno asked.

Carla and Tally looked at each other. Carla didn't know much about the city, apart from that brief visit with Bobby, but she could remember some basic facts about it.

"It's right in the middle of Hoenn, and the Gym Leader uses Electric-types. Oh, and it's twinned with Lumiose City in Kalos." Mauville and Lumiose were similar in a lot of ways. They were both built in the centre of their regions, both had Gyms that specialised in Electric-types, and both were rumoured to never, ever sleep. "It's actually based on Lumiose City; the Gym Leader redesigned Mauville into an indoor complex."

"I guess we'll find out what it's like in a few days," Tally said.

The southern entrance to the city was shielded beneath an arc of glass. Behind the arc, Mauville City towered above it, a solid block of stone and brick with windows. When Carla craned her neck to loop upward, she saw two large radio towers stationed on top of the complex.

"Hi." A man in a smart black uniform stood beside the archway. "Are you passing through, or are you going to stay for a bit?"

"We're definitely staying for a bit," Tally replied, folding her arms.

"In that case, you need to know that battling's forbidden in Mauville streets. If you want to battle, you can do it in the Battle Food Court and the training rooms, or you can take it outside. But don't do it in the streets. Have you got that?"

The trainers nodded.

"Good. Enjoy your stay in Mauville."

As they walked through the tunnelling archway towards a set of glass doors, Tally whispered: "What's the Battle Food Court?"

"I don't know," Carla whispered back, not at all sure why she was doing so.

The doors slid open, revealing the city itself. Bruno let out a soft Whoa as he saw the bustling crowd walking around inside.

"Where do you suppose the Centre is?" Tally asked, her voice shaking a little as she saw the crowd.

Carla saw a large green board with a layout of the city on it. "There's a map just over there." She hurried over towards it and peered closely until she saw the red symbol for the Centre right in the middle of the map, positioned in the top left corner of a large green square. As she glanced down, she saw a red arrow with YOU ARE HERE close to the southern gate.

"If we keep walking down there," she said, pointing down the street, "we'll find it."

They had to weave their way through the mass of people until they reached an open square of astroturf.

"Where's that breeder guy you told us about?" Tally asked.

"Oh, he's not here yet. He's gonna text me when he's in town. I don't know when that is, but I don't want to miss him."

"Hey, what's that?" Tally pointed at a white sculpture in the middle of the astroturf.

"That's meant to be the Prism Tower in Lumiose City," Carla told her. "The real Tower is much bigger than...No, don't step on that patch just there!"

"Why not?" Then Bruno saw the sign saying Teleport Landing Area - Keep Clear. "Oh. Yeah." He scrambled away, following Carla and Tally into the Centre.

The lobby was just as full as it was during the visit with Bobby. Estelle was on duty at the desk; when it was finally the three trainers' turn, she gave Carla a brief nod.

"You got the haircut, then. Good. It suits you. Now," she said, her manner brisk and businesslike, "would you like to get your teams, a room, or both?"

"Both, I think," Carla replied.

"I'm afraid we're out of rooms at the Centre, but we do have some separate rooms that were built specially for trainers. They're just down the street from here, and each one can accommodate two people."

Bruno, who was standing next to Carla, shrugged. "That's fine with me."

"Me too," added Tally. "Carla and I have shared before."

"Excellent. Now, if you'll hand over your teams, I'll give you the pass keys. You'll find some rules for staying in the rooms on the bathroom door; I strongly suggest you read them as soon as possible."

Estelle put three trays on the desk in front of her. Carla unzipped her bag and took out Zoe and Tess' capsules. To her surprise, she could tell which one belonged to Zoe: the Snorunt's capsule was colder to the touch than Tess' was.

She put her pokéballs in one of the trays. Bruno and Tally's pokéballs clattered as they landed in the trays on either side of Carla's.

"Here are the keys. See the tiny light here?" Estelle held up one of the keys and pointed at a tiny light in the top right corner. "When that light starts flashing, that means your pokémon are ready to collect. We do have a large pool just through there," she said, pointing towards another set of clear doors, "if any of you have Water pokémon."

"Really?" Tally asked eagerly. "How large is the pool? It's just that I've got a Wailmer, so..."

"Don't worry. It's more than big enough. Why don't you go and settle into your rooms while you're waiting for your teams to heal?" Estelle asked, with a pointed glance over Carla's shoulder.

Carla knew a hint when she heard one. "Come on. Let's go."

"Oh my gosh!" Tally dropped her bag and flopped onto the nearer of the two beds. "This bed is so soft."

Carla sat down on the other bed. It did feel a lot softer than the beds at the other Centres - and there was no sand anywhere in the room.

The room itself was simple but comfortable, with white walls and a single window that allowed the viewer to look at the wilds outside. A bathroom was hidden away behind a grey door. Each of the two beds had a small table beside it; a TV was mounted on one of the walls.

Carla took out Rakel's pokéball and released her. Rakel yawned and looked lazily around the room.

"How come you didn't give her over to the nurse?" Tally asked, making Rakel glance down at her. "Actually...you've never given your Misdreavus over to be healed. Why is that?"

"I don't need to. Her Heal Ball's a special prototype. It'll heal her every single time she's returned, not just when she was captured." Carla smiled up at Rakel. "Pretty useful, isn't it?"

Rakel grinned smugly back at her.

There was a knock on the door. "Hey!" Bruno's voice called from outside. "Can I come in?"

"Sure!" Tally called. She got up, went over to the door and opened it, allowing Bruno to step into the room.

"So, have you checked out the rules yet?" he asked, pointing at the small booklet hanging on the bathroom door.

"Not yet," Carla admitted.

Bruno took the booklet off the door and studied the first page, which had a picture of a pokéball on it. "It says the same thing the guard told us: no battling in the city streets. If we do, we'll be asked to leave the rooms. There are training rooms, but we can't stay in them longer than an hour, and there are supervisors there too. How come?"

"Probably because they don't want arguments over the rooms getting out of hand," Carla pointed out.

"Fair enough." Bruno turned the page. "There's a list of shops, and there's a guide to stalls in the Food Court if we want to eat there instead of the Centre's canteen. Oh, and there are rules for the Battle Food Court on the next page."

"Really?" Carla asked, intrigued. Rakel floated a little closer to her. "What does it say?"

"You order your food first and either hang around or look for a table. If there's a free table, you sit down and wait for your food or you can challenge someone for their seat. If you lose the battle, you lose the table. If you win three times before your food arrives, you get to keep your seat. As soon as you finish eating, you have to leave your table."

"What happens if you lose the table before your food's ready?" asked Tally.

"Says here there are takeaway boxes available." Bruno snapped the booklet shut. "Once our team's healed, you want to check it out?"

"The Battle Food Court? Yeah, why not?" Tally said. "I am pretty hungry."

Food sounded like a wonderful idea. But that wasn't the only thought that had just entered Carla's head.

"Bruno," she said slowly, "while we're in Mauville, could my team work with Frank for a bit?"

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

"I'd like to make them more resistant to Electric attacks."

Tally drew in her breath sharply. "Ohhh." She pointed at Carla, her eyes glinting. "You're going to challenge the Gym Leader, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Hold on," Bruno said, holding up his hands. "I thought you wanted to be a coordinator."

"I do."

"So why are you taking the Gym challenge?"

"Because..." Carla hesitated, trying to think of the best way to tell them her reasons without actually mentioning any of them. "It's kind of a personal reason."

"What is it? Come on, it's no big deal!" Bruno sounded a little exasperated.

"If she doesn't want to tell you, don't make her," Tally remonstrated.

"OK, OK, sorry. It's just...on Floe Island, we normally tell each other everything."

Carla could understand that. If Floe Island was as small a community as she imagined it was, keeping a secret would be virtually impossible.

She'd only known Bruno for a few days. That wasn't long enough for her to confide in him.

Then again, she hadn't told Tally why she was challenging Gym Leaders either.

"How long do you think it'll be before our teams are ready?" she asked casually. "I am absolutely starving."

"Judging from that queue?" Bruno said with a half-laugh. "Could be ages."

Thanks for reading so far!

Stay safe.

This chapter's title comes from 'Boondocks' by Little Big Town.