After another night's rest and stocking up on supplies, Ruby and her friends were on their way to the Dusty Hills. Their path led them through Stonehold Town's wide streets and brick houses to the west where a sign pointed them toward their destination.

The Dusty Hills was a vast and dry environment of many slopes and, well, hills, stretching from Stonehold Town to the northeast of Sanus deep into the West. It was a bit of an environmental anomaly considering the usually moderate climate of Sanus. The continent had many large forests, the biggest being Emerald Forest and Forever Fall Forest. It was usually raining a lot, especially during spring and fall. So, it was unclear how an almost desert-like environment like the Dusty Hills could exist in the first place in a climatic region like Sanus. Many assumed that it had been formed and shaped by ground- and rock-type Pokémon as well as fire-types to fit their needs.

For their fourth badge, they'd planned to reach the City of Vale, which was the end of the Dusty Hills. However, they planned to reach the city from the North and leave the Dusty Hills halfway through to get to Riverdale and from there, for their third badge, they'd make a stop in Crimson Leaf Village, which was carved into the middle of Forever Fall Forest.

With their route planned out for the foreseeable future and their first badges earned, Ruby was incredibly excited to continue their journey.

"Oh boy, I kinda feel bad for saying it because your sister and her wife were so nice but I'm so glad to finally leave this place behind us," Ruby admitted to Jaune as they were making their way through the beaten track leading to the Dusty Hills from the west district of Stonehold Town.

"Nah, I get ya," he replied with a shrug. "After travelling for so long, it started to feel claustrophobic."

"Our stay was successful and we have learned much," Pyrrha added pleasantly, "but now it is time to move our journey forward."

"I concur. There's no reason to feel guilty, Ruby," Weiss said. "Let's just focus on getting out of that barren wasteland as fast as possible."

Ruby giggled at Weiss's obvious annoyance, though she couldn't exactly blame her for it. The Dusty Hills were Vale's most notorious "rookie-stopper". If one tried to cross there while ill-prepared, they'd never last for more than a few days before turning back or even needing medical help. That's why they had stocked up on a lot of water, food and information on potential resting places before leaving. Their bags were now extra heavy but they were also extra prepared.

"Oh! They finally have camera footage of the PokéShop Thieves!" Weiss exclaimed, her eyes glued onto her scroll. "Look!"

They stopped to do just that as Weiss held her scroll out for them to see.

The picture itself was rather grainy, though they could still make out the features of the culprits. One was a tall man – or the girl next to him was really short – who was wearing a black bowler hat, which had a feather tucked in, and a white coat. He was also smoking a cigar. He was dipping his hat at the camera with a wide grin while a Gligar was hanging onto it. The girl had brown and pink hair and was holding onto, what Ruby assumed, was a parasol. A Gastly with a sharp grin and sharp teeth was floating next to her head as she smirked into the camera. It was difficult to make out but Ruby swore that she also had different-coloured eyes.

"She's kinda cute," she blurted out before she could stop herself and when she did, Ruby slapped her hands over her mouth.

"She's a criminal, Ruby!" Weiss sounded scandalized and looked even more so with the shocked expression on her face. "A villain! A delinquent! She and that man are deplorable and reprehensible!"

"I know!" Ruby couldn't believe herself. "I know she's a baddy! I just – I mean – she is, objectively, kinda – you know, pretty." She shrugged helplessly, though her face felt hot. "I'm not saying I'm gonna make a move on her or something but, yeah…" She trailed off when she noticed her friends all staring at her with raised brows – that was coming from Jaune – amused expressions – that being Pyrrha – or, in Weiss's case, complete and utter disappointment. She hung her head in defeat. "I'm just gonna quit talking for the rest of my life now."

Pyrrha chuckled good-naturedly. "Has the Vale PD released names with this picture?"

Weiss hummed. "Let me see…ah, yes. Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan. It appears that this Roman Torchwick at least has been busy before in Mistral. The girl, on the other hand, just appeared out of thin air or so they say."

"Torchwick?" Ruby squinted her eyes in thought. "Didn't the White Fang guys in the Tunnel Of The Moon speak about some Torchwick guy?"

Weiss gasped. "The PokéShop Thieves and the White Fang are working together then!"

"Well, we've got to keep our eyes open but I doubt we'll ever run into them," Jaune said. "Also, we better keep moving. We've got a timetable to follow after all."

"Yep!" Ruby exclaimed and began to walk again, prompting the others to follow. "I'm eager to get a rock-type! An Onix would be really cool or a Geodude." Her eyes were shining with excitement. "Just imagine having a massive rock snake in your team or a Golem!"

Ruby then slid her backpack to her front and opened the frontmost zipper to pull out the binder she had received on her graduation day. After she had put her backpack back on properly, she quickly began leafing through the binder. She stopped when she found the list of the Pokémon indigenous to Northeast Sanus.

"So," she continued. "The Dusty – whoops!" Before she could fall face-first into the dirt after getting stuck on a piece of rock or something, Pyrrha and Weiss caught her.

"Watch where you are going, you doofus," Weiss said with a huff.

"Heh, thanks." Ruby chuckled bashfully. "Anyway," she then continued, "the Dusty Hills: mostly dry environment, vast steppes, hills and slopes, desert steppe…there! Pokémon to be found in the Dusty Hills are…Diglett and Dugtrio when we decide to go underground…really rare but Charmander, Charmeleon and Charizard…Sandshrew and Sandslash – where'd you find yours anyway, Weiss?" Ruby then asked, looking up from her binder.

"I caught Rusty not long before meeting you," Weiss explained. "Just before the Tunnel of the Moon."

"Oh. Okay." Ruby then turned her attention back to her binder. "Sandshrew and Sandslash, yeah…Nidoqueens and Nidokings, though they return to forests during mating season and to lay eggs, plus, they are also kinda rare…Vulpix and Ninetales…Growlithe and Arcanine, with Arcanine also being a rare sight…Geodude, Graveler and Golem…Ponyta and Rapidash…Doduo and Dodrio…Onix…Cubone and Marowak…Rhyhorn and Rhydon…and, because there is a large power plant, close to it we can also find Voltorb, Electrode, Magnemite and Magneton and Pikachu and Raichu – though they migrate to South Vale to mate and lay eggs – and Electabuzz and Electivire, though the latter is extremely rare. They also migrate south during mating season and to lay their eggs." She then exhaled, moved her backpack to her front again and put away her binder. "Phew, that's a lotta Pokémon. Not gonna lie, it makes me giddy and I kinda want all of them," she added with a giggle.

"And a lot of them are rare because they require evolution stones to evolve," Jaune noted. "Raichu, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Ninetales and Arcanine."

"We could use quite a few of them," Pyrrha noted. "Rufus Indigo uses water-types. We have grass-types but a Voltorb or a Magnemite would be rather helpful, I believe."

"Kind of blows, but I know that, again, I can't use my Nidorans in a gym battle," Ruby grumbled. "They need more battle experience."

"I'll definitely need an electric-type Pokémon since I don't even have a grass-type," Weiss mused. "You have your Paras and Pyrrha has her Oddish at least…and Jaune needs something else to help him in Riverdale's arena."

Ruby nodded. "Well…we've got our work cut out for us. Let's pick up the pace!"

When Weiss had called the Dusty Hills a barren wasteland, Ruby hadn't expected it to be this spot on. A simple gust of wind would blow dust, sand and dirt into their faces from almost any direction. Dried patches of grass were the only vegetation they could see and rocks and stones added patches of grey to the brown and yellow colouring of the landscape. She could see how this would be the first big rookie-stopper.

"Hadn't you said that after reaching our first major town, namely Stonehold, our journey would become easier?" Jaune asked her with a raised brow.

"That's what my mum told me!" Ruby defended herself. "I asked her how difficult passing the Dusty Hills really is because she travelled the whole thing, and she said it's exaggerated!"

She was annoyed with herself that she had fallen for it. It would take them quite some time to get through the hills before they could leave for Riverdale. Two weeks at least, most likely three.

It would be tiring and annoying, she knew, and it would be a real test of their grit and endurance. They were prepared, though. They had enough to eat and drink and they had enough food for their Pokémon.

For now, however, they had to walk and they had to walk a lot. Minutes turned to hours and the sun above was beating mercilessly down on them while slowly making its way from the east to the west.

After wiping sweat from her forehead and checking her scroll for the time, Ruby noted that they had been walking for almost three hours straight since reaching the Dusty Hills.

She stopped, gaining the attention of Weiss, Pyrrha and Jaune. "Guys, it's almost one o'clock. Let's have lunch."

"I won't say no to that," Jaune replied with a tired groan. "This is hell!"

They didn't spend much time looking for a proper place to rest and just plopped down on their collective butts. She genuinely hadn't expected the Dusty Hills to be this exhausting and difficult. There also hadn't been any Pokémon so far but they had passed by a few other trainers who had been resting, some by themselves. Most, however, had formed a group as she had with Weiss, Pyrrha and Jaune. It really was more fun that way.

"How far away is the power plant?" Weiss asked into the group as she rummaged through her backpack to look for her snack box. "I think I'd like to get myself a Magnemite."

"Dunno," Ruby said while looking through the web on her scroll.

"Well, are you finding it out right now?" Weiss demanded.

"Nah," Ruby answered while glaring at her phone. "I'm actually checking the standings of my classmates. Most are somewhere around where I am but it really, really irks me to see Cardin and his gang of jerks ranking top among the graduates from our class."

"He's another Beacon graduate then? Doesn't surprise me that he's ranking top then," Jaune muttered.

Ruby just snorted at that. "Beacon, Atlas, Haven, Shade – they are all fancy and, yeah, I admit that the education is absolutely top-notch but I'm gonna tell you this, Jaune and listen well." She stared him in the eyes, her gaze filled with determination. "If you suck as a trainer then it doesn't matter if you were in a private or public academy."

"That is very true, Ruby," Pyrrha said, nodding appreciatively at her.

"My mum and dad wanted me to go to Beacon because my mum went there," Ruby explained, "and because she enjoyed the experience and everything. My dad is the city of Vale's gym leader and you know where he graduated from? PAPTV: the Public Academy for Pokémon Trainers of Vale." Now she grinned proudly at her friends. "It is one of the worst-rated public Pokémon academies in Remnant and my dad is still the gym leader of the city."

"Your dad is Taiyang Xiao-Long?" Weiss wondered with evident surprise.

"Yep."

Weiss looked impressed. "You have a rather impressive parentage, Ruby Rose."

She nodded. "Oh, I know." Then she turned to Jaune. "Where'd you graduate anyway?"

"CVPA," he answered with a shrug.

"The City of Vale's Pokémon Academy," Ruby answered for Weiss and Pyrrha's questioning looks. "Pretty decent standard for public academies."

"Even if it hadn't had a decent standard, I can see that you are doing well, Jaune." Weiss gave him an encouraging nod. "Your Pokémon trust you and you have more than deserved your first badge."

"River jumping on Onix and just forcing himself to keep standing after taking a Dragon Breath right in the face will never not be epic," Ruby gushed. "It was the coolest thing ever!"

"Thanks, guys," Jaune said with an awkward chuckle. "I appreciate it."

"You are quite welcome but I do hope that one day you will be confident enough that these pep talks will become redundant," Pyrrha gently chided.

Ruby then turned her attention to her own backpack to look for her sandwiches. Upon grabbing one and pulling it out, she quickly unwrapped it. She had deliberately wrapped them in paper to surprise herself and was licking her lips upon seeing the generous cocoa and white chocolate spread between the top and bottom slice of bread.

"I seriously envy you for your metabolism," Weiss said with a shake of her head and a look of mild disgust at the sight of chocolate oozing out from her sandwich. "I have to almost starve myself and work out regularly to be able to keep my figure."

"I'm a lazy bum, to be honest," Ruby said after swallowing. She had learned that Weiss hated it when people spoke with their mouths full. "You should see what Yang and I are stuffing ourselves with when we are at home. Chips, cookies, ice cream, chocolate bars…Yang still loves working out though." She then patted her belly with a chuckle. By no means was she chubby, but there were no muscles in sight, despite her flat stomach. "I like that I'm kinda soft and not all muscly, though. It's cute, isn't it?" She then glanced at Pyrrha. "No offence, you look amazing."

"None taken," Pyrrha replied with a giggle.

They then continued to chat while resting for another hour.

It took them well into the evening until they came across a Pokémon Center. It was small compared to what they had gotten a bit used to in Stonehold Town, admittedly. The hostel was just a few feet off to the left of the building and in between, there was a small training area, public arena included.

After registering their trainer's license, acquiring rooms and handing their Pokémon over for a routine check-up, they made their way to the cafeteria. It was packed full except for two empty tables, which wasn't all that surprising. Many young trainers were here and they likely came from every direction of Remnant.

Then, a loud voice made her flinch.

"Pyrrha! Here!"

They looked around the cafeteria until a mop of bright, orange hair and a wildly waving hand caught their attention.

"Oh, it's Nora and Ren!" Pyrrha noted with a delighted expression. "Come, let me introduce you!"

Weiss, Jaune and she shared glances and a shrug then followed Pyrrha, who greeted this Nora person with an enthusiastic hug. To Ruby's surprise, Nora was perhaps even shorter than her, barely reaching chest height when embracing Pyrrha. The boy sitting next to her had a slender physique to him and wore clothing similar to that of those Mistrali melodramas her mum loved to watch but refused to admit. He was more graceful when he stood up and greeted Pyrrha with a hug. They all sat down at the table after Jaune and she had to steal two more chairs from an empty one.

"These are Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren," Pyrrha explained. "They were classmates of mine at Haven Academy in Mistral." She turned back to her former classmates. "I did not expect that you would begin your journey in North Vale."

"We didn't actually want to – at first," Nora said, speaking animatedly as she did. "But then, Ren and I decided that we wanted to start here anyway. There are too many gangs busy in Mistral these days…"

"And then we learn that crime is increasing rapidly in Vale as well after we have already registered into the league," Ren said and thanked the waitress, who had just brought them their food.

There was a short pause in the conversation as Pyrrha, Jaune, Weiss and she ordered their food. Ruby opted for chicken wings and medium sized fries today.

Ruby thought of the Mistrali gangs and the Branwen Clan, led by her Aunt Raven. They weren't a criminal gang as such, though still not particularly liked by Mistral's police force – or any police force, for that matter. Aunt Raven believed in the whole "an eye for an eye" way of life and she had no mercy for criminals of any sort. It led to verbal clashes between her and Uncle Qrow a lot of times because he held no love for a "band of lawless vigilantes", as he liked to call the Branwen Clan, but they still always managed to make it work in their little patchwork family.

"It is a crazy world we live in these days," Weiss mused once the waitress was gone. "I'm from Atlas –"

"You're a Schnee, ain'tcha?" Nora asked her rather bluntly. "The hair gave it away."

Weiss exhaled heavily through her nose. "Yes, though I am disowned and disgraced, just as my sister is." The annoyed glare was enough to make it clear that she didn't want to hear anything more about this particular issue. "Anyway, as I was saying, I'm from Atlas and the White Fang has a very strong presence there, though we found a pair in the Tunnel of the Moon. They're spreading across the globe."

"The White Fang's influence is immense in Mistral," Ren said, earning himself a nod from Pyrrha. Nora was eating her large portion of fried potato wedges. "As a young trainer, it's really become dangerous there. Too many have had their Pokémon stolen in the past three years and have joined vigilante groups as a result."

Ruby hid her awkward cough at that. While she didn't know anything in particular about Aunt Raven's vigilante gang, she knew that Aunt Raven had never lost a Pokémon of her own but she loved and admired Pokémon more than anything. She had dedicated most of her life to studying them, caring for them and training them. Now, she was dedicating her entire life to protecting them. Ruby could respect that, though she'd never tell Uncle Qrow that.

"Mistral has become a lawless kingdom," Pyrrha added solemnly. "It's one of the reasons my family decided to move. It is a dire situation and even the police force is overwhelmed by it."

"It's a crazy world indeed, Weiss," Ruby muttered and thanked the waitress for her food.

She couldn't help but wonder what exactly was happening to the stolen Pokémon. The nervous and painful clenches in her heart and stomach made her quickly dismiss any possible ideas, though. She'd have to train her Pokémon hard – much harder than before. They certainly hadn't been slacking so far but she wanted them to be able to defend themselves from capture.

Tomorrow morning, she promised herself, she'd look to get a paid match under her belt to give Spikes and Lapis some match experience.

Then, as she nibbled on her chicken wings, she listened to more pleasant conversations about Pyrrha's surprisingly plentiful shenanigans in Haven Academy.

That was definitely a much more fun thing to talk about.