Chapter 9

Lodon City was, in many ways, the opposite of the small sleepy town I had just come from. Busy paved streets lay in between tall metal buildings that reflected the sunlight and forced me to squint my eyes. I already felt lost in this city and I hadn't even left the entrance to the hotel I had stayed in last night. I had an inkling that Luna felt the same was I did about this city, she pressed closer to my legs as we started down the block.

A crisp morning breeze tousled my hair as I walked and caused the flowing sleeves of my shirt to whip around my arms. I had toyed with the idea of leaving the city right away, but I had promised myself and my team that we would at least visit the gym before we left. The question of challenging the gym was another matter entirely.

As it happened, the biggest question we had to face was whether we could even find the damn place. The map I had grabbed from the hotel was all but useless in my hands. And after passing the same park for the third time I finally gave in and asked someone for directions. Luckily, the people of the town were hospitable and gladly pointed me in the right direction.

Even with proper directions, it was early afternoon before Luna and I spotted the imposing stadium-like building. We weren't the first to arrive, though. Standing in front of the shiny glass doors was a girl. She appeared to be around my age, with pale freckled skin and shoulder-length ginger hair. I expected her to enter the building but she seemed stuck in place. She gazed up at the gym logo, one hand playing with the hem of her grey shirt and the other laid flat against her thigh.

I moved to stand next to her, following her gaze, trying to determine what she found so interesting. "Think it'll be hard?" I asked.

I had assumed that by standing by her I had announced my presence but the dramatic flailing way the girl jumped away told me I had assumed wrong. I felt a little bad for scaring her, but her yelp and the way her mouth formed a cute 'O' shape as she stared at me made the guilt worth it.

I tried hard not to let my smirk show as I watched her try and compose herself. "O-oh! I wouldn't know, really," she squeaked. "If it's hard, that is. This will be my first gym battle."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise, a genuine grin taking over my face. "Really? Me too."

The girl relaxed a little. "So I'm not the only one challenging the gyms late." She spat the word 'late' as if it had personally offended her, but her demeanor remained sunny as she stuck out her hand. "My name's Raylian. I guess… does this make us rivals?"

I shook her hand with confidence. "I'm Alice, and I think we have to be competing to be rivals, so… no? Unless you really want an excuse to dash madly across the continent. In which case, who am I to deny you your dream?"

She released my hand with a laugh and looked like she was going to say something else but then her eyes fall on Luna. "Oh!" she exclaimed, kneeling down to get a better look. "An Absol! I've never seen one in person before." She extended a hand but paused before she reaches Luna herself and looks up at me. "May I?"

I shrugged. "You're asking me? Luna can think for herself."

Raylian returned her attention to Luna. "Luna? You have a very pretty name. May I touch you?"

Luna took a tentative step forward, giving the proffered hand an experimental sniff. Moments later, Luna was rubbing into Raylian's arm, all but purring as the girl scratched behind her head and under her chin. I watched on with amusement and no small amount of curiosity.

Eventually, Raylian stood back up, wiping her cheek where Luna had licked it. "Now that we're all acquainted," I spoke up, "should we go inside?" I gestured to the doors of the gym.

Raylian sobered immediately and I frowned upon seeing her bright smile replaced with worry. "Uh, yep! Totally," she said unenthusiastically.

I bumped her shoulder with a fist, shooting her a grin I hoped would encourage her. "Don't even worry about it, we'll challenge it together."

"Can we do that?" She asked, eyes wide.

"Let's find out!"

Before I had time to stand around and interrogate my sudden desire to challenge a gym just to cheer this girl up, I spin around and march through the doors.

The interior of the gym resembled a hotel lobby in some ways. The foyer was spotless, polished floors and plain walls drew all attention to the reception desk at the far end of the room. A bored teenager manned the desk, his chin propped up on his fist. He didn't even sit up at our arrival, just lazily waved us over.

"Here to challenge the gym?" he droned.

"Yes," I answered quickly.

"Great." He slid a piece of paper over the desk and rolled a pencil to me. "Sign at the bottom and then go through.

I did as he said and stepped off to the side to wait for Raylian. "We can go in together, right?" I asked, indicating to myself and Raylian.

The teen doesn't even look up from stacking our papers together. "Yeah sure, just don't cheat."

I threw a cheerful thumbs up to Raylian who returns the gesture with a watery smile. Together, we push open the doors next to the desk and enter the stadium.

We stepped past the doors into a jungle. It was warm, so warm that I instinctively tried to take off my jacket, only to remember I wasn't wearing a jacket. The entire stadium had been covered and re-purposed into some sort of greenhouse. The expanse before us was packed with all manner of greens. Thick foliage prevented one from stepping off the carefully cultivated path leading into the deep.

"Wow…" I breathed.

"I had heard that the cities go all out when designing their gym, but this…" Raylian looks upward, spinning in place. "This is something else."

"Sooo," I began, stepping into the jungle with Luna beside me. "I assume this will take us to the gym leader?"

"It must," Raylian replies. "It's the only path away from the door."

I hummed, focusing on the path ahead. We traveled in silence for several minutes, the only sounds came from the environment around us and our own footsteps.

I squinted at a vaguely familiar tree, noting a strip of red bark on its trunk. Brushing it off as a coincidence, I decided to break the silence. "So, Raylian, where are you from?"

"I'm from Smalt Town. It's a couple of miles east of here."

I pursed my lips, thinking back to all the maps in my parent's library. The only thing I could remember about Smalt Town was that it was a fisherman's town on the coast. "Is this your first time away?"

Behind me came a heavy sigh. "Yeah. How about you?"

"It's my first time, too." I brushed a leaf away from my face with a soft smile, casting my mind back to my home. "Although, I think I'm a lot farther from home than you are."

"Really? Where are you from?"

"Oh, I'm from- wait a sec." I pulled up short, pointing at the same tree from earlier. "I'm sure I've seen that tree before."

I glanced back at Raylian whose attention flitted from me, to the tree, back to me. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

I glared a the tree and the little strip of red bark that I definitely recognized. "Positive."

"Well… I didn't see any other paths. Did you?"

"No."

I spun in a circle, scouring the landscape for any break in the foliage. At my feet, Luna sat, yawned, and curled up with a soft huff.

"Luna," I chastised, "we are lost. How can you sleep at a time like this?" The only response I get is a muffled murrp.

"What if we're meant to search the forest for the gym leader?" Raylian mused.

"What?" I gestured wildly to the dense undergrowth. "Traverse that? With what weedwacker?"

"What other choice do we have? This path isn't getting us anywhere."

I grumbled, letting my hand fall back to my side. "Okay, so you have a point." Raylian grins. "But you're leading."

"Deal." She turns to the jungle while I rouse Luna from her nap. Raylian takes a deep breath.

"And if we get lost in there forever, I get to blame you."

She snorts, taking my wrist and leading us into the green. "'We'll challenge it together'," she mocks, "remember?"

"Oh, ouch! Where did this come from?"

"You asked for it."

"Also, I don't sound like that."

"Right."