Turns out, trekking through the Wild Area was a lot tougher than I had originally thought. For one thing, I had grossly underestimated how big it was, meaning that the two days I had originally thought it was going to take were looking more like four.

Not only that, but the battles Lupin and I had against wild pokemon ended up being more difficult than I thought they were going to be. It wasn't because Lupin was weak. In fact, Lupin seemed incredibly competent when it came to battling.

The issue came from me.

Whenever we came across a pokemon that we could fight, I would always feel bad about it, and Lupin seemed to notice that hesitation. Unfortunately, this meant that our battles were much more difficult than they could have been.

Which is how I found myself once again spraying Lupin's paw with one of the last Potion's, listening as rain pelted on the sides of the tent. I'd only just managed to get the tent up in time before the sky opened up, and now we were stuck there until the rain let up. The good news was that whilst we were running low on provisions, there was a train station only a few miles away, so we didn't need to walk the rest of the way to Wedgehurst.

The bad news was that we would be arriving at Wedgehurst without a second Pokemon due to the trouble we were having in battle, meaning that I wouldn't be able to enter the contest.

I sighed, looking away from my phone and at Lupin's sleeping form next to me. Despite our trials, the pokemon seemed to enjoy battling, enjoyed running around whilst he threw rocks at his opponent. I felt bad that we were going to be unable to enter the contest, despite our best efforts.

But there was nothing I could do at the moment. I just had to deal with the issue in the morning.

With that thought, I rested my head and fell into a deep sleep.

My entire body jolted as I was woken to the sound of urgent barking. I sat up as quickly as I could, vision blurry from sleep and slight dizziness as I tried to figure out where I was and what was going on. Lupin was at the flap of the tent, pawing desperately at it in an attempt to get out, only stopping at the sound of my waking to look at me, whining.

"All right," I groan, crawling towards the zip. "Let's let you out."

Lupin watched my hand intently as I moved the zip, opening the tent to the outside. As soon as it was open enough he had leapt through the opening, scruff glowing.

A second later there was a large BOOM, and the tent flap whipped open.

My heart leapt at the noise. I scrambled out of the tent after Lupin, finding him not too far from the tent growling at a cloud of dust that was currently filling the air not far from where we had set up camp.

"What the hell?" I mutter, frowning at the cloud. For a few seconds it stayed suspended in the air, slowly spreading as it drifted towards the ground. I'm about to look down at Lupin to ask what had happened when a small brown shape flew out of the cloud, darting through the air in our direction. I then noticed something glint in the cloud, and gasped as several shards of ice shot towards the brown shape.

"Rock Throw!" I yell. Lupin appeared to have been waiting for me, as no sooner had I said the words he was launching several stones through the air. They whizzed past the incoming shape, colliding with the ice shards in another explosion. The shockwave of the explosion knocks the flying shape off course, causing it to crash onto the ground in front of me.

As it comes to a stop, I am finally able to get a better look at the object. It's a small bird pokemon I recognise as a Pidgey, the small bird looking up at me with something that looks like alarm in its eyes.

My attention is drawn away from the Pidgey and back to the new cloud of dust as Lupin begins growling again. Emerging from the cloud is another small pokemon, this one bipedal with white claws contrasting against black fur, stalking its way towards us. A Sneasel.

Upon seeing the Sneasel approaching the Pidgey starts panicking, attempting to get back in the air before flopping back on the ground, its wing looking slightly odd. Quickly, I picked up the Pidgey, receiving an alarmed coo from them as I lifted them off the ground.

It was then a shard of ice flew past my face.

Alarmed, I spin to face the Sneasel who was glaring at me, its claw pointed in my direction.

"Sne!" it barks, body lowering in a way that looked like it was preparing to charge at us. In my arms I feel the Pidgey begin to shake, terrified of the Sneasel. It looked up at me, and I can only describe the look it gave me as a look of pleading. Sighing, I look the Sneasel in the eyes.

"Leave us alone. This Pidgey is with us."

The Sneasel narrowed its eyes at me, a sneer appearing on its face as it brung its claws above its head. A blue orb formed between the claws and, before I could react, I was pelted with ice cold wind. I hug the Pidgey closer to me as the cold stings my skin, doing my best to shield it from the attack when the Sneasel leaps forward, claws now glowing.

"Bite!" I yell, bracing for the impact of Sneasels claws. But I didn't need to worry, as the moment I had given the order, Lupin had leapt at the Sneasel, jaws clamping down on one of the Sneasel's back legs before throwing the pokemon away from us. The Sneasel was caught off guard by this, smashing into the ground with a loud thump.

"Howl."

Lupin let out a battle cry as the Sneasel pushed itself back up and began rushing at him, rage filling its eyes at the pokemon that had interrupted its attack.

"Double Team," I say, and immediately the Sneasel is surrounded by multiple copies of Lupin. The Sneasel stopped in its tracks, surprised at the sudden appearance of multiple Rockruff around it.

"Bite again!"

All of the Rockruffs started charging at the Sneasel. The pokemon started panicking, its claws glowing slightly as it started swiping at as many of the Rockruffs as possible. Slash by slash its claws passed through the Rockruffs, the copies disappearing with each swipe until Lupin approached from the side, biting hard on the Sneasels outstretched arm. It let out a cry, waving its arm around as it tried to shake Lupin off. It would have almost been a comical sight if the Sneasel hadn't tried to attack us moments before, Lupin effectively being waved around in the air as he held on.

I suddenly had an idea.

"Lupin, let go in the air and use Rock Throw!"

It was incredible, as the moment Lupin released the Sneasels arm he was thrown into the air. He did a small twist in the air so he was facing the Sneasel and launched a Rock Throw at the pokemon. In retaliation, the Sneasel swiped at the air, several shards of ice rocketing towards Lupin. I thought they were going to collide in midair, but the rock and ice whizzed past each other, smashing into the Sneasel and Lupin with another small explosion. From the cloud in the air I saw Lupin's body emerge, falling limp towards the ground. I immediately ran towards him, doing my best to make sure the Pidgey in my arms was not being jostled around too much as I ran towards where Lupin was going to land. As I approached, Lupin seemed to animate, his head looking around as he fell.

"Over here!" I call out, getting his attention. He turned, letting out a happy bark as I reached out my free hand to try catching him.

I'm barely able to catch him, falling over as I do my best to slow his descent. We roll on the ground for a few feet, with me ending up on my back as Lupin happily licks my face. The Pidgey just sat on my chest, quietly grooming itself as if we hadn't just fought a Sneasel for it. Glancing over to where said pokemon was, I'm able to see that Lupin's Rock Throw had managed to knock the pokemon out, explaining why the Pidgey seemed less panicked as its hunter was no longer a threat.

Or at least, wasn't a threat for the moment.

I sit up and take a look at the two pokemon in front of me. Lupin seemed ok, just a bit dirty and dishevelled from the fight. The Pidgey on the other hand, looked very beat up. Their feathers were sticking out all over the place, and I wasn't wrong about their wing. It looked like it had been damaged when it was being chased by the Sneasel.

"Lupin, keep an eye on this little one," I tell my pokemon, picking the bird up and placing them gently next to him. Lupin immediately started sniffing them, although they didn't seem to mind, returning any particularly hard sniffs with a small peck.

Content that they were fine for the moment, I quickly returned to the tent. I grabbed my stuff from inside and, with practised ease from the last few days, put down the tent and placed it in my bag. Before I put the rest of the stuff in the bag, I put the box of Poketreats to the side, and quickly packed everything else away. Once everything was in the bag I returned to the two pokemon, who were still apparently getting to know each other.

"Hey," I say to the Pidgey as I approach them, putting some of the treats in the palm of my hand. "We're going to Wedgehurst. You want us to take you to the Pokemon Centre there?" I ask, holding out my hand. Immediately, Lupin pounces at my hand, managing to scoff a good amount of treats before I can pull my hand away from him.

"Lupin!" I laugh, getting a tilt of the head from him as if he didn't know what he did. Once again I reach out my palm to the Pidgey, this time using my other to hold Lupin back. The Pidgey looked up at me and then down at the treats, before hopping next to my hand and began pecking the treats from it. A few seconds later there were no treats left, and the Pidgey had jumped onto my hand. Content that the Pidgey trusted me, I gave Lupin a nod and the three of us began the two mile journey to the train station.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Maya said, frowning at me. "You saved a Pidgey from becoming Sneasel chow, brought it with you and Lupin on a two hour journey to Wedgehurst, and you didn't once think about catching it?"

Even through the computer screen, I could feel the waves of disbelief coming from Maya. I'd only been talking to her for less than five minutes, letting her know that i'd safely made it to Wedgehurst. Austin wanted the three of us to travel together but Maya had shot that idea down, saying that it would be better for me to get to know Lupin and any other pokemon I caught without Austin's distractions. She did however make me promise to call her when I arrived to let her know how my first journey went.

So when I told her that Lupin was currently with this Centre's Nurse Joy, I ended up telling her about the Sneasel incident. Which ended up with our current conversation.

"It wasn't like I was going to catch them after all that happened," I explained to her. "I didn't want to keep her from her family."

On the other end, Maya shakes her head.

"Sam, Pidgey aren't native to Galar. If they were here, it probably means that they got separated from their flock. Having them on your team would probably be the best situation for them at the moment."

"I…" I begin, but falter, unsure what to say. Fortunately, Maya continued.

"Honestly, don't worry too much about it. You can always ask them if they want to join you when Nurse Joy is finished with them. I'm just so used to Austin acting without thinking that I was surprised that you put some thought into your actions."

I can't help but laugh at that comment, resulting in a small grin appearing on Maya's face as well.

"How is he by the way? When are you two getting here?"

"Well, the contest is in three days, so we'll be there the day after tomorrow," Maya explains. "Austin's annoyed that I won't be participating, but who am I to ignore my brother playing the fool in front of an audience."

"Hey!" a second voice called out offended, and a second later Austin had appeared on the screen, pushing his sister to the side so they were both visible on the screen.

"Me and my boy Sam are going to show everyone that that preening idiot isn't as great as he thinks he is. Right?"

I turn to a boy who was walking past with a black bird pokemon in his arms.

"I have no idea who he is," I tell them, causing Austin to let out another sound of indignation as Maya began laughing. Turning back to the screen, I could see Maya holding her hands in front of her face in an attempt to stop laughing, whilst Austin was trying to look offended but couldn't hide the small grin spreading across his face.

"I'll do my best to get a second pokemon," I tell him, and his face brightens up.

"Looking forward to meeting them. We're going to take them all by storm."

I smile, and am about to ask him some questions about battling when my name is called over the speaker. Apologising for having to go, I bid Maya and Austin goodbye and head over to the medical centre counter.

Sitting on the counter is Lupin, his tail wagging excitedly behind him as he notices me approaching. Perched on his head is the Pidgey, their eyes closed as if they were taking a nap.

"Mr Ashworth." Nurse Joy addresses me as I approach the counter. "Your Rockruff is all recovered," she tells me. As if to prove her right, as soon as i'm near enough to the counter Lupin lept at me, forcing me to quickly catch him in my arms. His jump woke the Pidgey, who as soon as he started moving, urgently flapped their wings to hover in place before landing on the counter where Lupin had been sitting moments before.

"What about Pidgey?" I ask, giving said pokemon a concerned look as Lupin began nuzzling into me. Nurse Joy smiled.

"Apart from a few minor cuts and bruises, she wasn't seriously injured. We thought she'd have left by now, but she decided to stick with your Rockruff."

I blink at the pokemon, taking in the information. Maya said that Pidgey weren't native to Galar, and that catching them, her, was probably the best idea.

The Pidgey had not stopped looking at me since Lupin jumped into my arms, and so I made a decision. Readjusting myself so I was now holding Lupin in one arm, I look the Pidgey in the eye.

"Hi," I began, holding out my hand to her. "My name's Sam. I was wondering, would you like to join us?"

Lupin gave a happy yip, as if trying to convince the bird pokemon to accept the invitation. For a moment her gaze fell to my hand, before raising to my eyes again. She spread her wings and with a few flaps… flew past my hand…

And landed on my head.

"Pi!" she chirped, before beginning to preen my hair. I snort at her action, turning Lupin to look at me.

"Guess we need to come up with a name for her, huh?" I say. Lupin baked happily at me, and for the first time in a few days, I was beginning to feel more confident in my chances in this new world.

Amazing. I'm back after nearly two years. Unfortunatly I had a dissertation that took up a lot of time, and then I got burnt out looking for a job, but i'm feeling a little bit better now, so I hope to slowly add more chapters to this story. Sorry for the massive delay, but if you want some more amazing stories, come to the the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server at: 9XG3U7a.