Chapter 3: A New Friend

The air was growing cooler as I continued on the road. I knew I should probably call it a night and find someplace to rest, but Amica was only a few hours away now and I knew I could make it.

Both of my Pokémon were out. Flora was still guiding me while Cinder was perched on his favorite spot nestled in my hair. Drops of rain began to fall onto my face as I reached a dirt road. I could hear the sounds of bicycles riding by. One of them drove through a puddle, splashing me with water as it flew past. I grumbled in annoyance and wiped the muddy water from my clothing.

It began to rain harder. I decided it would be best to wait somewhere for it to stop. "Flora, do you see any place where we can stay dry?" I asked.

"Sprig sprig!" Flora replied. She rushed away excitedly and I followed after her.

After a couple minutes, Flora stopped running. This area was definitely less wet than the main path. Reaching out with my hand, I figured out that we were standing under a large tree. I sat down and stretched out my legs as I listened to the sounds of the rain. Flora laid down close to my feet, purring happily. Cinder, relieved to be away from the rain, shuffled around on my head, chirping happily.

We relaxed under the tree for a while. Then suddenly, I heard a voice call out, "Hey. Are you staying out of the rain?"

"Yes," I said.

"Mind if I join you?" The person asked.

"No problem," I replied.

I heard footsteps as the person approached us. They sounded young, may be about my age. They sat down on the ground next to me. "I was heading to Amica when all of this rain started," they explained.

"What a coincidence," I said, smiling. "I was on my way there too. My name is Skylar, but you can call me Sky. Are you a Pokémon trainer? I haven't met you before. At least, you don't sound familiar."

"My name is Frankie. I want to become a Pokémon researcher. I'm observing Pokémon out in the wild to help study for the professorial exam."

I nodded my head in understanding. Besides taking on the gym challenge, there were many other paths trainers in Laria could choose. One of these options was taking an exam that would allow a trainer to become an assistant at the professor's lab. If their time as an assistant went well, the trainer could possibly be chosen to become the next professor of Laria or sent off to become a professor in another region.

"Have you met the professor yet?" I asked. "She is really nice. I've been friends with her daughter since we were kids. Did she give you a starter?"

"I met the professor when I went to Syrut yesterday. I Live in a village A bit far from there. My parents are hard workers, but they couldn't afford to sign me up for the traditional trainer program in Syrut. Instead, they gave me some Pokéballs for my birthday and I used one of them to catch my first Pokémon myself."

I listened as they took out a Pokéball and released whatever was inside. Then I heard the fluttering of wings and A soft cooing sound. It was a Pidgey.

"Cool," I said. "It's a Pidgey."

"I have heard it's final form is pretty strong, but mine is pretty weak right now."

Noticing the new Pokémon, Flora stood up and greeted it with a meow. Cinder also jumped down from my head and flew towards it, chirping excitedly.

"These are my Pokémon," I said, introducing them. "This is Cinder, my Fletchling, and Flora, my Sprigatito."

"Sprigatito?" they asked, surprised. "I have never seen that Pokémon before. It's fascinating! If you don't mind, I would love to see it in action. I know a training area where we can have a practice battle once the rain stops."

"Sure. It would be a good way for your Pidgey to get in some training too."

We sat and waited for the rain to stop. When it finally did, Frankie lead the way to the training area. Frankie explained that during the summer it was used for a Pokémon summer camp for children who weren't old enough to start a journey. I had gone to the camp once when I was younger and so had they, so we talked for a bit about our favorite memories before we got in our battle positions.

"All right. Let's do this, Flora," I called. Flora ran forward excitedly, ready for the fight.

"Let's go, Pidgey," Frankie said. The little bird Pokémon fluttered forward, ready for its first command. "Start off with tackle."

"Counter with scratch."

Pidgey flew toward Flora, knocking her back a bit with its tackle. She retaliated by scratching it when it was in close range.

"That scratch is strong. We need to be careful. Flap your wings and use sand attack."

The bird Pokémon flap its wings, and I heard Flora let out a meow of pain as sand flew into her eyes.

"Don't let the sand stop you. Use scratch again."

Flora jumped forward and scratched Pidgey despite the sand.

"This isn't over yet. Try another tackle."

"Tail whip then scratch one more time."

As Pidgey flew in for another attack, Flora waved her tail around, confusing it before giving it one more scratch. I heard the small bird Pokémon fall to the ground, knocked out. Frankie rushed over to it and picked it up. They pulled something from their bag and sprayed it on Pidgey. I assumed it was a potion because the little bird Pokémon flapped its wings and cooed happily.

"That was a great battle, Frankie," I said. "Even though you didn't win, you and your Pokémon worked well together. You two will be getting stronger before you know it."

"Thanks," Frankie replied. "I had a lot of fun battling you. I better get going now, but I hope to see you again soon."

"See you soon. Good luck with your exams."

As Frankie left, I continued onward down the road. After a couple minutes of walking, my cane bumped into some thing. I reached out with my hand. It felt like some kind of sign. I took out my Pokéscan to read it. According to the sign, there were two paths I could take that would lead me to Amica Town. The left path led past the Amica Observatory, while the one on the right went by the Polten Family Ranch. Usually, when I would visit the town with my parents, we would take the left path since it gave us a chance to take a longer, more relaxing walk, so I decided to go past the ranch since it seemed more direct and I hadn't been that way before. I made a right turn, ready for whatever I would find next on my journey.