Petalburg City: Let's mingle with nature!
By Hoennian standards, Petalburg City is rather small. Large enough to have school up to high school level, but small enough that college students usually head to Slateport University. Thanks to its influence of Johtonian immigrants, the architecture is more traditional and stands out compared to modern amenities of other Hoennian cities. Like anywhere else, Petalburg has its basics; several neighborhoods for residents, a Pokémon district, and its main attraction, the gym.
The brown and green gym had a sign outside that read
"Petalburg City Pokemon Gym- Leader: Butch Reid. 'Father knows best, ROOOOOWF'"
A white and brown puppy happily played outside of the Pokemon Center. She wore a purple short sleeved play dress, black bike shorts, purple flats and two yellow bows clipped to her ears. The girl scribbled a crude rendition of a Skitty in the sand, the comically oversized stick in her paws shaking with each stroke. The puppy hummed to herself as she had fun with her art.
"Oh, there you are, Dolly"
The puppy looked up. She saw her father towering over her- a black and brown Rottweiler dog with narrowed brown eyebrows. He wore a blue argyle print shirt, a light blue tank top underneath, black sweatpants with a white stripe on the left side, and grey geta sandals. A yellow and white badge was pinned to his left sleeve. Several Ultra Balls were neatly clipped to his waist. The bigger dog effortlessly picked Dolly up.
"Papa!"
Dolly yipped as she kicked her feet, holding on to dear old dad.
"Are you done battling yet?!"
"Not yet, kiddo" he assured her, as he held two fingers to her face
"Just two more Gym Battles today, okay?"
"Aw, okayyy"
Dolly pouted and crossed her arms. "Can you put me down? I wanna draw more Pokemon!"
The pair of pups turned around; a trio of Pokemon trainers ran into city limits, followed by each of the Hoenn starters. Weren't Mudkip usually blue, Butch noted to himself. Whoever owned that Pokemon had to be one lucky guy!
"See? I TOLD y'all the gym leader was here, so save the fightin' for then!"
Benedict yelled to the other two boys before waving hello to the dog duo.
"Howdy there! I'm here for a battle!"
"Excuse me?" the larger dog raised an eyebrow. Well, this isn't the most impulsive kid he had to deal with in all his years of being a Gym Leader, but did he really have to barrel into town barking up the wrong tree.
"Who ARE you exactly?"
Benedict tensed up in his spot; oh, right, he didn't introduce himself to this guy yet! He pointed at himself as he introduced himself to the gym leader.
"The name's Benedict Sussex!" he held his wing out to the dog. "An' I'm here to challenge y'all for a Gym Badge!"
Torchic eagerly chirped as he hopped up and down in his spot.
Together, he and Ralts could wreck this guy in battle!
"Is that so?" the dog deadpanned. "Well there, Benedict, my name's Butch Reid. Yes, indeed, I'm Petalburg City's Gym Leader. While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I only take challenges from trainers with four badges"
Benedict jumped up in his spot, his body turning white in shock. "I thought y'all Gym Leaders were supposed to battle anyone that challenges you for a gym badge!"
"Technically, yes," Butch explained. "But I don't like battling rookies. Any trainer with four badges? Now that's a battle worth having! Of course, I'm sure a Unovan like you would understand the value of a good battle"
Benedict squinted slightly, some strands of hair falling in his eyes. "Now wait just a darn second there, Butch!" He yelled as he crossed his arms. "How'd y'all know I was from Unova?"
Butch shrugged his shoulders. "For your information, I'm from Unova too. I can spot an accent like that a mile away. Castelia City, right?"
Benedict gasped slightly. Sweet Arceus this guy was clever.
"Heh, yeah. What 'bout y'all?"
"Nacrene City," Butch explained. "Of course, I went to Nimbasa City quite a bit. Heck that's where I went to meet up with my good friend Mornay!"
"Mornay?" Benedict tilted his head before stepping backwards. "Hol up, y'all were friends with my dad?!"
"I sure was! We had such a blast getting on the Battle Subway!"
Butch flashed a cheeky smile. He reminisced on good times- weekend nights spent jumping on different trains, both trainers flung about different subway cars as several Pokemon brawled like their lives depended on it.
"Last I heard of him, he ran off to Galar to take on its Pokemon League. So what happened there? How'd you end up in Hoenn instead?"
Benedict sighed, his arms still crossed. "Well, I was gonna go off with him to Galar, maybe even battle 'im for the Champion Cup, but he said no, so I went off with my ma instead. I do like Hoenn though, Professor Nook gave me this here Torchic,"
He kneeled down to pick up Torchic, hugging the fire Pokemon as he showed him off.
Dolly yawned as she wriggled in her father's arms
"Daaaaaad, I'm bored! Can we go home now?!"
Butch chuckled as he looked down at his impatient daughter.
"Just a minute, kiddo"
Butch blinked twice and shook his head. "Well, I'm sorry, Benedict, but my little girl comes first AND I have several battles to do today. I'll see you when you earn those badges"
"I'll see ya then!" Benedict yelled as he waved goodbye to the dog duo. Once the pair left, he looked around at his surroundings, then sprinted towards the Pokemon Center.
Meanwhile, inside the Pokemon Center...
"Thank you, hope to see you again!~"
Nurse Shizue chirped to a beige rabbit in a white and green school uniform.
Tank stood at the PC in the corner. He switched several Poke Balls around on the screen, texting Professor Nook about any updates with Pokemon research.
In the far right corner, a brown bear with thick eyebrows was carrying a small black and white striped Pokemon. He wore a yellow collared sweater, dark brown pants and red and black sneakers.
He held a small Oran Berry out to his Pokemon.
"Sorry I threw you out in battle like that, Ziggy Stardust. Are you still okay?"
The normal-type growled before wagging its tail as it gnawed on the tart fruit.
"Zigza!"
The bear looked up to see a light blue rhino approach him in a casual manner
"Do you need something from me?" he asked the unfamiliar animal.
"Yeah, I do" the rhino happily greeted him. He pointed at the Pokemon in his lap
"Is that a shiny Zigzagoon?"
"Huh?" the bear shook his head. "No, Ziggy Stardust is not shiny. He's just a Galarian variant, that's all. And besides, shiny Hoennian Zigzagoon is orange! Oh, I'm Teddy by the way. Teddy Crescendo!"
"Nice to meet cha! I'm Tank Pepper, and this is my buddy Treecko"
Tank pointed at his Treecko
The two mammals shook hoof and paw, while Treecko waved to the new animal.
"Treecko-tree!"
"Now. What the heck is a Galarian variant?"
Tank asked him as he sat down next to him on the orange couch.
"Well" Teddy shrugged. His thick eyebrows looked down as he petted his Pokemon
"Sometimes Pokemon change their types in different regions due to different climates. Stardust here is half Dark-type. I brought him over from Postwick, that's in the south half of Galar region"
"Strange" Tank held his hoof to the monochromatic Pokemon. He watched as Zigzagoon sniffed and licked him. He chuckled a little
"I'm from Fortree City and I've never seen any Zigzagoon like this"
"Fortree City, huh?"
Teddy was intrigued. "I've heard of that city before. It has a gym, correct?"
"There's a gym there?"
Benedict butted into their conversation. His feathery tail wagged in excitement.
"Oh, there you are!" Tank waved to his friend. He pulled the chicken into a side hug
"Teddy, this is my good friend Benedict!"
"Pleasure to meet you, Benedict"
Teddy got up and shook his wing.
"Same for y'all" the bird shook back.
"Oh, yea. Tank. Apparently nobody told me y'all needed four badges to battle the Gym Leader here. And where the heck is Kidd?!"
The rhino shrugged
"Beats me. Last I saw him he stormed off outside with his Mudkip"
"Stormed? I know Mudkip can learn Rain Dance"
Teddy interjected, not looking up. "But I don't think it's as powerful as a Kyogre"
Tank tilted his head and looked over at Benedict. What storm is HE talking about?
The door opened up with a ding. Kidd walked back to his group with several white full paper bags with a blue Poke Ball on the front. Mudkip cheerfully skipped along, chewing on a pretty yellow ribbon in her mouth.
"There you two are! So, Benedict, how'd the gym battle go?"
the goat asked him.
Benedict slumped in defeat
"I didn't even get one. Apparently the guy here in Petalburg is the fifth gym leader in the Hoenn league. Oh yeah, and he knows my pa"
"Aw, it's okay" Kidd handed him a Poke Mart bag.
"Hey, at least you know what you wanna do! Mudkip and I were just sightseeing"
"Yeah, I guess"
Benedict gently opened the bag and looked inside.
Well, this is convenient! Some Poke Balls, two bottles of Fresh Water with pink and blue ribbons tied to them, some Fraxure body spray, a few hair ties in colorful patterns.
"Huh, thanks."
"It's no problem"
Kidd gracefully bowed with one hand in front. He looked at the bear in front of them, and that interesting Zigzagoon of his in his lap.
"Oh! Who's this guy?"
"Greetings, I'm Teddy Crescendo" the bear waved to the goat. "Your friends told me about you. Your Mudkip is very cute, by the way"
The goat tensed up and got flustered. Someone actually thought his starter was cute?!
"Th-thank you?" he coughed in surprise.
"You're welcome. I've always wanted to have a shiny for myself"
Teddy explained.
Kidd picked Mudkip up by her sides and looked up and down her. She happily whistled from the attention.
"Shiny?"
"Well, yeah? You didn't know about shiny Pokemon?" the bear asked him.
"...No" the goat shook his head. "I've heard about them but nobody I knew back in Kalos had one."
"That's a shame" Teddy, without any prompting, explained in thorough detail.
"But yeah, shiny Pokemon are Pokemon that have a different color than usual. Some are REALLY drastic, like the famed Red Gyarados of the Johto region, while others can be subdued, like a Pikachu-colored-Pichu, also of Johto. Some are easier to find than others, but they're pretty cool either way! I've heard they're even more common in Kalos, Alola and Galar! Heck, I even heard over in the Sinnoh region, due to a rare ability mutation, if you travel with a Pokemon with Cute Charm, shinies will be drawn to your Pokemon"
The three boys tuned out as Teddy continued to eagerly explain about shinies. Tank noticed some peculiar traits about Teddy- the way he would pet only the black parts of his Zigzagoon's fur, how he'd look down at Zigzagoon instead of making eye contact with any of them. But he couldn't remember exactly what...He had several classmates that were similar in the bear's behavior, but not quite. One classmate had strong knowledge and passionate interest in evolution stones, while another was heavily into Steel-types like the Beldum line.
"...And yeah, Pokemon of different languages have a higher chance of shiny offspring! Like if a Froslass from Galar has eggs with an Aegislash from Kalos, those Snorunt have a slightly higher chance of turning out shiny!" Teddy finally finished his monologue, looking up to smile a bit. "Any questions?"
"Not right now, no"
Tank shook his head. "But we gotta get going now to travel"
"Already? Okay" Teddy handed his plain orange Rotom Phone to the rhino. "Here, you guys should add me"
"Sure thing!"
The rhino tapped his number on the screen, then handed him back the phone.
"We'll see ya later!"
"Take care!"
Teddy waved after the trio left the Pokemon Center. He said to his Zigzagoon
"Ziggy, I think we finally made our first friends in Hoenn!"
"Zigza!"
The trio ran out from the city and onto the serene environment that is Route 104. The air smelled slightly salty and there wasn't a trace of wind to be felt or heard.
"...So did anyone notice how talkative that Teddy guy was?"
Benedict broke the awkward silence.
"Yeah, but he wasn't bad at all!" Tank cheerfully reassured him. "I've had a few neighbors in Fortree like him and most of them are nice"
Tank eagerly leaped into the grass with Treecko by his side. Benedict kept his eyes peeled for other trainers to battle in the area. Kidd walked over to the small beach and sat on a rock. He looked over at Mudkip and asked her
"So, what should we do now?"
"Kip!"
Mudkip happily shouted before she ran across the sand, eagerly digging for something. The water type Pokemon pulled a very pretty blue and pink triangular scale out. She held it in her mouth and hopped over to her trainer.
"What's this?" Kidd asked her as she dropped the scale at his feet. He glanced at the gorgeous scale and the way it shone in the light. Maybe being a Water-type specialist could be his calling- there's no other type he could think of that would make good use of this scale.
"Oh, thank you, Mudkip!"
"Mud!" Mudkip squeed.
Yes, her trainer is starting to like her!
Kidd put the scale away and walked into the grass with his starter. "I've gotta show the guys this" he thought to himself.
The goat stopped in his tracks when he saw Tank and Benedict paused near the entrance of a nearby forest. A yellow frog, with a very impressive mustache and an elegant ship's captain uniform, faced them. Their Pokemon were out of their balls and had a determined look in their eyes. Torchic and Treecko faced off against a white and blue seagull Pokemon and a dark blue bird Pokemon.
"What the?"
Kidd asked.
"There you are!"
Tank waved. "Hey we were just about to battle this guy!"
"I am NOT just 'this guy', oui oui! I am a renowned sailor who's traveled the WORLD" the amphibian scolded the rhino. He shook a fist at Kidd
"And you! The goat! Be thankful I only have these two Pokemon or you're facing me too!"
"Can we get on with it already?!"
Benedict scolded everyone.
"If you insist, oui oui!"
The frog adjusted his classy white captain's hat.
"Taillow, Quick Attack! Wingull, Growl!"
Wingull growled at both Pokemon while Taillow headbutted Treecko, causing the wood gecko to flinch from the attack.
"Torchic!" Benedict yelled. "Use Ember on Taillow!"
The fire-type opened its beak and spewed powerful flames at the bird.
"I see you two are...experienced"
the frog tipped his hat.
"Peeko-chan! Supersonic! Taillow! Focus Energy!"
"Dodge it and use Pound" Tank shouted.
"Cko!" Treecko backflipped to avoid the echoing attack. He frontflipped and pounded his tail against the seagull Pokemon.
"Gull..." The water-type squawked as it fainted.
The frog frowned and held a Net Ball out. His fainted Pokemon returned to his ball
"Good job, Peeko-chan. Rest up well for next time. Now, Taillow, Peck!"
Torchic leaped in front of Treecko, taking the blunt of the attack for him. The bird cried out as it was about to faint
"Torchic! Y'all are so close! Scratch!" Benedict hollered. His forehead dripped in sweat as he was determined on winning this battle.
"Tor...chiiiiiic!"
The orange bird cried out as it quicky scratched his opponent.
"Tai-" the navy bird paused in his tracks, taking a good amount of damage. "llow..." He fell over with a light thud.
The frog kneeled down and petted his Taillow before returning him to his ball. "You did well. Well, congratulations you two"
"Thanks for the battle, mister-"
Benedict held his wing out for a strong shake.
"...Cousteau Grenounille" the frog formally introduced himself. "You two are quite the formidable trainers. But I must warn you, there WILL be tougher opponents ahead, so don't get too cocky"
Tank snickered from the unintentional pun while Benedict and Kidd facepalmed in unamusement.
"Now run along boys" Cousteau said to them. "I need these two to rest up for the afternoon"
While the frog walked back to his small cabin, the boys ran into the woods in front of them.
A few mushroom shaped Pokemon ran through the grass in front of them.
The Petalburg Woods darkened as the sun slowly set. The trio continued to sneak through the endless forest. Some Pokemon chirped in the distance while the faint buzzing of Nincadas echoed in the heavy air. Kidd winced as mud splattered all over his nice boots. Hopefully it wouldn't be days, or Arceus forbid, WEEKS, before his next shower, he thought to himself. Mudkip, however, happily cooed as she rolled around and played in the dirt. Treecko jumped into a puddle next to her, splashing in the muddy water.
"Shouldn't we get some rest already?"
Kidd asked his companions as they trekked through another seemingly endless dirt trail.
"No way!" Tank whispered as he crawled under a low branch. His horn brushed up against several thick green leaves
"I heard that Slakoth are easier to find here at night"
"Yeah, and I wanna get to my first Gym battle already, even if it means gettin' through these woods" Benedict joined in. He spread another bush and crawled through the heavy branches.
Kidd rolled his eyes. Did these two have no standards whatsoever?!
The trio stopped in their tracks. Tank and Benedict crept over to a different bush, stopping in their tracks when they heard some yelling and a sharp cry. Kidd followed suit, but backed away from everyone else.
"I already told you bastards to get the fuck away from these Pokemon"
A towering green hawk, with cold blue eyes and intimidating maroon eyebrows, scolded the two animals in front of him. A lit cigarette dangled from his beak, wispy smoke hovering between him and his enemies. His outfit was quite a spectacle to view: a navy blue kimono, tight sarashi across his chest, beige pants and stiff black leather boots.
Three large red spider Pokemon stood behind him. Two of them were shaking in fear while the third Pokemon's eyes glowed bright purple. The bug type on the left had a huge purple bruise on its forehead.
Tank pulled up his Rotom Dex and set it on silent mode. He read the text that popped up
"Ariados: the Long Leg Pokemon. A bug and poison type. Its' feet are tipped with tiny hooked claws that enable it to scuttle on ceilings and vertical walls. The most aggressive Ariados are the mothers with baby Spinarak on their back"
The first animal, a grey deer with a white button-up and grey waistcoast, sneered and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, and just what are YOU gonna do about it, birdbrain?"
He pulled out a Poke Ball with green and brown camouflage all over the top half.
"Seriously, don't take it out on us, man" the other animal, a light blue cat wearing a purple sailor's uniform, tried to reason.
"We're both only following bosses' orders!"
He scoffed before grabbing a pink Poke Ball with a cutesy pastel heart on the front.
The bird fumed as he continued to rant. He took his cigarette out and blew smoke at their faces.
"I don't give a flying fuck what your idiotic bosses have to say. These Pokemon have a right to live in their home without you two shits harassing them for silk. And for what? Cheap profits? Validation? Yourselves?"
The eagle put his cigarette back in his beak. He threw a bright blue Quick Ball into the air. A tall grey metallic avian Pokemon roared as it threw its head back.
The cat and deer furiously glared at each other. Oh they were NOT going to take this pesky bird down without a fight! They threw their balls in the air and summoned their Pokemon. The deer had a round blue Pokemon with a partially bloomed red flower on its head, while the cat used a rotund pink Pokemon with large rabbit ears and a white belly.
"So that's how you bastards wanna play, huh?"
The eagle snarled before he released another Pokemon— a red and grey avian Pokemon with long red and black wings.
"Skarmory, Steel Wing!" he commanded, "Talonflame, Flare Blitz!"
"Gloom, Poison Powder!"
"Wigglytuff, Sing!"
The three boys intensely watched the battle unfold before them.
Skarmory slashed at Wigglytuff with its wing, knocking it out in one hit. Talonflame wheezed and tried to shake the Poison Powder spores off itself. The Fire-type growled before rotating and slamming head first into the grass type. Flames exploded in the air as Talonflame knocked Gloom out in one hit.
The two mammals freaked out and quickly called back their fainted Pokemon.
"Don't think you won yet!"
The cat hollered as he and the deer ran out of the woods.
"A fine job, you guys"
The eagle commended his Pokemon after they calmed down from battle. He returned them safely to their balls. He turned around to see the younger boys staring at him.
"….Give me a damn break. There's MORE of you?"
He shook his head in disapproval before pulling out a white box and a grey lighter with a mermaid engraved on it.
"More of what?" Kidd asked him. Was this guy going to pummel them into the ground like nothing? He had at least two fully evolved Pokemon on him, and possibly four more! Who knows what he would do to them?! Pummel them in battle like dirt, steal their Pokemon for himself, maybe kill all three of them and leave their bodies to anything else dwelling inside Petalburg Woods!
The eagle froze up.
"It's nothing" he explained as he looked away from the trio. His feathers rustled in the light wind as he finished his cigarette, putting a new one in immediatly.
"…You three AREN'T involved with those two, are you?"
Tank had realized what was going on all too well.
"No?" he answered. "We all just started being trainers! Why would we be part of either Pastel OR Cottage?"
Phew.
The eagle sighed in relief and brushed some sweat off his forehead
"You kids are safe then. I've had to chase those pests away from the western half of Hoenn Hoenn for days now"
He put his lighter and box away, then stuffed his right wing into his coat pocket.
"Wait a minute. Who ARE you?"
Kidd asked the unfamiliar animal.
The eagle coughed slightly before looking back at the young boys
"Well, where do I start? The name's Frank Hawkian" he formally introduced himself. "I came from far away to obtain a Mega Stone for one of my Pokemon, check in on the Hawkian Corporation while my cousin takes care of business in Ever Grande, and to put a stop to both Team Pastel and Team Cottage. What are you three up to here?"
"Treecko and I came to catch some more Pokemon for the dex" Tank explained himself as he held up the small gecko Pokemon. The rhino pulled a few Poke Balls out as well "We already caught a few on the way here AND several more in the Storage System!"
Benedict nodded and let his Torchic hop up in his arms
"And I'm on my way to get my first Gym Badge in the next city over!"
Kidd sighed
"I don't know what I want in life yet, so I'm just tagging along with them for now"
"I see" Frank nodded. He looked over at their starters before looking back at their owners.
"You, the rhino. You knew about Pastel AND Cottage before?"
Tank cleared his throat and groaned
"Yeah, I knew about them all too well"
(several weeks earlier, in a small Fortree City hut)
"Did I stutter, you fools?! Give us ALL the Kecleon, and nobody gets hurt!"
The tall buck threatened all ten animals inside the treehouse. He yanked on his Pokemon's leash without a care. The Pokemon, a tall brown wooden Pokemon with long scraggy white hair and green leaves on its hands, growled from the restraint pressing against its throat.
"No, piss off, you little maggot!"
One of the animals, a muscular navy blue rhino in olive green fatigues, stood up and hollered at him.
"Rhydon! NOW."
He pulled out a Dusk Ball and tossed it in the air.
A massive grey dinosaur Pokemon leaped onto the floor and screeched. Its roar echoed through the entire city.
"Sgt. Pepper, are you sure you want to do this?" Another animal in the crowd, a white and black bird, asked him. "I mean, did you SEE how they stormed in here without any effort?!"
"Yeah. Don't worry about it, Paul. I've dealt with way worse. Get everyone else's asses outta here first"
Pepper looked at his trusted partner.
"Rhydon! Hammer Arm!"
The buck slammed a hoof against the wall
"Shiftry! Show no mercy and use Petal Blizzard that Rhydon AND his trainer!"
"Shif?"
the grass type tilted its head.
"I SAID NO MERCY, YOU FOOL!" the buck hissed, spittle flying in the air. "I DON'T GIVE TWO FLYING FUCKS IF I KILL HIM, THE BOSS NEEDS THOSE KECLEON NOW"
"And just like that, he got hit so bad he was unconscious for a week. He even had to get his leg amputated. My mom and I moved out of Fortree during that time" Tank finished his story. "My brother stayed with my dad while he recovered in the hospital, but hopefully he's better by the time I head there"
"That's...rather disturbing"
Frank shuddered from the thought of hospitalizing another trainer over protecting a few Kecleon. While he messed around with his cigarette, he had flashbacks to past incidents with Cottage and Pastel- almost breaking an arm, the cold threats, even his beloved Croagunk- No! Not Belladonna! She deserved better than to deal with... The rest too much to even think about right now.
"Forcing your own Pokemon to attack even other trainers..."
"Are you okay?"
Kidd asked him.
Frank coughed and snapped out of it. Why did his mouth feel like it was on fire...oh, right. He realized he put his cigarette in the wrong way!
"Yeah, I'm fine. Look, you boys should come with me for now. I don't want any trainers outside of here getting the wrong idea about any of you"
The trio looked at each other and shrugged. Sure, what the heck, this guy was trustworthy enough. And he had stronger Pokemon than all of them combined, so if anyone tried to mess with them, he could whoop their ass without breaking a sweat.
They walked through the woods with ease, Tank straggling along so he could chuck Poke Balls at each new Pokemon he met. Two Slakoth, a Taillow and two more Wurmple! Once everyone made it out of the woods...
Route 104 was serene. There was no wind in the air, yet it wasn't uncomfortably hot. Flowers swayed back and forth. The sky was pitch black except for some flickering coming through a nearby house. How convenient!
The group ran towards the house and paused near the door. Frank stepped forward and gave the wooden door a mighty knock three times. The doorknob shook before opening up. A short grey sloth glanced up at the taller trainers. He wore a cute orange apron, a floral green hat and squeaky little boots. His warm smile could melt the coldest of hearts.
"Greetings, greetings" he introduced himself. "I'd welcome you three to my happy little Pretty Petal Flower store, but unfortunately, I was just about to close up for the night!"
The younger boys groaned in annoyance while Frank shook his head in disappointment.
"BUT I'm thrilled to let you four visit me tomorrow when the sun's happy and shining!"
the sloth tried to reassure them.
"Yeah, we will, thanks"
Frank's voice went flat. He slowly closed the door and turned around.
"That was...disappointing. But we have to move forward"
The group nodded then made their way through Route 104, from crossing the bridge on the small pond to travelling through the grass. A Magikarp popped out of the pond and did a flip. And what do they know it, the city limits of Rustboro were just steps away!
"So, what are we gonna do about sleep?" Kidd asked everybody.
Frank cracked up with a snort
"I haven't slept in days!"
He reached into another pocket and pulled out a small energy drink, chugging it in one go.
The younger boys looked unimpressed at their new ally.
"Oh, right, other animals DO need sleep..." the eagle shook his head again, stuffing the empty container in another pocket
"I'll let you three stay the night at my uncle's business. But try not to break anything in there, or he'll kill me"
"What business does he run?" Tank asked him.
"It's a multipurpose business" Frank explained as he kept digging through his right pocket.
"There's supplying goods for trainers, research on fossil Pokemon, and looking into Mega Evolution. That's when a bond between certain Pokemon species and their trainers is strong enough to unleash a form of evolution"