25.

Hoenn on the Rocks

Slateport reminds Liko of Porto Marinada back home.

There's the harbor with rows of ships stationed all over, merchant and commercial alike, the huge marketplace in the middle of the city that everyone could see, the beach and a desert, scattering sand miles away.

Liko yawned.

The ride from Vermillion to Hoenn took all night, and the girl hadn't been able to sleep well at all, waking up constantly during the night, barely remembering her dreams and nightmares. But the stranger with the mask is always there, holding a mirror to her face.

Liko gets a call from Nanu the moment the ship lands, early in the morning. He tells her that Serena left a package for her in the local Poke Mart. "Girl's probably going through caves…makes me wonder how she got that order through."

"I-is she looking for someone?"

"Hmm…? Oh, yeah…she didn't tell you?"

"N-no…she said…that something came up on her end."

"Ah, probably some league business she had to deal with before she left…but yeah, she's looking for an old…acquaintance of hers…to ask him a few important questions, if you catch my meaning."

Liko understood exactly what Nanu meant.

Serena Gabena was out there looking for answers about Liko's pendant.

Liko and Floragato avoid the Pokemon Center as they make their way towards the local mart where Nanu told her the package was waiting for her; as for avoiding the center, Liko is almost sure the local nurse back in Saffron knew who she was with all that staring from her desk, only kept away by the trainers coming and going unable to do anything else but wait.

Someone had definitely told the nurse about her, and Liko wasn't sure who had done it, whether it was that mysterious rooftop thief (unlikely, but he managed to get in the school anyway), or it was probably the so-called bodyguards that her mother had hired without telling her daughter about it (maybe).

For now, Liko figured it was best to avoid the Pokemon Centers unless it was an absolute emergency.

Serena's package contained an envelope and a small case; the envelope contained money, a lot of money if Liko was counting right, and a letter that read, "For your journey" and finally, the small case that contained a memory card of some sort, a note inside called it the latest Pokedex app for Pokegear users with instructions on the back on how to make the app work on the gear.

Minutes later, Liko and Floragato sat on a bench overlooking the Slateport Market, both examining the Pokegear in Liko's hand. A robotic voice called back, "Floragato, the grass cat Pokemon." On the gear's small screen, a picture of Floragato appeared, followed by text. Liko turned the Pokegear towards Floragato, who tried posing as if she was taking a picture of him, and Liko smiled as she clicked on a button on the gear's side, and the Pokegear let a sound, and showed a new screen, Floragato now a face in the corner, with Liko taking note of the moves that Floragato could learn and already knew.

The Pokedex Pokegear was almost similar to the Rotom Pokedex, except the smaller screen, a wait time to get the proper Pokemon page, and having to read everything, not helped by the Pokegear's small screen. An option to enlarge the text was there but Liko figured she'll do fine without it.

Mr. Nanu told her not to run straight to Mauville for a bit; he said that there's a chance she might look suspicious if she's running around. "They had a situation in the local museum with suspicious individuals a while back…so, if anything, you looking like a tourist might help you…besides, it's too early, so go around and sightsee for a bit, but don't take too long, either way."

Her destination is Sootopolis City, pretty out of the way, according to Mr. Nanu.

"An old friend of mine, Juan, is a sailor in his free time. He'll take you to Sinnoh. He doesn't mind, if you're wondering…he said he's itching to have lunch with a famous coordinator from Hearthome, whoever that is…I don't care for the contest scene, so your guess is as good as mine." From Snowpoint City in Sinnoh, Liko will take another ship all the way to Unova, to Castelia City, and it's in Unova where she'll take a plane to Kalos. "Hopefully, you'll have a free ride all the way…unless distractions happen…but once you're in Kalos, you'll be as free as a Spearow."

"...hopefully."

"...take it easy, kid."

Liko and Floragato took to walking around the marketplace, listening to the loud merchants cry out, "Cheap! Cheap! Only the best spices, cheap!" "Over here! The best incense in the city!" "Flowers! Flowers!" "Here! Here!" "It's the right price, for the right pal!" It's nothing like Porto Marinada, where it's always a competition trying to get precious and rare items, like her father's bad luck trying to get some art, only for her mother to rush in to save him, leaving the merchant crying out after Lucca accused him of selling fakes.

Liko was younger then, not understanding anything at all, sharing ice cream with her mother's Squawkabilly as an argument broke out somewhere to the left, and her mother and father returned with lunch. A fight usually broke out once a day between merchants and buyers, unless old man Kofu was around to settle disputes with a smile and a Pokemon battle. Usually, the smiles won and agreements were reached at the end.

If only being around the Slateport Market felt the same.

It's on one of the last stands that Liko spots the sketchbook.

The man in charge of the stand is selling books, shells, sand in a bottle, toys of various sizes, and many things more, but it's the lonely sketchbook that catches Liko's eye. It's old, maybe used, missing a few pages.

How long since she last sketched anything?

Back in Kanto?

In Paldea?

No.

Liko had sketched a bit during her studies to learn more about Floragato, then a Sprigatito. The girl had sketched in her Rotom phone, too, and she's sure those sketches are gone. Her sketchbook, too, is probably in her old room back in the academy, forgotten.

She missed drawing, missed how it helped with her nerves, helped her think clearly…helped her dream of a better something, reminded her of better times, boring and uneventful, without danger and the sort.

Liko takes a deep breath, turns, only to glance at the sketchbook, lonely in the stand.

Minutes later, Liko and Floragato head towards Mauville, the girl hiding the newly bought sketchbook in her bag as she walks.