I stood about 30 feet from Misty on one of the gym's training fields, this one located in an enclosed area behind the building. It was, for the most part, a marshy field with a few patches of solid ground and a few ponds of indeterminate depth. I had no idea what to expect. This didn't seem to be the same kind of arena they held gym battles on, at least not the one they broadcast Leader Challenges for, but that was a damn good thing. That one only had a single patch of land surrounded by deep water.

"Challenger, release first!" cried Daisy, who was standing well off to one side. She was alone this morning, no Violet to be seen, though she was no less bubbly. I gulped. This was it. Time to see if I got my ass kicked by a little girl.

"Go, Destro!" I said, and the geodude materialized on the nearest solid ground, bashing his fists together. Misty snorted.

"Using a rock type in a water gym? Please! This'll be easier than I thought. Go, Shellder!"

A purplish clam pokemon appeared in one of the marshy areas, somehow floating atop the muck. It cracked open and I could see two bright eyes staring out at me. They focused on Destro and narrowed.

"3… 2… 1… fight!" declared Daisy, enthusiasm seeming out of place considering the situation. A battle between two slow tanky pokemon in their first form. I couldn't imagine it'd be particularly exciting.

We both shouted simultaneously. "Shellder, use water gun!" "Destro, roll left!" A weak bolt of water shot from the clam's 'mouth' but just barely missed Destro, who reoriented himself and glared back at it.

"Ice Shard!"

"Magnitude!"

This time the opponent's attack did connect, though not before my geodude struck the ground as hard as he could. It was nothing compared to an actual magnitude but the general area did shake a bit. Two ice shards hit him hard, doing way more damage than one would think ice could do to solid rock. Destro's shell was slightly cracked on his side and a jagged light blue piece stuck out from his right arm. As he grunted in pain the shockwave made its way to the shellder; it let out a strange warbling groan, snapped shut, and flipped on its side, sinking slightly into the swampy landscape.

"No, Shellder! Get back up and finish it!" demanded Misty, her face turning red. I saw my chance to actually pull off a victory in the first bout.

"Rock throw!"

Destro pulled soil together into large rocky clumps and chucked it with all his might at Shellder, who seemed to be trying to burrow deeper into the ground despite Misty's pleas. At the last moment she decided to embrace the path the cowardly pokemon seemed intent to take with a sighed "Withdraw."

The rocks struck true but they did very little damage, if any at all. I growled. That was Destro's strongest attack! I decided that if this was going to be a battle of tanks then I'd happily oblige. "Okay, harden and keep at it until I say so!"

Destro grunted and tensed up in place, seemingly gaining thickness, though I knew it was an illusion caused by layering packed soil onto himself. Misty looked very annoyed. This was clearly not how she wanted this battle to go.

"Come on, Shellder! It's vulnerable! Do what we talked about!"

The clam pokemon's shell cracked ever-so-slightly, but before I could call out an order an awful piercing screech reminiscent of the one the Golbat in Mt. Moon was making cut through the air. I grabbed my ears and groaned but it clearly wasn't aimed at me. Destro flinched hard, confusion in his eyes. Oh shit. Supersonic. "Destro, magnitude again! Give it all you've got!"

My geodude raised his arms, finally knocking the piece of stuck ice loose, prepared to smash the ground… then slammed himself in the face with a mighty CRACK. I winced.

"Finish it off! Water gun!" Misty said, sounding smug.

"Come on, Destro! Magnitude! One last shot!"

Destro's eyes seemed to gain a slight amount of awareness. He raised one arm again and smacked it against the earth as the water gun hit. It knocked him out instantly, although the Shellder had sunk even deeper into the soft ground and seemed to be rocked hard as Destro's last attack washed over it. It was still conscious though. I recalled Destro.

"The Challenger's pokemon is defeated! Release your next pokemon in 30 seconds or be disqualified!" shouted Daisy, tone more neutral now. I think she was getting bored. I released Machop and quickly shouted "Brick break!"

In one solid bound Machop was at the Shellder, who hadn't managed to close all the way, and smashed the side of his hand directly into the barely open shell. An awful crunching noise echoed through the battlefield and the clam shuddered once, then lay still. Misty recalled it with a scowl.

"Fine, if that's how you want things to go! Staryu, kick his butt!"

A shiny golden star-shaped pokemon materialized in a flash of red light at the patch of land furthest from Machop. It had a sparkling red jewel at its center. At first it held itself rigid, leading observers to believe it was as solid as the metal it resembled, though it quickly began to bend and flex its arms at various angles as if stretching.

"Harden!" "Get close to it!"

Our pokemon followed our commands instantly. Staryu went rigid again as Machop bounded across the arena, having to jump between patches of land so he didn't get stuck in marsh or have to swim. Just as he closed in Misty shouted "Hide! Camo 2!" and the staryu hopped into the nearby pond, blending in perfectly with the water to the point where it seemed to just disappear. Machop stopped, confused.

"Just like we talked about, buddy! Hold fast!" I shouted, while Misty stood there silently, smug look returned to her face. Machop's arms glowed with yellow light as he waited.

Suddenly the staryu burst out of the water, but not from the pool it had entered. It had somehow made its way behind Machop. With a cry of "Pulse!" a small convulsing wave of water flew towards my starter and struck him in the back, making him stumble and leaving him with unfocused eyes. Shit, it was supersonic all over again.

"Close the distance and karate chop, bud!" I shouted, but though he tried his best the Staryu had sunk back down into the water before he got to it. I frowned. "That's just not fair."

"That's tactics," said Misty, sneering at me. "Maybe you should've come prepared to fight a water type. Staryu, rapid spin!"

"Drop!"

The staryu flew spinning out of, once again, the opposite pool it had dipped into, but this time it completely missed its attack as it didn't seem to expect Machop to be prone. As its momentum carried it forward and it flexed around as if looking left and right it made a fatal mistake. It didn't look down. I grinned. "Machop, seismic toss!" Machop's vision focused, and he launched himself into the air, grabbing the Staryu as it flew up. Misty panicked and shouted some instructions I didn't hear as I cheered my buddy on. A couple dozen feet in the air, much higher than last time, the entwined pair began to plummet down to earth. As they approached the ground the staryu spit a powerful water gun into Machop's face, loosening his grip and leading to it impacting slightly less strongly than it otherwise would have, although it clearly did some damage. Machop rolled with the strike and stood, eyes clear, falling into one of the fighting poses Liam had taught us.

"Karate chop!" "Minimize!"

Machop rushed forward but he was too late. The staryu almost seemed to shrink away from his blow, though surely it was an optical illusion, before darting back into the water. I scowled. "Focus energy again!"

Misty's smug look, returned for the third time, now seemed to reach a kind of critical mass. She began to chuckle like a bad movie villain. "You're done now! Recover then minimize again!"

Oh shit. This is what I was afraid of. I'd hoped to be able to take the staryu out in one solid hit. "Alright, you know what to do!" Machop nodded.

Staryu blasted out of the water again, this time from the same pool it'd dipped into, and though Machop struck out at it his attack seemed to flow through it like water. It smashed into his side with one of its hardened arms, causing him to cry out, then spun in mid-air and went back in for a second tap. As it approached Machop's stance changed. It went from one of martial preparedness to one of untapped aggression, his expression switching from determination to sadistic glee, red eyes lit by a disturbing inner light. The staryu faltered mid-air, though how it saw his face without eyes is anyone's guess, and that was all the time Machop needed. With a powerful swing he karate chopped the starfish pokemon right in the gem, causing an audible crunch and completely throwing off its momentum. It hit the dirt hard and skipped a couple times before ending up back in a pool.

I cheered and fist pumped, though stopped when I realized Misty didn't look too concerned. "Staryu's had worse!" she shouted. "He'll recover and hit from a distance now! You lose!"

As if to punctuate her statement the star-shaped pokemon rose from the water again and began firing rapid water guns toward Machop. He dodged a couple but was struck by the rest. All the effort he'd put into the battle so far seemed to be taking a heavy toll on him, as each movement seemed slower and slower, and his eyelids began to droop. Misty laughed.

"Pathetic. Finish him off with rapid spin!"

Time seemed to slow down as the staryu flew towards my starter. We'd both done our best, and we had nothing to be ashamed of, truly, but it didn't seem right to let it end like this. Our strategy had worked but it hadn't been enough. I thought hard, trying to recall any way we could win… and at the last possible moment I had it. "Revenge!"

Machop's slack posture sharpened with a second to spare and he wildly smashed his fist into the spinning staryu, sending it flying across the arena, a large but thin section of its gem chipping off in a separate direction. It hit a marshy area and stuck fast, unmoving. Misty recalled it immediately. Machop swayed on his feet, and I recalled him before he could fall.

"Challenger Stone is the winner!" cried Daisy, beckoning us over to her. Misty looked dismayed and slightly shocked but not worried, so I assumed the wound her pokemon had suffered wasn't fatal. I let loose a sigh of relief and headed out to meet them.

"That was a close one at the end!" Daisy said, grinning at us. "But it's proven our point. Misty, this is a trainer that hasn't gotten a single badge yet, but he still beat you. In the wilderness you'd now be left defenseless. Even if he decided to leave you be afterwards you could be stuck far from a town with no usable pokemon. He's one of the weakest human threats you'd face out there and you still couldn't win…" she glanced at me. "No offense, Calvin. Good job."

I chuckled. "Thanks. Don't worry, I know I'm just starting out."

Misty was pouting hard but she seemed to accept her sister's statement more civilly than I'd have expected. She turned to me and held out her hand, albeit slightly reluctantly. "... good match. Don't expect to win next time, though!"

I took it in mine and shook, noting how small it was in comparison. She really was a little kid. I was suddenly very grateful for the league laws that made it so you needed to be at least 15 to travel as a trainer. "I look forward it."

I heard clapping at the far end of the field. I turned to see a woman I recognized. A slender form with cherry red hair and a lovely face that I could now see greatly resembled her sisters'. Leader Lily walked towards us.

"Good show for an amateur battle!" she said. "Daisy, you started without me!"

Daisy gave her an unrepentant grin. "Sorry, but you were late! The kid really wanted to get going!"

Lily scoffed. "Of course." She'd finally gotten close enough to reach out and ruffle Misty's hair, which she did, much to the little girl's consternation. "So impatient, our little sister. I wonder who she takes after."

Daisy giggled, then gestured to me. "Lils, this is Calvin, the one I was telling you about. Calvin, this is Leader Lily Williams."

Leader Lily held out her hand, and I took it, noting how strangely rough it was. "Nice to meet you, ma'am. I've seen a few of your matches. Your Lapras is awesome."

"Thanks! I'll have to tell him, Chrys loves to know he's appreciated." Lily laughed. "And thanks for helping teach our little sister a valuable life lesson."

"The pleasure was all mine," I said. "I came to challenge some gym trainers anyway. She gave me a damn good fight!"

"That she did." Lily gave me a gentle smile, and leaned in close to my ear. "Don't tell her this, but you're both definitely almost ready for a first badge challenge. We just want to keep her close for a while longer."

I nodded in what I hoped was an understanding manner. "I don't have any siblings myself but if I did I'm sure I'd want to do the same."

Lily smirked, then reached out and tapped her finger on my nose. "Violet was right. You are cute. But I'm afraid I have to steal Daisy away, it's almost time for the next show. Will we see you there?"

"I'm honestly not sure what you're referring to."

Daisy and Lily gasped at once. "You've never heard of the show? But it's the main attraction!"

I shook my head. "I can honestly say I have not."

"Well, that's easily remedied. Here." Daisy passed me a ticket, though where she got it I have no idea. Her skimpy outfit didn't appear to have any pockets. "Go in the main entrance then to the far left in about 20 minutes. Hope you enjoy!"

I thanked her, and after a final terse goodbye with Misty I stepped out of the gym.

\-/-\-/-\-/

I stumbled into the center five or so hours later, handing in my pokeballs at the front desk and collapsing on one of the couches. It'd been a damn long time sitting in that cramped pokegym seat, surrounded by overly excited fanboys, but it certainly hadn't been a bad show. Very colorful. And I'd never have called how… flexible, the sisters were.

Once I'd realized how long the show would go on I'd panicked a bit, as my pokemon definitely needed healing, but in retrospect neither got hurt very badly and they were in stasis. Besides, Leader Lily and her sister saw the whole thing and didn't seem concerned about giving me the ticket. My actions were vindicated by the nurse saying that she'd have them both healed up in a jiffy and sent up to my room. It was a nice service, as I'd been up pretty early training and so was much more tired than I would normally be. The stress of possibly having my ass handed to me by a little girl was also a likely factor. Before I headed up to relax I stopped by the little cafe they had and got myself a big sandwich. Tasted like some kind of duck. I broke a little off and put it in my pocket to bribe my vicious firehound later, sprinkled some of Liam's powder onto it, and chowed down. The jar only had one or two meals left in it. If it was the real path to developing superpowers I definitely needed more. Feeling, if not completely better, then a good bit more energized, I headed up to my room and tried to calm that energy through meditation. I must've been meditating deeper than I'd thought, though, because I slipped into another strangely vivid dream.

The sky was bright… too bright. A searing blue. Perhaps that was because only a sliver of it was visible amidst the oppressive canopy above me. A thick shady forest surrounded us, myself and two others that I didn't recognize. Their faces seemed almost blurred out. One shouted "we've got to move!" in a garbled tone. The other smaller, seemingly feminine figure followed him. I made to move forward but then the lead figure lost its head, literally. One moment it was there then the corpse was falling to the ground. I turned back towards the trees and saw flashes of polished metal through the darkness alongside a pair of narrowed lavender eyes…

I shot awake to a knock on the door. A voice called through. "Sir, we've brought your pokemon for you!"

I stood with a groan. Next time I talked to Liam I'd have to mention these weird dreams. Opening the door I was met with a elderly male attendant wearing a white uniform. I took the pokeballs from him and thanked him, then stepped closed the door and released both Machop and Destro, who stood with their fists up and expressions severe.

"Relax, guys! We won. Great job to both of you."

Machop relaxed, but Destro lay there unchanged, arms still held high. I briefly wanted to chalk it up as his typical rocky expressionless nature but from his body language he was clearly upset about something. I looked him in the eyes for a few moments but couldn't figure it out.

"What is it?" He lowered one fist to the ground and gave it a heavy tap, then made a gravelly grumbling noise. "You… want to go outside?" Destro shook his head, though given that his whole body was a head he just shook in general, then tapped the ground again slightly harder. The room briefly shook. "Woah, buddy! Let's not break the pokemon center. Alright, are you… disappointed in your performance?" He glanced down at that, which I took to mean yes, but grumbled again. Not all of it, okay. "You're mad that your magnitude isn't stronger?" At that Destro rocked forwards and backwards in an approximation of a nod. Machop also nodded in a consoling manner from the side. It seemed that he understood the feeling.

"Don't worry, Destro, you'll be stronger soon. We just started working together after all, and look how far you've come already! I think you did great against the shellder. Better than I could have hoped for, considering the disadvantage you were at with both typing and experience. On drier ground I'm positive you'd have won that bout, if only by rolling in close and beating it into the dirt."

My geodude seemed to understand, though not entirely agree, and he gave one more body-rocking nod before closing his rocky eyelids. I guessed he was tired, which made sense. Healing takes a lot out of you. Which reminded me. I rolled my shoulders, stretched my back, and was pleasantly surprised to feel only mild tightness and the slightest twinge of discomfort. I'd really gotten lucky with that golbat. A more solid hit on me and it could have taken my arm clean off, or struck a little lower and shattered my ribs. At least this time I didn't get paralyzed.

"You deserve some rest, bud. I'll put some food out for you and leave you in the room for a while. Machop, how're you feeling?" Machop flexed his deceptively small arms and gave a wide grin. Not for the first time did I marvel at how dense his muscle must be to be so small yet so strong. "Great. We've got to go out and see to Houndour again. She needs to eat and we need to socialize, so I'd love your help." His expression shifted, becoming more determined, and he nodded. I grabbed my safety gear, some basic pokefood mixed with bits of duck sandwich, and that cinnamon treat the guy at the Rocket HQ had given me, then we both headed out.

\-/-\-/-\-/

The sun was almost completely set by the time Machop and I got to our favorite field outside the city. My impromptu meditation nap must've been longer than I'd thought. I donned my apron and gloves, then had to take a glove off to release Houndour but immediately replaced it as she materialized before us, managing to stand up this time. I noted that she really did blend in well with the darkness despite the brightly colored exterior bones. It still took her a moment to get her bearings but when she did she whirled on us and growled, though it was a much softer one than last time. I waved and Machop leered, though after I gave him a soft smack on the head he begrudgingly waved too.

"Hey girl!" I called. "I've got some food for you!"

Her growling stopped, though she looked no more friendly. I pulled a bowl out of my backpack, placed it down, and poured some food into it. I then backed up a couple steps; not too far, but far enough that I figured my houndour would feel safe enough to approach. She did, cautiously, and with a quick sniff at the dry pellets mixed with duck she tore into the meal as if she was afraid someone was going to pull it away any second. In the wild I'm sure that was true.

So, food aggression. I'd heard about that at least. Apparently you were supposed to be close to and even touch them while they ate but not take anything away, and eventually they'd learn that you weren't a threat to their meal and relax. I didn't think Houndour and I were quite at that stage yet, but I did take a small step forward. Her growl started again immediately, this one more reminiscent of last time, but I held my ground and stood still and silent. Machop was tense but stayed back to let me try a friendly approach first like we'd talked about on the way. Well, I'd been the only one talking, but I felt that he got the gist.

As Houndour chowed down I slowly pulled out my pokedex and scanned.

'Houndour: Female. The Dark Pokemon. Height 1'84. Weight 18lbs.

This pokemon uses various kinds of cries to communicate with others of its kind and frighten prey. They hunt as a pack and have strong social instincts.

This Houndour is level 6. It knows Ember, Howl, and a rudimentary Bite. '

Well that was as expected from what I'd read, though she did seem a little small. No doubt a proper diet would help with that, if Destro's rapid growth was any indication. Speaking of, Houndour finished her meal in record time, and returned to staring at me warily. I gave her a calm smile.

"Was that good? There's more where that came from. While you travel with our 'pack' you don't have to worry about going hungry."

Her expression didn't change, so I figured she didn't understand me quite yet. We'd work on that. In the meantime… I held out the cinnamon treat. "How about some dessert?"

That she seemed to understand, if her perking up and a few cautious wags of her stubby tail were any indication. I held it out and, just like yesterday, she crept up and, in a quick movement, snatched it out of my hand. The next few seconds were full of happy crunching and her tail wagging picked up speed. I grinned, pleased that things were going well. Machop, still standing just to the side and a little back from me, seemed a little put out. His attitude was surprising but I wasn't sure I could blame him. Fighting types don't tend to like dark types very much and he'd already seen this one attack his trainer. Despite all, I felt that after a few good training sessions they'd be getting along like family. Hopefully.

Once all trace of the treat was gone Houndour sat down with a soft thump, straightened up, and stared at me, not quite begging but definitely asking for more. It was probably the hesitance in her gaze and how cute she was but the whole thing came off as rather polite. Especially compared to how she was acting before. "Sorry little miss, but that was the only one I have."

Her posture seemed to droop, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Since you seem to really like them, I'll see if I can find some more tomorrow." She perked up again, and it was so adorable that I felt the need to reach out and pet her. It seemed I'd overstepped, though, because as my hand extended she reverted into vicious snarling, small flames licking out the side of her admittedly intimidating bared fangs. I yanked my hand back before I lost it. Machop leaped forward to stand just in front of me, fists up.
"I guess this is all the progress we're going to make today. See you soon with some more food, Houndour."

WIth a flash of red she was returned. I gave Machop a good pat on the back for a job well done and we headed back into Cerulean for some well deserved rest.

\-/-\-/-\-/

I was up relatively early the next morning, bidding the luxurious (to me) room a reluctant goodbye. I knew that I had a long trip ahead of me, after all, and so desperately needed to top off my supplies and prepare for as much as I could. You never knew what you'd find off-route. Unfortunately this cut deeply into my Nugget Tournament money, especially with all the antidotes and food for three pokemon. I was sincerely thankful that most of Destro's diet consisted of dirt.

At around 10am, as I was beginning to make my way to the eastern edge of the city, my pokedex dinged. I opened it to find an 'unknown number' had sent me what looked like a set of coordinates that were in blue like they were a link. I poked them on the screen and they opened very rudimentary GPS directions, a feature I had either never learned about or forgotten the pokedex possessed. Very convenient.

It led me just out of the main part of the city, into a semi-rural area. The houses were fairly well maintained though it obviously wasn't the richest neighborhood. The GPS took me down several side streets and past a public park. As I turned the final corner I spotted three people. Two black-clad ones that were rather tall and hefty, one more so than the other, and a third wearing some kind of white labcoat and sitting on the bench. Even from a distance I could tell the white-coated one seemed nervous, while the other two were calm and relaxed, the heftier one even leaning against a lightpost. He straightened up as I approached and we made eye contact. "You Calvin?"

I nodded, and he gave me a faint half-smile. "Good, you're on time. I'm Mike. That's Ed," He said, pointing at the other black-clad man who grunted out a gruff hello, "and that edgy fellow on the bench is Marvin. He'll be holding onto the package for us, ain't that right?"

Marvin fiddled with his glasses for a moment before piping up. "Yes, yes that's right. Very important that we get a move on. Package was supposed to be there days ago. Boss will be very upset."

"You let me deal with the boss." Mike sneered. "He demands too much from us sometimes, but that's just to motivate us. Once the job's done he'll be grateful. I told you it was fine."

"Hope so, yes." Marvin looked at me, glasses seemingly finally in the right place. They made his eyes much larger than they should have been. "Good to meet you Calvin. Others will brief you. Let's get moving."

With that both Mike and Ed hefted heavy travel bags onto their backs and we made our way to the city limits. As we walked Mike explained what my job was to me.

"Basically you're eyes, ears, and insurance," he said. "We get stopped by the rangers, all our actions are sanctioned because we have a registered trainer escort. Not that we're doing anything illegal, you understand, but you never know what they'll make up to nab ya. Trainers got more rights than us. They told me you're pre-badge, so your pokemon'll help us keep watch at night and maybe we'll have you on wild deterrence duty. We're moving fast here so there's no time for distraction. We'll walk, set up camp, eat, sleep, repeat. Should be about a three day trip, not counting tonight. Once we reach Lavender and the package is safely given to the recipient you'll be paid and let loose. Capiche?"

"What?"

"You got it?"

"Oh, yeah." I nodded. Seemed fairly straightforward.I gestured to his black clothing, which looked just like the clothes I was given by Rocket except without the red R on it. "You need me to put the uniform on?"

"Naaaahhh, this ain't that kind of job," Mike laughed. Ed chuckled next to him. I laughed along, somewhat awkwardly, as I wasn't entirely clear what they meant by that.

"So Calvin. What pokemon do you have?" demanded Marvin, who'd been lingering just behind us as we walked. "Got to know our resources."

"I've got a machop, a geodude, and a houndour, but I'm not sure she counts at the moment. Still breaking her in," I called back. "She was my orientation pokemon."

"They got houndour at orientation? Shit kid, you got lucky," said Ed, a scowl on his rough shaped face. "I just got me a dumb koffing there. The thing can barely shoot smog, just bounces off walls, rocks, trees you name it like a damn pinball. My sandshrew's much better. Actually listens."

Mike nodded along, then grinned at Ed. "Gonna be even more handy with that new move we, uh, acquired for it."

Ed socked him on the arm and said "Oi, shut it!" and they both laughed again.

Mike turned to me. "Well, you heard him, he's got a koffing and a sandshrew. I've got an ekans and a big mean rhydon. Gift for prior service. He'll help us push through any… obstacles."

"A rhydon? Those're pretty cool," I said. Big, bulky, incredibly tough and very frightening, rhydon weren't the official symbol of the League for nothing. Dragons may be terrifying engines of destruction and psychics might be semi-all-knowing reality warpers but when it comes to sheer reliability a good rhydon was hard to beat. "Do you think you could share any tips for training a rock pokemon? Maybe it could show my geodude some things?"

"Ah, well, Rocky's not much of a teacher." Mike chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I could give you a few pointers when we stop for camp though, sure."

I thanked him and we kept on our way. As we reached the well worn path that led through the foothills to the Rock Tunnel we took a right, and made our way steadily southward. I asked why we hadn't just met in the south to begin with and Mike replied "We're gonna be sticking to the outskirts of the routes on our journeys, outside of when we have to cross the wilds. Less likely to run into obnoxious trainers that way. No offense."

"None taken," I said, and we kept on our way. I released Machop to walk beside me, to get some exercise as from what it sounded like we'd have little time for training on the trip. He was oddly suspicious of my traveling companions until I assured him they were friends, but would still shoot them a suspicious glance from time to time. Ed and Mike seemed amused at his wariness, though Marvin looked a little put out. He appeared to be the type to want to study anything he can and studying something is difficult if it doesn't like you. Why was he wearing a lab coat while traveling downroute anyway? I decided it was better not to ask.

The rest of the afternoon was very uneventful, though we made good time. Another day and a half or so's travel south and we'd likely have been able to see the towering steel and glass towers of Saffron, home of the mythical psychics. At that thought I figured I'd ask my companions about something that'd been bugging me.

"Hey Mike, so if we're going around the city to avoid the psychics, but powerful psychics probably know we're passing by and what we're up to anyway, then what's the point?"

"Ahh, well y'see kid," Mike snorted. "Psychics, they act all high and mighty, but they're as much a slave to their power as they are master. I heard the boss sayin' as much when he was trying to recruit this tribe of alakazam to the north. Once your mind's all steeped in that esoterical mumbo jumbo and you're starin' at the yarns of fate or whatever you find yourself so caught up in it you can't even really change it. You keep out of the way, they won't usually go out of theirs."

That… made sense I supposed, so I decided to accept the answer and keep moving. Late that night we made camp, still on Route 5. Setting up a couple tents with three other people was somehow more difficult than I felt it would have been alone. Marvin seemed to be an active detriment to the process, lecturing and waving his arms around, while Ed seemed determined to find and hit every rock in the area with his tent pole. Somehow we got both up, then decided who would bunk with who. After much deliberation it was decided that Mike, who had the most powerful pokemon, would stay with the package handler, so me and Ed would be stuck together. That was fine by me. Ed may be large but I'd certainly have more room than poor Marvin, squished up next to Mike all night. I hoped they didn't snore.

We sat around our campfire later that evening, resting our sore feet and enjoying some well earned dinner. In the darkness around the camp our pokemon also chowed down, though Machop stayed near to me, no doubt still untrusting of our new traveling partners. I'd gotten to meet Mike's ekans, who seemed rather timid and docile, and Ed's Koffing, who merrily bounced off a few tree trunks before belching a cloud of disgusting gas directly into the fire and almost setting a nearby tent ablaze. After much yelling and arm waving from Ed it drifted off and seemed content just hovering around the place, though its smell was far from appetizing. As we ate, Mike laid out the watch schedule.

"I'll take first watch tonight. Ed'll take second. Tomorrow night, Cal, you take first, I'll take second. Third it'll be Ed and you. Fourth it'll be us again, assuming we can't find somewhere to stay. Got it?"

"Yes sir," I said, and gave him a mock salute. He scoffed at me, then chuckled.

"You're gonna fit in just fine kid."

"Thanks. Do you have time to tell me a bit about Rock types?"

At that, Destro seemed to perk up from the shadows. Or he just shifted back slightly. It was hard to tell.

"Nah, not tonight. We need our beauty sleep. Some more than the rest of us, ayy! Get some rest, all of you. Ed, I'll wake you when it's time."

After some mutual goodnights we took our places in the and Destro stayed outside of their balls and near the forest line, keen senses more likely to pick up something approaching than the rest of us even while they slept. Alas, It turned out Ed most definitely did snore, but I was tired enough from all the walking we'd done today that I passed out anyway.

\-/-\-/-\-/

We woke up early, packed up as quickly as we could (with Marvin forbidden from trying to 'help' once he became obsessive over the exact order things should go back into the packs), and headed on. It was a dreary day, though thankfully throughout the morning the rain managed to hold off. When we stopped for lunch, though, the sky opened up, and I thanked what powers may be that I'd remembered to buy several rain ponchos. Sharing them earned me some goodwill with the others and we struck up conversation as we carried on. Ed was talking about how much he'd won at the rapidash races, which took a humorous turn when Mike reminded him just how much he'd lost on previous bets, and then Mike shared some jokes he learned from the guys at his local bar. This included such gems as "What do you call a pokemon that wants to be with the police? A Magik-cop!" and "Why did the miltank cross da road? To get to the udder side!" After our obligatory cringing, I talked a bit about what it was like to grow up in Pewter. Ed supposedly had family there, though had never visited, but it turned out I didn't know them despite feeling like I knew everyone from my hometown. Marvin didn't talk much. I figured he was still upset about us shutting his pursuit of perfectly efficient bag organization down but I came to learn that was just how he was.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Just trudging down a cold, gray, rainy path until it was time to set up the tents again. We put them under a thick patch of trees for some cover, but a fire just wasn't happening tonight. I considered letting my houndour loose and attempting to get her to breathe on the wet sticks until they lit anyway but I didn't think I had built up quite enough of a relationship with her for that, so we just gave up and went to sleep. Well, the rest did. I stayed up, staring out into the haze of falling drops, Machop at my side. Destro was safely in his ball tonight. He wouldn't enjoy the weather at all. Ekans was also out, though it was curled up by its master's tent and didn't move much.

Just like last night it was an uneventful watch. To keep myself awake I'd occasionally get up and do laps around the camp, Machop accompanying me, splashing muddy water all about the perimeter. I didn't have to worry about waking anyone up with it, though; Mike and Ed both sounded like chainsaws from their respective tents. After several long grueling hours my time was up, and so I went to poke Mike awake. I also got a good look at Melvin's sleeping strategy; he was pressed up against the side of the tent with his pillow wrapped around his head. Hey, I thought, If it works.

Mike took my place without complaint and I was finally able to drift off. This time I returned Machop, despite his protests. I wasn't going to have him getting sick out in the chilly wet night. Especially since we may well need him on the path ahead.

Tomorrow morning we'd be heading off-route properly, and we'd be in it for the next day and a half or so.. Anything could happen. Best to take every reasonable precaution.