Hearthstone, Thronemarch Province, Kingdom of Eidros

August 17 2034

Hannah Koppel set her bike against the lock area just outside Gobbler's Diner, locking it up and taking a breath as she looked at the red brick building with its oversized Munchlax mascot on the roof. She felt a pang of guilt as she saw the parking lot was already full of customers, cars and SUVs filling every spot. She was twenty minutes late for her shift and she had already gotten a phone call from Clyde. She hadn't answered. She needed to do this in person.

Quitting Natalie's Wish was easy, Hannah thought as she walked over to the parking lot, opening up the glass double doors and saw there was still quite a line of unseated customers. I should be happy that I'm not waiting tables for at least a few months. Why do I feel like shit then?

She saw Yvonne was the hostess, who looked up as Hannah walked by with panicky eyes. The dyed redhead yelled out to Hannah as she walked by, "Oh thank Gods you're here. Tristan and Desmond both called out today. It's madness here."

"Oh yeah, that uh, that sucks," Hannah stuttered as she walked through the restaurant to the back where the manager's office was. Gobbler's was deafening with the sound of conversations, children screaming, and the cooks yelling at each other, snippets of which could be heard over the general clamor. The guilt in Hannah increased, but she steadied herself as she went through the kitchen.

"Well look who decided to show up for work today," she scowled as she heard Gottreid's raspy voice, glaring at the cook as she walked by him. He gave her one his trademarked slimy grins, eyeing her backside as she went.

"What, no smile today sweetheart?"

"Fuck off Grimer. Don't you need to make some more pancakes to pay your child support?"

There was a chorus of laughs from the other cooks as Gottreid frowned, mumbling under his breath as he went back to his station. Hannah felt her guilt slightly subside. She wouldn't miss seeing this sleazebag everyday. Putting aside that thought, she went and knocked on the door to the manager's office, until a very tired voice called out.

"Come on in."

Hannah opened the door and saw that Clyde appeared to be doing scheduling for next week. Her manager had a frown on his face as always, but it briefly turned into a smile when he saw who came in. He looked at the clock on the wall and raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're never late. Everything okay at home?" Clyde put down his pen and stood up, but Hannah just shook her head and gave him a sad smile.

"Yes and no. I came in today to quit. I wanted to do it in person. You've always been good to me Clyde and I'm sorry for the short notice. This wasn't planned," she didn't avert her eyes but she felt the guilt creep back up as Clyde frowned, his small eyes looking confused.

"Oh. That's not great to hear, especially today," he sighed, "Can I ask why? I am trying to get you an hourly raise, the district lead is just being stubborn."

"It's nothing about the job," Hannah held up her hands quickly, "I'm going on Tour. Starting tomorrow."

Clyde's eyes went wide before understanding came over. His eyes went to her waist, where Surtr's Pokeball was on display, decorated with some orange and black flames, courtesy of Tove. Surprisingly, her haggard manager smiled and actually laughed.

"That's right, you won the Starter Raffle," he was already pulling out a form from a filing cabinet by his desk, "I guess I should have expected that. One of those gives you a leg up on the Tour. I just need you to sign this form stating your ceasing your employment immediately."

Hannah gave him a quizzical look as she grabbed a nearby pen and signed a few lines on the form, "You are taking this a lot better than I thought. My other job acted like it was the end of the world when I called them." Clyde laughed as he took the form back, stuffing it into a manilla folder labeled CORPORATE.

"I was your age once you know. I went on Tour too. Quit my job as a detail kid at the dealership to do it," Clyde said as Hannah raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.

"Really? You don't seem like a…well like a-"

"Like a Trainer?" Clyde snorted, "I don't blame you. I was in better shape back then and life hadn't beaten the grin off my face then. I thought I was gonna be the Champion, or at least the Challenger at the Conference. I took my childhood Mabbostiff and was absolutely convinced I was gonna tear up the Tour."

"I take it you didn't become Champion?" Hannah asked, wondering when she had seen her boss with an actual smile on his face like he did now. He shook his head but kept smiling.

"Oh Gods no! I didn't even make it to the Conference. I got stuck on my seventh badge. My team was good, but Anders just slapped down every attempt I did. Word of advice, you get stuck in a Gym, just move on to the next one and come back to it. You obsess over one, you'll lose too much time and you won't make it into the Conference."

"Good to know," Hannah said softly, "Thanks for being cool with this Clyde. I owe it to my Pokemon here to at least give the Tour a try."

"You'll always have a job here if you want it Hannah," Clyde said, "Though you did mess up my scheduling for next week. I'll have to start over on that. But still, you're a hard worker. You put even half of what you do here into your training and battling, you'll go far. Probably make it into the Conference on your first go."

"Thanks Clyde," Hannah felt herself beating back tears, "You always were the best boss."

"Get out of here and get registered, it takes a bit and you've got a lot to do. Give'em hell Hannah."


Shit if I had made up my mind yesterday I could have gotten this done with already, Hannah groaned as she slid into her chair. She was back at Hearthstone City Hall, where the Eidros League had its registration office based. She had taken ten minutes just to find the right room, as the directions to get here were next to useless. She had taken a number and joined the thirty or so other people that were here. Most of them were her age or slightly older, with a handful of teens here.

Some of them were striking up conversations with each other and Hannah had learned most of the people in this room were either first-timers or had done a Tour or two and let their registration lapse. Hannah hadn't joined in on the conversations, despite getting some knowing glances from many people.

Must have recognized me from the interview, Hannah grimaced as she hit skip on phone, her earbuds filling with the melodic singing of Ghostvase's frontwoman backed up with some chugging riffs. She was here by herself, having found that her friends had already registered. They were doing some packing and then were going to hit the local Trainer shops that sold Tour supplies. Hannah was going to join them as soon as she finished up here.

"Number twenty-one! Please come to the counter! Have your ID ready!" the middle-aged clerk called out as Hannah sighed, pausing the song. They always had to interrupt at the best part. She got up, grabbing her purse and walking up to the counter.

"ID and any Pokemon if you have them please," the woman didn't even look away from her computer as Hannah took out her citizen's ID and unclipped Surtr's Pokeball, setting them on the counter. The woman pushed up her glasses, momentarily stopping her typing as she took Hannah's items and scanned them with a glowing white and blue scale by her computer. There was a cheerful beep as the woman swept up both items with one hand and finally looked at Hannah.

"Hannah Koppel of 12 Lotus Street, City of Hearthstone, twenty years old, date of birth is zero-five, twenty-eight, twenty-fourteen. Is that all correct?" the clerk asked almost robotically as Hannah blinked.

"Yeah that's all correct?" Hannah scratched her shoulder as the clerk nodded, before pushing a clipboard filled with forms to her.

"Good just sign there to confirm that then," some more typing, "Only one Pokemon to register. Cyndaquill, male, eight months old. Does he have a name you need to register?"

"Yes!" Hannah winced at how loud she blurted that out, "Surtr. Do you need me to spell it?"

"No, I'm familiar with the name," the woman said with a small grin, "My son is traveling in Sinnoh. That's what he named the Monferno he has. It's a good name."

I'll have to tell Adrian that he picked a good one, Hannah reminded herself as the clerk finished typing, before getting up and going to what looked like a 3D printer. After messing with the settings a bit, she walked back over to Hannah.

"Alright Miss Koppel, if you want to proceed any further, the Eidros League does require a one thousand registration fee. We accept cash, cheque, or credit cards here," the clerk, who Hannah finally noticed had a nametag on her blue dress shirt that read Wendy, said as she pointed to the card reader on the counter.

I want to do this. I've always wanted to be a Trainer, Hannah steeled herself as she reached into her purse and pulled out her debit card, Why does it have to be so expensive though?! Hannah frowned as she tapped the card, running the card as credit, her foot tapping as the screen went green and beeped. She put her card away, feeling a weight coming off of her shoulders.

"Alright, payment has processed. Step through the door over there and meet me down the hall. We have to take a photo for your Trainer ID."

Good thing I actually took the time to do my make-up this morning, Hannah thought to herself. It wasn't much, just some light purple eyeshadow, a bit of blush, and some foundation on some troublesome spots. Not her best look, but passable for this.

The picture was over so fast that Hannah hadn't even had time to smile. After a few minutes, she was handed back Surtr's Pokeball and her ID, along with a freshly printed Trainer ID card and a new Model-8F Pokedex.

"Alright Miss Koppel, you are officially registered to compete in the Eidros League Gym Tour!" Wendy said happily, "Your Trainer ID will be used to verify your identity at League events and it serves as a reloadable charge card for League earnings at Gyms or the Warlord Conference. Do not lose it. If you do, it's a five hundred krone fee to reprint it. Any other questions?"

"Uh yeah, do I have to pay the monthly dues immediately?" Hannah had gotten conflicting information online and wanted to make sure she was budgeting correctly. She breathed a sigh of relief when Wendy shook her head.

"Nope, your monthly dues won't kick in until the end of October. The League doesn't want people going broke and being unable to compete immediately," Wendy smiled, "Don't be nervous Miss Koppel. Going on Tour is something everyone should experience at least once in their life. Now good luck out there! I hope to see you on TV at the Conference!"

"Thank you!" Hannah smiled back, "We are going to do our best!"

Butterfrees stirred in her stomach. Her dream was so close she could taste it.


"Alright, we need to stop for lunch before my stomach eats itself," Jacob said as his stomach growled to seemingly punctuate his statement, "I'm all done shopping anyways."

"Yeah some food sounds good," Colton looked down at his Machop, who was helping carry some of their bags, "What do you say Baldric? Some Combusken and rice sound good?"

Machop let off a happy gurgle as Jacob frowned, "Bro, you guys know there are foods with actual flavor out there right?"

Hannah rolled her eyes as her two male friends once again started arguing about junk food and taking care of your body. She eyed her own bags in her hands, as Surtr sniffed the air around her from his newly claimed spot on her shoulders.

They had just finished their excursion to Hearthstone Mall's Trainer Alley section, where all of the stores specialized in Trainer and Coordinator supplies. Potions, antidotes and other status heals were next to stores that sold high grade food and vitamins and battle items. Hannah had even passed the Stone Company store, which exclusively sold evolution stones that went for some truly astronomical prices. Other stores pushed travel and camping equipment for Trainers and a few stores catered to Coordinator's with outfits for both them and their Pokemon. There was a Trainer fashion store called Conflict, which sold a few lines that were popular with the hardcore Trainer crowd.

Voltblast, Darkedge, Razerthin, and especially for women, Sinuous, which was Champion Katrina Steersand's own clothing line. Natalie's Wish stocked some of her clothes and though they were stylish, even the older items were way out of Hannah's price range.

"Why don't you two stuff it and just get your own food?" Hannah said loudly, which caused both boys to sheepishly stop arguing, "The food court here is huge. Let's pick a table, leave Baldric to guard our stuff and all go grab what we want, with no judgment."

"Yes mom," Jacob said glumly as Zeara snickered, twirling around him, Blumpy the Drifloon floating close by.

"Hannah-Banana laying down the law! I'm glad she's coming with us to keep you two in line," Zeara said as they made their way to the food court, which was packed with people and Pokemon that were patronizing the nearly thirty food vendors here. They quickly picked a free table, setting their bags there as Colton ordered his Machop to stand guard. Colton, as predicted, headed over to Pancham Express, while Jacob opted for the much greasier Gorm's Burgers and Fries, while she and Zeara opted for the Tropius Smoothie Cafe.

It wasn't long before all of them were back and eating, talking and bickering with each other. Jacob had brought all , the Galarian Zigzagoon eagerly digging into the Torchic salad Jacob had bought for him while his Trainer devoured the double Tauros burger he had gotten. Zeara had opted for a fruit and nut salad, while Hannah had gotten a BLT sandwich to go with her smoothie. She slipped a few bits of the gummier pieces of bacon to Surtr, idly chiming in as she checked her bank account for the hundredth time that day on her phone.

Eight hundred krone just on four potions, she grimaced as she went through the charges, one hundred on an antidote vial, another six hundred for three Pokeballs. Another six hundred on camping supplies and food for the road. That leaves me with… one thousand and six hundred krone. Just enough to pay the rent and utilities for the beginning of next month, plus a little bit of buffer for food and battling money.

She hadn't even been able to buy all the supplies she wanted. There just wasn't enough funds for it. She needed to make sure Cyndaquill was in tip-top shape if she wanted to make money and not lose any more on the road. She needed to come up with a training regimen as soon as possible.

"Alright, since we are heading out first thing tomorrow morning, I guess we should discuss which Gym we are heading to first," Colton said as he finished his rice bowl, taking out a map of Eidros and laying it out on the table. The main island was centered on the map, with Buckler Island to the southwest and Spear Island to the southeast. Hearthstone was on the eastern part of the island, close to Mt. Vallenheim and right on the edge of the Thronemarch Province. Colton had taken out a ruler and was measuring distances, going to Safeharbor on Spear Island.

"I say we hit Safeharbor first, as it's the closest gym to us and it's out of the way of the other gym. Besides we can hit Steelwind as soon as we cross over and they have a tourney first thing in September that you can win some decent money at. We'll have to either take a bus across the Spear Bridge or hike it on foot though," Colton said as everyone else finished up their meals, Jacob nodding.

"I mean that sounds good to me. I've been to Safeharbor for a concert before but didn't get to really explore around."

"That's the Water Gym right?" Hannah frowned, "Hard pass. I vote we take advantage of the nice weather and head straight up to Venheim. I'd rather go to the north when it's still late summer. We can hit Barrowdon on the way back and then go straight to Geistburg."

"Do you know how dangerous the north is Hannah?" Colton looked skeptically at her, "There's tons of Ursarang, Piloswine, and Beartics up there. Plus, a lot of powerful Fairy and Ghost types. We aren't strong enough to be braving the routes up there. Besides, by the time we get to Venheim, it'd be mid October. Unless you want to take a bus or car, but I don't feel like getting marked as a pussy in my first season on Tour."

"Sure it's because you know Baldric will get crushed at the Fairy Gym in Barrowdon?" Hannah replied cooly as her neighbor looked to his Machop, who tilted his head at him.

"Type advantages and disadvantages aren't even on my mind right now. Being on Tour your first year is a race against time Hannah. We have to actually make sure we are hitting the gyms in the speediest manor possible while making sure our teams get strong enough to actually beat those Gyms."

"Easy enough for you to say. I don't have a chance of beating Kristopher and I'd rather go north when it's not pure snow," Hannah retorted back as Colton frowned, "That's my vote. North or bust."

"Safeharbor makes the most sense Han. Jake agrees with me," Colton replied back, as Jacob looked awkwardly between the two.

"I mean, she does have a point about the weather man," Jacob trailed off as Colton rounded on him.

"Traitor!"

Hannah made sure to bat her eyes at Jacob, "Thanks for agreeing with me Jakey!"

"The man doesn't get dates, you can't do that to him," Colton yelled back, "Agree with me Jacob!"

"I vote we go there first!"

All three of them and their Pokemon turned to look at Zeara, who had gotten up and pointed at a spot on the map. She was grinning and Blumpy was doing his excited little wiggle where he flailed his arms around.

"Where the hell is that?" Colton said as he got up and looked, raising his eyebrows, "Ravnroost? You want to hit the Dark Gym first?"

"Yep! I think it's a good compromise. It's the second closest and we have to pass through the Whistling Forest on the way there. Which is good, because that's where I want to find my third member of my team!" Zeara happily nodded as they all studied the map in detail.

"I guess it's roughly the same distance as Safeharbor," Hannah said as she drew her fingers over the map, "And it'd get us over the river without having to swim or take us further down to find a bridge."

"I mean we'd run into a lot of people that way too," Jacob said, rubbing the scruff on his chin, "Lot's of opportunities to battle and get some money and experience. And Thronehold is right down at the mouth if we wanted to try out the All-Stars Tournmanet."

"Gods we aren't ready for that yet man," Colton said despite a protest from Baldric, "I mean Ravnroost is right by three other gyms too. It actually might be better to hit it that way. And I do have a type advantage there."

"Fuck it, I'm in," Jacob agreed, "Wait Zeara, you already got your team planned out? What is the next one?"

Zeara giggled but put her finger to her lips as Blumpy mimicked her, "Shh it's a secret. The only hint I'll give you is that it's going to be a Flying type. I've decided to be a specialist for that. My team is planned out for at least the first two badges when we can catch a fourth. Do you not have a team planned?"

"Uh no," Jacob said sheepishly, "I think I'll just wing it based on what I like and see. Wait, you said you're going to be type specialist? That's crazy. Most people don't decide to do that right out the gate!"

"Well I'm not most people," Zeara shrugged, "I like how mobile and graceful the type it is. And almost all of them are dual types. I'll have more variety than you think I will."

"Honestly, Ravnroost makes a lot of sense looking at the routes," Colton got up, grabbing the map, "Yeah I vote for it too now. That okay with you Han?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Hannah got up, grabbing her garbage to take, startling Surtr as he nearly lost his balance, "Leave it to Z to lead the way. I say we hit Bryneby, do a bit of light training, then we'll go through the forest and hit Ravnroost."

"I'd say we should hit the arena today, but we got a lot of packing to do tonight," Colton said, "Alright, I say we all meet at the Route 3 gate at seven o clock sharp tomorrow morning. I'd set it earlier but I know Jake can't get up that early."

"You know me so well," Jacob laughed as he returned his Zigzagoon, "Yeah need to spend one last night with the family before we bounce. I'll see the rest of you tomorrow."

"C'mon Blumpy, we have a lot of packing to do!" Zeara was already grabbing her bags and with one hand and taking her Drifloon with the other as Hannah just smiled. She looked to Surtr as she went to follow Colton home.

"Just tonight buddy and then we're going on an adventure. You ready?"

Surtr let off a confused snort.


Saying goodbye had been hard. Hannah had actually cried, promising Tove and Adrian she'd call them everyday. They were going to stay with Colton's parents while making sure the house didn't get too trashed by Myra. She knew they were in good hands, Mrs. Larsen was a teacher by trade, but she felt terrible. She hadn't ever been apart from her siblings for more than a day. Now, she might not see them till June.

It'll be worth it, she told herself, If you can make money off of this, it'll be worth it. It has to be.

She had rode her bike with Colton and were both surprised when Zeara had beaten them there to the pedestrian gate out of Hearthstone. Towns in Eidros were walled, both as a relic of the Reaver kingdoms and to keep wild Pokemon out. Cars, trucks, and trains went by on specially reinforced and enclosed roads and tracks that were fitted with Repel dispensers to keep Pokemon away. The pedestrian routes were accessed only through gate stations, which were manned by the Royal Rangers.

They had exchanged pleasantries and Zeara had bought everyone a breakfast wrap from the gate's food kiosk while they waited for Jacob to arrive.

He was five minutes late, but when their half-Orrian friend arrived, they set out, showing their Pokeballs and Trainer IDs to the Rangers on duty. Then they crossed through the reinforced doors and into the wilds of Route 3.

The dream was now a reality.


Alright, we are officially on our way into the Tour. Next chapter will have some Pokemon battling and some explanations on how the Eidros League works. I've also come up with a personal Pokedex for the Eidros region, which I will not be deviating from. If a Pokemon that is not on it is seen, it will be called out as a foreign one.

ARandomOne: Thanks for taking the time to review. I hope you are enjoying the story. I went back and hopefully fixed some of the errors on the last chapter.