Another one for ya, more rewrites with hindsight for what I vaguely want going forward now that I've actually read the wiki and haven't just skimmed it, fun fact half the time I randomly think of the most generic name for a character then check if they're on the wiki. Also I'm only now realizing how many women i wrote into the original copy and I know SOME of you thought I was going in THAT direction, I wasn't, pure coincidence. My dumb ass couldn't write a good romance if I tired anyway...


Chapter 5 - Down Under

The road to Lumiose city had been largely uneventful, Alex and Shauna had been on the road now for about a week, their goal only a few hours away now; both of them were excited to finally make it.

The man from another world and the Skitty trainer, as Alex had eventually found out, were dead set on making as much ground as possible each day, they kept moving until the last moments of sunlight.

Their current camp was a small clearing right beside the main trail, Alex was cooking one of the prepackaged stew recipes he had found wedged in his bag. 'Man, this smells good' he thinks to himself as he stirs the mixture.

Shauna for her part, was on the other side of the clearing sitting on a rock cleaning Skitty's fur. "That smells good can't wait till it's done!"

Alex chuckles a bit "yeah, I can't promise I won't eat it all on you, by the way I have a question I've been meaning to ask for a while" Shauna looks up at Alex expectedly "alright, don't leave me waiting! What's your big question"

Alex waves his hand dismissively, "its nothing like that, I'm just wondering why none of these routes are developed any, I would've thought that at least some of them would be paved… I guess"

Shauna looked at him confused for a second "well, I guess the league doesn't have the money for it? All I know is that outside of towns and stuff its up to the league to maintain, that just how it's always been… that would be super convenient though it would make it a whole lot easier to travel from town to town… but I don't really see it happening any time soon heh"

'So that's how it works, towns are independent, and the league has jurisdiction over the rest of the region… that seems kind of ineffective but who am I to judge?' Alex merely shrugged his shoulders and starts pouring bowls of the soup for Shauna and himself.

"Foods ready Shauna!"

"Finally!"

Back on the road again, after a couple helpings of the hearty stew, the duo continues towards Lumiose city. They try their best to make a good pace, pushing themselves to make as much ground as possible before the sun set, after a while their efforts started to show as they could now see the Lumiose tower on the horizon.

Both of them stop and look over at each other, before exclaiming "we made it! Yeah!" Shauna jumps up and down in place celebrating the first length of her journey. Alex just smiles and looks out at the tower, 'well I can't say I'm not impressed, say what you want about their governing, technology paradoxes and what-not… but they sure know how to build a giant tower'

"Alex let's go! We can make it before nightfall!" Shauna exclaims, grabbing Alex's arm and dragging him away again.

"Alright! Just let go please!" Alex yells, trying his best to keep up.

The Pokemon center on the edge of Lumoise wasn't too dissimilar to the one in Vaniville town, The same rounded futuristic style building adorned with Pokeball graphics. Though, Alex didn't really pay too much attention as he trudged his way through the front door a heaving sweaty mess. A stark contrast to Shauna who showed no signs of stress or fatigue.

"Welcome to the Lumiose city Pokemon center, how can I help you Today?" says the Nurse Joy at the front desk, she looked identical to the one in Vaniville, a detail Alex was a bit put off by 'that's a little bit creepy… guess that whole big family thing is real… go figure'

Shuana is the first one to speak, "Heya! Are there any rooms available for me and my friend here? I think he's gonna need a loooong rest" she gives the nurse a big smile.

Nurse Joy returns the smile, "yes, we have some rooms available would you prefer separate rooms, or would you prefer to share?"

Alex is the first one to speak this time "separate, no offence Shauna, but I think I need some alone time…"

Shauna gives him an understanding smile, "oh its fine, we've been on the road for so long it would be nice to have some time alone with your thoughts"

Alex nods to her and takes the key from Nurse Joy, making his way to his room, and proceeding to collapse on the bed.

'I'm so tired… Shauna seemed perfectly fine, even after all the running we did, is that just anime logic or am I just that out of shape… I mean since I moved to the city i didn't really keep up on my fitness… mostly just stayed in my room… maybe this whole adventure thing will be good for me who knows?'

Sleep takes Alex, the first length of his journey done.

The second length begins with a start, Alex is awakened by a knocking at his room's door. Stumbling groggily over he is greeted with the smiling face of Shauna.

"Morning Alex!" she energetically says before seeing the state her friend is currently in "uh, sorry if I woke you… I was wondering if you wanted to go get some breakfast?"

Alex blinks his eyes trying to wake up "its fine, yeah just gimme a sec and I'll be right out"

With his conversation out of the way, Alex was free to go about his morning routine. After the week on the road the hot water in the shower was very welcome. The Nurse Joy in Vaniville had stuffed multiple pairs of duplicate clothes into his bag, he was kind of getting tired of wearing the same thing every day if he was honest with himself 'This makes me feel like a damn anime character… is this what they do? Why would anyone choose to do this?'

Making his way to the lobby, he sees Shauna waiting diligently on one of the couches. He gives her a small wave; with that they make their way out into the greater Lumiose city area.

"Oh! Theres this little café we could try, I used to go there all the time with my parents when we visited as a kid!"

Alex smiles at Shauna as she rambled on about all their breakfast options; while the center did have a small area with food available, it was more akin to a hotel breakfast than the homecooked pastries and assorted foodstuffs that Shauna was describing.

"What about here? This place looks cool!" Alex looks over at Shauna waving her arms and pointing at a small shop that would be unassuming… if it was for the fact that it looked like everything was coated in blood, it was a harsh contrast to the lightly toned bricks and wood textures on all the surrounding buildings, no accent colors… just red.

Alex tried to figure out what the place was before Shauna dragged him inside, he thought he saw a microphone on the sign? Does this place even serve breakfast? He really needed to learn how to read.

Before he knew it Alex was sitting in a red chair, at a red table, in a red room… yep, the person who owns this place really likes the color red.

The café was empty, more than likely due to the awkward time they had arrived, Alex had long since adjusted his clocks to run on 'Kalos time' looking at his phone he saw it was currently about 9:40.

The waitress made her way over to their table her face was monotone and cold, her eyes were a lavender hue, a quirk of the people here that had long since faded into the back of his mind.

"Hello, welcome to the Lysandre café, My name is Emma, how may I serve you today?"


Boom! Chapter done! let's go!

I'm trying to refine my sentence structure but I still find it really jank, especially when describing actions that characters are preforming.