As the girls and I exited the Petalburg Woods, I took a bit of time to reflect on the couple of days we spent there. It had certainly been a new experience for me. Neither myself, nor Tobias, had ever been on a days-long hike. The most I had ever done was a couple hours round-trip.
The wild pokemon had been much more plentiful than on the road south of Rustboro. Many even came up to chat with Espeon and Milotic. Quite a few had decided a battle with rare pokemon was right up their alley. Needless to say, between the wild pokemon and the trainers, we had done a lot of battling. Espeon and Milotic would take turns, while the other would be resting and keeping their strength up with my potion stock; I was now running dangerously low.
But the girls had definitely grown in strength and skill because of it. Even I had gotten a better feel for their movesets and what tactics to employ with them, depending on the opponent and environment.
Naturally, Milotic preferred water whenever possible, but that wasn't always an option. She always made a show of grumbling, but she was still very dependable on dry land. Milotic was also always full of energy; I guess she was finally living her best life. She would put both myself and Espeon to shame every time we did a workout; no one should like exercise that much...
Espeon was pushing herself to use psychic abilities whenever possible. Her confusion had grown strong and she was even throwing out weak psybeams already. Her abilities of communication were also increasing. While she could only convey short sentences, they were slowly becoming longer and more frequent. I was particularly giddy about one potential move: teleport. Ralts as a species naturally learn teleport, so I'm hoping they'll be able to teach Espeon as well when I catch one... fingers crossed, otherwise it will be expensive tutoring.
But now, we were free of the woods and I could see the coast. And on said coast was a rather long dock, with a fair-sized boat tied to it. On the landward side of the dock was a cozy cabin. I suppose that's the residence of Mr. Briney and Peeko. I could use their services on my way to Dewford, but I'm quite sure it would offend Milotic something fierce not to use her for water travel.
The oceans around Hoenn were significantly different than in the games. This came down to one thing: man-made platforms were scattered all across established trainer routes. These were used for anything from battling to pitching a tent; or just having lunch before you continue on. These were well-marked routes specifically curated for trainers and were patrolled by rangers. If you strayed from these routes, you were taking your life in your hands, especially if you didn't have a flier to rely on, or your surfer was weak.
I knew we were only a couple hours away from Petalburg at this point and I was really looking forward to food I hadn't made myself and a real bed. We could probably make it before - or not long after - dark. I pointed in the direction of Petalburg, "onwards, to civilization once more!" I proclaimed as grandiosely as I could mange. I could feel Espeon send me a mental eye-roll, while Milotic just giggled daintily; they were more than used to my shenanigans at this point.
I faked a quick pout, but then we were on our way. I briefly wondered about teams Aqua and Magma as we jogged - gotta get them gains. In the games and anime they were fairly prolific, from what I remembered. However, Tobias had never heard of them and he lived on the pokenet. I wonder if they hadn't been formed yet... or were just laying very low. Oh well, not really my problem; surely the powers-that-be can handle it.
XX
We arrived in Petalburg just as the sun was kissing the horizon. It wasn't nearly as large as Rustboro, but I felt it had a coziness to it; honestly, calling it a city almost felt like a stretch, but the pokeworld has different rules.
First thing's first: food. Unfortunately, while Espeon was small enough to walk beside me easily, Milotic was a different kettle of fish. She was thus banished to her pokeball for all eternity... or at least until I found a restaurant that could accommodate her. Fortunately, such restaurants were the norm, not the exception.
We found a beautiful little Indigo (read Asian) place right on the water of Petalburg's western small lake. This of course allowed Milotic to swim to her heart's content and eat with us right at our table. The food was also quite tasty; I will definitely be coming back some time. Accessibility mixed with quality service should absolutely be rewarded. My first reaction was to give a five star review on the pokenet's version of google; then I remembered I was currently without pokenet access.
My whole world lurched slightly as I came to grips with this fact: I had just spent almost an entire week without using the pokenet. In both my lives, the very idea of going a single day without the internet was abhorrent, let alone a week. I don't think I can recall such an occurrence for about... twenty years, give or take. From Runescape 2, (as it was then known) to World of Warcraft and everything since, I had lived my life on the web.
While being without pokenet access had been a novel experience, - perhaps even for the best to form a new sense of self and bonds with my pokemon - I was not interested in continuing the streak. First thing tomorrow, I'm buying that pokenav. A pokenav was essentially Devon Corp.'s version of a smartphone. Pokegear from Indigo was just another competitor in the market.
After our delicious meal, Espeon and I went off to the pokemon center for a long-awaited sleep in a bed. Milotic sadly suffered the same fate as before, being unable to travel the city roads, or sleep with us in our small room.
After the nightly routine, Espeon and I settled down in the bed. While she was much bigger than before, compared to me she was still an elfin existence. I found myself admiring her frame, my eyes roaming her body appreciatively. I may have once been leery of ogling Espeon, for both fear of rebuke and my own past life's sense of shame, but I had come to a conclusion during our stay in the woods: I was a horny pokephile.
During our stay in Petalburg Woods, Espeon did her best to hide her own lust; but I could feel hints of it, no matter how hard she tried. Her frustration at my ability to sense her emotions was amusing at first... but then I realized I was also catching amusement from Milotic at the situation. Now, accidental mental transmission of emotion from a newly evolved psychic pokemon: makes sense to me. But, me being able to feel a pokemon's emotions, without any psychic ability at all: I'm very confused. I had decided then, as I decided now, to put the thought out of my mind; I'm sure it will resolve itself eventually.
Espeon brought me out of my musings with her mental voice, "well, are you just going to look, or are you going to touch?" My breath caught for a moment, before I relaxed. With such an open invitation, how could I hesitate?
I began roaming my hands around Espeon's body. I tried my best to remember wherever she felt the most pleasure, but it was difficult - I was an inexperienced virgin after all. She suddenly spun around, looking me directly in the eye. Then she closed her eyes and leaned in slightly. I gulped, before moving my head the rest of the way. Our lips met; at first chastely, then hungrily, as tongue became involved.
Espeon and I thus engaged in my new life's first make out session. I continued to feel her up, as she did her best to find my sensitive spots through both her paws and psychic prods. We were both breathing heavily afterwards, though we hadn't touched any major erogenous zones. Somehow, I could tell the setting wasn't right... but it would definitely happen soon.
XX
After the morning's routine tasks, Espeon and I set out for the day. My first stop was of course, the Devon store. I was trying to be frugal, as I wanted as much investment possible into prism scales, so I got a middle-of-the-road model. It wouldn't be playing the latest games, but it would be more than sufficient to surf the net and watch videos. Alongside it, I got a surprisingly cheap solar charger; pokeworld tech really shines through in spots like this.
I then hit up all the jewelry stores in Petalburg; not as many scales as Rustboro, but it was something. I took a look at my bank balance; I would probably only be able to scour a few more cities before my expenses caught up to me. Then, 'Operation: Get Super Rich,' would officially commence.
Speaking of expenses, I next went to the local pokemart. I had to refill my stock of potions, as well as buying super potions. Pokeballs were of no concern; I had enough to catch any willing pokemon that caught my eye: if you hadn't already asked your potential pokemon partner if they wanted to join your team before catching them, you were doing it wrong.
After a nice lunch where I could let out Milotic to eat, it was time for the real prize of Petalburg: the pokemon gym. As one of 'The Eight' premier gyms of Hoenn, Petalburg was rather prestigious. While minor gyms existed in smaller towns, The Eight, as they were called, were where you would truly be tested. Only eight badges were necessary to reach the year-end tournament: only trainers that had badges from The Eight ever won. This practice was of course not exclusive to Hoenn.
My anticipation rose as we approached the gym. While I had both Tobias' second-hand knowledge and an entire other life's worth of pokemon experience, I wasn't truly sure what this challenge would entail.
I entered the gym to the sight of a fairly standard reception area. I went up to the lady manning the front desk, "Umm, I'm here to battle the gym leader?" I literally asked her; damn, I need to get my head on straight. It might be cute to be so clueless at this level, but I'd better not be continuing this trend moving forward.
Fortunately, the receptionist's customer service smile was immaculate, "Of course sir, I just need you to fill out this paperwork; this will determine your challenge rating and how long it will take Norman to get to your challenge. Please note, any misleading answers, or lies, may result in revocation of your trainer's license, or jail time in extreme cases." She had said this all with the same smile... but I felt something almost predatory from the woman. Dang, don't mess with the bureaucracy: that path only leads to pain.
After I filled out the honestly very reasonable paperwork, - it was mostly to make sure you were legally on the hook for knowingly mutilating the gym's pokemon - I took a seat as the receptionist processed it.
It didn't take long until she was done; a first badge challenge is very easy to schedule. Badges worked like they always should have logically: The higher badge level you challenge, the more difficult it will be to succeed. It didn't matter if your first gym was Rustboro or Sootopolis; the difficulty should be generally the same.
"Alright Mr. Tobias, our first available challenge will be in about twenty minutes, depending on the previous challengers; will you be able to attend it?" I replied in the affirmative. "Excellent, if you would take a seat, or go through those doors to the stadium's spectator seating, you may wait here for your challenge," she said, indicating the large double doors to the left of the reception desk.
I went through them to find a standard high-level pokemon stadium. As cool as gym gimmicks were in the games, standardization really was king in modern times. I took my seat on the bleachers, eagerly awaiting not only my own match, but any free battles I could watch were a nice bonus. Usually, a person would have to pay to be allowed access to the stadium in person; but challengers were an exception.