"Yeesh," Hop grimaced. "They did not do my side profile any favors."

After ensuring that they hadn't been followed on the train (or at least that there weren't eyes peeping through the slits in the door or ears in the walls), it hadn't taken long for news of their public appearance to reach social media. Cassius, being a relatively proud member of the social media abstinence club, could only go off the two's reactions to what was already leaking on the internet. Their expressions did not inspire him.

"Fookin' 'razzi, takin' shit photos ah' me," Gloria's accent increased in presence and vitriol as she continued scrolling. "I'll strangle the thick dopes..."

Yeah, it sounded bad.

A part of him didn't even want to know what they were saying about him, but... well, he'd be thinking about it the rest of the day if he didn't at least get a sense of what was circulating. "Mind if I take a look?"

Hop seemed hesitant. "Uh, you sure?"

Now Cassius was worried. "Should I not?"

"I mean, you can. It's nothing really bad, but it's weird seeing yourself trending on social media," Hop shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure you were cool with it."

He wasn't, but he did happen to have a morbidly curious streak. It was what landed him in this predicament in the first place, after all.

Beyond that, though... "Wait. You're the younger brother of the region's champion, and not really an underground prospective trainer I'd imagine. You've never seen yourself trending on social media before?"

The Postwick native shook his head. "Nope."

"Didn't the media outlets ever, like... talk to you?"

Another shrug. "Not really. The last time one of them did was for a feature this one major publication was doing on Lee. That was... gee, four years ago? Can't really remember."

So they all didn't have any media training. Really, really comforting. Trial by fire it was, then.

Accepting Hop's phone, he took long, careful looks at the rows of words and score of photos on posts that included him. To his surprise, he seemed to be the most popular of the three—if that could be considered a good thing. All the most popular posts featured him in some form or fashion, with the photos ranging from embarrassingly off-guard to blurry monstrosity. He looked like a nervous wreck in all of them.

The engagement was enough to make his head spin. Again, he wasn't particularly savvy with social media, but he imagined posts with likes and shares numbering in the thousands after fifteen minutes were probably considered popular. He wasn't going to bother with the comments—he didn't need that kind of blow to his self-esteem right now—so he settled for skimming through the headlines on the posts.

"Cassius Hargreaves makes first public appearance after news of endorsement," he read aloud. He moved on to the next. "Mysterious second Champion Trainer reveals appearance... Unovan challenger travels to Motostoke to begin conquest of Galar...?"

Some were regular. Most were weirdly invasive. One detailed his entire physical appearance based solely on an individual picture. 'They nailed my height perfectly...' All of them, however, were completely enamored with the idea of him.

He shakily returned Hop's phone. "Are they always like this? The media, I mean."

Hop wasn't sure. "From what I can tell, maybe not this... enthusiastic, but certainly always this involved. From what I saw with Lee, anyway." Normally, Leon proved to be an exception and was not to be considered the standard when it came to popularity in the public, but seeing as all three of them were directly involved with him through the endorsements, it wasn't so far out there to assume that his popularity would trickle down to them. For better or worse.

Still though, it was plainly obvious that this was too much. Especially for Cassius. The thought of being hounded like this at every turn was horrifying. Would it be like this for the rest of his life?

Hop, as always, tried to keep the peace. "Don't worry your heads over it, you two. We can just... think of ways to avoid them preemptively before each city! Shouldn't be too hard—my brother's been doing it for years!" The lack of immediate answers from either of them was telling. Especially from the usually quick-witted Gloria.

"Er... in any case, the media won't follow us into the Wild Area. They never go where there's an abundance of wild Pokémon. It'll just be us and our studies!"

That seemed to perk Gloria up, if only a little bit. "Joy. My first time in the Wild Area, and I'll be studyin'."

"Well, you won't, but Cassius will, and we'll be helping him." Hop turned to the teen in question. "On that note, you looked over the material I gave you last night, yeah?"

Cassius' blood ran cold. He'd been so put off by their run-in with the press that he forgot how he completely ignored looking over the stuff Hop had sent him the day prior. "Uh... yeah. Mhm."

Hop's smile was wasted on a liar like him. "Excellent! Let's check your progress and go over it then!"

Today was just getting worse and worse.

"Okay, let's try this one again. Fairy is weak to...?"

He'd just asked him this five minutes ago. How had he already forgotten what the answer was? "Uh... it's... Poison?"

Hop's eyes lit up in an almost comical relief. "Yes! Yes, that's exactly right! Poison-types, and what else?"

There was more? Why couldn't it just be weak to one type? "Um... Dark?"

And all the excitement from Hop's expression deflated. "No, Cassius. Fairy-type is strong against Dark-type attacks." At least he managed to keep it within the same matchup.

"Hop literally told you the answer to this five minutes ago," Gloria verbalized what had been his own thought from earlier. "Thick bastard."

"Look, I'm trying, okay?" And he really was. Some of the type matchups were easy to remember—Grass-types were weak to Fire-types, because fire burnt grass. Fire-types were weak to Water-types, because water put out fire. That kind of stuff was simple, because it visually made sense.

Then there was the rest of the bullshit that was type matchups. What the actual fuck was a Fairy-type, and why was it weak to Steel? Was there some fairy tale out there that said that fairies' biggest enemies were big chunks of metal? How did that make any sense?

Dark-types were weak to Bugs. Normal-types were weak to Fighting. Dragon-types were weak to each other. Some of it was mind-bogglingly nonsensical—less like a result of interactions in the wild and more like someone had just thrown strengths and weaknesses around on a whim.

And he had to memorize all of it. It was like he was back in school, learning math all over again.

"Don't get discouraged," Hop attempted to calm him down. From how weary his voice was, it sounded like he was attempting to calm himself down in the process. "It can be a lot at first, but it's just a matter of memorization. You'll get it down in no time."

"At least one of us thinks so," Cassius muttered.

"Anyway," Hop moved on. "Certain types tend to have certain attributes when it comes to their capabilities in battle, both on offense and defense. The link I sent you mentioned some of them. Can you tell me what they are?"

No, he could not. "Can you give me an example?"

"Sure. So, Steel-types typically have high defenses, physically specifically. That's obvious, since Steel-types tend to be physically heavy and strong, I'm sure you could have guessed that, though. Are there any others with specific capabilities like that?"

He didn't know off the top of his head, obviously, but he could certainly try and guess a few. "I'm guessing that Fighting-types tend to have high... uh, attacking power?"

"What specific kind of attack power?"

"Um... physical?"

"Bingo," Hop smiled. "See, you are learning. Is there a type that has a high aptitude for special attack power?"

It was just another guess, but that sounded like something that would be suited for... "Psychic-types, right?"

"Right again!" Hop beamed. He knew this wouldn't be a waste of time. That was the thing about Cassius—for as reluctant as he seemed about the entire thing, he did seem capable of learning and remembering the basics. What happened yesterday might have put him off a bit, but these past few minutes had shown that while he was hesitant, he was capable.

Hop didn't know why Cassius had desired to come with them. At the time of his proposal, he was sure that he would turn them down and tell Leon the truth. But, for whatever reason, he had instead decided to undertake a journey with Pokémon. With no prior experience. That had to mean something.

He'd seen him fight in the Slumbering Weald. For someone who claimed not to have any battling experience, under the given circumstances, he did as well as anyone could have. He looked like a natural. Maybe it was his optimistic side blinding him, but there was a talent within the Unovan that no one had ever thought to bring out and cultivate. That job, apparently, fell to him.

He didn't have to win the entire Challenge and become champion—no one was forcing him to go that far, and there were Hop's own desires to consider. Gloria's too, if she had anything to say about it. But if he could push Cassius to adopt the drive he or Gloria had, then there was no telling how far he could go. And with a Pokémon like Hyla, the sky was the limit.

A quick look at Cassius revealed the contemplative look on his face. Hop thought it was a shame that the newest member of their small posse only seemed to think that Hop was bringing him along for the sole sake of keeping him quiet and preserving Lee's reputation. It did play a part, certainly, but Hop wanted to believe in that part of Cassius that believed in himself. Even if it was small, and overshadowed by the doubt and fear surrounding his actual ability.

"What are Psychic-types weak to?"

"Uh... Grass?"

Hop's smile strained slightly. No one ever said believing in someone was easy.

It was good fortune that they were able to enjoy their trip to the Wild Area in relative peace, and even more so that their train didn't get upended by wild Pokémon.

They'd been just about wrapping up their studying session. Hop continued quizzing Cassius on type matchups, tendencies, and other kinds of general knowledge. Gloria chimed in with an insult or two from time to time. He didn't know a lot of the material, but it was a start. A voice over the intercom rang that they'd be arriving in the station shortly, and the three began collecting their belongings in preparation to exit.

They'd been all set when the train lurched to a sudden stop. The sudden force sent the three forward, Cassius nearly banging his head on an overhead rail. Gloria tripped herself over the table they'd been studying on, falling to the floor with a thud. Hop, who had his hand on a hand pole prior to the stop, nearly felt his shoulder dislocate itself from the force sending him forward.

When it seemed like the train wasn't going to fly off the rails, the trio looked at each other in bewilderment. Gloria, sprawled on the ground, put it best—"What the bloody shit was that?"

Hop poked a tentative head out of their compartment door. Others in their train looked to be having the same thought. Attendants were rushing around the train, ensuring that everyone was unharmed. "Doesn't look like anyone's hurt."

"Think we should get off?" Cassius asked. Seeing as some were already exiting the train without much of a fuss, Hop didn't think it would get them in trouble. "Sure, let's go."

As it turned out, they'd already arrived at the station. In the distance, the entire Wild Area stood in clear view, and further still, Motostoke. In the station, a small crowd was forming around someone who worked for the station, apparently curious about what had happened.

"Terribly sorry for the inconvenience," the man apologized. "Rest assured, we will endeavor to ensure that the delay is fixed in a prompt and timely manner."

Delay? "What happened?" Hop asked a stranger standing near his group. The woman looked perplexed by the whole thing. "Apparently, there's a whole flock of Wooloo standin' in the middle of the track. Had to stop the entire system for it."

"Oh," Hop replied. That was odd. As simple-minded as Wooloo often were, they didn't tend to wander very far from where the herd settled down. He'd never heard of any Wooloo going as far as the Wild Area.

Wooloo herds stampeding into Postwick, and migrating as far as the Wild Area. Strong Pokémon being found in spots as novice as Route 2. Something was displacing the Pokémon, and it was clear that it wasn't just Postwick anymore. Maybe Professor Magnolia had been right to worry.

Cassius muttered disdainfully under his breath. "Fucking Wooloo..."

Hop ultimately decided to leave it alone. If they had been inbound for Motostoke, then he might have been a little upset, but the Wild Area had been their main destination to begin with. Their arrival just happened to be a little more... eventful than they would have liked. "Well, so long as we're all okay, I think we're right to move on, yeah?"

The group made their way out of the station and away from the growing group of disgruntled passengers with business in Motostoke. Tile turned into dirt, and the three found themselves in a clearing overlooking a vast stretch of natural land in the near and far distance. A lake shimmered in the sun, surrounded by hills and slopes dotted with thick trees. The silhouettes of massive manmade structures loomed some indiscernible number of steps away, the skyscrapers reminding Cassius of some kind of fortress. Stranger still were the strange pillars of red light shining in random spots in and around the Wild Area.

Bliss didn't even begin to describe the look on Hop's face. "Home sweet home! Our journey officially starts now!"

"Our journey's started, like, three times now," Gloria noted. The small excited smile on her face, however, betrayed the stoic mask she was attempting to uphold. It seemed this morning's run-in with the press was completely forgotten to her now.

Cassius squinted his eyes. From their vantage point, he could see what looked like a towering flight of stairs that led into a gaping entrance. "What's that lead to?"

"That's the entrance to Motostoke. Don't let the view fool you—it'd take us hours to get there, if we had the benefit of luck and weather on our side." Hop waved his hand. "Between there and here, however, are countless Pokémon just waiting to be met!"

His excitement was not infectious. To Cassius, anyway. "You're really set on, uh... exploring, aren't you?"

"Well, that's not everything, obviously. The lake's perfect for a spot of fishing. Goes without saying that we'll be doing plenty of camping. We might even have the time to battle a few Dynamax Pokémon!"

Ah, of course. Battling gigantic monsters that could flatten them with ease before a relaxing evening of marshmallows by the fire. What fun.

Hop landed a playful punch on his shoulder. "And of course, we'll have plenty of time to get you up to snuff. The goal is to have you nail down the basics and get at least some battling experience down before we get to Motostoke and attend the ceremony. We'll get more technical and advanced afterwards."

What did "more advanced" even entail? He supposed he'd find out after the ceremony, if he lasted that long. "Uh, sure."

Hop turned to Gloria. "So, where to first?"

The girl shrugged. "Could just walk around a bit, see what's around. I'd like to avoid battlin' chumps anyhow."

"You seem awfully composed about this."

"Sorry, would you prefer I wet myself in excitement? Or should I shag the first tree I find instead?"

"Alright, alright, I get it." Hop's gaze lingered on the path before them. "Well, I suppose some general meandering wouldn't be the worst thing ever."

"Then let's get a move on," Gloria took the lead. Hop suppressed a smirk—she could act as nonchalant as she wanted, but the eager bounce in her steps was a dead tell. Hop fell in step behind her, and the two made their way to the place they had dreamed of going.

Cassius lingered behind the two for a moment, shooting a forlorn look back at the station. With a sigh, and a quick prayer to any god willing to listen, he jogged slightly to catch up with his more experienced companions.

The scenery was picturesque from afar, but even more so up close. Not unlike something Hop would see in a travel brochure. The greenery was untouched but not overgrown, and the trees were large and healthy, but hardly imposing. If there weren't any Pokémon around, Hop figured it'd be a great spot for a picnic.

As soon as he thought that, a loud roar came from not too far away. It was low and rumbling, but it carried far—whatever it was, it was big.

Cassius stiffened. "What was that?"

"My first victim," Gloria grinned wickedly. Not a second later, she took off in a dead sprint toward the sound. Hop followed closely behind her.

"They're maniacs," Cassius whispered in disbelief. "Suicidal, brain-dead maniacs." He didn't want to be left behind, but he really didn't wanna follow them to fight whatever it was that made noises like that.

The sounds around him suddenly grew in volume. Chirps, far-off cries, and even the minute shuffling of grass and the shaking of bushes. Cassius took a wary look around. There could be anything, anywhere, at any time. This was a land completely cut off from civilization. Whereas he had spent almost his entire life in the world of man, he was on their turf now.

A snap of a twig from some unknown distance was the final straw. Failing to suppress the terrified yelp that was perhaps a few octaves too high, Cassius made in the direction that Gloria and Hop had run off to.

To his horror, all Cassius had to do to find them was follow the sounds that most certainly signaled a battle. He was distraught to find he was right—when he entered a wide clearing, he found himself looking up at the most monstrous creature he had ever laid eyes upon in person.

It was massive. A gargantuan, snake-like being, made entirely of rock. Words could barely do it justice—it was bigger than his house. Both his old and new one.

It let out a roar that almost bowled him over. It thrashed about, laying waste to the ground beneath it. Thankfully, it wasn't focused on him, but rather the two tiny animals dancing around it.

Hop looked positively enthused. "What luck! To think we'd find an Onix in our first ten minutes!" Gloria didn't even bother responding—the rapturous, almost psychotic look on her face conveyed how absorbed in battle she was. "Ember, Scorbunny!"

The Rabbit Pokémon, deftly dodging a swipe of the monster's tail, landed on its feet and shot a small fireball at the Onix's face. Its aim was true, though the attack only seemed to make it angrier than deal any meaningful damage. "Gloria, you know fire won't do anything to it."

"Nothing I have will do anythin' to it, dope," Gloria rolled her eyes. "Can I not enjoy a battle for the simple pleasure of a good, balanced fight? You certainly didn't satisfy me any yesterday."

Hop pursed his lips. "Hurtful, in more ways than one."

"And you," Cassius was surprised that Gloria even noticed he was there. "You gonna stand there twiddlin' all day, or you gonna help us fight?"

"Uh, I—"

"Figured," she cut off. "I'll handle it myself. Ember in the eyes, Scorbunny." Without missing a beat, the much smaller Pokémon took aim once more at the Onix, again managing to temporarily blind it with a precise fireball straight to the face.

If it had been mad before, it was furious now. The Onix, in a blind rage, stored what looked to be a strange energy in its mouth. The trio, wisely, took this as a sign to find cover behind the nearest obstruction they could find, the two Pokémon doing much of the same. "Of course it knows Dragon Breath," Hop sighed, more annoyed than anything else.

The Onix released the stored energy, a speeding projectile that probably hurt as much as it smelled. The beam made contact, splitting the ground and annihilating the grass as it zigzagged across the clearing with no real target.

The attack briefly made contact with the boulder Cassius had hidden himself behind, causing the obstruction to shake slightly and his nostrils to close in on themselves in defiance. So pungent was the smell that Cassius temporarily forgot that he was likely a corpse if the beam made contact with his body. "So gross..."

The beam fizzled out, and Hop was the first to return to the offensive. "I could let you hit it with Ember again, but we'd be here all day before you managed to take it down. So I'll handle it this time." He pointed at the much larger Pokémon. "Grookey—Branch Poke!"

He was kidding, right? "There's no way there's an actual move called Branch Poke." It sounded more like a minor nuisance than an actual attack. In any case, there was no way that kind of move inflicted anything remotely substantial.

Hop held his tongue and maintained his confident smile. His Grookey approached the much larger Onix almost casually. The Onix, still somewhat blinded from the flames in its eyes, failed to notice the Grass-type amble up beside it, and apparently didn't feel it begin to travel up its snake-like body.

Cassius wasn't sure that a Pokémon of that size climbing a much larger (and angrier) Pokémon was a good idea. He made to question Hop's reasoning, but he was quickly hushed. "He knows what he's doing, don't worry."

After a moment, Grookey reached the top of the Onix's head, the Rock-type still oblivious to its presence. Steadying itself just above its eyes, the Grookey almost politely tapped the side of its head, suddenly getting its attention.

Nothing happened for a moment. The two Pokémon just stared at each other—one in relative calm, the other in what might have been shock that a Pokémon so much smaller than itself actually had the nerve to mount it.

Then, the Grookey smiled—smiled!—and poked the Onix in the eye with its stick.

The roar of pain the Onix bellowed was almost enough to make Cassius feel kind of bad for it. It swung its head violently, attempting to shake Grookey off of it, to no avail. Rather, the Grass-type looked almost at ease atop the gargantuan Pokémon's head, smacking it with its stick in random spots as it screeched out its own battle-amped cries.

"Grookey's a surprisingly smart fellow," Hop explained almost lackadaisically. "I decided to get a feel for what he was capable of last night, while you were asleep. Likes to climb about and such—typical for his species—but his sense for battle is keen. I certainly got lucky with him."

Cassius didn't even have the words to respond. Whereas Gloria's Scorbunny seemed to be more focused on speed and finesse, Hop's Grookey seemed to favor brute force more than anything. What was painfully obvious was that both were strong, despite their apparent age and lack of experience.

Though, as Cassius watched the Chimp Pokémon continue to beat the poor Onix with its stick, he thought that unhinged might have been a better term.

Eventually, the Onix had enough, succumbing to... whatever it was it had sustained from the repeated beatings upside the head, falling down with a ground-shaking thud as it fainted. Just before it made contact, Grookey returned the stick to the tuft of hair atop its head, before somersaulting off the Onix with an almost practiced ease. It landed in a perfect stance, huffing with pride.

Cassius looked at the now defeated monster, which had been larger than most man-made structures he'd ever seen, before looking at Grookey, who didn't look even slightly hurt. The Grass-type scrambled up to perch on Hop's shoulder, returning the fist that Hop had given it to bump.

Pokémon battling was stupid. Insane. Nonsensical. And he was supposed to become a master at it.

Hop gave him a look. "I told you, man. Type matchups. Important stuff."

Despite it all, Cassius had just enough energy to let out an annoyed scoff.

You would not believe the last few weeks I've had. As it turns out, COVID and college don't really give me a lot of time and energy to write.