TRAINER ID
Name: Daniel Ingram
Badges: 3
Account: 34,115 credits
Location: Lavaridge Town
DANIEL'S TEAM
Trapinch - Female
OWEN'S TEAM
Shroomish (Misha) - Female
Slakoth (Omar) - Male
Through a combination of creativity, careful negotiation, and a dash of luck, Owen and I found ourselves in Dewford by nightfall.
It was a tricky situation to navigate. The first step was actually deciding to leave, which took conferring with Owen to conclude that Lavaridge was the last place either of us wanted to be.
One might think that being in a scenic, remote location known for its world-class hot springs and topping the short list of desirable destinations for wealthy retirees would be the ideal place to spend the duration of the lockdown. Under different circumstances that might have been largely true, but that wasn't the situation we found ourselves in, and it didn't take long after my release for us to come to this conclusion.
Being in Lavaridge felt weird. People were still reeling from Team Rocket's heist and the massive battle that had taken place on the streets, and the only time it wasn't completely suffocating was when it was momentarily replaced by the awkwardness of people staring at us, whispering about us, and approaching us.
Pretty much anywhere in town, but especially at the Pokécenter, the attention we garnered from the startling amount of people who recognized us was extremely uncomfortable. It felt like we were constantly being watched, and I found myself anxious at the thought of somebody confronting us for the loss of their team with the same level of vitriol I'd gotten in a couple of my emails.
Thankfully that never ended up happening, but the mental aspect took a toll since I was constantly concerned about those who kept their distance and watched from afar, wondering which ones might be blaming me for the loss of their beloved companion.
After my release from the hospital, we immediately went to the Pokécenter to retrieve Trapinch's Luxury Ball, since it was the only member of my team that could be returned to me. I was surprised to find that it wasn't actually in too bad of shape – there was a Machoke and a few workers working on a couple of walls that had massive holes in them, but otherwise it looked to be in decent working order.
After the very predictable and slightly uncomfortable part where Nurse Joy fretted over if I was alright and thanked me, I was reassured that the rest of my team was being well cared for, but was told that it was impossible for me to see them despite my pleadings and Nurse Joy earnestly wishing she could accommodate me as thanks for what I did.
It wasn't a matter of bending the rules or making an exception – she literally couldn't do anything about it, because the rest of my team wasn't even in Lavaridge. Their Pokéballs had been sent away using the transporter, as quarantine was apparently being served at a League facility somewhere in Hoenn that was much better equipped to handle the routine care needed for so many Pokémon, though she couldn't elaborate on anything other than to assure me that it was extremely secure and comfortable.
I almost got angry at her, I won't lie. I imagined a massive complex with enclosures that wouldn't be too dissimilar from a prison, since I doubted that the accommodations were adequate given the short amount of time the League had to plan things and how many Pokémon they were likely caring for. She told me that wasn't the case, and that a lot of their quarantine would see them in their Pokéballs, released periodically to eat, drink, stretch, and be checked up on by compassionate and highly-trained professionals, many of them recruited from her own family. I still didn't like that answer, but Nurse Joy seemed genuinely convinced that they would be fine and that the League was going to take good care of them. In the end, I couldn't justify taking out my frustrations on her, since it's not like she had the power to do anything about the situation.
It wasn't all bad news. Nurse Joy informed me that when I was in the hospital, there had been some developments and clarity regarding the virus. The League had announced a timeline for how long trainers could expect to wait until they were given quarantined Pokémon back – roughly a week, although it varied and could be up to two. They also stated plainly that there was zero risk of death, at least from the virus directly. The danger came from the aggression, confusion, and relentlessness that they exhibited, and they would all be kept separated so that wasn't a concern.
Another thing the League had revealed was that there wasn't much risk of infected Pokémon attacking their own trainer or those they were familiar with. The over-aggression seemed to be targeted toward strangers or perceived threats, something that checked out given what I'd seen in the Pokécenter and with the Raticate of the woman I'd tried to do a job for. Whether the Pokémon would have the sense of mind to listen to orders and stand down was more of a toss-up, but I felt a little at ease knowing that people weren't likely to get suddenly attacked by their own Pokémon, provided they had a reasonably close bond.
I was feeling extremely disheartened that I couldn't check how Apollo was doing after his evolution, and that it seemed all but guaranteed that I was going to miss Duran's evolution. Nurse Joy had been particularly sympathetic, but pointed out that Duran would have needed to perform his molt under the Pokécenter's care anyway since there were no adequate bodies of water nearby for him to molt in other than the hot springs, which she said was a bad idea for multiple reasons.
I brought up the fact that I often let him soak in my Pokecetner room bathtub, asking if that wouldn't have been suitable. Sure, he'd be too big to be fully submerged after evolving, but for the actual molt and evolution I would have thought that it would be adequate. Needless to say, Nurse Joy gently yet firmly corrected me, pointing out the many ways that was a terrible idea.
Size aside, it was apparently not ideal to soak a water-type Pokémon in treated water, something I felt foolish for having never considered. She pointed out that there was chlorine, traces of heavy metals like copper and lead, and other things like the water's pH levels and hardness that were all affected by the water treatment done for civilized society, and that water-type Pokémon would noticeably suffer over time if that's all they were given access to.
I felt momentarily mortified at this revelation, but she assured me it wasn't quite as bad as I was probably imagining. It was still better than nothing, just not a proper substitute for soaking in natural bodies of water, or water that was properly conditioned for their needs not ours. This was particularly true in the case of molting however, where the Pokémon was much more sensitive to the quality of water.
It made me glad we'd soon be traveling the eastern part of Hoenn, where rivers and the ocean were much more accessible. But until then, I was resolved to make sure Duran would be doing a lot more of his soaking at Pokécenters, where they had water actually suited for the task.
I felt my wallet, heart, head, and back all ache simultaneously when I asked Nurse Joy what I could do to make sure I had the best water possible while traveling to rehydrate him. I told her that I frequently poured bottled water on him, or had him dig a hole to fill with his own water to soak in. She said that using bottled water for a week or so was fine if it was spring water and not distilled, and so long as I let him soak in better water whenever I got the chance. While not a perfect solution, she went on to explain that if I wanted to get nitpicky about it, I could buy some water conditioner, marine salt, pH buffer, mineral supplements, water testing kits, and an air pump to help aerate the water.
Likely seeing the look on my face as I realized how far out of my depth all of this was, she rushed to assure me this was advanced stuff I shouldn't worry too much about as long as I wasn't spending weeks or months away from water or a Pokecenter. She said that even she struggled with maintaining the water in the Pokécenter tanks, and that frankly it wasn't practical or necessary to do it in small quantities, especially while traveling. If I ever got a solid space-tech backpack and carried around a jug of water, then maybe it was worth looking into. But as long as I stayed on the move and took advantage of any opportunity I could to let Duran soak in some natural water, it wasn't necessary.
That was a huge relief, because that all sounded expensive, complicated, and heavy to lug around the region.
Before we left the Pokécenter, Nurse Joy offered up a room for Owen and me to share that had just opened up in an effort to thank us for what we'd done, but we declined. We were well-equipped for camping, and neither of us was particularly keen on spending time in that Pokécenter after what had happened, so joining the encampment was the obvious decision. We decided to make that our next stop, since I didn't want to be at the Pokécenter any longer and was curious to see where Owen had been sleeping.
Needless to say, my trip to the Pokécenter hadn't exactly lifted my spirits, and Owen showing me the encampment on the outskirts of town he'd been staying at only continued that downward trend. Not only was it cramped since there wasn't a lot of spare flat ground to work with so high up on the mountain, but it was depressing. It was twenty to thirty tents packed into a tight area, and everybody that I could see looked decidedly miserable.
Not that I could blame them, since most of them didn't seem to be used to camping and were all waiting for when they could go home. Some of them probably had infected Pokémon, but most were just waiting for their turn to be sent home when the League could get to them. Owen had told me that Vito had begun Teleporting people home as of the previous evening, but that it was a slow process. He was the only Ranger stationed in the area capable of Teleport on the level required, but even for his Alakazam it required plenty of breaks, not to mention he had other duties to attend to as well.
Apparently the camp had been even more cramped than what I was seeing, and the only reason people even had tents was thanks to locals and the Pokémart offering up tents for those stranded with nowhere else to go. The hotel and Pokécenter were full, and many of the locals were kind enough to allow people to sleep on their sofa or in a spare bedroom, but it simply wasn't enough.
People were slowly trickling out of Lavaridge, and it got me thinking that I'd really like to be one of them. I couldn't see myself staying at the encampment, and even our short visit was enough to draw some attention. It was slightly better than our trip to the Pokécenter, but that wasn't saying much.
Owen must have seen the unenthusiastic look on my face as I took in the scene and listened to him catch me up to date on life in Lavaridge for the past few days, because he suggested that we grab a couple of deli sandwiches and eat them where we wouldn't be disturbed so we could discuss things.
It was a sad state of affairs – hiding behind a building between some bushes just so we could eat a sandwich and chat without feeling like we had eyes boring into the back of our heads.
We talked options and couldn't come up with any alternatives, at least not initially. The only way we could travel was by teleport, and that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. Outside of having a Ranger like Vito do it, the League teleport services were backed up for days and were being prioritized based on need, and as much as we wanted to go somewhere else we didn't need to. Besides, the prices had skyrocketed with the demand, and the further you went the more expensive it was.
This came into play when Owen brought up Dewford, noting that if we could manage to get there we could spend lockdown at his parents' house, which he'd apparently already talked to them about. I was a little surprised to learn that his parents had invited me to join considering I'd never met them, but he promised that there was a guest bedroom I was welcome to and would love it there.
But going to Dewford to stay with Owen's family was a long way to teleport and would be obscenely expensive. Not to mention, we'd still be stuck in Lavaridge for at least a couple of days while we waited for our turn, maybe more. We didn't know exactly what it would cost or how long it would take, but neither of us was particularly optimistic that it was even worth seriously exploring that option.
Largely, our talks were unproductive. The only things we could determine for sure were that neither of us wanted to be in Lavaridge, and that if we somehow managed to go somewhere else we would need to be near a Pokécenter so we could have our teams transported to us when they were finally released from lockdown. Nurse Joy had noted that we'd receive a notification when they were ready for pickup, which would come through our Pokédex since we were registered trainers, and that they would be transported to us when we reported to a Pokécenter. That implied it didn't matter which Pokécenter in Hoenn we were at, which gave us some level of flexibility in an otherwise tough situation.
Ever since leaving the hospital, I'd had this persistent feeling of unease and mild paranoia, as though we were being watched. No doubt it was due to us being the target of strangers staring and whispering about us, but I still had that lingering feeling despite us being now completely out of sight of others. As we fell into a moment of silence while eating and thinking about our options, I realized that there was another thing I'd totally forgotten about that was causing me to feel that way, and it didn't take much contemplation on what I should do about it until I had a stroke of genius.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," I announced as I shoveled the last bit of my sandwich into my mouth and stood up, feeling increasingly confident that I could kill two Pidgey with one stone.
"Where are you going?" Owen asked confusedly, seeing that I had begun to walk toward the treeline.
I considered telling him what I had in mind in general terms, but decided to simply say that I needed to relieve myself. It was a white lie – and if things didn't pan out how I hoped they might, doing what I was about to do without Owen knowing would prevent some very awkward questions.
Then again, that was likely to be true if my plan worked out as well, which I was becoming increasingly convinced it would. That was fine though – I found the prospect of coming up with a reasonable explanation for it a lot more manageable than spending a week or two in Lavaridge, so I was willing
Somewhat unsurprisingly, talking out loud to myself didn't prove fruitful. I tried a few things too – wondering out loud if there were any psychic or ghost-types around that wanted to say hello, overdramatically expressing concern that Team Rocket might be following me, proclaiming what a huge fan of Warren Thatcher I was and how I'd love to meet him, things like that. When none of that worked I got a little annoyed and angry, demanding to know how much longer I was going to be stalked and arguing that they could leave me alone if they would help me leave Lavaridge so I'd be safer.
Though I got no response, I was still convinced my words weren't going unheard. Truthfully, I had no factual basis to believe that I was still being monitored, only a very strong suspicion. If I wasn't already on edge from the attention I got around town and aware of the fact that I'd witnessed a Gengar emerge from my hospital walls at a very telling moment, I'd have never guessed I was being watched.
But it made sense. Assuming Warren was indeed sent by somebody in the Stone family, which seemed to be highly likely, I doubted that his job was only to guard me while I was incapacitated in the hospital. Team Rocket knew where I was and at least had a vague interest in snatching me, probably even more after how things had gone at the Pokécenter, and my only line of defense was a largely untrained Trapinch that had no noteworthy battle experience.
Well, that's if you didn't count Owen and the shattered remnants of his team, which I felt pretty confident wouldn't be a consideration for whoever was giving Warren orders or members of Team Rocket thinking of making a move on me, however unlikely. He only had Misha and Omar, and as good of a battler as Misha was I wouldn't place high odds on her being able to single-handedly repel any would-be attackers.
It was kind of startling to realize that between us, we were down to only three Pokémon – two of which were incapable of holding their own in any battle that was even remotely serious. That essentially left a singular Shroomish as our sole protector, with Owen himself being the second most capable of warding off an attack.
Two trainers with a total of seven badges and nine team members, yet we had a single Pokémon that was capable of battle – an unevolved grass-type that probably weighed ten pounds at most and barely reached a foot tall. It made me realize I should really take up Owen's earlier offer to teach me how to fight, because it seemed increasingly likely that it was something I should at least know the basics of given how things had been going. Maybe then I wouldn't have just stood around and watched my team do all the work while Pokémon were stolen, Owen's included. There wasn't much I could do about what had already happened, but I was determined to be more prepared and useful for the future.
When it became clear that I wasn't going to receive a visit by a certain Ever Grande Conference winner or his Gengar, I decided it was time to try out my second idea and pulled out my phone, calling Samantha to see if I could get her on board with my idea and get Warren's orders amended.
This part ended up being easier than I'd thought. After urgently checking up on me and realizing that I didn't have time for idle chit-chat, I explained to her the situation and how I thought she could help. She admitted to being indirectly responsible for Warren's presence, though she hadn't personally ordered him to be there and hadn't even known who was guarding me – she'd only asked her dad to keep me safe and had been ensured that I was in capable hands. She was quite familiar with Warren, having been under his care on several occasions over the years, and was very pleased to learn that he was the one who had been sent, claiming he was among Devon's most capable security staff and usually only showed up when safety was being taken very seriously.
The fact that he was guarding me, a nobody, during a crisis unlike anything Hoenn had ever seen before was pretty flattering. Despite this, I expressed to Samantha just how unpleasant I found the idea of being stuck in Lavaridge with Warren constantly watching over me, the eyes of half the town on me, and the lingering uncertainty of if Team Rocket would make a move on me after provoking their ire even further than I apparently already had.
I didn't truly think they would go out of their way for me, but I was playing every card I had to lay the foundation for the proposal I was building toward. Samantha was fully on board with the idea of me leaving Lavaridge, and reminded me of her standing offer to come to Rustboro, which I again declined.
That's when I laid out my idea – something that would solve all the same problems, just in a different way. Although working from old information, Owen had mentioned that Warren supposedly had an Alakazam, and even if not I was reasonably sure he had some other psychic that could teleport long ranges. After all, what person who specialized in security wouldn't have a powerful psychic, and how else would he have arrived in Lavaridge so quickly after the Rocket attack?
So, I asked Samantha if she could get him to teleport me and Owen to Dewford, and then call him off. I pointed out that we would be safer there and garner less attention, and informed her that I'd actually been invited to stay with Owen's family for the duration of the lockdown.
She said she'd talk to her dad about it and didn't see why he would object, but made no promises. She did ask how I even knew that Warren was tasked with my protection, and I explained what Owen had observed, our brief visit from the Gengar, and how I'd managed to brush it off as Warren likely being a member of the League task force looking to get at Team Rocket. She told me that she'd relay that to her dad, and would try to have Warren keep any interactions we had vague to keep that charade going.
With that business out of the way, we quickly caught up and checked on one another. Unsurprisingly, Samantha was treating the lockdown like a mini staycation – none of her team had gotten infected, and she was largely secluded from any of the repercussions of the lockdown restrictions. She congratulated me on Apollo's evolution, which felt weird given the circumstances, and tried to console me for the fact that I couldn't see him and was likely to miss Duran's evolution, but I had to wrap up the call and get back to Owen since by that point I'd been gone for nearly ten minutes. It ended with her asking me to stay safe, and to be patient while she tried to arrange things on her end to get me out of Lavaridge.
Feeling reasonably good about how that had gone, I returned to Owen and apologized, saying I ended up needing to relieve myself more than I had initially thought. Thankfully, he didn't read too much into it, or if he thought it was strange he didn't say anything.
"I'll be honest dude, I'm stumped. We could ask Vito if he would teleport us somewhere, but the poor guy is already running himself ragged so I don't think we should bother him. I think all we can do is look into scheduling a League Teleport. My parents would probably help cover the cost, but even then it will be crazy expensive and take a couple of days at least."
"Let's think on it. Maybe things will calm down around here and people will lose interest in us," I tried to reason casually, hoping this issue would soon be solved after what I'd just set into motion. "I'll be honest, I wouldn't feel good about spending my hard-earned money on an overpriced teleport, and I'd feel even worse about having your parents help float the bill."
"Speaking of, I got my money from the League," Owen said as he pulled out his Pokédex and pressed a few buttons before holding it out. "I want you to have it. You deserve it more than me, and it's messed up that you didn't get anything saving so many Pokémon. If they'd properly planned and secured the Pokécenter, you never would have had to stick your neck out or end up in the hospital."
I hesitated and almost outright declined, but I could tell from the resolute look in his eyes that his mind was made up. I didn't feel comfortable taking it all and told him I'd only do it if he split it, which he reluctantly accepted. Besides, I wasn't exactly in a position to turn down money, even if I was currently doing fairly well for myself. I'd been rather conservative in my spending recently, but knew that I could drain my account in an afternoon pretty easily, especially if I were to buy another month's supply of vitamins for my team.
Just after tapping my Pokédex to his and pocketing it, a man suddenly stepped out of the treeline and startled us. I knew who it was even though I didn't recognize him, both by the confidence in which he carried himself and Owen slightly relaxing his posture out of the corner of my eye.
"You're Warren Thatcher, right?" Owen asked, looking somewhere between starstruck and suspicious.
Warren simply nodded, crossing his arms and leaning against a tree as he looked at us expectantly. Thankfully, Warren seemed to have gotten the memo about how to approach this, which made me hopeful that we'd be able to get through this without Owen raising too many questions.
"We're leaving Lavaridge, it's not safe for you two here. Pack up your stuff and let's get going," he said simply.
Owen seemed completely taken aback, but soon recovered. "We're going? Where?"
Warren shrugged, "I don't care. As long as it's in Hoenn, anywhere works. You just can't stay here."
Very nicely done, I thought. If he'd said Dewford, things would have been rather inconvenient. Though it was also a possibility he hadn't been told where to take us, just that he should help us leave Lavaridge.
"You're working for the League?" Owen asked, seemingly trying to confirm the theory I'd laid out.
Warren just gave an unamused look, as if to say he couldn't answer that, although I suspected in reality he found all of this to be terribly boring.
"Could you take us to Dewford?" I asked, deciding it best if I planted our desired destination into the conversation and get things going as quickly as possible.
He only gave a nod in response. I was both grateful for how he was approaching the situation and slightly annoyed by his overall 'tough guy' demeanor. He wasn't somebody I would want to have lunch or a conversation with, yet I had to admit that it was sort of perfect for a job in security.
"Well, I have all my things with me. Owen needs to pack up his tent though," I remarked, eliciting a nod and slight jerk of his head toward the direction of the encampment, indicating for Owen to get to it.
Owen looked like he wanted to say something or ask more questions, but decided to take the offer and jogged off to the encampment to pack up.
"Thanks for doing this," I said after a moment of standing alone in an awkward silence, deciding to try to drum up some conversation.
No response other than a slight nod to acknowledge that he'd heard me.
"Are you sticking around after we get to Dewford? You could probably spend the night at Owen's place if you need to rest, since I can't imagine teleporting so far is easy even for someone like you."
No response whatsoever as he stared up at the sky. I decided to give up attempting to talk to the guy, and we spent the rest of our wait for Owen in complete silence. That ended up being about ten minutes, most of which I spent stretching my still aching muscles, but soon Owen returned with his backpack ready to go.
"I guess I'm ready… Should we say goodbye to anybody, like maybe Flannery or Vito? It might be alarming if we suddenly disappeared," Owen reasoned.
Though it was a fair point, I didn't see the need. I felt like we'd left things on a pretty good note with Flannery and Vito, and I didn't think anybody would be surprised to learn we had left Lavaridge considering the situation. I also wasn't too keen on making Warren wait on us, even though I knew he would have if needed. He looked terribly bored, bordering on annoyed.
Owen still wasn't convinced, but I remembered that I had Vito's phone number and sent him a quick text message letting him know that we were leaving town, which satisfied Owen.
Seeing we were ready, Warren whistled. That caused his Gengar to appear with a cackle out of a nearby tree where it had likely been watching the proceedings while keeping an eye on the area, and he recalled it as an Alakazam suddenly teleported beside him.
Two Pokémon out at once in town during the middle of a highly restricted lockdown. I wasn't convinced he was allowed to do that despite whatever special clearances or certifications he might have, but Owen and I both knew better than to say anything about it given the massive favor he was about to do for us.
He beckoned me and Owen over, and I felt a surge of relief that Lavaridge was about to be put behind me, as well as a swelling of excitement that I was about to experience my first teleport.
I had a somewhat romanticised idea of instantly traveling long distances without ever taking a single step. It was something I'd always dreamed of experiencing, and I'd been looking forward to the day that Apollo was strong enough to do it and take me with him.
In truth, realizing that it wasn't Apollo I would be first experiencing it with took away some of my excitement. But knowing him as well as I did, I knew he wouldn't care in the slightest that my first time wasn't going to be with him. He likely wouldn't see it as a big deal anyway, since teleporting to him was nearly as natural as breathing.
Still, I was a little saddened to realize my first time wouldn't be with him, because to me it was a big deal. Yet my wistfulness didn't last long – with no warning other than the Alakazam raising its spoons and becoming enshrouded in psychic energy, I felt the slightest jerk to my body and suddenly found myself standing on a beach with the ocean to my back and old, quaint wooden shacks a short distance ahead.
Just as suddenly as I'd found myself in Dewford, a wave of disorientation and unease washed over me. I was acutely aware that the sun was in a different position than it had been just a second ago, felt as though Mt. Chimney had just disappeared in the blink of an eye, and I had to work my jaw in order to pop my ears from the sudden change in elevation. I was facing another direction, surrounded by foreign landscape, and stricken by just how distinct the smell of the salty ocean air was when it hit you all at once rather than gradually.
Though I had no doubt that was probably about as flawless of a Teleport as you could hope to receive, it felt like my stomach had been turned upside down. It was a lot of change all at once, and it felt horribly unnatural.
I had to plant my hands on my knees to keep upright as I regained my orientation and waited for the dizziness to subside, and I soon felt a hand clasp my shoulder reassuringly.
"First time, huh?" Owen asked, a note of sympathy in his voice.
"Yeah… Not for you, I take it?" I asked as I forced myself to stand, starting to feel better.
"Nah, I've taken a couple of teleports over the years for vacations with my parents. Not enough that I don't still feel a little uneasy doing it, but the first time is always the worst. Supposedly if you do it regularly you'll get used to it and it won't even phase you, and it's not nearly as jarring for short distances."
I glanced over to Warren just in time to see him and his Alakazam teleport away without saying a word. I sighed, feeling a mixture of annoyance and relief, and took that as a sign that I wouldn't need to check with Owen if Warren could stay the night to rest.
"Kinda rude," I commented as I took my first good look around, taking in the scenery.
"Maybe, but also badass," Owen countered with a grin as he shook my shoulder. "Welcome to Dewford, dude! I can't believe how great this all turned out – just when we're trying to think of how we could get here, our answer falls right into our lap! Let's go, my parents are going to be so surprised!"
He began leading me down the beach at a brisk pace, and I vaguely recalled that he'd mentioned his family home was in a prime location along the beach. I started to feel strangely nervous at the prospect of meeting his family, although I couldn't quite put my finger on why. Maybe it was the thought that I'd be staying as a guest in the home of two people I'd never met, perhaps I was worried that I'd be a burden or somehow make a fool of myself and they wouldn't like me. None of those reasons felt quite right to explain what I was feeling, but I tried not to dwell on it and pushed the unease from my mind.
"Can you slow down? We aren't in any rush, and my muscles are still sore," I pleaded, acutely aware of the aching I felt as I tried to keep up with him.
He slowed, giving me an apologetic look. "Sorry, I forgot. I'm just excited. We're in Dewford, dude! I still can't believe it, I'm so glad I get to be the one to show you around. I'll give you a tour around town after we drop off our stuff. Come to think of it, both of my parents are probably at work for at least a couple more hours…"
"We could always just hide our stuff in your room and explore town until we can surprise them later," I offered. "We probably shouldn't disturb them at work, I'd bet your dad is especially busy given what's going on."
"Good idea, let's do that. You know, I'm starting to think you're a good luck charm, dude. The only reason I met Bruno, have most of my team, or get to spend lockdown at home is because of you. I seriously owe you," he said with genuine sincerity.
"Shut up," I said with a roll of my eyes, although it lacked any venom. "I wouldn't have even made it to the back room of the Pokécenter if not for you. There's a good chance my team would have gotten stolen if you weren't there, so it goes both ways. Besides, you gave me half of your reward and a bed to spend lockdown in. I'd say we're even."
"Says you. I still feel like I owe you a lot, so if you ever need anything just let me know," he said seriously.
"Actually, I wouldn't mind taking you up on those fighting lessons you offered before. Even if it was just the basics, I think it would be good to know. I can't always depend on my team to do all the fighting, I want to be able to fight for them like they do me."
Owen gave a wide grin, "You bet dude! I've been wanting a sparring buddy. My dad did it when I was younger, but he's not really into it these days. The only other person I ever really got to spar with was my buddy Aziz, but his family moved to Johto a couple of years ago. None of my other friends ever wanted to, so you'd actually be doing me a huge favor."
"Let's do it then. Just make sure you go easy on me," I said with a smirk.
"If you're serious, we'll need to get you a few things first. Mouthguards and fingerless sparring gloves at a minimum, maybe other protective gear depending on how far you want to go. Headgear, shin guards, a cup to make sure we don't accidentally end our bloodline, things like that."
I snorted in amusement, "I'm not even sure I even want kids, but I could definitely see you needing them in working order. As long as we don't start kneeing each other in the nuts, I'm sure we'll be fine."
"Accidents happen dude," Owen said seriously. "Wrestling is one of the essentials to fighting I'll be teaching you, and nut taps are inevitable. A cup isn't required, I'll give you that, but you'll regret not having one trust me. The gloves and mouthguards are non-negotiable, and I won't be accepting any objections if you want me to teach you."
"I'm on board with the mouthguard at least, not sure I'd want to lug a pair of gloves around the region though."
"Sparring gloves are smaller than you think," he explained. "They're normal fingerless gloves with some padding in the right places, it's not like those big boxing gloves you're probably imagining. Trust me, they're just as important as mouthguards."
I frowned, "Are we still splitting up? You got your Heat Badge, and now I can get Dewford's when the lockdown ends. That means we could both tackle the eastern gyms together, right?"
Owen fell silent, staring off into the distance for a few seconds as we continued walking. When he spoke again, his voice had lost all excitement and cheerfulness.
"We'll revisit this when the lockdown is lifted. I need to see how things go and think about some stuff."
I frowned, but didn't press the issue. After all, I knew I'd be hard-pressed to continue with my journey if I suddenly lost two members of my team. If he decided he needed to take a break, I wouldn't blame him, although I'd probably try to talk him out of it and be disappointed.
Although I didn't have much hope that the League would be able to get his team back, there was a chance. But if he didn't get his team back, even somebody as spirited and determined as Owen might lose heart, which I wasn't sure I'd be able to bear my portion of the responsibility for.
In typical Owen fashion, he didn't allow any negative thoughts to linger. He quickly pivoted to talking about Dewford, excitedly telling me about places he'd show me and what set it apart as the best place in Hoenn.
I tried my best to share his excitement, but it was hard. After pondering what a tragic loss it would be if Owen let this be the end of his journey, my thoughts became preoccupied with my team – hoping they were alright, wishing that they were here to experience Dewford with me, and a deep desire to see and talk to them. The quick group meeting that I'd had with them in my Lavaridge Pokécenter room seemed shockingly inadequate now, with all that had happened almost immediately after.
I wanted to congratulate Apollo on his evolution and thank him for protecting me so fiercely. I wanted to tell Duran how proud of him I was, not only for how he'd battled but for his upcoming evolution. I wanted to pet Orion, and feel his warmth in my hoodie pouch again.
But most of all, I wanted to show them that their efforts hadn't been in vain and that I was alright, and to apologize for everything. Putting them at risk, inadvertently getting them infected, and not properly preparing them for the quarantine they were now experiencing.
Things sucked, plain and simple. My journey was on pause indefinitely, my team was separated from me and infected with a currently incurable virus as far as I could tell, and Owen's future was in limbo.
But at least there was a bright side – being in Dewford would hopefully make things suck just a little less.
A/N: You might have noticed, but I decided to stop capitalizing things like 'Teleporting'. I'll probably still do it for moves when said properly, because if I didn't I'd probably have to stop caplitalizing Pokémon species names too and it just feels weird in a whole other way, but I've been kind of regretting doing it with every variation, like 'Flying' or 'Teleporting', so I'm retiring it. Sorry to change style mid-story, but we're learning as we go so thanks for bearing with me. When I finish DotD, I plan to give the entire story a once-over to polish things so I'll go back and fix previous uses then. Probably.
Also, did anyone catch that Rocket's Exterminator reference? Not very subtle and borderline out of character for Owen, but I couldn't help myself. Shoutout to Banix for making a grown man tear up multiple times, not sure any other Pokefic has managed that. If you haven't read it, you should go do that now, at least up until the point where revenge is served. 10/10.
Special thanks to whoever has been recommending this fic, I appreciate you kind stranger(s).
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