Route 2

Polo and Maria began their journey towards Venrof City via Route 2. This route was quite pleasant, with large patches of grass and the river from Bransmir Town continuing to run throughout this route, eventually trailing off to the West of the route, out of sight.

Maria looked deep in contemplative thought. Polo frowned and asked Hatenee which was currently outside of its Pokéball "Is she alright?".

Hatenee jumped and ran behind Maria, cowering from Polo.

"Sorry Polo, Hatenee is shy with new people." Maria explained.

"Yeah so is Pawniard apparently, do you tend to have shy Pokémon?" Polo pondered.

"Haha! Well two instances don't make a pattern. But who knows, I clearly have a habit of taking in strays." Maria chuckled pointedly, but the joke went over Polo's head.

As they continued down the path, Hatenee and Chimchar practised against various wild Wurmple and Alolan Ratata respectively, slowly gaining some valuable experience.

"I always wondered…why doesn't Eridante have its own local Pokémon?" Polo mused.

"Excellent question. Basically, this region was completely uninhabited when it was discovered only a few centuries ago. No people, no Pokémon. Given the sheer amount of beauty in Eridante, people naturally started to move in, bringing Pokémon with them. Sure, it's a bit cold and rainy, but well, so's Galar and Eridante in contrast has no Hooligan issues. Anyway, Pokémon Rangers and Professor's worked together in population control at a sustainable rate, and we have the region we have now. Some historians are researching whether the region might have had local Pokémon millennia ago, but nothing has been uncovered thus far". Maria recited from her extensive studies.

At this Polo beamed "That makes sense, Dad is always away making regions better for the locals".

"I did overhear….Hanei is your father? The Hanei – People's Hero of the Sun? That's pretty cool, although I guess you don't see him often?" Maria wondered.

"Yep he's away for months sometimes on conservation projects, and sometimes on call in case a big forest fire breaks out or something similar. But we see him for the holidays, and to be honest I hope to work with him, it's part of why I wanted to start my journey here." Polo explained.

"Well, your chat with Toxel certainly showed traits of being a great Ranger!" Maria cheered, and Polo smiled warmly.

Almost as if on cue, Toxel jumped out of its Pokéball and looked around, got scared and started crying. Its cry was like a sonar wave and everyone had to cover their ears out of instinct. A horde of wild Pokémon angrily came out of the grass and leapt at Toxel.

"This is bad…we need to defend Toxel!" Polo exclaimed, and Chimchar, Hatenee and Pawniard all came out to deal with the wild Pokémon.

"This…could be a problem" Maria said cautiously.

Later that night, Route 2

Route 2 was a large extensive route, with no trainers but massive patches of tall grass. All the while, Polo and Maria tried everything they could think of to calm Toxel down but it was no use. By the time night hit, the duo and their teams were worn down, and not close enough to the next city.

"It's no use…we should camp here. Hopefully Toxel is tired and falls asleep?" Maria uttered weekly, and Polo tried to peekaboo with Toxel to little effect.

The crew managed to get a few hours of sleep before Toxel started wailing again. They fended off angrier wild Pokémon, but the next morning they were utterly tired.

"Right….we're close to Venrof City…we can…do this" Maria looked like she would collapse. Polo looked at her apologetically but she smiled "Oh it's no one's fault! Babies are babies, we both knew that. And part of being a Trainer is working through things like this."

"You're like an angel Maria, thank you!" Polo sighed, meaning nothing by it, but Maria blushed and just started walking ahead. Polo grinned "Oh you got your energy back!". He rushed after her, cradling Toxel delicately who had finally fallen asleep recently.

Eventually the group heard some noises from a nearby clearing. They wandered over and found a Clefairy and Jigglypuff, both looking angrily at the other. Polo naturally rushed over with a smile and said "Hey! What's up?". The mons both looked shocked but then continued bickering.

Maria also came over, and Polo spoke to Chimchar "Might need your help with this buddy. Maria's Pokémon are too shy to translate". Chimchar puffed his chest out proudly and conversed with the two bickering Pokémon.

"So…Clefairy says dancing is better, and Jigglypuff says singing is better? Is that the gist of it?" Maria asks Chimchar who nods.

"Well…singing is clearly better, the sheer talent required to use your voice that way, and the effect it has on people is amazing." Maria concluded.

"What? Dancing is the best! No words are needed to explain what you're feeling, and its way more powerful in a group than for singing" Polo reasoned.

Eventually the two came to an agreement and decided that both had their pros and cons, but both were necessary to communicate in life.

The Clefairy and Jigglypuff listened intently, and then shook hands, seemingly satisfied.

"Well, that's good!" Polo beamed, and just then Toxel woke up and winded up to cry.

Everyone covered their ears but Clefairy started dancing, and Toxel went quiet, transfixed.

Polo and Maria sighed in relief. "All's well that ends well" says Maria who looked like she herself was about to cry.

Clefairy and Jigglypuff accompanied the group for a bit, and as they took a second night to camp, Jigglypuff's singing helped soothe everyone to sleep peacefully, including Toxel.

The crew woke up refreshed, and eventually saw a sign leading into Venrof City. They thanked the helpful wild Pokémon, and headed into the city.

CURRENT:

Polo:

Chimchar, Level 9, Hasty Nature ( Speed / - Defense)

Toxel, Level 5, Naive Nature ( Speed / - Sp Defense)

Maria:

Pawniard, Level 10, Quiet Nature ( Sp Attack / - Speed)

Hatenee, Level 11, Timid Nature ( Speed / - Attack)