<Making the most of the afternoon, Calem, Serena, and Chad were traveling at a power-walking pace, eager to get through Routes 2 and 3 along with the Santalune Forest in a single afternoon. Along their merry way, a young boy and girl flagged them down with a shout and jubilant energy. “Yo! That’s a cool pokemon! What is it?” he asked, utterly amazed with Chad. “He’s a Charmeleon, a species native to the Kanto region,” Serena answered, only to get a bewildered look from the youths. “Where’s Kanto?” the girl asked.>


    <Actually that’s a good question, what’s the world map look like? I don’t recall ever seeing one.>


    There isn’t really one; it’s kinda in flux with each installment in the games. The first four were all sections of Japan, and the most recent ones covered Hawaii and the west coast of Europe. There’s a game set somewhere in North America, but it gets messy when you try to piece everything together.


    <Got it, so the ‘We make it up as we go for the plot’ route.>


    <”It’s pretty far, we’re not sure how he got here, but we are happy to have him all the same,” Calem answered, unsure about the true answer to the question. Seemingly satisfied, the duo stepped back, and each held up a pokeball. “Want to have a friendly match? Or is he the only pokemon you have?” the boy asked. Calem shook his head, “Chad isn’t our pokemon, but we each have our starters we can battle you with.”>


    <”Want to do a doubles match then? Or just two singles?” the girl asked. Serena shared look with Calem before answering “How about a doubles match then? Oh, and I’m Serena, this is Calem,” she suggested, introducing the two of them. “Sounds great, oh and I’m Austin, and this is my sister Jan! We’re not going on our journey yet but still like to practice,” the boy supplied, as the five moved to a relatively open clear space.>


    Chad moved towards the middle, acting as the stand-in referee. He pointed to the challengers, waiting. “We’re ready!” Austin shouted, pumping a pokeball high in the air and raring to go. With a nod, Chad lowered his arm and lifted the opposite, now aiming at Calem and Serena.


    Breaking from their mini huddle, the two moved to their positions, unclipping the pokeballs, and responding with “We’re also ready!”


    “This will be a friendly match, one pokemon per trainer with no switches. The match continues until one side is unable to battle!” Chad said, leaning into the role. He held up a hand with 3 fingers, “3!” and lowered a finger to only have 2 claws pointed skyward. “2!” another finger down, as both sides prepared to call for their partners. “1, Begin!” his whole arm came down with a chop, as four pokeballs entered the field, followed by four bright flashes of light. As the light faded, a Fennekin and Chespin stood across from a Zigzagoon and a Bunnelby.


    <”Bunnelby, use Agility!” called Jan, trying to set up before her opponents got started. “Ziggy, give them a Growl!” Austin followed, as the bunny began to sprint quickly around the arena, with a slight pinkish aura. The racoon let out a fierce sound, putting both the fox and rodent on the back foot.>


    Calem raised his arm taking a stance, “Dorothy, let’s use Ember to keep Bunnelby from getting too close!” The Fennekin, with a quick ‘yes sir!’ gathered a small orb of fire energy outside her small mouth, occasionally launching shots of fire whenever the bun got too close to her team.


    “You’re up, Claude! Use Vine Whip on Zigzagoon; go for the offensive!” Serena, not one to play second fiddle, focused on her own opponent and went on the attack. Her Chespin clapped and crouched to smack his hands against the dirt, grasping a pair of green shoots that grew from the bare earth beneath them. He held the pose, focusing directly on the racoon, as a pair of identical green sprouts rose up from below his target, catching them off-guard and forcing a small retreat. Satisfied, he stood fully, pulling the organic ropes free from the group before swinging them in a swift downward motion, creating an arc that pulsed out along each vine, steadily unearthing them along the way as the pair of kinetic energy flew towards Zigzagoon, resulting in a crisp ‘thwack’ as both tips emerged and unleashed the whip tip against the foe.


    <”Ziggy!” Austin called out, concerned for his partner as the small pokemon steadily rose to their feet. “We gotta get in close, go for a Tackle!” Jan, after watching her own partner struggle to get in close, called for the same. “Bunnelby, follow him, charge the Chespin!”>


    Calem, with a smirk commonly seen among youths who recognize their opponents making a major mistake, calmly instructed his pokemon; “Dorothy, we’re pulling a New Year’s Festival with Claude, then line up the finale.”


    His cryptic comment seemed to catch Serena’s attention, who followed up with her own command, “You heard him Claude, go with floor routine B!” The Chespin held still, staring down the oncoming opponents as his teammate coated his vines in hot fire, igniting the whips as he spun into a dance.


    <With each hypnotic swing, the bunny and racoon had to dodge the burning line of fire, intent not to lose any ground in their advance. Several close calls resulted in singed hair tips, as the whips continuously got closer and closer to the duo. Just as they were about to make contact and turn the tides of the battle, the Fennekin popped into existence from just behind and above her Chespin teammate, blasting the oncoming duo with an Ember. Their momentum halted, Chespin was able to swing the flaming vines together, wrapping the two together with a flaming hot hug..>


    “Zigzagoon and Bunnelby are unable to battle. The winners are Calem and Serena!” Chad announced, holding an arm towards the winning team in a proper display of professionalism. The two high-fived in victory, as their pokemon did their equivalent of a fist-bump.


    <Austin and Jan recalled their fainted pokemon, accepting defeat. “That was cool, you two looked like you practice together a lot!” Austin exclaimed, too hyped by the battle to care about his defeat. “Yea, and the burning Vine Whip was really pretty. You called it ‘New Years Festival’?” Jan asked, curious to the origin.>


    Serena shifted to a pose of slight embarrassment, “Ah yea, at the last celebration I was doing a ribbon routine with Claude, but my ribbons accidentally caught on fire, so he did the same and we had to change up our routine. It’s pretty shocking and can catch people off-guard, but it means the vines won’t last very long. It’s a trick for when we need to trip up our opponent, but the magic only works once,” she explained, as Claude pantomimed the sequence of events from her story.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    <Jan’s eyes began to sparkle, likely imagining the performance from the story. “Well you two work great together, are you going to tackle any doubles tournaments?” Austin asked, calmer now that the adrenaline was fading. “Yea! Brother sister teams are always top contenders!” Jan supplied.>


    Calem and Serena laughed, as he clarified “Oh, no we’re not related.”


    <Austin’s face was blank, but Jan lit up. “I see, I see,” she said, leaning in towards Serena with a hand to block her mouth from Calem, “You have great taste, good luck!”>


    Serena blushed before launching into a semi-nervous laugh, Calem glancing at her with a raised eyebrow before shaking his head. Chad rejoined the group, as the three of them said goodbye to the brother and sister.


    <They continued unaccosted until reaching the entrance to the Santalune Forest, and a series of growls led to a quick lunch break. Chad began prepping some vegetables, while Serena escorted Claude with a pot to grab some water, and Dorothy to fetch some kindling. By the time the vegetables were ready, Dorothy had a small fire going, and Claude had returned with a full pot of fresh water.>


    “Hey Chad,” Dorothy began, earning a ‘hmm?’ from the chef, “Are you going to travel with us, the whole way?” She shifted, fidgeting with a rock on the ground as she slid it around in random movements. He lifted a spoon of soup out of the pot, sniffed it twice, then returned to stirring their late lunch. “I know you aren’t part of our team, but-”


    “You’re going to miss his cooking,” Claude finished, earning a glare from the fox as she puffed up her cheeks in frustration. That held for barely a second before she admitted he was correct.


    Chad’s amused smile faded, unable to look the two of them in the eye. “No, unfortunately. If we meet up again, then I’d be happy to. But after this first gym, I’m heading towards Snowbelle City to challenge the Ice gym. For two reasons really; the first being that I read Ice types aren’t super strong at lower levels, so if I want to lean on my type advantage I need to tackle it sooner than later.” After a minute or so, Chad removed the large pot from the fire, letting the stew bubble out the remaining energy. “Second, I have this gut feeling that I’ll find my first team member at the location of that Hurricane that swept Route 21 last month.”


    The two younger pokemon waited for their bowls to be passed out, but Claude asked “Isn’t Hurricane a really high level move? How do you plan to find them? Let alone convince them to join you?”


    Chad passed a bowl each to Calem and Serena, who thanked him and went back to their side discussion about the looming forest. “Yea, it’s a long shot, but my gut says I need to try it. They’ll be on the way, so more of a side bonus than a real target.” He gently took a mouthful of the soup, his face the perfect example of relaxation alongside his smaller compatriots.


    <The five finished their quick lunch and packed up, with both Dorothy and Claude being returned to their balls as the group braved the forest. Whether it was due to their power, or just Chad’s presence, the group was again unbothered by any wild pokemon, with many seemingly too scared to get near. With one lone exception.>


    <Midway through the forest, a curious yellow rodent crept up on the group, before taking a stance in their path, seeking a challenge. Without contention, Serena stepped forward and sent out Claude, introducing herself. The Pikachu took advantage of the terrain to hop between trees with a speed beyond that of the Bunnelby from earlier. Claude attempted to use his Vine Whips to hit it, eventually wrapping his foe when it slipped on a wet leaf. The Pikachu, with a malevolent grin, launched a strong Thundershock along the vines, forcing Claude to try and win a racing battle of attrition. With a light cry, the Pikachu signaled their surrender, and Serena immediately used a potion bottle on the two combatants before returning Claude to rest.>


    “So, am I strong enough that you’d want to travel with me?” She asked, holding a pokeball in offering to the yellow mouse. Glancing at her two travel companions, the Pikachu noticed the human was indifferent while the fire lizard was holding two thumbs up alongside an encouraging smile.


    “Sure bitch, let’s see what you got,” the yellow foul-mouthed rodent responded, pressing the center button before vanishing inside the ball with a pleasing chime. Chad’s expression dropping to one of blatant disgust and disbelief.


    Calem walked up to her with a gentle golf clap, “Congratulations on the new team member.”


    Serena bore a serene smile as she did a small jig, “Thanks Calem, I can’t believe I found one. Pikachus are pretty rare, Shauna is going to be super jealous! What do you think Chad, did I make the right call?” she asked, as Chad withdrew the tablet. [FOUL, MOUTH, NEED, DISCIPLINE] he commented, as the two humans laughed.


    <The trio encountered a few other travelers in the forest, taking turns facing the challengers while Chad focused on discouraging wild pokemon from interfering. Calem and Serena steadily racked up the wins, each gaining more spending cash as they went. Overall the trip was going well, and by the time the trio reached the exit of the forest it was only the late afternoon.>


    <Route 3 was similarly quiet, with a few trainers to help Calem and Serena sharpen their skills but no wild encounters. The only detractor to an otherwise great trip so far was when a small boy threw a pokeball at Chad, claiming he was trying to ‘catch’ the ‘wild’ pokemon. Chad, demonstrating the patience of a saint, returned the ball while trying to explain he was not wild, pointing at his scarf, as well as his traveling group. The group walked off as the child cried over how unfair it was that he couldn’t have a ‘cool pokemon’.>


    <The trio reached the edge of Santalune City just as the sun began to fade below the horizon, making double time for the pokemon center to try and secure lodgings for the night. Luckily, there were still two rooms available. At the nurse’s insistence, Chad returned himself to receive a check up, leaving his stuff with Calem. Eager to decompress from the journey, Calem and Serena handed their own pokemon to the nurse Joy on duty and went upstairs, one rushing to take off their shoes and lie down on the bed, the other desperate for a hot shower before bed.>


    <With four clean bills of health, sans a minor scuffle between the new Pikachu and his Chespin teammate, Chad regrouped with the now-relaxed Calem and wet-haired Serena. The group agreed to research the town’s gym, and plan individual strategies for facing the challenge. With a few magic clicks on the Pokecenter’s public computer, Chad found a way to register for gym challenges and booked three slots, flagging all three as willing to fill a standby slot should one open. With the plan set, and less than a day before their earliest challenge appointment, the two humans went up to bed, leaving Chad in the lobby as he returned to his research.>


    Remembering a promise, Chad drafted a quick email for Emeric, outlining the performance of the device thus far, while also revealing that he had a run-in with professor Sycamore. Keeping it brief, he added a closing personal message and sent the mail before returning to watch the posted one-star challenge videos.


    <Feeling ready for this? It won’t be as straight-forward as the Pidgey fight.>


    “No,” Chad responded, watching as the trainer failed the challenge in the current video, their second pokemon being taken down by a particularly agile Surskit. “I’m basically going all-in until I get a teammate, which means I can’t afford to take risks.” He loaded another video, this time of a Fletchling soloing the challenge with a young lass who barely made any calls. “And not having someone to make calls means I don’t have any form of external support, no second set of eyes to see what I can’t.”


    <Well that is why I am supporting your choice to head East after this. That encounter will be quite helpful if I say so myself.>


    Narrator…


    <Hmm? Oh, Chad was merely on the fence about whether to head East or to continue with the humans. I merely gave him a slight push.>


    How much did you tell him?


    <Oh relax, it’s still a good surprise, I merely hinted that he may wish to traverse through Route 21 after winning his first badge. Nothing worth any amount of lip.>


    I am certain I did not share those notes with you.


    <And now you too may experience how it feels to have two individuals plotting behind your back. Or pen, in this case.>


    “Guys, can we focus? I only have 4 moves and need some help planning how to use them,” Chad pleaded, as the charged energy in the air began to calm down. “I only really have two attacks, Ember and Dragon Rage. And I am lacking any mobility enhancers, which is going to be important,” he continues, pointing at how fast some of the bugs are.


    Chad, you’re overthinking this.


    <The exhausted Charmeleon, recognizing that he had indeed been pushing himself too hard, walked upstairs to bed, as Calem had offered him a couch in his room.>


    Defeated, Chad logged out of the computer and complied, as he recognized the need for proper rest to reset one’s psyche.


    <Frustrated as I am with him, I can’t deny how much weight he seems to be trying to stack on his shoulders. That was half the point of having Stanley, I must admit.>


    He just hasn’t yet internalized what I meant back towards the beginning.


    <That reminds me, how is Project Happy Ending coming along?>