Going to the center went well. Low level battles hardly end up in any serious injury, since the pokemon like the power to deal them or the resiliency to power through a serious injury.

Mum once told me about a trained corvisquire who took a chandelure's overheat straight to the face. She said the poor bird's armor had melted and fused with it's flesh in a really ugly way (Corvinight doesn't usually face fire types in their natural habitats, leading them to react to fire type TE slightly worse than most steel types), it had been blinded and his wings got crippled, but he still won the match.

It walked out of the center fully recovered after 7 days of intensive care and a roost to replenish the plumage.

At our level? Joy just slapped some oran ointment in the bruises and called it a day.

I immediately let goggles out his ball when I stepped out the center premises, letting the little critter fly free and immediately land on my hand. I moved my hand up to give him some pats on the head "You did great back there buddy! Our first win!"

Goggles scratches my scalp in happiness and lets out a happy "Yo Yan!" That feels like a "The first of many!". I wish I could share his optimism.

"Yo, good idea Trent! Out Zarude!" Hop lets out his own Pokemon, the chimp excitedly climbs up his trainer like he is a tree himself, and elects to rest upon his shoulder, the boy loses his footing for a bit before adjusting to the new weight "Wow- You are heavier than you look!" He got promptly poked with a stick after that.

Not to be outdone, Gloria released Ronaldo, the excitable bunny ran laps around his Trainer, not at all interested in doing anything but walking with his own two feet.

Three pairs of eyes traveled towards Victor, but in response he simply shook his head "Caduceus is a water type, I doubt he would much like walking around or hold on my shoulder for dear life."

That sounded reasonable enough, and although that earned a snicker and a shoulder bump from his sister, we started walking towards the train station in mostly companionable silence. Our Pokemon talked to one another more than we talked one another.

What sort of secrets could they be trading? Is goggles Yan's and Yo's revealing all my most embarrassing moments to these Pokemon? My eating habits? Goggles is usually a bro, but I cannot fathom what Pokemon social conventions are, I have an understanding of how they interact in the wild, but do trainer Pokemon have their own social rules? Do they have pre-battle banter? Do they share training tips with each other? How would a trained zangoose meet a trained seviper? Sure these are case by case, trainer by trainer situations, but It would be utterly fascinating to watch. Even just watching a pack of zangoose corner a seviper in the wild would be-

"YAN!"

BONK

I hit my head on a lamppost because I was not paying attention to the road. Joy.

"Thanks for the warning buddy." The snickers from Gloria and Hop are expected, but Victor coming over to gently brush my hair aside so he can see my forehead was abso-fucking-lutely not expected.

"You good man? Doesn't look like its going to bruise, but I got some oran ointment on my bag and-" oh no, too much sincerity coupled with the tiniest amount of physical touch. Abort Abort Abort.

"Oh wow look the station is just around the corner! Guess we should start walking faster!" I started moving faster, trying to pay more attention to the path towards the station than what anyone else was saying at the moment. I deny any accusation of my cheeks getting red.

I end up arriving at the station first, my three companions right behind me. Gloria, Victor and their Pokemon seem... quite amused? Amazed? at the sight of the large steam powered machine, I wonder if have they have ever seen a train before?

"So cool right? It's just like in those old western movies!" Hop excitedly babbles to the twins

Or maybe they have just not seen the classic model like the one in here, Galar may have been pioneer in steam-engine vehicles, but Kalos and Unova are full of newer, electric models.

To point out the old-timeyness of this place, we are still using people to sell tickets, even if automatic ticket vendors and online stores are more efficient and do not require you paying a dude to stand around 24/7.

" 'Ello 'Ello 'Ello! What do I see 'ere? Three young lads followed by a lass? What's the occasion?"

I take a peek at the script I wrote on my hand with a sharpie this morning, before taking a deep breath before aski-

"Yo! We are just getting on line one to the wild area! We are going to do the gym circuit!" Gloria chirps and my posture deflates. Honestly, its better if she is the one doing the social stuff. And Hop too. Even Victor is better at this than me.

"I see! That will be 60$ for 4 tickets! Also, trainer's can't bring Pokemon into the train outside their pokeballs I am afraid." He looks a tad sad saying that, Ronaldo's reaction is a disappointed "Uney?" as he tugs Gloria's legs, the 'mon really seems to dislike his ball.

Victor quickly jumps on the social weakness demonstrated, forming an argument as to why he should let the three of us keep our Pokemon in the train, its not like we have any badges, or 'mons barely differ from domestic ones at this point!

But I am not really paying attention to the conversation, because, like, 60 fucking dollars?! That's like, 15 dollars per person! None of us are made of money! It was 5$ the last time I went to Motostoke with my family! (Was it really that long ago?)

Is this what being old feels like? Complaining about inflation and being disillusioned by trains? Don't get me wrong, trains are awesome. They just don't hit me the way they used to when I was like, 10. Legendaries, the champion trio is an year younger than me and I feel like a fossil in comparison.

In the end Victor could not convince the ticket vendor to let us keep our pokemons out the balls, probably because Ronaldo would not stay still for a second (to be fair, Gloria never asked him to).

I feel a bit naked walking inside the train without goggle's familiar weight on top of my head. But the train itself felt rather comforting, open windows, each row boasted of cushioned seats with a table separating each one, accompanied by large windows that could be easily opened without wind pressure crushing you and some pretty curtains! The people who invented the airplane and the automobile are suckers, trains are the most efficient and comfortable way to travel, Pokemon riding might be exciting, but is rarely comfortable. These magnificent machines were first connect all main cities of Galar, allowing the region to prosper into the place it is today.

Arceus damn it, I was lying to myself, I still fucking love trains.

We sat on a row next to the door. It was clear that the twins were very excited for their first train ride. I felt pretty drained from all the social interaction of the past couple hours, so I end up being mostly passive while the conversation happens around me.

When the train starts moving, I turn my attention to focus on the scenery outside, the streets of Wedgehurst quickly become vast fields of wooloo and dubwool. I remembered there being more trees, sparse woodlots where I could spy some bug and grass Pokemon hanging out, those aren't there anymore, besides the occasional corvisquire squad overhead, the only thing I see are ranging sheep Pokemon and the dogs shepherding them. There aren't even whooper or chewtle around the river. They probably got send packing to the wild area to make the range safer for the cattle Pokemon.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I like seeing wooloo playing on the field, but I think preferred the view from before though.

I was about an hour and a half staring at the endless fields of sheep, and It was starting to get a bit... boring. Counting wooloo makes people sleep for a reason.

"So i was thinking like, I will have Ronaldo jump really high and then fall on my opponent like a flaming meteor!"

"That sounds like a fire type high jump kick"

"Ok, what about having him tackle my opponent while covered in flames?"

"What is the difference between that and flame charge?"

"Ugh! What about making like, a wheel kick that is on fire and hits all sides?!"

"Now that is just flame wheel sis."

Gloria's hands went to the top of her head, scratching her hat

"AAAA! STOP CRUSHING ALL MY DREAMS!"

"Are you talking about custom moves? Aren't those like, normally only used by trainers with 7 badges or above?" I ask, making a valiant attempt to insert myself into the conversation.

"Yes! Every good trainer has a signature move they invented!" Well, that was true until someone figures out how said trainer made the move and posting it online, then everyone starts using the 'signature' move. "Leon made G-max wildfire, summon blade and dragonstorm, and we gotta surpass him in every way!" Case in point, he also invented burning jealousy, but he released a TM for it shortly after Raihan figured it out for himself and his torkoal.

"Maybe you should diversify a little bit more before making one up? Libero is a really good ability for messing with TE"

"Bleh. Nobody appreciates a dreamer." Gloria sounds dejected, and I die a little bit of self-loathing inside.

"Hey, Trent, now that your head is out from the sky, How did you meet your pokemon?" Hop cuts in, and the insinuation that they tried to speak to me before and I was not paying attention at all gets to me a little. I hate being rude.

"Yea! How long do you know each other?"

"Uh... five years? He was poisoned and needed help." It was easy to to look up towards the train ceiling, those days weren't perfect, but they got so much better with goggles by my side. I felt a dumb smile taking over my face as I remembered the first few days getting goggles accustomed to the house.

"You were in the wild with no Pokemon at 10 years old?! That's more reckless than going to the Weald with new Pokemon!" Gloria's comment earned her a flick in the forehead by her brother. "NO IT ISN'T!"

I mean, it would have been a idiotic thing to do even if it wasn't. "... no he was in the city. Inside a dumpster." It was a bit of a weird place to find a yanma of all things, you normally find trubbish and grimer in places like those.

"Eh?" After his exclamation of surprise, Hop laughed "Xerneas, you got so lucky! That's a rare 'mon around these parts!"

"I mean. Yea? I did, but d- Julian. Julian said 'fifty per cent of skill is just applied luck' " how long was it since I gotten even clos to calling Julian dad like that? Does not matter. Nothing changed.

"Have you battled a lot with him?"

"Ah- not really? We trained a bunch but we only ever had one battle-"

"You kicked my ass in your first battle? Aaagh! Gloria will never let me live this down!"

"No, I will not! What training does Goggles go through by the way?"

It was just a jumbled collections of tips between general Pokemon training and general bug training from the internet mixed with advice on the yanma line from famous bug specialist from Sinnoh I had found on COROnet. Like a moron, what I decided to say instead of that was "Oh just some special training."

That was the wrong thing to say.

I saw Gloria's eyes brighten up like they were stars in the clear skies, a smile of excitement bubbling in her face. I would have been struck dumb by the way she looked.

However.

She immediately started barraging me with questions about my "super secret special training", questions about sets for wing muscles and optimal rest periods for muscle development on bug pokemon. The most baffling questions came in the form of what kind of vitamins I give him and if Wedgehurst had a hypertraining station, the only answer I could give was that I was not made of money and could not afford a hypertraining station or vitamins. But instead of hearing my answer, she continued with a second question about optimal vitamin mixes, that would make her ask for a third question and so on...

I was curling, trying to appear small, the sudden blast of attention was making me want to flinch and hide away.

It only stopped when Victor placed a calming hand on her shoulder, a fond expression on his face. "Hey sis, did you know they have an ACE trainer in the locomotive with the conductor acting as train guard? I think he would love to hear your questions."

"What? Really!? Hop! Lets go!" The girl then proceeded to hold her rival by the fluffy collar of his jacket, dragging him despite his protests that they would get there faster if he ran with her instead of getting dragged.

I slumped in my seat in relief. Gloria is a wonderful person to have around, but I could not bear the brunt of her full attention and energy. It was much like an Eldritch Pokemon from horror tales, instead of incredible powers it offered pleasant company, and if you truly gathered it's attention they could inflict horrible fates by simply existing, but in her case, the horrible fate was social anxiety.

"She is a bit much sometimes isn't she?" Her brother stated in a teasing manner, no doubt noticing my visible relief at the absence of her questions. Huh. Victor is more attentive than I thought.

Would he feel offended if I agreed? Is this a trick question? I am really gr

I take deep breath, before answering with as much steel as I can muster "I worry for the ACE trainer in there"

That does get a smile and a exhale out of him so I count it as an absolute win.

It was a nice silence between the two of us and the background wooloo, tough I had spent a lot of time triple checking my planned expenses and quadruple checking the route through the wild area we are taking to Motostoke.

Gloria returned a lot less hyper than before, Hop was very pensive, Gloria said the ACE trainer warned him about how having a Pokemon with a surge ability can be very damaging, not for people, but he would definitely need to train him to reign in the field so it does not cause damage to private property, the fine for that is heavy is causes a minor warning on your training license.

The four of us did ended up talking about Pokemon training for the rest of the trip, we ended up both battle.net and porygle for how to help with Zarude's grassy surge situation, Victor wanted to know the general location of arrokuda in the region and the differences of moves and strength levels between each place they could be found, Gloria looked into actual fire type energy theory and how it could be manipulated in order to create a custom move early in her career.

While I did already have the basics down, a refresher on psychic and fighting type energy

"I don't get it!"

"Uuh. What don't you get exactly...?" I knew empirically that Gloria's confusion was not my fault, but it still felt that way (it always feels like I am the problem). The fact that TE was not a common topic in schools around the world for being "too advanced" grated me still.

"Aren't like, both of these all about focus? Like, Psychic types uses focus to channel their psychic mumbo jumbo, and fighting type Pokemon uses their focus to enhance their physical capabilities? What is the difference?"

Good question! I do not know the answer to that! Most of the time in the lab we looked into grass, bug, dark and water TE considering these were the most abundant types of Pokemon in the area and normal TE was notoriously finicky and the only type who baffled scientists as much as fairy TE.

"Oh that's easy. Psychic types can do weird things with their focus, like splitting it to make a bajilion tasks at once, like, they focus on the things outside of them, like, their surroundings! But fighting types? They focus on their insides! Bodily awareness and all!" Hop happily answered for her and I let out a breath I did not know I was holding.

But that exchange did serve to light a bulb in my head as to the "how" to go about getting agility down.

--- one hour and a half later ---

Lunch hour soon approached after we got our queries looked over on the net, and so did the end of peaceful wooloo pastures.

Marked by a run-down train station and a large Iron fence, was THE Wild Area.

Not just an area with wild Pokemon in it, it was a place that in over 1000 years of Galar's united history, any attempt to place modern infrastructure were halted by either wild Pokemon banding together against it, or a Dynamax Pokemon going rampaging around. 15 years ago, in a desperate attempt to one up the Rose Trust, ExOrb tried to dig tunnels to create more efficient way to connect our energy grid. The result was a lot of aggron, gigalith and steelix fighting over who gets to eat the most copper cables and steel construction equipment. A few scientific papers getting published about the intricacies of competition over food in the WA underground alongside theories about the exact mineral composition in the deepest underground levels.

Make no mistake, rangers patrolled it like there was no tomorrow for Dynamax outbreaks, poachers, illegal construction sites and any sort of bubbling environmental disaster. But they did not have any bases inside the over fifty square kilometers that made up the wild area.

The walk from station 02, the place we are dropping at, to Motostoke crossed an area marked Rolling Woods, supposedly, it was the easiest to traverse and with the weakest Pokemon, perfect for beginners.

We could still end up stumbling upon a roaming, aggressive rhydon or getting squished by an onix that failed to notice us beneath it.

The four of us stepped off the train, noting just how empty station 02 was, I felt dreading pooling in the pit of my stomach as the locomotive started to whir to life again behind us. Going through the mountain tunnels would see them reaching Motostoke by midnight, the four of us would be taking 3 days of walking to get there.

I also felt a elbow nudging me from the side.

"You ready to be great?" Gloria looked me in the eyes when she said that. And even if the eye contact was uncomfortable, there that damned radiant smile. The dread was still there, but there was a little bit of hope mixed within now.

I am so not fucking ready.

"Yeah. I am."