"Congratulations, Zane! I'm so proud of you!" Zane's mom exclaimed with joy over the video call from the Pokemon Center, while his father nodded in agreement.

Zane, sitting in a private room designated for phone calls, replied, "Thanks, Mom. I'll probably be passing through Floaroma Town next on my way to Eterna City."

His parents expressed their excitement and urged him to call them once he reached another town. After bidding farewell, the call ended.

Zane rejoined Maylene in the lobby and asked, "So, did you manage to talk to your father? I remember you mentioning that he's a martial artist."

"U-Uh yeah… So what are your plans now?"

Realizing that she was avoiding the topic, Zane decided not to press her further. "I was thinking of making my way to Eterna City and challenging Gardenia," he replied.

Maylene nodded and asked, "I know we were just traveling together so you could teach Riolu Aura Sphere, but do you want to travel together?"

Zane is taken back a moment, not expecting the question, he pauses to think for a second, as Maylene stares at him clearly uncomfortable asking the awkward question.

'Future Gym Leader? Check. Female? Check. Initially joined the main character for a specific reason, but that seems to have been forgotten? Check. She's clearly Misty,' Zane thought to himself.

"Sure, that sounds nice."

Maylene smiles, relieved by the lack of rejection.

"I got to stock up before we head back out, want to meet back here in 2 hours?," Zane asked.

"Sure."

The pair parted ways with Zane heading to the nearby Pokemart.

On the way, Zane shot a quick text with a picture of his new badge to Rowan, who leaves him on read.

Walking through the isles of the store, Zane begins to ponder what exactly he would want from his next team member.

As he walked through the aisles of the store, Zane contemplated his next team member. While his previous two team members were Normal types, he wasn't sure if he wanted to specialize in a specific type. Although normal types play well into his strength with broad coverage and a better ability to manipulate foreign type-energies, Zane worried that he might be limiting himself without a good reason.

At the very least, he knew he wanted a Flying or Psychic type to cover his weakness against Fighting types. He grabbed food for both types and made sure to fully stock up on healing items for the upcoming routes.

---------------------

As Zane and Maylene made their way back from Oreburgh to Jubilife, the route seemed peaceful and uneventful. The pair walked side by side, occasionally engaging in small talk about their Pokémon and the upcoming challenges they would face.

After a while, Zane decided to bring up the topic of Maylene's father again. He had noticed her discomfort earlier and wanted to understand her situation better.

"So, Maylene, you mentioned that your father is a martial artist and the Gym Leader of Veilstone City," Zane began, trying to broach the subject delicately. "What's it like having a Gym Leader as a parent?"

Maylene paused for a moment, her expression turning slightly somber. She hesitated before answering, "It's... complicated. My father has always had high expectations of me, both as his daughter and as a future Gym Leader. He wants me to be strong and skilled, just like him."

Zane nodded, sensing the weight of her words. He could understand the pressure she must be under, especially with such a renowned father. "Well from what I've seen you're pretty skilled already."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Maylene's lips, "Thanks Zane."

They continued walking in silence for a while, the only sound being the crunch of their footsteps on the gravel path. Zane wanted to lighten the mood a bit, so he decided to change the topic.

"So, besides your father being a Gym Leader, what else do you like to do in your free time? Any hobbies or interests?" Zane asked, genuinely curious about getting to know Maylene better.

"I don't really have any hobbies outside of training and practicing martial arts."

Zane hides a frown as he begins to get a better picture of her home life.

Not wanting to dive too much deeper into the heavy topic at the moment, Zane drops it as they reach Jubilife.

The Hike back to the city only took about 3 hours, so they still had plenty of daylight left.

"Want to try to go ahead and push to Floaroma Town? If we pick up the pace, we may be able to reach it by dark," Zane asked, in a rush to continue his journey.

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Maylene hesitates for a moment, before agreeing.

The route to the north of Jubilife opens up into a few miles of beautiful rolling plains surrounded by forests, with a few trainers visible hiking the route.

---------------------

Zane wasn't a big fan of caves. They were damp, gross, and full of Zubats. The Zubats weren't normally a big deal unless you had a Smeargle with a penchant for mischief and a poor understanding of consequences.

That's how Zane and Maylene exited Ravaged Path with a horde of angry Zubats and a Golbat alpha on their tail.

"No berries for you tonight," Zane said to Arty, much to the beagle-like Pokemon's dismay.

"On the bright side, the horde certainly helped us make good time," Joked Maylene, trying to highlight the good in the situation.

After another couple of miles of walking, the pair could finally see the town.

It was a fairly small town, but it was very beautiful. The dirt roads were bordered by flowers of nearly every color, kept in constant bloom by the settlement's large Combee population.

In the center of the town square stood a fountain adorned by flowering vines. Exhausted from all the running, the pair checked into the nearby Pokemon Center for the night.

"I have to grab something from nearby before I head in for the night, do you mind grabbing me a room?," Asked Maylene before heading off.

Zane checked in with the nurse grabbing their rooms. The league grants trainers 3 nights a week at a Pokemon Center after completing their first gym.

If a town is especially crowded like Jubilife tends to be at the beginning of the season, the rooms do fill up causing trainers to have to get rooms elsewhere.

Fortunately, most trainers spend at least a week training to clear their first badge so they are ahead of the pack.

Leaving Maylene's key at the receptionist for her to pick up later, Zane went up to his room. The rooms tend to be the size of a small hotel room, typically containing a desk, chair, a double-sized bed, and a few beds for small and medium-sized Pokemon that remind Zane of those overly fancy dog beds people would buy in his old world.

Laying on the bed, Zane decided it would be a good idea to try to plan out some preparations for Gardenia's gym.

Smeargle's Powder moves are out since grass-type Pokemon are immune to those. He does still have Flamethrower from when we were analyzing the Type-Signature so we should probably practice that.

There should be lots of grass and bug types in Eternal Forest to practice against. For Porygon, Zane lacks a solid option against grass types. He decides his best bet is to try to have Pory learn Psybeam to at least take care of poison which is a common secondary typing, which he would learn naturally soon anyway.

Eventually, Zane drifts off to sleep while thinking about his team.

---------------------

"Any idea on why it's called Valley River?," Maylene asked.

"I have no idea," Zane replied honestly.

Despite only having a mountain on one side and not running through a valley, the river on Route 205 shared its title with Valley Windworks.

Approaching the bridge that dozens of trainers pass over on their way to the famous forest, the pair found an obstacle in their path.

Instead of the bridge that they had come to expect, they instead found a pile of sticks and debris forming a sort of nest on the bridge, blocking their way forward. Upon approaching the pile, a Buizel poked its head out and began to growl in a threat display. Seeing this, the pair retreated a short distance back to discuss.

"Unless we go off route, this is the only bridge on this side of Mount Coronet. What do you want to do?," Zane asked.

"I think it's still too early for us to go off-route, and I don't really want to go through that cave again." Maylene explains, shivering recalling the swarm they faced yesterday.

"And I'm not really concerned about battling the Buizel, I would just feel bad destroying it's home," Maylene elaborated.

"I'm pretty sure Buizels aren't normally found along this route. A trainer probably released it in this river without going through proper procedure. We should probably catch it and turn it into the rangers anyway." He suggests.

Agreeing to his suggestion, Maylene nods.

Sending out Arty, Zane requested, "I want you to watch this battle, the Buizel line learns Aqua Jet naturally and I want you to sketch it."

Since he didn't really care about making friends with the Buizel, Zane went ahead and ordered Pory to take the first move – "Thundershock!"

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the Buizel is knocked back behind it's nest on the bridge

"Stay on guard for it to popup, I want it to have a chance to battle so Arty can sketch Aqua Jet."

Suddenly, the Buizel shoots out from around the nest in a blur of water slamming into Pory.

"Keep your distance!"

Floating away from the aquatic weasel, Pory tries to make some space, but is quickly pursued by another Aqua Jet. Looking to his Smeargle, Zane asks, "Did you get that."

The beagle-like Pokemon nods in an affirmative, prompting Zane to order, "Alright, finish it so we can catch it."

The Porygon dutifully obeys, using Thundershock to knock out the Buizel. Tossing a ball and catching the defeated foe, Zane and Maylene's attention are suddenly directed upwards by a shout, "Man, Y'all beat me to it."

Looking towards the sky, the pair are greeted by a man clad in red riding on a Skarmory. The man lands before introducing himself while flashing a badge, "I'm Pokemon Ranger Dwayne, I just got a call and came to take care of the nest but I see y'all already took care of that."

Dwayne continues, "That Buizel previously belonged to a trainer who released it without notifying us. If y'all are willing, could you hand him over to our custody to re-release into the proper habitat?"

The pair agree, handing over Buizel's ball.

"Thanks, are you folks heading through Eterna Forest after this?"

They nod.

"In that case, I'm due for a patrol through there anyways, if you guys want I can guide y'all through."

Making eye contact with Maylene who nods, Zane replies, "Sure, that would be great!"