The walk back to the Pokemon Center didn’t take too long. After the adrenaline from the battle started to wear out I felt myself flagging just a little bit. It wasn’t every day I had a full on battle, even if it hadn’t gone the whole way in the end. It felt like I'd just done a mild workout.

I and Flannery gave our Pokemon to Nurse Joy for healing and it was quiet with no other trainers hanging about. So the three of us went to find a little booth to sit down in and chat.

“So do you have any plans for where you want to set up your Gym?” Moore asked me.

“A few,” I replied. “Verdanturf Town always seemed to make the most sense.”

“Verdanturf is nice,” Flannery said. “Super fresh air, unlike here,” she joked dryly.

“Yes the ash doesn’t get that far down south,” Moore agreed. “They’re a bit of a quiet little town, the only thing of note that’s happened there in recent memory was the Contest Hall.”

“My second thought was Petalburg,” I revealed. “But they obviously already have a Gym.”

“Other nations do that, don't they?” Flannery asked. “Have multiple Gyms in one place.”

“They do…” Moore agreed uncomfortably. “But usually that’s nations like Kanto with their extra eight Gyms. You shouldn’t do that young man. It’ll only make things difficult between you and Norman,” he advised.

“I thought the same thing so I wasn’t planning on it,” I said, nodding in thanks for the advice, even if I didn’t need it. “I grew up in Petalburg actually.”

“Oh yeah?” Flannery asked. “I’ve never been to Petalburg before. What’s it like?”

“It’s… nice,” I said, not entirely sure what sort of word to use. “Normal,” I said humorously, making Moore and Flannery chuckle.

Truthfully I didn’t really have much to say about Petalburg. To be fair I was still a kid back then and I’d been more interested in reading the local fiction and interacting with my Pokemon friends than anything else. Leah and Bud had found me pretty early on and they’d kept me company for several years of the self-imposed relative isolation I’d more or less put myself in. It was kind of hard to relate to little kids when you have the memories of being an adult human knocking about inside your head and hard to relate to adults when you’re still a little kid, no matter how mature. I’d been the odd one out and it had been painfully obvious ever since the carers at the orphanage had commented on how well spoken I was.

“It’s not unheard of for people to challenge other Gym Leaders for their position,” the Gym Leader said. “Although you’d have to get the Gym Leader to agree to the stakes first and Norman wouldn’t go for it. I think Juan had a battle like that with someone from Johto, or maybe Kanto. He earnt a lot of money from winning it, I recall.”

“My original thinking was that there’s a few Fairy types that have habitats around Petalburg,” I told them.

“Your… Gardevoir and Whimsicott?” Moore stated and I nodded.

“There’s Whimsicott and Cottonee in the woods, even if Cottonee aren’t Fairy type themselves. And there’s a few enclaves of the Ralts line hidden away here or there around Route 102.”

“It would definitely help you to surround yourself with Pokemon habitats that match your specialty, like we do for Mt Chimney. If it's the Fairy types you’re looking for then I don’t know many places…” Moore mused.

“Marill are pretty much everywhere with fresh water. I've been told there are Clefairy in Meteor Falls but I never spotted one myself. Truthfully I’m not sure what other Pokemon have been reclassified as Fairy type. I need to sit down and read more of these reports that are coming out of Littleroot.”

I was surprised by his mentioning Clefairy.

“I thought Clefairy were only found in Kanto. Maybe I should go check out the caves there.”

I never recalled finding any Clefairy in the Hoenn regions in the games I once played. I’d played through Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald and Alpha Sapphire and several of those to the endgame and I didn’t remember seeing any Clefairy in any of those games whatsoever.

“Some Pokemon species are pretty hard to find,” Flannery piped in. “What about Littleroot town? They’re pretty small but they do have the Pokemon Lab there.”

Moore shook his head.

“Best to stay clear of the Pokemon Researchers,” he advised sagely. “They’ll never leave you alone if you’re nearby and you’ll always be going around fixing their messes.”

It sounded like Moore had had some bad experiences with Pokemon scientists, but the advice certainly made sense.

“There’s Dragons in Meteor Falls too,” Moore continued on from before. “I’ve seen them. But they’re well hidden away from most trainers.”

“Well Dragon types aren’t a problem,” I said confidently, thinking that I should make a visit to Meteor Falls soon and see if I could find these Clefairy. At the surprised looks both Fire type trainers gave me I decided to elaborate.

“Fairy types are strong against Dragons,” I told them both.

“What, really?” Flannery said. “Man that’s gonna be a big deal. Dragon trainers are gonna hate going to your Gym almost as much as going to Sootopolis!”

Moore likewise chuckled.

“Oh I’ll have to come and see your battle against the first Dragon trainer that comes your way,” he said enthusiastically. “It’ll be fun to watch them up against a total Type weakness.”

“I’ll be sure to let you know,” I told them both, which seemed to please them both greatly.

Fire was weak against Dragon types even if Dragon types were not Super Effective in return. So that type matchup was probably just as difficult for Moore and Flannery as my match had been against Flannery earlier. I could maybe see where the frustration came in for them, especially with Dragon types often being particularly strong in comparison to other Pokemon species.

“Do you get a lot of Dragon trainers on the circuit?” I asked, curious.

“Not many, no,” Moore admitted. “Training multiple Dragon types is challenging and expensive, just ask Drake. There’s a settlement somewhere where the Draconids live but they don’t often leave their area.”

“Drake’s in the Elite Four isn’t he?” I asked. I remembered the Draconids. There was a girl in the remake games who was from there who predicted the attack by… and now I’d forgotten that Pokemon’s name too. Rayquaza was needed to fight it off. I hoped I wouldn’t have to be involved with that.

“Yeah, Drake is number four just under Steven,” Flannery said.

“The more I think about it, you could do far worse than going to Falarbor Town,” Moore said seriously. “It’s still a growing settlement and they’re a bit out of the way. They could use a Gym Leader to help with the local Pokemon.”

“Thanks,” I said. Although I was still going to try Verdanturf Town first. I remembered it was where Gardevoirite could be found in the games and it was my first thought as a Gym location because of that. Although I couldn’t remember where exactly the Gardevoirite was located either… A couple of decades to forget everything hadn’t helped my recollection of things in the slightest.

“Wattson said something about Slateport and Lilycove,” I commented, remembering that we didn’t want my becoming a Gym leader to become public knowledge so those towns wouldn’t find out.

“Yes they will both offer you a lot of benefits to go to them, I imagine,” Moore said. “I never liked Slateport, far too many tourists.”

“Come on Grampa, foreign trainers aren’t that bad…” Flannery said humorously. The old man huffed but didn’t respond to the teasing.

“You’ll be heading to Petalburg next,” Moore said, blatantly changing the subject as we reached the Pokemon Center. “Looking forward to going back to where you grew up?”

I thought about it for a moment, but truthfully I didn’t hold many strong memories of Petalburg. There was no family or anything I had to go back to or friends waiting for me. It was a nice enough place but I’d not left any attachments there.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“To tell the truth I don’t have a lot of strong memories of Petalburg,” I admitted. “But I’m definitely looking forward to meeting Norman and Bud and Leah are from around there too.”

“Norman’s a good chap,” Moore said. “Family man, hard working. I’ll spoil the surprise for you now. He wants your help handling some Jigglypuff he’s been trying to get settled at his Gym. They’re a handful apparently.”

“I’m not surprised,” I said. Jigglypuff were a particularly difficult species of Pokemon to deal with, not the least because of their collective obsession with singing and putting people to sleep in the process. Hopefully I could lend a hand.

The Nurse Joy came to us, carrying the balls for mine and Flannery’s Pokemon. Leah was still out of her ball and she slipped in to sit next to me opposite the other two trainers while I and Falnnery returned our Pokeballs to their correct places on our person.

We chatted for a bit more. Flannery bugged me a bit about the next book I was writing, which was an entirely new experience. I hadn’t had anyone else to really talk to about my writing before beyond some critiques from my publishers. It was an interesting change of pace.

Moore invited me around to have dinner with him and Flannery later but I respectfully declined. I still had to sit down and read up for this test Roxanne was going to set for me. With any luck I figured we could head over to Rustboro after Petalburg and get that finished so it wasn’t hanging over my head. But I knew it was only a partial truth. Social interaction was pretty tiring for me and I was looking forward to finding my room at the Pokemon Centre, sitting down and decompressing a bit for the rest of the day.

Moore promised to let Norman know to expect me tomorrow and Flannery extracted a promise that I’d come around and sign some of her books once I was officially a Gym Leader.

With that they left me be and I spent the rest of the day in the Pokemon Center. I had plenty of things I wanted to get done before we left to Petalburg. Not the least of which was read up on this stuff for Roxanne...

***

Teleport as a move required concentration and effort to travel long distances and familiarity with a location. That familiarity could fade over time if you didn’t make repeat visits, but there were some places you would always keep fond in your mind.

I didn’t have many strong memories that would work for this, but fortunately it wasn’t just me that needed to have strong memories of Petalburg. It was my Gardevoir that had the connection to bring us there and there was one place in particular that she would always feel a connection to.

We appeared on the edge of a forest clearing. The sun had risen and came in past the green leaves and bathed the clearing in light.

Leah tightened her hold on my hand as we beheld what was inside the clearing.

Inside there were a small number of Ralts, Kirlia and Gardevoir playing or relaxing together. A pair of Gallade were off to one side, exchanging blows with the blades that extended past their elbows. Three Kirlia were bouncing and twirling like ballerinas together.

It was a peaceful sight, one I had only seen a few times during my second childhood. I had been guided here by the friendly Ralts I had met on the edge of Petalburg.

We hadn’t done much to interrupt the tranquility but it didn’t take long for someone to notice us.

First it was one of the Kirlia, who stopped its dancing suddenly and that drew the attention of more of the Pokemon one by one until their collective attention was on us.

“Garde,” Leah said, somewhat weakly as she gave a little wave.

That seemed to break the silence and the Pokemon approached, crowding around us slightly, although it was mostly Leah who seemed to be drawing the attention.

One of the Gardevoir passed through the crowd which parted on its own to let her through.

She was taller than Leah, although not by much and there were a few wrinkles that were hard to spot on her white skin. But there was a bearing to this Pokemon that truly gave away her age. This was the leader of this little community, a Gardevoir I recognised.

“I brought her back,” I said to the matriarch, gesturing at Leah.

Back then she’d been still a Ralts, just on the cusp of evolving to a Kirlia. My Gardevoir had grown a great deal since those days, evolving and growing stronger until she’d reached her peak. I’d promised back then that one day Leah would come back to see everyone here. It hadn’t been possible to teleport such vast distances between regions but now we were here in Hoenn it was not only possible, but convenient to come back now.

The aged Gardevoir looked me up and down consideringly. Then she smiled, nodding her head slowly and then her eyes went to Leah.

“Garrrdevoirrr,” the Gardevoir said and my Gardevoir averted her gaze with a slightly bashful expression on her face, although she looked pleased by whatever the matriarch had said.

Seeming amused, the older Pokemon approached and pulled Leah into a hug which my Pokemon returned eagerly.

“We aren’t just here to visit. I’m going to visit the Petalburg Gym in the human settlement…” I looked around at the gathered Pokemon.

“Leah, while we’re here, why don’t you stay here for a while and catch up with everybody?”

There were noises of agreement and eager nods from the other Pokemon present. Leah shook her head, gesturing towards me and looking slightly betrayed by what I had said.

The matriarch chuckled in response to whatever protest Leah had made, which made my Pokemon blush adorably and I could only find the whole thing amusing.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” I said, sensing Leah’s concern. “I have everyone else with me to keep me safe too, don’t I? In fact, tell you what. Come on out Kira.”

Kira’s Pokeball burst open, revealing my Sylveon who looked around the new location with interest. His big blue eyes took in the sight of the Pokemon around us with excitement.

“Sylveon!” He called out, saying hello to everyone while a pair of his ribbons immediately came and found my arm, wrapping around it affectionately.

There were a few murmurs from the Psychic/Fairy types present as they beheld the Eeveelution and I caught a slightly stern look from one of the Gallade the pair of whom had stayed off to the side so far. I was worried I might have done something inappropriate by revealing another Pokemon in this private space but my worries were assuaged when one of the Kirlia approached, eyes wide and looking at the Sylveon’s remaining ribbons which waved freely in the air.

“Kirl lia,” it said, gesturing at the ribbons with interest. The Sylveon reached out with a ribbon to the Kirlia who took it in it’s hand and almost immediately it gasped in surprise.

It’s bearing gave me the impression that this was female Kirlia and the Pokemon said something to the surrounding Pokemon as it looked between both myself and Kira, some kind of awe in her eyes. It asked a question and Kira responded with a nod and a few words before rubbing up against my side.

I was sure they could sense how strong he was, not that we were going to be a danger to anyone here. But the Kirlia must have been able to sense Kira’s natural empathic ability, I realised. Sylveon could sense and even emit emotions through their ribbons. It was unsurprising that the Kirlia had been able to sense it once she touched the ribbon currently in her hand.

“Kira, Leah’s staying here to catch up with everyone,” I told him. “You’re going to be out with me to make sure I stay safe while we’re in Petalburg, okay?”

We weren’t going to be in any danger, or at least I doubted there would be anything my other Pokemon couldn’t handle between them. But Leah seemed at least partly mollified at seeing Kira out of his ball with me.

“Sylv!” My Pokemon replied in the affirmative.

The matriarch Gardevoir spoke up then, her tone sounding teasing and my Gardevoir blushed, responding quickly with some sort of denial, sounding slightly indignant about whatever she was saying.

Whatever Leah had said, it made the matriarch chuckle into her hand alongside some of the other older Pokemon present. Leah pouted adorably.

“It’s been great seeing you all again,” I told the little community of Fairy/Psychics as I prepared to leave. “Leah, you can come and find me whenever you’re ready, okay?”

That seemed to be the sign for the conversation to end. Tugging hands from one of the Gardevoir began to pull a slightly reluctant Leah gently away. The wide eyes of the Ralts peaked out from under their bowl-cut hair as they followed after them.

Leah was guided away and made to sit down on a tree stump from which point the smaller Pokemon sat around her and then evidently began to ask her questions about her time away from their home.

Leah looked slightly overwhelmed, but I could also see she was happy to see everyone again. I was glad to give her a moment like this after so long away.

I waved silently goodbye and nodded to the Matriarch as I turned to head off. But before I and Kira could leave I was stopped by a tugging on my jacket.

It was the Kirlia from before. She began gesturing to myself and Kira and then looked to the matriarch. It wasn’t hard to guess what she wanted. It was hoping the matriarch would let her come with us.

“You want to come into the city with me?” I asked. The Kirlia considered my question for a few moments and then nodded, looking away shyly. I chuckled. Leah had behaved the same way when she was smaller too.

I didn’t really want the added responsibility of keeping an eye on a wild Kirlia in the middle of Petalburg, especially at the Gym which would probably have other trainers about that might try to catch her. She’d probably encounter lots of people if she came with me, lots of trainers too.

I looked back at the matriarch with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you entirely sure about this?” I asked. This was a surprisingly big thing she was asking of me.

I was hoping the matriarch would say no, but when after a few seconds of thought the Gardevoir nodded, shooting me a slightly amused look as she did so. She knew I knew what was being left unsaid here. I also knew I didn’t have it in me to deny the excited Pokemon the opportunity to come with me.

“There’ll probably be a lot of Pokemon trainers who’d like to catch a Kirlia like you,” I told her seriously. “Are you sure you want to come with me and take that risk?”

The Kirlia didn’t stop to think much before she nodded again, and that confirmed my thoughts on the matter. I sighed.

“Okay, I’ll keep you safe,” I said to the Kirlia, but I was also confirming that to the Matriarch. I wasn’t going to let anyone catch the Kirlia without permission. “But if you’re coming with me then you had better be on your best behaviour and do what I tell you to do, okay?” I wasn’t going to let her get herself, or myself into trouble.

The Kirlia nodded enthusiastically, happy to agree to anything if it meant she was allowed to come with us. I sighed again.

“Come on then,” I said. I was about to take the Kirlia’s hand in mine while we walked but then I decided that she was small enough to carry.

The Kirlia gasped in surprise and she yelped as I reached down and picked her up before setting her down on my shoulder. Having her there meant she wouldn’t be disappearing off somewhere if I stopped paying attention. Up here she wasn’t going to get caught by some random passerby without my noticing. It’d stop the wrong sort from trying to catch her if Kirlia wasn’t interested.

With our new friend in tow, I waved goodbye again. Leah was quite happily speaking to the other Pokemon now, telling them about her adventures outside this little haven they had made for themselves.

The three of us turned to leave.

It was time to visit the Petalburg Gym and find out what it would take for Norman to agree to let me start my own Gym.