Heading out was sweet relief for Cashe. Not because there was any less dust on the move, but because it at least meant they would be out of the canyon sooner rather than later. By unspoken agreement, all three of them made haste after breakfast, packing up quickly and moving out at pace, only pausing to pull spare clothes over their faces to help keep the dust out.

By noon, the slight incline of the route had reversed, and they were now gradually descending the small mountain of Melemele Island. No one even suggested stopping, too desperate to be parted from the swirling dust of the route. Before too long, they made their way out of the canyon and finally into clear air.

Emilia pulled off the shirt she was using to keep the dust from her face and threw it in her backpack, taking in a deep breath of fresh air and sighing in relief.

“Are we out of it?” Lindon asked, his own clothes flopping over his head as he turned to look at Emilia.

“Feels that way,” Emilia confirmed.

Cashe pulled off his own spare shirt, wrinkling his face at the thick layer of dust that was now covering it. His throat and lungs still itched from the canyon, but that would be over soon now that the worst was behind them.

They walked for another half an hour, just to be well and clear of the canyon and its dust before stopping for a late lunch. It was uneventful, and blessedly free from swirling dirt in the air, and soon they were moving again.

As they walked, the paths within the route converged and they soon met other trainers. For the first time since leaving Hau’oli City some three weeks previously, they were finally in the position to do what trainers did best: battle.

They came across eight trainers over the course of the day and fought all of them. Emilia was the most enthusiastic about the challenges, as she wanted to test the limits of her new pokemon. Vullaby needed a lot of work, it turned out, the dark/flying type pokemon only knowing a few moves and being unused to the rigors of taking orders and battling. Luckily for her, none of the trainers Emilia challenged decided to battle one versus one and she was able to win all three of her matches despite Vullaby fainting every time she was used in battle.

Cashe was challenged twice, both times by young men who recognized him from the tournament. Misty’s warning was beginning to show itself as prescient, as both trainers were oddly hostile towards Cashe, specifically. Fortunately, nothing more than battle came from either trainer, and after a few quick wins for Cashe, they went on their way. Cashe was able to use Hatenna in one of the battles as she was up against a slow moving Paldean Wooper. She vanquished her opponent with ease, giving her a much earned spike in confidence in her abilities.

Lindon battled three times, like Emilia, treating each battle as training more than a competitive sport. He focused on working with Goomy and Slowpoke because of this, and even took a loss to a trainer with a well trained Sneasel. Ever the optimist, Lindon responded to the loss well, paying much closer attention to the positives that had come from battling.

“Slowpoke is coming along really well!” Lindon said, giddy after his final battle, which had resulted in his loss. He was patting his passed out Slowpoke with fierce enthusiasm as he administered a revive to bring him back into the waking world. The dopey pokemon put up a halfway decent effort against the Sneasel before ‘fainting’ in a typical Slowpoke fashion - laying down and falling asleep. “He was actually responding to being hit as it happened! He’s never done that before!”

Cashe nodded, “It's a good improvement. You probably would have won if it weren’t for the type matchup.”

“I don’t know about that,” Lindon said, nodding to his opponent, a silver-haired man around Emilia’s age, as he administered a potion to refresh his pokemon, “Clarence seems like a good trainer.”

“He does,” Cashe said, walking over to the man, “Good battle,” he proffered his hand to shake, “I’m Cashe.”

Clarence looked up from his Sneasel and returned it to the ball, taking Cashe’s hand, “I’ve heard of you. Clarence.”

“You Sneasel is impressive, Clarence.” Cashe said, “Very fast, very strong.”

“Looking for one?” Clarence said.

“I might be,” Cashe nodded, “I hadn’t considered it before, to be honest. Ice and dark typing kind of scared me off, but your battle opened my eyes a bit.”

“You hadn’t considered Weavile?” Clarence laughed, “You might be the only one.” He shook his head, “But I’ll bite. What are you offering?”

Cashe blinked, “What?”

“He wants to know what you are willing to trade for his Sneasel,” Emilia said, joining Cashe at his side. She nodded to Clarence, “I’m Emilia.”

Clarence snorted, “Like I would recognized Cashe here and not you. Clarence.”

“Right, what’s this about a trade?” Cashe said.

“It would have to be something at least as impressive as your Ivysaur,” Clarence said, “Can’t say I’m too thrilled about the pigmentation issues, but I’ve seen him in action. I know he’s worth it.”

Cashe’s head went blank for a moment. He couldn’t even conceive the idea of trading Ivysaur away. “Um-”

“I don’t think Cashe was looking to trade,” Emilia answered for him, giving Cashe a little nudge.

“Uh, yeah,” Cashe shook himself out of his momentary daze, “I was more wondering where you found it and if you had any tips for catching Sneasel.”

“Oh,” Clarence chuckled. He patted Sneasel’s pokeball where it rested on his hip, “This little guy is farm bred. By my family, actually. So you could probably get one from them.” He frowned and gave Cashe a serious look, “We have a pretty long wait list for most of our pokemon, though. We usually deal with established trainers more often than not. They might make an exception for the boyfriend of Emilia Oak, though.”

“I’m not-”

“We’re not sure we can afford your prices,” Emilia interrupted, “We’re not relying on my family for support and your family are the Sterlings, correct? I know Sterling pokemon aren’t easy to get.”

Clarence grinned, “Not sure you would recognize humble farmers. Especially a lowly cousin like me who forsook the family’s calling to be a trainer.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“The hair gives it away,” Emilia said, gesturing to his shining, silver hair, “And my sister swears by your family. I think half the pokemon she uses now are Sterling bred. Maggie.” She said in response to Cashe’s questioning look.

“It’s true, they can be expensive, especially for trainers who are just starting out,” Clarence said, “I only have Sneasel because my uncle gifted him to me at the beginning of my journey. But,” Clarence held up a finger to forestall Cashe’s disappointed expression, “I know we are always willing to trade for good breeding stock. Especially for pokemon from regions other than Sinnoh.”

“I’m not trading Ivysaur,” Cashe said.

Clarence waved him off, “Doesn’t have to be Ivysaur. Maybe if Ivysaur has an egg with a nice pokemon that turns out to be a Bulbasaur. Who knows, maybe you find something interesting when going through Alola. A good pokemon could reduce the cost significantly, or even entirely.” Clarence met Cashe’s eyes, then Emilia’s, “Just consider it. I’ll put in a good word for you when I call home. Next time you visit a trading post, our farms should be available for you.”

With that and a few words of parting Clarence made his leave.

“What were you talking about?” Lindon said, having finished tending to Slowpoke.

Cashe watched Clarence as he walked away from their group, “Trades and pokemon. I wanted to know where he got his Sneasel and he offered a trade.”

“You don’t have enough pokemon to trade,” Lindon said automatically, “It’s a good thing you said no.”

Cashe nodded, unsure if he would ever be able to trade a pokemon away now that he owned several. In the games trading was common, but games were impersonal. Giving away Ivysaur would be like giving away a child. He turned to Emilia, “Why did you interrupt me?”

“He was giving you access to the Sterling Pokemon Farm,” Emilia said, “Trust me when I say that is not an opportunity you want to miss just so he doesn’t get the wrong idea.”

“Clarence was a Sterling?” Lindon said, “My dad’s been waiting for an Eevee from them for years!”

“And he’s a Gym Leader,” Emilia said, “Imagine how long it would take you to even get on the waiting list.”

“Strange how he implied he was the black sheep for being a trainer but is sure he can get us access to the farm,” Cashe said.

“That was almost definitely a lie, maybe to make you less wary about a trade. Lot’s of trainers take pride in their pokemon, and giving them to a breeder is a surefire way to put them in the hands of the competition.” Emilia said, “Breeders travel all the time. I bet it's a right of passage for his family - go out and get as many rare and powerful pokemon as you can and come back. It’s probably why he was so willing to trade his Sneasel.”

“That was weird right?” Cashe said, “It feels wrong to trade a pokemon away.”

Lindon nodded, “I couldn’t imagine trading any of my pokemon.”

“I agree,” Emilia said, “I would have a very hard time trading any of the pokemon I have now, even Vullaby. But if he was raised on a breeder farm, he probably has different ideas about pokemon than we do.”

“He mentioned a trading post?” Cashe said.

“That’s where you trade pokemon,” Lindon said, starting back down the mountain, “You can trade with people all over the world and you can submit requests and stuff, too. Lots of people use them for finding pokemon for their teams.”

“How have I never seen one before?” Cashe said.

“You might have,” Emilia answered as she and Cashe followed Lindon along the route, “But we never visited one. Besides, you’ve only really been in one big city for any significant length of time, and we spent most of that training. I’ll take you to the one in Hau’oli once we loop back around the island.”

***

Cashe, Emilia, and Lindon stood in front of a cavernous hole in the side of the mountain. A faint breeze greeted them, bringing with it the delicate scents of spring flowers to their noses. Beyond the hole in the side of the mountain lay a tranquil meadow. Flowers covered it, a thick blanket of yellow and pink petals dancing in the moonlight as the breeze rolled across the field. Illumise and Volbeat floated through the air, flashing gently as they played in the field. Far above, Venomoth and Dustox slowly wove in the moonlight, their flight both drunken and graceful under the twinkling stars of the night.

“Do we camp here?” Cashe whispered as he watched the idyllic scene.

“Yes.” Lindon nodded vigorously.

Emilia however glanced at the large sign planted directly beside the entrance to the meadows. It was a familiar one, proudly proclaiming the history of Melemele Meadows, followed by a significant warning for a bug and fighting type Ultra Beast. This warning was not for Pheromosa, however, but Buzzwole.

Like at Verdant Cavern, the warning was accompanied by two pictures, one a blurry photo of a Buzzwole, the other a life-size, anatomical sketch of the pokemon, complete with swelling muscles and vicious proboscis. The accompanying warning was more severe than Pheromosa’s as well.

“If spotted, retreat immediately. Extremely aggressive, highly dangerous for all but the most experienced of trainers.” Emilia frowned.

“I want to go in,” Lindon insisted, enraptured by the picturesque meadow in front of him.

Emilia hesitated, looking at Cashe for support. Lindon noticed and looked up at him with puppy dog eyes.

“We can camp near the entrance,” Cashe said, unable to deal with the pleading expression on Lindon’s face, “I don’t think there would be a warning if it were actually that dangerous,” Cashe said to Emilia’s uncertain look, “They would just block the entrance entirely if it were.”

“We’ve already regretted a camping spot once,” Emilia said to him under her breath as they entered the meadow, “And had an incident with an Ultra Beast. Are you sure the risk is worth it?”

“We are going to rest in worse places than this and move through areas where Ultra Beasts definitely reside, and are not just known to show up,” Cashe murmured back, “I know it’s tough with the recent events in the forefront of the mind, but this is the kind of thing we will have to get comfortable with sooner rather than later.”

"I know. I was just making sure," Emilia grunted and walked without further complaint as they joined Lindon at his chosen campsite. He had already unpacked his sleeping bag on top of an elevated stretch of rock, right on the edge of the flowery meadow. He was laying in it already, his pokedex in his hands.

Cashe joined him on the rock, setting up his bag beside him as Emilia did the same, though she was keeping an eye out for a huge, red pokemon by the looks of it.

“Hey,” Emilia said to Lindon, "You have to shut that. It will ruin your night vision and you have first watch.”

“But I’m tired,” Lindon complained.

“So are we,” Emilia said.

“I can take first watch,” Cashe volunteered, “I had second anyway, so we can just swap.”

“But that means you would wake me up in the middle of the night.” Lindon said.

“You know the rules,” Cashe shrugged, “If we camp outside of designated camping areas, we take turns watching out for wild pokemon. You wanted to camp here, and it’s your turn.”

Lindon frowned, “I’ll take second watch.”

“Then I’m going to sleep,” Emilia said with a yawn, ducking into her sleeping back as soon as the situation was sorted and closing her eyes.

Lindon stayed up, playing around with his pokedex as Cashe watch the pokemon in the meadow.

“Lindon,” Cashe whispered.

Lindon looked up at him, “Do you want to talk about the s-”

Cashe cut him off with a raised finger to his lips, shaking his head and glancing at Emilia.

“You might want to get some sleep soon,” Cashe said, “If you don't, tomorrow is going to be miserable for you.”

“Okay.” Lindon said, putting away his pokedex.

“What are you doing anyway?”

“I was looking up where we can find a Sneasel,” Lindon whispered, “Since you and Emilia don’t think you can afford one.”

Cashe smiled at the kind gesture, “What did you find?”

“Bad news,” Lindon said rolling onto his side and closing his eyes, “Almost everywhere you can find it you need special permission to visit. And most places want you to be a Second Circuit trainer.”

“And Alola?”

“Gym Circuit trainer and special permission. It’s on Victory Road.” Lindon said, “Sorry.”

“It’s not the end of the world,” Cashe said, “Go to sleep. I’ll get you up in a couple of hours.”

*****