“AAAAH!” Emilia screamed.

Cashe came running from his room. They were in a shared suite, the town putting Emilia, Lindon, and him up in a small but comfortable motel until they decided to head into Vermillion City.

Cashe barged into the shared space of the suite. Emilia was sitting at the kitchen table staring at her laptop. She was in a loose tee-shirt and shorts, her hair damp from an afternoon shower.

“What is it?” Cashe said, relaxing and dropping his pokeballs on the nearby couch. Both Bulbasaur and Mankey were on bedrest - or pokeball rest - for the day. He didn't want to break that but he would. Since the battle with Golduck, Cashe had been on edge.

“They’re saying terrible things about me!” Emilia groaned pointing at the screen.

“Ah. Sorry that’s happening,” Cashe said, remembering the internet from Earth, “It can be a vile-”

“They're saying I’m clumsy and earnest!” Emilia continued, dread clear on her face, “They think I’m cute.”

“Are they wrong?” Cashe said.

“Is that bad?” Lindon asked at the same time, entering the living room. The boy was rubbing his eyes, woken by Emilia’s shouting. He had dirty blond hair and light blue eyes, making him in the minority in the region. Cashe had not spoken much to him, besides learning his name. The previous day was much too exhausting.

“Yes!” Emilia said, turning on them both with a scowl on her face. Cashe frowned. With her wet hair and her casual clothes, the scowl looked, well, it looked like she would have a hard time denying the ‘cute’ accusations. “Kids are cute! I’m a badass. Stoic and aloof. Like Red.”

“Is that what you were doing in the interview?” Cashe said, “I thought you were just tired.”

“Why does it matter what the pokenet is saying about you?” Lindon said with a yawn, joining Emilia at the table.

“How do they even know who you are?” Cashe said.

“The interview went out live to the region, Cashe,” Emilia rolled her eyes, “Trainer news is always devoured online.”

“Oh. I thought it was only a local broadcast.”

“Nothing is local anymore,” Emilia muttered, “Some school girl can take a blurry video on her phone of a trainer’s pokemon and the pokenet will pick it apart for information. My sister lost a battle because of that.”

“Selena did?”

“No, Annie's mom.”

“How many sisters do you have?”

Emilia grinned at Cashe, but her face fell when she turned back to the computer screen.

“What’s wrong now?” Cashe said.

“They think Omanyte is adorable! They’re saying how sweet she must be to help me stand for the interview like that. Omanyte Isn't sweet! She’s a warrior! A vicious battle maiden who ruthlessly defeats her foes.”

Cashe nodded, not wanting to argue. He didn’t think the two were mutually exclusive.

“You never said why you cared,” Cashe said, bringing Lindon’s question back up.

Lindon nodded, “People say all sorts of things on the pokenet. My dad told me to ignore it.”

“Your dad is right,” Cashe said.

“He’s wrong,” Emilia sniffed, “As trainers, it's important to cultivate our image. Especially you, Cashe. How do you think people get invited on those expeditions into the unknown regions of the world? Do you think people want an earnest and clumsy girl or an aloof badass? Even for people in positions based entirely on merit, it’s important. Do you think my sister would be a Gym Leader if everybody hated her? Do you think you get invited to special tournaments if you’re ‘the cute one’?”

“Absolutely,” Cashe said.

Emilia frowned, “Not the right tournaments. People need to take you seriously.”

“Oh,” Lindon bit his lip, glancing up at Emilia nervously, “Are they saying anything else?”

Cashe felt a small smile tug at his lips. Lindon was obviously inquiring about himself. Emilia turned back to the computer.

“They’re saying lots of things about all of us,” Emilia admitted.

“Really?” Lindon leaned forward in his seat.

“Let’s see,” Emilia said, “They’re speculating on whether you are Cashe’s son or not. There’s a lot of argument about it.”

“Oh,” Lindon looked down. Not the news he was hoping for.

“There’s more,” Emilia said quickly, “Listen to this, you’ve got a nickname. That’s pretty good!”

“I do?” Lindon perked back up, “What is it?”

“The Kid,” Emilia said with a smile, “Not bad.”

“People are calling me a kid?” Lindon whined.

“No, it’s good,” Cashe said, “The Kid is a great nickname. Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They are a famous pair where I’m from.”

“I’ve never heard of them,” Lindon grumbled.

“I’m from a long ways away,” Cashe said, sitting down on the couch and closing his eyes. “Either way, it's a good nickname. People root for someone named ‘the Kid’. Everyone loves an underdog.”

“That’s right,” Emilia said, “And it makes sense considering what they are calling Cashe.”

Cashe opened their eyes, “What?’

“Mr Cashe has a nickname, too?” Lindon said, leaning over to try and peek at Emilia’s laptop screen.

“Not so much a nickname, but what most people are calling him.” Emilia said giving Cashe and evil grin.

“Isn’t that a nickname?” Lindon said.

“Maybe. I don’t think that’s how people will use this one,” Emilia said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Just get it over with,” Cashe sighed.

“Okay,” Emilia’s grin was positively wicked now, “Daddy.”

Cashe groaned but Lindon laughed, scampering over to the computer, “Because they think you’re my dad! If I have to be the Kid you have to be Daddy!”

“Please, no. Never call me that.”

“There lots of different versions,” Lindon exclaimed, pointing at the screen, “Rugged daddy, big daddy, sugar daddy-”

“That’s enough,” Emilia laughed, pushing Lindon away from the computer, “Why don’t you get washed up, then we can go out for breakfast, okay, Kid?” She glanced at her watch, “Or lunch. Whatever.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“My name is Lindon,” Lindon frowned but hurried off to his room.

Cashe walked over to Emilia, bending over her shoulder to see the screen, “I can’t believe my nickname is going to be Daddy.” Cashe grumbled.

Emilia snapped the screen shut a little too quickly, “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Cashe looked at her. She was smiling, but she looked guilty.

“What?”

“You’re hiding something.” Cashe said, “You started the Daddy thing, didn’t you?”

“I wish,” Emilia chuckled, “That appeared naturally, though.”

“Then what is it?”

“You won’t like it, so I’m not going to tell you.”

“I’d rather hear it from you than find out and be surprised by it.”

“It’s not something like that,” Emilia frowned and ran her hands over the top of the closed laptop, “People on the pokenet will say anything, you know? They don’t think about how others might feel about it.”

“What is it?”

“They gave you a nickname.”

“What is it?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Just tell me, what is it?”

“You can’t get mad at Lindon. It’s not his fault. People just heard him call you Mr Cashe and they ran with it.”

“What is it, Emilia?”

“It’s your own fault for being so messed up like that.”

“Emilia.”

“Fine. It’s Blood Money.”

***

“I wish I was called Blood Money,” Lindon said as he wolfed down his eggs, “It’s cool. Way better than the Kid.”

Emilia grinned and Cashe glared at her as if the entire situation were her fault.

“The Kid is better,” Cashe said, sighing. He leaned back in his chair. They found a cafe that was still serving breakfast, which was nice. No matter what universe he was in, eating a non-breakfast meal as the first of the day just felt wrong.

The cafe was cute, with a little porch overlooking the town square and an Alakazam working in the kitchen. Cashe never thought the pokemon would use its spoons that way, but then again, what else was a spoon for?

“It’s not better,” Lindon said, “I don’t know why you keep saying that.”

“Blood Money,” Cashe said, cringing as the words left his mouth, “Is what an edgy teenager with no creativity would call their D&D character. I want a classic nickname, like the Rookie. Or the Natural-”

“The Natural is fantastic,” Emilia said, “I think it might be taken though.”

“Or the Scout. Or Sugar. Or Moneyball. Or-”

“Where are you getting all these from? Moneyball?”

“The Kid from Left Field-”

“Left what?” Lindon said.

“Or Chance. Or the Hill. Or-”

“Stop,” Emilia laughed, “Those are ridiculous.”

“How dare you,” Cashe said with a smile, “You insult my culture.”

“Alakazam says your culture is baseball movies.”

Cashe looked up, wide eyed. The waitress for the cafe was stopping by to refill their water.

“Oh don’t worry,” the waitress said, seeing the look on Cashe’s face, “He wasn’t reading your mind. Alakazam would never do that. Some thoughts are just much louder than others. Powerful psychic pokemon like Alakazam can’t help but pick them up. He only shared it with me because I asked about the nicknames.”

“Oh,” Cashe breathed, “Good to know.” He was still pretty sure he didn’t want his unique origins shared around. Not until he spoke to those scientists that Professor Oak had said would find him.

“I actually came to tell you that Milton stopped by,” the waitress said, “He wants to thank you personally for what you did for the town.”

“Milton?” Emilia said.

“The mayor,” the waitress smiled, “Don’t be nervous, he’s the good sort. Probably just wants to be seen publicly with the heroes.”

Cashe glanced at Emilia. She shrugged and moved her eyes to Lindon. Cashe frowned. Lindon’s eyes were sparkling, but he obviously didn’t feel comfortable answering for the group. Cashe sighed, “Where can we find him?”

***

Campton was a much nicer town now that it wasn't deserted and being attacked by a raging Golduck. It was quaint, the older architecture and friendly people making the town feel like many Cashe knew from his old home.

The waitress’s directions brought them a few streets over from the square, to a large building adorned with reliefs of pokemon. The reliefs looked like they were painted and decorated by the children of the town. There were no careful brushstrokes or delicate colors here, only splotches of paint and color bleeding into a mixed brown wherever two colors met. For a Town Hall, it was unprofessional but highly endearing.

As Cashe approached the double wooden doors that were the entrance to the building, they opened on their own, revealing a burly man with a balding head and a thin mustache. He had the look of a man who was very active in his youth, but age and eating habits had caught up with him. He was barrel chested and barrel gutted, with broad shoulders and a friendly smile.

“Ah, our three heroes,” the man exclaimed upon seeing them, “I was just about to go about town and see if I could find you.”

“Are you Milton?” Emilia asked, stepping forward to shake the large man’s hand, “Emilia Oak.”

“Apollo Cashe. Please just call me Cashe.” Cashe said, following Emilia’s example.

Lindon stood back, looking up nervously at the enormous mayor.

“Don’t worry, lad,” the mayor said with an understanding smile, “You don’t have to introduce yourself if you’re shy.”

“I-I’m alright,” Lindon stepped up to the mayor, taking the man’s giant hand in his own small one. His fingers weren’t able to grip Milton’s hand at all with the size difference, “I’m Lindon Stroute. Nice to meet you, sir.”

Emilia and the mayer’s eyes rose when Lindon mentioned his last name, but Cashe didn’t recognize it, which wasn’t surprising, really.

“Well, Master Stroute, I'm Mayor Milton. Why don’t you and your friends come into my office so I can thank you properly?” Mayor Milton said.

“Okay,” Lindon swallowed his nerves and followed after the mayor, leading the group through the building and into the mayor’s office.

The office was bare of decoration, only having a desk and several chairs in the room. It did not appear the mayor spent any significant amount of time there.

Mayor Milton walked behind the desk and sat down, signaling with his hand for Cashe and the others to do the same.

“As I said, I would like to properly thank you for your bravery yesterday,” Mayor Milton said once everyone had settled. He interlaced his fingers, resting his forearms on his desk, speaking in a deep, grave voice, “I was in the bunker with everyone else. Actually, I wasn’t with everyone else. I was keeping an eye on the shelter door, as is my duty. I watched the first cracks in the door appear. I can’t tell you what it felt like when that happened.” The mayor paused to steady himself, shaking slightly as he recalled the memories.

“Are attacks like these common enough for every town around here to need a bunker?” Cashe said, trying to distract him.

“Arceus no,” Mayor Milton said, giving Cashe a grateful look, “We only have a bunker because we are so close to the forest. Lots of potential for dens to be hidden in there.”

“Dens?” Lindon said.

“City kids.” The Mayor grinned and shook his head.

“Dens are places where pokemon hide,” Emilia explained, “You don’t see them in a city because there isn’t enough room, and not enough pokemon. Dens can be dangerous because they are usually very hard to find. That means any kind of pokemon might be hiding in one, like that Golduck we fought. Normally, Poke Rangers would move that Golduck to a safer location for everyone, but if they can’t find one…” Emilia trailed off, not having to explain what might happen.

The mayor nodded, “You are a trainer then, like your father?”

“Hopefully more like my sister,” Emilia said, “Not a big fan of being defeated as champion in my first battle after taking the position.”

“Right you are,” Mayor Milton said, “So the three of you are at the start of your journeys?”

“Emilia and I left Pallet Town together, we’re heading for Vermillion,” Cashe said. He glanced at their young companion, “I’m not sure about Lindon, though.”

“I just left Vermillion,” Lindon said, staring at the desk, not looking at anyone, “I didn’t want to start in there.”

“Smart idea,” Cashe said, giving Lindon a comforting pat on the shoulder, “Vermillion still focuses on electric types, right? It would be pretty tough with just a Magnemite.”

Lindon looked up at Cashe, meeting his eyes for a second before they darted away, “Yeah.”

Emilia gave Cashe a significant look that Cashe couldn’t derive the meaning of at all. The mayor seemed to understand, however, and spoke up, “You know what might be a good idea, Lindon? Why don’t you travel with Cashe and Emilia? I bet they could use your help.”

Cashe looked at the mayor, not sure if he wanted the responsibility of traveling with a child. He wasn’t sure they should allow a child to travel on the road at all. He knew they did things differently here, but children shouldn’t be subjected to the dangers of a journey like that.

“I don-”

“That’s a wonderful idea,” Emilia said, grabbing Cashe by the arm to override his speech, “I was just telling Cashe how we could use some help on our journey.”

“Really? I can come with you?” Lindon looked up from the table, eyes wide. His voice turned dour, “You’re starting in Vermillion, though.”

“We aren’t actually,” Emilia said, giving the young man a smile, “We’re just passing through. Both Cashe and I are True Rookies, so we are going to enter the tournament next month.”

The mayor nodded enthusiastically and Cashe gazed at Emilia who was giving Lindon a sweet smile. He had no idea what was going on. Emilia certainly never mentioned finding someone to help them on the journey. If anything, he got the impression that she would be better off without him at all.

“So what do you say?” Emilia said, “Want to join our little group?”

Lindon nodded. “I’d like that a lot.”

“Perfect,” Mayor Milton said, clapping his hands together, “Now let’s get to that proper thanks I mentioned.” He reached behind his desk, pulling out a large cardboard box, “The entire town was in that bunker and everyone chipped in to give a special thank you.”

*****