Cashe studied the map in front of him. The plan for the day was to make their way through the remainder of Route 2 until they arrived at the Pokemon Center. They could camp out in the empty fields near the Center for the night and check out Verdant Cavern in the morning. It was a popular tourist spot, even among the locals, so going early would be to their benefit. Before Alola was fully integrated with the League, the cavern had been used for Alola’s famous Island Challenge.
“Why is there no Island Challenge any more?” Cashe said as he frowned at the map.
“It’s some old tradition that was for kids,” Emilia replied as she cleaned up the camp from Misdreavus’s pranks the night before, “The League became more and more popular here after they introduced proper gyms. Eventually they stopped doing the Trials all together.”
Cashe frowned further. That reminded him a little too much of what happened back on Earth.
“What’s wrong?” Lindon said, looking over his shoulder at the map, trying to find what was upsetting Cashe.
“Nothing,” Cashe grumbled. He didn’t know the history of Alola. It might be completely different here. He wrinkled his eyebrows, “Actually, this might be a problem for our plans,” Cashe pointed to a spot on the map, “Is this thing up to date? What’s going on here?”
“What?” Emilia walked over and peered over Cashe’s shoulder looking where he was pointing, “That’s a bit of wild area.”
“Yes,” Cashe said, tapping the map, “And it took us all day yesterday to get halfway through the route. It should take us another day to get to the Pokemon Center at the end. But there’s a big area that completely cuts off the road! It will take us hours to get through that safely.”
Emilia shrugged, “The Poke Rangers do it in every region. It’s part of the trainer experience. Why do you think the road from Pallet Town to Viridian was just a big field?”
“It hurts our plan unless we march all day,” Cashe said, “Our options are: head through the forest, head across the wild area that covers the entire road, or head around, up this hill,” Cashe stuck a finger aggressively against the map to the east of the route, “and through another wild area.”
“It doesn’t look that far,” Lindon said, pointing at the map, “It’s only a tiny, little sliver of the road.”
“This section of the road is forty miles long,” Cashe said, “That little sliver is at least two miles. It takes a lot longer to move through brush than it does to move over a paved road.”
“This is here to help you get used to it,” Emilia said, finishing up her packing and sliding the backpack over her shoulders, “There will be sections of the journey that barely have a road at all. In fact, Route 3 is exactly like that. If you can’t handle a little roadblock, you aren’t going to be able to handle a full pokemon journey.”
“It just throws us off schedule,” Cashe grumbled.
“Since when are you so concerned about your schedule?” Emilia said with a cocked brow, “You know we have literal months to challenge all the gyms and qualify for the conference, right?”
“I have an appointment tonight,” Cashe said, “One that I need to be at a Pokemon Center to attend.”
Emilia bit her lip, understanding what he meant, “Alright, we’d better hurry then.”
***
Cashe, Emilia, and Lindon marched out from the old Hau’oli Cemetery. It was a lot less creepy in the morning when everything was bright and fresh. Their pokemon followed alongside them, both for the exercise and to get the opportunity to be out of the ball. The only exceptions were again, the water pokemon and Goomy, as the heat of the day would affect them too much. Cashe let Primeape rest as well, since she was up all night and likely exhausted from the excitement.
The sun was warm on his skin, and as they neared the motel, a sweet scent permeated the air. There were still plenty of trainers on the road and Cashe prayed no one stopped them for a battle. He didn’t mind fighting them all at the Pokemon Center, but he hated the idea of missing a session with his therapist.
Thankfully, no one challenged them as they passed the motel and the trainers thinned out significantly after that. The wild field and trees gave way to farmland as they walked, revealing the source of the sweet scent wafting through the air.
Rows upon rows of berry trees lined the side of the road as they walked. Cashe wouldn’t call the farmland sprawling by any stretch - it was hard for anything to sprawl on a small island - but the berry tree farms went on for miles. Lindon waved to every worker and pokemon that they saw working the fields as they walked, which meant he was almost constantly waving.
Workers appeared every few rows of trees, the farmers and farm hands likely up well before Cashe and his friends hit the road. With them were working pokemon. Cashe spotted Alolan Meowth and Persian stalking the rows of trees, keeping an eye out from any flying pokemon that might try and steal the berries. Growlithe, Rockruff, and even the occasional Houndour patrolled the perimeter of the fields, barking out their names occasionally as landlocked pokemon came too close, sniffing for an opportunity to steal the berries.
Cashe was surprised at the reliance on fire type pokemon to take care of a field of flammable trees, but then again, if his pokemon could be well trained, then so could the farmers’.
A few hours later, they were rounding the single turn in the route, only a few miles from the unavoidable wild area that interrupted the route. It was around noon, and the sun was still high in the sky, so they took a small break to the side of the road to rest, rehydrate, and eat.
Lunch was uneventful, with no Cutiefly taking baths to keep their minds occupied, and soon they were back on the road. The fields of berry trees gave way once again to the manicured grasslands and thin forests of the route, and with their return came the sounds of wild pokemon being wild pokemon.
They stopped for a few minutes to watch a comic display of a pair of Yungoos fighting over a few berries, only for an opportunistic Spearow to swoop in and snatch them all up from right under their noses. They spotted many other common pokemon as they walked, and even a few rarer ones like Makuhita. Lindon swore up and down he saw a wandering Bulbasaur that skittered away as soon as it noticed Ivysaur, but Cashe and Emilia didn’t know if they believed him.
They arrived at the end of the road not long after that, the pavement dropping away abruptly, giving way to fields of grass and brush. The grassy field stretched as far as the eye could see, with only a thick copse of trees to their east and a small hill, just as the map depicted, the only things giving the landscape any variation.
The grass of the field was long, at least up to Cashe’s chest, and blew gently in the wind. Cashe could see sections of the area rustling against the rolling waves caused by the wind as pokemon shuffled through the fields, looking for food, mates, or trouble.
Large bushes, standing twenty to thirty feet tall peppered the field. They were spread out in such a way that it made Cashe wonder if they were planted deliberately by the Poke Rangers. He could see fruit growing from the bushes and several Spearow munching on them happily. The fruit didn’t look like berries, but pokemon ate more than just berries. Berries were just their favorite.
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“Okay,” Cashe said, slowing as they approached the wall of grass in front of them, “Let’s take a quick break before we head through. We are going to want to move quickly to avoid as many pokemon as we can.”
Lindon nodded, slipping his backpack off his back and retrieving his water and snacks. Cashe pulled Primeape’s pokeball off his waist and let her out of the ball.
She appeared in a flash of light, grumpy, but awake. Lindon stared for a second as it was his first time seeing her, but quickly returned to his munching.
Cashe lined up all three of his pokemon. Well, he lined up Primeape and Ivysaur. Hatenna was still sitting on Ivysaur’s head.
“Okay team,” Cashe said smiling as they looked at him. It felt good talking to them as a team. He hadn’t ever done it before, “Here’s the plan. All that grass,” Cashe pointed beside them to the wall of grass, “is where we are headed. It goes on for miles, but we need to get through quickly.”
“Ivy.”
“That’s right,” Cashe said, “I’m going to need help from all of you in order to do that. Primeape,” Cashe looked down at the angry pokemon. She glared back at him, “I want you to scout ahead of us. Go crazy on any pokemon you come across, don’t hold back.”
“Ape.”
“Ivysaur,” Cashe hesitated. In the grass, Ivysaur would likely feel right at home, but the tall plants would block out the sun and remove any benefit he received from his Chlorophyll ability, “Take our rear. If any pokemon sneak up behind us, hit them with a Razor Leaf or Vine Whip. Avoid using poison type attacks, okay? We aren’t trying to destroy the environment.”
“Ivysaur.”
“No, don’t use any powder moves either, you still don't have them under control since your evolution. You’ll hit all of us.”
“Ivy.” Ivysaur looked downcast at the statement.
“Don’t give me that,” Cashe scoffed, “A little bit of practice and you’ll be fine.”
Ivysaur shuffled his feet, his forlorn look immediately disappearing from his face.
“Now, Hatenna-”
“Hat!” Hatenna stood at attention, floppy hair waving with the small movement.
“You are coming with me,” Cashe leaned down and picked Hatenna up, placing her on his head.
“Hat!”
“Your job will be to attack anything that approaches us,” Cashe said, “Use Confusion or Disarming Voice for anything that comes close, understand?”
“Hat!”
“But if you see an Ekans-” Cashe cut himself off, “Do you know what an Ekans looks like? Do you know what a snake is?”
“Hat!”
“Um, okay,” Cashe frowned, “Do you know what purple is?”
“Hat!”
“Okay, so if you see anything purple come at us, you have to use Confusion, okay? And if you see a Rattata - that’s the dark rat thing you fought yesterday, remember? If you see one of those you have to use Disarming Voice. Confusion won’t work. Understand?”
“Hat!”
“Are you sure? What do you use if you see a purple pokemon?”
“Hat!”
“Good. What do you use if you see a black rat pokemon?”
“Hat!”
“Good,” Cashe nodded, satisfied she understood his instructions.
“Hat!”
“Shit, sorry.” Cashe reached up to steady Hatenna so she didn’t slip off his head from his nod. He would have to be careful with her up there.
“You guys ready?” Cashe said, once he finished giving his pokemon their instructions. He turned to face Emilia and Lindon.
Lindon nodded, Goomy in his arms and Magneton floating by his head. Slowpoke was still in his ball, which was probably a good idea. The dopey pokemon was still in need of training and would probably not be able to keep up with them as they made their way through the fields. He barely glanced twice at Hatenna sitting on top of his head.
Emilia was another matter, however, “Cashe, are you wearing Hatenna as a hat? I know it’s in her name, but-”
“Very funny,” Cashe said, rolling his eyes, careful not to move his head too much as he did, “I’m optimizing my team. Hatenna is too short to go off by herself in all that long grass and pairing her with Ivysaur or Primeape will mean she won’t get any work in.”
“Oh?” Emilia teased, smirking at how ridiculous Cashe looked, “This is what’s optimal is it?”
“This is the ideal setup,” Cashe met her eye, shooting her a teasing smile right back at her as he gestured to his own body, “You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.”
***
“Is it just me, or does Charizard seem younger?” Julius said, pulling his glasses off his face to get a better look at the pokemon. Charizard was currently in his Mega Evolved form, black skin dark against the grassy fields of Galar, blue flames flickering away from his mouth as he took slow, steady breaths. Julius ran his thumb down Charizard’s hide, “His skin is definitely showing less signs of aging.”
“It’s normal for this type of Mega Evolution,” Blue said, sitting on the side of the hill, eyes glued to the laptop screen, “I thought you read my paper.”
“I read the abstract,” Julius said, taking a few notes as Charizard stood in front of him, “Who reads the entire paper?”
“Professionals who aren’t distracted every time a pretty young woman walks by,” Blue grumbled.
“People like that don’t exist,” Julius said, shaking his head. He looked up at Charizard, “Okay, Charizard, you can return to your original form now.”
Charizard nodded and huffed as he relaxed, body subtly changing shape as he returned to his base form, his skin lightening to its familiar orange color.
“Anything interesting this time?” Julius said, looking over his shoulder at Blue.
Blue shook his head, “It’s the same thing. We won’t know for sure until Red shows up with a Charizardite X.”
“If he actually gets it this time,” Julius complained, “We would be out of here already if that man weren’t so Arcues damned distracted all the time. How many times is this now?”
“Seven.”
“What was it? He got lost, he found an interesting stone that turned out just to be a regular stone-”
“It was interesting though”
“He got lost again, how he did that twice on the back of a pokemon, I do not know. He challenged a Gym Leader and won. He Challenged a Gym leader and lost.” Julius frowned, “What am I forgetting?”
“Don’t know. But that’s just Red for you. He always gets caught up in something.”
“Speak of Giratina and it shall appear,” Julius grumbled as a small dot in the distance slowly materialized into the shape of a man on the back of a large Gyarados.
“I can’t believe he uses that thing to fly around on when he isn’t with Charizard,” Blue sighed, “He probably scares people half to death when they see it flying through the air. They probably think some sort of mythical dragon is coming to eat them.”
“Except Gyarados isn't a dragon type,” Julius said, “Also, just a point of clarity, do you remember Lance, the Dragon Champion? He was from your region, was he not?”
“He was,” Blue said, “I actually dethroned him as Champion when I took over as Champion for the Kanto region.”
“You were Champion?” Julius said in mock surprise, “How long did that last? I thought I knew the history of the regional Champions.”
“Shut up, boy, before I show you why I was Champion,” Blue growled.
Julius smirked, “Anyway, I only ask because do you remember his team he used?”
“Sure. He had a Gyarados, three Dragonites, a Charizard, and an Aerodactyl.” Blue frowned, “It wasn’t the most balanced composition.”
“And also not a dragon composition!” Julius complained, “He wasn’t a dragon type trainer, he was a flying type specialist! He’s a fraud! I can’t believe he is remembered as the Dragon Champion!”
Blue grinned, remembering the very same argument he had with the man years ago, “That wasn’t his permanent team. He expanded it to eventually be made up of all dragons. It just took him a couple of years.”
“It just took him a couple of years,” Julius scoffed, “If I had a team of all fairy types, you’d still call me-”
With a rush of wind, Red interrupted Julius, Gyarados swooping down beside them and coiling up like a giant snake. Red hopped off her back, patting her once he dropped to the ground.
“What’s got you all worked up,” Red said as he walked over.
“Lance, the ‘Dragon’ Champ-”
“Ignore him,” Blue interrupted, “Did you get it?”
Red blinked, “Get what?”
*****