Chapter 138

Chapter 138

CHAPTER 138

I always felt like this after leaving a city, but it was good to be back on the road. This— the traveling aspect— was what being a trainer was all about, and I'd grown to truly appreciate the process, at least as long as I wasn't in a deadly forest or some eldritch mountain. Route 209 was nothing like that, and it was the safest one after the 214, 222 and 213 trio that linked Sunyshore, Pastoria and Veilstone. Those were a bit of an exception, though. Since so many new trainers passed through there, the rangers kept it as clear as possible. Larvitar and Togetic were walking with me, while the others all had one or a few of their Pokemon out.Alll latest novels at novelhall.com

Justin walked with his Audino, who was carrying a flower he'd found a few miles back. Cecilia's Fletchinder screeched and flew high up in the sky while Slowking stuck by her side. Pauline was off in the distance, walking with her Gothorita and practicing her tolerance to telepathy. She seemed quite down at the fact that we had to leave Emilia behind, but there might have been something else to it. Either way, she was uncharacteristically quiet. Denzel, meanwhile, was being hogged by Sylveon.

"I think we can stop here," he said, nudging his head forward.

The large system of rivers and small ponds that route 209 was the most known for sat in front of us. Long bridges ran through each body of water, and trainers were fishing all along the streams. This was a common spot to get a water type. Larvitar ran up to the edge of the water, and I released Tangrowth to keep an eye on her. The entire team would have a strategic meeting later, and I still needed to have that one-on-one talk with Sweetheart, but she could play around for now.

"Yeah, this is probably fine," I said, dropping my backpack and sitting down. "We made good progress today. Four more days, and we should be good?"

Despite the enjoyment I got, I was mostly excited about getting to Solaceon and fighting in the tournament. There were many potential trainers and strategies to go up against, and I'd finally see what Craig's sister was all about. Louis' group would sign up too, apparently, but like Chase had said, he wouldn't stick around. As soon as we made it there, he'd leave for Celestic.

Well, I also had to review the footage of my battle against Fantina, but I'd do it when we got there. With all the events that happened after the fight, I had completely forgotten about it somehow. I was sure I'd see a lot of improvements, though. Thinking back about the battle made it impossible for me not to smile. It was a testament to how good I'd gotten over the last few months.

I stared up at Justin, who walked up to me. Audino followed behind him and winked at me, eliciting a chuckle.

"Grace. I see you're deep in thought," he noticed.

"Nah, I'm good. What's up?"

"I was looking for advice."

I rested my head on my palm and hummed. Justin and Pauline were going their separate ways now, battling-wise, so we weren't exactly their teachers any longer, but I was always willing to help a friend in need.

"Sure, shoot!"

"It's about confidence... or my lack of it, thereof. I'd like to try to be a little bit more sure about my capabilities come the tournament, but I'm not sure how."

Togetic landed on my lap, and I pet her head as she nuzzled it against me.

"Well, I don't really know. You've got three badges, Justin. That's no joke, you should be proud of yourself. You realize not many trainers reach this point, right? Plus, you won pretty handily."

"Yes, but I feel like I'm still missing something..."

"Something? You've figured out your style, right? Now you've just got to refine and perfect it, and eventually branch out in case you need to pull something else during a battle. That's what I've been trying to do... learning to improve and think of stuff on the spot, things like that," I explained.

The boy sighed. "Well, that's fair, I suppose. I've been itching to try out new things, but I haven't really had the opportunity to. What I did against Fantina wasn't exactly stalling, but more like a proto version of it."

"Pauline not up for a friendly fight?" I asked.

"She's been down."

"I noticed," I said, glancing at her. "You know what, I'll talk to her."

I let Togetic out of my arms and shot up. Pauline tended to help her friends a lot, but I couldn't recall the last time she'd asked for it. She was keeping her distance from Denzel a little bit, which was odd too, but I was starting to get the impression that some relationship drama had gone on between them beyond the fact that Pauline and Emilia were dating, like Cece had theorized.

Gothorita shot me a look that reminded me of Turtonator as I approached her trainer.

"What's got you so down in the dumps, little one?" I playfully said.

"I miss Emi... and some other stuff," she shrugged.

"You weren't that down when we left her in Eterna," I said.

"That's because— things were different. Can we just change the subject?"

I considered pushing on, but it was probably best to let it go for now.

"Why don't we talk about your team then? Any idea for a fourth member? Anything catch your eye so far? It'd be cool if you could catch something on this route. The earlier you can start training them, the more prepared they'll be for the Conference. And don't forget, if you don't have a fourth, you won't be able to participate in the—"

"I know," she rolled her eyes. "I just wanted it to fit, but I think I'll try to catch something if I can't find anything that catches my eye."

"Why don't you just do what Denzel does and look it up in advance? Well, not like you can now that we're out of Hearthome, but y'know."

"I don't know how he does it," Pauline said, looking at our friend. "I find it horribly dull. I had to chew on Rufflet for weeks until it clicked for me, and at that rate, it'll be too late. Maybe if I only needed one more, but I need three."

"Well, maybe he found it dull too, but he had years to do it," I said. "Why don't you ask him about it then?"

"No way."

"Are you guys fighting?"

"No."

"Okay, then why are you just glancing at him every few seconds, but not actually going to speak to him like you want to?"

She clicked her tongue and then ruffled my hair with a frustrated groan.

"What was that for?!"

"For being annoying," she deadpanned. "Anyway, I'll catch something, so stop being such a worrywart."

"Worrywart? Are you eighty or what?"

"Look, I think this is a bad idea, and I don't even think we'll be ready to do this by the end of the year," I explained.

That Rhyperior had probably been elite level, from the little I had seen of it. It had to be, to beat a pseudolegendary without sustaining that many injuries like it had done. My Pokemon would maybe be ready to take it down, but I didn't think I would be.

Larvitar protested, but I stopped her.

"Let me finish. I don't think this is a good idea, and I don't even know if we'd be able to find it again," I continued. "But believe in me. I'll help you get stronger, and if you still feel this way by the time you're fully evolved, then we can talk about it again."

I was really hoping that she'd change her mind.

I heard Honey call out to me, and I stood up. He probably needed some help to get started with Cross Chop. I stopped when I felt Larvitar grab at my jeans.

"Larvi... Larvitar," she said, avoiding my eyes and hiding her face.

She was apologizing for yelling at me.

"Don't worry about it, Sweetheart," I smiled. "You were just feeling emotional, that's all. I yell at my dad all the time— ah, sorry."

The rock type stared up at me confusedly.

"For the dad comparison thing," I said. "I don't want to replace your parent. I promised you that when I caught you, didn't I?"

Larvitar mumbled something, and she had to repeat herself twice for me to hear her.

"You... don't mind?"

She huffed and ran away in embarrassment.

She...

She didn't mind.

Wow.

I felt so happy.

—

After helping Electabuzz with his form and checking in on the others, I happily skipped toward Denzel, who was working on something with his Lopunny while the other members of his team were training on their own, although they were kind of slacking off to hang out with Feebas. With all the water around, he'd be able to spend a lot more time with his teammates. The normal type happily waved at me, showcasing how much she'd changed since she'd been that shy Buneary that he'd caught in Eterna Forest. The scar on her ear from those Paras was still visible, albeit smaller thanks to her evolved form being a lot bigger.

"Woah, you look happy," he noticed.

"Yep. Larvitar just called me mom."

His expression morphed into one of confusion. "I just won't even ask. I thought that was just between you and Togetic?"

"No, I'm everyone's mom," I deadpanned. "I wanted to ask you to show me your Froslass' Blizzard? I know you tested it out without telling me before we left."

"How do you even know that?"

I grinned. "I didn't. But now I do."

"Ugh. I specifically wanted to hide it from you, though."

"I paid for your ride back when you had no money. You owe me."

"You wouldn't have left me stranded!"

I peered at him, my smile widening.

"Damn, you are ruthless. Fine. Froslass, come on over! Lopunny, you keep on working on the thing."

"Ouch," I said, feigning emotional pain. "Still keeping your secrets?"

"Well, so are you," he said.

The ghost type appeared beside us, and I jumped. I still felt cold, but it looked like she had gotten her temperature problem under control. Denzel, meanwhile, felt no change at all. I was still wondering how that even worked, but I was no professor, so I'd probably never figure it out. I called Togetic over just in case, and Denzel led us to the edge of the route. Froslass was so excited about using Blizzard that she was quite literally leaking cold. She'd probably be able to do what Turtonator did in battle, only with cold instead of heat.

"Go make sure no one's here before you accidentally kill a kid," Denzel sighed. Froslass cheered as she disappeared into the unmaintained woods. "She's been so hyper since evolving, it's like she's not even a ghost."

"Don't overgeneralize them now," I chided. "She was already like this before, it's not like her whole personality was going to change."

"I'll still have to watch out during the tourney, I don't want any accidents," he said. "I don't know how it works, but whenever I have her out with strangers, she's freezing. With friends, she just emits cold, and with me or my Pokemon, we feel completely fine."

"I was just wondering about that!" I exclaimed.

"I wanted to record a video of her at Amity Square before we left, but I had to recall her because people way away from us were starting to feel pain from the cold. The tournament will have barriers like the gyms, so at least she'll be useable there."

I nodded. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"Toge," Princess agreed.

After five minutes, Froslass came back and confirmed that the area was clear. Her eyes shone with a pale blue as she started to use Blizzard.

Before, it would have taken almost a minute for her to charge it up. Now? It barely took ten seconds.

The whole area in front of us was covered in frost and ice like we were back on route 216.