Chapter 209

Chapter 209

CHAPTER 209

"Grace, how much longer are you gonna pet that thing?" Mira sighed.

"She's not a thing. Just a sec," I said as I grabbed an Oran Berry from my bag.

I rubbed the wild Girafarig's neck and handed her the berry. The psychic type neighed and gently bit into half of it, then asked for me to feed her tail. The mouth hungrily jumped at the food, and Cece and Honey jumped when she nearly snapped my finger off. She scarfed down the entire half of the berry and she barely chewed.

"I'll be leaving now, alright? Be safe."

The psychic type bowed her head in thanks, and I waved at both heads until we couldn't see them any longer. I hadn't really had a reason to feed Girafarig. We had encountered her a few minutes prior on the slopes of the mountain to route 214's east and I could tell she was hungry. Girafarig were grazers, and they usually stuck to the route's flat areas to the west with plenty of grass to eat.

It had been a few hours since we'd left Veilstone, and we'd decided to take the mountain path for a few reasons. One, Cecilia thought there was a chance she'd meet either a Mienfoo or a Croagunk there, although the latter were found in much greater numbers in the swamp next to Pastoria City. Two, I was a lot more familiar with the route, and three, there weren't a lot of trainers up here to bother us. Cecilia and Mira walked with me while Chase flew high overhead on his Sigilyph's back. I couldn't help but nervously glance at my friend every few seconds and feel my stomach sink. He flew without a saddle, which meant he was holding onto Sigilyph's wings for support. Apparently, Sigilyph were so rare they needed a custom-made saddle, and he didn't have enough money to afford it (and he of course refused any help) nor the time to waste waiting for it to be completed. He had passed his practical exam, so I trusted that he knew what he was doing.

Plus, Mira had her Gardevoir out in case he fell. The tall psychic didn't care much for anyone that wasn't her trainer, it seemed, and she kept glancing at her and raising her arm to her head before shyly pulling back. Sigilyph, meanwhile, had been extremely nervous about the whole ordeal. She was scared that she'd get Chase hurt somehow. Her way of flying was fascinating, though. She swayed back and forth in the wind, her wings barely moving.

"When he said he'd travel with us, I really thought he'd hang out," Mira sighed when she noticed I was looking.

"He'll come down eventually," I said.

"His arms are surely tired by now, it's been two hours..." Cecilia muttered.

"I think this is his way of working out," I said, shielding my eyes from the sun. "Wait, is he coming down?"

Sure enough, he was. Sigilyph slowly lowered her altitude over the next thirty seconds, but Chase jumped when she was fifteen feet off the ground.

"What's up?" Mira asked. "Come to speak to your pals?"

"No, I saw something behind us— far behind us. Some person on a Dragonite. It weirded me out, so I figured I'd walk."

"Isn't that just one of our guards?" I raised an eyebrow. "Actually, there was a woman with a Dragonite assigned to me. Guess she's not bothering to hide."

"They're coming with us on the routes too?!"

Cecilia chuckled. "Did you pay any attention to what Cynthia said?"

"No, I was busy demanding rights for my people, sorry," he said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. "Anyway, guess I'm walking. My arms were getting tired anyway."

Mira poked him in the arm, and he jumped. "What? Chasey's getting tired? I never thought he'd admit that."

"It's a lot more tiring than it looks," he hurriedly exclaimed. "Some stick like you wouldn't get it."

"Maybe you can teach me. You can hold onto my waist and carry me into the sky."

"I don't even want to touch you, let alone teach you anything. Sigilyph isn't strong enough to carry two people and you'd die."

The psychic type let out a sad digital beep.

"Can't believe a trainer would hurt their own Pokemon like that," Mira said, feigning sadness.

"Don't put that fucked up shit in her head!"

They devolved into their usual bickering, which was occasionally assuaged by Cecilia or me. I squinted as I looked to the west, down the mountain's slopes. It was far, but I could see the occasional truck driving on the paved road going from Sunyshore to Veilstone or vice-versa, carrying all kinds of goods in containers. Trainers also dotted the route around the road, and I could even catch glimpses of moves, although it was too far to see exactly which Pokemon were battling. Off in the distance, Sunyshore was visible, but it was shifted blue by the Earth's atmosphere, or at least that's what Mira had told me.

They fight a lot, don't they, Slowking spoke into my— wait, he was speaking to Cecilia and Honey as well. I wish I could have some peace and quiet.

"Aren't you used to it?" I asked. "You have Sol, Zerst, Scyther..."

Sol and Zerst are just stupid most of the time. Scyther likes to keep to himself. It isn't that bad, especially with Talonflame here. Speaking of, I recommend you let her stretch her wings.

"I should, shouldn't I?" Cecilia said. She grabbed the fire type's Pokeball and released her high into the sky.

Talonflame let out a gentle song to announce her happiness and blurred forward with one flap of her wings. Cecilia couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"Makes me remember that time up north when she went to look for route 216 when we just got out of Mount Coronet," I said. "You were scared to let her go too far back then."

"I was, but what kind of trainer would keep a flying type caged up?" She said, still smiling. "She'll come back. She always does."

"Oh yeah! You guys should tell me about your time in Mount Coronet!" Mira exclaimed as she turned her head toward us. "I'm the only one who wasn't there!"

Chase clasped his hands together. "Finally some fucking peace and quiet."

"Slowking and you have that in common," I joked. The psychic type looked at me like I'd just stabbed him in the back.

"Did no one tell you about that?" Cece frowned. "I thought someone would have by now. Maybe Denzel."

"That boy only talks about work. Blergh," she grimaced. "Tell me about Mount Coronet!"

"Well, it's not as exciting as you'd think," Cecilia said. "It was mostly terrifying..."

—

Evening had come, and we decided to set up camp before the sun would set. We settled on a nice, flat surface large enough to accommodate our entire teams, and I was treated to a grand sight. Every single one of our Pokemon was out.

My team kept mostly to themselves in a corner, and I was surprised to see that Princess and Sunshine shared the same disdain for strangers. They glared at every single Pokemon, although Princess' was a haughty stare while Sunshine probably just hated the commotion. Honey was the only one trying to make friends, and he had chatted up Chase's Lucario until they began a spar, but he was on the backfoot since they weren't using powerful moves. Zangoose and Sigilyph were off in a corner somewhere, the former because she hated crowds and the latter because she considered the normal type her best friend. It was cute, how Chase dropped these adorable nuggets of information about his team like they were nothing.

Zweilous was chewing on a very confused Abomasnow's lumpy arm and slobbered all over the bark-like green arm, and Golett was busy... punching a boulder that Princess had raised for him over and over. Cece had told me it was his way of having fun. Slowking, Alakazam, and Gardevoir were the furthest away and were no doubt engaged in a conversation I'd understand very little of. Talonflame was still zipping around the sky like there was no tomorrow and raced Vikavolt for who was the fastest. The bug type couldn't keep up with her speed for long, but his occasional quick bursts of electric energy allowed him to sometimes catch up. Scyther had struck an unlikely friendship with Chase's Houndoom. They spoke mostly of loyalty and how Houndoom's feelings toward Chase differed greatly with what Scyther thought of Cece.

All of that to say.

Why the hell was my team so unsociable? Everybody else was mingling, but they just stuck to themselves! Was this my fault? Had I raised them like this?

"Okay, who's in charge of what tonight?" Mira asked. Porygon orbited around her head like a moon.

"I'm in charge of my own stuff," Chase said.

"I can handle the tents," Cecilia ignored him. "Mira?"

"I'll help out."

"I can cook!" I quickly said. "I've got some food, an electric stove, a pot and a skillet. Honey will help out."

"I didn't even know you two could cook," Cece said.

"Can you cook?" Chase asked with a judgy stare.

"Yes! And it beats whatever the hell you eat every day, trust me."

"I'm gonna need a calorie check."

"Just eat what I feed you, I swear it tastes good. My team can attest to it."

"Your team's biased," Mira teased with a smirk.

"No— well, yeah, but you can try it, right? I really want to cook for everyone. Please?"

They reluctantly agreed, and I shot Cece a betrayed look. The other two, I had expected to be reluctant, but her? She hadn't seen me cook yet. I was going to impress them all tonight and make them beg for me to feed them every day.

"Guess I'll get started on a fire," Chase said before sharply whistling to his Houndoom. "Let's go get wood. Zangoose, you come too."

Sigilyph ended up coming as well, but the rest of his Pokemon stuck around and Scyther actually joined Slowking and the rest of the psychics. Needless to say, they were wary of the bug type, but he mostly listened to whatever it was they were saying and from the looks of it he was getting lost pretty quickly. A conversation between psychics was mind numbingly quick. I walked up to Electabuzz and Ri's battle and the electric type actually started to fight harder when he saw that I was looking. I cheered for him, but he ended up giving up when Lucario locked his arm in a nasty armbar that reminded me of one of Maylene's techniques.

Honey shook his arm as he walked up to me, still reeling from the pain. He hid his disappointment well, but he was my kid and I could feel it emanating off of him.

"You fought well!" I said, clapping his back. I jumped when a small shock jolted my hand. He still had a little electricity stored in his fur. "For a hand-to-hand battle against a fighting type? You did amazing."

That, he did.

Until she understood and tasted my soup.

"So?!"

"It's great."

I deflated. "That sounded very half-hearted."

"Okay, the truth is, it's alright. But I really appreciate you making it for us!" She quickly added. "I'd love for you two to cook more dishes, truly!"

I smiled. "Thanks. I'll make some tomorrow too."

Luckily, Sunyshore was only five to seven days away, and I had enough ingredients for homemade stuff for four of those days. Angel was next, and he dragged the bowl into his body and then spat it out a few seconds later as usual. It had been licked completely clean.

"Call your sisters over for me," I said.

Angel nodded and patted my head with a vine until he jerked forward and nearly knocked the entire stove over. I was surprised to see Zweilous behind him. The dragon type had followed the smell of food all the way over here. Cecilia noticed and sharply snapped her fingers, and Zweilous came to an immediate stop.

"Hello, you two. Do you want some— well, of course you want some soup. Here."

Honey quickly snatched the bowl out of my hands and said he didn't want one of the heads to accidentally bite my hand off. He was vindicated when Zerst knocked the entire plastic bowl over and started to lick the soup and inhale the chunks of vegetables off the floor.

"Yeah, you enjoy that..." I muttered. "Where's Mira? Mira!"

"I'm eating some food I nabbed before we left Veilstone!" She yelled with a wave. "These are some fantastic quesadillas!"

"Are you sure you don't want to try my soup?!"

"With all due respect, I'll take these over vegetable soup any day!"

I threw my hands up in the air and groaned. I'd expected her to at least taste it, but it was fine since we were running low anyway. Electabuzz started to cut up some vegetables again as Angel dragged Princess toward us and Sweetheart followed closely behind. Princess looked like she'd been condemned to death as soon as she eyed the soup.

"Don't make a fuss. Here."

I pushed the bowl toward her and nudged it into her chest. She forewent the bowl entirely and levitated the entire soup, drawing it into her mouth like she was sucking through a straw. She winced at the first taste, but soon enough, she was eating heartily.

"See? It's always the same with you," I chuckled. "You think you're going to hate something, but you end up liking it anyway."

She huffed, saying that Oran Berries were still better but that she'd make an effort and force herself to eat this because Honey and I had cooked it. The electric type teased her and pointed out that she had the widest smile on her face while eating, but that only got him a pebble to the head.

"Don't do that, he's just playing around," I said. "Plus, he was right."

For Sweetheart, she rolled over onto her back and I poured the rest of the pot's content into her mouth. It wouldn't be enough to feed her, of course, but even though we had run out of premium soil, there were plenty of rocks and dirt to be had up here. She excitedly told me about Lucario and Abomasnow while we cooked enough for ourselves, and I nodded along to the stories she told.

I was pretty sure Abomasnow had lied to her about what he could do. Freezing an entire ocean? Growing an entire forest and coating it in snow and hail for fun? Yeah, he was boasting. At least Ri kept his achievements accurate. He'd never been one to boast. Once we were done eating, I told Honey to go hang out with whomever he wished while I cleaned up, and then I finally joined the others around the fire. Many Pokemon stuck close by. Houndoom was next to Chase, who lazily scruffed his neck. Princess was on my lap, and Gardevoir, who looked to be over the moon, had Mira on her lap. Talonflame and Slowking flanked Cecilia while Zweilous was slumped over close to the fire. Zerst was sleeping while Sol was wide awake. The rest of the Pokemon were scattered around camp. It was pitch black, now, but we could still see the light poles shining like beacons down the mountain and the occasional headlights from a truck. We continued the story of Mount Coronet, but by now we were at the part with Savika's cabin.

I wondered how she was doing. Had she used the Pokeball I had left her? The League had probably overturned her home by now. I didn't know what they had meant by fortress, but we'd get a good look at one soon when we reached Lake Valor the day after tomorrow.

"When you visit the Acuity, will you ask for Savika?" I asked.

"Sure thing," she nodded. "She'll probably hate me. I make a terrible first impression on anyone I meet."

"I liked you when I met you," Cece said.

"So you hate me now?" She smirked before chuckling. "Just pulling your leg. Thank you though, I mean that. And thanks for the food, Grace, even if I didn't eat any. You went into your mom mode today."

"Mom mode?"

"It's what I call you when you act like a mom."

"Wait, since when was this a thing?"

"She made it up today," Cecilia said. "When we were pulling up the tents."

"Aw man, this could have been a really good bit! We could have convinced her I created it months ago!"

"I don't think you know what a good bit is," Chase snarked.

"I actually agree," I shrugged.

Mira's mouth gaped. "What the hell? You're ganging up on me now."

"Hey, you've never made me laugh," Chase said. "I'm just stating the facts."

Cecilia eyed Zerst nervously. "Please don't talk too loudly, you'll wake up—"

The head snapped up and roared at nothing in particular. Houndoom growled at him, and all of our Pokemons' heads turned toward the dragon, save for Haunter who I hadn't seen in an hour and Sunshine, whose time with us had taught him to sleep through anything. Princess, for her part, had been discreet with her reaction, but I could feel the ground under my feet shake a little. I kissed the back of her head and hugged her tightly.

"Yeah, we should have expected that," I sighed.

Cece soothed the head, calmly scratching his scales until Zerst also demanded some scratches of his own. The conversation resumed and soon enough they were both asleep. I didn't miss Gardevoir's disdain for the dragon type, and her eyes met Princess'.

They both smirked at each other.

Maybe she'd befriend someone after all, but it'd be another fairy. Sylvy, Bella and now Gardevoir? She was only keeping to one type, and that was a problem. I wanted her to broaden her horizon and most of all, she needed to stop hating on poor dragons. It wasn't even mutual this time. I wasn't even sure if Zweilous had thought of her in the last day... or weeks or months.

"Oh, right!" Mira said. "It's you two's birthday soon, right? What was the date again?"

"February 27th and March 4th," Cece said, her fingers fidgeting nervously.

"Aw, we won't be at Sunyshore by the 27th," Mira said.

"We were planning on doing a joint party anyway," I said. "We can wait until Denzel, Pauline and Emi get there too."

Cecilia nodded. "I think that's a good idea. Emi would never forgive us if we partied without her. Chase, will you come?"

"Sure."

We all gasped.

"What?" I exhaled. "Really?"

"Yeah. Why're you looking at me like I'm some kind of alien? It's my friends' birthdays, I'm not going to miss it. Arceus. I might leave early though."

"Yeah, that's completely fine," Cecilia smiled. "Thank you for agreeing."

"You both missed my birthday, by the way. This shrimp was the only one to send me a message."

"Wait, when was it?" I asked.

"When I was traveling to Celestic. I actually celebrated it with my grandparents..."

Chase launched into his birthday story, which ended up with him just talking about his grandpa and grandma. He was very cute when sharing about his family, and he even showed us a letter they'd sent him while he'd been in Veilstone. It was true that Cece was going to turn sixteen on the route, which was a shame. I already had both her gifts planned. I'd bought the first one days ago in the city and it was tucked away safely at the bottom of my bag. The second was that video montage idea I'd given Emilia. Only she, Denzel and I had recorded our parts so far, and it was a well-kept secret. From the way she fidgeted, she probably had something for me as well already.

We continued speaking deep into the night, and I was the first one to retire from the fire. I kissed Cece goodnight since I wasn't going to sleep with her tonight and Mira stupidly acted like she swooned and asked Chase to do the same to her. Needless to say, he ignored her. After brushing my teeth, I gathered my team, dug through my bag for a flashlight, and grabbed my Sinnohan history book. Sunshine had said he'd come, but he immediately began to snore and fell asleep.

Honey held the flashlight up to the book while Jellicent shivered in anticipation. Sweetheart and Princess seemed somewhat intrigued, although the latter was just happy for me to read stories to her like I used to do when she was a Togepi, and Angel was just happy to be here.

"This isn't just story time," I said, "Pay attention to the words when I read, and what they sound like, okay? This is going to take a while, but I'd like for all of you to learn how to read."

Pupitar was the first to grumble.

"It's a very useful skill, Sweetie. For example, if you get lost one day and you need to find me, you can read out my trainer card ID to a Ranger's psychic. Plus, girls who can read are very strong. The strongest, in fact."

The rock type's eyes glimmered in anticipation, and from that point on, she was on board.

"Chapter 1: Hisui's colonization and settlement. Before being renamed to Sinnoh, this land was called Hisui by the first natives. The origin of the word Sinnoh is still heavily debated to this day, but most historians believe it to be the name of an ancient God. Around 10,000 years ago, the first human settlers arrived in small numbers, and they were mostly from Johto, our neighbor to the south. However, it is not until 2,500 years ago that we get a clearer picture of history with ancient cave art. Drawings that still remain to this day in Celestic's caves of Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie (which have never been proven to exist, but this is not the first time humans have drawn or talked of fictional Pokemon), but also drawings of an enormous distortion appearing above Mount Coronet's summit. These drawings are preserved all over the region and differ greatly from more ancient cave art mostly found in Paldea due to their complexity that rivals today's best painters, but they lead all historians to one conclusion: around 2,500 years ago, a great calamity befell Hisui, and with it began Sinnoh's recorded history..."