---

5:58 A.M. June 12, Saturday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event)

Events:  The second to last day of battles for the First Preliminary Match Week in preparation for the Kanto & Johto Summer Indigo Cup.  Many tourists are traveling through Pallet and Viridian to arrive at Silver City for the big tournament while also supporting the Summer Bronze League kick-off.

 

Rhea yawned, hearing the soft sounds of Flying-type Pokemon chirping around her.  Releasing a low moan with a stretch, she rubbed her eyes, forcing herself up.  She’d spent the night on top of her sleeping pad and bag; the warm late spring night was more than comfortable enough with the light breeze that flowed through Pallet Forest.

They’d moved off the easily traversable Route 1 shortly after leaving the city to escape the high traffic of Trainers hiking with the early League rush to Viridian.  There were many options for Pokemon flying taxis, and the tour-guide agencies were overloaded with customers with the influx of tourists to Kanto.

It was a customary expectation that Bronze-tier Trainers would trek their way across the region to each city and Gym, experiencing how difficult life can be while learning to handle those challenges, but it wasn’t a rule anyone enforced.  Still, others would think less of your journey if you didn’t.

The right of passage was a marker in your life that would decide a lot about your future, tracing back as far as anyone could remember.  Of course, the age had been much younger in generations past, yet the concept was the same.

Adjusting her bound blonde hair, Rhea breathed out a soft grunt, greeting Mya as she wished her good morning.  Nova was still asleep inside her pokeball; it seemed her two Pokemon were sleeping much longer than Gables and Amber, and she just chalked it up to them attempting to conserve as much energy as possible to draw as little from her as tolerable.

Snatching her phone, she activated the dully lit hologram, dimmed by the automatic sensor that recognized she was in a dark environment for an extended period without use.

Rhea still squinted, slowly adapting to the brightness; it would increase, using the settings she’d set on her previous device that transferred over.

The news was as to be expected; since she’d been out of the public eye for a bit, others were taking the front stage.  Amy, Olivia, and Isabella’s group were competing with Kevin’s team of speedrunners.  They’d only spent a few hours in Viridian for supplies before rushing to Dark City along route 2, split by the Viridian Forest on the left and the Shadow Woods to the right.

A frown touched her lips while swapping to the Trainer App, glancing at the current rankings.  Her team was nowhere near the first page.

Two types of rating systems were commonly used across the Trainer Leagues throughout the world, the Tier System and the Battle Ranking System.  Neither one contradicted the other as both were built for different purposes.

The Tier System identified where a Trainer and their Pokemon landed in a bracket or league, acting as a more general distinguisher of where you lined up and was commonly shared across the world.

There were degrees within the Tier System, such as Bronze 1, where Rhea stood, and that would likely change once she entered her first Gym Challenge; the levels of a Tier went up to 8, symbolizing the League appropriate challenge rating the Gym was able to utilize against you with their approved Pokemon.

The Tier System was an official League issued classification that the public easily recognized; however, the Battle Ranking System was a regional prestige marker for Match Rating.  It was not transferable beyond a region and acted as a regional indicator for the most powerful active competitive Trainers.

The Tier System was League issued; the Battle Ranking System was a regional community committee-driven classification that the League occasionally referenced if further clarification or categorization was needed.  A Silver-tier Trainer could be ranked higher than a Gold, depending on their match history, yet that didn’t make the Silver-tier Gold-tier.

Naturally, Gym Leaders and notable Master-tier Gym Aides usually stood at the top of the yearly listing since Trainers sought them out, and it had gotten so bad that most regional Battle Commissions moved Gym Leaders to their own bracket, allowing non-Gym reps to make it to the top of a category.

Rhea giggled internally upon seeing the current top ranks this year.  Amira’s grandfather was sitting in 1st place, having just overtaken Sabrina with over a staggering fifty-two wins, zero losses against Bronze-tier non-Kanto challengers that arrived the previous day.

It was questionable how some of those Trainers might have gotten to Viridian so quickly by Kanto standards, and one team was disqualified from the speedrunning boards by illegally using Gold-tier Trainers’ Pokemon as mounts, but it didn’t matter in the end since everyone in Kanto was laughing at their attempts.

Everyone in Kanto knew the one cardinal rule of beginning the Bronze-tier journey, avoid Viridian and Saffron Gyms as long as possible, and that included the time Blue ran the outfit.  Dozens of years of trial and error from past generations had proven that the longer you waited, the more battle experience a Trainer and their Pokemon obtained, the easier those rookie crushing Gyms would be.

Only the current Champion, Chase, had been able to earn the Encrusted Earth Badge from Giovanni before the International Police stormed the Gym for a second time, the first being during Red’s legendary journey.

However, this time, Giovanni didn’t go on the run but took the battle to court, and the prosecution was incapable of convicting the Mob Boss.  Other methods had been in the process of catching the infamous man, seeking appropriate witnesses and information, but then the long years of the Ultra War started.

She’d been a child when all of that was happening and only remembered having Jason and her brother to really depend on to spend time with her.  It had been rough as a kid, but she understood after a while, and seeing the exhausted, despairing, and injured  Master Trainers and Pokemon at the worst parts of the war really stuck in her mind.

The details of the Ultra War was mostly shrouded in government secrecy, under top security clearance with only updates on which areas Ultra Wormholes had opened and news on the current status of the fight in those areas with refugee movements and support efforts.

Kanto and Sinnoh had been in a tense position when a massive wormhole attack happened in the Sinjoh region, now restricted under Master-tier danger levels.  The whole area had been decimated by whatever happened there with the Ultra Beasts and the resistance; now, it was known as the Sinjoh Desolation, restricted to even Master-tier.  The New Badlands surrounding the distortion area, accessible to Master-tier, not that anyone could even get close with the power of the Pokemon nearby that even outclassed Mt. Silver.

Giovanni had been conscripted into the war, but little was known about most of the details or enemies; the scary part was that another universe was attacking theirs.  Rhea tapped on Giovanni’s profile to look at the official matches’ public information, and the time between battles was insane.

The Viridian Gym was known to specialize in Ground-type Pokemon, which meant all of his usable Pokemon had to meet the first or secondary typing for Master-tier and below opponents.  Logically, a Trainer would think this gym should be easy, considering Ground-types were known to have many common weaknesses.

However, Giovanni had dispatched all fifty-two international upstart Trainers within two hours.  It was as if he’d lined up the bunch with a demand that they immediately start the next match after each victory, and even more shocking was that the first 11 knockouts were with the same Pokemon before being forced to swap out because the referee said the Diglett had out leveled its current usability by the Gym Leader.

The second was another Diglett that had to be swapped out after the 19th match for much the same reason; although, he’d been poisoned because he’d been running out of personal energy to keep up the battle.  It said something when a Pokemon had to be recalled because it ran out of its own power.

Every encounter had been televised, the international Trainers probably looking for the prestige of being the first to beat a Kanto Gym.  Rhea clicked on the 6th; she couldn’t help a small grin upon seeing the legendary Viridian Underground Stadium that could fit eighty-thousand people.

Viridian’s Platinum and Master-tier challengers brought massive turnouts, but little could be seen of the outer seating with the focus on the colossal earth-themed field, and sure enough, all 52 Trainers were lined up around the challenger’s side of the arena, waiting their turn.

Giovanni seemed to have his own hidden personal booth extended from the back wall that could be retracted.  He sat in an elegant, sumptuous black and gold armchair, encrusted with various shades of emeralds to give it that Viridian flair.

Stunningly large Viridian flags could be seen around the lavish Gym architecture, and from the cheers of the crowd off-screen, it was clearly packed.

The infamous, well-groomed Gym Leader sat comfortably in his chair, displaying the class he was known for in a slim-fit fancy white jacket with black trim, showing his muscular frame.  A slim white tie bound in an intrinity-knot brought the eye to the Encrusted Grandmaster-tier Earth Badge he wore on his suit collar, above his heart.  The white was contrasted by a black dress shirt and black tangent-style pocket square with white trim.

He occasionally leered down at the Trainers with a bored expression, but for the most part, didn’t pay the throng of energetic teens more than a glance; the sixth match was Giovanni’s insane Diglett that lasted 11 rounds. It popped up and down around the field from multiple holes it had carved throughout the battles with the Gym Leader’s private instruction.

The tiny Ground Pokemon made use of its Sand Attacks to swiftly knock its Pidgey opponent out of the air when it flew too close before utilizing Scratches to finish it off, rubbing its rough, white glowing body against his fallen foe.

Rhea flipped through a few battles, noticing the Diglett used Growls against Pokemon that were fast, lowering their attacks while keeping its distance on the off-chance they landed a Move.

His challengers were confused and overwhelmed by the hit and run tactics the Diglett performed; however, as the matches continued, it became more apparent that the Diglett was becoming tired.  The 19th match was a rough one for the weary Ground Pokemon and against his most formidable opponent yet, an Alolan Sandshrew that could follow it underground.

Diglett took a Scratch and Poison Sting, poisoning the little guy, likely because of its combined damage throughout the battles and lost internal strength, but managed to edge out a narrow victory by outmaneuvering the inexperienced Pokemon in the complicated tunnel system underneath the ring.

Motion sensors and miniature cameras that were nowhere on the market with their insanely small size followed the action underground, projecting it to the holographic screens.  It was the hardest battle yet, but a win in the end.

The Sandshrew fainted underground to the Alolan girl’s distress, but Giovanni’s Diglett carefully brought him to the surface to be recalled and taken to the Gym’s personal care center.

Almost as if to mock the last Trainer, Giovanni’s next powerhouse that would eat through seven of the next challengers before growing too strong for his competition was a Sandshrew, utilizing the tunnels his Diglett and the Alolan Sandshrew had crafted.

She pursed her lips; Mya was watching the matches intently through their link, and Rhea started to wonder how they’d handle such a strategy.  Giovanni could only use one Pokemon since all the Trainers he faced only chose one, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use the previous matches to his advantage, as could the incoming Trainers, yet the Gym Leader’s experience was dominating.

Again, Rhea had to remind herself that Amira’s grandfather wasn’t even paying the battle much attention, seemingly handling other business on the tablet while talking to his assistant close by.  The blatant disregard for his challengers had more than a few parts of the stadium, filled with foreigners, booing at the showmanship, but Giovanni didn’t seem to care.

She backed out of the match, studying the full Regional Rank List.  Seven months into the year and Giovanni’s win to loss ratio was a staggering undefeated, 867 to 0; most of the regional Silver, Gold, and Platinum Gym challenges naturally went to the Master-tier Gym Aides.

You could go back and attempt an Encrusted Badge if you managed to register for the Indigo League in time, but if you got stuck, pounding your head against the wall that was Giovanni, then you’d miss the deadline and be forced to sign-up for the next one.

Most Trainers simply wish to make it to the Indigo League qualification matches, not get embarrassed by the Gym Leaders.  However, after they’d earned an Earth Badge, many did spend the rest of the time challenging Giovanni or one of the other Gym Leaders, hoping for the perks of getting the Encrusted Badges.  The first goal was qualifying for the Indigo League, though.

Gym Leaders had a reputation to protect, but the Viridian Gym held the same infamous status as its Leader.  If a Gym wanted to stay official, it needed to show it had the merit of remaining in good standing with the region’s Indigo League.

Pewter and Cerulean had been in threat of losing that status in the past but had returned with a vengeance, yet if there was any Gym that took its fame too far, it was Viridian.  All of a region’s Encrusted Badges held a high level of prestige; having four automatically allowed you to skip the preliminary rounds.

Rhea was nervous about The Winter Indigo League, beginning in late fall.  Kanto’s Indigo League happened twice a year; December 7th was the first preliminary rounds’ official start, leading up to the conference.

Anyone that wished to participate had to have the 8 needed badges before the 5th, at least two participating Pokemon inspected for legality, and be registered by that date or be forced to wait for the next season.

Each Tier required a set number of Pokemon per battle; Bronze required two, Silver needed four, Gold, five, and Platinum-tier League matches consisted of a full party.  Master-tier took place in a special arena where it would be an entire team vs. team showdown and was the whole tournament’s main attraction.

Some years went without a Master-tier battle altogether, which was why this Winter was so special; five Masters were competing to be ranked as High Masters for an amazing prize.

This was the year the famed Lieutenant General, Lt. Surge, would be retiring from his position.  The Electric-type Gym Leader had been through a few wars in his lifetime, but the last had taken a lot out of him.  He was a world hero, a huge part of some critical operations in the Ultra War that killed three of his Pokemon and took his right arm.

However, that didn’t stop him from completing his duties to Vermilion City.  Eight years after the end of the conflict, he was finally ready to step down with five young Masters springing to take Vermilion Gym’s High Master’s position.

Lt. Surge’s youngest daughter, Saria Surge, and her rival, Visquez, Lt. Surge’s Vice-Captain, would be in competition for the right to take the war hero’s seat as Vermilion Gym’s Leader.  Both were favored to win out of the five participants, and the News only spoke about the two because of their deep resentment toward each other.

Saria wanted to rebrand the Vermilion Gym as a Fairy-type Gym, which infuriated Visquez, who looked up to the Lieutenant-General as an idol, and taking away the long history of being an Electric Specialist Gym was disgraceful in her eyes.

Rhea had met both, and it wasn’t like Saria wanted to disrespect her father; in fact, she had the utmost respect for his legacy but wanted to cement her own, and she was most comfortable with Fairy Pokemon, growing an attachment to the Type as a young girl, which Rhea totally agreed with.

Visquez was adamant about honoring her mentor and idol, wanting nothing to do with Saria’s own dream.  She would continue Lt. Surge’s traditions and style to the end.

From what she understood, the Lieutenant General was happy either way.  It could stay in the family or continue the legacy.  There wasn’t much loss, either way; he’d laughed about it when talking to her father.

In any case, this year’s Winter Cup was something Rhea was looking forward to and dreading at the same time.

The two preliminary tournaments would group Trainer Teams in their combined elo tiers within the various Match Ranking brackets to narrow down the competition in 3 on 3 matches, both taking place a week apart from each other, and highlighted the need to learn how to function as a unit.

The 7th, Monday, and the 8th, Tuesday, were listed as days of rest, including minor celebration events while the tourists gathered for the big matches.  The 9th to the 13th would be filled with battles that teams had to be prepared for and take particular care with how they utilized their Pokemon.

The 14th and 15th would be for rest with more celebration, and the 16th to 20th would be the final preliminary matches for the prior winners with a double-elimination tournament; the Loser’s Bracket allowed a team to redeem themselves.

December 21st was the big day, the start of Winter and the Winter Grand Introduction Ceremony that lasted an entire week, celebrating the winning teams while hyping up the next week’s showdown.  The 28th to the 31st would mark the year’s end showdown in a Round-Robin style contest to discover the single most outstanding Trainer of the year for each Tier.

After the preliminaries, it was every Trainer for themselves; they’d all passed into the next Tier, whether it be Silver, Gold, or any of the other categories.  The losers would need to apply to the Summer League; badges were still valid for more attempts.

Summer League was coming to a close with the preliminary matches, leading to the big celebration that would mark the 20th of June, the beginning of the Summer Grand Introduction Ceremony at the Indigo Plateau.

She hadn’t been too interested in the matches since there were so many people each year that just didn’t live up to the hype of seeing Franky battling or any of the dozens of Master to Grandmaster matches she could see at home from time to time, but that was beginning to change after seeing Amira’s match.

Rhea swapped to the Kanto and Johto Indigo Plateau App, tapping on this week’s matches; the 12th was the final day of the 548 Bronze-tier teams that had entered.  With each team battling twice in that week, it would drop the number to 137 trios.

Next week would begin the Loser’s Bracket and the Second Cup Qualifiers, and the number of contestants would be reduced again by two victories, and if there was an uneven number of teams, then one group would be randomly selected to only participate in one match.

That would leave 138 contestants with the Loser’s Bracket concluding on the 17th so the winner could participate in the two necessary matches on the 18th and 19th.  It was the underdog favorites match that many flocked to see, and at the end would leave 105 Trainers that advanced to the next Tier and compete in the Summer League Round Robin Cup.

They would be divided into 7 Round Robin group match-ups, leading to the best of each to contend in the final Round Robin bracket for the Cup.  The battles began on the 27th, ending with the Grand Finals on the 30th.

The big kickoff started in eight days, which was another reason Viridian was packed at the moment since both the start and end of the two Leagues slightly overlapped.  The path from Viridian to the Indigo Plateau was comfortable and safe with the Magnet Train network; traveling at 340 MPH, it was the fastest train in the world.

The multi-railed system was the easiest form of travel between the major cities of Kanto and Johto, operating from Lavender City, through Gringey City, Saffron City, Sable National Park, Sable City, Celadon City, Neon City, Viridian City, Victory Road, and Indigo Plateau as the bridge between the two regions.

It then dropped down to Cremini Town, running through the Tohjo Mountains to reach New Bark City, Catallia City, Cherrygrove City, across Cherry Bay to Florando, Greenfield, Goldenrod City, over Olivine Bay to Ogi Island and its City before ending at Olivine City.

The expansion to Ogi was an expensive one, but the islanders hoped it would help their economy, which seemed to have picked up with the ease of access, but the ferry industry took a minor hit.

There had been plans to branch out even further, going north and south of Johto and Kanto, but Magnet Company stocks were currently being fought over by Rocket and Silph.  It was a big deal on the Gossip App to see which conglomerate would take the company; both had very different plans for where it should expand.

It would be somewhat simple to get to the league with the available transport methods, but Rhea intended to save that first experience after her Bronze-tier journey.

Sabin had won the last Gold-tier Winter Indigo League, which sent him to the Platinum-tier Badge race, but he’d missed the Summer League because of training and his Mt. Silver expedition; she partially wondered if he’d postponed it on purpose with Katlin so they could take place in the Winter Cup to be with Jason and her.  In any case, she’d be able to go see her brother live for the first time if they managed to get there in time.

Gold to Masters Divisions were the highlights of the Indigo League, and her brother would draw a huge crowd, but the first International Semiannual Bronze Division was getting a lot of love this year because of the international collaboration, and depending on how it turned out, the other regions would open up for the rest of the tiers.

The issue for Bronze-tier was definitely distance and time; trekking across an entire region took a lot of effort, and she had 147 days to get it done.  She’d need to plan it out with Amira and Lori, but it roughly translated to about 18 days per badge, which was doable, but hard in some areas.

Distance between Gym locations became a much smaller issue once a Trainer had a flying Pokemon, and even if they didn’t, many transportation options could be purchased.

Bronze-tiers using such methods might have been frowned upon, but that didn’t mean many didn’t do it, and many of the low physical fortitude Trainers tended to do what they could while keeping track of the dreaded December 5th deadline.

Rhea hummed, mind working between the complicated mess they had to discuss on the hike today, but her thoughts turned back to Amira’s grandfather.  It was hard not to after watching him dominate the competition.

Her brother and Katelin were currently trying their hardest to get four Encrusted Badges for the Winter League and seemed to be making progress.  The Kanto and Johto League was somewhat unique because of its massive landmass, having sixteen possible Gym Leaders to pick from, and only needing four to skip the preliminaries.

The Trainer might be forced to participate in the battles if their team members hadn’t gotten the required badges, but that was only to help their friends; the four Encrusted Badges guaranteed them a place in the second match-up.

Rhea studied the badge shown on Giovanni’s jacket, shifting to her side.  The Encrusted Earth Badge was seen as the highest honor, and Giovanni boasted that if anyone beat him, he’d sponsor the victor with five purchasable Moves of any price, including one that was not on the market that Rocket developed, granting them a huge advantage in the primary Indigo Round-Robin.  He would also triple the two preliminary prize pools of 10,000 Credits to a staggering 60,000 Credits.

The prize was huge with the addition of three weeks of free time to prepare for the big matches, practicing the top-tier Moves their Pokemon learned.  TMs were expensive, especially the powerful ones, breaking into the tens of millions of credits, and with the promise of a unique TM that could be sold off as an added cherry.

Although, you could argue that it was a fantastic promotion gimmick since he made money on every Trainer that failed to achieve the victory.

Releasing a soft hum after watching the 35th match with Giovanni’s Sandshrew standing over a poisoned and battered Kricketot.  What do you think?  He’s pretty strong … that’s why we’ll save him for last.

Mya seemed impressed by the Pokemon’’s movements but thought she could handle it without much difficulty.

“Mmh…”  … I don’t know … yeah, we’re strong, but the machine will measure that strength when we go in, and it’ll give him a list of Pokemon that would be a match for us.

The prospect only excited Mya more; she wanted a challenge, but Rhea knew that could spell disaster for them.  Her Mawile severely outclassed Jason, Len, and Lucian’s Pokemon, but if the chips were stacked even a decent degree lower with a Gym Leader’s experience attached, she worried they’d get creamed.

Mya couldn’t believe she’d lose, though, which added to Rhea’s anxiety, but she didn’t pursue the topic with her Pokemon.  All they could do was attempt it, and if her fears were right, they’d go from there.

Releasing a soft groan, Rhea turned her head to the side, hearing Amira returning from the river where she’d probably just finished wiping down her body with cold water.

Rhea wasn’t that bothered by the chill; she’d gone out on hikes and journey preparedness training with Julia as a part of her schooling, and her dad spent one-on-one time with her hiking with his Pokemon.  It didn’t seem like that was the norm everywhere with Lori’s reaction, though.

Stretching one more time, Rhea tossed her phone to the side of her two-person tent, unzipped the fly, and went outside.  The sun was beginning to brighten the sky, but the forest was shadowed in darkness; she’d spent more time than usual in bed, watching Giovanni’s fights and worrying about scheduling, yet the others weren’t up.

She could see the flames rising off Amber’s tail and flowing out of her ears by the stream, acting as Amira’s light.  The redhead had her hair tied back into a ponytail to keep dry while whipping off the sweat and dead skin with a towel.

Glancing around, she didn’t see Sam, Hannah, and Jade’s Pokemon, but it wasn’t like she could see much, to begin with.  Ducking back inside to snatch her phone, she kept it active to give some visibility while grabbing her own items; sunscreen, lotion, both towels, body wash, and deodorant.

Rhea went to the brook, smiling at Amira as she neared.  “Morning!”

“Morning,” Amira returned the smile.  “Sleep well?”

“Pretty well,” Rhea mumbled, bending down to test the water.  “Brr … hehe, Lori’s gonna hate this.”

Amira was drying off with a second towel, using a self-made hanger out of branches she’d prepared the night before using three sticks.  Rhea was a bit impressed, watching Amber go underneath to blow a soft stream of hot air at it to help speed up the drying process.

“I figured she’d just use the fire to warm up some water to use,” she shrugged.  “Umm … do you think we should start it?  I wasn’t sure since the light might wake everyone up.”

Rhea did her best not to shiver while scrubbing her skin down with the body wash and cold water; Amira made it look easy, but even if she’d practiced for years, she still preferred it be warm.  “... Hmm … I mean, it’s like 6:10, at the moment.  We probably should start getting our food going and stuff.  Oh, by the way, what do you think about bringing group food that we can all eat?”  She asked, smile brightening.

“Not the freeze-dried stuff?”  Amira questioned, applying her daily products like sunscreen, lotion, and deodorant.

“No, like real food that we can cut up and put in bags.  We can split them up between our bags, too.  Don’t you think it’ll be nice having good meals?”

Amira’s tone lightened considerably.  “Yeah … I’d really like that.  I’m not the greatest cook, though…”

She jumped on the offer.  “Oh, I’ll do it!  I’ve been learning how to cook a lot of dishes with my cousin for a while now.”  Vision darting to Amber, still happily acting as Amira’s blow dryer, Rhea hummed.  “Uh … did you sleep well?  I mean, you normally get up at 5:30, right?”

Packing up her supplies, Amira sighed, twisting her hips to stretch a little more after finishing applying her creams.  “No, I slept fine … I was just watching some matches and lost track of time.”

“Oh, your grandpa?”  Rhea asked, pulling down her top to clean her chest before drying off and resituating it.  “Yeah … I was, umm, watching some of those matches, too.  Hehe, that burrow with the hit and run tactic was pretty toxic.  I’d be frustrated, too, but that’s the kind of thing Gyms are known for … they make you work for the badge.”

Amira swallowed.  “My grandpa … yeah, yeah, I’m sure his matches were great.  It was something like fifty-two challenges in two hours.”

Rhea paused, scrubbing her sides and giving the redhead a quizzical look.  “Wait … did you watch your grandpa’s battles or someone else?”

“... No, it’s nothing,” Amira mumbled, cheeks darkening for some reason.  “Umm, I watched two matches of my grandfather’s.  The burrow strategy isn’t all that rare for him,” she mumbled, playing with her hair.  “He was probably just testing to see how much the out of region Trainers had prepared for him … not much from the little I saw.”

A little curious why she was acting a bit more flustered than usual, but not wanting to press her new friend, Rhea let her curiosity die with a shrug.  “To be honest … I’m a little worried.”

“About?”  Amira asked, checking her towels.  She seemed satisfied with the condition because Amber pranced off toward the fire pit they’d prepared the previous night.  “... Umm, there should be enough room for your towel, too,” she mumbled.

“Thanks!  Uh … I don’t know,” Rhea grumbled, thinking back on the matches, “the Gym rules are there to push Trainers, but also to be beatable at a certain point from what I’ve heard…”

Instead of moving to the fire, Amira folded her arms, lips pulling to the side while eyeing her.  “Well, yeah.  My mom told me that Gyms are mainly there to act as an information hub if the region needs to conscript people for war.  It also provides a training method for strengthening a region’s potential military force competitively and profitably.  From a business perspective, it’s pretty ingenious since the region and city-states get to take a small percentage of each bet.”

The pieces slid into place so fast that Rhea couldn’t believe she was just learning about it now, but it made perfect sense.  “I mean, isn’t the tax used for like … Centers and mitigating some of the medical prices and stuff, too?”

Amira chuckled, walking over to the fire to start adding the leaves and sticks; Amber had been so adamant about being useful that she’d started moving some in herself.  “How much of the Indigo League and City-States’ budgets do you think goes to social programs?”

“I don’t know,” Rhea hummed, hanging her towel and drying off her damp skin.  “Not a lot about the government was covered in my school … well, not a whole lot.  I lived in the Indigo Provence forest, so we didn’t really cover much of the City-States of Johto or Kanto.”

“Humph,” Amira shook her head, situating a side area of branches to set a pot for cooking before Amber lit the fire with a puff of flames.  “Viridian’s Tax System only makes up about 10% for social programs.  Then you’ve got many other programs like Science, Transportation, Food and Agriculture, Energy and Environment, International Affairs, Housing and Community, Veterans’ Benefits, Education, and of course, the Military, which is like … 42% of the budget.  Of course, there’s a lot in the Military budget, including paying the Ranger Union for support, but it’s big.”

“I had no idea,” Rhea mumbled, applying her own creams and deodorant.  “I wasn’t really into all of that … umm, anyway, I was worried about my Pokemon scoring really high on the energy reading device thing … and we’d be super outclassed because you know … all my energy is available, but I can’t use it.”

Mya was assuring her again that it would be fine, but Rhea still wasn’t so sure.  Nova woke up for a moment but tried going back to sleep with Mya’s prompts.

Amira got her bag out from her tent, taking out a collapsible pot, and going down to the stream to get some water to boil.  “Hmm … I wouldn’t be too worried about that.  I’m sure the Gyms are smart enough to know something’s up.  Your family might have even talked to them about it.”

“Yeah, sure, the Gym Leaders,” Rhea replied, rubbing her left arm.  “I mean, I’ve met most of them, and even some overseas, but it’s just … we’ll probably be facing their Gym Aides.”

“Mmh,” Amira gave her a lifted eyebrow, “I don’t know about you, but I want to get four Encrusted Badges to skip the preliminaries.  It will mitigate a lot of stress in the long run if we can get them as a team.”

“Yeah, but … we only have like eighteen days to get to each Gym,” Rhea returned, walking over to grab her own bag for cooking supplies.

Amira nodded, sitting on the grass while watching the water, Amber curling up beside her.  “Right … which is more than manageable, and weren’t you the one that wanted to make detours for Contests?”

“Well, I do … it’d be fun, I think, but … I’m just a bit concerned about how much time we have, after thinking about it.”

“It’s not like it’ll take eighteen days to get to each city,” Amira replied, poking the leaves and logs with a stick to stoke the fire.  “Some might only take us five or six days.  Saffron and Celadon aren’t that far from each other, and if we go down Cycling Road, then Fuchsia will be a breeze.  Pallet, Pewter, Cerulean, and Vermilion are the biggest travel times, Cerulean to Vermilion being the longest.”

“Hmm,” Rhea scratched the back of her head.  “So … you’ve already thought about the whole travel time issue?”

“... Here, you finish getting ready, and I’ll show you on the map.”

“Okay…”

Rhea quickly packed up what she could and got her food out before sitting beside Amira; the redhead was moving around the hologram of Kanto’s map, zooming out.

“We’re about half the way to Xanadu Nursery, right?”

“... Mhm…”

“We’ll reach the nursery by … I’d say 6 P.M. with our current pace, and there we’ll probably be challenged.  That is what I’m worried about.”

Rhea was a little taken aback by the sudden shift in direction.  “Why?”

“Because … I suspect there will be a group hoping to triple battle us, and you can’t have your Pokemon out yet, correct?”

“Right … that’ll only reduce my elo rating, though; if I refuse.”

“Our whole team will be reduced,” Amira sighed.  “That rating will come into play later … I don’t know, maybe I’m just being an elite,” she mumbled, playing with her red hair slung over her shoulder, glare fixated on the Xanadu Nursery from her phone in front of her.  “... I don’t like people … especially the News talking bad about me or my family.”

“Hmm…”  Rhea studied Amira as she shifted with agitation.  “I’m sorry, Amira…”

“For?”

“You’re in this whole mess … traveling off Route 1, avoiding Trainers, and hiding from the press … it’s all because of me.”

“... Well … it’s not that bad,” Amira mumbled, tossing her hair back to add her food pack that seemed to consist of a noodle dish.  “I’m actually … no, it’s fine.  Umm … anyway, if that happens, maybe I can just challenge them to a two on one or something … make them think they’ll get an easy win.”

Sitting cross-legged beside her, Rhea giggled.  “Thanks, Amira … you’re so dependable.”

“... I have to be,” she whispered.  “So…”

They paused as she heard rustling in Lori’s tent as she groaned, stretching out with a short yawn.  It was 6:22 A.M.  Sam, Hannah, and Jade was still passed out.  Rhea felt a little bad for them; she didn’t expect the hike to be so demanding on the three.  The Route 1 path was much more comfortable than hiking up the ridges; they were trying to hide how sore and tired they were last night.

“Looks like Lori’s up,” Rhea chuckled.

“Seems so … anyway, I thought we’d save my grandfather’s Gym for the last badge … I mean, you agree, right?”

“Yeah,” Rhea smirked, recalling the match, “umm … you aren’t planning on getting an Encrusted Badge from him, right?”

Amira’s somber attitude shifted with a delayed laugh.  “You’re funny.  No, he more or less told me that it would be a waste of time.  No, not now, but … I do want to be the first to beat him … someday.”

“Ooh, got a plan?”  Lori asked, getting out of her tent while stretching to the left and right.

“Not really,” Amira mumbled.

Lori and Gables plopped down by the fire, staring at the embers, but shortly after, Gables danced around and blended into the surroundings with Camouflage.

“Huh … the other still not up?”  Lori frowned, checking her bun.  “Guess it was pretty rough for them yesterday.  Did you check their packs?  Yeah, a bit heavier than mine, but not by that much.”

Rhea shook her head.  “No, it’s probably the difference in our physical fortitude.”

“Huh,” Lori glanced between them before reaching over and poking Amira’s tone belly playfully.  “Hehe, Amira certainly has us both beat in that department.”

“Hey,” Amira blushed, brushing her hand away.  “I had a daily workout routine … my mom was really into hanging out with morning self-defense lessons.”

“Sounds nice,” Rhea whispered, feeling a little envious.  “Umm, so what about the Badges?”

“Ah, to business!”  Lori snickered, but her lips fell dramatically when studying their appearance and the drying towels by the river; the light around the forest was steadily increasing.  “Ugh…”

Amira stirred her food around; it didn’t take long, and Rhea knew the meals weren’t terrible, but nothing to write home about.

The redhead nudged her head toward the fire.  “Are you going to warm some water to wash off?”

“Oh, good idea!”  Lori’s lips lifted.

Rhea motioned to her.  “I can wait to eat; go ahead.”

Amira took her meal off soon after, allowing it to cool a bit.  “Where did Gables go?”

“Oh, he’s checkin’ around for what happened to the other girls’ Pokemon.  He didn’t like that they weren’t chillin’ nearby.  Ya know what’s up?”

Amira shook her head.  “No, but Sam, Hannah, and Jade are still in their tents, according to Amber.”

Mya expressed some concern, too, but mostly because she was mad they didn’t stay by her tent to protect her overnight.

“Hmm … think there was trouble?”

“Meh, can’t be anything serious, right?”  Lori asked.  “If Sam and the others didn’t wake up from their Pokemon sending a distress call, then it shouldn’t be anything that bad.  So, you were talkin’ about … wait … huh…”

Rhea frowned as Lori got to her feet.  “What?”

“Gables says there’s somethin’ up.  C’mon…”

Amber ran to the left, seemingly knowing which direction the frog Pokemon had gone.  Following them a few dozen meters into the foliage, Rhea was a little concerned upon seeing the three girls’ Pokemon pretty beat up.  In fact, it seemed they were having a bit of trouble getting back to the camp.

Hector, Sam’s Pineco, had gotten Orin, Jade’s Pidgey, on his back, probably with Limru’s help.  The whole scene was utterly puzzling; why they hadn’t woken up their Trainers was beyond her if they’d gone through a rough battle, but the more bizarre result was why they’d traveled so far away from the camp.

Amber and Gables were talking to Hector, Hannah’s Ledyba limping along beside him.

“What happened?”  Rhea asked, bending down to lift up the Pineco and Pidgey.  “Here, let’s get back to camp.”

Lori carried Limru.  “Gables seems a bit conflicted about it … something probably happened that made them feel compelled to leave.”

“Humph … Amber feels like they should have woken us up for it … still, she doesn’t feel that mad at them,” Amira commented, following them back.  “Here … I have a potion bottle we can use.”

“For real?”  Rhea asked.  “When did you get that?”

“Since the start … it’s really something you should have no matter what.”

Rhea felt a bit foolish for not having one; she could have ordered it when Ben went to pick up groceries or bought one at Pallet.

“Yeah,” Mallory sighed, lifting up Limru to check her out, “I tried to buy one in Pallet when I got there, and they were totally sold out.”

“Oh…”  Well, there goes that.  I guess it wouldn’t have helped if I did look for one.

“Let’s wake up the others,” Amira mumbled.  “We need to get ready anyway.”

Rousing the three, they instantly realized something was wrong once waking.  A mixture of confusion and worry filled the air as they fired off questions, but they didn’t get much.  After a bit of interpreting done by their Pokemon, they discovered a swarm of Plusle and Minun had shown up during the night to pick a fight.

They didn’t want to wake their Trainers after how hard the day had been for them, and so they chose to accept the challenge on their own, taking it deeper into the woods.  The three managed to work as a team to beat them off, but in the process, Orin and Limru were paralyzed, and they’d all taken a lot of damage.

It was a pretty brave story, but Rhea agreed that the three put everyone in danger by not waking them up when something showed up that they had a hard time contending with.

Amira pulled out a bottle, unsealing it to spray on the Pokemon.  “You three know what this is?”  She asked.

“Oh, I do, and thanks, Amira!”  Jade piped up.  “My older sister actually works by commission for the Rocket Item Division Branch in Pallet.  She works in the berry fields.”

“Right,” Amira smiled a little, continuing to heal their Pokemon.  “It’s possible using special equipment to extract more out of a berry and turn it into a more potent serum, depending on the process.  Potions are the most diluted of the mix, and you don’t need to use all of it … just enough to get them to the point they feel better.  How’s that?”

“Orin’s feeling a lot better.  Thanks so much, Amira!”

“No problem … now for the rest of you.”

Rhea was a little shocked at how careful Amira was, fussing over their Pokemon.  It was the most she’d opened up to her three friends throughout the whole trip, and she even used most of her Potion and Paralysis Heal bottles on them.  Once finished, Hannah went down to the river with Sam to wash in the cold brook, but Jade preferred to go with Lori’s method of warming the water up.

They sat around the fire; Amber and Gables talked with the other three Pokemon to get more details on the fight.

Amira started up the conversation, picking up where they’d left off.  “As I was saying, we’ll need to pick which Badges we should aim for so we can select our travel route.  Personally, I’d want to get the most distant Badges first.”

Mallory hummed, using her slightly steaming water to wash off nearby, just taken off the fire.  “... I’m like … an idiot when it comes to Kanto Badges.  Lay it on me, Professor Rocket!  What should we look out for?  You said you want to go to your grandpa’s Gym last?”

Jade giggled, watching her water to make sure it didn’t get too hot.  “Yeah … I’d rather not get blasted by the News articles and social media memes about going up against that monster.”

Rhea’s shaking stomach followed shortly after.  “A bunch of memes are probably already hitting MemeStar; fifty-two foreign Trainers challenged Giovanni yesterday in his scheduled eight-hour battle bracket.  Hehe, it was over in two.”

“Haha!  I’ve gotta look up some of those,” Lori said, moving her bikini to clean her chest, and causing Rhea, Amira, and Jade to release an internal sigh at the clear advantage she had over them.  “It’s probably like trying to take on High Master Drayden first in Unova.”

“... Something like that,” Amira mumbled, probably doing the same thing as Rhea, trying not to compare their bust sizes.

Rhea wasn’t all that far behind, but the purple-haired girl definitely had her beat; Mallory rode the edge of what was perhaps too big for her height and proportions.

Shaking her head, Amira continued, Lori seemingly not even noticing the slightly depressed expressions on each of their faces as she resituated the garment to move to her sizable and toned legs.  “No, High Master Forrest has proven to be the most friendly beginner Gym Leader to attempt and should be our first Encrusted Badge.”

“Oh, so we’re gonna go for the four Encrusted Badge challenge, huh?”  Lori mused, now drying off and applying her creams.  “That’s good news for me since it’s a Rock-type Specialist Gym, but what about you?  Rhea should be fine with either of her Pokemon, but uh … Fire isn’t great against Rock.”

“It won’t be easy, I’m sure, but with the low Move Pool, it’s my best bet currently since Cerulean Gym will be my real challenge.  I see Forrest being beatable … High Master Misty … not an option.  It’d be better for me to go against a Gym Aide.”

“Hmm … so, we’ll be going against different Gym Leaders for our Encrusted Badges?”  Rhea asked.

Amira shrugged.  “It doesn’t matter in the end, as long as we get four.  The order we should take is fairly clear, though.  Pewter, then Cerulean because of the Boulder Badge’s easier reputation, and the Cascade Badge because the city is so far out of the way from everywhere else important in the entire region.  The next steps are a bit more tricky, though…”

“High Master Sabrina?”  Rhea asked with a forced chuckle.

“High Master … she might as well be Grandmaster,” Amira mumbled, staring down at her cooling seasoned noodles.  “The Saffron Gym has almost as bad of a reputation as my grandfather’s.  No, the Marsh Badge will be a difficult one, even against the weaker Aides.  There’s a reason people keep an eye on the Gym’s weekly battle schedule in hopes to catch one of the Aides with the lowest Battle Rating.”

“So, we save it for later?”  Mallory asked, getting her own breakfast in the form of two protein bars and pulling out some Pokemon food.  The others did the same, allowing their Pokemon to eat their fill.

Sam, Hannah, and Jade were silently listening, trying to hurry up with their morning preparations.

Amira nodded.  “As long as we can while keeping an eye out for the Gym schedule.  They post it on their website each week.”

“Oh, sweet,” Lori mumbled, playing with the complex App she had.  “So … I can just program a notification to let us know when it’s posted … and which Aide has the lowest current elo … there we go!  Once it goes off, then we just have to apply for the slot, right?”

“Handy,” Amira’s full lips lifted a little.  “Yeah, that would make it a lot easier.”

“So … where do we go if no one with a low enough elo shows up when we’re goin’ by Saffron?”  Rhea asked, scanning her own map.  Sam and Hannah were eyeing it closeby.

“Hmm … that’s the question,” Amira growled.  “Personally … I say we actually loop around.  From Cerulean, we can go down Route 5, transfer to 29, and HopHopHop City.  We cut south from Greylan Village, through Fennel Valley, and it’s a pretty easy journey from Sable City to Celadon City.”

“Isn’t that pretty rough trekking through the mountainous areas, though?”  Mallory asked, following her explanation.  “We could go to Saffron City through Amity Meadows and the Farmsteads, then take Route 7 to Sable City.”

“Umm … because Fennel Valley has rare Pokemon near the ruins that are moderately low level … we can catch our second Pokemon there, and it’ll probably be a good one.  A lot of foreign Pokemon can wander out of the Sable National Park, too … you know, that one incident with the Utripis Group several years ago?”

Sam sucked in a sharp breath.  “No way!  I’ve never even heard of the place.”

“Utripis Group … yeah, I think I remember something about that,” Hannah mumbled.

Rhea’s brow furrowed while looking at the areas.  “Wait … that part of the valley you’re pointing to says it’s Gold-tier restricted.”

Amira pushed her lips to the side, getting up to snatch her dress out of her tent.  “Well … there is a path my dad showed me that is safe for Bronze-tier … where the weaker Pokemon gather.  The Ranger Union just is very heavy-handed with their recommendation and restrictions since they’re somewhat liable if something goes wrong.”

“Makes sense,” Mallory nodded with a soft hum.  “Oh, hey, you’re goin’ a bit bad girl on me, Amira; tryin’ ta sneak past the Rangers!  What kind of Pokemon?”

“I’m … not completely sure,” Amira replied with a light blush, putting on her red dress.  “Uh … Rhea, could you…”

“Yeah, I got ya,” Rhea chuckled, getting up to help zip up the back.  “In fact, I should get my own clothes on.  So … yeah, I’m cool with that, and then we take Celadon to Sunny City?  Oh, and we can see the Gaiva Dam, along the way, too!  It’d be fun to see Mossgreen Lake.”

“Huh … the Cycling Road to Fuchsia next?  That’d make four Badges with our second Pokemon … yeah, I think that’ll be fun, and depending on how much time we have, we can check out the Kanto Safari Zone.  Wait, what’s Laramie Land?”

“A big breeding center connected to the Safari Zone,” Rhea replied, getting dressed.  “It’s one of the biggest in Kanto.  Uh … maybe you two could catch your second Pokemon while going through Mt. Moon, though, and that could help you with Misty, Amira.  I mean, it has all types of Pokemon that were pushed south after the war.  I heard an Articuno guards the peak, too!  That’d be awesome to see.”

Sam chuckled at that.  “Eh … yeah, you guys are way out of our league … off to see a Legendary like no problem, and where did you hear that?”

“Uh,” Rhea forced a giggle while putting on her skirt, “well, my brother told me about it a month ago.  Maybe she moved on to another location, but who knows.”

“Coo…”  Mallory hummed thoughtfully.  “We’ll see … huh, so, then we flip around to Vermilion, Amira?”

“We can,” Amira commented, starting to pack up her tent.  “We could also save Vermilion for after Saffron so we can use the boat there to get to Cinnabar.  If we haven’t booked our Saffron match, then we could head up to Lavender for a Ghost-type if any of you want one.”

“Eh … I don’t know,” Lory mumbled.  “Ghosts are … kind of my sister’s thing; I’m cool with goin’, though.”

“Wow … this really is a big trip,” Rhea giggled.  “I can’t wait!”

“Yeah, but we’ll have to book it to Saffron if we’ve only got a few days to make it there in time.  Is it even possible with that distance if we had five days from Fuchsia?”

Amira chuckled.  “Honestly, I really doubt it.  No, I’m just saying it’s an option we can try, but it’s better to be on the move and getting Badges while we can instead of waiting forever for a low elo Aide to pop into the rotation.”

“Fair point,” Mallory nodded.  “Yeah, I’m game.  You, Rhea?”

“Sure!”

Hannah smiled at them, already dressed, and taking down her own tent.  “We’ll be lucky to make it to each city by the Winter Cup if we travel by foot … I hate to say it, but … maybe once we get to the Xanadu Nursery, we should keep in contact through text, or PikaBook or something.”

Sam scratched her shoulder with a sad smile, unable to meet eye contact with Rhea.  “Sorry, Rhea … we really want to join you guys, but … we just don’t have the energy, and I feel super guilty, and I know you don’t want that,” she mumbled, holding up her hands as Rhea’s brow creased with concern.  “No, it’s not you guys … really…”

“Wow,” Jade snickered, nudging Sam.  “What kind of sad break-up line was that?”

“Jade…”

“No, no,” the blue-haired girl laughed, hugging her.  “She’s totally right, though, Rhea.  We’re not gonna wimp out and take taxis, but we’re seriously holding you three back.  Like … we all know it, and it’s not bad, right, Hannah?”

“Yeah,” Hannah smiled.  “I think last night showed that … well, at least Limru and I aren’t ready for this route’s difficulty level, hehe, much less where you’ll be at Mount Moon.”

“Umm … are you sure?”  Rhea asked, feeling a bit conflicted.  She’d invited them, but it was true that they were having a challenging time even keeping up with them at a casual pace.

Sam nodded.  “Definitely!  Maybe we’ll call if we see you’re near us.”

“Okay, give me your PikaBook info … oh, and let’s take a picture!  I’m sure all my family would love to see it.”

“Uh … I don’t know,” Hannah mumbled.

Sam and Jade gave her a questioning look.

“No PikaBook?”  Sam asked.

“No, it’s just … uh, wouldn’t that mean that we could … you know, see your family members?”

Rhea giggled.  “Oh, right, well … I think you three are pretty trustworthy!  Plus, it’ll get out eventually, but … yeah, that’s fine.  Come here, and let’s get a picture!”

The sun was shining through the trees as it hit 7:25 A.M.  They connected with each other, Rhea sending them friend requests since her profile was under max security settings, unable to be seen by the public.  Each of the girls increased their own security to help keep her secret.

All three girls’ faces drained of color when spotting who Rhea had on her friend’s list; Rhea just showed a sheepish smile as they linked the dots.

“Uh … this isn’t a joke, right?”  Hannah asked, voice hoarse.

“How many Masters,” Jade paused, “no … Champions do you know?  Wait … your mother is Christie … Christie Bliss?”

Rhea shrugged.  “Uh, yeah … that’s my mom’s maiden name.  My dad’s is Everhart, and umm, I’ve met … every Champion, I believe.  I mean, Ethan and Blue aren’t my favorite people in the world … I’d try to avoid them when they came around.  Ethan’s just so … cocky it’s infuriating, but … I mean, he is on the same level as my aunt, so … not much I can say other than he’s a Legendary-tier Trainer with an ego bigger than his 10-foot-tall Donphan.  Trace is … forgettable, and my family doesn’t get along too well with Diantha lately.”

“Sad,” Mallory softly snickered with a wince, “but I mean … eh.”

The girls’ eyes grew the longer she ranted.

“Wallace can be a bit … overwhelming, but I suppose he’s not technically the Hoenn Champion, but occasionally stands in for Steven Stone when he’s off … wherever he goes, but I guess my aunt does the same thing with Dawn … she’s super cool, by the way; I like Dawn.  Alola is in the process of deciding a Champion, and their Trainers are pretty cool.  Professor Kukui is fun to be around, but he’s only a placeholder Champion until someone beats him … kind of like Alder was for Hilbert.

“Uh … Iris is awesome … Gramps raves about her on PikaBook all the time … I think he’s her biggest fan.  She’s a super prodigy Dragon-type Trainer … Gramps.says she’s almost as strong as he was at his peak, which means she’s nearing Legendary-tier … probably why Hilbert’s trying to get in some training time with Ethan … of course, some newcomers named Nate and Rosa are climbing fast.”

“Oh, yeah, I like them,” Mallory grinned.  “They keep on trying to beat my sister; get better every Biannual Cup, too.  They enter Master-tier, win, challenge the Elite 4, hit my sister off the bat, fail, repeat.  Three … times, now?  One more,” she giggled, “then they don’t have to enter the Cup and can just go straight to the E4.  Of course, they haven’t actually won a match yet, but they’re determined.”

“L-Legendary-tier?”  Hannah asked, glancing at Amira.  The redhead was playing with her phone, studying the map and routes with the Ranger recommendations.

Mallory giggled.  “Basically slaps Champion-tier strong; it’s something talked about in the Master-tier circles.  You’ve got Champion-tier, and then there are the Trainers that are basically a region themselves … Cynthia, Red, Blue, Ethan … I think Leon’s getting up there, too…”

“ Leon,” Rhea released a long sigh, rubbing her temple with a slow shake of her head.  “Leon is just … uncomfortable?”  She mumbled in an unsure tone.  “I’ve only met him six times, but he has a way of being a complete idiot and somehow somewhat cool too … seriously, though, he can be … painful to be around sometimes, and every time he tries to challenge my aunt,” she groaned.  “He’s strong, but not Legendary-tier … yet.  Undefeated in Galar, and even beat Lance when he decided to test him … gotta give him props for that.”

Hannah cleared her throat, tapping on her aunt’s profile.  “Insane … so … wait, your aunt … as in Cynthia Bliss … Active Champion Cynthia Bliss … daughter of … your grandparents are Drake Bliss and Glacia Bliss … granddaughter of Professor Carolina Bliss?”

“My family … yup,” Rhea replied, holding her arm across her stomach with embarrassment.

Sam’s phone stopped over Bianca’s smiling face.  “And your cousin…”

“Married to one of Unova’s Former Champions, Hilbert.”

“You know Former Champion Hilda, too?”  Sam whispered.  “She’s so cool …Arceus … I can see some of their posts with you as a friend.  Oh!  Not that I’ll actually try to say anything to them!”

Rhea winced.  “I mean, yeah, that’s fine, but Hilda is … uh, a little too … intense when it comes to gatherings, but … maybe I met her at the wrong time.  I was thirteen … Hilbert and her have a, eh … very heated rivalry.  Otherwise, yeah, she’s chill to hang around … I guess.”

“Muk…”  The three girls mirrored each other while sliding through all the renowned Trainers linked to her profile.

Once everything settled down, they had a cold breakfast of protein bars, and Rhea decided to do the same.  Packing everything up, the two groups brushed their teeth, using the brook water to wash their mouths. The remaining wet towels were dried out by Amber and doing a final clean-up of the campsite, they followed Amira down her selected path.

The journey that followed wasn’t as bad as the previous day, and Rhea felt almost entirely normal, but she’d made a promise to wait until Viridian to keep her Pokemon in their pokeballs.

Pallet River rushed through part of their path, and Rhea was a little surprised they hadn’t crossed it before.  After checking her map, she found that it looped back, but Amira guided them to a sturdy wooden bridge constructed over the 50-meter wide waterway.

Rhea took pictures of a few Pokemon she hadn’t seen in the wild near her small part of the world, casually responding to posts on other profiles when the path grew easier.

Bianca took a picture next to her latest dessert creation, an Alolan Coconut Angel Cake; she looked so cute and proud of her accomplishment.

A dubious smile brightened her lips when seeing Sabin and Katelin together at a fancy restaurant; her brother was all dressed up and looked surprisingly comfortable.  The next photo showed the Pokemon booth nearby with their main teams.  According to the post, they were getting ready to take on Forrest for the Encrusted Platinum Boulder Badge.

Posting that they’d be doing the same in several days, Katelin responded within a minute.

 

Katelin:  Yo!  Hey, we’ll stick around there for a while; Sabin owes me a date hiking up Mt. Moon!  Hehe, what’s it say when your girlfriend can out-eat you?

Jason:  O_o what Sis?  Are you calling yourself fat or a glutton?

Katelin:  Wait … that didn’t come out right.  Jason!  Bro … don’t do your Sis like that!

Jason:  Aye, I’m just asking what you’re saying?

Rhea:  Yeah … what are you saying, Kate?

Katelin:  Uh… yeah, your brother has a small appetite…

Rhea:  Hmm … maybe the problem is low credits?

Katelin:  … He didn’t say anything about that.

Jason:  ‘Cause he’s the man!  Yo, but seriously, you guys should wait to do your matches!  I totally wanna see you go at it live!  Rhea, you with me?  Let’s double team this!

Rhea:  Yeah!  No match unless we’re there or we riot!

Katelin:  Hehe, how are y’all gonna catch me on those slow legs when I take to the skies?

Jason:  Savage!

Rhea:  Oof … hey, we got our ways!

Jason:  Yeah!  (What ways, Rhea?  O_o)

Rhea:  She’ll see ( #｀︿´# )Ψ oh, she’ll see!

Katelin:  Okay … I’m a little curious, but all jokes aside … yeah, I got y’all!  We’ll see ya in Pewter!

Great Grandma Carolina: (✪‿✪)ノ My lil’ Rhea!

Rhea:  Hey, Granny!  How’s Sinnoh?

Great Grandma Carolina:  Same ol’, same ol’.  So, your mother told me what’s happening.  (ー∀ー；) Uh … so, how are you feeling?

Rhea:  So much better!  Nova, Mya, and I are being good girls, though, and we’re waiting for Viridian.

Great Grandma Carolina:  Oh, that makes me feel a lot better.

Rhea:  Alright, well, I should probably get back to talking with my friends.

Great Grandma Carolina:  Oki!  (✪‿✪)ノ Bye, bye!

Katelin:  I LOVE your Granny, Rhea!  She’s SOOOO CUTE!  TTYL!!

Jason:  YOO, Rhea, we’re in Viridian right now … if you saw my posts.  >.> Comment more … make me feel bad, girl!  Uh, yeah, so hurry your butt up and catch up!

Rhea:  I’m coming!  I’ll be there tomorrow.

Jason:  Aww … we’re bouncing to Dark City.  Took like an HOUR to explain to Lucian why we don’t face Giovanni first >.> an HOUR for something SOO basic … sigh…

Mallory:  Yo, how’s my home boi doin’?

Jason:  YOOO, Mallory, sup!  Yeah, he’s chill … uh, yeah, we’re havin’ a bit of trouble connecting with each other’s profiles … we’ll get it ironed out soon.

Mallory:  I know =P he’s keepin’ me up to date.  TROLL DOUT!

Jason:  Ehhhh?!?!

Great Grandma Carolina:  Troll … what’s a dout?  Typo?  What is dis?  Dis is correct, right?

Katelin:  SO CUTE!  <3  Oh, saw your new friends, too, Rhea!  I’m dying of a sugar overdose here!

Great Grandma Carolina:  Oh my goodness!!  Is that a heart?!

Great Grandma Carolina: <3 <3 <3 <3  I LOVE IT!  Super sugar overdose!

Grandpa Drake:  SWWAABLLUUU!!!

Great Grandma Carolina:  Too late, dear.

Grandpa Drake:  NOOOO!!!!

 

Rhea giggled, turning off her phone.  Amira was on the money; they made it to Xanadu Nursery, and sure enough, there was a crowd gathered with many more on Route 1, traveling to and from Pallet.  Amira’s fists tightened, glaring at the waiting throng past her rose-tinted teashade glasses.

Here we go … who’s gonna challenge us?

---