It was time to leave Darklauf.

My time there was ok, arguably better than the other big city I had been to. I was only attempted to be harmed rather than almost dying. I said goodbye to my friends who laughed at this week's hairdo, a pomper, and the Pokemon that I had gotten more comfortable with including Froakie, Fidough, Sneasel, and Growlithe.

I specifically avoided Mime Jr as dealing with the little clown was a struggle for me, he was irritating even if he was small and cute. I also avoided little Azurill. My mouth watered just looking at her and Hannah certainly wouldn't appreciate me eating her sweet and nutritious tail.

My Pokemon also said their goodbyes to those they were close to. It was interesting to see who talked to who. From the trio of dog Pokemon in Fly, Growlithe, and Fidough to the group of fighters Ian, Sin, Monster, and Zigzagoon. They visited each other when we were nearby and settling down for the night or for a quick break from training. Puff had a close circle but had had conversations with almost everyone. Chimchar and Girafarig were her the ones she bonded with most. She even left to say bye to some of the wild Pokemon she had met here.

Then there was of course Spritzee who hadn't actually talked with the others as he either hung around Puff and our team or went off to look at monuments or local attractions in the city. Even with the strained feeling I had, it was easier to travel with him now. I would look forward to his advice on touring Magnus-City. Apparently the world's deepest hole was right here in Darklauf and there was one on the opposite side of the world that potentially went all the way through in Hoenn. People dropped things in there all the time and sometimes things flew out of it from the other side as gravity kind of looked the other way within that hole.

I would have wanted to see that if I wasn't leaving today but he only mentioned it last night over dinner through Puff. I'd never be able to fully speak with him without the unique connection pokeballs provided but I could tell he was getting less jumpy around me just from how he acted. I was beginning to understand a few of his quirks and communicate through his gestures while practicing my charade skillz, something I wasn’t great at.

My final goodbye was a fist bump with Zac who did the fade away with wiggling fingers thing and made a 'woosh' sound. I copied him and then gave him a hug. I'd miss my best friend a lot, but I hoped to at least see him before I started heading towards Bluepoint. If I could earn my third badge. These three cities were closer than most others except Really, I'd be at the weakest I'd ever be relative to the gym system since all of my Pokemon will have yet to evolve, right on the cusp of becoming more for one of them.

Fly would certainly get there first with her talent and well ahead of Sin who I wasn't sure if he could overcome his hurdle. He was older than most Pokemon trainers chose, although by no means the oldest, and the bigger problem was that he lacked natural talent in working with TE. Even so, it would be the last of the easy badges. From then on, the gym trainers and leaders would take it up a big notch, not just in power but trainer battling skill.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to make the cut on my first attempt or even first year for that matter. The first badge was basically a gimmee, this last one I was ashamed of but would be easy if I had waited a couple days of extra training or found a good item for one of my Pokemon. I hadn't had an overwhelming challenge from gyms yet like I was constantly told clearly exaggerated stories about by grandpa. These three cities were quite near each other so maybe he hadn't had time to get stronger before his challenges.

My thoughts paused as I waved over my shoulder. I waved until they were out of sight, a slim tree blocked them. On the other side of it, I couldn't pick them out of the numerous small dots so far away. I walked in silence for a bit before Ian said "You going to call your family kid?"

"Yeah, you should do that Maxy. Tell them about your lovely pomper hairdo" Puff added. She liked this one, whether because I didn't or it looks like her wings I did not know. She kept up with this one unfortunately and ensured that if I messed with it she corrected anything the 'freak winds' did.

Fly was taking great pride in strutting in front of me, sparks flying all around her body as she concentrated on controlling the natural electricity used in her ability. It looked like it was wildly crackling, but it never got near enough to stun me or the others so she was definitely making great strides towards evolution. Manectric were known to have small thunderclouds floating above their heads and I figured that would be the next step I would try to get her to learn other than increasing the power of her attacks. They were falling behind and spark was only advancing at what I thought was a normal pace compared to the other moves I was working on with everyone. 

“That sounds like a good idea, I’ll take you up on it” I pulled out my pokédex, repeated the directions in my head on how to call people, and then pressed call. 

The first thing I heard this time was Skitty “Ski skitty?” Awww, she was so cute.

“It’s me Skitty, can you go round everyone up?” I asked. 

“Skittty!” I heard her squeal before the phone thudded a few times as she dropped it. Mom always got onto her for that but she would never do anything to hurt her precious little Skitty. The family cat was adored by all and us kids loved it when she crawled up to sleep next to us in the middle of the night. She never evolved even though we could afford a dawn stone given enough time. We respected her wish to stay a small and cozy baby.

I heard a muffled “SSSAAAAAWWWWKKKK” as Sawk called everyone in the house to him. Seconds later my grandpa picked up the landline.

“Hey kiddo, thanks for calling again so soon” he seemed pretty happy with my call. 

“Hey grandpa! It’s me Max” if he was confused because it was me instead of Liam or Aubree then he didn’t let it show.

“Max, good to hear from you too! Aubree called not 30 minutes ago so I expected it was her again. What’s up?” He seemed even more pleased now. All his grandkids were calling home.

“I got my second gym badge!”

“Awesome, how’d you do it? I’m gonna need a play by play here kiddo” I could almost see him beaming through the pokedex and as the rest of my family gathered I explained as best I could Fly’s amazingness.

“The Purrloin collapsed as its whole body got paralyzed and Fly dished out sparks left and right exploding patches of fur” I may have exaggerated some aspects of the battle but grandpa loved it. He was putting on this whole show for the others with sound effects as he repeated and added to the absurd tale I was telling.

A group of trainers heading north gave me a few looks from how animated I was talking about my challenge but we didn't get attacked while I was on the call.

Finally, when I finished "Good job, sounds like you had a great time too" he said before passing the phone to my mom.

"Congrats dear, did you make any new friends?" my mom was spot on as always. I told them about Thomas, Stew, and Chloe as well as my newest Pokemon.

The fact that he only had one hand made her gasp and my grandmother snatched the phone "How is he?"

"He's strong enough but I have to put in more effort to get him to where I want him to be" there was silence on the other end of the phone before she brought up something else.

"How practiced is he in his art?" 

"Always questions with you" I joked.

"And you'll answer them if you don't want to send Sawk to spank your ass" she easily steered me back to what she wanted. The thoughts of Sawk leaving the village and coming after me were both terrifying. 

"He...is doing well enough I guess? The single strike style isn't something I'm exactly familiar with" I heard another pause.

"Release him if he can’t evolve by the time you meet Aubree in Bluepoint. If he can’t then he’s only going to be deadweight. Here's your mother again" as the phone was passed back to my mom I glanced at Sin. I know he wasn't talented or anything but was releasing him really the correct choice. My parents always said that the bond was more important than anything and that any Pokemon could be strong but my grandmother at her peak could fight like an 6th badge Pokemon. A small clearing had apparently grown back to claim what was once a completely destroyed crater from the destruction my grandmother had caused.

She had gotten slightly weaker since then but she still knew her stuff. I would consider it, even if I didn't like to do that. He still had weeks to months before then, so I was mostly confident in him.

My mom wanted to hear more about my human friends and loved hearing about how I was keeping in touch with my older friends too. She did hint that they called home more often than I did but didn't push that agenda much. My mom also reminded me that I could call my brother or sister if I needed any help and graciously reminded me of what their number's were.

Liam had a phone and Aubree still used the pokedex call upgrade that she had won in a tournament. Lastly, she told me to be on the lookout for tournaments to get some good stuff.

I had a good time talking with her and my grandpa jumping in but I wanted to start traveling for real "It's been great catching you up mom, but I want to make some more ground before dark."

"Ok honey. One last question, have you been good sweetie?" The ominous tone worked its way through the pokedex, making even the dark TE inside me cower. For someone who had only earned one badge, she could make me feel like I was two feet tall. I had been good, except for leaving that old guy who got his fingers bitten off but who really cares about him.

"Yeah, I've been good" I answered.

"Really Penelope?" I heard.

"Well Patty is helping him get strong, you are giving him support as well so someone around here has to keep him in check" I wasn't sure how to take that and shrugged to myself. Wait, they're not here to see that.

"Good luck Max, your dad would have been proud" Grandpa shouted to be heard as my mom hogged the phone.

"Yes he would. Bye honey! Love you!"

"Bye mom, love you too, keep on kickin old man!" I raised my voice to let grandpa hear me.

Right before I ended the call I heard "Inappropriate swee-" and laughter that echoed as if it came from massive caves. I loved them so much.