Leading the march of the flowers, a certain Pokemon felt something shift in the air, a smell she hadn't smelled in centuries. A prickling sensation, like static electricity trying to rush through her body.
With the winds of spring hiding her behind the aromatic veil of flowers and love, the Pokemon turned to look at the direction the smell was arriving from, her face scrunching in confusion as she tried to recognize what it was.
"That trainer..." She whispered to herself, her eyes squinting as she looked far behind her, focusing on a trainer kneeling down on the grass to offer a premier ball to a uniquely colored Fomantis, "He reeks of Ultra Space..."
"What a curious little discovery..." And with her curiosity peaked, the Pokemon returned to leading her procession of flowers, her mind working up a plan to keep sight of the unique trainer. Now that she has caught the alien smell emanating from his body, It's doubtful that he'll be able to escape her senses in the future.
"I'll be watching you with great interest, Human~" And with a gust of wind from the gentle spring breeze, she disappeared from the field of flowers as if she was never there.
..............
Climbing her way out of her sleeping bag in the early hours of the morning, Eri made it out of her tent with a yawn exiting her mouth and warm pajamas on her body.
Yesterday, she and the two trainers she joined up with, reached the Pokemon Center outside of Cascarrafa, having placed their tents on the western side of the road, in view of the cliffs that lead to the Asado desert below.
Taking a look around, Eri noticed that once again she wasn't the first to wake up.
"Good morning, Eri." One of the two trainers, Dishon, said as he spotted her exiting her tent.
"Good morning~" Eri let out a yawn before stretching her arms and back, unwinding her body from sleeping on the rough ground.
There was only so much a sleeping bag could do.
"What are you doing?" She asked the trainer as she walked over and sat down on a rock beside him.
"Heating up breakfast," Dishon told her, messing with some device she couldn't remember its name but knew her dad also had.
"This early?" Eri looked at the sky, the stars were still shining above and the sun hadn't yet risen.
"Yeah, I want to watch the sunrise, and take some pictures of it climbing over Area Zero." Dishon pointed at the stony cliffs jutting from the ground in the distance, creating a giant wall that surrounded the center of the Region. "The sun is already shining on the eastern coast, but thanks to The Great Crater and Glaseado Mountain blocking the view, It's still dark here and for large portions of the western half of the Region,"
"Oh..." Eri turned to look at the cliffs of The Great Crater of Paldea, spotting the light emanating from the other side of the natural wall, "Cool..."
"I also think we need to talk," Dishon said, pulling her out of her staring competition against a cliff.
"Talk?" Eri repeated as she looked at the older trainer, a small smile on her face as she spotted the yellow Fomantis latching onto his head like a hairclip.
"Yeah~" Dishon poked something on the device he was fiddling with, steam coming out of the top like a boiling kettle before he turned something on the device and grabbed a handle, lifting the kettle up and pulling over a cup before pouring some yellow tea into it, "Here, have some while it's still warm,"
"Thank you..." Eri gently grabbed the small cup and took a sip, recoiling at the boiling heat before deciding that it would be smarter to blow on it until it was a bit cooler.
"We're reaching Cascarrafa today," Dishon spoke up after taking a sip of his own tea, holding the cup like a hand warmer.
"Mhm," Eri nodded quietly, trying to take another sip of the tea now that it wasn't as hot.
"It's only an hour and a half walk from here, so we'll reach it before lunch." Dishon continued, "But I want to know what your plan is once we get there," Dishon took another sip of his tea before pouring himself another cup.
"I... I want to catch a new team member before I challenge the gym," Eri started, "I only have Mankey and Passimian with me, and Passimian is my Dad's Pokemon so I can't keep him if I want to do a full circuit," Eri sipped from her tea, "Dad's only allowing me to go up till the fourth badge, he wants me to go back home after that. So, I won't challenge the gym immediately, I know I'll lose if I do, Even with Passimian's Seed Bomb, and I don't want to rely on him too much," Eri paused for a moment to think her words over, the small girl staring at the tea in her cup, her face reflected back at her.
"I think... I want to cross the Asado Desert," Eri looked away from her tea and into the other trainer's eyes, "I think that it'll be the perfect place for me and Mankey to train, and I want to catch a Pokemon that'll help me beat Kofu... There should be Croagunk south of the big lake there-"
"Casseroya Lake," Dishon helpfully reminded Eri of the name of the lake.
"Yes, that one." Eri paused for a few seconds, her eyes turning back to looking into her tea, "My Mom had a Toxicroak, and she was super strong, and I know they're supposed to be good against Water Types, so that's my plan for now."
"Crossing Asado with only two badges could be difficult, you know." Dishon pointed out to her, his head turning to look at the Great Crater in the distance, the top of the cliffs seeming brighter than before.
"I know, but that's what I decided. I want a Croagunk." Eri said, a resolute tone in her voice.
"I'll see if I can get Dendra to accompany you, make sure you'll make it through the desert without problem," Dishon told her as he took out his phone and turned it on, entering the camera app and pointing it at the cliffs of the Great Crater.
"Wha- Why? I thought we were splitting up after reaching Cascarrafa!" Eri exclaimed, her eyes widening in panic as she noticed how loud she was, quickly turning her volume down to not wake up the others, "Why?"
"Because I'd feel bad letting a little girl travel through a desert on her own," Dishon told her, "And we are splitting up, I'm staying in Cascarrafa,"
"Wha- If you're staying in Cascarrafa, why would Dendra go with me? Why not you too?"
"Because unlike you and Dendra, I don't have a safety net to catch me if I fall." Dishon said, his eyes looking at his phone before he put it down in his lap, turning back to look into Eri's eyes, "You and Dendra both have parents, if you ever run out of money, if you need a place to sleep, if you need anything really, they'll help you out." Dishon took a deep breath, "I don't have such luxury," He smiled weakly.
"What do you mean?" Eri asked.
"I might not look it, but I'm homeless, Eri. I don't have a family that pays my bills and keeps me fed, and right now I'm also out of a job until the Battle Hotel is finished with renovations." Dishon sighed tiredly, "I want to travel the world, see all these wonderful sights, and watch gorgeous Pokemon, I want to visit Kalos and see the Anistar Sundial and Reflection Cave. I want to walk through Galar and see the sights of Glimwood Tangle and the Crown Tundra. I want to visit Alola, participate in the local festivities, and catch a glimpse of one of the Tapus. I want to visit the many ancient towers of Johto, and relax in Hoenn's volcanic springs." Dishon smiled as he talked about all the things he wanted to do.
"But I can't do any of those without a safety net, Eri. I don't have Family, I don't have a house, I don't even have a Car. The closest thing I have to such a safety net is the Battle Hotel, and they have been more than generous to me." Dishon chuckled sadly to himself as a thought crossed his mind, "Hell, I actually feel bad working there. Orchid has given me a place to sleep, a well-paying job, and even now she's making sure I have a place in Cascarrafa to stay in, and I really don't deserve all the help she's given me." Dishon sighed.
"That's..." Eri didn't know what to say.
"I'm rambling again, sorry, I talk a bit too much when I get stressed, and I guess trying to explain this just... I'll go back to the topic." Dishon chuckled the sad topic from before clashing with the trainer Eri saw in front of her, the tall and positive young man with the sleeping Fomantis on his head.
"What I'm getting at is that the closest thing to that safety net I was talking about before is money. I can't travel because I need money for food and lodging, and I can't run out of money because I don't have any family to fall back on once that happens." Dishon paused, "Now that I'm thinking about it, Maybe I shouldn't be speaking about this with a kid like you..."
Eri stared at Dishon for a moment, watching him scratch the fuzzy hair on his cheek, his smile faltering as he whispered something about needing to shave again, before she stood up, walked over to the older trainer, and wrapped her arms around his torso in a hug.
"Oh. What's the occasion?" Dishon asked as Eri, still wearing her pajamas, hugged him.
"Dad always hugs me when I'm feeling down," Eri explained, her logic making perfect sense in her mind.
"Okay then." Dishon didn't bother arguing with a child, merely patting the girl on the back in an awkward display.
The two stayed that way for a few more seconds before Dishon tapped Eri on the shoulder, causing her to end the hug and follow to where his finger was pointing.
"Woah..." Eri whispered as the sun rose over the top of the Great Crater's cliffs, the shadows on the ground rapidly escaping the sun's rays as daylight finally graced the western half of Paldea.
"Aren't you going to take a picture?" Eri asked, her eyes briefly flicking to the phone on his lap.
"...Nah," Dishon shook his head, "If I like a moment, for me, personally, I don't like to have the distraction of the camera. I just want to stay in it." He chuckled to himself, the sentence sounding as if he was quoting it from somewhere else.
"God, I love that movie..." And there was the confirmation Eri needed.
The two of them stared at the sunrise for a few minutes longer, silently enjoying the view, before Dishon started packing the Tea kit, pulled a Pokeball out of his pocket, and returned Lemon to it.
"Well, I'm going to the Pokemon Center to clean up and shave, I'm leaving the camp in your care, kiddo." Dishon told Eri as he stretched his back, "Also, you don't need to keep pretending to sleep Big Guy, you stopped snoring a while ago, I know you're awake."
At his words, the large Tauros that lay next to Dendra's tent stood up, snorting loudly and whipping his tails against his back.
"Yeah yeah, I'll see you all soon," Dishon halfheartedly waved the two goodbye before he started making his way to the Pokemon center.
"..." Eri watched him walk away before she turned to look at the large Fighting/Water type.
"Taur..."
..............
Walking back to the camp with a freshly shaven face and a dash of cologne, Dishon found himself suddenly dragged into a bone-crushing hug.
"Ow... With this reaction, I assume you were listening in to my talk with Eri," Dishon managed to say as he felt his body get crushed between the arms of Dendra.
"No clue what you're talking about, I just felt like hugging you!" Dendra said, her tone of voice indicating a blatant lie, "Anyways, I want to reach Cascarrafa before lunch, we'll eat at a restaurant, I'm paying too! Hurry up! Osu!"
"Osu?" Dishon asked.
"Osu! Yosh! Let's get to it!" Dendra let go of the hug and ran back to her tent, starting the process of packing it up.
Dishon smiled to himself and started his own process of packing up his tent.
He might not be able to travel the world and do all the things he wants to do right now.
"Salandit Sal!" His partner yelled at him as she ran over, climbed up his pants, and wrapped herself around his waist.
But he can still enjoy the little things that can happen, and besides...
"Are you ready to reach Cascarrafa, Fanny?"
"Sal!"
It's the little things that count.