A Trail we Blaze - A Trainer X Cinderace story

Chapter VII

Warning: this chapter contains the stupidest line in all of fanfiction history. You've been warned. Enjoy!

"Thanks for everything, Professor!" Max waved behind them as they exited the lab. The professor and his assistants waved back, as well as the Sylveon from before. It seemed peculiar, Max thought, that she had a certain glint in her eyes like she was expecting something exciting to happen.

"Take care Max," Professor Sycamore called back. "And you too, Ruby!"

Ruby waved back, but her farewell was directed more toward the Sylveon. She realized she had never caught her name, but it was kind of late now.

I hope your plan works, she thought to herself, as if she could telepathically communicate with the Pokémon. Then, the Sylveon winked and made a discrete heart with her ribbons. It was such a cute gesture that she couldn't resist feeling confident.

"Looks like you made a friend," Max said with an unmistakable hint of pride in his voice.

"I guess," she said, speaking in human so he could understand her. "I forgot to ask her name though."

After this, they began to walk in the direction of the nearest Pokémon Center. Max hoped to register then for a room before it got booked since they usually had fewer rooms later in the evening. There was quite a bit of silence between the trainer and his Pokémon, as said Pokémon was very busy mulling over the advice the Sylveon had given her earlier.

"Keep yourself close, but not too close," she had said. "That's the ticket to getting his attention."

Splendid, Ruby thought sarcastically to herself. She thought that maybe they could hold hands, at least that would have to get his attention somehow, right? But he was holding the straps of his backpack with both of his hands, so that plan was a no-go. She'd just have to think of something later.

It was quite a walk to the Pokémon center, however, and after about an hour of trudging on the streets of Lumiose City, his feet were practically screaming.

"I think," Max groaned, "we must've taken a wrong turn. Surely the Pokémon center isn't that far from the Professor's lab!"

"Maybe you just need more practice," Ruby suggested. Max was baffled at the fact that she didn't seem tired at all. "We're probably going to be doing a lot of walking from here on out, and you can't just hop into a Pokéball."

"True," he said with a nod. They continued walking for a few more minutes until they reached the Pokémon center. They entered and a familiar face met them from behind a desk.

"Hello!" Nurse Joy greeted them as they walked up. "How can I help you?" Then she seemed to notice Max and Ruby's dumbfounded expressions and giggled. "Let me guess, you've met the others?"

He shook his head in amazement. "No matter how many Pokémon centers I visit I still can't get used to it." At every Pokémon Center he's ever visited in his entire life, it was always run by the same Nurse Joy. Well, they were different people, of course, but they all looked and sounded nearly identical. Apparently, they were all related, and "Joy" was their family name, which made no sense. There had to be at least one nurse that differed in height by a centimeter.

Nurse Joy rolled her eyes. "I'm used to it. But you're Pokémon is also quite a sight!" She seemed to examine Ruby for a moment. "It's not often I see Pokémon from Galar. And a Cinderace at that!"

"Well, she sure is something," He said bashfully, but he gave Ruby's paw a discrete tap like he wanted to hold it but couldn't. Ruby's heart skipped a beat.

"Do you need to heal your Pokémon or do you need a room?" The nurse asked.

"Just a room, please."

"Sure," she began typing something on her computer to her side. "You don't happen to have a trainer's ID, do you?"