Destiny [Pokémon]

❥ chapter VIII

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be! Right, brother?"

"Y-Yes ..."

You were currently standing at the beginning of the gravel path connecting Hydra Town with Lucus Grove, with Raleia and Rineis on either side of you as the three of you stared ahead. Adrenaline rushed through your veins. It made your heartbeat quicken and evoked a fluttery feeling in the pit of your stomach. You were so pumped for just about everything that would come! Training here with the two Ralts, going on your very own and long-awaited Pokémon journey ... You couldn't wait!

You had been in a big hurry nonstop since the moment you had settled on going to Hydra Island with the two siblings. You had run about the place to try and get things done as quickly as possible—getting dressed; having breakfast with your Pokémon; emptying the money box in the shape of a Poké Ball standing on your desk and putting a part of that money in your wallet so that you would be able to pay for the things you had to buy in Hydra Town ...

You had also decided to put Amelia's idea into action: You had carefully glued Ho-Oh's colourful feather to a plain plastic headband in your favourite colour you had dug out from your chest of drawers (and which you were wearing right now). Furthermore, you had checked the second most important thing off your to-do list: Packing the stuff you would need for your journey into your favourite bag, such as a change of clothes, the rest of the money you had kept for future use (like today), a handful of non-perishable snacks, and a large bottle of water.

But apparently, it still hadn't been fast enough for Raleia. She had been bustling around your feet the whole time you were hurrying to gather everything and neatly put it in the bag so as to not waste any precious space. She had tugged at your clothes every now and then and told you to hurry up—or, generally speaking, constantly demanded your attention. Of course, all of this had impeded you greatly.

Neither her brother Rineis nor you had gotten her to calm down and leave you be so that you could finish up your tasks in peace, without being distracted (or in other words, held up) every two minutes or so. She had been far too excited to just sit still and do nothing. Frankly, you had been—and still were—just as thrilled as her, if not more so. With this energy pulsing through your body, you had been able to get everything done in due time to catch a ferry despite the endless interruptions.

Then, over on Hydra Island, you had paid the Poké Mart and the small herb shop nearby a quick visit to buy some Poké Balls and herbal medicine, respectively, stowing everything away in a shoulder bag. You had also had a nice chat with a bunch of your classmates you had met in front of a small café popular with the teens.

Having been surprised to see you walking around with Pokémon that didn't seem to be patients of your family's clinic but rather appeared to belong to you yourself, your classmates had quizzed you about the two Ralts running around freely. (Speaking of whom, they had both refused to go into their assigned Poké Balls. They claimed that they wanted to be at your side all the time, and being inside a Poké Ball would stop them from doing so.)

Raleia had basked in all the attention she had received, eliciting high-pitched squeals of joy from the girls by frolicking around in an adorable manner. In contrast to this, Rineis had hidden behind your legs like a shy child at first, visibly flustered because of all the eyes that were on him. You had managed to coax him out of his hiding spot—laughing off a joking remark from one of your classmates that your Pokémon seemed to understand you (if they only knew) along the way—though you still had had to hold him by the hand to soothe his nervousness, a sight which the girls had immediately swooned over.

When you had told your classmates that you had decided to go on a Pokémon journey, they had all been genuinely happy for you. They had given you thumbs-up and claps on the back as they had congratulated you, saying that "it was about time" and that they were sure that you would make an awesome Pokémon Trainer. Their cheering words fuelling your excitement and reinforcing your decision to realize your childhood dream, you had taken your leave and continued on your way, your steps quickened by their encouragement ... which brought you to where you were at the present moment: At the start of the gravel path leading to Lucus Grove.

As you stood there, arms akimbo and eyes roaming along the landscape lush with greenery and the clear, bright blue sky, a thrill shot through you at the thought of what you were going to do, fanning the flames of eagerness burning in your core.

You were going to leave the two islands you called your home, leave behind your family and friends, and venture out into the big, wide world—or at least the Virno region for a start. You would visit cities, towns, and villages you had never been to, travel routes you had never seen before. It was a frightening, yet exciting thought that sent a tingling feeling all over your body and caused your heartbeat to pick up speed.

At this very moment, while a light breeze was ruffling the hem of your shirt and playing with your locks, you felt like you could take on everything and everyone and overcome any challenges and obstacles that you would encounter with your two Pokémon at your side. A big grin spread over your lips. You pushed your hair back from your face with a forceful sweep of your hand and then fixed the strap of your bag. "Let's do this!" you exclaimed, pumping your fist into the air.

But just as you were about to take a step forward and officially set foot on the rock-strewn path for the first time with the intention of fighting Pokémon battles here, you heard someone shouting your name. Turning around to see who it was, you spotted four figures in the distance running towards you. One of them was waving their arms wildly to attract your attention, as if the fact that they were constantly calling for you—"Hey, [Nickname]! Wait up!"—hadn't already done the trick.

Upon realizing who they were, your furrowed brows flattened immediately, and you began to grin widely and wave back at them. "Hey, guys!" you shouted to them, your hands cupped around your mouth.

"W-Who are they?" Rineis asked. "Do y-you know them?" He had moved closer to you as soon as he had caught sight of the girls and was now watching them nervously.

"Your friends?" Raleia was the complete opposite of her brother: She seemed eager to get to know them, her eyes fixed on the approaching persons with a happy smile on her lips.

"Yep! I'll introduce them to you in a minute."

As your four friends quickly came nearer, you noticed that they all seemed to be out of breath to varying extents as if they had been running around for a while now, with light films of sweat glistening on their foreheads in the warm midday sun.

Stopping in front of you, the one who had been waving her arms like crazy—her name was Alex—bent forward, her walnut brown ponytail falling over her shoulder, and placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "Finally," she said between heavy pants, "finally, we found you."

"What's up?" you asked. "Were you looking for me or what?"

May nodded her head. "Yeah. We wanted to visit you, but on our way to the ferry landing, we met one of our classmates, and he told us that he saw you walking around with two Pokémon at your side. So, of course, we had to come see that for ourselves."

Following this, four pairs of curious eyes homed in on said Pokémon, regarding them with appraising gazes. Almost instantly, you felt your pant legs being pulled at as Rineis hid behind you yet again to escape your friends' keen stares, clutching fistfuls of the jeans fabric.