---
Casteel PKMN Center, Sinnoh
Arriving back at the Pokémon Center room with her backpack, Sophie opened the door to see both Oliver and Jacob deep asleep. She knew that the two would be waking up soon, as she had accidentally spent the whole night roaming the sidewalks of Casteel City.
She looked at the sleeping Pikachu, who was sprawled out on his bed, his navy blue-colored blanket covering him in a disorganized manner. She wasn't surprised that this was how he slept. Of course his unconscious body would be as sporadic as he is when he's conscious.
She looked over to Oliver, who was sleeping silently. His blanket seemed to be in order, apart from where he was sleeping. She hasn't known him for long, but she knew that he was a neat and courteous Pokémon.
The Snivy let out the faintest of sighs, looking around at the room, occasionally looking back at them. She wondered if she should wake them up, since she knew that Jacob would be excited to start travelling again.
She grabbed both of the backpacks that were resting against their beds before throwing their respective bags onto them, making them jolt awake with a surprised gasp.
"I can't breathe..." Oliver rasped, flailing his arms.
"What the heck, Sophie?" Jacob asked, pushing his backpack off of him. "You could've woken us up normally..."
"I found this way more convenient." She told the duo, pulling Oliver's backpack off of him while Jacob pushed his own off. "Either way, don't you want to continue with your journey?"
"What?" Oliver asked, "Don't we still have a full day here left?"
"Well yes, but there's been a change of plans." The Snivy answered, "Jacob's arm seems fine. All he needs is a go-ahead from the nurse, and we'll be fine."
"So let's go get that go-ahead then!" Jacob sprung up before beginning to run out of the room.
Sophie tripped him as he ran past, making him tumble into the wall with a thud. "Let me finish."
"Got it..." Jacob spoke, now leaned up against the wall nearest to the door.
"I already got the go-ahead from the nurse on the way in." Sophie explained. "We're clear to leave."
"Good job, Sophie!" Jacob exclaimed. "Let's check out, and get going!"
Oliver quickly put his contacts in before beginning to pack his bag, Jacob stood up, making sure that his backpack was still in a good condition, and Sophie hoisted her bag over her shoulders, a confident look on her face. The group headed out of the room after making up their beds and making sure that they had everything.
---
Casteel City, Sinnoh
Walking through the streets of Casteel City, the trio were looking at the sights intently, as they knew it would be a while before they would see it again.
"So, where to next, guys?" Jacob asked, his paws behind his head in a carefree manner.
"Well, one of you has a map, right?" Sophie asked, to which both boys remained quiet, looking forward. "...Right?"
"We... We were sort of wandering around aimlessly before now." Oliver answered hesitantly, looking away.
The Snivy looked between Oliver and Jacob with a dumbfounded expression, completely shocked as to how they were just wandering Sinnoh before reaching Casteel City.
"How... Are you two still alive?" Sophie asked, still looking between them.
"I already told you how back when we were imprisoned." Jacob told her, his ears twitching slightly.
"It was a rhetorical question." The Snivy looked back at him with a deadpan stare. "...That aside, we should probably get a map to mark wherever we've been."
"Where could we get one?" Oliver asked, looking at her with interest.
"There's a store where we can buy supplies." Sophie told him, "We can get an entire map of Sinnoh there with some of Jacob's money."
"Sounds like a plan." Jacob smiled toothily, while Oliver nodded in agreement.
The three continued to walk before eventually stopping in front of a large store, of which both Oliver and Jacob gawked at. This was drastically different from the vendors of Kanet Village. When Sophie walked towards the building, the doors simply slid open, making them gasp in awe.
"Are you two going to do that whenever you see a technological advancement?" Sophie asked, already a bit agitated by the constant gasping.
"Sorry, Sophie." Oliver smiled nervously as the three walked in.
They, however, didn't notice that they were being followed. It seemed to be the same cloaked Pokémon from the day prior, who was trailing them silently. They seemed to not have a malicious purpose, but was still trailing them out of some form of curiosity.
A warm wind blew by, lifting the cloak a bit to reveal a brown-furred Pokémon.
---
"This seems like a decent map." Oliver smiled, holding a large, colorized map in his paws.
"Who knew Sinnoh was this large?" Jacob asked, looking at the map in awe.
"We did." Sophie replied, gesturing to both her and Oliver.
"It was a rhetorical question." The Pikachu pouted. "Yeah, I got those too."
"Petty." The Snivy scoffed quietly.
"You two." Oliver suddenly interjected, "Do either of you know about the Snowpoint Capital?" He asked, pointing to the northern area of the map, which seemed to be surrounded by snow and ice.
"I've heard about it." Sophie answered, "I heard that it's a pretty nice place, if you forget about the constant snow and ice."
"So it's basically a place for Ice-types, right?" Jacob asked.
"It appears that way." Oliver nodded. "I think it would be most likely the place where most Ice-types live."
"Hey, I didn't know that Sinnoh had islands!" Jacob exclaimed, looking at the southwestern portion of the map, where he could see multiple land masses scattered around the corner of the large map.
"That's because not many like talking about them." Sophie replied. "A lot of Pokémon like referring to them as 'The Cursed Lands', since they formed when they were broken off from the mainland only five hundred years ago."
"How did they break off anyway?" Jacob asked.
"The ones that seemed to know something didn't like talking about it." The Snivy put a hand on her chin, still observing the map. "I'm just as lost as the two of you on this."
"We could probably look into it soon." Oliver proposed.
"That sounds so boring, though..." Jacob pouted. "...Why do we have to discover why the islands are islands? Why not just explore them?"
"It's still important to know the history of Sinnoh." Sophie told him. "Who knows what could've happened? It might be important, or lead either of us to a clue about how our powers originated."
"That sounds like a longshot." Oliver interjected, "But Sophie's right. What if it leads us to something amazing?"
"I guess you have a point..." Jacob let out a sigh. "Let's just buy the map and talk about this later."
"Sounds good to me." Oliver rolled the map up before the three headed to the checkout area.
Once there, Oliver promptly gave the map to an employee, which appeared to be an Empoleon, who typed up a code for the map.
"That'll be ten fifty two." The Empoleon told the three, to which Jacob quickly paid for with a confident smile.
Jacob was given a map holder that seemed to be able to attach to a Pokémon's waist. He gave the holder to Oliver, who proceeded to put the map inside.
---
Oliver walked out of a public bathroom, wearing his new map holder, that was strapped to the left side of his waist. "How does it look, you two?"
"It looks awesome!" Jacob exclaimed, "You're starting to look like a true traveler with that map holder!"
"Thanks, Jacob." Oliver smiled before looking over to Sophie. "Sophie? How do you think it looks?"
Sophie, who was standing a small distance away, looked back at Oliver. She noticed that he had put on the map holder. She closed her eyes with a smile, giving him a silent nod.
"Okay then!" Jacob grabbed Oliver and pulled him over to where Sophie was standing. "Isn't it about time we get going? It's gonna be noon soon."
"You have a point." Sophie nodded.
"Yeah, we probably should." Oliver smiled softly.
"Okay then, on to more adventures!" Jacob smiled toothily as the three began to walk.
Meanwhile, someone was listening to them from around a corner. "They're travelers?" The cloaked Pokémon thought, looking down. "Damn it!" The cloaked Pokémon exclaimed, revealing a feminine voice.
The cloaked Pokémon immediately ran off, her cloak falling off in the process. It was revealed to be Dawn, who didn't want Jacob to leave before she got her revenge on him. She quickly dashed back to a large house, and ran in.
"Dawn?" A female Lopunny walked into the hallway. "What are you doing busting in here so suddenly?"
That was Dawn's mother, Delia, who was confused as to why her daughter was being so loud and quick. She could see the slightly agitated look on her daughter's face, and tried to be tact about asking her.
"No time to talk, Mom." Dawn quickly slid under her and in between her legs.
"Why not?" Her mother asked, looking at her as she ran into her room. "What happened?"
"This dumb Pikachu, that's what." She replied, throwing a brown backpack onto her bed. "He beat me one-on-one."
"Don't tell me you're being a sore loser." Delia, huffed. "You need to just accept that you lost and get over it."
"You don't get it, this one was different." The Buneary told her mother, rummaging through her things. "He had some strange power, and I'm gonna beat it out of his dumb face!"
"Why are you packing then?" Delia asked, walking over to her backpack before slipping a small object into the bag.
Dawn noticed this, and looked back at her, "What are you doing so close to my bag?"
"Nothing." The Lopunny quickly replied. "Either way, what are you doing, packing your things?"
"He's some type of traveler." She huffed, "I don't know if he'll be back, so I'll just stalk the hell out of him for my rematch."
"Cursing is not allowed in this house, young lady!"
The Lopunny started to become a bit agitated at her, wondering why she was so mad at this Pikachu. He must've really gotten under his skin.
Dawn looked back at her mother, housing her bag over her shoulder. "To hell with that, you never cared about raising me right."
"You know I care, your father and I are just busy with work."
"Yeah, and I need you to stay that way." The Buneary retorted, walking over to her window and opening it. "Just like you didn't mind me as a kid, don't mind me leaving for a bit." She sat on the edge of the window.
"What...?"
"Bye." She leaned back before falling out of her window.
"Dawn!" Delia yelled out for her daughter, who was running off into the streets of Casteel City. She looked down as soon as she saw her disappear. "...Just come back soon..."
---
"She doesn't know what she's talking about..." Dawn muttered to herself, walking down the sidewalks of Casteel City. She huffed once more before running off again.
"Where is that rodent...?" She looked around, surveying the area. "...Maybe some higher ground would help."
She quickly climbed a dumpster in the alley before using the close walls to wall-jump her way up.
Once atop the building, the Buneary looked around at the city. She could see multiple Pokémon walking the sidewalks, but was unable to see the one she was looking for. She sucked her teeth in irritation, before hearing a familiar voice.
"Man, Casteel's really a nice place!" A familiar voice exclaimed excitedly from below.
Dawn's eyes quickly moved to below, where she saw a familiar trio walking on the sidewalks. She let out a sigh of relief, as she wasn't exactly too willing to go back home after what happened between her and her mother.
She knew that they never had the best of relationships with each other. She and her father, as Delia put it, were always busy in her childhood, leading her to be more independent with whatever she did.
She didn't really care, however, as this gave her a freedom that not many her age got. She didn't have much of a curfew for a while, as well as not having to stay in her house. She could come and go as she pleased, and she saw it better that way. Or at least that's what she told herself.
With her thoughts in mind, she prepared to head towards Jacob once again. She quickly jumped down and towards him and his two friends.
With Oliver
Oliver walked behind both Jacob and Sophie, a small smile on his face. He was happy that their journey didn't end back at the base. There were still a plethora of things he knew Jacob would want to do before that ever happened.
He looked over to Sophie, who was looking around with her usual uninterested gaze. It was strange to the Oshawott that, even when she was his warden, he didn't doubt that she was a nice Pokémon under all of the retorts and calm manner of speaking.
He hadn't even ever put his trust in her into question, which was admittedly a risky move. But the move seemed right in a way, she needed a way out, and they wanted friends. This, although it was dangerous, was the best move he and Jacob could've taken.
"So, where to next?" Jacob asked, looking back to Oliver, "We should probably decide which direction to go."
"Well I was thinking... Since we started in southern Sinnoh before moving west to Wild Woods and here in Casteel City, we should move west again."
"And where does that lead?" The Pikachu questioned.
"That leads to what is called the Forest Grotto." Oliver replied. "It seems to be a town surrounded by lush and dense forest."
"That sounds good." Sophie nodded, still walking ahead of the two.
"I should probably conduct some research on the place..." Oliver put a paw on his chin after putting the map back into the map holder. "...Luckily, I brought a book concerning the details of major locations in the Sinnoh region."
"You're always prepared for anything." Jacob smiled at him.
"Except for fights, that's your thing." The Oshawott sighed.
"Forest Grotto, then?" Sophie interjected, matching their pace.
"Is that okay with you two?" Oliver looked between his friends, as he was walking between them.
"That's fine with me." Jacob smiled toothily. "I don't care where we go, I just want to go there!"
"I'm okay with it." Sophie gave a faint smile. "As long as we get somewhere."
"Okay then." Oliver smiled happily, "Then it's decided, the next big place we're visiting is Forest Grotto!"
"Onto the next adventure!" Jacob childishly exclaimed, quickly running forwards.
Sophie groaned with irritation at this, and began to quickly walk in his direction. Oliver laughed at Jacob's antics, as they seemed to outlandish and animated for their age. It was a nice breath of fresh air from all the other concerning factors from their visit to Casteel City.
He quickly ran forward to eventually match Jacob's pace, while Sophie let out a sigh and finally began to follow behind them quickly.
Dawn watched them run off from a corner in the distance, scowling a bit as she lightly pulled on the straps of her backpack. She huffed before soon running after them in the distance.
A new day is always a new start from the last. It gives new purpose, new meaning, and light to slice through the darkness. From sunrise to sunset, choices can be made to alter the way the day ends, even by so little as picking what to eat in the morning.
The multiverse theory states that every choice creates a new timeline from the last, and thus, a new universe from the origin path. If this is eventually proven factual, then will there be a universe where Jacob and Oliver decided to never start? To never begin their journey? What does that universe look like? Are they even... Happy there?
It seems to be a lot to think about, but maybe, just maybe... Things could be taken one little meeting at a time. And we can create a future worth fighting to earn!
...As the journey continues.