I met up with Nemona in the cafeteria entrance. "You're sweating!" She noticed. "Have you been out all day?"
"What else should I do before classes start?"
Nemona made finger guns at me and we grabbed a tray, taking food with tongs as we went down the bar. "Did your quaxly evolve yet?"
"I was only out for a few hours."
"Yeah, but I heard all the other new students have already evolved theirs." Meat slipped out from my tongs. "Have you been practicing with Pokémon of similar levels?" She asked, quite accusatory.
"I stayed in the south province."
"That's your problem." She waved her tongs at me dramatically. "You're not gonna get anywhere playing it safe, fighting Pokémon way underneath your level."
"Keep the tongs under the sneeze guards, please," a staff member called out, clearly targeting Nemona who quickly set it down and wagged a finger at me instead.
"Even with the best teachers, you won't get anywhere in the academy if you don't take risks or challenge yourself. Look what I'm doing! I'm the best trainer here because I pushed myself every single day."
I scoffed, "I'm not gonna be the champion like you, Nemona, but yeah, I'll try to fight more powerful Pokémon."
She elbowed me. "That's the spirit." What she said made me think about my mini quest. Defeating a titan was definitely challenging myself. Perhaps doing a little at a time, one big battle every week or so, would be my treasure. I just wondered when Arven would find me.
• • •
I marched to the dorm after a long day, Friday afternoon. The first week of school was over and I was ecstatic. Classes were easy-going, the teachers were nice and understanding, and the Pokémon classes were interesting, even with my previous basic knowledge of them. I had followed Nemona's advice and tried fighting Pokémon more westward. I didn't quite cross into the west province, but the Pokémon I was able to fight by the border were a solid bit tougher. I did have to call Quaxly back to rest a few times, but soon enough, he was able to evolve into a Quaxwell. It really was motivating having your own teammate evolve from your hard work and training. It was exhilarating. I was eager to train more over the weekend.
"Hey," a voice grumbled from behind me. I was just about to open my door, but I swung around to see who came to visit. It was a tall, tanned boy with nicely wavy hair.
"Arven!" I recognized. "I was wondering when you'd show up." It had been an entire school week since I had seen the guy. I was beginning to wonder if he meant what he said that Monday.
Arven twitched an eye and crossed his arms impatiently. "Yeah, are you coming or what?"
I nodded energetically. "Let me just toss this inside, and I'll be on my way." I opened my door and gently set my backpack down by the bathroom door to sort through later. I slipped alongside Arven, my Pokéballs jingling at my side. "So where's the titan going to be at?"
"You ask too many questions," the boy replied.
"I wanna know where we're heading. I haven't been past the south province."
Arven eyed me. "How olds are you? And you're bragging about that?" I shut my mouth. Nemona did mention that he had recently become distant and a lot more touchy. There was something going on with him, but I supposed it was none of my business. "It's in the south province by the east border. The mesa."
"Alright, I know the mesa." The mesa region was uninhabited by people. It was too rocky and hard to build anything there. I had sometimes taken a walk around the area after my mom died to clear my head. It was a peaceful place in the evenings. We left the building, passed through Mesagoza, and started our way east to the mesa.
"The titan here is a giant klawf. I saw it sleeping on a cliffside." Klawf were a pure rock-type Pokémon which meant he would be weak to my Quaxwell's water-type moves. I had the battle in the bag. The mesa was made of several layers of rock, smooth slopes all over leading to the next ones. "I remember seeing it over here." He gestured to the left and I followed. We followed the edge of our level's cliff, and as we made our way around a bend, an enormous crustacean glued vertically to the rocky cliff-face emerged.
"Is that the titan?" I hissed. I must've been too cocky earlier because I was largely underestimating the size of it.
"I read that it shouldn't be too strong, but I couldn't face it alone. C'mon." Though the klawf looked to be asleep, Arven tried his best to creep down the slopes as quietly as possible. We snuck up behind the klawf and Arven slowly unlatched a Pokéball and squinted at me to do the same, his pretty blue eyes shining in the sunlight, face hidden from the shadow his bangs were casting. He was very serious about winning this battle. I started to feel nervous that Quaxwell wouldn't be strong enough. I had only gotten him a few days ago. Arven held up five fingers and began to count down silently. When he reached one, we both threw out our Pokéballs. Quaxwell danced a graceful entrance while Arven's shellder clicked its shells. Shellder was also a pure water-type Pokémon. Smart move.
"Shellder, Water Pulse!" Arven started. The bivalve Pokémon shot out a stream of water, and the titan klawf leapt from its cliff in surprise.
I had to make my move before it attacked. "Water Gun!" I commanded Quaxwell. Although Wing Attack had more power, the super-effectiveness of the water-type attack would double the damage. The klawf reeled in anger and bewilderment. I could tell it was weakening. "We got this!" I shouted at Arven, but he didn't even look at me. He ordered another attack, so I did the same, two water blasts overwhelming the titan. In some sort of last resort, the klawf slammed a massive claw into the cliff behind him and it crumbled into a cave, but it was too late. The klawf tried to back away, but the water blasts were too strong. He gave up on his first escape and scrambled away across the mesa. Arven commanded the shellder to stop.
"Did we beat it?" I asked. I wasn't exactly sure if we won or not. Was it supposed to flee or were we supposed to knock it out?
"It doesn't matter." Arven disappeared into the cave, and I recalled Quaxwell and followed him. It was a small cave like the cliff was hollowed out. There was a faint, pink glow from the back where my battle partner was headed. I didn't ask about it until I came closer and noticed it was the same herb from Arven's book I had seen a week ago.
"That's the spice you were looking for, isn't it?"
Arven began harvesting it. "Sweet Herba Mystica. This is the first of five I've been looking for."
"There's more?"
"Did you not hear me?" He snapped. "I said there's five of them!" I stepped back. Arven groaned and stood up to take some things out of his bright, yellow backpack. He handed me a folded, plaid, scarlet picnic blanket. "Here. Put this out for me." I took it with both hands and found the flattest spot in the cave to lay it down. I wasn't sure what he was going for or why he was suddenly craving a picnic after almost biting my head off, but I didn't question it. The best thing to do sometimes was to stay quiet.
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It was best to leave those who were upset alone, especially if you were the problem. "Ey, you've been staring at the ground for a minute." Arven was poking me with a paper plate.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something." The dumb voices were still haunting me. "Did you need me to do something?"
"I just need you to hold your plate while I make this." I took the plate from him and saw him mashing several bags of ingredients together thst I didn't notice he had taken out. I sat at the edge of the picnic blanket and watched him work away. He seemed a lot more relaxed then, laying out cheese and meats over a long bun. He was really focused on his craft and looked to me very passionate about it. He wrapped it all in aluminum foil and cut the sandwich in half with a knife. He handed me a piece, and I took it gratefully with a confused smile. What did I do to deserve it? All I did was fulfill my promise. I had just gotten yelled at, too. What did I do to be rewarded?
Arven kept his half by his side as he put away the bags and utensils into his backpack. I took my first bite, and it was pure ecstasy. The sandwich was so sweet, but not the type of sweet to make your tonsils hurt. It felt like what nectar probably tasted like to bugs. Koraidon forced himself out of his ball and sniffed me, my hands, and the sandwich. Not feeling too hungry, I tore my share in half and let Koraidon have a part.
"I went through all the trouble of making that for you, and you just give it away to that thing?" Arven snarled, fists raised. He acknowledged his outburst and took a deep breath. "If you wanted to share, whatever, but that's all I made, so there isn't any more left for you."
"That's alright," I said gleefully. I saw that he hadn't touched his sandwich at all. "Aren't you going to eat with us?"
"I'm not hungry," he claimed. "So, what, are you going to help me fight the next titan tomorrow?" I blinked. I didn't realize I had signed up to help him fight all the herb guardian titans. "It's the Open Sky Titan, a bombirdier. It'll be the same thing as this."
"Uh, yeah," I agreed rashly. "I'll be ready tomorrow." I wasn't sure what I was signing up for, but it was a risk I wanted to take. "But, uh, let me have your phone number so you could call me instead of sneaking up on me going into my dorm?" Arven frowned, but ultimately complied. He sent over his number, and I shot him a quick text to make sure he received it. "Now, did you want me to help clean up?"
Arven seemed a bit dejected. "No, no. After helping me out, I think you deserve a break," he insisted. "Go back to the academy to rest up for tomorrow." I nodded then waved a goodbye before heading out of the cave. Koraidon followed. When I had walked far enough, I could've sworn I heard Arven talking to someone in the cave, but I brushed it off as my mind probably whispering again.