A day after catching my second Pokémon, it still feels strange to think about where I am now. Sometimes it doesn't feel real at all and at the same time it feels really good. Traveling like this, together with one of my best friends in this world, maybe even compared to my old one, is something I didn't know I needed this much.
I catch myself wondering when I'll finally forget everything from before. When I'll stop remembering. I already forget a lot faces, moments, details but the things about Pokémon are still there, sharp and clear. How to train them. How battles flow. The logic behind moves. The way the games and the anime worked. Those memories haven't faded at all.
The dreams have changed, though. I don't see my mother anymore when I wake up in the middle of the night. I don't see my father either, like I used to when I was two or three. Back then it happened often. Now it's gone. Sometimes there are flashes brief, distant moments from earlier but even those are becoming rarer.
I lie there for a bit longer, staring at the fabric of the tent above me, then exhale and push myself up. Enough thinking. It's time to get up, eat something, and finally start training my new Pokémon properly.
A few tents further down, Kai is already awake.
He's sitting just outside the tent, back against his bag, turning a small stone over in his hand while Geodude floats beside him. The Pokémon drifts a little too low, bumps the ground, corrects itself, then pretends that was intentional. Kai watches it with a crooked smile, pride and uncertainty mixing in a way he doesn't bother hiding.
It still feels unreal to him that Geodude is his.
He'd gone to sleep thinking about the battle. Not the loss itself that part stings less now but the moment after, when it was over and there was nothing left to argue against. No excuses. Just reality. Since then, he's been quieter. More careful. Not scared, exactly, but aware in a way he hadn't been before.
Shinx shifts beside him under the blanket, clearly awake.
"Morning," Kai murmurs. "You good?"
Shinx stretches, paws pushing forward, back arching before he shakes himself and looks up at Kai, eyes bright despite everything. He lets out a small, confident sound.
"Shinx."
Kai exhales and smiles. "Yeah. Thought so."
He glances down the line of tents, toward where Arin's is set up, then back at his Pokémon. There's a Gym coming up. A real one. And for the first time since they left the city, Kai doesn't feel like rushing toward it.
"Alright," he says quietly, more to himself than anyone else. "Let's do this properly today."
He stands, dusts off his hands, and starts packing up.
Somewhere nearby, Arin is probably already awake too.
And today, they train.
By the time the sun climbs high enough to burn the chill out of the air, I've already rinsed the dust off at the river and spread my things out on a flat stretch of stone. Skorupi sits a short distance away, watching me with an intensity that's still a little strange to get used to. He doesn't look restless anymore. He looks focused.
"All right," I mutter, mostly to myself. "Let's see what you actually know."
I don't need the Pokédex to tell me the basics, but I check anyway, more out of habit than doubt. Poison Sting. Bite. That's it. Not much, but not nothing either.
"There's work to do," I say, glancing up at him. "But that's fine. I didn't catch you because you were finished."
Fraxure snorts behind me, clearly amused, and I point at him without looking. "Don't start. You were worse."
He gives me a look that says he remembers exactly how that went, and Skorupi tilts his head between us like he's trying to figure out if this is normal trainer behavior.
"It is," I tell him. "You'll get used to it."
The first Gym is Rock-type. Poison and Bug aren't exactly ideal, and I'm not pretending otherwise, but that was never the point. Skorupi's strength isn't raw power. It's timing. Pressure. Control. If I train him right, that matters more than type charts ever will.
I scroll further. Pin Missile. Knock Off. Both listed as learnable.
"That's what we're starting with," I say, more decisively now. "Pin Missile first. Range matters."
Skorupi shifts his stance immediately, legs spreading slightly, tail lifting as if he already understands this isn't about charging in. Good. That instinct is there. It just needs shape.
"Don't rush it," I tell him. "You're not trying to hit hard. You're trying to hit clean."
The first attempt is sloppy. The spikes fire too wide, clattering uselessly against a rock face. Skorupi freezes, clearly frustrated.
"Again," I say calmly. "Same motion. Less force."
The second volley is tighter. Still off, but closer.
We repeat it. Over and over. No shouting. No rushing. Just small corrections, a step here, a pause there. When the spikes finally strike where I pointed, Skorupi stiffens in surprise before straightening, pride flickering across his posture.
"That's it," I say, unable to keep the grin out of my voice. "Now you know what it feels like. Remember that."
(Kai Pov)
A little farther down the path, I'm busy trying not to feel stupid.
"Okay," I say, rubbing the back of my neck. "That one was on me."
Geodude just hovers there, arms crossed like he's waiting for me to catch up mentally. Shinx, on the other hand, is pacing, sparks jumping unevenly along his fur.
"Defense Curl," I say carefully this time. "But don't plant yourself. Keep moving."
Geodude hesitates, then starts rotating again, slower at first, shifting forward instead of staying put. Shinx lunges in with Tackle, white energy flaring around him
and gets bounced back hard.
"Okay, still hurts," I admit, jogging over. "But that was better."
Shinx is already back on his feet, glaring. Before I can say anything else, a wave of static ripples out from him, locking Geodude's movement for a split second.
I blink. "Wait. Thunder Wave?"
Shinx chirps proudly.
"When did you learn that?" I ask, laughing despite myself. "No, actually doesn't matter. That was awesome."
He practically vibrates with excitement.
I crouch, forcing myself to slow down. "All right. New plan. We don't rush. We don't spam. We pick moments."
Geodude thumps one fist into the ground like he approves.
I watch them reset, and this time, when Shinx moves, he waits. Just a heartbeat longer. It's not perfect, but it's smarter. And for the first time since that loss, it feels like we're actually moving forward instead of just throwing ourselves at problems and hoping they break.
When I glance back up the path, Arin's still working with Skorupi, slow and methodical, like he's carving something precise instead of swinging wildly.
I don't say anything.
I just breathe, adjust my grip on the Poké Ball at my belt, and get back to training.
Arriving in a new city still feels strange.
Not unfamiliar Oreburgh exists exactly where I expect it to, nestled against stone and dust and industry but larger than memory ever allowed. The streets stretch wider than any map ever showed me, the buildings heavier, older, like they've been here long before anyone cared to turn them into pixels or dialogue boxes.
It's been four days since the first real training sessions after catching our second Pokémon, and the difference shows. Not just in strength, but in posture, in confidence that doesn't need to announce itself. Skorupi moves with purpose now, Pin Missile and Knock Off coming clean and controlled when I ask for them, no hesitation, no wasted motion.
We've earned this arrival.
Kai slows beside me as the city fully comes into view, hands resting on the straps of his bag. "Okay," he says. "I know we've been walking for days, but if we don't stop somewhere soon, I'm actually going to die."
"Dramatic," I say, glancing at him. "But fair."
"We ate this morning," he adds, offended on principle. "That was a long time ago."
I huff a quiet laugh. "Pokémon Center first. Shower. Food. Then we explore."
He doesn't even pretend to argue. "Deal."
The Pokémon Center is exactly what it's supposed to be bright, busy, grounded in routine. Trainers coming and going, the low hum of familiarity settling over me the moment we step inside. It feels like a checkpoint in more ways than one.
After handing our teams over and finally scrubbing days of dust and sweat away, the tension I didn't realize I'd been carrying eases out of my shoulders. For the first time since we left the city behind, I can breathe without counting steps or scanning terrain.
We meet up again in the lobby, both of us looking marginally more human.
Kai stretches. "I don't care where we eat. Just point me at food."
"We'll find something," I say. "Oreburgh isn't exactly subtle."
As we step back outside, I glance down at Skorupi, who pauses just long enough to look up at me before continuing on, calm and steady.
There's still work to do. I know that. A Gym ahead. A team that isn't finished yet. Maybe a TM if I'm lucky and if not, we adapt. We always do.
But standing here, with the city finally beneath our feet instead of ahead of us, it feels enough to simply have arrived.
"Hey," Kai says, nudging my shoulder as we start walking again. "We actually made it."
"Yeah," I reply. "We did."
And for now, that's enough.