The next morning came bright and early. I was used to the early mornings, thanks to a certain Champion who liked to have one of her partners kick me out of bed for training, but judging by the grumbling noises Claire was making she was not. The bleary eyes that seemed to fall shut whenever she stopped moving added to the evidence that she was not, in fact, a morning person.

After breakfast with Joyce and Cynthia, we returned the room-key and set out, meeting parts of Claire’s family as we left the Inn. It was somewhat weird, knowing that all my possessions, everything I owned in the world, was being carried on my shoulders. Despite its weight, the backpack suddenly felt far too light for that.

“Stay safe out there and remember, you’ll always have a place here, sweetheart.” Grace told Claire, while I was getting a hug from Elisa, telling me something similar.

“This is for you. When you get to Sandgem-Town, hand it to Professor Rowan. It has my seal and should get you in the door. What you tell the Professor about your circumstances is up to you, but he is one of the leading authorities in the region and will likely be able to help you.” Cynthia quietly told me, handing me a letter. Giving it a brief glance, I noticed a star-shaped seal pressed onto the flap, making sure that nobody could open it without leaving a mark.

“Thank you. For everything” I replied, giving her a hug, realising just how much she had done for me in the last month. Knowing that I’d start bawling, if I didn’t push on, I gave Joyce a wordless hug and turned around, walking towards the gate in the low walls of Twinleaf-town.

“Your League-Card, please?” the guard at the gate asked me and I showed him the card, set in a formal carrying-case that Claire had given me a few days prior. It was glanced at, but I doubted the guard had taken the time to do more than check that I was roughly matching the image set inside.

“Be safe out there.” he told me, giving me a nod as I walked out. Taking the first steps truly on my own.

Walking a few metres, I noticed that the air tasted a little different. It might have been the scent of the wilderness, or it might have been the stink of the kilometres of farmland surrounding Twinleaf, providing food for the inhabitants. Either way, the scent was noticeable.

Given that Claire was still saying her goodbyes, I didn’t walk fast, just setting one foot in front of the other so I didn’t stand still. Always forward. Realising that I was out of town, and thus no longer bound by the rule that Pokémon were to be kept in Pokéballs unless otherwise necessary, I reached out, letting Violet out of her ball. The small figure appeared and looked around for a moment, staring at the open fields around us, before turning around and noticing the town behind us. For a moment, she seemed to freeze, before quickly hiding behind my leg again, as if the town was about to jump on her.

“It’s alright, Vio. We are heading in the other direction, into the wilderness. You and Charm will have to keep me safe.” I quietly told her, not certain how much of my words she could understand. That had been the topic of one of my lessons with Joyce, and it seemed like it was a contentious subject amongst scholars. There were some Pokémon, like Lady Bee, who appeared to fully understand human language, but others showed no true comprehension, even after decades of working with humans. They might know a few key-words and perform their tasks on command, but only with learned commands.

Claire came running after me soon, looking mildly put out.

“You could have waited, we could have walked through the gate together.” she pouted, especially when I shook my head in response.

“No. Each of us walk on our own path, our paths are just parallel at the moment.” I denied her, before turning towards the distant forest. “Let’s get going, we’ve got daylight burning. Vio, get back in.” I ordered, calling my partner back, her short legs would otherwise have slowed us down.

“So, was that your partner?” Claire asked, falling in next to me.

“That was Violet, I caught her a month ago.” I replied, not going into the details of that incident. I had learned from it and in hindsight, I wasn’t proud of my actions. They had been with the right intent, but intent mattered little when the result was a mess.

“I only got Twiggy. Grandma got him from a certified breeder for me.” she added, to which I only nodded, saving my breath.

For the next twenty minutes, as we made our way across the farmland around Twinleaf, the conversation continued in that manner, with her doing most of the talking and I only interjecting the occasional reply, to indicate I was listening. In some ways, hearing her tell me all about life in Twinleaf was oddly soothing, it sounded all so normal. Going to school, playing with friends, doing homework, trying to sneak out during the evening, nothing about fighting for your life against monsters that could incinerate you with their breath, or tear you limb from limb, with startling ease. And yet, she had left that comfortable, safe life behind, in order to become a travelling Trainer. Curious about her reasoning, I asked about it.

“Why did you decide on travelling?” For a moment, I received no response, other than silence. Maybe because I had finally asked a question, or given a response beyond an affirmative hum or grunt.

“Many reasons.” she paused, her voice getting serious, “One is that I want to see the world. I doubt I’ll ever get capable enough to travel outside Sinnoh, but at least, I want to see what our region has to offer. I’d love to get to Kanto or Johto some day, but that’s just a dream.”

“But really, I want to become a Pokémon breeder and for the full certification, so that I can work with new trainers, to raise their first partner for them, I need to complete at least a three-quarter circuit, eight out of fourteen towns, with approval from their Gym-Leader.” she added, causing me to nod in understanding.

A lot of jobs that actively worked with Pokémon had certification-requirements, the League trying to make sure that only those who had walked the walk could talk the talk. Some, like Caregiver in a Pokémon-Centre, only required a quarter-circuit, visiting three different towns and gaining the approval of the Gym-Leader where you grew up, while others, like the position of Gym-Leader or involvement with higher League Politics, required the full circuit, visiting all fourteen towns in the Region and getting the Gym-Leader’s stamp of approval, in the form of a badge.

“Why are you travelling?” she asked, maybe happy that I finally participated in the conversation. For a moment, I didn’t have a good answer. One was that I needed to help my partners grow, another that I had very limited options. But neither was the reason that resonated deep within me. ‘I want to be the very best.’ Those words, echoing within my soul, drove me forward.

“Cynthia got me out of a really bad situation.” I dodged, deciding that lying would be bad, but that I also didn’t need to tell the whole truth. “They might have told you that I’m not from Sinnoh and that my travel here was neither consensual, nor without consequences.” I explained, my words causing a frown to appear on her face.

“If I want to have control of my life, if I want to get the answers I seek, I need to have power. Training my partners, while at the same time getting involved in the League, is the only path I have available that will give me what I seek.” I replied, before letting out a snort.

“Or maybe I just needed the money, you decide.” I snarked, a sardonic grin on my face. It wasn’t even a lie. Travelling Trainers were paid, not terribly well, but we received a stipend and could earn extra money, by completing tasks. Those could be almost anything, from performing necessary maintenance on the Routes between towns to pushing back an invasive group of Pokémon that wandered too close to a lower-levelled Route, making them too dangerous. Even things like carrying letters or assisting in law-enforcement activities under the direction of the local Police could be a task, though those were almost always directed at higher levelled and more experienced trainers.

“No, I don’t think it’s just that.” Clarie decided and before she could break into a new stream of consciousness, I stopped her, my hand raised.

“We better be a little more quiet. From here on, we will encounter wild Pokémon.” I warned her, as we stepped through the fence around the fields and into the actual wild lands, where only those brave, confident or foolish tread.