By the time we reached the Valley Windworks, the sun was already setting in the distance, bathing the heathland behind us in orange light. Ahead, the Coronal Mountains reached for the sky, forming a narrow valley between two peaks. In that valley, the wind farm had been built, using the mountains as a funnel to use as much wind as possible. The valley itself looked rather bleak, with little grass or even earth, having managed to withstand the perennial winds, leaving only the bedrock, with small specks of dust, hidden behind some of the larger rock formations. Compared to the forests around Sandgem Town and the heathland we had just travelled through, the landscape was desolate, utterly devoid of life.

At the centre of the valley, quite a bit deeper than the shelf we were walking on, was a river, swiftly flowing down from the mountains and towards the distant sea, somewhere north of Floaroma. Trying to cross it was possible, but with the steep walls leading down, the rapid flow and unknown ground, it would be foolish. Luckily, there was a bridge, allowing us to cross easily and the main reason for the Route we had taken.

“Let’s head to the main building. I’ve been told that there’s a space for travelling trainers to rest there.” I told Claire, remembering the other reason for this particular route.

The complex was a little weird to my eyes, the windmills were located in a grid-like pattern up on the shelf above the river, with paths between them. On one edge of the field, near the canyon walls, was a large building, squat and solid-looking, the centre of the complex. But why wasn’t anybody using the rapidly flowing river below? If not for power, then for freshwater or something?

Pushing against the wind, Claire and I made our way down into the canyon, the path well-maintained and stable, allowing us to move quickly. Soon, we reached the main building and entered the lobby, looking around for a few moments, trying to find anyone who could direct us to the accommodations I had been told about.

The door had a small bell attached to it, and moments after its jingling sound faded, a figure came through a nearby door. It was a man on the younger side of middle-aged, maybe in his early thirties, wearing casual clothes and looking a little tired.

“Good Evening, what brings you by?” he asked, eyes wandering between Claire and me.

“Good Evening. We were told that there’s a space for travelling trainers to rest here?” Claire asked while I looked around the room.

“There is, it’s even empty at the moment. Last week, there were a bunch of people coming through, so it might need a bit of cleaning, We’ve been a little understaffed the last few days,” he complained, letting out a yawn.

“Apologies, for some reason, “ he rolled his eyes, “people always take vacation around this time. And for some other reason, it’s a huge surprise every year and we end up understaffed.” he continued to grumble, before realising that he was complaining and blushed a little.

“Anyway, I can show you.” he gestured to one of the doors leading deeper into the complex, after calling out loudly to some unseen person, “Yo, Jane, keep an eye on the control room please.”

“Will do, Ang” came the response, as we walked towards that door.

“Oh, I’m Angus by the way.” the guy introduced himself.

“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Claire, this is Dani.” Claire replied to him, with me throwing in a “Nice to meet you,” of my own.

“Say, can you tell us a little what you are doing here? What the Windworks are supposed to accomplish?” Claire asked, maybe trying to avoid an awkward silence.

“Sure, not like it’s a secret.” he yawned again, “You’ve learned how we normally generate power, right? With Magnemites and Magneton doing the heavy lifting?” he asked, and Claire nodded.

“Yes, I’ve heard that there were other attempts, mostly by using Fire Pokémon to generate steam or something, but ultimately, Electric-types were just more convenient. Especially Magnemite and Magneton, as they don’t get bored.” Claire replied, her face scrunched in a frown as she tried to remember details.

“Eh, good enough.” he shrugged, “Well, we try to cut the Pokémon out of the process, to get energy without having to use them. The boss is convinced that we can do better than the current model and so far, things look okay,” he explained proudly.

“There seems to be a but in there.” Claire grinned, an eyebrow raised.

“Sadly, there is.” Angus deflated a little, a wry smile on his face, “You see, the wind farm itself is great, the canyon has near-constant wind but the problem is, how do we get the harvested power to the people? What good is it if we can light up the entirety of Jubilife if we can’t get the power to Jubilife?”

“How is it normally done?” I asked, trying to stay in the conversation.

“Within towns, it’s relatively easy. The towns are built in a way that makes sure no Pokémon undermine them, so you can simply bury the cables underground. The earth shields the cables and makes sure that no Pokémon gets at them.” he explained, getting a nod in response.

“But that doesn’t work overland, especially with the underground what it is. We wouldn’t even get them buried, Pokémon would get annoyed at the noise of the construction and attack. To say nothing of trying to make sure that no bored Diglet, Dugtrio or some other critter decides to make its borrow there.” he shrugged his shoulder and shook his head.

“There might be a solution, but so far, we have yet to find it,” he admitted.

“Why try to find such an alternate method in the first place?” Claire asked, “Doesn’t the current system work just fine?”

“It works, yes, if you are willing to use Pokémon that way.” he shrugged, “The boss believes that Pokémon should live alongside us, not in servitude “

“And yet, you are carrying a Pokéball,” Claire noted, glancing at Angus’ belt. There, mostly hidden by his shirt, hung a Pokéball.

“The disappointing difference between how the world is and how we want it to be. I’d love to just work in peace and not worry about anything, but sadly, the high concentration of electricity seems to be rather attractive to Electric-Pokémon.” he had a wry smile on his face.

“They sometimes dig out some of the cables and nibble at them or cause some other sort of mischief. Champ helps to keep me and the equipment safe, while also helping with the heavy lifting. You wouldn’t believe how useful it is to have a partner that can lift three times your body weight without effort.” he admitted, the smile turning genuine as he mentioned his partner.

“Would you say you enslave your partner?” I asked, curious how he reconciled the two different ideas.

“Well, no.” he shrugged, letting out another yawn, “He’s, as you say, my partner. And yet, there are times that I wonder if he would be happier out in the wild, claiming some mountain-top and battling all comers, or something,” he admitted, looking pensive.

“Anyway, here’s your room. Bathroom at the end of the hallway, you can use the washing machine if you need to. Cleaning supplies are in the closet over there, help yourself.” he opened a door, showing us in.

The room was rather spartan, a few bare bunk beds lined the wall, some cots were stored between them and a low table sat in the middle. There was little here, the only advantage to camping outside was the roof above our head and the walls, otherwise, I’d almost prefer to sleep in the open. At least, there I knew that the mattress was clean.

“If you need to cook something, the kitchen is over there, just use your own supplies. Water is no problem but foodstuff needs to be delivered from Floaroma, which can be a pain,” he gestured to another door.

“Thank you. Is there some sort of official dinner-break time or something? Even if we are eating our own food, it might be nice to have company.” Claire asked, giving me a grin, “Not that I don’t love you, but we’ll be together for two weeks before we’ll reach civilisation again.” she reminded me and I could only shrug. I would survive an evening in polite company.

“No, not really. Tomorrow morning, around seven, there’s going to be a bit of a group for breakfast, but other than that, most people have already eaten.” Angus replied. “Anyway, I’ll get back to work. Nice meeting you and good night.”

With that, he gave us another wave and left.

“Let’s get busy. I’m sure you’ll want to take a shower and I’d like to clean a little. Why don’t I clean, you have your shower and afterwards, I get to shower and you cook?” Claire suggested, getting a nod in reply. While I had a shower in the morning, Claire’s earlier remark had been correct. It would take far too long to reach the next shower.