Walking along the edge of the treeline, Jared came to a large hill. From this height he found he could see for a long way.

When he looked to his left, it was sparse trees that deepened the further you looked, while on his right he looked down to find a town. Similar to Pewter city, the outskirts were rife with crop fields.

He planned to backtrack and go another way, "Stop, don't go any further."

Cursing, Jared realized he had been standing around without cover for longer than he should. This area he was in was also a great vantage point. Even if there was nobody visible from above, that didn't mean that such an open overlook would be unwatched.

Turning, he found a man erupt from some thick leafy shrubbery. With the unform he wore, Jared quickly identified the man to be a ranger.

The man then threw a pokeball which revealed a large wolf-like creature.

The pokemon snarled as it crept forward.

"Houndoom, do you smell anyone else nearby?"

Sniffing the air, Houndoom looked around.

As this happened, a small Pidgey flew down until it landed on Jared's shoulder.

With his eyes trained on Jareds pokemon, the lithe wolf growled, "Houundoomm"

"I see, thank you Houndoom."

Stopping ten meters away, the uniformed man spoke after finishing his inspection of the intruder.

He found the young man to be wearing nothing more than an old sweater and some faded woollen pants, while a single pokeball was bulging from his waist.

"I am Marth, and I don't recognize you, what are you doing here?"

Collecting himself, Jared tried to give a friendly smile, but without much practice, he only succeeded in putting the man more on guard, "My name is Jared, and I was separated from my group. I was just about to head to the arena camp grounds to join up with them."

Marth still had some suspicions, "Who are you with?"

Jared said the lines he had rehearsed, "The fighting caravan."

The man slightly lowered his guard, as he seemed to want to look in another direction, "They passed by an hour ago, but I'll need you to show me some identification or I can't let you go."

Trying to act natural Jared sighed, "I know this might seem suspicious but I lost my citizen card, can you take me to them? They will be able to identify me."

"I'll take you there, but return your pokemon to his ball, and then walk in front of me."

Doing as he was asked, Jared began descending the path towards the town.

As Jared entered the town proper, he realized that from above, it looked like a normal town, but up close he realized that many homes were dilapidated and abandoned.

The cobblestone roads were cleared of weeds, but they were worn down by the elements. Over time, patches of dirt had become the norm in many parts of the street. Jared noticed the few people out and about would detour upon seeing Marth and his Houndoom, and he wondered why.

Jared was broken from his thoughts by Marth's voice, "Don't pay them any mind, those lazy peasants are nothing but leeches."

"Why is that?"

The man spat, "They pay no taxes, and they get protection, if they aren't leeches, then what are they?"

Jared then remembered what Davos had told him of Gardenia. While normally rangers were an extension of a town or city, and employed as part of the militia, Gardenia town's unique case. When the Elite Four cleared out the Scyther nest, the survivors of the town amounted to no more than a few dozen. With such a small amount, and a large ground to cover, the pitiful few residents would likely be wiped out sooner or later when another pokemon nest grew out of control. With it's geography being the most direct route of trade between Celadon and Viridian City, as well as being only natural breeding ground for Bulbasaur, the elite four were naturally unwilling to allow the collapse of Gardenia town.

In a rare precedent, troops under the Elite Four's banner were sent to Gardenia town to act in defence, and ten years later this still held true.

Unwilling to antagonize the man, Jared just agreed.

As if spurred on by Jared's agreement, the man kept rattling on. Jared soon realized that there was a big divide between the residents of the town, and their protectors. The members of the Elite Four faction relegated to protect this town were unhappy about this, and they were not afraid to show it.

.

As they neared the dilapidated arena at the edge of town, it was a flurry of activity.

Smoke, tents, singing, those were the three words that Jared would best describe what he was seeing.

In the distance, Jared could see a campfire, and a dozen people singing a song, "Tomorrow will take us away far away, but the adventurous spirit will never delay. The road ahead may be long, but have no fear, our pokemon are strong!"

With that last line, the group cheered, and clapped before repeating the same line.

The people were not congregated in one place, but rather spread out at least forty meters apart in their own little camps. They appeared to be keeping to themselves, but there were also people moving back and forth as they entered the campsites.

Jared quickly noticed different banners over each camp. Some of the banners had pictures of pokemon, while others of an element, like fire. This was as he expected, Davos had told him that traders liked to differentiate themselves with large flashy banners.

Furthest away, from the others Jared saw a group was still setting up tents. When he saw the banner depicting a single red fist, Jared knew this was his goal.

Pointing, Jared said, "Marth, that's them, thank you for bringing me here, I can find them from here."

"Hmm, ok, keep going."

Jared's face sank, he had hoped that Marth would leave after he had 'identified' his 'group.'

Davos has told him that he had once saved a man called Samuel, and the man supposedly led a caravan known as the 'fighting caravan.' Whether or not the man was still part of the caravan, Jared didn't know.

A scarred man was tapped on the shoulder by a strange brown bipedal pokemon with three long leaves for fingers. A poofy white mane covered most of its face and trailed down the pokemons back like an oversized cape.

"What is it?" the man then turned to see the three newcomers approaching.

"Shiiff"

"Wait here everyone, I'll be right back." Taking the initiative, the man stepped away from the group with his pokemon at his side.

Bowing, the man introduced himself extra politely after spying a rangers uniform, "I am Samuel the leader of the fighting caravan, how may I assist you?"

Before Marth could speak, Jared quickly replied, "Samuel, I need to speak with you in private, I have a task from the man who saved your life."

Samuel blinked, "Who are you?"

Marth took a step back as his eyes shifted between Jared and his Houndoom, "You told me you were with the fighting caravan, did you lie to me?"

Picking up on his partners words, Houndoom snarled loudly in preparation for future violence.

Alerted by the large fire dogs posture, the white maned Shiftry narrowed his eyes with threatening silence.

"I didn't say he wasn't with us."

Marth raised an eyebrow, "Why are you covering for him? I just heard you say that you didn't know who he was."

"Don't worry, this young man is definitely part of the caravan, but we haven't officially met."

"...So be it. Come Houndoom." Unsatisfied, Marth decided to leave more parting words, "If he causes any trouble, you will be held responsible."

.

With just the two of them remaining, plus the stoic Shiftry, Samuel gestured to follow.

.

Out of earshot of anyone, Samuel stopped and turned to face Jared, "I ask again, who are you, how do you know about the man who rescued me?"

"My name is Jared, and thank you for helping me out back there. The man who rescued you, he brought me to Gardenia Town. He also said you owed him a favour, and you can repay him by helping me."

Samuel was not fully convinced, "Yeah? and what's his name?"

"Davos."

Rubbing the bridge of his nose with his index finger, Samuel hummed, "mmm, that is indeed his name, so where is he, how is he?"

"He's good. He just got a badge from Pewter Gym, and right now he's currently flying to his home town."

Davos looked into the distance, as if hoping to catch a flying silhouette, "That man, I indeed owe him..." Davos then turned to face Jared before continuing, "So what is this favour, and how is a merchant like me to help you?"