Looking for the path took a lot longer than you expected. Violet said that somehow you managed to end up really close to some of the hills surrounding the route, too close to Coronet. It's a bit dangerous because strong pokemon gather around the base of the mountain. At least they do outside the more traveled parts, exactly the place you were.
Fang was walking next to you, alert, just in case. The pokemon was adamant about keeping watch as the sun went down. It seems that he can see in darkness a lot better than any of you could. Lily told you that he said something about creepy clowns stealing your souls or something. You decided to have Fang keeping watch for as long as possible.
In front of you, Violet was leading the group. She had a map, the compass and the actual skills to use them. You learned a lot at the academy. About pokemon, types, battles… But after the Carnivine incident you were banned from the wilderness classes. It's been some time so you are a bit rusty and that's your excuse to not have a compass. Yep. You are going with that to feel less dumb.
At the back of your little group were Lily and, surprisingly, Maelstrom. They were… talking? Maybe? Maelstrom didn't answer verbally, but they had a link to talk with each other. A private one so you couldn't listen in. You were kind of curious about your pokemon. By Lily's reactions he seems a lot more fluent and smooth that you expected a Magikarp to be. The psychic giggled and listened to Maelstrom. It seems like he was telling an interesting story.
You felt a bit jealous. Lily was able to talk to your pokemon any time she wanted. You heard stories about how a good trainer understand their pokemon without words but it's not the same. You want to hear words, you want to have conversations. It's impossible, but who knows… Maybe one day you get psychic powers or something.
Speaking of psychic powers… Does Maelstrom have them? How did he manage to have a conversation with Lily? You can't talk with her for more than ten minutes! At least not without ending up insulting each other in a childish way. You like to tease her, you like to tease people and make fun of them in a playful way, but sometimes you don't know if she is just playing along or she actually dislikes you. You've never been good at dealing with people. You have to admit you have some charm, but you are better at reading pokemon than humans.
With a sigh you decide to stop thinking about that. It leads nowhere. Maybe you should stop teasing the girl so much… You could always do the same with Violet, but if you mess with her too much it feels like you are kicking a puppy.
You miss Maylene. These girls with you are good friends, but Maylene was a great one. At least you are going to see her again soon, even if it's to die from exhaustion in one of her trainings of hell. You are almost eager to go back. Anything is better than walking for hours only seeing trees and the occasional pokemon. When people talk about their adventures as trainers, they never mention the hours and hours of just… walking.
At least you can see some bright dots in the distance, and the smell of burning wood. Campfires. They are pretty spaced apart, but that means this zone is a good one to camp. Just in time. The sun was almost down and you had to use a flashlight to not trip with a random branch. Time to find a spot.
…
Everything was ready now. Violet was cooking dinner while your pokemon kept watch. You helped Lily with the tents. The pokemon was being really weird. She wasn't calling you an idiot or even talking to you. She glanced at you from time to time when she thought you weren't looking. Is she trying to tell you something? You tried to start a conversation but with only trees and trees around you, it was almost impossible to find something to talk about.
You sit with the others to eat. As you do, you check your egg. It's been there since Cynthia gave it to you and, luckily, you managed to keep it safe. At least you left it at the pokemon center when the Kadabra incident happened. You couldn't forgive yourself if something happened to it.
Then it moved. It was just for a second, but it did. Violet was looking at you and realized it too.
"It… moved?" She said, not totally sure. You nodded with a smile. You didn't kill the first defenseless thing under your care yet. "That's great. It's still a bit early, but it means it's growing healthy." She stood up and got closer, sitting next to you in front of the campfire. The egg between you two.
"I'm glad it's okay. I'm too prone to get into trouble." You said with a sigh, gently touching the egg. It was slightly warm and surprisingly… Oh, no, that's not the egg. That's Violet's hand. She wanted to touch the egg at the same time. She blushed but didn't try to move away. She just moved her hand gently to leave you space. You touched the egg and felt the pokemon moving inside. Growing. Violet was still looking away and blushing, but with a slight smile as she felt the baby too.
Lily was glaring at you. A glare that turned to Fang when he seemingly asked something. "No, Fang. It's not. Humans don't even lay eggs. Violet didn't even… With that idiot… No." She said, her voice reaching everyone's mind. She probably didn't realize, or she did and wanted to mess with Violet too? Who knows. You only know that Violet is now blushing more than you've seen her blush, scooting away from you and the egg to return to her food. Trying to focus as much as possible on something else that isn't you.
You were, of course, not blushing because you are a manly man and manly men don't blush… Too much. Yeah, the egg is okay so you are going to eat and forget whatever Fang thinks about you and Violet.
"We are his w-what?!" Said Lily to the electric pokemon after he said something else. "I c-can assure you that we are NOT that! " She said to Fang and then glaring at you like if whatever the pokemon thinks is somehow your fault.
Ah… She was weird for some time after talking to Maelstrom but now she seems back to normal. Chasing Fang around as the pokemon flees in terror from the angry fairy. Time to eat quickly and plan what are you going to do before sleep. You have some free time, it's still early.
You have 2 action points. All actions cost 1 by default except fights against trainers. Haru will do the two most voted.
[] Go take a look at the other trainer camps. There has to be a weak trainer to fight around here. Money and training. (Costs 2 action points.)
[] Talk to Lily. She was acting weird earlier.
[] Talk to Violet. Things feel a bit awkward after what Fang insinuated.
[] Spend time with one of your pokemon without training. Not everything is battles, right? (Choose who)
[] Train Maelstrom (Will open another vote.)
[] Train Fang (Will open another vote.)
