As the dawn sun rises over the mist-soaked horizon, you are currently leaning over the deck of a ferry ship rapidly skimming towards Pacifidlog Town from Slateport City, passing by numerous sandbars and small islands that fly by in the distance, as the ship you are on rapidly moves east along the rapid currents. The sound of the surf overlaps with the hum of the motors beneath, as you take in the crisp if frigid morning air, a background hum that ironically helps you focus.

This time of the year is the border between Winter and Spring. And it is this time of the year, that marks the fifth anniversary of the beginning of your journey, and the start of the sixth year. As it has now been the tradition, you spend the dawn contemplating the year ahead. But this anniversary is special. Because this is the very final year of your Pokemon journey. Because when you hit 16, you will be enrolled in a specialized school, training for a profession you wish to commit your life to.

What might your younger self have supposed you were feeling at this very moment, at the prospect of ending your journey? You reflect, looking out over the horizon.

Your younger self as recently as two years ago would have said with absolute confidence, that you should be feeling the excitement. After all, it was always your childhood dream to become a Pokemon Ranger, to work out there in the Wilds with Wild Pokemon, You believed that the entire purpose of your journey was not self-discovery, as it is for many trainers. No, it was to prepare yourself to become the best Ranger you could be. And now, so close to the time you would finally enter Ranger School, and begin the route to becoming a professional Ranger, the future should fill you with unmitigated excitement.

But right here right now, you don't feel excited. Alright then, what else are you supposed to feel? Perhaps melancholy, that your journey is at the end, and with it, the freedom of hitting the road, of exploring the world? You know this is a common emotion for many people approaching the end of their journeys. Perhaps relief? Finally, you will end your days of wandering, and go back to a warm bed and hot shower every single day. No, you don't feel that either.

Then what do you feel? You are uncertain. No, you feel uncertainty, you realize, with a faint horror. Because after the events of the last two years, after the struggles of the last year, after the feeling that your bonds with your Pokemon that you have long cherished have weakened so, so hard, after that fiasco of that internship over at Mt Pyre last Summer where you felt the very foundations of what you believe you were as a trainer deconstructed, after the illness this autumn where you allowed your resolution to slip and headed back home, after being advised to give up on one of your cherished Pokemon…. After…. after

You don't even know for certain whether you want to be a Ranger any longer. Because for the first time ever in your life, you realize your childhood dream is wavering, and it's an unfamiliar feeling. Hence, this sense of uncertainty. How do you work your way out of this?

A deep breath. Break the problem down into more manageable portions. Why are you out here, right now?

You know why you are here in the seas of Eastern Hoenn.

You know you have a tendency to gravitate to cities. Cities after all are places with plenty of opportunities to learn, bond and train your Pokemon in relative safety, take shelter from adverse weather, see interesting sights, museums, coordinator halls and festivals and more. Without motivation to continue travelling, it's just so seductively easy to settle down in a city. You know. You've done it for a whole year in Rustboro City, studying at the Trainer School, and you might have well ended your journey there then had you not decided to finally depart from that city early one Spring morning, while the cherry blossoms were still falling.

And so, if your ambition was to be a Ranger, won't it be a problem? After all, the stereotypical Ranger patrols the wilds, defending and befriending wild Pokemon out there. It's kind of a problem for your dream if you gravitate towards cities, isn't it?

This was why, after finishing the Hoenn Circuit 18 months back and earning all eight badges in the region, an accomplishment less than 10% of all trainers ever manage, two autumns ago, you set yourself a new challenge. You wanted to visit every route in Hoenn and study the wild Pokemon of every single route, to get to know them better, to push back against the temptation to just settle down and enjoy cities. Because you know you need that self-motivation to keep travelling into the wilderness.

A part of you feels like abandoning this quest right now. A part of you feels like teleporting away from the ferry with your Gardevoir and returning to Mauville or Rustboro City. There are still things you could do there - you could right now enrol in a class back in Rustboro's Trainer School on Poison and Steel types and complete your basic studies in all eighteen Pokemon types.

You could return to the Move Dojo back in Mauville City and further expand the versatility of your Pokemon and ability to respond to type disadvantages, by teaching them more moves under the guidance of the move tutors there.

Or perhaps you could head over to Lilycove City, a city you never really explored, but merely passed through during the final months of your personal gym challenge. Or perhaps you could make your way up to Fallabor Town, starting from Meteor's Fall, which you visited once years ago. You've never gone up there before, it'd be quite an adventure.

But the other part of you, that part that still has the childhood dream of being a ranger tells you, no. You've already made a concession to the city-loving part of yourself, and to your starter Pokemon Blade, by intending to participate in a Contest. If you want to be a Ranger, you should hit the numerous routes of Eastern Hoenn, and gain experience in operating out there in the oceans, because you know that Hoenn is a region of water, and something approaching half of the ranger corps in Hoenn works among the vast seas and islands that make up the Southern and Eastern portions of Hoenn. You stopped your exploration of the oceans last year because of Winter, and now that Winter is almost over and the seas are safer again for exploration, you should resume your journey of exploration.

At least, you should continue to ride this boat out to Pacifidlog Town and from there to Soothopolis City? Having travelled through there once, you can teleport to one of the numerous small islands on the routes in this part of Hoenn with Orliath, your Gardevoir at any time. Yes, you decided, that sounds like a good plan. And from within his Pokeball, you feel through your mental link with its occupant, that Orliath agrees with you.

Effect: Regular turns are locked until you arrive at Soothopolis City.

—--------------

The sun is now well above the horizon, and the oceans have begun to take the colour of piercing blue. You are prepared to leave the deck of the ship, and begin spending some time playing with your Pokemon, when you sense that another human has stepped out upon the deck, coming down from the Captain's quarters in the opposite direction you are heading from.

You turn around, realizing that the Captain of the Ship is approaching you. He's a burly, hearty man, with a jovial smile, and a tanned complexion that testified to a lifetime spent out in the oceans.

"Hullo there, young trainer! How are you doing this fine morning?"

You tell him you are fairing well and are about to conclude your morning meditations, and ask him what you could do for him. Calm down, script your answers politely, and wait for him to ask a question your empathetic and still developing psychic senses tells you he intends to ask, after the customary small talk.

Ah, here it is, here is the question.

"So Trainer, what brings you out here to this corner of Hoenn?" He asks with a jolly, curious grin.

What is your reply?

Vote for One option
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