Hubert sighed as his two companions continued to display exponentially more energy than himself, and although he made sure to maintain decent pace and stay close by, he couldn’t help but murmur tiredly under his breath.
“The ‘right spirit’, huh? I don’t get how anyone could have any spirit after that boat ride…”
At least he had the nice weather to alleviate his exhaustion, and every breath of fresh air after a long day on the sea further revitalized his spirit. He even went as far as to release his Pokemon from their capsules, letting them stretch their legs and explore the new region themselves. While Laser stayed inside, Reaper, Comet, and Phantasm wasted no time in roaming around, though they knew not to deviate too far from the road.
Suddenly, the trio found a fork in the path beyond the cliff, and Hubert scanned the two possible routes. Sure enough, there had also been a bright, red roof, barely distinguishable at the horizon; the vibrant color was often an indicator for the presence of a Pokemon Center, regardless of region. Any normal Hubert would voice a lack of preference for either option, but this Hubert was particularly tired, and his weariness from the recent voyage and desire for rest as soon as possible promptly spoke for him.
“Swamps and mud seem like a hassle to deal with; I’d rather go with the cleaner hills to avoid getting all messy, but if you two prefer the other, I won’t protest.”
"Yeah, we should take it easy for now." Jayden stretched his arms upward and started walking towards the green hills. "If anything pops up, me and my take can tackle it, don't worry."
Jayden took the lead, walking with confidence. He made sure Ele was by his side, though the electric type looked exhausted, his spirit lived on. It was a new territory and they weren't about to pass up any opportunity to face some foreign trainers. The trip to Paldea had been a destructive one, but the road ahead was full of hope and...
"So, Hubert, which girl do you prefer? The brunette, red or blue hair? I thought they were all pretty, but if I had to choose, the red head. Something about the fiery color just gets my Motot Drive pumping, you know?" He looked over his shoulder at his tired partner.
"Cheer up man. You're living a legit Pokémon trainer adventure. There's danger in every corner, love under every tree, friendship at every boat! There's a lot more waiting for us... Specially a pretty Paldea redhead!"
Though he'd continued to keep up with the effervescent leader of the group, Hubert could only manage a heavy yawn in response to Jayden's chiding. He'd paid no heed to his rambling, either, rather hoping to block out all the strange things he said. Unfortunately, Hubert couldn't quite muffle his companion's inquiry, and a sigh instinctively escaped him as he was forced to ponder, or pretend to, at least.
"The brunette, red, or blue hair, huh..."
If he had to pick, then he had to say... that girl with the...
"Wait, who?"
Who was Jayden even talking about? Hubert silently racked his brain as thoroughly as he could in his current state, though his exhaustion proved itself no help. Girls? Hubert frantically retraced his memory, filtering for certain interactions he and Jayden could have had at the beginning of their travels together...
"The girls you met at the Liberty Garden boat? Man, how am I supposed to remember what they looked like? They were leaving by the time I finished my shower!"
A bewildered laugh couldn't help but slip out, and Hubert shook his head as he gave a confused shrug. Despite being exhausted to the point of collapse, the absurdity of it all had somehow brightened his mood. Guess things just had a way of working out.
"If you really need an answer though, hairstyle doesn't matter to me. If we're clicking and she's interested, why not see where it goes, y'know?"
"Yeah, you're right." Jayden stopped to let his teammate catch up. "Damn you look beat up, want to take a break? We could have some lunch, then go to the Pokemon Center. Besides, we got all day. I can also message Mary Jane to see if she's around."
He didn't really wait for an answer. JJ moved to a nearby tree and threw his backpack on the ground. "I'm going to release Gya in that pond." He pointed at said location, walking towards it while Ele sat against the trunk, letting out a loud sigh. "There's some tuna sandwiches the Captain gave me in my bag!" He called.
As soon as Jayden reached the small pond, he tossed the Poke Ball gently, releasing the water dragon in it. The Gyarados looked happy, splashing about in the water, barely fitting in the landmark. Jayden gave the new addition to the team permission to stay without wondering around and started walking back to the team. "There's also water bottles!" He shouted as he approached the tree. "Don't worry I can keep watch, y'all can chill for a bit. This place is super quiet to be honest, so we should be able to hear if anything comes close."
July 25th - Cabo Poco, Paldea
Joyce Blake The young woman's eyes darted from one thing to another in rapid succession as she took in the sights of Paldea. This new frontier was unlike anything she had seen before, but that might be due to her limited traveling experience. Nevertheless, the vast expansive lands of the region was an amazing sight to behold. While she was at first at the head of the group, Joyce now found herself last in the marching order as she slowed down to really take in the surroundings, letting Jayden and Hubert ahead while they talked about... whatever they were talking about, she wasn't paying attention.
Before long, JJ signaled them to take a break as the man set his bag down by a tree. "I guess there's no need to rush, the weather is quite nice so a break does sound good." Joyce replied, making her way to the designated rest spot. Joyce looked to the pond as JJ sent out his Gyarados. To be honest, the girl was a bit jealous. Jealous about the fact, despite his recklessness and lack of foresight, Jayden's Gyarados appeared to have gotten very friendly with the man in a very short amount of time. While in her case, her own Atrocity pokemon wanted nothing more than to bite her head off. Maybe she should ask him how he got so close to his pokemon, but that could wait.
The young woman sat down next to Ele, reaching into her companion's bag and taking out one of the sandwiches he mentioned. "Thanks for the food." She exclaimed before biting down on the tuna filled sandwich.
Hubert blinked, surprised that even Jayden had noticed his exhaustion, even going so far as to propose a break before they made any more ground. However, his surprise soon gave way to a grateful smile, and he accepted his companion's offer without a word. Once Joyce had gotten a sandwich, Hubert followed suit, taking one for himself as well as a water bottle. He beckoned for his Pokemon to join him as he took a seat next to Joyce and Ele at the tree, promptly splitting his sandwich into pieces to share with Reaper and Phantasm (Comet wasn't exactly fueled by bread and tuna, for obvious reasons).
"Eat up, guys. Thanks for the food, Jayden!"
Hubert made sure his gratitude to the fellow trainer wasn't left unsaid before partaking in what remained of his sandwich, finishing it off rather quickly since there was about half remaining. After wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he let out a contented sigh and leaned against the tree, looking up into the sky and basking in the fresh air. Despite Jayden's kindness, there was no telling when he'd switch up once again and go back into high gear, so Hubert needed every second he could to get some rest.
The peaceful quiet surrounding the area left Hubert alone with his thoughts, and he soon found himself engaging in some self-reflection. His journey thus far had been nothing short of chaotic, twists and turns faster than he could process. His original plan had been to participate in the Gym Challenge and face the Unova League as an aspiring battle, but no more than one badge earned, and his travels had now brought him to a completely different region. Hubert had always known himself to be flexible, making the most of wherever life took him, but he'd seen far more than he'd expected within the span of two days, and a very small part of him worried about how long he could keep up.
Suddenly, a quiet chitter at his side revealed Reaper, staring up at Hubert expectantly. The trainer smiled and pet the Scorpion Pokemon's carapace, quickly finding comfort in his partner's presence. The other two weren't to be neglected, though, and Hubert showed them both some attention as well before leaning back again and closing his eyes. Things really did have a way of working out, he reminded himself, before quietly beginning to doze off.
All he needed to do was enjoy the ride, no matter what came next.
"Man, what a day or days, I'm not sure how long we spend in the ocean. I'm sure it was night at least once though." Jayden took a bite of his sandwich, speaking to nobody directly but to anyone listening. As he enjoyed chewing his lunch, he looked around taking in the new scenery. The trees, the ocean, the lakes, the hills, the shinning Pokemon, the flowers, the clouds... "Holy shit there's a shining Pokemon!"
JJ tossed his sandwich to his partner, Ele, and bolted in direction of the small gleam up north. As he rushed past his Gyarados, he returned it back into its Diva Ball, just in case he needed back up. The Electrivire looked indecisive at first, but follow soon after. As Jayden got closer, he could make out the Pokemon a bit more. It was this odd green round Pokemon with eyes sticking out from the sides. It had a black stomach with a yellow dot in the middle. What was more interesting to Jayden, was the light it was giving off, like sparkles flowing from it.
"What is that?" Jayden slowed down, enough to see the Pokemon from a safe distance.
The Pokemon kept hopping around, unaware of the trainer now looking at it. The itch to try and catch was strong with Jayden and he would've caught it by surprise if Ele's arrival didn't startled it.
The Bellibolt jumped and sparks of electricity flew out of it as the glow around him gathered up over his head. The sparkles gathered and formed a rain drop over the head of the green round Pokemon. The battle was on!
Hubert's eyes fluttered open when a sudden flash of light, although rather distant, barely peered through his eyelids. Looking over toward the pond where he'd last seen Jayden, Hubert noticed the trainer was nowhere to be seen, and the light that had roused him seemed to have come from just beyond that area. Hubert rose to his feet with a yawn and a stretch, hoping to investigate what was going on, but before he left, he glanced back at Joyce, who was still enjoying her sandwich.
"I'm gonna go check that out--shouldn't be too long."
With a smile and a quick wave, Hubert departed, and his Pokemon needed no instruction to follow behind. As he got closer to the source of the light, it seemed to take on a lustrous azure hue, and he could make out sounds of crackling electricity. The work of a Pokemon? Maybe it was Jayden's Electivire, but the flash of blue seemed to shine with a completely different kind of intensity than a Pokemon's attack. Once Jayden and Ele were in sight, all was finally revealed, and Hubert blinked in surprise. That... looked like a Pokemon for sure, hostile too, but the way it sparkled was like nothing he'd seen before. He quickly made his way to Jayden's side, getting a closer look at the rotund looking figure with big, bulging eyes.
"That's new. You haven't seen anything like that back in Unova either, have you?"
"Go Gya, let's have our first battle together!" Jayden tossed the Dive Ball into the air, releasing the water dragon Pokemon.
The Gyarados looked happy and slammed his tail joyfully into the ground. "I haven't seen anything like that, nope." Jayden replied to Onion's character, his eyes fixed on the enemy. "But that shiny thing on its head might be a new powerful move, let's be careful!"
Bellibolt wasn't too happy of a second trainer showing up to bother its casual bouncing around the pond routine. It glowed blue as water began to form above it, mixed with dirt and creating a giant wave of Muddy Water. The impact didn't do much to Gyarados, but it did wash Jayden away a few meters. "Yuck! Gya, attack!"
Gyarados gained a dark aura around his mouth, sledding across the wet ground as he lunged for a Bite attack!
July 25th - Cabo Poco, Paldea
Joyce Blake "Come on out you guys." Joyce spoke as she sent out Sapling, Thorn and Teller. The trio of pokemon took a seat around their trainer as the girl handed each of them a sandwich from Jayden's bag. "I'm sorry for what happened back on the boat, I really thought that Wyrm would have eventually softened up with time." She spoke, leading her pokemon to give a side glance towards their trainer's innocence. "Especially you Teller." The young woman continued, turning to her Abra. "I don't think we'd have made it out of that situation as well as we have if you weren't there. I'll make sure to get you something you like as a reward." The Abra simply gave a stoic bow in response, but internally, he was beaming with pride.
A bit later, a bright flash of light over the horizon caught the young woman's eye. "What was that?" She exclaimed as she turned towards the source of the flash. Noticing the absence of Jayden at the same time. Just as she was going to go check it out, Hubert appeared to have had the same idea, so she decided to let him handle it. "Oh alright, let me know what's happening over there. I suspect Jayden might be involved." She said as she waved her travel companion off.
That azure, crystalline raindrop adorning the unknown Pokemon had indeed caught most of Hubert's attention, but he wasn't given any time to wonder as a sudden wave of [Muddy Water] crashed upon the two trainers. Of course he had to say something about not wanting to get messy when they chose this path.
Hubert yelped in surprise as he was forced backward by the attack, but in the split second he felt the water hit him, he felt something... odd. Upon impact, his vision filled with bright blue sparks, the same hue as the lustrous headpiece the Pokemon had been wearing. Had it influenced the move somehow? Despite his confusion from this strange phenomenon and his revulsion from being almost completely soaked by the water and mud, Hubert soon sprang into action behind Jayden, calling on his Pokemon to attack as well.
"Let's back him up! Reaper, use [Night Slash]!"
The Skorupi hissed and dashed forward beside Jayden's Gyarados, his pincers glowing with malicious energy before he lashed out at his target with vicious precision.
Bellibolt gathered energy around itself with Charge, increasing its special defense and then, crackle crackle crackle! His body gathered the electricity he had gathered on its body. The wild Pokemon smashed against Gyarados, knocking the water flying type to the side and the bouncing towards the scorpion like Pokemon, meeting his Night Slash with its Spark!
"Gya!" Jayden watched as the big snake rolled to the side, clearly suffering from the sudden impact.
The Bellibolt wasn't done yet, as it landed it started twirling around on the wet ground, sending Mud-Slap in Reaper's way. Gyarados got up and used his body to shield the small scorpion like Pokemon, the Mud-Slap having no effect on his body.
Amada Acosta, Porto Marinada, Paldea, July 18th. In the City of Porto Marinada, sitting on a dock in the harbor, with a Sprigatito currently napping on her lap, was a short, teenage girl with shoulder length light brown hair, however dark streaks could be seen. Her Green eyes looked down at the sleeping Grass Cat Pokémon, as her hand was petting the cat like creature. As she petted the cat, two Pokéballs opened up on her belt, revealing a larger than average Murkrow and the other, an Autumnal colored Cacnea. As she looked through the Peripherals of her eyes, she saw the Murkrow, whose feathers are more shiny than average, from what she's seen.
"Murkrow, Cacnea, is something wrong?"
Murkrow simply squawked as Cacnea raised an arm, waving his arm around. She looked, and didn't see anything. She then went back to petting her Sprigatito, as the Grass type woke up. The Grass Cat Pokémon then ran off, causing Amada to run off after her Pokémon, returning Cacnea for her Houndour, and having her and Murkrow start tracking Sprigatito. The Dark and Fire Type yipped as she started sniffing Amada's hand then the ground. She barked as she picked up something, then started following it.
"Murkrow, track Houndour from the air, make sure she doesn't get lost, and squawk if you see Sprigatito."
The Dark and Flying Type squawked in response, and flew off towards the direction of Houndour's tracking. Amada followed her Houndour and her Murkrow. People were quite surprised at a teenage girl following a Houndour and Murkrow.
Amada's Sprigatito, Porto Marinada, Paldea, July 18th. "Running around the City." Sprigatito had ran off after petted by his trainer, he needed some exercise, and make his trainer do something for once today. He scurried through the people and shops of Porto Marinada, running in an aimless direction. He heard a bark, and it made him start running again. As he ran, he noticed a bird in the sky, and was fearful at first, but eventually realizing the bird was just his teammate. He then ran towards a building.
"Sprig?"
The Murkrow that had been following him had Caught up, and promptly squawked. Amada Acosta, Porto Marinada, Paldea, July 18th. Some time after she sent her Houndour and Murkrow to find Sprigatito, Murkrow squawked. Amada had Caught up to Houndour, pointing at Murkrow.
"Houndour, go to Murkrow, I'll be right behind," Amada told her Pokémon.
Houndour headed off, with Amada tailing her Pokémon as they headed to their destination, where Murkrow spotted Sprigatito. After some time, Amada and Houndour found where Murkrow was and looked at her Sprigatito.
"Every time I do something, you run off after, why?"
"Sprig?"
Sprigatito then hopped on Amada's shoulder, and started rubbing her face, purring. As such, she returned her Murkrow and Houndour, and sat on the steps.
Reeling from the impact of its claws clashing with the Pokemon's electrified body, Reaper stumbled back, almost at the mercy of a follow-up [Mud-Slap]. Fortunately, Jayden's Gyarados recovered from its previous exchange in time to act as a shield against the attack, taking no damage due to its type advantage. Hubert wasted no time in continuing the fight, though he made sure to express his appreciation for Gya's maneuver.
"Thanks for that! Let's keep going, Reaper; [Poison Fang]!"
The Skorupi let out a hiss as its fangs became dipped in a deadly venom, glowing with an ominous purple hue. Reaper then darted forward, pressing the offensive once again as it aimed to sink its attack into its target and hopefully deal some substantial damage.
The Gyarados uncoiled himself and followed after the scorpion Pokemon. Bellibolt cried out as the Poison Fang hit it, followed by Gya's Bite attacked. The electrical Pokemon rolled back a few times before jumping up on his feet again. He looked angry. The crystal above its head glowed and the Bellibolt jumped as water emerged from under it, Muddy Water, rushing towards his enemies again.
"Not again!" Jayden cried out as the water struck his legs, knocking him down to the floor, falling face first as we was washed a few feet away. "Gya, attack!"
Gyarados turned his worried eyes away from his trainer and rushed forward once again, his Bite forming as he slid towards the Bellibolt!
Stumbling back once again in the wake of a second [Muddy Water], Hubert groaned in exasperation, getting even dirtier than last time and further whittling away at his composure. However, Reaper had no intentions of giving up despite the attack he'd just weathered, and Hubert needed to stay by his partner's side. Hurriedly pulling himself back to his feet, he gave instruction yet again, hoping to attack in tandem with the already charging Gyarados.
"Any second now; [Night Slash] one more time!"
Reaper skittered across the ground, tailing his ally as his claws were once again coated in wisps of malice. The double Dark-Type attack made direct contact, the Gyarados' fangs sinking deep into the Bellibolt, and the Skorupi slashing at its body soon after with intense ferocity.
One attack after another and the Bellibolt couldn't take no more. The electric Pokemon stumbled backwards as the crystal above his head broke, leaving him standing in a dizzy state. Jayden grinned and looked at Hubert, "I already have a water Pokemon, you should catch it, I bet it would be an awesome addition to-"
JJ turned back to see a Poke Ball pop open and suck in the defeated Bellibolt. At the top of a hill stood a kid wearing the Naranja Academy uniform. He had black hair covering his right eye and a dark gray left eye starring down at the two trainers. He was soon joined by two more students. One was a girl, who had long purple hair, covering her left eye also and a boy with the same dark purple hair, which covered both his eyes.
"Thanks, I was looking for a Bellibolt with this terra type." The black haired student slid down the hill, his eyes settled on the two Pokemon. "You two look like beginners, not from around here are you? Name's Zack, Zack Martinez. These are my siblings, Lucia and Cody. We're the Martinez family, prodigy trainers and these are OUR training grounds. I suggest you all turn back and-"
"Is your sister single?" Jayden spoke out as he place his hands behind his back.
"What- No, I mean yes, but that's none of your-" Zack was clearly upset as his blushing sister hid behind him.
"Yes or no? It's a simple question man."
"Mind your own business! You're in our turf and we don't like it when peo-"
"So she is single? Listen I got a date already, but if it doesn't work out I'll come find you." Jayden teased, amused by Zack's rage. "We have to get going anyway, our Pokemon need healing. If you're still in the mood to fight, meet us at the Pokemon Center. See you later, Lucia!" He waved before returning his Gyarados and was joined by a chuckling Electrivire.
Zack seemed he was about to foam at the mouth as his siblings dragged him away. "I'll get you, stupid tourists!"
Hubert sighed in relief as the unknown Pokemon finally fell, unable to withstand the last barrage of attacks from both Reaper and Gya. However, his attention remained held as the azure crystal adorning the Bellibolt's head shattered, casting countless sparks of bright, blue light. Its exterior lost its luster as well, revealing its normal appearance, though not for long, as a Pokeball suddenly hurtled through the air, quickly scooping up the Pokemon and capturing it with a click. An unfamiliar voice finally wrested Hubert's eyes, and he glanced over at its source: a young kid wearing an orange and white school uniform and a smug expression.
The next few strings of words fell on ears too exhausted to hear, truth be told, but even in Hubert's state of utter fatigue, he could still make out some terms that were new and probably worth remembering. Tera-type? That Pokemon was known as 'Bellibolt'? The black haired trainer, tailed by his two siblings, seemed to have been making an intimidation play, hoping to scare Hubert and Jayden off, but the latter quickly demonstrated his ability to defuse situations by sheer absurdity, immediately making a pass at the girl. Before he knew it, Hubert was following his adventure companion out of the scene, and not even his exhaustion could prevent him from letting a quiet but amused chuckle slip as he recalled his Pokemon into their capsules.
"Really don't know how you do it."
The two soon reconvened with Joyce, and Hubert crashed back into his original seat, tiredly slumping against the tree. However, his next words seemed to disagree with his current intent.
"Well, some stuff happened, but it's over now. I'd like to get to that Pokemon Center as soon as possible, just to get cleaned up at this point."
July 25th - Cabo Poco, Paldea
Joyce Blake
While Jayden and Hubert were having their climactic showdown with water type Bellibolt, Joyce had been idling away the time by herself. She sat at their picnic location, legs crossed and whistling to herself. "Man, they sure are taking a while, I wonder what's going on over there." She said to herself in a low tone as she looked towards the location they ran off too. Periodically, she would hear what sounded like heavy impacts come from the direction of the conflict. "Seems like they might have started a battle, if the sounds are any indicator." She mumbled to herself.
The young woman didn't need to continue to wonder what her companions were doing for long however, as two familiar figures walked back into view. "Oh hey, you guys are back!" She yelled out as she waved at them. "Man, you don't look too good, Hubert." She added, commenting on Hubert's exhausted demeanor.
"Damn, best buddy, want me to carry you?" Jayden said as he pulled out a blanket from his backpack and started drying himself off. "I texted Mary Jane, she said we're on the right path, just keep going north." JJ sighed and looked at Joyce. "You should've seen it. Me and Hubert looked super awesome making a team. Our Pokemon fought so well together, that green slugger Pokemon never stood a chance. We need to get a tera Pokemon by the way. I don't know why, but I felt that crystal on its head was making it stronger somehow. Right Hubert?"
Once JJ had sorta dried himself off, returned Gya and ate some snacks, he was ready to go once more. The road to the Pokemon Center was tough for Jayden. The cries of Pokemon he never heard of and the sight of place to adventure into kept nagging at him, but for the sake of Hubert's sanity and Joyce's whatever, he did the best he could, focusing on the red roof building until they finally arrived. "Well this Pokemon Center is...different."
Jayden looked at the gas station look alike spot. It wasn't really a building, more like some sort of shack with the Pokemon Center under it and an Item Shop. It was more like a quick rest stop than an actually hospital or anything. JJ laughed and looked at his teammates. "Looks like this is just a quick stop, sorry guys, no beds for now."
"Welcome to the Pokemon Center- Oh, did you all just walk?" The nurse Joy looked a bit surprised. "My my, it takes a lot of energy to walk around these area. Is it part of your school assignment?"
"Ah! Nurse Joy, may I say you're the most beautiful nurse Joy I've ever seen." Jayden walked up to the counter with a smug look on his face. "We're actually not from here, we're Unovian. We just got here, got a ride from the legendary Captain Buck Sarrow."
"Oh, thank you..." The nurse looked a bit confused but regained her smile once again shortly after. "Well, welcome to Paldea! That explains your fatigue. We usually use Cyclizar to get around, as you can see, the area in Paldea is big and too exhausting to just walk around unless you're prepared for it. If you want, we can rent you some bicycles. You must be heading to the academy, am I right?"
JJ nodded. "That's right ma'am. I have a date there, but if it doesn't work out, I can come pick you up." He crossed his arms with confidence.
"That's okay, I rather you didn't." Joy smiled and looked at Hubert and Joyce. "It's a small fee, 100$. You can drop them off at the arrival at Mesagoza at the Pokemon Center there. I will just need to register your trainer information. Would you all like to rent some? I guarantee it makes traveling easier for you."
Hubert only managed yet another exhausted sigh upon hearing Jayden and Joyce voice their concern, though he made sure to answer them in words shortly after.
"I'll manage, just really tired after everything. I'll feel better once I've rested up somewhere."
After a few minutes' rest, which Hubert used to dry himself off to the best of his ability, the trio were on the road once again, and much to his relief, Jayden had managed to focus on reaching their destination without any more detours. Upon arriving to the Pokemon Center, Hubert was surprised to see its design was much different from the Unovian centers he was used to, despite its signature red roof. The lack of areas to rest was a little disheartening, but they seemed to provide useful enough services.
Hubert paid no heed to Jayden's attempts to charm Nurse Joy, though he made sure to listen closely as she explained the vastness of the Paldea region and the typical mode of transportation. Cyclizar, was it? Everything was so unfamiliar, but that was just the allure of exploring a new region, Hubert supposed. And as long as this 'Mesagoza' had a place he could rest, he certainly wouldn't say no.
"I'd certainly like to rent; it's been a long few days and easier transportation would be very helpful."
With a tired smile, he approached Nurse Joy to register his information.
"Great minds think alike huh? We'll take em. Joyce can ride with me so she doesn't waste her money." Jayden said proudly as he leaned over the desk to scan his phone for the payment. "She's like in love with both of us and has us competing for her. I know, it's crazy, but it's fun to have a rival in battles and love you know?" Jayden whispered to the kind nurse Joy as she processed their information. "Too bad for her, I got us dates in Paldea. Joyce is going to have to go sightseeing on her own for now."
Joy just smiled and laughed at Jayden's gossip as she returned their phones to them. "You can take one of your choice, please take care of them and enjoy your trip!"
"Thanks!" JJ replied with enthusiasm as he walked over to a set of parked bikes. He looked through them until he decided on a black one with white stripes. "Alright, Ele, you can't ride on the bike buddy." He said as he returned the disappointed Electrivire back into his Poke Ball. "Let's roll out gang! Team Super Charge on the move!"
Despite his overwhelming amount of energy, JJ actually went at a steady pace. In fact, he was more worried about keeping Hubert awake by talking to him than enjoying the views around them. It wasn't until their destination, Mesagoza, came into view. Jayden let out a loud awe as the central city became bigger and bigger as they got closer. It spread out in front of them, with what looked like a sort of castle in the far north and elevated. It was then that JJ had decided to speed up, eager to finally arrive.
"Holy guacamole! This place is amazing!" Jayden said as he jumped off his bike, moving towards the quick stop Pokemon Center. "Man, we are going to have tons of fun here. Come on Hubert ol dog, let's get you to a nice bed while I set up a date with some Paldean cuties. Joyce, you're going to have to get your own room, we're not in that stage of our relationship yet and I don't want to make things awkward between us, at least not now."
Once he had turned his bike in, Jayden and group entered the famous Paldea capital. The language was a bit hard to understand, but there were a few translations around the place upon street signs and other tourist attractions. Ele, who was back out of his Poke Ball, was just as excited, running around and peeking at the food stands and shops. "So, how much time do you need to recharge, Hubs? So I can let Mary Jane know when we can meet. You're going to love her friends."
Money: $3,900
x2 Super Potion
x1 Full Heal
x3 Great Ball
x1 Dive Ball
Once the registration had been finalized, Hubert and Jayden were finally given their rental Cyclizar, and Hubert gently mounted the Pokemon with a friendly grin, patting its head to show his gratitude. Turning back to glance at Nurse Joy, he gave a similar smile and a nod of gratitude as well, and at Jayden's cheerful command, the three trainers were off once again.
Aside from a few moments' discomfort while getting used to guiding the Mount Pokemon along the trail, the rest of the journey was fairly calm. Jayden had somehow managed to stifle his certain excitement as the region unfolded before them, and while part of Hubert shared the same enthusiasm, it was quite easily overwritten by his exhaustion. The best he could do was take mental note of the Pokemon roaming the land around them, both familiar and new, and he wondered if they'd be staying long enough to get even an idea of how vast this region was.
Finally, the trio arrived in Mesagoza, a massive city that stood up to the likes of Castelia's metropolis. Even amidst his fatigue, Hubert couldn't help but whistle softly in awe as he dismounted his Cyclizar and returned it to the nearby Pokemon Center. As they passed through the large gate and into the town itself, the bustling streets and busy markets were more than enough to catch his eye, not to mention the towering building that stood over the entire city, adorned with a giant Pokeball on the top. There was so much to do in this city alone, so many sights to see and people to meet!
"Yeah, to be completely honest, I'm passing out as soon as I hit a bed, and I have no idea when I'm waking up, if at all. Is it cool if I just give you a ring when I do? It'll give you and Joyce ample time to look around, set up those dates (I guess), and whatnot."
As they walked through the city, Hubert kept on the lookout for any places that seemed like they offered lodging, and upon locating a hotel-looking building, he began to make his way over, intending to subtly lead Jayden and Joyce along as well.
While they booked a room, JJ was glued to his phone. Laughing and saying 'No way!' out loud every now and then. His mind was focused on talking to the Paldean red head while his body followed his team. Once they each reached their rooms and parted ways, Jayden finally set his phone done. Despite his excitement for the new region and hopes for romance and adventure were fresh in his mind, his body gave in to the hotel bed as he faded into a deep sleep.
July 26th, Mesagoza, Paldea.
Unfortunately, Jayden had slept through the entire night, even ignoring the phone call from Mary Jane. His eyes flew open as his mind remembered he had a date later on, only to realize it was day time. He sat up, rushed and in panic. He quickly reached for his phone, finding disappointed texts from MJ. Not knowing what to do, he rushed to the wisest person her knew.
"Hubert!"
He flung the door open, allowing himself into Hubert's hotel room. "I messed up! I overslept and forgot our dates!" He walked in, pacing back and forth, as if trying to solve the world's problems. "Okay, maybe we can apologize by buying some roses and then some chocolates. Then we can have a mix tag battle for fun and finish with a song. What instrument do you play?"
Money: $3,900
x2 Super Potion
x1 Full Heal
x3 Great Ball
x1 Dive Ball