‘Don’t blame yourself for this, Kiran. It wasn’t your fault. Just don’t lose your light, you hear me?’

  The twenty-one-year-old woke with a start, then realized that he just emerged from a nightmare. ‘Well, that’s a throwback I’d rather avoid’, he thought as he rubbed his forehead wearily.

  Kiran stumbled out of bed and moved slowly to the bathroom of his cabin to freshen up.

  He then paused in place for a second. ‘My cabin? Oh, right…’. He may have just woken up from a dream, but his current situation seemed just as surreal in some ways.

  His current location was currently on board a ferry to Hoenn, or more specifically Lilycove City. Just two years ago, living in style, in safety like this was unthinkable. But ever since he’d proven his ability repeatedly in the Orre Coliseum, he’d not only earned enough money, but enough qualifications to have entry into some big tournaments outside of Orre, something very few people from the region would ever get to do.

  ‘And boy, was that an easy choice to make’. Finally, the way out of that hellhole that he’d been obsessing over for what felt like an eternity. Only about ten years in reality, but to be fair, that does feel like an eternity if one is forced to live it in Orre.

  ‘Oh Wallace, of course you can join, hehehe….’. Kiran looked incredulously at what his sister had just slurred in her sleep, half-amused, half-scandalized. Really hope I never find out what her internet history is like.

  Clearly whatever dream she was having was very lively, as the 16-year-old Nysa was laying in a position way too awkward to purposely put herself in. As Kiran moved to the small kitchen in the cabin for coffee, he smiled while thinking of the plan ahead. Finally, they could travel together in a nice region, and she could gain more independence, as she would be starting her Trainer journey this year.

  ‘Espeee….’.

  He looked down at his Espeon groggily making her way over to him. ‘Guess my morning routine woke her up?’ He rubbed her behind the ears, and she in turn rubbed her lilac-coloured head against Kiran’s leg.

  Seeing one of his Pokemon, like usual, filled him with a sense of pride and gratefulness at his entire team for being able to come out on top after all that’s happened. He wished he could see all of them, but right now only his Luxray, Ceruledge, Quagsire, Walrein, Roserade, and Espeon were out of their Pokeballs, most of them dozing on his bed or at the foot of it. The other members would feel a bit too squeezed if he let them out anywhere other than the specialized battle arenas or the public cafeteria on the ship.

  Speaking of which….

  Kiran leaned down to Athena, which was his Espeon’s name. ‘Wanna get going?’

  ‘Speee…’

  He smiled softly. ‘Let’s go, then.’

  Quietly, Kiran slipped on his headphones. Before leaving, he made sure to recall his Walrein. Blubby was a bit of baby, despite how big he was now, so Kiran usually liked to be there when he woke up, so Blubby doesn’t start crying. Then he and Athena slipped out of the cabin and started walking to the cafeteria.

  ‘Man, how is even a hallway fancier than I could imagine?’, Kiran mused as he made his way to breakfast. He had to try to keep bumpkin-like thoughts to himself. Orre residents already had terrible reputations for being ruffians of some sort, he didn’t need anything additional piled on to that.

  Not that the ‘ruffian’ part would be technically wrong in his case, but that wasn’t the point.

  ‘You could do to not look that worried in front of strangers’, said a silky-smooth voice in his head.

  Kiran let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. ‘You’re finally fully awake. How was your first night in an overseas bedroom?’

  ‘Better than I could’ve imagined. Are the pillows outside Orre really all that fluffy and bouncy?’

  ‘Bouncy?’ He cracked a smile when he realized what she was talking about. ‘You sure that wasn’t just Blubby?’ Kiran was referring to his Walrein.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  She somehow managed to trip on flat ground just then, got up and was sporting a faint blush. ‘….That stays between us.’

  Kiran let out a chuckle at that, which earned him glare. ‘Now you’re even more awake!’, he said as they turned the corner to see the cafeteria in front of them.

  Holy shit, he thought to himself, even though this wasn’t the first time he had been here. How could you blame him? All different kinds of muffins, pastries, salads, noodle dishes, tacos, and sandwiches as far as the eye could see. So many sauces, toppings, cooking methods… he had to quickly wipe his mouth to prevent any drooling. Turns out he wasn’t, but he wouldn’t have been surprised.

  Although, Athena wasn’t so lucky. She threw a glare at Kiran the second he noticed. ‘You saw absolutely nothing’.

  ‘I just saw the food, don’t worry, lets go,’ He then strode towards the line, which thankfully wasn’t so long this early in the morning.

  While standing in line, he looked out the ceiling-to-floor window to his left, and could just make out Lilycove City in the distance. They were officially in Hoenn waters now, and it got Kiran thinking more specifically about why he was here.

  He had gotten the info from the tournament directors, and apparently he was due to face someone named Juan? He was a Hoenn Gym Leader that was apparently close to the level of their Elite Four. That would probably be a tough match, but he'd faced people born in Orre and abroad at that level in Orre's coliseums plenty of times. Kiran had always gone toe-to-toe with them, so winning was absolutely possible here. He’d have to look at videos of his battling in the next week before the tournament started so he could figure out what Pokemon he wanted to use, and he’d likely have to do the same to some extent for potential future opponents in the tournament…

  Kiran let out a bit of an annoyed sigh as he came to the front of the line. While picking out the food that he wanted, Athena spoke up again in his head. ‘Thinking about the tournament?’

  ‘Yeah, I am,’ he said in a low voice. Low, because he didn’t want anyone around him to easily hear him. ‘Sorry Athena, but I was thinking of not using you this time. The first match is gonna be at night, and I can’t switch teams for the tournament.’

  He knew from a previous near-death experience that it would be a mistake to use Athena when the sun was down, because she was weaker at night. Not weak in a vacuum, but at this caliber of tournament? Probably not the best idea.

  Athena stretched below him, clearly still a bit drowsy. ‘That’s fine. We’ve been battling together for ages now, I kind of just wanted to sit back and take it easy if possible. Now that we’re gone from that horrible place,’ she said.

  He chuckled softly as he looked over a delicious-looking section full of breakfast tacos, filled with meats, cheeses, and tomato. ‘Slacking off now, are we?’ he joked.

  ‘Oh, shut up,’ she snorted. ‘You don’t even look that excited to battle. You haven’t looked like you’ve been enjoying yourself for the past year or so when battling, I can tell.’

  Kiran had to agree. Ever since he knew that he and his sister would be leaving Orre, battling had felt like a chore. Just a tool to get to the light at the end of the tunnel, and he still didn’t really get what that ‘light’ was.

  After getting some breakfast tacos and blueberry muffins for himself, and enough Pokemon food for those with him (yes, they had Pokemon food too), which Athena was kind enough to levitate much of for him, they sat down and dug in. The gooeyness of the cheese when he bit into the tacos, the explosive flavors of them, the crunchiness yet softness of the muffins….screw it. If he looked like some out-of-touch bumpkin, he didn’t care that much.

  At this point, he had released the Pokemon he’d brought with him and Athena. Blubby, his Walrein was happily chowing down alongside Kiran. He smiled at Blubby especially, knowing that a temper tantrum had been avoided. Blubby glanced up to see his trainer lean down to rub under his chin, at which his tail-fin flopped up and down in happiness.

  The sight would’ve made Kiran flop his tail up and down in happiness if he had one. It really seemed surreal sometimes, how far he’d come from… well, that time in the dream he just had.

  ‘And there goes the mood,’ Kiran thought with an internal sigh. Somehow, even after everything, he found it hard to find the happiness he was looking for.

  ‘Yo, big bro. Good thing we’re mostly alone for now, looking at your mouth,’ came a snide voice from behind him.

  Kiran looked up to see his sister standing to his right. Nysa had woken up. Just like him, she had just thrown on a loose sweater and sweatpants, that still revealed some of the tattoos that they both had. Her hair was somewhat short and curly, with a fringe in the front, and with streaks of dyed-blue running through it, as opposed to the red ones running through his hair. Her Masquerain was perched on her shoulder as well, still very clearly a bit drowsy, and her Floatzel was trudging right behind her, looking pretty drowsy from probably just waking up.

  Kiran smirked at her, then had to consciously stop ravenously going at the food in front of him long enough to talk. ‘Yeah. S’pose these tacos can’t be tasty as...whatever you were having in that dream just now’.

  Impressively, she almost instantly blushed up to the roots of her hair. ‘W-w-w-well jokes on you, that dream just shows how much more personable I am than you!’, she managed to get out.

  ‘ ‘In your dreams’ is a phrase that applies quite literally here.’

  She put her roast beef sandwich and coffee down on the table and groaned. ‘I hate you.’ Zara, her Masquerain, fluttered lazily over to perch on Blubby, and said good morning to the group. Floatzel pulled up a chair and sat on it to Nysa’s right, with his eyes half-open.

  Nysa’s annoyance quickly dissipated as she started on her food, quickly devolving into the same state as he was just a minute ago. After a few minutes, she finally snapped out of her food stupor, and looked at Kiran excitedly. ‘Are you excited? We’re actually going to be living in Hoenn!’

  He gave a small smile at that, probably not the level of excitement that Nysa was expecting, but he couldn’t really muster more right now. ‘I’m happy about this, yeah. Hopefully this tournament goes well,’ he said.

  Of course, Blubby had to bark loudly at that, which caught Nysa off guard, and sent Zara flying away in alarm. Floatzel glared at Blubby for that, but huffed and looked away after a few seconds. Not Kiran though, he was used to Blubby behaving this way. He quieted down a bit when people around them started giving the big Pokemon annoyed looks, and Zara returned to her perch on Nysa’s head.

  ‘And it’s not just the battles! The beautiful environment, the people, the food, the fashion, the beaches, oh my god, the beaches…’. At this point, Kiran was convinced her eyes had been replaced by stars.

  He did feel a slight twinge of sadness hearing his sister gush like this. After all, they wouldn’t be traveling together past a certain point of the journey, since she wanted to start being independent as soon as possible, which he could get.

  Soon after they finished with breakfast, and brought back enough for the rest of Kiran’s team, they heard the message over the loudspeakers of the ship:

  Attention passengers, we are going to dock in Lilycove Harbour in exactly one hour. Please make sure to have your belongings ready for departure.

  Nysa squealed in happiness, and Kiran made a hungry grin of excitement.

  Let’s get this started.