Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 45: New Trainee

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Sapphire Town, Sinnoh

A familiar Rockruff packed a brown backpack with snacks as he excitedly prepared for his first official training day with Mark and those four Pokémon that saved his and Akari's lives. He had always issued the chance to thank them for saving him and Akari, despite seeing them a few times after being saved.

He rummaged through his possessions, checking to see if there was anything else to bring along.

Akari peeked into the room confusedly. She was easily able to tell that he was planning on going somewhere again. Miles had never told her that he had somewhere to go, and no matter how much she poked and prodded her best friend, he would tell her he was simply going to roam the town.

"Can I come, Miles?" The Zorua suddenly ask, making Miles yelp faintly and jump a bit.

He looked back to face her, "Your leg still needs to heal, Kari."

Akari stubbornly huffed, her cheeks puffing up in a pout, "I can walk around fine now!"

"Mom says we could get into trouble again outside...." He reminded her, "And if we do, your leg would get worse."

"No fair!" Akari whined, "You know I don't listen to her that often!"

Miles giggled softly at this, putting the backpack on, "I'll be home later."

The Rockruff quickly left the room, his tail wagging in excitement.

He left Akari alone in the silent room; She had no idea how to respond to Miles' enthusiasm about leaving the house alone. Akari soon left Miles' room and went to her own, laying down in her bed.

She didn't understand. Miles had changed ever since they were attacked by those two Pokemon about a week prior. She saw a new sense of determination in him, something she had always known to be a part of Miles' character, but he seemed to be determined about things that she wasn't aware of, and this bothered her more than she would've ever guessed.

Her and Miles always did everything together.

They ate together.

Played together.

Had fun together.

It was always them two and Miles' parents, occasionally interacting with other Pokémon in the town, but constantly remained in their own bubble. Everything in their lives seemed to be so small and simple. Things never were beyond Sapphire Town. But suddenly, things became so complicated, and even Akari, the chronic prankster herself, couldn't ignore the fact that she had been attacked by those two Pokémon.

Now even Miles was acting differently. What was she going to do?

Meanwhile, Miles ran through Sapphire Town, barely missing a few Pokémon as he dashed past. Adrenaline pumped through the Rockruff's veins as he wondered how his first training session would turn out. Miles was sure that he'd be able to impress them with his Edged Armor attack, since it was a one of a kind attack.

It was an awfully hot day, the sound of Sapphire's bug-type Pokémon filling the occasional silence in the town, when and if there was any silence to be filled. Many Pokémon walked around town, going to their favorite stores and visiting other Pokémon.

Many would call this place noisy, others would complain about the many tight squeezes through buildings to get to the other side of town. There could be a plethora of other things Pokémon could complain about when it came to Sapphire Town, such as The grassy landscape of the town always remaining in an unkempt state, but always to the liking of the residents in Sapphire.

He anxiously knocked on the door of Mark's house, his tail wagging in excitement. A moment later, Mark opened the door and looked down to see the young Pokémon.

The Garchomp raised his eyebrow, "You're pretty early, kid."

"I couldn't wait!" Miles exclaimed in response, his tail still tirelessly wagging behind him.

Mark looked upon the young Pokémon as if he were a beacon of light in the dark circumstances that they all found themselves in. He still couldn't understand the thinking of someone who would just attack a young, defenseless, unassuming Pokémon. But even though that happened, Miles only stood there with a carefree smile, ready to take on the world.

It was quite commendable in his eyes, even if it was just the blind optimistic nature of a child.

Mark shook his head with a faint smile, "Wait out here for a quick moment, okay?"

Miles nodded as the Garchomp closed the door.

In the common room, Jacob and Oliver were lounging on one of Mark's couches. Oliver was writing something down in a notebook, while Jacob was sitting upside down, his feet up in the air.

"Still documenting?" Mark asked, grabbing the duo's attention.

Oliver looked up from his notes, "No, I'm trying to figure out the connection between Nidoking and the black substance. We confirmed that it was symbiotic, but how did it get to Forest Grotto in the first place, and could it be a part of a bigger entity since the substance here is not the same one from there?"

"I never even thought about that!" Jacob exclaimed, falling down to the side so he could sit upright.

"Apparently neither did Logan, because when I asked him about the substance, he thought it was just something natural."

Suddenly, the substance began bouncing off of the sides of the jar it was put into.