My Pokémon Adventures

Chapter II: Trouble in paradise

It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the harsh sunlight, but when they did, I gasped at what I saw. Guzma, my friend and the leader of Team Skull, darted towards Roark and I and halted abruptly when he reached us, leaning his hands on his knees and panting heavily.

"I'm not cut out for this sort of thing," he complained, huffing and puffing. "What's the matter?" Roark inquired, confused. Guzma grunted. "Quickly, Sas, you got Gyarados on you?" I furrowed my brow and reached for my Pokéballs. "Yes... Why..?"

Guzma took a deep breath and resumed an upright position again, turning around and pointing behind him. I furrowed my brow upon seeing a group of people rushing our way. "That's why. We need to leave, now."

I didn't waste any more time and opened Gyarados' Pokéball. My big blue boy roared and shook his head, glad to be out in the open. Immediately the people that had been following Guzma pointed and shouted. "Quickly!" I told Gyarados, and the water type lowered himself to the ground so all three of us could get on his back.

Once we were seated, Gyarados flew up high and I breathed out in relief to see the people beneath us didn't have any flying types big enough to carry them. For a moment, at least, we were safe.

I turned around to face Guzma, who was sitting behind me. "Well, eh... That's not how I was hoping this would go," I said with an awkward chuckle. Guzma sighed in annoyance. "Yeah, me neither. I hardly ever leave Po Town nowadays, so I guess when people saw me they assumed you'd be here as well. I gotta start wearing a disguise or something."

A short flight later we landed in Po Town, but we hardly had time to settle in. One of Guzma's grunts came running up almost immediately. "Bad news, boss!" they shouted. "There's a hoard of people trying to get in! We're not sure for how long we can hold them off."

That was my breaking point. I sunk to my knees and buried my face in my hands, absolutely hopeless. "Isn't there anywhere I can live my life in peace?!" I cried out. Gyarados lowered his head and nuzzled me. I hugged him, burying my face in his neck.

Roark frowned and Guzma crossed his arms. "Well, Alola's not an option, neither are Sinnoh and Galar. Maybe we should just go to another region where you're not such a big deal. Maybe take on another gym challenge? Might be fun," Roark offered, trying to console me.

I sighed. "Do you really think adding another Champion title to my belt is going to make this easier?" Roark shrugged. "Well, I didn't say you needed to win. But you like battling and collecting badges, right?" I frowned. "I mean, yes, aside from shiny hunting that's my favourite thing to do. But... Oh Roark, don't you remember, when I took on the gym challenge in Galar, people realised what I was doing one or two badges in! I got maybe a week away from all this attention, but it doubled as people realised what I was doing!"

Guzma cleared his throat. "Well, Galar is a densely populated region," he said. "Even more so than Alola and Unova, and I think Kalos' got quite a few big cities too. Maybe something like Kanto or Johto is more manageable, most folks there might not even know who you are because there are so few people that live there. The people in those small towns aren't usually concerned with celebrities, right?"

I groaned. "Please don't ever call me a celebrity," I complained, but Roark nodded. "I think you're onto something, Guz. And the Kanto league is starting soon too..." I looked up at the two of them, still holding onto Gyarados. "You think... that this could work?" I asked slowly, hesitant.

"Well, it can't get any worse than it already is, right? Who knows, a fresh start with a new challenge and new Pokémon might just be what you need," Roark smiled. "You need a break from all of this, anyway." I nodded, starting to see the sense in it and my excitement growing.

"Do you really think that I... I should?" I asked, still cautious, yet hopeful. Guzma laughed. "Come on, you know you want to. You were born for this, you love to battle. Let's do it."

I stood up again with the help of Gyarados. "You'll come with me?" I asked, and Guzma grinned, crossing his arms. "Of course. Travelling through Galar with you and Roark were some of the best months of my life, I'm so down to do something like that again." I smiled too and Roark nodded.

"Alright then, I'll go call a Corviknight taxi, you should probably stay here," Roark said and we nodded. "You can sneak out the back, the boys are still busy battling up front," Guzma advised and Roark nodded, walking off with a Team Skull escort.

It wasn't long before we were on our way again, this time the ride was a lot longer. I was quite nervous, running through thousands of scenarios in my mind in an attempt to prepare for what I thought would be the inevitable. This time, however, things would be different.

As the Corviknight taxi landed in Viridian City, no one paid us any mind. I was blown away and at the same time so very relieved. No swarming, no screaming, no flashing lights. Just peaceful bliss. I took a deep breath and relaxed my clenched jaw.

This was the start of something new, I could feel it.