My Name is Loto [Pokémon Fanfiction]

05| Roughing It (More than Usual)

Kari and I spent that night in Erinne, planning things out, gathering things, and just trying to get to know each other. To prepare for the nights out there, we (or really, I) stole any clothing we could get our hands on along with bed sheets since a blanket was too bulky to store in my bag.

   We managed to pull this off without much resistance, though Kari was almost hit with a broom on one occasion. Dew made that woman regret it with what seemed like a Thunder Shock.

   Layers was the name of the game here, and both Kari and I put on enough to hide how thin we looked, which made me feel slightly better. At least we sorta looked like we weren't such easy prey due to our physiques. I also decided it was for the better that I wore long-sleeved shirts and tunics, though I made sure they were loose enough that I could easily push up the sleeves if I needed to transform.

   In my inquiring about Kari, I learned that his full name was Kari Noma, and it turned out he was actually thirteen years old instead of eleven like I'd thought.

Kari had lived in Erinne with his father, sister, and Dew. His father was a sailor who'd died in a shipwreck off the coast of Rubrelum when Kari was ten. He and his sister were able to make it for two years before she died as well, and Kari and Dew had been on the streets since then.

I wanted to ask what happened to his sister, but Kari's pained look told me to not ask. With her having been a magician as well, I already had an idea of what could've happened.

Our first stop was going to be Stilden, since it was the closest to here but still at least a day of travel. We set out on the roads heading south, all of us happy to leave Erinne behind. I was caught off-guard when we left the city. Had the air always smelled this fresh? Was the sun always this bright? Skulking around in shadowy alleyways for months probably hadn't helped things at all.

"What I remember from the encyclopedia," I started, "is that since before the Black Purge Stilden has existed. It was a village established due to the amount of ranches surrounding it as housing for the families of ranch hands, and that Mareep and Miltank products are the ranches' specialties."

"You remembered that from the book?" Kari asked, picking up a stray stick from the side of the road and adding it to the bundle he'd started as a result. He'd been doing this all day, and it was pretty weird. Maybe the kid just liked sticks or something?

I nodded at his question. "Yeah, surprisingly," I answered. "But somethin' confused me. It said that the products stay high-quality, even during autumn and winter." I raised an eyebrow, frowning. "What the hell is autumn and winter?"

Kari gave me a look. "They're seasons. Y'know, seasons?" At my blank expression, he continued. "We're in autumn right now. The leaves turn all kinds of different colors," he kicked a bright orange leaf on the path and the breeze caught it, setting it aloft, "and it gets nice and cool, not too cool though. I really like autumn because of that. I can't stand the summer heat."