Pokémon XYZ: Life, Death, Order, and Chaos (book 2 of the HBoD series)

Chapter 6: Journey Start

Robert stretched his arms as we made our way to Aquacorde Town. "Ah, yeah. It sure feels good to be on the road again."

"I know what you mean," Alex said, looking at the sun. "Though not as warm as Alola."

"Kalos has its own charms," I said, breathing in the sweet air. "And as far as I can tell, it's people are quite nice."

My thoughts went back to Ash's and my battle against Clara in Lumiose. She was interesting to say the least.

"What are you thinking?" Alex asked, looking at me.

I shrugged. "Just of this girl Ash and I battled in Lumiose. She was battling this kid and if she won, she'd take his Pokemon. If I or Ash hadn't stepped in..."

I shook my head. "We probably won't run into her again."

"Anyway," I said. "I don't think I asked. Why are you two here in Kalos?"

"What, didn't want us here?" Robert joked.

Alex smiled, but it was merely to hide her sadness. "I came, well, because of my family. I had to get away."

I nodded. "Yeah, that I understand."

Alex raised her eyebrow. "Speaking of which, why did you leave Kanto? Weren't you supposed to be reconnecting with your father?"

I grimaced. "Yeah, some things don't turn out well. "

Alex nodded and I could tell she was trying to stop herself from shouting "I knew it!" Honestly, I didn't blame her for thinking that. I'm pretty sure I knew it was probably never going to work from the start, but I had to try. If I never did, it would haunt me for the rest of my life.

Robert cleared his throat, breaking the silent tension as we entered Aquacorde Town. "Anyway, to why I'm here."

He scratched his chin. "Recently I was hired on as Professor Juniper's assistant back home in Unova. Pays well. But Juniper sent me here to get data on Kalos Pokemon. I was going to meet the Kalos Pokemon Professor, but-"

"But Sycamore was out in the field," I finished. "Yeah, Shauna and I found that out when we went to speak to him about Froakie. We did contact him though with some sort of device."

"Oh, yeah," Robert said, swinging his backpack around, shuffling inside for a second, before pulling out the hologram device. "It's called a Holo Caster. It's used for news and talking to people. Juniper really pulled through when she had Sycamore hook me up with the latest tech. This version isn't even on the shelves yet."

As he adored over his gadget, I turned to Alex. "So your family still hasn't gotten better."

She gave me a small smile. "I guess. Listen, you don't have to worry about it."

I still didn't know her background, but I still felt a rush of emotion to protect her. "I swear, if I'm ever in Hoenn..."

I let that hang in the air and Alex brightened, laughing softly. "Thanks, Zeno."

I smiled and I could feel something between us. Near the end of our time in Alola, Alex and I definitely got closer, but I felt as if there was a sort of gap between us, kinda like the six months apart had become a tangible thing. But now, now I could feel us getting closer again. Maybe it wouldn't be the same as before, but it was a start."

In no time, we made it to the bridge leading out of Aquacorde. 

I looked at Froakie. "Here we go. Time for our journey to truly begin."

"Froakie!" he cried, pumping a fist into the air.

"Hey," I said as we crossed the bridge. "What Pokemon do you two have with you?"