Teddy was a bit surprised at the sudden courage of Crissy. The shy, timid girl desperately searching for her Eevee that he had met just this morning seemed to have grown up just a bit. “Sure! I was planning on heading to Cherrygrove soon anyways, of course it wouldn’t be any bother to me,” he replied. He then took note of the position of the sun in the sky, using his hands to measure the time until dusk. “It looks like we still have a couple hours of daylight left, we could get started now if you want,” he said, to which the girl nodded and ran inside to gather her things.
Teddy extended a hand to Crissy’s father “It was nice to meet you sir,” he said, shaking hands. He still didn’t know the man’s name, but he felt like it would be rude to admit that now, after all the man had done for him. Crissy poked her head out the door of the house, staring wide-eyed at the size of Teddy’s pack. Taking note of this, Teddy laughed a bit. “Don’t worry, I have all the pots and pans and food we need, and I have plenty of other gear for camp too. Your bag won’t be anywhere near as heavy as mine.” Crissy looked relieved, and retreated back into the house to continue packing. A few minutes later, Crissy emerged again, pack on her shoulders. “I’ll look after her sir,” Teddy said, with a nod at Crissy’s father, before the pair departed.
It had been a long day, but Teddy wanted to make sure they at least got out of town before he set up camp. Since it had stopped raining, he let out Charlie and Wiggles to accompany him. He wanted to let out the others, but managing four Pokémon seemed like a lot to handle while he was trying to walk. Back out on Route 29, he marched down the road, holding Wiggles in his arms while Crissy trotted along just behind with Anya. Charlie brought up the rear, taking it upon himself to guard the group, even though there really was no threat. They finally came to reach a small clearing in the woods. This place looks familiar… Teddy thought to himself. “Oh, Wiggles, this is where we met!” he said, finally figuring out why he had been here before. “Well, this seems like as good a place as any to set up camp.” It felt good to finally take off that heavy pack.
Teddy set up his tent while Charlie started a fire. Wiggles helped the best she could, but moving supplies was a difficult task for a cocoon. On the other side of the clearing, Crissy set up her tent and then relaxed with Anya. It had been a long day; Teddy didn’t blame her for taking it easy. When dinner was ready, Teddy let out Dizzy and Ratatta. The group ate quickly and in silence, as they were all exhausted and it was already getting dark. When the meal was over and dishes were clean, all but Charlie were returned to their balls to rest for the night. Teddy would need to buy a new, bigger tent, the one he had now barely fit him alone. Trainers and starters retired to their respective tents, glad to finally have some rest, even if it was just sleeping on the ground.
Teddy woke up early the next morning to the calls of bird Pokémon. Pidgey and Spearow chattered cheerily as they swooped from tree to tree, and Teddy thought he even heard a distant Fletchling or two. He woke up Charlie, and the two broke down camp surprisingly quickly, considering it was their first time. Beams of light shone horizontally through the trees as the sun rose, so the group decided it was time to get on the road. The walk was mostly quiet, except for a couple moments when Teddy spotted a wild Pokémon in the distance and pointed it out to Crissy, or the one time that Charlie tripped on a rock and made quite a scene until Teddy picked him up. A couple of comments from Crissy about how cute it was when Teddy “babied” Charlie led to Charlie quickly walking on his own again, both boy and his Pokémon rather red in the face.
After a couple hours of hiking, Charlie began complaining that he was hungry. The sun was still a couple hours from noon, Teddy estimated. Too early for lunch, they’d be starving by dinner time! “We’ll stop for lunch soon. Can’t be eating all the time, we’ll run out of food at this rate,” he said, a little overwhelmed by the massive appetite of the Charmander. About an hour later, the group came across a “city” of canvas tents. “Ok, this looks like a decent place to stop for lunch,” Teddy remarked.
He took off his pack, resting it against a rock while sitting on another. After making some sandwiches, and giving one to Charlie, who had been very theatrical about how he might die of starvation, Teddy took a look around this camp. It appeared to be some sort of excavation site. At the far end of all the tents, a tunnel had been bore into the side of a hill. Eventually, a large man noticed the group, and marched over to them. He explained that he was a vendor, and he left Teddy with an explorer’s kit. “Great, these tools nearly double the weight of my pack,” Teddy mumbled sarcastically. After lunch, he and Charlie went to explore the tunnels. Crissy suggested that she and Anya stay in the camp, to which Teddy agreed. All the explorers and scientists seemed friendly, and she could see what all the different vendors had for sale.
It was dusk when the exhausted and filthy trainer and Pokémon emerged from the tunnels and returned to the vendor. Teddy traded in all the precious stones they had found down in the tunnels for some new supplies. First, he consulted his Pokédex and then bought some appropriate TMs for Charlie’s and Wiggles’ evolved forms. Next, some berries. Finally, some evolution items. Teddy was pretty sure he didn’t have any Pokémon that needed items to evolve, but after seeing Wiggles evolve he knew evolution was pretty cool. So, he bought them anyways. When the trade was complete, the man held out a Poké Ball. “This here is Vulcan. I met him in the underground of Sinnoh, when I was exploring beneath Stark Mountain. He came with me because he too wanted to explore. But nowadays, I am required here in camp, and can’t go to the underground anymore. I want you to have him. Show him all the tunnels, let him explore with you.”
Teddy was at a loss for words, but he finally got out a, “wow… Thank you! I’m honored.” “I know you’ll take good care of him,” the man replied, before his duties in camp forced him to leave. Teddy admired the Pokéball in his hand, spinning it around slowly. He was too tired to make introductions tonight, he would have to do that in the morning. Teddy and Charlie were tired and sore from all the digging, but luckily Crissy and Anya had set up the tents on the outskirts of the excavation “city” while they were gone. Against Crissy’s demands that they eat something, the exhausted pair went straight to sleep.
The next morning, Teddy and Charlie introduced themselves to Vulcan, and then gave the Magby a tour of where they had explored in the tunnels. It was a mostly relaxing day, exploring caves or walking around in camp with Crissy, oohing and aahing over the fossils and massive gems that had been unearthed by other explorers. Checking his map, Teddy saw that there was a nearby stream, and after quite a struggle and a few minor burns, he finally got the feisty fire type to take a bath. Charlie shivered violently with a towel wrapped around him, the flame on his tail nearly extinguished. “You look so handsome now that you’re clean,” Teddy quipped. The Charmander just huffed and rolled his eyes. The nest day it was time to get back on the road.
Teddy kept all his Pokémon in their balls during the hike, while Crissy carried Anya. Shortly into the morning, Crissy got tired, and so Teddy was required to carry the foxlike Pokémon. Crissy’s father was right, Cherrygrove really was just a short distance away, and as the pair of trainers crested a hill they could see the city just below them. It was a breathtaking sight, as the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the deep blue of the sea was visible just past the town. They paused for lunch atop the hill, and Teddy let out Charlie so he could also see the view. “Just a little further,” Teddy remarked, and the four marched onwards down the hill.
And with that, Teddy and Crissy have reached Cherrygrove City. Chapter Complete!
