12 Route 35(1)

Silence filled the Pokecenter as they both had gotten back their Pokemon from Nurse Joy who looked tiny bit annoyed at the both of them for giving her work directly when she got her. Theodore could only give her a funny, sheepish look when she tried to admonish him- Not like that truly worked on him because he couldn't feel truly guilty for the battle.

Now that Theodore had time to check over at his new friend's appearance, he noted her rather slim-fit body with a focus on her hips and long, curly hair which led down her shoulders in his mind. All in all, she had that adorable childish look to her that made any thin-blooded male from Unova simp for her.

If it wasn't that she had chosen the life of a Pokemon trainer, she would've been quite popular as a Pokestar in Unova when Elesa first rose in the ranks. Mentally snorting at his own 'dirty' thoughts, Theodore resumed their conversation like he always did,

"So you're heading up to Olivine, right?" His eyes heightened in amusement when she slightly jumped as swished her head at him, "I'm heading up to Violet City, so since we're headed in the same direction would you like to travel together?"

Theodore wasn't sure if she was glaring at him for the question or she was glaring at him because he made her jump, but he ignored her glare that didn't send shivers down his back. The gangs back at Castelia had worse death-glares when he graffitied over their art for fun.

Eventually he saw her release a sigh in agitation at his unwillingness to cower. He tittered in his mind that he, THEO!, is unconquerable by mere emotion and girlish

"That sounds fine. I haven't had a travel partner in a good while for uh, reasons." Rolling his eyes at the easy guess, he nodded calmly as he noticed the Sun slowly rise up to about one-quarter of the morning.

"Well, we better get going then. We have three quarters of our morning left, so lets get some distance moving away from the city before it hits noon." Theodore began to move quickly out of the Pokecenter and began to jog to Route 35 which was considerably more pathed with a route than say 32, 33, and some of the forests in the Johto region.

With how well pathed Route 35 is, he could only sigh at the amount of Newbie trainers which he certainly was going to face in the up and coming days due to the new season. A determined gleam through his mind as he looked behind him to see Abigail simply skip behind him.

"Come on, Slowpoke! We've got morning light to burn and I'd like to be at least a few miles away from the city by the crack of noon!" I could imagine the rolling of the eyes at my impatience and simply gleamed a bit of that warm feeling that I don't get very often.

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Time had struck a little past noon as Theodore and Abigail had reached the first of the many pit stops which allowed trainers like themselves some shade and rest. Of course with trainers building these pit stops themselves, or the league at the very least, there almost was a guaranteed Pokebattle arenas made out of sand and gravel.

Giving a brief smile at Abigail, he was itching to go out and find some newbies like himself to battle to get some more experience. He guessed that Abigail could feel his excitement pulsing through him and gave a brief mutter on what he thought she muttered and it sounded a lot like ' boys '.

Theodore heard her clearing her throat to catch his attention, so he turned his head around to face her with the vibrating excitement which filled his being- Honestly he hasn't felt this excited since a year ago when he did that parkour race that the gangs back home did for once every once and awhile.

"Why don't we go ahead and sit down somewhere to eat lunch? I am starving and so are my pokemon." Theodore could see her putting her foot down and heaved out a long, heavy sigh and let his excitement simmer down in the deepest pits of his stomach.

"Okay." Was all he offered as he searched out an area that had a view of the battles that others were doing, but at the same time was a tad bit far away so Abigail could relax away from people in general.

He could feel her ringing gratification with a smug smile that showed that she had gotten her way with a sinking horror that he, THEO!, had been tricked! Damn his ever feelings of being afraid of losing friendships!

While he sulked in his mind, he shifted his backpack to the front of him and sat down at the chosen area. He could see the small curiosity at his own pack size compared to hers and returned a mischievous grin as he pulled out the lunch that he had made for himself alongside food for both of his pokemon.

Looking towards Abigail and getting a nod, he released his Pokemon who looked slightly relieved at being able to get out of their Pokeballs. Khepri looked happy to stretch her wings and Apam Napat looked emotionally dead inside as he sniffed the air for food.

Giving a whistle to catch their attention, he poured the berry mix into the bowls he had pulled which he had brewed up on some of his own time the night before. Apam rushed over to his own PokeBowl and began to chow down on the different berries which he had provided.

Khepri slowly floated to her bowl and slowly chewed at her food while looking up to her trainer in curiosity at the area. At his starter's look, he explained much to the strange look at Abigail was giving him,

"We just moved out of Goldenrod city, Khepri. We sadly will not be training in the mornings anymore like I explained to you this morning." Khepri nodded at his explanation and began to eat her berries.

Letting his Pokemon eat their own lunch, he began to eat his prepared sandwiches much to Abigail's abject horror at him eating Pokemon meat. Pausing between the bites and swallowing, he rose a single eyebrow,

"What? It's a common delicacy. It's not that we slaughter them to get the meat. Tepig shed their fat every few weeks, so it's perfectly fine to eat it." He continued to eat his sandwich slowly because he had manners, damn it!

While slowly eating his sandwich, Abigail began to eat her own vegetarian-diet based lunch. He really didn't want to start a conversation, but he guessed that Abigail wanted one anyways,

"So you came from Castelia City. How is that like?"

Pausing between bites and swallowing, "It's quite crowded, similar to Goldenrod a little. Goldenrod probably doesn't have the gangs that Castelia had brewed up in the few years that they've been there."

Abigail had called out her own electric types that ranged from her Mareep to all the way up to a monsterous Electivire who had given him an approving nod for some reason. She also had guided them towards the electrical station of the stop with just her eyes and then eventually replied,

"Gangs? Like Team Plasma and Team Magma?"

Theo just shook his head and scoffed at the mere mention of Team Plasma,

"There's only one reason Team Plasma hasn't been able to get into the Castelian underground. The gangs won't let them. I've seen some of the things that the gangs done to idiots that follow under their banner."

Theodore gave a deep, suffering sigh at the bloody and near beaten to death Team Plasma members being pulled away by the Unovian police force,

"If you really want a good comparison, Castelians would say Team Rocket and Team Skull in Alola. Most gangs in Castelia avoid stealing Pokemon like the plague and mostly deal in blackmarket items. They've even got some corruption up in the Castelian police force, but still allow them to pull off busts here and there because it makes them still look competent."

A sad smile had made its way to Theodore's face as Abigail soaked in the information Theodore had given her, "Most gang members tend to be bad kids who don't have anywhere to go. Sad life, but that is what makes them great to talk to and hear em' out in your free time, yeah?"

Abigail gave Theo a thoughtful look as he shuddered under the weight of the memories of some of the lives which he had,

"Sorry about the grim parts of it, but truthfully? That's all I care to say about that blasted city. Even with Team Rockets defeat, their Team probably isn't as bad as some of the more dangerous gangs I tend to avoid back in Castelia."

Theodore gave a distant look as didn't notice Khepri coming up to nudge him. Falling over onto the ground as Khepri nudged at his stomach, "Hey! I wasn't brooding that time. I was reflecting on the past! Reflecting, hear me!"

Khepri buzzed and clicked chidingly at her trainer as Abigail began to slightly giggle. the mood significantly improved from where it was, and Theodore eventually had gotten up from falling over with Khepri snuggled deeply into his arms.

Chuckling with what felt like the weight of the world being lifted off his shoulders, Theodore directed the conversation, "So- How is Jasmine like? I hear that she usually is a nice person from Johto contacts."

Abigail smiled and began to describe Jasmine's personality as the noon sun glared unwavering outside of the shaded PokeStop. . .