“That was interesting,” said Sunny.

  I jumped, I hadn’t noticed her creeping up on me.

  “Yeah, she was pretty cute. I didn’t know there were Comfeys around these parts.”

  “Hang on, I’m looking it up now,” she said. “Seems like they’re rare, but they have been spotted. Are you going to catch her if she comes back?”

  “Should I?” I asked doubtfully.

  “She seemed to like you.”

  “Maybe, but she doesn’t strike me as a battler.”

  I turned to pick up my notebook to find Caviar drinking out of my water bottle. My jaw tightened and a small rumble jarred in my throat. I was about to yell at him when the scent of lavender and books entered my nostrils. I took a breath as I felt Comfey land on my head.

  “Caviar,” I said sternly, but without heat or anxiety. “Please don’t drink my water.”

  I shooed him away and Sunny took over scolding him. Holding onto my hair with her vines, Comfey peaked her body into my line of sight. She held a sprig of lavender in her hands which she proffered to me.

  “Is that for me? Thank you,” I said. “That was you, wasn’t it? You calmed me down.”

  She cooed as I accepted her gift and wrapped herself around my neck like a floral necklace.

  “Would you like to come with me? I’m looking for strong battlers, but Grandma says that every team should have a healer. I think you’d like her, she can be a bit scary, but she’s a very good healer. Sorry, I’m babbling.”

  I shut up. She looked up at me from where she was hanging upside down, resting against my chest. Her big green eyes blinked and not even her lovely smell could ease the nervousness I felt at inviting her to my team. I wasn’t even sure she was listening.

  “Well, you can hang around for now, I guess. I don’t have a pokeball now anyway. If you’re still with us when we get to Crescent Town I’ll buy one for you.”

  Comfey hardly left her perch around my neck that night, and I wore her like a perfume for the walk the next day. By the time night fell, I was starting to suspect she would be on my team whether I wanted her or not. She spent most of her time lazing around, only becoming energetic when I took out my pencil. I didn’t know if she could appreciate my art for what it was, or if she simply found the pictures funny, but either way, it was nice to have an admiring audience.

  Each year, the circuit saw its largest influx of newbies from Nocturne. It was for this very reason that Rondo had the honour of hosting the first tournament each year, it was the first major stop for the new aspiring champions, and the Coast Road was the first step for them. Despite it being one of the longer routes of Silín, it was by far the safest. For these reasons, it wasn’t uncommon to pass other trainers on the Coast Road. As we neared Crescent Town, the human traffic was overwhelming, even unpleasant, after the quiet of the wilderness.

  As with the road outside Nocturne, battles were a common sight. We were making good time and were well on track to reach Crescent Town by early evening at the latest, so Darren decided to challenge some of the trainers we passed. Auri was rock solid. She was able to take hits like a Shuckle, and strike back like a Mienfoo. She won all her battles fairly handily.

  “I think I deserve a cut, for all the healing Comfey is doing,” I said as I watched Darren stash his latest winnings into his wallet.

  “Nu-uh,” he said. “You haven’t even officially caught her yet. She’s helping me of her own free will.”

  “You’re just lucky you didn’t face any grass or water type Pokémon.”

  “Again, not luck. I pick my battles carefully.”

  “Children, stop bickering. Look, there’s civilisation,” said Sunny.

  The small town was built around a cove, giving it its recognisable crescent shape. A wide road followed the curve from which a mess of alleyways radiated out between brightly coloured, houses. The stone buildings rose up to three stories high and were squashed against each other darkening the streets between them. The roofs were steeply slanted and tiled with the characteristic purple slate the town was known for. The inner curve of the road gave way to a stone beach where tranquil water lapped at the pebbles. On the far side of the town, the road connected to Meloetta’s Bridge, which crossed the Goldeen Strait onto Hero’s Island. It towered over the town, its arch tall enough for ships to pass under. Further off in the distance, the Greenwood could be seen, and even from here, it looked dark and foreboding.

  “I can’t wait for a nice, soft bed,” said Sunny. “Seriously, they should warn people that missing the little comforts is the hardest part of being a Pokémon trainer.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “I would tell you to quit complaining, but I’m missing my bed too,” said Darren. “And a nice hot meal that I don’t need to wash the dishes with freezing water after.”

  “I’m teaching you how to cook,” I said. “That way you can make dinner, and I’ll wash the dishes.”

  “I’d love to learn, but I think I’m better off finding another teacher.”

  A foghorn interrupted my retort, the sound reverberating across the landscape. I scowled.

  “What’s up with that?” I asked. That, in question, was what appeared to be a traffic jam of ships marring the beauty of the town and its surroundings.

  “Dunno,” said Sunny. “But they’re giving off an awful stench. The closer we get to town the more it smells of smoke and, other things.”

  I sniffed the air, then petted Comfey.

  “Thank you, you’re a dear.”

  I would have to take Sunny’s word about the smell, but the noise was undeniable. Besides the ships themselves, the sheer amount of people in Crescent Town was troubling. The first signs that something was terribly wrong was the tents pitched all along the outskirts. The main road was also packed with people. Before entering the town proper, we returned most of our Pokémon save for Hector and, naturally, Comfey, so we could move through the crowd easier. However, the cacophony of chatter and shouts made me hesitate and back away. Sunny, ever the alert one, noticed, and after a quick discussion, we decided to avoid going until we had a better idea of what was going on.

  Darren did the sensible thing and asked someone what was going on. The boy he asked was sitting on the grass next to a one-person tent. If I had to guess, he had to have been closer to my age than Darrens. He wore a yellow shirt and a blue cap and had a mean look about him. A fuzzy Espurr sat on his shoulder. Her blank stare chilled me.

  The boy introduced himself as Joey and said a demon was blocking Meloetta’s Bridge.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” he said in response to our stares. “I’m just saying what I heard. Apparently, it is impossible to cross, anyone who tries gets washed off by a giant wave. Whatever’s causing it is also blocking the ships. The whole thing is a mess. It had to happen at this time of year too. Pretty much everyone here is a from Nocturne, and not only are they useless trainers that can’t do anything about it, but they’re also clogging up the town. There are no rooms, and you can barely buy anything anymore. If you’re running low on food, I suggest you get what you can before it’s gone.”

  Darren asked a few more questions which revealed that Joey had been waiting for a couple of days already, and that the mayor had put up a bounty which hadn’t been taken by anyone of note yet. There were more lucrative bounties in Bagatelle and Popplio Town which had drawn the competent bounty hunters like a Heracross to honey. After that, the boy openly displayed his annoyance at being interrogated and we left quickly.

  “First things first,” said Darren. “We should see what supplies we can get and then set up camp somewhere.”

  With our new plan decided, we made our way over to the Poké Mart. There was a long queue outside the squat building, and a retail clerk was letting people in one by one. Darren volunteered to go in alone, and Sunny and I would wait outside the Pokémon Centre close by. It had a small square that should hopefully give us some breathing room.

  “Remember to check if they have pokeballs,” I told him before we left.

  The Pokémon Centre was an old structure with stone pillars and marble arches decorating the exterior. The inside, as expected, was full, but there was a nice corner in the plaza where we could talk to each other without shouting.

  “Where are all these people coming from,” I complained.

  Sunny shrugged.

  “I think it looks like there are more people than there actually are,” she said. “It’s a really small town with one street. The population probably doubled within the last couple of days. Of course it’s going to be stuffy.”

  “I know. I still didn’t expect there to be so many new trainers, and just from Nocturne.”

  “They did predict this was going to be the largest circuit year in a long time, remember?”

  “Idiots. Elaine’s not easy pickings. And even if she was, there are other experienced trainers that are more likely to get to challenge her.”

  “That’s part of it, but simply the fact that Killian stepped down is a huge deal. Everyone that was put off participating because they thought they would never beat him is coming out to test their luck now. Even if they don’t make it this year, it’s unlikely that whoever is champion next year will be as dominant as him.”

  “Then they are definitely idiots,” I said. “If they didn’t even try to be the best because they thought they couldn’t win, they are never going to make it. That’s not a champion’s mentality.”

  “I agree,” said Sunny. “But people are weird.”

  As we talked, two men carrying an unconscious third between them rushed to the Pokémon Centre. The three of them were drenched from head to toe and looked like they had stumbled out of a washing machine. The crowd parted for them and murmurs of them being another group of foolish teenagers who couldn’t listen to instructions not to approach the bridge spread from tongue to tongue.

  “We’re going to face that whatever it is,” I said in realisation. “And we’re not going to end up like them.”

  “We are?” said Sunny. “Can’t we wait for someone with more experience to come along?”

  “Champion’s mentality, Sunny. We have to face it, or what’s the point of the journey?”

  “I guess,” she said. “But can’t we start easy and build up? This seems like a big deal.”

  I frowned and considered her argument.

  “Maybe you can,” I said after a bit. “But I can’t.”

  We lapsed into silence. I was worried that I had unnerved Sunny with my resolution. I snuck glances at her, but she didn’t show it, even if she did seem unusually pensive. Honestly, I was a little unnerved by what I had said. I meant every word, but was only just beginning to understand the courage I would require to fulfill them. And that wasn’t even taking into account that we were, essentially, newbies, and unlikely to have anywhere near the strength to face the demon. But I still had to do it.

  Maybe because she noticed my sudden gloom, Sunny put her arm around my shoulders, careful not to wake up Comfey who, I was beginning to think, was a Pokémon version of Lily, and gave them a squeeze. I smiled up at her and we both laughed.

  “I’m going to be the Champion by the end of this year,” I said.

  “Sure you are,” replied Sunny.

  Then a high-pitched voice I took an immediate dislike to called out from a few paces away.

  “No way! If it isn’t Sunny Sunshine. What’s she doing here?”

  Sunny’s face went blank, and her arm completely rigid.