Trials of a Champion - Kanto [Pokemon x OC]

32 A Fiery Friendship

We left Sunny Town with haste, aiming to reach Fuchsia City—and hopefully earn our next gym badge—before the end of the day. The thought of spending another night in my sleeping bag sounded terrible. Even with only one bike left, Paul and I worked out a solution to reach our destination the fastest.

I still got to enjoy the wind rustling my hair and tickling my skin.

"Isn't this just the best?"

Pikachu, Eevee, and Luxio all shared the space on my head and shoulders, and Dratini poked her head out of my bag. They all cooed in agreement.

"There's not even any rain anymore. Just a somewhat cloudy sky, a gentle breeze, and a relaxing bike ride through the countryside. Can you imagine any other way to spend the afternoon?"

"Yeah. I can, actually," grumbled Paul, pedaling.

From my perch on the bike's extra seat, I glared at his back. "Hey! As I recall, we all agreed on this setup, and you need practice. Until you become a pro biker, or this bike also gets destroyed, this is how we're getting to Fuchsia City. Now, complain not! Pedal more, my young padawan!"

"Just hand me my water, Master Rosa."

I smirked and handed over the bottle. "At least you know what's good for you. Look! See those trees on the horizon? The map on my Pokétch indicates that Fuchsia City is right on the other side. Just get through that forest. You can do it! Let's cheer Paul on, you guys!"

Pikachu, Eevee, Luxio, and Dratini all shouted words of encouragement.

He laughed. "Guess I can't let my audience down. Just make sure to hang on!" After chugging down a ton of water, Paul tossed the bottle back to me and returned his focus to pedaling, quickly accelerating to a pace where I had to hold on tight.

The Pokémon wore fat grins on their faces as we zipped across the wide-open country.

Paul's rapid improvement impressed me enough to make me smile just as much—if not more. Of course, when I remembered my arms securely locked around his waist, my smile vanished. My face, neck, and ears felt impossibly hot, and Pikachu proceeded to tease me for what felt like forever.

We rode through the small cluster of trees, and upon clearing them, we arrived at the edge of a magnificent valley. Mankind and nature intertwined perfectly here. Acres upon acres of stinky farmland and dry grasslands sat before our eyes. Neatly tended rows of crops and burnt grass meadows reached to our knees. Unfamiliar Pokémon pranced about in fenced pastures, and the farther I looked, the space between the fields grew wider until eventually, farmland turned into wildland.

A hill lived at the very center of this valley. On it, the trees had gathered together as close as possible to watch over the surrounding lands, their combined eyesight reaching for miles and miles. Tiled rooftops, bell towers, and brick chimneys poked out of the canopy in random patterns. There was a city on that small hill, but it did its best hiding from the eyes of outsiders.

"Wow!" I hopped off the bike and dashed ahead to absorb the full view.

The city, the forest, and the expansive fields reached to the horizon line. Who knows how much farther they continued after that?

"This is amazing! I've never seen anything like this before!"

Paul came up beside me, one foot on the ground to keep the bike upright. "It's nothing but farmland. What's so incredible about that?"

"Everything! It's so different from every city we've been so far. It's like a random blend of houses and plants, but I bet it works like a network. All these farms must've been slowly developed over years of hard work by generations of families. And that hill? I expected a city with trees, and I got a forest with buildings. How could you not be amazed by it?!"