When I wake up it's 7 AM and my head feels heavy. But the pain isn't pulsing through me like it was yesterday.

  Remaining in bed, I reach my hand to check on my clothes. The pants are dry, which is good enough for me.

  Instead of getting dressed, I grab Charmander's pokeball from the night stand, letting the small lizard have his morning stretch. This new room we had was too small, and since I concluded that I'm most likely alive, having him burn it down in the middle of the night wasn't preferable to me.

  He wastes no time in climbing up on my bed, and I stretch out, letting him get comfortable. He plants his hind legs on my stomach, his front paws holding on to my chest and starts cheerfully growling at me as if he was saying good morning.

  "Morning buddy", I pet his head slowly, "we're having a lazy day today, hope you don't mind". Charmander rubs his head against my neck, and I'm pretty sure that means he doesn't mind my lack of planning.

  There's an hour until they start serving breakfast, and I have no place to be.

  My window's still open, and I let the breeze embrace me as I lay down with my eyes closed.

  It's strange, how mornings make life seem easier. There are no thoughts clouding my mind now. And I'm sure they'll roll in again by the nightfall, but right now they were not there.

  My quiet hour passes by quickly, and I am forced to grab my stuff and get dressed. I decide to go commando today. My clothes were sure to get dirty again sooner or later, and while washing them wouldn't be a problem right now, I still preferred to keep at least something clean and dry at all times. Just in case I needed to jump up and run from the room in the middle of the night. Two years in the base have clearly taken their tool on my psyche.

  Cassie and the guys are there when I get down to eat. In amazement, I watch Xander swallow a weird-looking steak in a single bite. Cassie's busying herself with trying to get through to Fennekin and Sprigatito. The small fox was curled up under the table, slowly eating, while the cat refused to get off the table.

  I grab my food and join them quickly, only offering a quick 'hi' before I dig into my meal.

  "So, professor Lydia had told me she contacted the Ranger Association and forwarded our report, the extraction team should be on their way already", Leo talks absentmidedly, as he pokes around on his pokedex, "by the way, she said my report was splendidly crafted".

  "Congrats, you get an A", Xander says cheekily, through mouth full of salad.

  "Hey, don't bug me", Leo nudges him, "thanks to yours truly, we did a very good thing yesterday".

  "Yeah, you're right, you did a great job, Leo, I'm just joking", Xander says, jumping up from the table suddenly as soon as he had taken the last bite of his food.

  "My turn to do great today", he states mid-chew, "let's get to training Rowlet". The boy takes a few swift leaps away from us, but his Rowlet doesn't seem to be in a rush. Xander makes a quick u-turn, wrestling the owl into his embrace, and proceeding to carry it out of the room.

  Rowlet's food bowl still has some food left in it, and I'm sure the pokemon just wanted to finish his breakfast in peace.

  "I'm going as well", Leo stands up from the table carefully, putting his pokedex away, "I need to explore the surroundings and see what pokemon I can find living around, the edge of the forest should be brimming with flying types, so I'll see what species live there, who knows, if I find something interesting, I might end up writing another report".

  "Make sure to call me, I want to take pictures and pet the pokemon you find", Cassie chirps behind him, taking a slow sip of her orange juice. She seems to have given up on her pokemon for now. At least on Sprigatito, who now carelessly walked all over the table, and was checking out my food. I fight the urge to hiss it away.

  "You're not going to go after them?", I ask Cassie, taking the first bite of my breakfast.

  "To be fair, I have nothing to do", she sighs, placing her hands behind her head, "Fennekin and Sprigatito are not up for training, or anything else, really, and I don' t really feel like catching any new pokemon until I get that sorted out".

  "Why not?", I ask as I take the next bite, "you might catch something that wants to hang out with you and train".

  "Or I might end up with another pokemon that hates me", Cassie mutters.

  "Come on now, I'm sure they don't hate you", I reassure her.

  "But they definitely don't like me", Cassie points out, reaching her hand for Sprigatito, who swiftly avoids it, as to prove her point.

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  I have nothing left to say to her. Making her more confident is one thing, but I don't intend to do that by lying to her.

  "What's with you?", she carefully caresses my badnaged head, "you have any plans for the day?".

  "Resting up", I say, "I've had enough of this world for a few days, its screaming purple monsters and gambling elephants".

  "Come on now, it was fun", Cassie slaps my shoulder.

  "Nothing about that was fun", I note.

  "Don't be a drag, if you have nothing to do, you can come with me, take a walk, see what's around", she shrugs, "I'm kind of bored anyways".

  "Well, I don't have nothing better to do", I admit. Sitting around all day isn't relaxing at all. "As long as there are no Loudreds attacking, I'm cool with it".

  "Well, I can't exactly promise that", she shrugs.

  Against it, I go out with her as soon as I'm done eating.

  The sun is inching in on the zenit, and the day manages to be warm, which does well for me. The breeze is soft and ghostly, making the strands of grass sway in irregular rhythm.

  Cassie stretches out cheerfully, soaking up the sun. She let Sprigatitio and Fennekin walk outside, the cat is avoiding us all together, walking a feet in front of us, while the fox shyly lags behind, making sure to avoid our sight. Charmander's staying close to my side, pulling at my leg every now and again to point my attention to some tree.

  Xander has found a clearing for himself and is adamant on having Rowlet attack a rock. We watch him flap his arms around, yelling for Rowlet to make his Leafage stronger and faster. The owl looks at him begrudgingly, and proceeds to half-ass his attacks, only making Xander more desperate.

  "What's his deal anyways", I whisper over to Cassie, even though he's too far away to hear us. "I mean, I get the training, but why is he pushing so hard".

  "It's just Xander", Cassie sighs, "he wants to make it into the conference, he kind of always wanted that".

  "Huh, so he's that type of hotheaded", I note, "still, this feels like a tad bit too much if you ask me".

  "Let him be, he puts a lots of pressure on himself", Cassie's eyes stay fixed on him, "he wants to make it in his first year, that's a big feat".

  Truth is, I know very little about this whole gym and conference thing.

  "So, uh, is it tough?", I question carefully, "the gyms, getting to the conference?".

  "Well, yes and no", Cassie brings her finger to her lips, thinking her answer through.

  "Do elaborate", I sigh.

  "Gym battles are basically tests, they are not easy per say, but it's not like they are impossible either", she tries explaining it to me.

  "You're not exactly too good at this, maybe I should've asked Leo", I chuckle.

  "Hey", she snaps at me, "you're stuck with me, buddy".

  "I know", I laugh.

  "Ugh, look at it this way, you need 8 gym badges to qualify for the conference, each year around 300 trainers make it to that point, so I can't exactly say that getting a spot is super tough", she sighs, "however, gym battles are no joke, and winning is definitely not guaranteed".

  "Nothing is ever guaranteed", I shrug. From the looks of it, this whole thing isn't that tough.

  "Yes, but making it to the conference in your first year is tough, not too many people can do that", she points out, "it comes down to lack of experiance and time".

  "Okay, that sounds somewhat logical", I nod along.

  "Right, first off, just traveling to different gym locations takes time", Cassie says, "and beginners have to spend time raising up and training their team, managing all of that during a single season is pretty tough".

  "Well, I don't see a big issue, honestly", I admit, "I mean, just collect half of the badges in your first year, then get the second half in your second year".

  "First, that's not how it works, badges don't carry over from season to season, each new season you start fresh", she sighs, "second thing, never say that to Xander, he really wants to be one of the few that make it to the conference in their first year".

  "Noted", I say.

  "Ugh, anyways", she scrathes her head, "yeah, travel is also a big thing, I mean road from Verdanturf to Rustboro is relatively short, on the other hand getting to Dewford is going to take us a bit longer, 15 days at least, and there are even more remote gym locations, like Mossdeep and Sootopolis".

  "Right, I get it, traveling takes time", I say. That's because you guys don't have cars or planes, I want to add, but I stop myself.

  "Also, you're not guaranteed to get a gym challenge as soon as you step foot in the town", Cassie keeps the ball rolling, "it's the start of the season, so we'll probably manage to snag a quick spot in Rustboro, and we should get to Dewford before it's too crowded as well, but anything beyond that, we're not guaranteed an empty slot".

  "Alright, I figured it out, time is of essence", I nod.

  "It's not only time", Cassie says, "you can very well lose your gym battle, then you have to challenge the gym again".

  I'm starting to see why this whole gym thing is, in fact, not that easy.

  "I'm sure the three of you will handle it", I try to sound reassuring.

  "I don't know", she says, whistfully gazing back at Fennekin, "I think I'm looking at a 2 seasons run, at least".

  "They'll come around", I place my hand on her shoulder.

  "I'm not so sure", she sighs, "Fennekin and Sprigatito won't even let me touch them yet".

  I think about it for a second. Sprigatito seems very much a like a cat. Not only in appearance, but in her distanced demeanor as well. I was never particularly good with cats. Fennekin, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have attitude issues, she just seems shy.

  "Maybe just focus on Fennekin for now", I attempt, "I think you'll have an easier time getting through to her than Sprigatito".

  "Huh", Cassie seems to think about it, "well, I don't know, feels kind of bad just ignoring Sprigatitio and only paying attention to Fennekin".

  "You don't have to ignore Sprigatito", I point out, "just focus on Fennekin and let the cat come to you on her own".

  "What's a cat?", Cassie tilts her head in confusion.

  "An animal", I sigh.

  "Right", Cassie looks forwards.

  "You still don't believe me?", I manage a small laugh.

  "It's not that", she says carefully.

  "Well, what is it then?", I question.

  "I mean, I don't believe you, Rory", she admits, "but I don't think you're lying either".

  "Now that's just impossible", I chuckle through my confusion.

  "Look, your whole story seems too crazy to make up", she sighs, "but it's also too crazy to believe".

  "Right", I nod. "I get it".

  "Well, I'm glad to have you here anyways", she tries easing up, "honestly, that thing back in the tunnel was crazy, but you know, kind of makes me believe you were a soldier".

  "Maybe I should punch more Loudreds then, just so you would believe me", I laugh.

  "Don't do it, you'll end up dying", she says.

  "Already did that once", I point out, "I think".

  "Then don't do it a second time, you fool", she punches my shoulder.