Welcome to Gaia! ::

Tristen was a little astonished, but then it made sense. Given what he’s heard, that whole stink left Paldea trying to do damage control in some capacity, and thus was trying to keep it under wraps. Tristen then realized that he nearly had let something slip without thinking about it. He wouldn’t say anything more on that one in particular.

He then looked over, seeing the rocky crags, and the high peak that Matteo described as Bomber’s peak. Bombirdier, though…where had he…wait a second. “Uh…I don’t think that was…a rumor. While I was in class, some of the others were helping Ms. Raifort with that Herba Mystica stuff and one of the places they had to go to I think was at that place. I heard about a giant bird Pokémon that probably was that way because of the herba mystica and it was giving some of the Snagems a bit of grief about it. Freth was part of that group that went there.” Tristen told him. “She also told me about a gigantic crab Pokémon that lived out in that rocky area east of Mezagoza, on the way to Artazon? Apparently, Ms. Raifort was really getting into something that was left to get kinda out of control over the last century or so. Or that’s how I understand it. That herba mystica stuff was why Ms. Raifort was teaching the way she did that week instead of her usual way. Well, up until those Zoroark hybrids decided to ruin things for people.”

“After nearly taking a bunch of rocks and crushed by all of those Pokémon, I don’t know if some will agree with you on that.” Tristen said. Frankly, he was feeling a little fortunate he missed out on that sort of thing. Though he did see that aftermath. Thinking back to the tournament, now that he thought about it, he started to realize where that Klawf that one girl had came from. He only couldn’t help but sigh in a little annoyance not figuring that out sooner than this.

The two hybrids would carry on their conversation all the way into Medali, where the taxi would finally land just at the city’s entrance. Tristen would take his things and get off as well, giving his thanks to the driver. When the driver would leave, Tristen would take in the sights of the city, astounded. This…had a bit of familiarity to it. Not that he’s ever been here, but it was that distinct feeling. “Huh…this place is kinda like back at Mahogany Town.” Tristen said. He honestly didn’t think that there was a place like that here in Paldea. He would watch Matteo go find a seat close by to look at his Rotomphone for a second, then when the thought of food came up, he would check his own SNAG for the time. Considering that they didn’t leave out until shortly after 10 am, and the fact the flight was a bit on the longer side especially with them having to circle around area Zero instead of going right over it, breakfast had already run its course. “Yea, I think I kinda am.” Tristen said to Matteo, stashing his SNAG “I’m interested to see what this place has. Then we can start getting to training right after that.”

The two hybrids would start walking the street, Tristen taking in the sights the city had to offer. Some of the places were familiar to Tristen, like the chain of Every-Wich-way that was around, but there were other places that did seem pretty enticing to him and he was more than willing to try out given that he’s never had anything like that before. Tristen’s eyes was full of wonder, having a new place to explore, not having been to this city, let alone to this part of the region yet. While Matteo probably wouldn’t think anything of it, this was a whole other matter for the Manectric hybrid.

That wonder would be short lived, however, when Tristen would hear a loud roar and loud slamming noise. Immediately he thought, never mind hoped, a Pokémon battle was in progress. To his relief that’s what it in fact was. Tristen saw a Beartic, holding up a Greedent, the fat squirrel being held upside and being shook down like a rattle. The Greedent was knocked out at this point, the only thing that the bear was getting were a few berries that the Greedent had stuffed. “Easy Beartic, the fight is done…” Tristen went from relief to suddenly stiffening up, not putting this into any sort of calculations or expectations that he had for this day. This…was not what he expected. From around the Beartic, he would see, perhaps to his friend’s surprise as well, a particular Articuno hybrid that was a bit of the talk in Nemona’s case. As Beartic would drop the Greedent, allowing it to flop on the ground, I would go to the opposing trainer. “Now, the hell is the way to get the gym leader to show up?”

“Rice balls with lemons. Its rice balls.” The man said, albeit a bit nervously.

“Wait…wait wait wait…I’m treating the gym leader to lunch!?” I asked in disbelief. “Rice Balls with Lemon, medium, fire blast kissed?!”

“…yeah?” he uttered rather nervously

I could only stare at the man, a silence in the air lingered in the air. “I swear to God, I miss the challenges back at home…” I sighed out, rubbing my eyes for a couple of seconds. “Alright! Fine. Yea. Okay. Suppose it’s better than Kofu getting me to do his grocery shopping even though going back to Porto Marinada was not happy to see any Snagem, never mind me, again. Fine, yea, thanks.” The trainer would recall the Greedent and run off, not wanting to take any chances further.

“Blizz?” Tristen spoke up.

Beartic and I turned towards Tristen. “Tristen? Huh, Hey there!” I said. I had to admit, that was a sudden mood shift. Beartic and I would approach Tristen, happy to see him. Granted it had been a week, but I ended up giving him a bit of a hug

"Hey, Blizz." Tristen said a bit laughing a bit at it. "Good to see you."

"BRAWRR!" Beartic apparently didn't want to be left out, putting Tristen in a large bear hug himself.

"AACK! You too, Beartic!"

As soon as the bear let him go, I looked at Tristen curiously. “What got you out this way?”

“Oh uh, well it’s the weekend and I was out with…” he then looked back waving Matteo on over. “…with a friend here. This is Matteo.”

“Matteo?” I said, a little bit of a headtilt. It took a second, then I started to recall the things that were said through Tristen’s time in the academy, the most recent week most notably. “Ah, yeah…Tristen told me about you.” I said, holding my hand out to the Growlithe Hybrid.

Tristen stared at Matteo, a bit caught off guard, if a little bemused over Matteo’s reaction to seeing the Manectric’s adoptive father here in Medali in the flesh. That whole hard exterior, that sly, play-it-cool, tough guy sorts completely gave way to the presence of the Noble Hybrid. It was effectively as if the Growlithe hybrid was a whole other person. I couldn’t help but to give a bit of a laugh. “Kid, relax. I’m just a part of the crowd like anyone else. But, no, not just battling. Apparently, that battle I was just in was part of the supposed gym trial that I am supposed to do…which apparently involves me…” I sighed out, pausing in that brief second still unbelieving of the absurdity of it all. “…ordering the gym leader’s lunch at that steakhouse across town. Rice Balls with lemon, medium, fire blast kissed…honestly? I’m sorry…I’m used to a whole other gym trial back at home. But after having to play hide and seek with Sunflora with the playfield the entire city of Artazon and getting suckered into an interview with Iono, I can’t be surprised.”

Truthfully, if that was all it was, Tristen did suddenly get tempted to take on the gyms himself suddenly, if to only make sure he spent time with his Pokémon, which was hard to do as is. Incidentally, this did remind him all the same. “Say uh, Blizz? You wouldn’t happen to have run into Nemona yet, have you?” Tristen asked as he thought about it.

“That girl you talked about, right? The battle frenzy one…”

“Yea.”

“No, not yet. At least no one that fit your description of her. Why? She here too?” I asked.

“Not that I know of. She was going to try to find you earlier this week, try to catch you in Cascaraffa, but by the time she thought to do so, I kinda turned her off to the thought when there was a good chance you would have already left the town.” Tristen said.

“Well, she did have a fair chance, honestly, considering I had to run back to Porto Marinada because of what the gym leader there had me do.” I said to him. “So what about you two? What were you out to do?” I asked them.

“Well, after lunch, Matteo and I were going to go out and get some training ourselves. Matteo knows a spot where we could go that shouldn’t be that tough for the Pokémon we want to train.” Tristen said.

“Any Pokémon in particular?” I asked curiously.

“Looking at Litten, Rookidee, and Wimpod mainly. We’re going to have to see how it turns out.” Tristen said.

“And you brought along something if things goes south out there?” I then asked, arms crossed. If nothing else, still had to be a parent. Its not like I knew what was out there really, other than some idea of what was in Area Zero thanks to Freth.

“I got a couple of Pokémon on hand just in case.” Tristen said.

“Alright.” I said. “Well, chances are after the gym battle, I’ll still be in town until in the morning so if you still need anything while you’re in this part of the region, you know where to find me.” I said to him.

Tristen looks towards Matteo. “I kinda wonder if he needs to go sooner than that so Nemona doesn’t bother him. You wouldn’t know if she was coming this way for any reason at all today, do you?” he asked Matteo curiously.

"What...she really that bad?" I asked the two teens.

"She's...persistent." Tristen said, grimacing.

I’d take out my own SNAG to double check the time and it was pretty much about that time. They did give me a good chunk of time to try to find the supposed clues and all so I suppose I did have time. Not to mention, maybe I could see about how Tristen was doing and getting to know one of his friends better. “Brawwr.” Beartic spoke up, nudging me a bit.

“You’re hungry too, huh?”

“Brrr.” The tall icy bear replied.

“Yea, sure, why not. And I can see about getting my crew fed up before their big battle with the gym leader. Any place you got in mind?” I asked. Then a realization, with a bit of a snap of the fingers to follow. “Actually, here’s an idea. I’m having to go back to that steakhouse where I got my gym trial at. How about over there?” I asked the two of them. "Provided you don't eat the restaurant out." I then said to Beartic deadpan.

"BRAWR!" Beartic said insulted.

"The one time...yea. And it was just a day and a half ago. Poor street cart vendor didn't know what hit him..."

"Brrr..." Tristen stared at Beartic, an eyebrow raise. He hadn't been around any of my Pokemon, never mind the crew that I have going through their paces in Paldea's Victory Road all that much, he was now realizing that how the bear was as a Cubchoo compared to now was effectively night and day.

“Alright then, I guess its settled. I believe it was back this way…but first, Beartic, in the ball real quick for the time being.”

“Brrrr…”

“You’ll get something, geez. Chill. Return.” I said, recalling the large ice type back to the Pokeball. “Alright, lets get to it then.”

I would lead the way with Tristen and Matteo close behind, the three of us started to talk about things on the way there, me leading off with topics like asking about the classes they shared. I was trying to remain cordial for the most part, and tried to remain off topics that was probably going to be a bit of a sore spot, because to my recollection, there was a dicey bit there where the two butted heads and it wasn’t until after Tristen came back to Paldea for classes they reconciled. And I wasn’t fully certain just how set these two were. After all, it only had been a week. Though I suppose if they’re taking trips across the region with each other, its pretty much all good, but I imagine that I shouldn’t try to rain in on that parade.

It was eventually we would arrive at the Treasure Eatery where I would go up the couple of steps and make my way through the doors. Tristen was left astonished at this place, haven’t being in such a place like this before. It was vividly lit, with floral ascetics like pictures and strings of flowers of things you might see around Jhoto and Kantom never mind the wood dividers that separated the seating arrangements. The patrons sat at tables low to the ground, with cushion seating on the floor. “Ah, welcome back, are you here to place the order for the gym leader?” The lady at the greet counter, who wore a greenish tint shirt and pants, with a darker green apron, stood up.

“Actually, before I finish my test, I figured to get lunch in and I got company with me. Table for three with presumably three parties worth of Pokémon?” I asked.

“Ah, okay!” The lady would go back under the counter and pull out a couple of menus then would guide the three of us off to the back of the restaurant. She’d direct us to a fairly spacious area with a large table with cushions to sit on and sat the menus out for the three of us. “A waitress will be with you for your drink orders.”

“Thank you.” I said, sitting down on one of the cushions. Tristen would take a seat across the table from me.

“Man, Blizz, is there anything like this in Jhoto?” Tristen asked.

“Oh, yea. Even back home in Mahogany. Though, I don’t think there’s any place this big that I can think of. Maybe in Goldenrod, probably.” I commented.

He tried to become an apprentice of a gym? The way things by the cursory glance here, it didn’t even seem like they would give anyone the time of day. Each of the gym leaders so far has emphasized that they had lives beyond the gym; the gym was no priority what so ever. And so far, I’m inclined to agree with that. So, it probably stood to reason that they didn’t want to take in anyone for any reason. Not unless perhaps they felt like being a baker like Katy or an artist like Brassius. Though as Matteo tried to talk about popular dishes, I had to think about it for a moment. “Not…really? Paldea does seem to love its sandwiches though now that you bring it up though.” I said, observing.

“Closest we probably got to a dish is actually a treat. Rage candy bars.” Tristen said.

“Yea, Mahogany town’s finest.” I said.

“I actually told Fela about those one day.” Tristen said. “Which Fela did raise a point, actually. I never thought about it. Why did people name those things after the Lake of Rage?”

“Well obviously…the origins of it dates back roughly a century ago nearby the Lake of Rage. Though, truthfully, back in that sort of day, according to my teacher, Pryce, there were nowhere near as many Gyarados in that lake back then as there are now that would fit its lake name better. I’m guessing it was catchy naming at the time and at this point, why change it?” I said. “So…you got a gym in your hometown? Uh…where is that by chance?” I would then ask Matteo.

“Coke please.” I said.

“Me too.” Tristen said.

Once the drink orders were taken, we took our own menus and started to look through it. When Matteo spoke up about what to have, I shook my head. “I honestly have no idea. Trying to figure out what all they got.”

“Hey Blizz, the steak rice bowl seems pretty good.” Tristen suggested.

“Where is that at-oh wait, never mind, here it is. Hmm…it honestly does.” I said. “Going to have to get something meatier though than that. Beartic is probably not going to like that too much…what’s this…Terastal meal for Pokémon? What is that?” I asked. “Assuming that its just something named after the tera phenomenon here in the region…”