After three days of travel, the path leading out the northern end of the Petalburg woods opened up. Fewer trees blocked the sightline of the group. Tall buildings towered above the trees on the horizon. Spike raised his eyebrows at the sight. Even from a distance, he could tell that Rustboro was a far more bustling city than he expected.

While walking along the well-trodden path of Route 104, they passed a small shop and house. Behind the two buildings stood a large greenhouse containing a colorful variety of flowers, shrubs, and berry bushes and trees.

“What do you think of stopping by the flower shop after dropping the kids off, Mara?” Carrie spoke up, her eyes glistening while fully concentrated on the greenhouse.

“Sure,” Mara replied. Her lips curled into a small smile.

[What’s so great about those flimsy plants?] Ares mumbled.

Although still adjusting to the fact that he could understand Ares’ speech now, Spike chuckled at his partner’s question and replied, “I bet a grass type would start a fight with you over those words.”

In response, Ares crossed his arms and snorted.

Smiling at the fact that he could converse with Ares like this now, Spike turned his head and observed Aria who was sitting in the topmost pouch of his travel pack. She hesitantly tore her gaze away from a bluk berry tree growing outside the flower shop and looked back at him. He wondered whether or not he would be able to one day converse with her, too.

Spike reached over his shoulder and gently patted her head while thinking, ‘Well, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve heard her speak, but it would be nice to know what she is saying when she does speak.’

When he faced forward again, he saw Flannery frowning and said, “It’s been three days, and you still haven’t wiped that frown off your face.”

Flannery’s face stiffened, and she almost missed a step.

Patting her on the shoulder, Spike said, “Like your mom said, it was a good idea to not catch that Vigoroth. According to my parents, they’re a pain to train. If you’re desperate, you’re better off finding a Slakoth, but I’m sure they’re just as irritating in the opposite way.”

“I just wanted to catch a Pokemon by myself for the first time, y’know?” Flannery mumbled.

Spike shrugged and said, “Is catching Pokemon just for the sake of catching them even worth it? They have lives, too. May as well just leave them be if you don’t plan to keep them on your team. They have lives, too.”

Eyes lowering, Flannery pondered his statement for a while.

Eventually, their group passed a wide river that cut through the land from the east and streamed into the open sea in the west. While crossing the bridge, a few fishermen challenged their group to a battle, but Kiwi wiped the floor with every Barboach or Magikarp they sent out with a single Wing Attack each. Spike almost felt pity for the guys who had been looking forward to a fun battle only to end up depressed afterward.

Shortly after crossing the bridge, they arrived at the entrance to Rustboro city. Buildings built from stone and glass filled their sight. Pedestrians and Pokemon mulled about on the sidewalks. Numerous trees were planted at even intervals on every block of the sidewalks that doubled as decorations to humans and perches to flocks of Pidgeys and Taillows. A large painted wooden sign at the entrance stated, “Welcome to Rustboro City: the city probing the integration of nature and science.”

Since this was Spike and Flannery’s first time visiting Rustboro, both of them observed the bustling cityscape with mixtures of amazement and curiosity. Rustboro in the games didn’t do the city justice in Spike’s opinion.

Mara and Carrie led the way toward the Hoenn Intermediate School without much reaction toward the surroundings as though they were native to the city. Several nearby people cast inquisitive or surprised glances at Ares due to the unusual sight of a Lucario in the Hoenn region. Even in Sinnoh, a Pokemon trainer might not encounter a Lucario in their entire lifetime, let alone Hoenn. Spike and Ares took it in stride, both believing the people of Rustboro would get used to seeing him around just as the people of Petalburg had.

The only gazes that bothered Spike were the occasional lustful glances directed at Mara. It caught him off guard since the people he knew in Petalburg acted far more restrained than these city folk when eyeing her. At one point, a man they passed by stared at Mara’s rear end while licking his lips. The unrestrained stares irked him. In an almost instinctive reaction, Spike narrowed his eyes and kicked the man’s shin too fast for him to see. The man bent over and opened his mouth to scream, but an abrupt jab to the chin instantly silenced him before Mara or Carrie noticed anything. The guy plopped into the dirt at the bottom of one of the decorative trees. Another middle-aged man who had been eyeing up Mara’s assets immediately gulped and scurried away into a nearby alleyway with cold sweat dripping from his forehead. Ignoring the shocked expressions of the remaining few people who saw him, Spike faced forward again as though nothing had happened.

Giving his partner an appreciative nod, Ares quietly said, [It is good to protect the females of the pack. I will remember this lesson.]

Raising a brow, Spike retorted, “Bro, you’re way too serious sometimes.”

Facing forward again, Spike noticed Flannery gaping at him with wide eyes. He smiled and raised a finger to his lips, gesturing for her to not say anything about the altercation. In response, she blinked a few times and then nodded hastily with lips curling up into an unnerving grin.

“What’s with that smile?” Spike couldn’t help whispering.

“Nothing,” Flannery whispered in return before giggling to herself.

Shaking his head, Spike scratched his temple and ignored her strange glances. He didn’t care what was going through that thick skull of hers but thanked Arceus that she finally seemed to get over the fact that her mother hadn’t allowed her to catch the Vigoroth.

Shaking his head, Spike mused, ‘If puberty didn’t exist, I would’ve thought she was bipolar or something.’

Before long, they arrived at a large campus containing a dozen or so buildings built in the same stone and glass style as many of the other buildings in Rustboro. Uniform limestone-like paths connected all the buildings in straight lines or sharp angles, much like the sharp and angled architecture unique to Rustboro. Trimmed hedges and trees lined the paths. The layout reminded Spike of some older local colleges back on Earth.

Towards the outskirts of the campus, an identical pair of five-story buildings stood tall above the surrounding field. Thanks to his inhuman eyesight, he read the signs on the buildings indicating that they were the male and female dorms. Adjacent to the dorms was a park filled with flowering shrubs and trees. A security guard patrolled along a stone path circling a pond located in the center of the park with a Linoone at his side. Aside from the security guard, a few students who looked a few years older than Spike and Flannery played with their Pokemon there. Some wild Pokemon loitering in the park acted either friendly or dismissive towards the students.

Occasionally, some old vehicles similar to ones driven in the 1980’s and 1990’s passed by Spike on the road next to their group. The road led to a small parking lot near the main building. Spike observed each car with raised brows since vehicles were a rarer sight to him in this world than a Ralts to the average adventuring trainer.

While passively observing the surroundings, Spike followed Mara and Carrie along the main sidewalk toward the conspicuous tower. It proudly displayed its prominence at the center of the campus. A tall statue standing in the middle of a roundabout outside the front doors of the building spiraled into the sky in a majestic and imposing manner. The obsidian-colored metal shimmered under the sunlight. The intricate enshrinement’s detailed features displayed the utmost care invested by whoever sculpted it. Spike, Ares, and Flannery couldn’t help admiring it with gleaming eyes, though each for slightly different reasons.

“Wow! Is that Rayquaza?!” Flannery exclaimed.

Carrie turned her head, smiled, and simply answered, “Yes.”

“That statue’s been there since before I came here, but it’s still as intimidating as it was back then. Always made me wonder if the one who made it saw Rayquaza before,” Mara nonchalantly added.

Remaining silent, Spike considered Mara’s statement while admiring the statue. Compared to the games, the imposing air of Rayquaza’s statue alone far outstripped the sprite he knew of. It made his heart skip a beat. The simultaneously regal and feral nature of the statue reminded him of his encounter with Arceus and the other legendary Pokemon he hadn’t recognized back then. Deep down, he hoped to encounter Rayquaza as well one day. Even without his knowledge of the games, Miss Johanna had taught their class in primary school about the glory of the legendary dragon who maintained the balance of the Hoenn region from the high and lofty Sky Tower. Groudon and Kyogre? He didn’t care about those two crazy squabbling bastards.

Before long, their group arrived at the large building behind the Rayquaza statue. A wide marble stairway led up to Romanesque pillars holding up decorative stone arches. Bold bronze lettering above the archway spelled out: Aggron Tower - Hoenn Intermediate School Main Building. Under the arched roof was an open area filled with benches and seats. Small groups of parents and children congregated around them. Further in, they entered a set of double-doors that led into what looked like the entry hall of an old castle.

“So this is Hoenn Intermediate School. Puts the trainer school from the game to shame,” Spike mumbled too quietly for others to hear.