As he stepped outside of Goldenrod Gym, Thomas held his hand out to shield his eyes against the brightness of the afternoon sun. He couldn’t believe how little time had elapsed; he and his sister had been in the gym for less than an hour even though it had felt like it was an all day ordeal. With nothing left to do in the city though, and with his sister in a foul mood, Thomas decided it was time to head home.

Tori reached up and grabbed his hand as they started to walk away from the gym; an awkard silence passed between them, Tori not bothering speak to him. They crossed the street and climbed onto the waiting city bus which began to wind its way south back through the metropolis. It would probably take them at least an hour, maybe more, to get home; Thomas wasn’t really in any rush though.

He had the gut feeling he’d messed up big time and that Mom was going to be absolutely furious with him when he and his sister got back home; Tori would probably tell Mom they saw a gym battle as soon as they got back even though he had asked her not to.

Though, it hadn’t been a real gym battle, Thomas supposed. Too bad he wasn’t going to get to watch Agatha fight, he had been really looking forward to it. He had still learned a lot from watching that match in person though; the fighting could be pretty brutal.

Not to mention the atmosphere of the stadium. Even just being in the stands and hearing the crowd had made his hair stand on end. He found himself yearning to know the feeling of standing out on the pitch. What would it be like to hear the thunderous chants and applause raining down on his back?

Thomas stared out of the window as the bus made its way south through the city. The Pokémon Center, the Mart, and all of the little houses, cafes, and restaurants passed by into the bus’ rear view. He and his sister made it to the last stop near the edge of the city and disembarked from the bus to walk the last part of the journey home.

“Hey, let’s stop and get some water at this vending machine,” he said to Tori. “I’m feeling pretty thirsty are you?”

She ignored him and didn’t say anything, so he walked over and got two water bottles, holding one out for her.

“You need to drink this so you don’t get dehydrated,” he said as they sat under a shady tree and sipped their water. The two of them had reached the city limits, the paved asphalt giving way to rugged dirt paths and unpaved trails. The trek back home was going to be miserable as the afternoon sun beat down all around them.

Tori sat in total silence, drinking her water and doing her best to ignore Thomas. She seemed lost in thought, something totally uncharacteristic of her since she always blurted out whatever was on her mind. Thomas found it unnerving not knowing what his sister was thinking.

“So, are you not going to talk to me anymore or what?” He asked her after chugging half his water. “You haven’t said anything since we left the gym and that was more than 20 minutes ago.”

“I’m not going to tell Mom, don’t worry.” She mumbled to him.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“I mean I won’t tell Mom that we went and saw a gym battle today,” she said to him.

“Well we did make a deal right?” He said, smiling at her. “Sir Taddington was our witness, remember? I said I would owe you a favor if we could go.”

“It’s fine, forget the deal,” she said standing up. “I’m not going to tell Mom and I don’t want anything from you, so can we just go?”

He pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought you to the gym. I know it must have been a scary experience for you. It was irresponsible of me. I was just really excited to watch a Pokémon battle and I wasn’t thinking straight. Can you please accept my apology?”

She pushed out of his arms and shoved him backward. “You’re an idiot Tommy! I hate you!” She yelled, throwing her water bottle at him.

She took off running down the trail towards the ranch with Sir Taddington flapping vigorously in her flailing arms. Thomas stood there in a daze having no idea what just happened. He blinked and watched as she ran up the first hill, the small mound shielding Goldenrod from the wilderness that lay beyond. Sighing, he picked up her bottle and jogged after her.

They made it back to the ranch in the late afternoon. Tori rushed inside the house as soon as she got there and ran to her room.

Thomas took his time once they got past the property line. It felt good to be home, he had missed it even if he was only gone for a few hours. Their house sat nestled behind a windbreak of old oak and elm trees, characteristic of the northern forest edges of Route 34. A little dirt path bent around the trees and led up to his home’s front door. There were some corrals in the back where all the Pokémon were kept as well as a barn and some stables. Further behind that was the bulk of their ranch land split into multiple pastures and fields for the Pokémon to graze in. The Miltank and Gogoat would spend their days grazing in the pastures and then return to the corral and barn for the evening. The ranch was a pretty good size, taking up almost 500 acres of the green and amber prairie that bordered the dark green Ilex Forest far away to the south.

A little guest house off to the west of their main ranch house came into view as Tommy rounded the windbreak. Many exhausted trainers coming out of Ilex Forest stopped for lodging and a meal when they were too tired to travel the final leg of the journey to Goldenrod; it was a good side business for his family.

Thomas really didn’t want to go inside his house, but if mom was going to be upset with him it was better to just get it over with. He groaned to himself as he walked up the wooden front porch and through the thick oak door.

He walked through the front hall, past the den and saw his mom in the kitchen. She was in the middle of cooking dinner but was taking her apron off to go chase after Tori.

His dad was always talking about how pretty his mom was and how much he loved her. She was a little shorter than Thomas now, (he had finally grown taller than her this summer) and she had the same wavy brown hair that Tori and he both had. Her hazel eyes were normally kind and smiling but they were narrowed as he walked into the kitchen. She could be pretty terrifying when she got upset.

He tried to give her a hug but she kept him at arm’s reach.

“What the hell did you do to your sister, Tommy?” She asked him, her voice as thin as ice. She was almost always happy and in a good mood with the exceptions being the times Tori was in a bad mood. Mom always took Tori’s side.

“Nothing mom, I promise,” he said, overpowering her feeble attempts to hold him back and wrapping her in a hug. She hugged him back tightly.

“You’re going to need another bath after dinner,” she told him. “You’re hot and sweaty.”

“Yeah the walk back was pretty tiring,” he agreed. “It wasn’t too bad walking there this morning since we left around 8, but it is hot outside right now let me tell you. Did the delivery guys come by yet?”

“Yes, they dropped everything off a little over an hour ago, so I just finished putting everything away and now I’m starting dinner,” she told him. “Thank you for going.”

“No problem, Mom.” He said. He swiped some chicken out of the skillet and helped himself. Delicious. “It ended up working out anyway, I would have been bored out of my mind waiting for school on Monday with nothing to do.”

“Oh! So then you won’t need tomorrow off right? You can get up at 5 to milk the Miltanks?” She teased.

Me and my big mouth, Tommy thought to himself…

“Well I won’t be quite that bored,” he smiled back.

She dropped her smile. “What did you do to your sister Tommy?”

“Mom, I swear I don’t know what she’s upset about.” He was kind of telling the truth; at least half of the truth. “It was a long day. You know, easily an hour there and back each time, plus some extra. I mean we went to the Mart and ran all the errands. Plus she’s 12 now, she’s getting older. I have no clue what she’s thinking about half the time. I got her a plushie too. I was on my best behavior mom, I promise.”

Mom stared into his eyes unblinking while he rambled. He smiled back at her.

She sighed. “Take this lemonade out to your father and go see if he needs help with the fence. Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes, so finish quickly.”

He grabbed the lemonade from her hand, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and headed towards the back door.

“Love you Mom.” He heard her grunt in response but he saw she was smiling while she resumed her cooking. Maybe he was in the clear?

As he stepped through the back door of the house he took a deep breath and looked around. After being in the city all day it really was nice to be back out on the ranch. He started walking across their backyard over to the Miltank corral. He unlocked the chain so he could get inside and started making his way over to the barn in the back corner. Every Miltank he passed by raised her head and walked towards him so he made sure to give each of them a nice pat on the head.

Thomas found his dad crouched down with his back turned, working on the fence that Tauros had smashed down. Speaking of Tauros, where was that guy? Thomas looked around but didn’t see the temperamental bull anywhere. He shrugged, Tauros must be in the pasture or one of the fields looking to make sure there weren’t any Miltank left out there as the afternoon creeped onwards towards evening.

Thomas took a big sip of the lemonade and smacked his lips. “Ahh, Mom makes the best lemonade!”

“Hey now. I’m sure she said that was for me didn’t she?” His father asked. He stood up, stretched his back, and muttered something under his breath. He turned towards Thomas holding out his hand, a big toothy smile on his face. “Give it here son. Don’t do anything foolish.”

Thomas looked straight into his father’s eyes and took another giant gulp. Half the lemonade was now gone.

His father tackled him to the ground and wrestled the cup away from him; thank goodness the cup had a lid on it. His father drained it in one pull.

“You’re right, that does hit the spot,” his father sighed while rubbing his belly. They both stood up and brushed themselves off.

Thomas’ father was a massive bear of a man. Almost two meters tall with a chest as broad as a barrel. Years of hard labor on the ranch had turned him into a rock. He had a big scruffy beard, dark brown to match his hair, and eyes as green as summer grass.

“You know I would have helped you if you had waited for me,” Thomas said. “I know your back has been hurting a lot recently.”

His dad gave him a punch in the arm, almost sending him to the ground again. “I’m not an old man yet,” he said. “But if you want, you can help me finish wrapping the wire around those posts. After that we’ll be done.”

“Sure thing, old man,” Thomas said, smiling and rubbing his now throbbing shoulder. “Mom said dinner is ready in 30 minutes so it will be faster with the two of us anyway.”

They finished up in 20 and made their way back towards the house.

“Hey where’s Tauros? Isn’t he usually back in the corral by now?” Thomas asked.

His dad counted the Miltank as they were walking by. 23. He shrugged. “All the Miltank are here so he must be in the pasture or the field patrolling the fence.”

“Patrolling for what?” He asked his dad.

Dad shrugged again. “Who knows? He’s just following his instincts.”

“Should we go look for him?” Asked Thomas.

They made it to the back door of the house. His dad rubbed his beard and grunted. “Let’s be on time for dinner so we aren’t in trouble with Mom. Then once we’re done, if Tauros hasn’t come back yet we’ll ride out to the pasture and check on him.”

Thomas nodded in agreement. “Alright, sounds good.”

They walked through the door back into the kitchen and Thomas was overcome by an unexpectedly creeping hunger. As soon as he smelled the chicken and potatoes his stomach let him know it was hungry in no uncertain terms.

“How’s the fence?” Mom asked.

“Fine,” Dad said, waving nonchalantly and smiling at his bride. “All fixed.”

“Good, go wash up please boys while I set the table,” Mom smiled back. “And Tommy, tell your sister to come eat please.”

He went to the restroom and cleaned up, washing his face and his hands with soap and warm water. He sighed, Still going to need a shower after dinner. Hopefully Tauros is back and we don’t have to spend all night looking for him.

He knocked on Tori’s door and told her to come to dinner.

Once the four of them were seated around the table they said their thanks and ate their meal. It ended up being surprisingly nice, which surprised Thomas because he was sure Tori was waiting to get him in trouble. She did a good job pretending to be happy for the whole meal even though he knew something was bothering her. She talked the entire time about all the fun the two of them had wandering around the mall. No mention of the gym or any sort of Pokémon battle was ever made.

When the family was done with dinner Dad went back outside and checked the corral. He said Tauros had come back so he put all the Pokémon in the barn for the evening. He left Tauros in the corral though because he refused to go into the barn.

The eventful day came to an uneventful end. Thomas showered again, helped clean up around the kitchen, and then turned on the television. He wanted to see if Agatha’s battle with Penelope had been uploaded yet. No such luck, he’d have to check again tomorrow.

He wished Mom and Dad a good night and went to bed. One more day until I get to start practicing to be a trainer, he smiled to himself.

When he passed by Tori’s room her door was closed, otherwise he might have heard her crying.