It was a good thing there were a lot of trainers to be found looking for battles on the way to Striadon city, because Edward definitely needed the experience. Watching Oshawott getting crushed by a low-level Lillipup or Patrat was demoralizing enough for Adriano, let alone the Pokemon in question.

“Aggggghhh! Why is this happening!”

Edward the drama queen was currently on his knees wailing at the sky over the body of his defeated Pokemon.

“Maybe you should try telling Oshawott to dodge or use a move other than water gun.”

Edward turned his head and glared at Adriano’s unapolagetic grin.

“Why don’t you stop laughing and help me out!”

Adriano just shrugged and took a seat on a nearby tree stump. There wasn’t much else he could tell him. Blindly rushing in with a simple straight attack was the worst thing to do. Pointedly ignoring his own learning experiences, Adriano just leaned back and enjoyed watching Edward struggle. Some Schaudenfraude may have been involved, but Adriano knew better than most that adverisity was what Edward needed right now.

Grumbling, Edward had finally coaxed Oshawott off the ground with a few berries and a potion. Glaring at the trainer who he had been battling, he dived right back in. Spectating, Adriano noticed that Edward was using marginally better commands and timing, but Oshawott continued to get curb-stomped as they progressed down the road to Striaton City.

-

“I just can’t take it anymore!”

Edward was sitting cross-legged, eyes boring holes in the pokeball he was holding in his lap. Despite his best attempts, Edward had lost every battle he attempted. The duo had traveled for most of the day and had pitched their tents once the sun started to set. Currently, they were sitting opposite a small campfire. Adriano had let his main Pokemon out to eat and socialize, and they were all dog-piled on top of Tor, who had woken up briefly at the presence of food but fell back asleep once he had finished eating.

“Dad promised to set aside the most powerful Pokemon for me, so why can’t I win?!”

Adriano glanced up briefly before retuning his focus to the worn pokedex in his hands. Edward gave the ball one last dirty look before letting himself fall backwards on his bedroll with a tired sigh.

“Whatever, it’ll all turn out fine in the end.”

Adriano didn’t even bother to look up, continuing to scroll through the comission list he had open. Buyers for Miltank were never too hard to find, but he had to haggle for a good price and set a pickup location. Finally settling on a price and time, Adriano shut the device down and started preparing for bed. Edward poked his head up to see what he was up to before rolling over and pulling the blanket up to his neck.

Joining the Pokemon perched on Tor’s back, Adriano nestled into Alto’s side and pulled a puffy wing over himself. Ella and Audino shifted slightly, but didn’t wake up. The first day of the journey was over, and Adriano fell asleep dreaming of the open seas.

-

The new morning had washed away the frustrations of yesterday, and Edward was prodding Adriano to get going scarcely after dawn. The clean-up was relatively easy, Edward rolled up his blankets and fastened them to his hiking pack. Adriano meanwhile recalled his Pokemon before getting Tor to smother the fire with its body while he sat there yawning. Back on the road, there were fewer trainers looking for battles, probably due to the time of day, but the more enthusiastic ones were out and about.

Like yesterday, Edward took it upon himself to challenge all the trainers he could find. He was still being beaten consistently, but Adriano noticed that he was deliberately trying to switch up his attack strategies. Not that it did any good, as apparently Oshawott didn’t understand half of the new tactics and ended up just standing still and being pummeled like a sandbag.

It was the last battle before lunch when the pair finally managed to eke out a win. Through a combination of shouting, exaggerated arm and hand gestures, and a lot of luck Oshawott managed to take down a young trainer and their Pidove. Adriano wasn’t sure it counted as the Pidove had a lame wing, but seeing Edward’s exitement he didn’t have the heart to spoil it for him. Not right then anyways.

“You know, that win was totally because it had a broken wing.”

“No way! I won that battle fair and square! If he sent it out, it was fit to battle!”

The two of them had stopped to eat a quick lunch on a fallen log on the side of the road. Adriano had decided to keep all his Pokemon tucked away today, it didn’t seem like they’d be needed anyhows. Edward was splitting his sandwich with Oshawott, who had stopped being down once he had won the last fight. Apart from all the drama from his traveling partner, Adriano felt nostaligic. There was nothing quite like watching someone else fail to help you forget your own problems, he decided sagely.

Despite Edward’s battle fervor, they were making good time on the road. ‘Maybe one more night camping and we’ll get there.’ Adriano thought. He searched his memory for a moment, trying to remember if he had left anything behind in Striadon. ‘No, nothing until Narcene. I’ll have to make do until then. At least I’ll get the money Cedric promised to tide me over.’

“Hey, Adriano? I have a question.”

Snapping back to reality, Adriano turned and nodded.

“So, how was I doing today? Really doing, I mean.”

Adriano considered for a moment before answering.

“You were pretty bad.”

Edward flinched and tucked his head.

“But… New trainers are supposed to be bad. If there was no room to grow, what would the point be? And besides, you are getting better. I’ve noticed it these two days.”

Edward untucked slightly, before mumbling.

“Black wasn’t bad.”

“Well, Black isn’t someone you should be looking up to. Sooner or later, this little rivalry is going to fall apart and you’re going to get hurt.”

Edward abruptly stood. Turning to face Adriano, he could see small tears in the kid’s eyes.

“You’re wrong! You might think badly of him, but Black is a good guy! I’ll never be hurt by him, and I won’t hurt him either!”

He declared defiantly, to Adriano’s resigned posture. ‘Perhaps this is how everyone is in the beginning.’ He thought. ‘Or maybe he’s just special. Either way, it doesn’t look like I’ll change his mind anytime soon.’ Standing up himself, Adriano shoved the rest of the jerky in his bag and changed the topic.

“Alright, fine. You do whatever you feel like. But, you’re going to need to be strong to be Black’s rival.”

Edward was taken aback for a moment before resuming his stare, this time eyes ablaze with fiery passion.

“So you’ll train me yourself?! Finally! What are we doing first?!”

Letting out a sigh of relief that Edward was back to normal, Adriano gestured for him to pack up.

“Come on. We’ll keep walking for a little ways and then get some practice in before making camp.”

“Alright! I want to get there quickly, but camping is fun too!”

Darting back to his seat on the log, Edward scarfed down the remains of his sandwich in one bite and practically forced the rest down Oshawott’s throat. In moments, the two were running back to the main road, and had already engaged in a new battle. Adriano stood and watched for a moment as Oshawott’s face turned green as the opponent’s Tranquil threw him around. Chuckling to himself, he shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled out to join him. ‘Who knows? Maybe this kid can make it to the league He certainly has the spirit for it.’