Trixa led the way, June and I following behind her.

Pidove flew above my head, keeping up to us desperately, which should have been easy for the Flying type except he’d forget what he was doing and fly to the ground before remembering and call out as he flew to us.

Trixa held her beaten Pansear in her arms as she ran forth.

June followed closely behind me.

I still couldn’t see what Pokemon Trixa was chasing after, but I ran after her, eager to find out which one she was so interested in.

Trixa moved sharply, accurately, directly on target, her feet stomping the ground to track down this mystery Pokemon.

Our little group ran through the woods, gasping for air from exhaustion but not daring to slow down.

I had captured two brand new Pokemon, now owning three on my team.

Trixa had two. This was Trixa’s turn to capture a Pokemon, and we wouldn’t give up on catching it.

On that inspiration, we ran together.

I wonder what Trixa found, I thought. I wanted to stop running, my legs tiring out. Glancing down at the Town Map, I tried to keep track of where we were as we ran blindly through the trees.

Trixa finally stopped running and bent over, holding onto her knees, needing to catch her breath.

I ran past Trixa a few feet before stopping, turning back to her, June stopping just past me and turning back, holding her stomach, breathing hoarsely.

“Trixa?” I choked out.

Trixa fell down onto her backside. “I give up.” She lowered her head and continued to breathe hard.

I fell onto my knees and stared at Trixa in disappointment. “That’s it?”

I heard June cry out and collapse.

“We ran after whatever it was, forever!” I complained, trying not to get too angry.

Trixa sprawled out on the ground on her back. “I’m done. I’ll just capture the next Pokemon. I can’t keep going.”

“You’ve got be kidding me,” I sighed and fell onto my back, my throat sore and dry, desperate for water.

June sighed. “Well, that was a waste of my energy.”

“It got away. The thing was fast,” Trixa heaved. “I don’t even know where it went.”

“How long after it got away did you stop chasing it?” I asked slowly, frowning, my eyes on the leaves blocking most of the gray, late afternoon sky.

“I don’t know. How long were we chasing it?” Trixa asked.

“At least fifteen minutes,” I responded.

“About that long. I couldn’t see it for a long time, but I kept on running, hoping I’d find it.”

I sat up instantly, leering hard. “Excuse me?!” My hand tightened around the Town Map, crunching it up.

“About that long. I couldn’t see it for a long time, but I kept on running, hoping I’d find it,” Trixa repeated. Trixa had the nerve to keep smiling at me despite my flaring face.

“You mean to say we’ve been chasing nothing all this time?!” I asked, hoping she’d tell me I was wrong so that I wouldn’t flip out on her.

“Yep!” Trixa beamed.

“TRIXA!!!” I bellowed.

“Gary!” Trixa sang happily.

“You idiot! What is going on through your head?!?!”

Trixa’s smile faded. “Huh?”

I jumped to my feet, suddenly full of energy and not the least bit tired. “You led us through all of this even after you lost the freaking Pokemon you were chasing after?” I was shaking my fist that held the Town Map at Trixa as I barked.

“I thought I could find it,” Trixa replied, her voice displaying her sadness.

“You cannot just go around running through wooded areas like this chasing Pokemon!! Who knows where we are now?!”

“I just wanted another Pokemon…” Trixa lowered her head, her voice breaking.

“And how exactly did you intend on battling it, huh?” I snapped in a continuously building rage. “Your Pansear and Tepig can’t battle. They’re still pretty weak from fighting my Drilbur!”

“Oh, are you going to rub that in all day?” Trixa suddenly had fight in her, glaring now. “I get it! You caught Drilbur!”

“I’m just stating a fact! Don’t give me that attitude. I told you to capture him! You insisted I should catch him!”

“You earned it! I lost! If you really wanted to be so sincere and generous, you could have leant me one of your Pokemon to weaken it with.”

“What’s the difference if I leant you my Pokemon or not if it’s still my Pokemon weakening it?!”

“You used your Pokemon! If you had said I could use them, then that would have been different! You used them and weakened Drilbur by yourself!”

“There’s no difference!! It’s still my Pokemon! What the hell??”

“Now, now, let’s all relax,” June smiled as she set her bag on the ground. She dug through it and pulled out several Poke Balls. “Come on out, everybody!” She threw her Poke Balls into the air and they opened, sending out her Pokemon in several flashes of white light.

“Vwwweeeeee!” Eevee gushed happily.

“Galvantula!” Galvantula appeared.

“Maaagneton!” Magneton sparked.

Rotom cried out at us all.

“Electiviiiiiire!” Electivire flexed his muscles.

“How about we all take a break and relax and have us a nice mealtime?” June suggested brightly. She pulled out three bowls and three bags of food and set a bowl in front of Electivire, Eevee, and Galvantula. Right after that, she filled the bowls with separate food and stepped back as her Pokemon went for the bowls, chowing down on the contents.

Magneton and Rotom returned Electric shocks to each other’s bodies repeatedly.

“It has been several hours since we last ate,” Trixa agreed. “Pansear, Tepig, let’s eat!”

“Pansear!” Pansear happily leaped from Trixa’s arms and landed a few feet away.

Trixa threw Tepig’s Poke Ball and Tepig came out. “Tepig!” he said upon his arrival.

Trixa set down bowls in front of her two Pokemon from her bag.

I was still angry at Trixa, but I took a deep breath to try and calm down, stuffing the Town Map in my pocket. “Okay! Cottonee! Drilbur! GO!”

Their Poke Balls popped in midair.

“Drilbur!” Drilbur stretched out.

“Coooottoneeee!” Cottonee sang out.

I removed my bag from my back and pulled out three bowls. “Here you guys go.” I shook out food from a single bag.

Pidove flew from my shoulder and happily pecked at his food.

Drilbur and Cottonee moved over to their bowls and started eating.

“Dril??” Drilbur stopped eating almost instantly and looked down at his bowl in disgust and confusion, his mouth full of seeds.

“Coooottonee?” Cottonee immediately spit his food back into his bowl.

Drilbur turned to Cottonee and then spit his food out at him.

“Cooooooottonee!!” Cottonee cried angrily, his eyes closed tight.

“Hey! Stop that!” I told Drilbur.

Drilbur looked down at his food in disgust, his tongue hanging out. “Driiiiil!” He looked up at me.

“I guess they don’t like that bird food, Gary,” June noted. “When we get to Vancteck City, we should grab some Pokemon food that’s a little more versatile.”

“That would have been smarter,” I agreed, nodding. “I’m sorry, you two. We’ll grab you something a lot better once we reach the next area.”

“Dril,” Drilbur looked down in disappointment, rubbing his stomach.

“Drilbur is probably really hungry,” June noted. “Remember, he was hunting for berries when you caught him.”

“You’re right.” I looked around at the trees surrounding us. “Might some of these trees have some fruit for us, too?”

“I’m sure they do.” June walked over to one of the nearby trees, looking up into the branches as she stuffed her face with several pieces of chocolate. “There seems to be something up here.”

“What was that?” Trixa asked June, nibbling on a cracker.

“I said, I think there’s some fruit in here,” June answered after swallowing her candy.

“Drilbur!” Drilbur ran to the tree by June and used Slash attack against the trunk.

“Aaaaaahhh!!!!” June shrieked as several apples landed on her head, taking her down to the ground.

Drilbur happily walked over to the pile of apples surrounding June and grabbed one. He took a big bite out of one. “Drilbur!”

“June!” Trixa called out. “Are you okay? Wait! What’s that thing?” Trixa pulled out her Pokedex and pointed it at the pile of apples.

“I don’t see anything,” I said, staring hard.

Panpour. The Spray Pokemon. This Pokemon stores water in its head and is full of nutrients. It must be well taken care of, and the quality of water it holds is a great indicator of its health.

“A Panpour?” I gasped, still looking around for it. “Wait a minute! I want one of those monkeys!”

“Hey! No way!” Trixa whined. “You got two Pokemon yesterday! This one belongs to me! No fair!”

I could finally see Panpour, the side of its face just barely visible underneath the apples my Drilbur had knocked out of the tree. It seemed Drilbur must have knocked a Panpour out as well, and it was now a victim of the apple attack, like June was.

“Poke Ball, go!” Trixa tossed her ball.

The Poke Ball hit the unconscious water monkey in the head and absorbed it in the red beam before hitting the ground, the white button glowing red, and it began to shake.

PING!

“YES! I caught a Panpour!” Trixa was leaping in the air continuously.

I managed to smile, feeling a little jealous on the inside, though. At least I caught a cool Drilbur, I grudgingly told myself.

June groaned on the ground.

“You alright, June?” I asked nonchalantly.

“I’m fine, I’m fine…” June told us. She crawled out from the pile of apples and remained still on the ground, seeming in a daze, and let out a sigh.

“Tivire!!”

I turned at the sharp cry and saw Electivire eating from his bowl, his body sparking.

Tepig squealed as a thin beam of electricity from Electivire’s body reached out towards him, shocking him. The piggy collapsed and didn’t move.

Electivire continued to eat calmly.

“Hey! My Tepig!” Trixa shouted in a panic.

“Pansear! Paaaan!” Pansear angrily ran towards Electivire. “Pansear! Pansear! Pansear!! Sear!!”

Electivire took another handful of food and shoved it in his mouth, ignoring Pansear.

“Pansear!” Pansear went on in a rage.

June’s other Pokemon had began to back away carefully, fear in their eyes.

Pidove and Cottonee stared at June’s other Pokemon and then turned to Electivire, not moving, concern in their eyes.

Drilbur continued to happily eat from his pile of apples.

“Pansear! Pansear! Pansear!” Pansear went at Electivire.

Electivire’s body sparked as he reached for another handful of food. He zapped Pansear with a thin shock and shoved food into his mouth.

“Paaaaaaaaaaan!!!” Pansear screamed out before dropping.

“What is this? I didn’t say I wanted to battle!” Trixa ran to her Pokemon, scooping up Tepig and looking down at Pansear. “Why are you attacking my Pokemon?” Trixa complained to June, staring at her in shock.

“Huh?” June shook her head and managed to her feet. “Wait! This isn’t my doing! Please! I’m sorry!” She stumbled over to her Electivire, rubbing her head. “Electivire!” she scolded him. “You apologize to-!”

“VIRE!!” Electivire hit June with an Electric attack.

June shrieked loudly and dropped quickly, her hair standing up tall.

“Oh, my gosh!” Trixa gasped. “June! What happened?”

June shivered on the ground, her body sparking. “N-n-n-nothing n-n-n-n-new,” she stammered.

Trixa backed away from Electivire, her eyes wide and wary. “Hey! Why did you attack your Trainer?”

Electivire scooped up the last of his food and devoured it. His eyes turned to Trixa as he hungrily chewed.

Trixa gasped, not moving.

At this point, Cottonee and Pidove had backed up.

Drilbur was now watching the scene, but still eating.

June managed to get up to her feet shakily. She stared at Electivire, and her body sparked, causing her to flinch a little bit. She glared at Electivire, Electivire keeping his eyes on Trixa. “That’s enough! Return!” She returned Electivire to his Poke Ball.

I breathed a sigh of relief, as did Trixa and the rest of our Pokemon, including Pansear and Tepig, who seemed to have regained their consciousness.

Drilbur was the only one who seemed just fine with everything, snacking away without a concern. Nobody but him moved for a while.

“June?” Trixa finally spoke up. “Are you okay?”

June giggled nervously and nodded. “I’m just fine.” She placed Electivire’s Poke Ball in her large bag and reached up to pull down her hair, but it shot right back up.

“Why did your Pokemon hurt you?” Trixa asked, a fearful tone in her voice.

“Don’t worry about that,” June replied, smiling at Trixa as she struggled to keep her hair down. “We’re just trying to work out some past issues.”

“Like what?”

June sighed, maintaining her smile. She hesitated, looking up at the sky. “Well,” she finally answered, looking at Trixa. “Listen, honey. On your journey to becoming a Pokemon Master, just remember that winning isn’t what makes you a winner. Your bond with your Pokemon, and understanding their true feelings, and never underestimating their fighting abilities and what they already know about you, is what will make you a true master of Pokemon.”

Trixa stared at June silently, a blank look on her face.

June stared back, smiling.

“I don’t get it,” Trixa said after a while.

June stared at Trixa with disappointment.

“Pidove, how about you finish up eating?” I smiled, turning to him.

Pidove hadn’t moved from his spot after backing away from Electivire. At my words, he flew back over to his bowl and happily pecked at his food.

Cottonee floated over to his bowl, but simply stared at it.

Eevee and Galvantula moved back to their food and ate quickly.

Rotom and Magneton were doing their own thing, Magneton hovering oddly while moving slowly from side to side as Rotom floated over to June and watched us all with its cute, huge, and maybe just a little creepy, smile.

“Don’t worry, Cottonee,” I said, staring at him. “Vancteck City is really close by. We should be there in no time.”

Cottonee continued to look down at his food sadly.

“I’m really sorry. Return for now.” I returned him to his Poke Ball and turned to June and Trixa. “Once everyone’s done eating, let’s keep on moving.”

Trixa and June nodded happily.

Tepig leaped from Trixa’s arms and towards his bowl of food, digging into it happily with his snout, grunting noisily.

Pansear slowly walked over to his bowl and ate from it slowly, gradually picking up his pace.

I walked away from the Pokemon and looked up into the gray sky as best as I could, trying to see past the tree branches and leaves blocking my view. A slight breeze swirled around me as I heard footsteps make their way through the leaves on the ground, crunching down on them, heading towards me.

A sigh greeted me a few feet away. “Pretty decent weather, huh?”

I didn’t face June. “For November, it’s not bad, I guess.” I shivered just slightly in the cold air around me.

We didn’t say another word for a while after that.

At some point, I turned around to the sound of a loud belch and realized that most of the bowls our Pokemon were eating from were empty, many of our Pokemon sprawled out lazily on the ground with satisfied smiles on their faces.

Trixa was on her back, grabbing up leaves in her hands and dropping them in bunches on top of herself.

“Looks like they’ve had their fill,” June spoke.

“Good. We should get going. It’s not fair that Cottonee hasn’t gotten anything to eat. And it’s getting dark.”

June and I returned our Pokemon to their Poke Balls, and soon after, Trixa got to her feet and returned Tepig and Pansear.

“I guess we’re going?” Trixa smiled.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Cottonee needs to get to the Pokemon Center. He hasn’t had any food. In fact, all of our Pokemon could use a checkup. Let’s go.”

The trees seemed to close in around us the deeper we walked. Our unseen path lasted what seemed a couple of hours before June finally said what was also on my mind: “Are you sure we’re on the right path?”

“Of course we are,” I muttered, taking a shaky breath, and pulled out the Town Map. I squinted hard against it in the darkness, but in the evening, still darkening sky, the trees making everything seem even darker, it was impossible to see clearly. “We’re not far.” I put the Town Map back in my pocket.

“How could you even tell?” June questioned. “It’s dark as night out here!”

“Listen, we’re fine!” My voice started rising impatiently. I was afraid on the inside, and I knew it, but I couldn’t let June or Trixa know that. “We’re almost there.”

“We could use my Tepig to light up the Town Map so we can see it clearly,” Trixa offered.

“He might end up burning the damn thing,” I countered. “Trust me, will you? We’re almost out of here.”

“What is it with men never wanting to ask for directions?” June said under her breath.

“Exactly who are we asking for directions from in the middle of a freaking forest?” I snapped. “Don’t say stupid things. I said we’re on our way out, and we are! I used the Town Map. I’m not just leading us around blindly.”

“We’ll see,” June said uncertainly.

We continued following each other. It didn’t feel like either of us was leading the way. We just were moving through the trees, branches scratching at our arms every minute, Trixa and June crying out in pain, the three of us stumbling over things we could barely see, cries from creatures unknown making us jump in surprise or fright every few seconds or so.

It was, at the very least, another couple of hours of walking before my heart was suddenly kicking down the door of my chest in fear as I began to feel certain that we were lost. I couldn’t even see Trixa and June, and they were right next to me! “Okay, I admit it, I don’t know where we are anymore,” I admitted.

“Oh, you don’t say!” June said sarcastically.

“I’m sorry! It’s just hard to see anything!”

“It was hard to see anything hours ago! I’m sending out Galvantula to light the way!”

“Don’t send out that damn Bug!” I flipped out. “It’s scary enough in this forest!”

“Screw you and your damn phobia!”

“June, don’t!” I begged.

“Galvantula, I choose-!”

“Hey, what’s that?” Trixa asked.

I didn’t look away, keeping my eyes on where June was, though I couldn’t see anything.

June gasped. “What’s that light?”

At her question, I turned around, too. Squinting, I could see a distance glow through the trees. “Let’s find out!” I was desperate to do anything that wouldn’t require June to send out her gross Bug Pokemon.

We all moved towards the light at once. It was only a few minutes later until the trees around us got a lot less dense and spread further apart from us, and a short hill displayed a series of lights below.

I could finally see the sky above, a deep purple, not a star in sight.

“Is that a city?” Trixa asked in delight.

“It must be Vancteck City!” I insisted loudly.

“Are you sure?” June asked excitedly.

“Come on!” I ran away from them both, towards the lights, pumping my legs down the little hill and making a mad dash on the open path towards the buildings I was beginning to see before us.

“It’s a city!!” Trixa suddenly appeared right next to me, racing me to the buildings.

I laughed as I picked up my pace and bolted past her. “AAAAAHHH!!!!” I screamed in pain as I ran directly into something that leaped in front of me.

It was a large, square object!

I closed my eyes and fell back to the ground as my entire body radiated in pain and my head throbbed. “What the f-?”

“Welcome to Vancteck City,” a metallic voice rang out loudly.

“A robot?” I heard June.

I opened my eyes and saw several large, transparent gray boxes in front of me, multiplying into more transparent gray boxes. The one box in the middle of the row of boxes was the only one I couldn’t see through. The several other boxes then combined with the one solid box I couldn’t see through, splitting again into more transparent boxes again, and then turning back into a single box I couldn’t see through. I closed my eyes and shook my head, crying out as it throbbed in even more pain. Grabbing my head, I looked up again. “What?”

“Hello, visitors,” a voice came out from a single gray box in front of me. I couldn’t see through it. It towered tall over us, several buttons down most of its body. The topmost part of it contained three circles, one which flashed red on the far left, the middle flashing green, and the right flashing white. They flashed at seemingly random points in time. This machine was hovering just a few inches above the ground, silently. “What is your purpose for visiting Vancteck City, the most historically technologically sound place open to the public?” the machine asked us.

“Huh?” I asked, confused.

The lights on the machine’s square, gray body flashed repeatedly. “What is your purpose for visiting Vancteck City, the most historically technologically sound place open to the public?” the machine repeated.

“We’re here to find the Gym Leader and battle for a badge!” June called out to the machine.

The machine’s lights flashed for a few seconds. “Prof. Russell is unable to battle at this time. You are all welcome to battle him tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, on behalf of Vancteck City, we invite you to stay at our world renowned, Vancteck Mansion, as our guests, since you are challenging the Gym Leader here. Right this way, please.”

The machine turned its back on us, its back containing several horizontal black lines, white dots appearing and disappearing repeatedly.

“WHOA!” I screamed as the ground I was still sitting on began to suddenly move!

June and Trixa screamed with me.

I looked down and realized that we were on a conveyor belt that looked exactly like the ground surrounding it! It was creating an effect that was making me kind of dizzy and hurting my head, as if the ground weren’t really moving, but instead just us!

“What is this?” Trixa asked in awe.

We were all taken in by the sights surrounding us.

I immediately noticed that it didn’t look like there were many buildings in Vancteck City. In fact, it looked like there were only two buildings in Vancteck City! On either side of the four of us, there sat one glimmering building, seeming to be made of some kind of chrome material. Each building reached high up, beyond my sight, disappearing into the night sky. The buildings seemed to be as wide as they were tall, stretching far out of my range of sight, seemingly having no end! It was just countless chrome stretching out, windows all over, lights shining from each one, illuminating the city brighter than anything I’d ever seen in Kanto. Every several feet, there was a door, but they all sat in front of the same, long building!

A man and woman, the man’s arms wrapped around the lady lovingly, stepped out of one of the building doors and they walked together, smiling, not on the conveyor belt, free to roam as they pleased. The lady’s face seemed a little red.

When the conveyor belt stopped, I noticed its look had changed, now camouflaged perfectly with the street.

To the right of us, we saw a particular square section of the bottom half of the building colored a more pink shade of chrome, an enormous, pink P in the middle. The door to this section was larger than the other doors we had seen. Right next to this was another different colored section of building. It was white and the color stretched high into the sky. It had its own chrome, black door with a pitch black window right above it.

“Welcome to Vancteck Mansion,” the machine spoke to us. “Please, enjoy your night here.”

A bright light immediately blinded us, and Trixa, June, and I screamed. The light faded, and we saw that we were no longer outside! We now sat in a large, brown room. The floor was covered in a soft, brown carpet that we were sitting on. Two enormous, polished, brown wooden tables held a deck of cards on each one. Each table was surrounded by several comfortable looking chairs. Two large, white sofas sat in front of a flat screen TV that took up the entire, long wall. A black remote sat on a small wooden table that sat in front of one of the sofas. Next to this cozy setting was the kitchen, a door leading to it, partly open, revealing a sparkling, silver sink and a bright white refrigerator. Six other wooden doors lined the walls. Three large windows at different ends of the room showed different parts of the city clearly.

None of us spoke as we looked around in disbelief.

Is this real? I wondered.

“Is this where we’re staying…?” June whispered, breaking the silence.

I cleared my throat. “For free???”

A couple of knocks at the door made us all gasp and leap to our feet.

“Might I come in?” a foreign voice called from the other side of the door.

The three of us faced each other, but didn’t answer.

A few more knocks came from the door. “Hello?” the voice called.

We looked to each other silently, and then turned back to the door.

“Wh-wh-who is it?” I stammered weakly.

“My name is Dyue,” the voice spoke gently. “I am your servant for your stay here at Vancteck City. Might I come in?”

The three of us turned to each other, stunned looks on our faces.

“Did he say servant?” June whispered.

“He did!” Trixa whispered back, a sparkling look all on her face. “Come on in!!” she let out.

We all turned as the door opened.

A tall man, his skin seeming to gleam with cleanliness, stepped into our room and bowed. He wore a black suit with a black bowtie. “Hello, sir, madam, madam. Welcome to Vancteck Mansion. I am Dyue, your servant. I have been made aware that you have a battle with Prof. Russell tomorrow at three p.m. sharp. What time would you like to be woken?”

The three of us stared at Dyue silently, unable to respond.

He stared at us patiently, smiling.

“What do you mean?” I finally managed to speak.

“You’ll need to awaken on time for your match tomorrow,” Dyue explained. “I shall happily ensure you arrive there on time. When would you feel most comfortable awaking? Or would you like to postpone the match?”

“Um…” I turned to Trixa and June.

They turned to me with wide eyes and shrugged.

“Wait,” I said, turning back to Dyue. “We can’t afford to stay in a place like this! There has to be some mistake, sir!”

“You are challenging Prof. Russell, correct?” Dyue smiled wider.

“...That’s the Gym Leader?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yes. The Steel type Gym Leader of Vancteck City,” Dyue informed us.

“Yes, me and Trixa are,” I pointed at Trixa. “And, um, June is accompanying us.”

“That’s quite fine,” Dyue acknowledged, nodding to her. “Your stay here is free while you attempt your mission of defeating the Gym Leader. Should you defeat Prof. Russell, or decide to give up, or are seen as not attempting your best while battling, you will have to leave.”

“Wait. What do you mean by that last part of not attempting our best?” I asked suspiciously.

“Well, some challengers will lose on purpose in an attempt to stay at Vancteck Mansion,” Dyue explained, his smile fading. “We can’t allow advantage takers like that here. So, we must see a sincere attempt to win.”

“Oh. I see,” I nodded.

Dyue’s warm smile returned. “Vancteck Mansion also doubles as a Pokemon Center, located in the lobby, where all of your Pokemon currently are.”

“What?” I looked down to my belt. “Hey!”

“Hey! Where are my Pokemon?” Trixa uttered.

“My Pokemon are gone!” June dug through her large bag.

“When you were transferred here, your Pokemon were reported as injured or otherwise in need of rest and food, so they were left with Nurse Joy,” Dyue bowed.

The three of us looked at him with our own take on amazement.

“But, how?” I asked weakly.

“This is indeed the most technologically advanced place open to the public, on the face of the planet, at this time,” Dyue said in a gentle voice. “We have everything taken care of.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. This was unheard of!

“We have a plethora of activities at Vancteck Mansion for you all to partake in,” Dyue informed us. “Enjoy the all you can eat buffet, the pool table, the swimming lounge, sauna, video game lounge, diner where we will be serving our world class, five-star, full-course dinner, perfumery, workout gym, and a special training room for Pokemon Trainers. You can also explore Vancteck City to see what this city of ours has to offer, including five-star restaurants, massage therapy, shopping malls, martial arts courses, the arts on nearly all levels, and much, much more.”

“BUFFET!!!!” Trixa ran up to Dyue, leaping in the air repeatedly. “Wake me up at twelve! I don’t care! Just take me to the buffet!!!!”

“MALL!! MALL!! MALL!!” June joined Trixa, jumping in front of Dyue.

This is unbelievable, I thought to myself, my eyes rolling over everything I could see, my brain mulling over everything I could remember. No way is this real. This is just way too good to be true. This city is a dream come true! I turned back to Dyue and walked up next to June and Trixa.

They stopped bouncing at my arrival.

“Twelve sounds fine for me, too.”

“Which of you would like to battle first?” Dyue asked.

“Let him go!! I don’t care!! BUFFET! BUFFET! BUFFET!!!” Trixa demanded.

Dyue laughed. “Right away, madam. Please, follow me.”

“Yaay!” Trixa squealed, and June and Trixa followed as Dyue went down a hallway that glimmered with golden, carpeted floors and a golden ceiling and walls.

I looked back at our room before closing the door and followed them towards a creamy white elevator door at the end of the hallway. “This place is unbelievable.”

We stopped in front of the elevator, a single red button on the wall.

Dyue turned his head to me and his teeth gleamed in a bright smile. “This entire city is the desire of Prof. Russell himself. I, the city, and Prof. Russell himself, personally hope that you enjoy your stay.” He turned back around and pressed the button.

We all stared at the door patiently as a gentle chime rang out every second, the low hum of the approaching elevator nearing us. Finally, the door opened with one more chime.

Dyue took a step into the presumably empty elevator, and then stopped, took a large step back, and bowed. “Oh, excuse me, please, madam.”

“That’s okay,” a friendly voice said from inside of the elevator, and a girl stepped out.

My eyes widened as I stared at her. Hm, she’s kind of pretty, I thought to myself, squinting. But... Wait… I gasped. “Hey!” My heart instantly jumped onto my tongue as I stared in complete shock.

“Whoa!” June took a couple of steps back, staring in horror.

The girl squinted from behind her pink, thick-framed glasses at me and her eyes widened, and then further enlarging, her mouth dropping open as she turned to June. She looked at Trixa and squinted with unfamiliarity for a moment, but then looked back at me, frowning.

I focused on her blonde hair for a moment before returning my gaze to her eyes sitting behind her glasses. No way, I said to myself, my mouth just slightly open. What is she doing here?