“Good afternoon, welcome to SandgemGym.” a friendly voice greeted us, as we stepped up to the counter in the Gym. The room was quite wide and open, the ceiling high and painted in a soft, sky-blue, giving the place an airy feeling. Despite knowing that we were in a massive concrete-structure, I couldn’t shake the feeling of a soft breeze flowing around us.

“Good afternoon.” I returned the attendant's greeting, stepping up to the empty counter. There were a few people of various ages in the lobby, but other than a few curious looks, we had been ignored.

“We recently began our Journey as Travelling Trainers, this being our first stop. Could you give us a short overview of the procedures to earn the Badge?” I asked, getting a nod in reply.

“Certainly. Usually, the leader assigns a task suitable for your level, you complete it and afterwards compete in a mock-battle to earn the Badge. If there’s no suitable task, the Leader has been known to replace it with an exam, to be completed before the battle.” the attendant explained, looking at the two of us.

“You can take the task together, though the mock-battle will be individual fights,” he added.

“I see. We’d like to apply for one of those tasks, suitable for two people, coming from Twinleaf on their first journey.” I formally asked, presenting my League-Card for the necessary identification. Claire was nodding along, holding up her own card.

“I will make a note of that. Did you arrange for private lodging, or do you stay at the Pokémon-Centre?” he asked, after noting down the relevant information.

“At the Centre, though, we'll have to run an errand later, to see Professor Rowan. Could you give us directions?” I asked, one of the attendants eyebrows rising in mild surprise.

“Oh, of course.” he nodded, before proceeding to give us directions to the north-eastern edge of town, telling us that we wouldn’t be able to miss the building, as it had a windmill attached to it.

“Thanks for your help. Have a nice day.” I told him, before Claire and I turned to leave, hearing a ‘Have a nice day.’ behind us.

The looks around us identified a little, though nobody approached us, as we exited the building.

Glancing to the sky, I realised that we had about an hour of daylight remaining, even if it seemed a little shorter, due to clouds slowly darkening the sky.

“I’ll go, see the Professor.” I decided, leaving it up to Clarie if she wanted to join me. There was a moment of indecision on her face, before she nodded.

“I think I’ll just wander the town a little, just to see what’s different, you know? How about we meet for dinner at the restaurant we noticed earlier?” she asked, referring to a small, cosy place we had noticed on our way into town. The Sand Bar, while the name didn’t fill me with complete confidence, the place had looked decent from the outside.

“Fine with me. See you later.” I waved, before walking off.

As I walked through the streets, I noticed something off. Despite being in the middle of a veritable sea of humanity, I was feeling a little lonely. Even more so, than I had felt in the middle of the forest, with only a single person around.

Reaching down, I placed a hand on Prince Charming’s Pokéball, the cool metal reminding me that I was not alone, no matter what. My partners would always be with me, a single call away, ready to protect me.

More confident in myself, I continued on my way, stepping past the people on the road, as I made my way to the Professor’s complex. As I had been told, it was impossible to miss, unless one didn’t know what to look for, and even then, the sheer oddity of it might have brought you to it regardless.

Standing a little apart from the other buildings of town, the Professor’s laboratory was a little higher, likely a two-story building, but compared to the windmill, likely the second highest building in town, it was tiny. Large, white sails slowly turned in the wind, giving it a lazy, comfortable feeling.

“Affiliated Pokémon Laboratory, Sandgem Town, Professor Rowan.” A sign at the door said, assuring me that I was in the right place. Not sure if I was supposed to knock, as if it was a private residence, or simply enter, as I would a public building, I lightly knocked, using the motion to covertely push against the door.

When it easily swung open, I decided to enter, softly calling out a greeting, feeling a little awkward.

“Who are you?” a voice asked, coming right out of the blind-spot behind the door, causing me to almost jump to the ceiling, despite it being a few metres above me. Before I was back on the ground, Prince Charming’s Pokéball was in my hand, my finger resting on the button to call him out. Landing softly on the ground, my mind caught up to the physical reaction and I stopped myself from sending out my partner, just in time.

Turning around, I saw a grinning, young man, looking far too amused with himself. He was roughly my age, wearing practical, sturdy clothes, similar in style to what I had on. The single Pokéball on his hip made me wonder if he was a serious trainer starting out, or just a Gym-rat.

“The name’s Dani. I’ve got a letter for Professor Rowan.” I replied to the earlier question, trying to act as if my frightened reaction had never happened. Because it had never happened.

“For the Professor? Let’s go in the back, and see if they are in the middle of an experiment. Please, remain quiet, some of the work done here is incredibly delicate.” he added, not even introducing himself.

Following him, we moved past the lobby, into a long hallway. There were some distant noises but too soft to identify them, as I followed the young man to one of the doors. Easing it open, he peered inside for a moment, before pushing it fully open, gesturing for me to enter.

Inside was a long room with a variety of machines set up, giving off soft humming sounds but otherwise, it was perfectly quiet. In the middle of the room, staring at the screen of one of the machines, an old, white-haired man stood, intent on his work.

“I’m Lucas, by the way.” The words, said in a perfectly normal tone, almost caused me to return to the ceiling, the noise simply unexpected in the quiet room. That they were also loud enough to catch the Professor’s attention, making him look over just as I was trying to keep myself from jumping, was definitely a coincidence and not exactly what a certain annoyance had intended.

Pulling my hand off Prince Charming’s Pokéball with force of will, I walked into the room, ignoring the young man behind me. As I approached, the Professor studied me, looking equally curious and amused.

“Professor Rowan, I presume?” I asked, getting a nod in response. “Good afternoon. My name is Dani, I’m carrying a letter for you.” I told him, reaching into the inside pocket of my coat, to pull out said letter, presenting it with both hands.

The earlier curiosity went up a notch, when he looked at the letter, undoubtedly recognising the seal on the envelope.

“Good afternoon, Dani. Thank you, for the letter. Would you like a cup of tea while I read this, as I have no doubt my old friend wouldn’t send a letter like this without a good reason.” he asked, his voice a deep, friendly bass rumble.

“That would be wonderful.” I nodded with a smile.

“Lucas, why don’t you take her to the break-room and make her a cup of tea? I’ll come along in a moment.” he ordered, getting a lackadaisical, affirmative response.

Following my guide once again, we moved back to the front of the building, into a room just off the lobby. It was a nicely appointed room, with multiple couches and a coffee and tea-bar.

“Have a seat, I’ll have your tea ready in a moment.” Lucas offered, gesturing to one of the couches.

“Thank you.” I replied, sitting down on the warm, soft couch. Compared to the places I had sat on in the previous days, it was heaven.

“There you go.” Lucas handed me a mug of tea after a few minutes of comfortable silence, as I valiantly fought the desire to simply lay down on the soft couch and nap for a bit.

Taking the tea with a word of thanks, I took a sip and had a sudden, burning desire to strangle someone. The tea was hot, in a sense that had nothing to do with its temperature. The tea was sharp and spicy, to the point that I wanted to immediately spit it out.

Controlling that impulse and trying desperately to control my facial features, I gently placed the mug on the table, giving Lucas a polite smile, trying to mask the earlier urge to murder him.

“That is an interesting taste. I’ll be sure to remember it.” I told him, and his amusement seemed to suddenly disappear, making the taste still lingering in my mouth oh, so much sweeter.

Staring into his eyes, as I took another sip of the spicy mixture, I waited for the Professor to arrive, the smile never leaving my face.