It was a cold, miserable night. The rain only lessened once night had well and thoroughly fallen and while I had a practical Char-heater, he could only remain active for so long, before he needed to rest. Ultimately, Claire and I squeezed together into one sleeping bag, snuggling for warmth. Given that we had long since decided that having a night-watch was reasonable, it meant that for half the night, I cuddled against her chest and shoulder, letting the warmth of her body lull me to sleep, while the other half, I held her in my arms, letting her drool against my chest. If not for the miserable weather, it might almost have been comfortable, but really, it only turned an utterly miserable into merely ordinarily miserable.

Come morning, the air had an incredibly cleansed feeling to it, the world smelling more intense than it ever had before. Or maybe, I was just noticing the smells a little stronger than usual, either way, it was refreshing. The sky above was still somewhat clouded but compared to the day before, it was a world of difference.

As I was looking through my backpack, opening up a new packet of oatmeal, the basis for our standard porridge, when I heard a noise behind me. Turning around, I realised that the Seedot I had knocked out the night before was still there and now staring at me again. A part of me wanted to just knock it out for the audacity to escape capture, but besides me, Claire must have noticed my line of sight.

“Do you think I could try capturing that one? Its innate talent looks good.?” she asked, sounding interested. Looking over, I noticed her pointing her Pokédex in its direction, looking at the read-out.

“If you like, go for it. Not sure what you want with another grass-type though” I replied, still annoyed that it hadn’t let itself be captured.

“Completely different sort of Grass-Type. My Twiggy is, and will remain, the slow, steady and reliable sort. This one can become the aggressive sort, I think, similar to your Prince Charming.” she explained, before adding,

“In addition, I like the moxie. Not even retreating after getting knocked out, but also not attacking on general principle. It’s one feisty little nut.” she grinned, taking out Myna’s Pokéball.

“Careful Myna, I want to make that one mine.” She called, as Myna flapped her wings to keep at altitude. It was a down-right unfair fight, not only was the Seedot likely still recovering from the beating Prince Charming had given it, the attack it had used the night before was of the Ghost-Type, something Myna was innately resistant to, to the point that only the most powerful of all Ghosts could affect her.

Myna, as directed by Claire, was almost gentle as she methodically beat the little nut into the ground, carefully striking in such a way that left little room to retaliate. After a few careful attacks, Claire judged that the Seedot was successfully weakened and called Myna off, before throwing her own Pokéball.

For a moment, I wasn’t certain if I wanted her to succeed or fail. Recognising the feeling, I quickly pushed it away, annoyed that I would be so petty. Claire was my friend and companion, if anything I should be excited that she might catch a new partner.

Before I could fully wrangle my feelings, the Pokéball stilled, indicating that the Seedot had been caught. Claire let out a whoop of joy, instantly running forward to pick up her new partner’s Pokéball. As she did, she also picked up the Pokéball it had broken the night before, handing it to me, for later disposal at the Pokécentre.

“Congratulations.” managed to bring a grin to my face, even if her success where I had failed stung a little. Regardless of that sting, I moved forward and gave her a brief hug before stepping back, to continue breakfast-preparations.

“Come out, little one.” Claire called behind me, bringing her new partner out, to apply some Potion and take a better scan from close-range.

As I was looking through my backpack, I heard a high-pitched whine behind me. When I looked over my shoulder, the Seedot was staring at me, letting out that whining sound. With a frown on my face, I stood up, only for the Seedot to instantly stop screeching, turn around and try hiding its large, round body behind Claire’s legs. Not that it could hide very much, it was almost half-a-metre high and almost perfectly round, so a lot of it stuck out on both sides.

“What in the world?” I muttered, taking a step forward, towards Claire. Almost instantly, the noise returned, only a little louder and higher-pitched, turning it into a sharp screech. It was getting into a territory I could barely hear, fading in and out of my auditory range and as it did, it managed to give me a headache.

“I don’t think your new partner likes me.” I grumbled, looking at Claire’s amused face.

“Sure looks like that.” she chuckled, before crouching down to reach her partner easier. Her attention, combined with the fact that I returned my focus to my backpack and breakfast-prep, made the screeching stop. Finally, blessed silence.

“Nuts, that’s what I’ll call you.” Claire declared behind me, causing me to snort in amusement.

“Really, Nuts? That’s what you are going with?” I asked, rising with a pack of oatmeal in my hands. There was a short squak from Claire’s other side, but it didn’t turn into the whine from earlier.

“Yep, it fits perfectly. The little guy is Nuts.” she replied and I could only groan.

When I called out Prince Charming, while Nuts was still out, the earlier, high-pitched whine returned.

“Oh, come on Nuts. Neither of them will eat you.” Claire gently chided her partner, though the effect might have been spoiled a little by the pack of nut-and-berry mix I had in my hand, to add some taste to our oatmeal. Some of those nuts looked somewhat similar to her new partner.

“I wonder…” I grinned, only to get scowled at by Claire.

“Come back, Nuts. No need to stay outside with this bully.” she laughed, sticking her tongue out at me as she called her new partner back into its Pokéball.

“Yes, yes, I’m utterly evil and will come to a bad ending.” My words were utterly deadpan, until I finally let out a snort while rolling my eyes. “Charm, can you help me cook?” I asked my partner, who was much more appreciative of my company than my companion.

“You don’t need to sulk.” Claire laughed, stepping up to me and wrapping her arms around me from behind, hanging on my back. “I’m sure you’ll find a wonderful new partner soon.”

“I’m not sulking, I’m cooking.” I sulked, “And unless you want to eat cold oatmeal, you’ll leave me to it!” I pushed her off me, hugging my Prince Charming instead. He was a much better partner than that stupid, whiny Seedot anyway. I had to have been nuts, to consider catching it.

After breakfast, we set back out, singing silly songs to pass the time. It was one of the few things we could constantly and reliably do, compose and sing silly songs. Amusement was in short supply on the road, so we had to make our own.

Finally, around mid-day, just as Claire was making up a new stanza for her masterpiece-song, ninety-nine Pokéballs against the wall, I noticed one of the landmarks Bree had told us about. The location of the water-source, a large, spring-fed pond, should be nearby, in a small dip in the land between some rocks.

“We’re almost there.” I interrupted her singing. Or what passed for it, neither of us could be considered talented. Enthusiastic, maybe, but not talented.

She looked back to me, and I gestured to the massive, distinctive tree in the distance.

“That’s one of the marks. In the next two kilometres, we should find the path leading east. If not, we’ll have to search for it, until we find the smooth rock, from there, the pond should be directly north.” I reminded her, getting a nod in reply.

“Great. Let’s do that, so our Origin Badge is actually confirmed.” Claire enthusiastically cheered, moving a little quicker than before. With a grin at her enthusiasm, I followed behind, letting her lead for once.