This time, neither Claire nor I felt the need to go out to party one last time before setting off. The last few days had been enough party for Claire and more than enough for me, instead, we invited Ivie and Farrel to dinner. It was a pleasant, relatively simple affair, with interesting conversation about our journeys.

The two of them planned to head into the Eterna Forest soon and there was a brief idea to travel together, if only for a time. After a bit of discussion, that idea died a quiet death, as the two of them were planning to head to the western part of the forest, while Claire and I wanted to head east first, past the Valley Windworks, before going north from there and through the eastern part of the forest to Eterna City.

The next morning, after once again borrowing the shower from Ivie, Claire and I walked out of Floaroma City, fully stocked with provisions, Pokéballs and hopefully everything we needed for the next two weeks. If everything went to plan, we would be in Eterna City in ten days, so we had some reserve, in case of another cauldron of Zubat or some other serious problem.

After leaving town, we kept going east, across the heathland, following a well-established path towards the Valley Windworks. According to the information gathered at the Gym, there shouldn’t be a lot of wild Pokémon here, giving me some confidence to train Vio while walking. Normally, I kept my partners in their balls, so they’d be in top condition if there was a fight. Now, with Claire and me both having three partners, I felt like I could have Vio exert herself.

“Okay, little one.” I told her, after calling her out, “I want you to remember the fight against the Geodude, that last attack, when you pushed the focus of your psychic attack down as much as possible, to the point that it distorted the air. I want you to try pushing that focus, but not put as much power behind it, merely affecting a small area, do you think you can manage?” I explained, holding her hand as she walked next to me.

For a moment, she looked pensive before picking up a small branch, little more than a twig, and handing it to me.

“This your target?” I asked, getting her idea. When she nodded, I held it in front of her, making my position slightly awkward, as she hadn’t let go of my hand.

Her horns were surrounded by the purple glow of her psychic powers, but nothing else happened and the glow faded away again. She tried two more times, and when she attempted it the third time, I felt a small jerk on the twig. Sadly, Vio stumbled at that moment, almost falling. It was only my hold on her hand that kept her from tumbling to the ground and even with my help she was a little wobbly on her feet.

“I guess trying to focus to the max while walking on uneven ground, isn’t the best, hm?” I muttered, before deciding to help her out. With a quick move, I picked her up around the waist, my hands easily encircling her slender body and lifted her up onto my shoulders, carefully not looking under her grass-like skirt as she went over my head. She let out a surprised sound but happily hugged my head once she was up there.

“There, now you don’t need to walk and can focus on your attack,” I told her, lifting the twig back up, presenting it as a target. Now that I was no longer able to see her head, it was harder to tell when she used her powers. There may have been a faint sound, only audible thanks to her position right next to my head, but I thought it was there, and if it was the indicator, little Vio was working hard.

After the tenth try, the branch started to move on every one of her attempts. As Vio continued to work I could hear her breathing getting laboured, her hold on my head changing. Before she had held on just to be close to me, maybe a little bit for balance, but now, she was holding on as if she was about to fall off, her body shaking with exhaustion.

“It’s okay, little one. You did enough.” I quietly told her, lobbing the branch back into the heathland around us. “Do you prefer to rest on my shoulders or in your Pokéball?” I asked, gently patting her leg. There was no verbal reply, but from the way she hugged my head and nuzzled against my hair, I thought she wanted to remain just where she was.

It didn’t take long for the sounds coming from Vio to change and Claire, who had been quietly walking next to me let out a soft giggle.

“She’s fallen asleep.” she glanced up at Vio, an amused smile on her face.

“She’s worked hard.” I acknowledged, before deciding to return her to her Pokéball after a moment of consideration. No matter how much she liked sleeping on my shoulders, she would get better rest in her Pokéball. In addition, while little Vio was quite light and petite, she was still almost a metre in height with the corresponding weight, so carrying her would exhaust me at some point.

Reaching up, I lifted her again, gently moving her to the front, cradling her in my arms.

“Hey, little one, you should sleep in your Pokéball.” I quietly chided her, nuzzling her teal hair. There was a faint smell of grass, quite reminiscent of the heathland around us, in her hair, a scent that spoke of the wild forest, of fairies dancing under the open sky and so much more. After a moment of hesitation, I pulled out her Pokéball and in a flash of red light, she disappeared into it.

“Do you want to train one of yours?” I asked, looking over to Claire. “Maybe Myna, she might be able to improve her agility with some training. Isn’t that one of the biggest advantages of flying-types, that they have a whole extra dimension to dodge in?” I suggested.

“Maybe later. For now, I’ll let Nuts take care of that one over there,” she replied, a grin on her face and I realised that I had been preoccupied with Vio and had let my vigilance slip. From a nearby copse of trees, a Poochyena was dashing towards us, looking quite aggressive.

“Go for it.” I grinned, stepping back to let her take the lead.

“Go Nuts!” she called out, sending her latest addition to her team into battle. As always, the first thing Nuts did as it appeared was to look around, making sure where I was and that I wasn’t about to eat it, or something. Once that was done, it focused on the approaching Poochyena, while Claire started to give commands.

“Okay, Nuts, focus and make yourself as hard as possible,” she commanded and white light shrouded her partner, lingering on its form and improving its defence. It wouldn’t last long, and if the Poochyena slowed down or even turned around,the effort would be wasted but in this case, the Poochyena had no such plans. Maybe it had smelled Vio’s weakness before I had sent her away, or it was just eager to grow. Either way, it was spoiling for a fight and Nuts was ready for it.

Before the Poochyena managed to get there, Nuts was shrouded in an almost solid-looking cocoon of white, making me shake my head just a little at the overkill.

“Okay, Nuts, let us see your new trick,” Claire commanded, sounding smug. At her command, the white light around Nuts was faintly tinged with traces of shale-grey, making it look just a little darker before suddenly, the now almost perfectly round Seedot started to roll forward, quickly gaining speed. It looked suspiciously like the Geodude had, making me wonder if Claire had heard about that battle.

The Poochyena was surprised at the rolling attack and barely managed to jump aside, only taking a light, glancing blow, while Nuts kept going. Without arms, making the same turns as the Geodude was impossible but somehow, Nuts managed to use its feet and the power it had gathered almost like skates, keeping some of the speed as it made its turn, going for another attack. It was still a lot slower compared to the Geodude, but getting faster.

Again, the Poochyena tried to dodge out of the way and follow up with an attack and this time, it managed to do better. It still got clipped but managed to briefly clamp its jaws around Nuts, dealing a bit of damage. Not a lot, not against Nuts’ impressively hardened body, but some.

After another turn, Nuts went for the Poochyena again and this time, the Poochyena kept a wide distance, letting out a vicious growl as Nuts was on its closest approach. Nuts wobbled a little from the sonic attack and the Poochynea suddenly started to follow, trying to keep pace. Claire called out a warning, but it was too late, when Nuts tried to go for another turn, the Poochyena tackled it, breaking its balance and causing it to tumble, the gathered energy dissipating, leaving only a thin layer of white around Nuts’ body.

However, the Poochyena wasn’t unharmed either, the crash had thrown it aside, making it look rather rough.

“Dammit. Nuts, Tackle, knock it out.” Claire commanded, sounding frustrated at the damage the Poochyena had caused. Before the Poochyena could completely get up, it was hit by a white-glowing Nuts, sending it back down and this time, the accumulated damage was enough to make it stay down.

“Let’s keep going. If we hurry, we should get to the Valley Windworks before nightfall:” Claire grumbled, after collecting Nuts and making sure that the Poochyena was in the expected condition.