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[Aether Engine]

A dark sheet of clouds had covered most of the sky over Anfang City. Nothing had fallen yet, but the threat of rainfall was there. Noah had been looking outside from his room, feeling somewhat gloomy about the weather. In a way, he had been hoping for that stereotypical image of the nice, sunny day, him walking off into some bright future. But, it looked like that was not meant to be. Hopefully those dark clouds were not some sort of omen...

Turning away from the window, Noah went back to checking over himself and his belongings. He had most of his clothes on except for the coat, which he started to put on. Slipping it on and zipping it up, past the little pendant ocarina that hung around his neck. The soft wool-lined inside felt nice, but the more rigid outer fabric was comfortable for Noah too, it kind of felt like he was wearing some sort of armor. He patted down the myriad pockets on it, making sure everything was in place before looking to his other belongings.

Next was his hiking backpack. A large portion was of course taken up by extra changes of clothes, all the myriad shirts, pants, socks and underwear he could possibly need. Naturally, there were other things like a small portable stove, bags of food, a small tent, sleeping bag, etc. There were also some personal items of his own, namely a couple music books. And of course there was still plenty of empty space for whatever extras needed to picked up for the pokemon he brought.

Picking up the big pack and his walking stick, Noah went his room, shutting off the various electronics nad making sure everything was tidied away. As he pulled the backpack into the hall, Noah took a final look inside the room, his hand on the light switch. The last time he would be back in this room in a long time. He stood there, considering the room that had been his safe place for the fast few years... Even after shutting off the light, Noah stared for a while at the barely lit, familiar geometry of the room before finally shutting the door.


Downstairs, Lawrie and Zoe Donavon were going about their business, preparing for the day ahead.

"You made sure the camera is fully charged and ready?" Zoe asked as she tossed some dirty dishes from breakfast in the sink.

"Yes, yes I did," Lawrie responded.

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive," Lawrie insisted, moving over to the cameria bag on the table, opening it up to reveal its contents, "I charged the battery along with a spare and brought extra memory cards just in case. Don't worry, we won't miss anything today."

"Right, sorry. I know you've had to do alot--" Zoe started before she was interrupted, one of the rings of Lawrie's cell phone. Zoe leered disaprovingly at the source of the noise before looking back up to see her husband sighing.

"I thought you said you got the day off."

"I did," Lawrie grumbled. He took out the cellphone and wandered off to another room, "Hello? Yes. Yes, I—look, I told you not to call me today unless it was an emergency..."

Zoe shook her head. Figures he would he still have someone from work breathing down his neck... Hearing the sound of Noah coming down the stairs brought some brightness back into her expression though.

"Oh, come over here, let's get a look at you!"

It seemed kind of silly for Noah, he knew his Mom had already seen him in the gear when they were trying it on. What would be so different about it now? Still, he walked over as she asked.

"Turn around... ah yes, you look great. My little man, ready to go and have an adventure," Zoe beamed, and reached for the camera, "Go and stand on the stairs again, I want a picture of you coming down them!"

Noah blushed a little and lowered his head in a nod, feeling silly, but acquiescing to his mother all the same. So he walked back up the stairs, standing still as Zoe moved around at the bottom, fussing with the camera.

"Alright, now just step down a little more. One more step. With the other leg. Now put your arm on the banister. Now smile. A little more. There!" after the camera gave a telltale flash and Zoe looked down to see the picture preview, Noah thought he could finally relax, but his mother immediately looked back up, "Wait, hold that position! I want one more without the flash."

Noah sighed. He started to realize how long this would take, but went along with it anyway. He had an entire day ahead of him.

[Qu33n0f1c3]

Anfang City. One of the largest on the Western Divide. Tall buildings. Shimmering sky scrapers. An urban dump.

"What a joke," Dakota murmured as he trudged along the streets.

He wasn't in the best of moods. In fact, he kind of hated that he had to come out here just to get a stupid pokemon. Though he'd have had to pass through either way to move on to the next area, at least he wouldn't have to spend as much time as he would have to if he'd been able to pick up the stupid thing back home.

He also realized, rather irritably, that he didn't have any idea where he was supposed to go. What he had was an address, and a scratchy map his mother had scrawled out before he'd left, but she hadn't been here in years, and it probably wasn't the most accurate thing in the world . . .

"How does anyone find their way around here?" he wondered, watching somewhat wide eyed as people just sped around like they were in some sort of rush. City atmosphere. Ugh. This was going to be trying indeed.

[Aether Engine]

Eventually, Zoe had finished taking the pictures she wanted, and Lawrie had finished his phone call. The time to leave the house was upon them. There had been an agreement to walk to their destination, keeping a sense of tradition to the event. All that was left was to check everything ever and make sure they were ready to leave.

Noah, who had been careful with his packing, was already ready, so it was mostly a matter of waiting on his parents, who still had their own concerns for him.

“Noah, do you have those permission slips?” Zoe asked.

Noah unzipped one of his coat pockets and pulled out a small sheave of papers, which featured his and the parent's signatures. A fairly basic document stating that Noah was going on his pilgrimage with the permission of his parents/legal guardians, and so was allowed to obtain an ID card, pokedex, and pokemon necasary for the pilgrimage.

“Ah, good, keep a track of that.”

“How about an umbrella? It looks like it might rain out there,” Lawrie advised.

Noah unzipped a pocket in his coat and pulled out a tightly folded square of nylon.

“Ah, right, a poncho. Almost forgot about that. You did pack well,” Lawrie complimented.

Noah smiled at the praise and put the wrapped poncho back in its place.

“Alright, just give me a moment to grab another cup of coffee and we'll be off,” Lawrie said, heading off into the kitchen


A while later, the little family was walking down the street. Zoe had been happily snapping away pictures of Noah from time to time which embaressed the boy, especially out in the public setting. Lawrie himself had been huffing and puffing to keep up.

“Goodness, it's a good thing you can walk this much and still carry that bag,” Lawrie remarked of his son, “I can't imagine going on a pilgrimage now.”

“It's because you always take the bus to work. If you got yourself some more excercise you wouldn't be having a problem,”Zoe playfully chastised, “Oh, one more picture Noah!”

Noah's lowered his head bashfully, but acquiesced. After posing briefly by a street corner, Noah recieved a hug from his mother, which only seemed to caused him to blush.

“Oh, look at you, my little pilgrim set to go on an adventure!”

"Honey, you're embaressing him."

[Qu33n0f1c3]

Dakota was learning a handful of new things as he made his way deeper into the city from Ipsum Forest.

Sandals were not the most ideal footwear for traveling long distances on concrete pathways.

Tall buildings led to the creation of wind tunnels, which made the corridors between them potential frost hazards if a burst of air passed through at just the right angle.

It was both simultaneously hot and cold, and temperature could be adjusted to preference depending on what side of the street one walked on.

There was one more thing.

Bathrooms were veritable rarities.

Knew I shoulda took a piss in the woods, he whined internally, glancing down at the map his mother had given him and lamenting the fact that it wasn't all that helpful in figuring out where he could go to relieve his bladder.

He tucked the map under his arm and pulled out his wallet as he continued to trek along the numbered streets. He'd been saving up his weekly allowance for the stupid pokemon journey. He had a good chunk of change, but if he had to shell out a dollar here and a dollar there just to use a bathroom it wasn't going to last very long.

Alas, he had no choice. He shook his head, stuffed his wallet back into his shorts, and began to trudge along toward the nearest fast food place so he could order a burger and use their scuzzy bathroom.

[Aether Engine]

As the Donavon family continued on their way, there was a bit of slowdown. Lawrie had been lagging behind as his stamina diminished, though Noah slowed his pace to match, Zoe going along with Noah. Eventually though, even this pace was not enough, and Lawrie was having to stop and periodically catch his breath.

“Could we just... stop for a moment?” he finally asked.

Zoe sighed, crossing her arms.

“We're going to be arriving pretty late at this rate.”

“Well sorry, I just wasn't expecting it to be so much effort,” Lawrie responded a bit tensly.

“Well it wouldn't be a problem if you actually took a walk more often like I tell you too,” Zoe shot back.

“I can wait.”

The voice was very quiet and subdued, but it caught the parent's attentnion. Both looked to Noah who was staring down at his nervously wrining hands, away from what was starting to bud into an argument.

“I guess we can afford to stop somewhere for a bit,” Zoe admitted.

“There's a burger joint across the way, we could probably just grab a quick drink and sit a while.”

With that, Lawrie started walking across the street, the others following behind him. Soon, the three were at a table, Zoe downing an orange juice while Lawrie sipped at yet another cup of coffee, talking about their own stories of their pilgrimages. Noah himself sat silently while they went on, slowly enjoying a strawberry shake while he listened. He had taken off the hefty hiking pack to have a seat, the large thing leaning its weight against the side of his chair.

[Qu33n0f1c3]

It had taken some persuasion, but Dakota had managed to convince the clerk to let him use the employee bathroom upstairs without having to purchase something first. The deciding factor had been a threat that he would vacate his bladder right then and there if he wasn't provided a more appropriate place to do so. Faced with the prospect of having to mop off some brat's piss off the floor, the employee allowed Dakota to have his way, and so the boy sighed contently as he emptied himself and covered up to go back into the public eye.

He bounded down the stairs, relieved both physically and mentally. He was even grateful enough for having manipulated the minimum wage worker that he was going to buy something after all. Since his bladder was now empty, he saw no reason to start to fill it on up again.

But not for much money. He still had that to worry about.

"Lesse here," he mumbled, straining his eyes to see the prices next to the product images. "I'll take a medium root beer, yep yep, and a bacon cheeseburger. For here. Yep. Thanks man."

He offered to bump the cashier's fist, but the other boy just stared at him. Dakota shrugged and sidled down the way to wait for his food.

He leaned back against the counter and gazed out at the patron strangers of the restaurant. The place wasn't particularly busy though. Most of the tables were empty. Most of the people looked bored as well, fish lost at sea. Only a few people weren't sitting alone, and only one group caught his eye, that of a boy and what Dakota assumed to be his family.

He eyed the giant ass hiking bag that was propped up against the boy's chair. The bag on his own shoulders suddenly felt a lot less heavy, though it strained his shoulders and jutted out behind him like a reverse pregnancy. Heavy and uncomfortable as it was, it couldn't be nearly as bad as what that kid had to deal with.

Dakota shifted his gaze from the bag to the boy. He couldn't tell if he knew that he was staring or not. He seemed wrapped up in what his parents were saying. He looked content.

Cute too. There was just something about the way he sucked on the straw of his shake that was so erotic. But Dakota wasn't about to pretend that other people thought that way. He had his biases and he knew them well.

Regardless, his interest was piqued, and if he had to go on this stupid journey (he assumed the boy was as well--why else carry around such a monstrous bag like that?) then he might as well find a companion to travel with early on.

When the cashier tapped his shoulder and offered him his tray, Dakota accept it with a brief salute and made his way to the family he'd been watching.

Without asking if he could sit, Dakota invited himself to the table, pulling back a free chair and plopping his heavy-set body down along with his tray.

"What's cookin' good lookin'?" he asked, smirking, and offering the stranger his right hand. "You due out for this waste of time too? I saw your pack. I feel your pain, man."

[Aether Engine]

There was a bit of surprise at the stranger's intrustion, and some of his choice of words. Lawrie raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit suspect, but Zoe seemed to think nothing of it. Noah was taken aback slightly at the greeting. He considered the hand for a moment. He was not used to being directly talked to like this. For a long time he had just been the kid who sat in the back of class and never said anything, fine with being ignored. Still, there was that compliment...

That was nice of him. And Noah didn't want to be rude. So he gingerly returned the offer, though he barely making a grip as he shook hands. His own hands felt a bit chilly from holding the cold milkshake. Eventually he pulled his own hand back to grip the paper cup said shake was in, perfectly content with keeping himself busy. He kept on drinking his shake, the straw in his mouth a convenient excuse to not talk, not that he really needed one. He kept his eyes on the newcomer, trying to figure him out.

“Yep, our little Noah's finally going his pilgrimage,” Zoe said proudly.

Noah blushed and looked down bashfully at the “little” description. Besides the embaressment of being called that by his mother, there was the ridiculousness of it considering his actual size. At just under six feet, he knew he was taller than plenty of people, nevermind his mother.

“You're heading on you're pilgrimage too then? I'd hardly call it a waste of time young man. You're heading into one of the most important times of your life,” Zoe continued, Lawrie maintaining a silense of his own as he continued to the observe the new kid.

[Qu33n0f1c3]

The boy--Noah, apparently--didn't have a very strong hand shake, but Dakota didn't mind. The way he kept himself quiet and reserved was honestly rather adorable, and so Dakota's smirk shifted into a genuine smile. He liked quiet kids. Most of the kids back home were loud and outspoken, sometimes against him. This was exactly the kind of person he needed to be stuck with on his pokemon journey.

Dakota turned toward the woman, the mother, as she went on about how the pilgrimage was the best time of his life--or something like that.

"Oh yeah, wandering around aimlessly for miles upon miles with a freaky little monster to take care of, really important." Dakota rolled his eyes and pulled a heavy drag of his root beer. The spicy soda tickled his nose, causing him to laugh a little.

"I don't know," he went on, "the whole thing seems kind of hokey to me. We don't need to travel the continent to learn morality. My ma and pop did a good enough a job of that on their own. Don't see why a stupid pokemon's gotta do it over again. It's a big waste of time when I could be studying at home instead."

[Aether Engine]

Noah kept his eyes on the new guy. He didn't look bad. Not the perfect body, but there was an openness that seemed appealing about him. There was something especially interesting about the long, curly hair, something that made Noah want to run a finger through some of those swirls. He didn't act on it of course, but it did make Noah's eyes shift down to the table for a moment to get rid of the improper thought. He wondered how serious that opening compliment was... As the conversation continued on, Noah kept his head down, though his eyes kept looking back up.

“Well it's the experience that matters, there's only so much studying you can do before you have to go out and see the world for youself. And raising a pokemon along the way makes it all the more important, for how tied they are to the world. It's not just a walk through the woods, it's truely a spiritual journey,” Zoe went on.

“He's probably heard that before,” Lawrie jumped in. He was a bit more subdued despite the coffee he had been drinking. His eyes seemed to droop at the mention of 'spiritual journey'. He had been hearing Zoe talk that nonsense far more often than he cared. “The point is to get out there and prove what sort of person you are. And you can't do that by just sitting in school.”

Lawrie briefly glanced in Noah's direction with that last remark.

[Qu33n0f1c3]

Dakota's attention was split down the side between Noah and his parents. On one hand, adults were talking to him, and he couldn't very well ignore them lest be rude.

On the other . . . that thing Noah was doing with his eyes, that bashful glance, was super cute. Dakota couldn't tell if it was intentional or not, but he definitely wanted to pay it heed.

The mother was rambling a bit, something about a spiritual journey, which made Dakota roll his eyes. He wasn't trying to impress the parents anyway. It was the boy he wanted.

Then the father spoke, and Dakota stared at him.

"You know, I bet your mom and dad think they know it all too," he pointed out, speaking to the adults, leaning back and taking another swig of soda. "Peeps in charge just love to do this, the whole "I know better than you do" thing. The only problem is, you actually don't. You think you do, 'cause you created this thing that's being forced out into the world, but you don't. Sometimes, believe it or not, we actually know what's best for ourselves. If uh, if Noah thinks he's best suited for studying, then he's best suited for studying. Don't tell him who he is or how to live his life. Lots of famous people got where they are by reading books and stuff."

Dakota paused. "I'm Dakota, by the way. I'm from Coral Town, south from here, through Ipsum Forest. I'm best suited for three things." He counted off on fingers, "Eating, sleeping, and jacking off. I ain't thrilled about leaving it all behind. It ain't what I want to do. And that's fact."

[Aether Engine]

Noah managed to concentrate his gaze as Dakota launched into his response. It was kind of wierd to see the guy try to stick up for him without really knowing much about him. Noah himself had been anxious about leaving home and going out on a long journey. In a way he had wanted to go, but he was scared to.

As the new guy, Dakota, introduced himself, there was another little mix of reactions to his last listed attribute. Zoe went stonefaced, looking like she was on the verge of a scold. A mental image formed in Noah's head as he looked down again, a bit of red in his cheeks. Lawrie seemed nonplussed at first, until a fit of chuckles escaped.

“Lawrie!” Zoe exclaimed, “Don't encourage that kind of talk!”

“Sorry dear,” Lawrie apologized, covering his mouth even as he still shook from the funnies still left in him, “What can I say, it's an honesty I can appreciate. I knew plenty of guys like that when I went on my pilgrimage. Hell, I was like that before my pilgrimage.”

Zoe groaned and leered her eyes at her husband.

“Well you're a grown man now, act like one,” she chided, turning back to Dakota, “And you, Dakota, could definitely learn something from a pilgrimage if that's all you think you're good for. You might think you know everything, but that's just because you're a teenager, I've been there. A little travel will do you some good.”

[Qu33n0f1c3]

Dakota nudged toward Noah, smirking again, as though to convey to the boy his thoughts, Hah, got 'em goin' good, now didn't I!

It didn't quite register with him that Noah was looking away, or the reason for it for that matter.

At least the boy's father got him. That was something of a minor victory, even if it did get him into trouble with his wife.

"But you see, I never said I know everything," Dakota pointed out. "You, on the other hand, are still assuming you know what's best for me. Just like every other grown up."

Dakota shrugged his shoulders and stuffed about half his burger into his mouth. "Ah-eh-ee-ate," he mumbled, then swallowed his food, "I'm gonna need to get to the place to get my pokemon first before I can get going anyway. Like I said, I'm not from around here, and I'm still not sure where I'm supposed to go."

Dakota once more fished out his mother's map and flattened it out on the table. "This thing ain't all that helpful."

[Aether Engine]

Noah was unsure of how to react to the attention Dakota was giving him, what with the nudges and the smirk he caught when he looked up at the source of the touching. The attention made him a bit nervous, but it also felt kinda nice... He managed to recover as the subject of the pilgrimage was brought to a more productive point. He looked at the map, trying to figure it out for himself as his parents looked its over.

“I think I can kinda see the directions you were supposed to get... I think... but, a right at Michael's  Remedies?” Zoe wondered as she scrutinized the scrawls, “Wasn't that the herbal medicine place that went out of business years ago?”

“Something like that,” Lawrie mused before planting a finger on another part of the map “And I think this street is now Sweetwater Avenue.”

“Well, you're lucky you ran into us, Dakota. We know exactly where to go, so if you just follow us you'll be fine. Maybe the gods want to make sure you get on with your pilgrimage.”

Lawrie had shifted back to a more annoyed expression, and was about to speak up when suddenly and precisely, a loud slurping noise cut through the air. Noah, signaling that he had reached the end of his shake, and was ready to go.

[Qu33n0f1c3]

Leave it to his mom to draw him an out of date map for the first day of his pilgrimage. Dakota didn't even bother to sigh. He knew better than to expect something accurate from the woman. Though she meant well, she wasn't exactly known for being the most "with it" person around.

He did, however, readily roll his eyes at the comment the mother made about the gods wanting him to get off on the right foot, or something like that.

"Lady, don't patronize me," he said to her, leaning forward and waving what little was left of his burger in the air. He stuffed it in his mouth and turned to Noah, who had finished his own meal. "No offemse, but yer ma is kind of offerbearing."

He was, however, ready to get a move on, and he wasn't about to willingly give up his ticket to finding the stupid lab.

After swallowing down the rest of his burger and standing from where he was sat, he asked Noah, "So, your folks are sending you off huh? Do you want them to come along or would you rather ditch 'em like smelly socks? I'm sure we could find our way without 'em watching over our shoulders . . ."

Dakota looked over his shoulder for good measure, trying to get a read on what the parents thought of this idea.

[Aether Engine]

Noah could understand the frustration about his mother, as he knew his father didn't exactly agree with her beliefs. Noah himself, he did believe in the gods... He had no doubts they existed... But he did not believe the way his mother did.

Then, the idea Dakota brought up. Zoe scowled, she seemed a bit offput by the suggestion, wanting to see Noah go through a bit more. Lawrie's expression was pleasant, seeming fine with the idea of letting his son off a bit early, but he looked to Noah, wondering what he thought.

After Dakota spoke his idea, Noah, looked down and away, shaking his head at the idea of ditching his parents, putting a hand on his father's. He did not want to leave them sooner than he had to. Lawrie out his other hand on Noah's, giving him a smile. He knew Noah had been reluctant to leave home, it was why he had waited so long to take the pilgrimmage after all.

“Well come on then, let's get you your pokemon,” Lawrie spoke, standing up.

Noah nodded, standing up with his father, Zoe following suit. Pitching their trash along the way, they headed out the door with Dakota.