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[Aether Engine]

“Hm,” Noah grunted a bit affirmitively.

Noah looked at the mellow grass pokemon in Noah's arms. More laid back, huh? That probably would be nice. Still, he kind of liked Vulca's eagerness.

“Cyn?”

Vulca looked about, and wiggled a bit to reposition himself so he could get a better look at the newcomer who had garnered his owner's attention. Noah was a bit concerned with the activity at first, but slackened his grip to let the fire mouse turn around. The little fellow craned his neck forward a bit, his long nose wiggling a bit as he sniffed at the Bulbasaur. Noah smiled a bit.  The moment just felt right somehow, that the both of them had their pokemon there, standing there.

“He walked up to me,” Noah finally spoke. His voice was deep, which made sense for someone as big as he was, but he spoke with a soft tone that seemed to go in line with how quiet he had been. As if he were afraid he would cause someone offense by speaking any louder. “I think he picked me.”

When the words finally excaped him completely, Noah became a little red in the face, looking away from Dakota and back down at Vulca.

Maybe that was a stupid thing to say...

[Qu33n0f1c3]

As though confirming why Dakota hadn't wanted a hyper one, cyndaquil fidgeted in Noah's arms. At least it was quiet about it. It seemed more curious than anything.

Bulbasaur seemed curious too. As Noah began speaking, she extended a scaly hand toward the cyndaquil's face.

Dakota paid her little heed though. Noah was speaking about how he was the one who had been chosen, and Dakota was a little taken aback.

I should have expected that, he thought, musing on the deeper voice, yet somehow he'd been expecting something more feminine, a little more airy.

Noah seemed embarrassed, but regardless, Dakota was pleased to hear this gentle boy speak.

"He chose well," Dakota said, smiling sheepishly, a meager attempt to mirror his own thoughts about how he'd choose him over others as well. "This one just had something in her eyes. She stood out from the others who tried to get closer. I guess you really do just know which is the best match."

[Aether Engine]

He's still talking to me... maybe what I said was not as silly as I thought?

Noah looked back up after Dakota started speaking, wearing an uncertain smile of his own. He nodded with an affirmative “Hm,” at Dakota's words.

Well, he still seems nice enough...

As Noah tried to think of what to say next, Vulca started feeling a bit more curious about his fellow pokemon, seeing Bulbasaur try to reach out to him. Vulca leaned in more, trying to climb out of his new owner's arms to reach out to the grass pokemon. Noah gasped a bit, afraid of dropping the pokemon and he rotated his arms, Vulca being difficult as he squirmed about, emitting a few cries of “Quil!” as Noah tried to get him under control. After a few moments, Noah was uncomfortably holding the pokemon upside-down. He bent down on his knee, flinching a bit from the pressure put on it from his heavy pack and the hard floor. Still, it made him feel a bit safer about trying to reposition the Cyndaquil. After doing so, and trying to pet the fidgeting pokemon in his arms in hopes of calming it down, he glanced to Dakota for a moment before staring back down at Vulca, feeling a bit uneasy himself as tried to think of what he meant to say before. His parents, who had stepped away a bit to let their son be with the other boy, listened intently when he spoke.

“Would you... would you like to come with me?"

[Qu33n0f1c3]

The cyndaquil seemed to become excited, and Noah struggled to keep the little thing still, which ended up with the small pokemon upside down against the floor.

Soon all was well however, and the awkward motions aside, Noah was speaking again, though in his usual quiet, reserved voice.

Dakota observed him with an impartial expression on his face. Here was a cute boy who seemed to enjoy his company and was asking him to journey through the land by his side. It was all he could have hoped for, really.

But as nice as Noah seemed, was it going to last? Would Dakota grow bored with the silence that seemed to be Noah's trademark?

Was it shallow for him to worry about this? Dakota frowned. He hoped not. He wasn't a shallow guy by any means. He just wanted someone to talk to. He didn't mind an introvert, but Naoh took it to the extreme.

Still, going for a little while couldn't hurt, right? If he didn't like him, he could always ditch him later.

Oh, he was going to hell, Dakota was sure of it.

"Sure, man," Dakota said at last, shifting bulbasaur in his arms. "I'd love to."

[Aether Engine]

You would?

Noah's uncertain expression shifted to a small grin. He did not think he could find anyone he could possibly get along with for this pilgrimage, yet this Dakota fellow had practically walked up to him! Maybe it was too early to judge and was only a first impression, but at least things seemed to be getting off to a better start.

“Thank you,” Noah spoke up again, some of his inner joy bubbling up through his normally quiet tone.

“Well there you have it then!” Lawrie beamed from his spot a little ways away from the boys. “Sounds like you've got yourself a traveling companion.”

Noah started a little bit from the attention, seeming to have forgotten about his parent's presense in the moment, but looked to his dad and nodded. He briefly noticed Lawrie putting his cell phone away.

“Well, your mother and I will be leaving and letting you off on your on way then. Unless there's something else we could do for you?”

Noah looked thoughtful for a moment, the gravity of the situation truely coming to a point. Finally leaving his parents. The two biggest people in his life. He was glad to have the chance to be away and grow, but all the same...

Noah finally shook his head.

“Well, I guess the time has come then,” Lawrie smiled before lifting Vulca out of Noah's arms, letting Zoe go in a for a hug.

“I'm gonna miss you so much... Call as often as you can so we know you're alright, okay? I love you Noah.”

“Love you too, mom” Noah replied, a gentle smile on his face as he embraced her.

Transfering the cyndaquil to Zoe, Lawrie went in for his own hug.

“Good luck out there, son. I love you.”

“Love you too, dad.”

Vulca fidgeted before he stared at the other people coming and picking him it up, not understanding the significance of the moment. He felt comfortable being back in his new owners arms though. The parents finally broke off, stepping away.

“Have fun. But don't do anything you know we wouldn't approve of!” Zoe called back as the parents started to walk towards the front doors of the lab.

“Oh, lay off him. The best part of these pilgrimages is not worrying about what ma and pa have to say on anything,” Lawrie went on, the parent's voices starting to fade as they distanced from the boys.

“It's just not a good idea, encouraging irresponsible behavior. I know I was well behaved on my pilgrimage.”

“Oh come now honey, we both that's a lie. What about when we met? You know, with the spoons and that errant aron at Darweshi Plat--”

“That was one moment of weakness! One! And I--”

The doors shut behind them, the noise of conversation ceasing. Noah had watched them as they headed out, finally exhaling a breath he had been holding a while. The moment had finally passed. He turned back to Dakota, his smile returning.

[Qu33n0f1c3]

Dakota hung back, silently observing Noah's interaction with his mother and father. He told them he loved them. He let them hug him. It was pretty incredible. Dakota even felt a litte jealous. Noah's parents had seen them hold hands, and had even seemed to give them a traditional dating warning before they'd left, or at least that's how Dakota saw it.

It also painted a distinct image of Moah as this little golden child, revered by his parents, and for good reason. He was quiet, sweet, and affectionate. It was angelic perfection rolled into human form.

Yet, as excited and happy as Noah seemed, how could Dakota know anything for certain if the boy didn't speak?

"So, uh . . ." Dakota looked around, and was about to ask about their having held hands, but his resolve faltered, and he flushed. "Uh, what do we do now?" He shifted bulbasaur awkwardly. She felt heavy in his arms.

[Aether Engine]

Noah blinked a few times at Dakota's question. With that look, he almost expected to hear something different. He considered the question asked though. What exactly did he mean though? Was it a general question, or more specific? Maybe talk specifically about the pilgrimage? That would be a safe a bet.

“Pick a pilgrimage site, I guess?”

Or was that too directly to the point? Maybe they shouhld get to know eachother better first? Too late in any case, at least to Noah's supposition. He was afraid to back track on that. He did notice that Dakota seemed to holding his bulbasaur with some difficulty, though.

“... Maybe find a place to set down our pokemon first?”

Vulca's head turned to face Noah as he spoke.

“Quil?”

[Qu33n0f1c3]

"Oh. Yeah. Right. Great idea."

Dakota crouched down, and allowed for bulbasaur to slip from his arms and onto the floor. Once on her feet, she turned around and looked back at Dakota, as though awaiting orders.

"I guess we could get moving," Dakota said, sounding disappointed. He still wasn't thrilled about the journey, and from what he'd heard, the surrounding areas were as awful to travel through on foot as Ipsum Forest had been.

It really sucked that they couldn't just take the subway. There was a rail line going to every town or city on Rhura, but it access was restricted to any new trainer who had not yet swiped in at the pilgrimage site.

[Aether Engine]

Noah in turn set down his Cyndaquil, thinking it might be best to let the little fellow move on his own before he got restless again. Vulca was already prematurely running his legs just a little before he was set down, and scampered over to Bulbasaur to investigate. He walked up closely to her, nose twitching as he caught more of her scent.

Noah was a little pre-occupied with Dakota's tone. He remembered Dakota being up front with not really wanting to go on this... Which disapointed Noah a little bit. He had not exactly been wild about leaving his folks, but getting the chance to go out to the different sites, and perhaps understand his faith a little better—it was something he had thought about for a long time.

Then again, he also remembered his parents talking about their times. Saying how going to the sites wasn't really the point, it was about the journey. The people you walked with and the times you had with them.

“I—I'm sure it'll be great once we get going, I think...” Noah tried to sound certain, but the words just fell out of his mouth.

“Um, well, where do you think we should go? I'm willing to go anywhere."

[Qu33n0f1c3]

On the ground, Bulbasaur flinched away from Cyndaquil. It seemed to be radiating warmth, which Bulbasaur didn't mind, but it was surprising to her.

Dakota shrugged, and adjusted his bag on his shoulders. "I came through Ipsum forest from Coral Village, though, so if you want to head West, I think I could get us through it if you want to go that way. I don't want to go to Darweshi, but I've heard the mines over there are interesting. Might be worth exploring. Maybe we'll find something valuable and strike it rich, heh."

[Aether Engine]

Vulca tilted his head to the side, emitted a confused squeek at Bulbasaur's flinching. He reached out, offering a forelimb.

Noah did not quite have a laugh in him for Dakota's words, but the idea of randomly getting a gemstone and selling it for big bucks was an entertaining idea, however unlikely it was.

“Yeah, maybe,” Noah smiled a bit.

So, Dakota had been through Ipsum before. That would be helpful in making sure they did not get lost at least.

“Going through the forest sounds like it would be nice,” he spoke, his tone a bit more upbeat.

A nice, long, walk like that would be pretty good actually. After being in the city for a while, going out on a nature hike would probably feel great. Noah wrung his hands for a while, a bit excited at the prospect.

"So... uh... we can start going, maybe?" he asked quietly, glancing between the lab doors and Dakota.

[Qu33n0f1c3]

"Um, sure." Dakota agreed to get moving, though he wondered why Noah didn't seem to be doing anything of his own accord. It was almost like he was waiting on him, which could be good or bad. Dakota was lazy and boring, at least he thought he so. If Noah kept relying on him to lead the way, he might decide he wasn't worth traveling with!

"C'mon," Dakota murmured, leaned down, and scooped up his bulbasaur just as she'd been reaching a tentative paw to Vulca. She let out a confused little pip before turning her wide eyes to her owner. "What?" Dakota demanded, letting himself out the door and standing outside to wait for Noah. "You were just sitting there. You're just like he is."

[Aether Engine]

Vulca couldn't help bet let out another confused squeek of his own as Dakota walked off with Bulbasaur. He followed along behind for a moment before stopping and looking back at Noah, emitting a few more “Quil!”-like cries.

Noah, who had found himself staring a bit in fascination at Vulca's eagerness, smiled at the cyndaquil, walking up to him. Vulca kept going forward, but he did not seem to want to stray to far either, and kept impatiently calling out at Noah.

Don't worry, we'll keep up with them, the boy thought.

Finally stepping outside, beyond the doors, Vulca stopped for a moment to look up at the cloudy sky before bounding down the steps to where. Dakota and Bulbasaur were. He got up on his hind legs and squeeked a few more times for good measure.

I hear ya, I hear ya

“Well, I... uh... Ipsum is to the west if I remember correctly,” Noah supposed, “So, we start heading west?”

He took a few tentative steps back in that direction ready to head off, though his eyes were on Dakota for confirmation.

[Qu33n0f1c3]

With Bulbasaur in his arms, Dakota tentatively followed Noah toward the exit doors of the pokemon lab.

Stepping out through the automatic doors and out into the sunlight, Dakota felt his stomach twisting up in all directions. He glanced at Noah, but the look didn't hold. His gaze shifted to the city towering above him, then to the crests of the trees between the skyscrapers.

This is it, he thought. This is the beginning of the end.

He started toward the forest, keeping his pace slow, both so that Noah would stay close, and also so that he could savor his last few moments as a normal kid. When he stepped into the forest, it would be as a pokemon trainer. Nothing would ever be the same.