The boy called Ruby pedaled off along the beachside street, leaving Luvia with the odd feeling that it wasn’t the last she’d see of him.

  Andrea sighed, pulling out her pokégear cell. “Never seen a Mudkip face to face before and now there’s two back-to-back,” she mumbled.

  Luvia smiled, watching as Ruby shrank away in the distance. She’d never seen a Mudkip before Mida, period.

  “What’d he call it?” she mused aloud. “Mumu?”

  Andrea gave a little snort. “I think so…”

  The pokégear rang a couple times before someone answered. It was the lady who’d requested the wild wingull currently in their possession. She sounded mirthful – it reminded Luvia of Nana when she’d sipped on a little too much wine.

  “Yeah, yeah, really, it wasn’t a problem,” Andrea said winking at Luvia cheekily.

  “No problem at all!” Luvia whispered in her lowest voice, leaning in. “No killer flock or anything!”

  “Aw, thank you girls, I’ll be right here,” the lady replied through the cell, evidently not hearing a thing.

  Andrea put a hand to her mouth, took a second to hold down a laugh, then answered in a shaky-serious tone, “We’re on our way.”

  “Meehd…” whined Mida with a slightly reproachful tone, still in Luvia’s arms.

  “She’s right,” Andrea agreed, shaking her head at Luvia. “She’s an elderly woman. That was rude.”

  “What? How?? I agreed with you! Those wingull weren’t dangerous – they didn’t land a single thing!”

  They stared at each other.

  Andrea broke first. Luvia right after.

  With Mida and Salia both resting in their balls, the girls travelled by tram for five minutes and arrived at a nice, quaint park, fenced off by metal wire pickets. The ground was carpeted with a trimmed layer of grass, and given presence by several gnarly, tall cedars. A sun-beaten Dewgong fountain sat in the center spitting a continuous stream of water from its mouth into the basin.

  Luvia breathed in the sight and sighed quietly. It was a perfect spot of nature nestled in the midst of all the urbanity surrounding it. For all its modern buildings and roads and billboards and machinery, Slateport City had managed to hold onto a very palpable feeling of culture. Its heart still felt folklike.

  They found the lady sitting on one of the park benches, dressed in a matching beige dress, fleece, and bonnet. She had even worn a scarf, though the morning chill had passed.

  It was her first time seeing how trainer requests were handled, so Luvia paid a great deal of mind.

  The old lady was cute. Affable. With genuine glee to her face. The very first thing she did was hold out a small paper envelope to Andrea, who smiled and bowed her head in thanks.

  “You’ve made my day!” the lady beamed, holding the wild Wingull’s pokéball like a cherished gift. “I’ve been alone for too long now. This is just what I needed!”

  “Aww,” Andrea said softly. “I hope you both take good care of each other. You should take him – her …” she whirled to Luvia for a second then back to the lady.

  “Him – I think it’s a him. Take him to the beach when you can. He’ll love that.”

  “Oh, I will, sweetheart, I will.” The lady reached out to Andrea and gave her a side hug, then did the same to Luvia.

  Honestly, hearing the lady lived alone and had wanted the Wingull for company made Luvia feel bad about her maybe perhaps somewhat slightly sarcastic comment on the voice call earlier.

  Even if she had been hit by a few water gun attacks, if it was to make an old lady like this happy, it was way worth it.

  At the tram stop, Andrea opened the envelope and held out ?100 in a thin wad of crisp new bank notes. “Here, Luvia.”

  “Uhm…”

  Andrea wagged the notes impatiently. “Take it, what the hell?”

  Sheepishly, Luvia did so. She wasn’t exactly like Neela when it came to money. Sure, she loved herself some cash, who didn’t? But she had always been more of a giver rather than a taker.

  The pocket money she got from her parents every week wouldn’t last her more than two days – she’d spend it on snacks for her and Ziggy or with her couple of friends on an outing.

  “Thanks,” she said, folding the notes and slipping them in her back pocket.

  Andrea took off her cute backpack and opened its mouth wide before pulling the folder back out. It was curved slightly out of shape.

  It started becoming regrettably real to Luvia then.

  “You were right – I had so much fun,” she said, feeling an uncomfortable heat welling up in her. “I’m glad we did the job.”

  Andrea chuckled softly as she flexed the folder a few times back into shape. “Told you it would be quick.” She pushed the folder into Luvia’s arms and pulled away with a smile.

  “Andrea, thanks so much… really.” Her brows slanted upwards. The corner of her mouth downwards. The fact that she didn’t live in Slateport City totally sucked right now. The fact that she wouldn’t be back for ages sucked even harder.

  “You will take the exam, won’t you?” Andrea said, levelling on her a suspicious look.

  “I promise,” Luvia replied with a bittersweet smile. Andrea brightened in an instant.

  “I’m not sure what subjects you’re good at, but I would focus on the pokémon type and battle theory sections if I were you. They normally have the most individual weight… And don’t forget to practice actual battling too, because if you impress during the practical phase, that can really impact their decision to pass you, even if you blunder a few of the written tests.”

  Practical phase? That sounded slightly daunting, but she nodded without letting any of it show.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  She heard the tram creeping in from somewhere behind and Andrea leaned sideways to peek past Luvia at it.

  “There it is.” The mainland girl offered her a cringing smile.

  Luvia took a disappointed glance at the tram, wishing silently that her family would stay for even just one more day.

  Sad faced, she held her arms out to Andrea, who immediately got the hint.

  The quickest friend she’d ever made, hands down. Not quite comparable, but much like Mida.

  They hugged.

  The single day, night, and morning she’d spent in Slateport already felt nostalgic.

  “My cell number is on the last page,” Andrea spoke through a giggle. “Ring me up whenever you like.”

  Luvia slowly pulled away. “I will. And I’ll return this folder to you, alright?”

  “Only if you pass… Deal?”

  “I’m going to pass.”

  They said goodbye there, by the tram.

  Luvia got in, feeling so determined to take the trainer exam and start a new life that as soon as Andrea disappeared from the sights of her carriage window, she sat at the closest unoccupied table and began poring through the contents of the folder.

  She would pass the exams, and pass them on her very first try!

  Module: Pokémon Basics (Adavnced III – V)

  1.1 - The Environment

  Environmental factors have a distinct and significant impact on a pokémon’s state of wellbeing. As covered in Pokémon Basics I & II, it is well known that pokémon thrive in areas where there is an abundance of the ambient energy that corresponds to their type; Fire-types prefer hot places where maintaining their core temperatures requires less energy. Most flying-types thrive and grow stronger in areas where the air is clean and with an unobstructed view of the sky. Steel-types are most robust in mineral and rocky mountains that provide the sustenance they need to feed their durable bodies.

  In PB Advanced, Section III, you will learn how the environment plays a role in what moves a pokémon can learn, and the different methods pokémon trainers can use to mitigate or by-pass certain limitations.

  Normal Types

  Normal-type pokémon are universally known to be highly adaptable. They can thrive in almost all environments so long as they have access to food and water.

  By the same token, normal-type moves tend to be diverse.

  Example:

  Tri-Attack, a strong offensive move, is believed to have originated from a normal-type pokémon. The move combines fire, electric, and ice-type energy wavelengths to produce an attack that deals strong elemental damage in battle.

  Though other pokémon types have since shown the capacity to learn the move (ex. Magneton, an steel/ electric type) the most common and effective users have been normal-types. This reinforces the notion that normal-type pokémon are the most naturally adaptable pokémon.

  …

  Luvia traced her finger along the page, then the other, then leaned in when she found,

  Water-types

  Water-types, especially the gill-breathing fish variety, tend to suffer the most when out of their natural habitat.

  Trainers have managed to mitigate this to varying degrees by artificially adding high, temporary humidity to the air, allowing their fish pokémon to “swim” through the air.

  Despite such ingenuity, using a water-types in areas with no access to water or little humidity taxes them significantly more.

  Scenario:

  A Slowpoke standing in a shallow pool is able to use a Water Pulse attack roughly 10 times before it needs to rest.

  If the same Slowpoke is placed in a much drier environment, it will only be able to use the same move a fraction of the times.

  This problem is compounded for the gill-breather fish pokémon.

  That said, in their natural environments, the water-type pokémon hold an immense advantage over other types.

  Without this double-edged trade-off, some people believe the world would be ruled by fish.

  Luvia found herself smiling at the last line. Andrea had left annotations throughout the text, and that particular end of the paragraph had a wonky doodle of a Magikarp with an evil stare and a top hat.

  The information was nice, and Andrea’s annotations underlined or circled keyword terms, but it was still pretty elementary, wasn’t it?

  She’d seen fish pokémon swim on air before, on TV shows, so it wasn’t like she didn’t know they could. But the shows didn’t mention the part about the pokémon not being able to use a move as many times.

  It made obvious sense, and she supposed that was the key thing to take away from this.

  Now with her own Mudkip, this was stuff she’d have to know. Whether trainer or not.

  She got back to the apartment a short while later. Neela was having breakfast in the kitchen with Nana sat with her chair turned to the living room, watching the apartment’s wide television through the open archway joining both rooms.

  Bincy and Ziggy gave her a happy but curt greeting.

  “I’m back,” she announced, letting herself fall on the couch with a sigh.

  “Did you see you friend?” said Nana.

  “Yes Nana.”

  “How’d it go?” Neela said right after.

  Luvia raised Andrea’s folder in the air, suddenly feeling too tired and too lazy to do anything else. “Got the thing.”

  “What thing?” they both asked.

  “School stuff.”

  There wasn’t much of a reply for that. Luvia closed her eyes and snuggled up the full length of the couch.

  “Where’s the blue pup, girlie?”

  “She’s in the ball, Nana,” Luvia yawned. “She’s tired. We’re tired.”

  Neela hummed in complaint and downed a mouthful of breakfast. “Don’t you want to go out one last time before we leave?”

  Luvia groaned and shifted on her side, away from the TV. “Just been out. I’m beat, sis.”

  Her sister hummed again.

  “Alright fine,” Luvia said suddenly, forcing herself to sit up. She yawned again and massaged the drowsiness out of her eyes.

  She had to remind herself... Neela was about to become a rare sight.

  The very next morning, she would be leaving Clearcloud for good. Well, for work, but that was practically the same thing. A permanent kind of arrangement.

  She’d hate to look back and think they hadn’t spent as much time together as they could.

  A new phase of life was beginning for the family. Luvia could sense that acutely.

  …

  *rumble* *rumble* *rumble*

  …

  Luvia whirled on the couch to Neela and Nana. They all stared at each other with equal shock.

  “Earthquake! Heads down!” Nana cried, waving her arms madly from her chair. Luvia dove back down, burrowed her head into sofa’s armrest and heard Neela scuffle off her chair beneath the kitchen table.

  The whole building was shaking. Not quite shaking, but a rumble that rattled the windows and cutlery and made the floor feel unsteady.

  “Heads dowwwn!” Nana repeated as if she were a general telling her archers to hold.

  Luvia couldn’t resist taking a peek. An earthquake?

  She’d never been in one before. Ever.

  Was the building safe?

  Was this how she died?

  No trainer exam. No seeing her friends. No Mida. No journey?

  Heart slamming against her lungs, she reached into her pocket and pulled out Mida’s pokéball. She held onto it wide eyed, feeling the vibrations passing through the couch, and the person on the TV going on and on as if nothing was happening.

  Her finger pressed lightly against the ball’s button, and it grew in her palm.

  Why she was even debating whether or not to bring Mida out in such a situation, she wasn't sure. There was nothing the Mudkip could do.

  “Dowwwn…” her grandmother drawled again.

  The rumbling was dying down quickly. Within a few more seconds only the slightest rattling could be heard.

  “What. The. Fuck!” went Neela, literally floored. She shimmied herself out from beneath the table.

  Luvia poked her head up and looked at her grandmother. The woman was still sat on her chair, one hand on the wall to steady herself.

  “We’re fine,” she said. “It’s passed, girls.”

  “Nana!” Luvia gasped, immediately getting up. “What the hell??”

  Neela strode out of the kitchen and toward the open veranda on the far side of the living room to take a look outside. Besides the honking of cars, it sounded like the city had gone quiet.

  “Earthquake, Luvia,” Nana said with a reassuring smile. Luvia could see that she was more shaken than she let on. “They happen, dear. Good thing this one was so small.”

  Luvia was scowling. She never knew a little rumbling like that could be so scary.

  Could it have been a pokémon?

  The earthquake had been felt across the city. From shopkeepers to port staff to other passengers, everyone was talking about it.

  The family was back at Slateport City’s Eastern Bay, checking their luggage in to the cruiser that would ferry them back to the island.

  Getting back to Clearcloud right around now didn’t sound so bad anymore. The earthquake hadn’t spoilt the memory of the city, but it had left its mark. When they recalled the trip in the future, the first thing they’d remember wouldn’t be the amazing coordinator showcase or Luvia’s first battle with Mida. The first thing they’d remember would be the rumbling and rattling as the city was plunged into silence for a few seconds.

  They’d remember that Slateport got earthquakes.

  If a pokémon had done it, that would kind of make it better. At least then there was something to blame… But what sort pokémon could quake an entire city?