xx

Wyatt Everard

Wyatt stood in the living room, sullen and glaring at nothing as his parents fluttered around him. His mother fussed with his hair as his father looked at a checklist, marking things off.

"And you've got your water bottle?"

"Yup."

"Potions?"

"Uh-huh."

"Escape rope?"

"I'm gonna be late." Wyatt didn't really care much if he was late – he just wanted to get away from his smothering parents. He was not looking forward to his 'adventure.' At least his friends would be there. Cas rolled in a happy circle around his feet.

His dad, too optimistic to recognize the excuse to escape for what it was, beamed at him from over the paper.

"Can't have that, can we?" Wyatt wanted to roll his eyes at the pride in his dad's voice. Of course he only seemed proud of his son when he did whatever Jimmy did.

"Oh, oh hold on!" His mom flitted away, turning in place to look for something. "We need a picture!" Wyatt couldn't hold in the groan. His dad shot him a reprimanding look and Wyatt snapped his mouth shut. Skewing his mouth in something that was almost a pout, he looked down. A moment later his mom was back, camera in hand.

"Ok sweetheart, smile!" Wyatt did no such thing. His Spheal beamed, a joyous little ball at his feet. With a sigh, his mom snapped the picture anyway. "One day I'm going to show all these pictures at your wedding and you're gonna regret not making a nice face." He just rolled his eyes, already turning towards the door.

"Hang on, hang on," his dad called after him, catching him by the shoulder. His parents enveloped him in a hug before he'd even finished turning around. "We love you."

"Stay safe," his mom whispered. Wyatt hesitated a moment before finally bringing his arms up to hug them back.

"I know. I will." His parents pulled away, both looking at him with light in their eyes. The corner of his mouth quirked up and he gave a small smile back. "Love you, too. I'll call."

And with that he was out the door, Cas rolling after him. Wyatt pulled out his earphones, putting them in and putting his music on shuffle. The melodies drowned out the early morning sounds of Faduli waking up.

He really was not looking forward to this. But if he was being honest… the nervousness slowly growing in his chest was starting to taste awfully close to anticipation. His friends. New places. Plenty of opportunities to die, of course. He hoped he didn't run into his brother.

His path to the edge of town took him past Arlo's house. At least he was responsible. He probably wouldn't let any of them die. The girls though… they were another story. Wyatt looked down at his watch. It wasn't quite time to meet yet – Arlo might still be home. Taking a chance, Wyatt turned into their driveway and walked up to the door. He rang the doorbell once before calling out.

"Hey Arlo! You home?" His voice was probably louder than necessary, with the music drowning out the noise in his ears. Cas was largely ignored as she rolled back and forth over his feet.

Haven Dao

Haven was awake, packed, and out the door by 5:07 that morning, Vice perched on her shoulder with his roots twining in the cloth of her jacket. Dawn would be breaking in a few minutes. She wanted to watch as sunlight stained the Faduli sky one last time. And… her family was going to give her hell for this, but technically speaking she hadn't actually told them she was leaving town with her friends. Whoops.

Silent as the night, she'd crept down the stairs and left a note on the kitchen counter. A goodbye, I love you, promise to call, alongside a little doodle of her smiling face.

Her mom was going to pitch a fit.

She walked out the door into the pre-morning air, with her Bellsprout and a bag filled with more art supplies than travel gear. Haven wove her way through the still sleeping town, walking past darkened buildings and the yellow glow of street lamps. Eventually she left them all behind, arriving at the east end of town. A great green hill swelled up, only to give a sharp drop, a rocky cliff leading to the ocean below. Haven walked up to it and sat down, her feet dangling above the waves. Ocean mist washed over her and she breathed it in. Dawn began to stretch its grey fingers from beyond the horizon and up across the sky. Color bled into the darkness and dawn broke across Faduli.

Haven and Vice sat there long after the sun hung bright and full in the sky. At 8:16 a vibration from her bag startled her back to reality. Already knowing what it was, she pulled out her phone to see her mother's face on the call screen.

"Yikes," she said, turning her phone off. Haven would call her back later. After she'd left town. Vice gave her a look. "What?" she countered back at him. "You know how she gets." The little Bellsprout just kept staring at her. Rolling her eyes, Haven pushed herself to her feet. Turning, she walked away from the ocean and back down into town until she emerged at the other edge of town.

Lionella was already there, waiting.

"Hey Lio," she greeted as she reached the smaller girl. Haven smiled a bit as she saw her friend practically bouncing with anticipation. Someone was ready to go. "Boys not here yet?" Haven glanced over her shoulder to see if she could spot them. She looked back at Lionella out of the corner of her eye, her smile turning sly. "Wanna ditch 'em?" Her voice and humor made it hard to tell when she was being serious or not, but those who knew her knew Haven was almost always joking. Almost always.

xx

Wyatt Everard

Wyatt waited until Arlo had closed the door, giving a little half wave. Cas trilled in excitement at seeing friends, and rolled more frantically back and forth over Wyatt's feet before stopping right atop of them, looking up at her trainer expectantly. He glanced down and gave a nod. The Spheal squeaked again, rolling in a happy circle around him. Then Cas took off, rolling straight at Arlo's Tyrogue. The corner of Wyatt's mouth quirked just a bit, hinting at some expression that wasn't his usual scowl as the two started to play. Then he looked back up at Arlo.

"Probably," he answered, still too loud. "Knowing those two, they're already halfway to the next town." Lio was an incorrigible adventurer and Haven only served as a bad influence. Wyatt knew that they likely wouldn't be going on this adventure at all without those two. And he supposed… a small part of him was thankful for that, if only for the chance to escape his parents – even if it meant following after his brother's shadow. But Arlo was the responsible one. The rational one. The sane one. As far as Wyatt was concerned, it was their job to make sure they stayed alive.

Wyatt followed after Arlo, half-running to keep up with the taller boy's long strides. Before long they came upon the girls at the edge of town, sharing a conspiratorial smile with each other.

Haven Dao

Haven shared a mischievous smile with Lio as Wyatt and Arlo approached, pokemon in tow. She raised her eyebrows at Arlo, ever the stern, responsible one, and met his look with a cheekily innocent batting of her eyelashes. Teasing him was too fun. She looked back down to Lio as she spoke.

"Been ready for weeks, kid," Haven replied, throwing an arm over Lio's shoulder. Haven knew only a year separated them, but it was hard not to treat her little friend like a younger, idolizing sister. With her youthfulness, size, and the joyful curiosity with which she did everything, she made for an endearing companion – easy to like and hard to not want to care for. "Thought I was gonna go grey before someone finally agreed." She threw a glance at Wyatt. The younger boy blinked at her for a moment before realizing she was talking about him.

"Hey!" he shouted, yanking his headphones out of his ears. The kid was gonna go deaf before he was even done with puberty. Vice wiggled his leaves, his own form of laughter. Haven smirked at Wyatt before turning back up to Arlo.

"So," she said, "We ever decide? North or south?" It was hard not to treat the tall boy like he was in charge. He was the biggest, the oldest, a quiet, stable presence in their odd little group. Haven relied on him more often than she cared for. "We wanna go through the cave or the forest?" While there was only one path from Faduli, it forked a mile out. To the north was Ulu Forest, and then Ulu Town. The south lead to Tarrin Cave which let out just before Boken City.

xx

Wyatt Everard

Wyatt let out a squawk of protest when Lionella volunteered him as a sacrifice. It was more obligatory than anything – he knew everyone here wouldn't hesitate to save him from whatever hell he stumbled into. They'd just make sure he got at least a little singed first.

He let Lio grab him by the arm, not fighting as she strung her own through it. He'd grown accustomed to her constant touches and closeness, no longer blushing as he used to. He couldn't help a half-hearted rolling of his eyes, though. Lio loudly and proudly announced that she'd win her first battle.

"Yeah?" Haven said from Lio's other side, a smirking challenge clear in her voice. "I'm tempted to take that bet and be your first opponent." Wyatt shot the older girl a look. Honestly, it was a little early in their 'adventure' for the girls to start in on this already. Couldn't they at least make it out of town? Lio was a fierce trainer, there was no doubt. Wyatt wouldn't be surprised if she beat everyone they came across through sheer endurance alone. But while Haven wasn't a battler per se, she was certainly… a pain to go up against. This was mostly because her tactic was to be as annoying as possible with status ailments and a whole lot of dodging, waiting out her opponents. If those two started a battle now, they'd never leave.

"Please don't."

Wyatt watched as Lio's Duskull retreated into his pokeball, and couldn't help but be a bit envious. With a sigh, Wyatt used his free hand to grab Cas' pokeball and recall her. He didn't know how she'd fare rolling around over a forest terrain. He didn't want her to get too worn out or hurt by any roots or rocks.

Haven caught the movement and shot him a smirk, though there was a softness to it that was rarely seen on her. A bright, genuine excitement at starting this journey together. Wyatt couldn't help the tiny smile he turned back to her, though he did his best to look annoyed by their antics. He looked over his shoulder to see Arlo, calm and steady, following after them. Wyatt turned his head forward, his arm tightening ever so slightly around Lio's.

If asked, he was being forced on this journey against his will.

But if it was just to himself… he could admit he was the slightest bit excited.

Haven Dao

It was a half hour walk from Faduli before they finally reached the edge of Ulu Forest. They'd spent the time easily enough – Lio and Haven messing around, Wyatt trying (failing) to be mature and above it all. Really, it was too easy to mess with that kid, with how hard he tried to be a grownup. And through it all, Arlo was the stable, quiet presence, making sure they went in the right direction. Haven always tried to bring him into whatever joke or silliness the rest of them got into, looking back at him to check his expression. A small trill of pride rang through her whenever she saw a smile on his face. Watching that stoic expression crack always felt like a victory.

Aside from their own company, the walk was largely uneventful. While the forest itself was almost always filled with trainers, they rarely had a reason to keep going south towards Faduli. And so, the four friends walked alone under the early morning sun.

And then they finally came upon the tree line. Haven had run away from home once, when she was younger (well, she supposed she'd actually run away from home twice now). She'd been eleven years old, bratty and impossible to manage. And in the middle of the night she'd packed a backpack and taken off north. Her mom and sisters found her twenty minutes out of town, though, and she had never made it as far as the forest. Seeing it now, she thought even if she had made it this far, there's no way she'd have had the nerve to brave Ulu Forest.

A thick mass of trees formed a towering wall of bark and leaves, spaced far enough apart for her to slip herself through – but only barely. A wider section of space was cut between two twisting white-barked trees, clearly meant to be a path. Haven let out a long whistle as she took it in. Without thinking, her hand strayed to her back pocket to curl around her phone and raise it to take a picture. But Haven blinked to see a dead, black screen. Right. Mom. She'd turned off her phone, lest her mother reach through the screen and throttle her for leaving without anything but a post-it note for explanation. Haven stared at the blank screen for a moment, frozen. Then she blinked away, almost guilty, and slipped it back in her pocket. Vice's lead 'accidentally' smacked the side of her neck and she shot the Bellsprout a look. Haven looked up to see Wyatt looking at her incredulously.

"Is… is your phone off? Her phone was never off. If she wasn't browsing the internet or playing dumb games, she was taking reference pictures of environments for her artwork.

"Forgot to charge it last night," she lied. Wyatt's eyes narrowed a bit at that. Sharp kid. "I'll just charge it in Ulu Town." Her mind scrambled for a change of topic, though outside she remained cool. Haven perked up when she saw two figures standing at the mouth of the forest, dwarfed by the trees.

"Hey," she said, gesturing to them with her chin. It was hard to tell from this distance, but it looked like two boys, maybe around their age. Some sort of bird pokemon looked to be perched on the taller one's shoulder. He scratched his head as he spoke to his companion. "Finally found some people. That bet of your's still on, kid?" Haven glanced down at Lio, the corner of her mouth quirking up.