"No kidding." Mel grinned. "Well we'll get there. If nothing else I'm determined to explore as much as possible."

Ithica nodded.

"Sounds like a plan to me," she said. "So we'll spend some time making more money, get ourselves some supplies, and set off like proper trainers."

"Sounds about right, yeah." Mel grinned. "This is going to be fantastic."

It took them a little while, but they managed to gather everything they needed to be proper wandering trainers. Once they had their supplies, Ithica had the bright idea to head north, towards Meteor Falls.

Mel just went with it. Hey, that was as good an idea as any, after all. And there were interesting pokemon up that way too.

Meteor Falls was open and airy, and enough sunlight got in to bounce around off of the water and the sparkling crystalline stone that the caverns were made of. Here and there, Ithica could see a few pokemon, including what looked like a swarm of bat pokemon up near the ceiling vents.

"Oh wow, it's gorgeous here," she commented to Mel.

"It is," Mel agreed, voice quiet. "I wouldn't mind sticking around here for a while. Never got to see stuff like this back home." She smiled.

"I know," Ithica said. She grinned when she splashed through a puddle. "I wonder what we'll be able to find out here?"

"Hopefully lots." Mel grinned. "Even if we just get to look, lots of things, all the things."

"It's too bad we don't have any water types," Ithica mused as they explored. "There's a whole section of the cavern in the games that you can only reach via surf and waterfall."

"We can always come back," Mel told her. "Besides, this time we might be able to access them with Fly, too. And I'm sure it won't take long for one of us to get a flying-type."

"Probably not," Ithica agreed. She grinned. "I know there are Swablu out on the other side of the caverns, near Fallarbor. Didn't you mention wanting one eventually?"

"It would be awesome yeah," Mel agreed. "They're so cute and fluffy. Of course, the list of pokemon I'd like is about half a mile long give or take, so."

"This is true," Ithica said, grinning. "Mine kind of is, too. Like, is it bad that I kind of want a Haunter? And a Trapinch, they eventually evolve into Flygon."

"Oh yes," Mel agreed. "Eevee, all of the Eevee. And I would kill for a Vulpix."

"The only place I remember with wild Vulpix is outside of Celadon City, in Kanto," Ithica said, thinking. "Oh, and Mount Pyre, that's here in Hoenn, you can find them there."

"We'll see if we get there," Mel said after a moment. "People also breed them, I might be able to afford one eventually."

"We can make our way out to Mount Pyre," Ithica offered. "It might take a while, it's out on the other end of the region, but I want to go to Lilycove and Mossdeep anyways, just to say I did, so we'll have to pass the mountain cemetery regardless."

"Awesome. That'll be our tentative plan until we get sidetracked, then." Mel grinned.

"Good plan," Ithica said. She paused. "Oh... I want to go to Sootopolis, too. I really want to see the Cave of Origin. And on the way back to Slateport, there's Sky Pillar, and if we're lucky, Mirage Island..."

Mel snickered. "Don't worry, we've got time, we'll go everywhere," she promised. "I want to see everything I possibly can."

Ithica beamed.

"It's going to be amazing," she said. She paused when she heard something nearby. It sounded like... someone yelling? "Hey, do you hear that?"

"...I do," Mel agreed. "That... seems odd. Shall we go have a look?" She turned, trying to find the direction the yelling was coming from.

Ithica rounded the corner to see a guy about their age, with a small pokemon in front of him. The little thing was cowering, and the guy was snarling at it.

"You worthless, no good little beast!" he was growling. "I told you to use Pursuit! And you let it get away!"

"Hey," Ithica barked before she could stop herself. "That's no way to treat your pokemon!" She walked closer to the guy, and saw that the pokemon was a Zorua.

"Mind your own business," he snapped back at her, shifting his glare from the Zorua to her.