The first floods were already here.

  For once, being in Dewford gave them a bit of luck. Since Mt.Chimney and Sootopolis were so far away from Dewford, they had a bit of time to prepare. But Ashlyn and her family couldn’t get lucky forever.

  But Ashlyn didn’t know that at the time. She was just shaking in place where she sat, in one of the buildings that Dewford residents had been told to come to immediately, so Brawly could give more instructions.

  Why were all the adults yelling? What was going on? Why did her parents look so scared? That was all five-year-old her could think.

  ‘Ashlyn, baby, come here,’ her mom said, a few feet away from her.

  She walked over to them, and stared up at them when she reached them, lips trembling. ‘Mommy? What’s happening? Everyone’s scaring me…’

  Her mom smiled at her and crouched down. Ashlyn could distinctly remember that the smile didn’t stretch to her eyes. ‘There’s going to be a flood, Ashlyn. Brawly’s saying it’s going to be a big one. Maybe lots of big ones. We’re going to have to move deeper into the island, okay?’ she said.

  Ashlyn’s kid brain didn’t get it. ‘But Dad isn’t here, Mom! And your birthday is tomorrow! You were really happy about that. We can’t leave!’ she exclaimed foolishly.

  Now her mom’s lips were trembling. Something was really wrong. She didn’t say anything, just gave Ashlyn a long hug, which Ashlyn was too confused to accept.

  Suddenly-

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  The ground was shaking violently. Ashlyn couldn’t help but fall over, and could hear the screams of those around her, including from her mom.

  ‘Everybody! To Granite Cave! We have people and devices there, ready to assist you up the cliff!’ she heard someone say. Later, she realized it was Brawly.

  Everybody started panicking and running for the exit. Ashlyn would’ve gotten trampled if not for her mom scooping her up and carrying her.

  When they exited the building, there was more open space, so Ashlyn could be put down, but the tremors were still happening. She kept walking, but her mom had stayed in place where she had put Ashlyn down, and she was now looking in the opposite direction, towards the sea.

  ‘Mom?’ Ashlyn asked. ‘What’s wrong?’

  Her mom took a second, then looked back at her, and Ashlyn could see tears in her eyes. Naturally, Ashlyn started tearing up as well.

  Her mom crouched down again. ‘Honey, I’ll meet you at the top of the rocks, okay? Mom just has to take care of something first. I’ll be right behind you, so get going, alright?’

  Immediately, Ashlyn started shaking her head really quickly. Things were so scary! She couldn’t just leave her mom’s side!

  Then her mom pulled Ashlyn into a big hug, and whispered something in her ear. After that, Ashlyn was still unsure of things, but turned around and ran.

  And ran. And ran. And ran.

  Pretty soon, she started hearing screams behind her, where her mother had come from.

  Ashlyn was too afraid to look back and see what that was about.

  Ashlyn’s eyes snapped open, and she gave a loud gasp, with tears in her eyes.

  ‘Have to keep running, have to keep- wait, where…?’

  It took almost thirty seconds for her mind to transition out of that dream state. Like usual, it took reciting in her mind what her present day status was to do the trick.

  ‘My name is Ashlynn Allende. I’m thirteen years old. My parents have been dead for eight years now. I still live in Dewford, and I’m currently working at the Dewford Gym.

  She was back. Finally.

  Ashlyn sat up and groaned. Latias, she was getting beyond sick of that nightmare. She really hoped it wasn’t going to stick with her forever. She’d almost rather not sleep again, if possible.

  ‘Maku…’ came a voice from beside her bed. Ashlynn opened her eyes to see her Makuhita standing beside her bed, looking really worried.

  She sighed and held her arms out for a hug. Makuhita didn’t hesitate to jump into her, and the force of almost two hundred pounds caused Ashlyn to fall back on the bed with a grunt and a laugh.

  ‘Thanks buddy, I’ll be fine,’ she said as she lay there for a bit of time, with some tears leaking out of her eyes.

  After freshening up, putting on a simple white T-shirt and shorts that went down to just above her knees, and eating some scrambled eggs she had quickly whipped up, she and Makuhita left her unit in the small apartment complex for work.

  As soon as she exited the building, her eyes instinctively narrowed, since the sun was being glaringly annoying, as usual. She couldn’t help but contrast the sunny day with the storms of that dreaded day, thanks to the nightmare, and then of course the floodgates started and she started remembering the exact details.

  She had kept running that day, and barely made it to the rock formation that was more or less the outer covering of Granite Cave, where there were people to help her up to the top. She wasn’t too far off the ground, but high enough where she would at least be safe from the flooding. Maybe the earthquakes too.

  Apparently her parents were part of a group of Trainers that had volunteered to do anything they could to fight back against the tides, as well as disturbed wild Pokemon that might lash out against the town. They had some luck with that at first, but when the quakes started, they had no chance.

  To be fair, it wasn’t just her dream that made her remember. As she was walking down the not-very-well paved streets, just one glance around Dewford was enough of a reminder. There were still large cracks visible on the ground, even on the streets, the wreckage of lots of buildings that collapsed during the quakes that nobody ever got around to rebuilding, and the half-hearted prefab homes that replaced some of them.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  Latias, now she was even more depressed.

  ‘At least I’ve got you, buddy,’ she said lovingly, leaning down to rub Makuhita on the head.

  He hummed at the touch, and his smile showed he liked the rubbing.

  They had met on the top of Granite Cave that day. Apparently, he was also hiding there to survive, and she learned that his parents and family had also not made it. Mutual sadness made for great bonding material, Ashlyn guessed.

  After walking for a little bit more, Ashlyn was finally at her destination, the Dewford Gym. She pushed the glass doors open and went inside.

  God, this place smelled like ass. But the front lobby also served as part of the gym – like, an actual you-go-there-to-work-out kind – so that unfortunately made sense.

  ‘Hey, Ash!’ came a cheery voice from behind the reception counter. It was Claire, the small, orange-haired woman who was the receptionist for the Gym. She handled things like supervising the workout areas of the Gym, and accepting applications from Trainers that wanted to challenge Brawly.

  She mustered a small smile. ‘Hey, Claire,’ she said. ‘There a reason why the gym seems nearly empty right now?’

  She nodded. ‘The new apprentice who’ll be working alongside you got here today. Most people are in the staff room to greet him right now.’

  What.

  Without a word, Ashlyn sprinted behind the counter and into the staff room. God, Brawly was annoying. She knew Brawly worked hard, and he was as strong as the Elite Four when he goes all-out, but if he somehow always has time to surf and flirt with women, he was more than capable of at least texting her about something this important!

  After flinging open the door, everyone inside turned to stare at her. Brawly was in the center of a group of people, his hand on the shoulder of a boy who was around her height. He had short hair with some green streaks going through it, and looked really nervous.

  ‘Yo, Ash! I told you we had a new guy today, didn’t I?’ Brawly asked.

  ‘No, you didn’t,’ Ashlyn responded through gritted teeth.

  ‘Oh… right. Anyway!’ he said, while Ashlyn’s co-workers around her giggled a bit. ‘This is going to be our new apprentice, since we have some spots open now that no one else wants to fill. Still not sure where exactly I want to put him, but I thought I’d have him battle you to see where his skills are at?’

  Ashlyn narrowed her eyes at the new boy, who seemed to cower in response. ‘So, this is my competition, huh? I’ll smoke him,’ she thought.

  ‘Sure, let’s do it,’ she responded, ready to go.

  ---------

  ‘Mo…’ managed Jangmo-o, before falling over in defeat.

  Ashlyn and Makuhita both exhaled a bit of tension out of her bodies. Santino had been a better Trainer than she had originally thought. But with one final Arm Thrust, Jangmo-o had finally gone down.

  She walked over to the disappointed boy, huffing some sweaty hair out of her face as she extended a hand. ‘You’re okay at battling, I guess,’ she said half-heartedly.

  He continued to look upset as he took her hand, and just managed a simple ‘You too.’

  ‘Latias, he’s been a wimp this whole time. Well, I’ll never have to worry about him again if he’s this weak,’ she thought.

  --------------

  ‘Shit, shit, shit!’ she thought frantically, running fast and desperately trying to find the entrance to Granite Cave.

  There were a shortage of Pokemon that could be used to fight Gym challengers going for their third badge right now, and Brawly had put her in charge of looking for and catching some that could be trained for that. She knew Granite Cave was where at least some of the ones she was looking for could be found, but about thirty minutes into the cave, she and Makuhita managed to piss off a group of Lairon, even though they weren’t trying to.

  She worked out a lot, so she was fast enough to make it about five minutes from the entrance, but she was finally starting to slow down her sprint out of exhaustion, and the Lairon were catching up.

  ‘Fuck it,’ she thought, turning to face the incoming stampede. If it seemed impossible, she’d fight back anyway. She was not dying here.

  The ground rumbled, and rocks fell from the ceiling as the Lairon came surging towards her. Dozens of them, at least.

  ‘Makuhita, use Bulk Up, then alternate between Vacuum Wave and Arm Thrust!’ Ashlyn yelled frantically.

  ‘Maku!!’ he yelled, his body bulking up quickly. Then he started sending blasts of vacuum at the beasts, and slamming them back or into the ground with Arm Thrust when they tried to dodge.

  Makuhita was doing all he could, and Ashlyn was dodging falling rocks and attacks as best she could, but there were so many of them. Ashlyn gritted her teeth. This was not looking good.

  ‘J-Jangmo-o, now! D-dig out the ground from underneath them!’

  Ashlyn whipped her head around in surprise. They’d worked together for a whole six months now, she’d recognize Santino’s stutter anywhere. The ground underneath a lot of the Lairon collapsed, and they all started hesitating.

  Santino grabbed her arm. ‘C’mon Ashlyn, now’s our chance!’ he said with panic in his voice.

  Ashlyn didn’t need to be told twice. She’d had a minute or so to recover, so she was ready to make that final sprint.

  Once they were outside, and hit by the contrast of the sun glaring in their eyes, they kept running for a bit, just to be safe. Then they stopped, with Ashlyn falling over in exhaustion. The adrenaline was gone now, so there was nothing keeping her on her feet.

  Santino let out a deep breath. ‘That was too close. I-I’m surprised you l-lasted that long,’ he managed.

  Ashlyn was still heaving on the ground, so she couldn’t answer that immediately. ‘How… did…’ She swallowed before continuing. ‘Did… you know I was in danger… some… somehow?’

  Santino crossed his arms over his body and shook his head. ‘N-no, we needed more Pokemon for the first badge challengers a-as well, so I was t-there for the same reason you w-were,’ he said.

  ‘But you… you clearly rushed… over,’ Ashlyn managed. ‘Aren’t… aren’t I competition?’ she managed weakly.

  Santino snapped his head at her quickly. ‘W-what are you saying, Ashlyn? You think I’d just let you die? I know you don’t really like me, but I’d never do that!’

  ‘Fuck,’ she thought while managing to haul herself into a sitting position. She had thought that. For how hardened she’d generally tried to make herself all these years, her general exhaustion, combined with Santino’s words was making her feel much more vulnerable than usual.

  ‘W-would you have not saved me?’ Santino asked, looking really freaked out.

  ‘…I’d like to think I would have,’ she managed, looking at him, and then shrinking into herself a bit in shame.

  He took a few seconds before doing anything else. Then he sighed. ‘Why don’t you like me, Ashlyn? I-I’m not s-stupid, I’ve known since we m-met,’ he said, which caused Ashlyn’s eyes to widen a bit.

  Almost dying had put it into perspective for Ashlyn, just how stupid she had been. Right now, at least, she didn’t want to think about cutthroat competition.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she started slowly, not really used to talking about her feelings. Then she looked at him. Properly, this time, no shrinking away. ‘Did I tell ever tell you about my parents dying?’

  His body tensed up a bit at that. ‘No, you didn’t. Was it, uh, during the Disaster?’

  ‘Mhm. You got that on the first try, huh?’

  ‘I mean, my parents died then too, s-so that was the first t-try I was gonna give,’ he said, with a small, sad smile.

  Ashlyn’s eyes widened at that. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ was her first immediate thought, but that was stupid. Why on earth does he have to spill his guts just so she doesn’t be an ass?

  ‘All I could think that night was, keep running,’ she said. ‘And I’m guessing that might’ve carried on since then. If I keep pushing forward relentlessly, then everything would be fine.’

  ‘I guess… some part of me thought I could just swallow my trauma with my drive,’ she sniffled, on the verge of tears from being this vulnerable. ‘But clearly, I can’t.’

  They sat like that for a while. Then Santino spoke up. ‘I want to join the Hoenn League one day,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, uh, same here,’ Ashlyn replied.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah, I just… wanted to stop events like back then from happening again. Figured that was the best way to go about it.’

  ‘Want to go on our Circuit journey together, then?’ Santino asked.

  That took her by surprise. ‘You want to go with me?’

  He took a second to reply to that, choosing to look north, over the sea route that was Route 106. ‘You’re really driven, Ashlyn. Probably more than most people in the Gym. You might see that part of you as something you don’t like, but…I admire it. If I can journey with someone like you, maybe that could rub off on me, and my dream would stand a better chance at coming true.’

  Ashlyn’s mouth was slightly parted after hearing that, in shock. She liked being focused, but it had always been so hard to not see that mentality of hers as so ugly at the same time. Santino’s words felt like they were pushing a weight off her shoulders.

  ‘...Ash,’ she said.

  ‘Ash?’

  ‘Yeah,’ she said, smiling softly to someone other than her Pokemon for possibly the first time ever. ‘You can call me Ash.’

  ---------------

  ‘Tino, hurry up!’

  ‘Wait, Ash, I’m almost there!’ Tino said, slightly out-of-breath.

  The now fifteen-year-old barely managed to get to the plank where the S.S. Tidal was connected to the Dewford docks before the announcement that the ferry had to take off.

  ‘Haah…haah, thank Latias,’ he said, now leaning over the edge of the ferry with Ashlyn.

  ‘Wasn’t this important? I can’t believe you almost missed it,’ Ashlyn said, with eyebrows raised in mock disappointment.

  He turned to her with exasperation written all over his face. ‘Ash, you made me do an intense work out yesterday even though I told you I’d end up sleeping in because of that!’ he exclaimed.

  ‘And now you’re stronger for it,’ she shrugged, looking away from Tino with a slight smile. He didn’t really have an answer to that.

  Ashlyn knew Tino liked seeing her smile, since it wasn’t that common, so she wasn’t surprised to see him drop the complaint pretty quickly.

  ‘You excited?’ she asked.

  At that, his face lit up. ‘Yep! This is a tournament people pay tons for. We’re lucky Brawly was able to smuggle us some free ones.’

  He was talking about the tickets they had for the Lilycove Elite Tournament. Trainers from all over the world at Gym Leader level at least were going to be there to battle, in a sort of get-together of the most powerful Trainers in the world. Apparently, coming together for events like this was good for diplomacy between regions. At least, that’s what Brawly had told them when he gave them the tickets.

  And after that… Ashlyn smiled just thinking about it. They would start their journey a week after the tournament was done. She already had two Pokemon on her, her Makuhita, and another one she had recently caught in Granite Cave.

  Just then, Tino looked at Ashlyn with a calm, but firm, smile. ‘We got this,’ Tino assured Ashlyn. She nodded to him in response.

  They would become League Trainers, and as best friends, they’d do it together.