Lucky Thirteen

Route 13 was a rather barren place, with not much to see in any direction. Many would refer to it as a boring place, but to Martin this travel was an interesting experience.
Seeing how far the empty space extended all around you showed just how gigantic the world was. It was an astounding experience.
Sera however seemed to be of a different opinion. To her all this empty space simply was boring and she found herself hoping to reach the new town as quickly as possible or to at least meet somebody new. Or an old friend. As long as it wasn't this girl with her Aerodactyl the Togepi didn't really care.
It was strange though. There was so much flat ground here. Why had noone thought about building something here?
Of course preserving nature was important, but it still was a surprise.

Valka wandered off the border of Karyuu and headed to Dramoria. She first wanted to see what was in that city before going the other direction. Maybe she could do the contests in reverse order? Farthest from the first gym and then closest, so she could immediately start gym battles without having to travel so far...? It all depended on where the contest places were located.

Val walked down the path, which was quite steep, but manageable as it straightened at the bottom. She held Spry in her arms to keep him from falling behind from his slowness. Surely his evolution would be faster?

Val stepped on all the rocks on the ground, as if they were stepping stones above a dangerous path. She reached a large rock to sit on, avoiding the large crevice ahead. It bothered her, the thought of something so dangerous. Instead of exploring, she sat and stroked her Goomy, who reacted happily.

Silently Martin kept on wandering the desolate wastes, Sera long since having fallen asleep in his arms.
This was a great place to let one's mind wander as there really wasn't much one could pay attention to. And so the gentleman's thoughts were wandering and he caught himself thinking about how far the two of them had traveled together already. They had already been in the south and in the north both and were now making their way towards the western parts of Harmony. It was incredible, especially considering that Martin had never gotten out of Amicitia in the past much. To suddenly have such a huge world opened up in front of him was mesmerizing.

Valka patted Spry's head one last time before looking up. There was something else here. Either a person or a pokemon was walking .... Somewhere. It was impossible to pinpoint where, especially because it was such an open space. The Goomy sitting before her wiggled his antennae with confusion, wondering why the nice petting halted so suddenly.

Val hoped desperately the presence wasn't a pokemon. Who knew what dangerous creatures could lurk beside a huge crack in the earth. That land abyss could have even been created by a Pokemon, or caused by a move like earthquake. Such a massive force, whether over time or nearly instantly, was certainly a force to be feared. Even though the earth itself isn't scary.

Way before Martin could even identify the small spot that had appeared on the horizon, Sera was already waving at it cheerfully, happy to finally meet someone new in this barren area.
Chuckling, the gentleman addressed his Pokémon:
"Calm down now, little one. Whoever that is probably can't even see us from this far away."
However the words that had been intended to return the Fairy type to a more tranquil state instead simply led to the Togepi waving more enthusiastically, determined to make herself seen here.
Sighing and smiling the Friendship Rater wandered over.

Valka finally noticed the person approaching, and sighed with relief. His Pokemon wasn't even the slightest bit terrifying. Rather cute, actually. Spry instantly noticed the other small pokemon and shot a huge, goofy, excited smile, waving his antennae in turn as he wobbled with the held smile in the direction of the other two.

Valka put her hand on her knee, using it to push herself up and turn to the other trainer, hands stationary by her side. She then put both hands up near her head, pulling the lip of the hood down to ensure her face wasn't visible. Shadows were her friend when it came to concealment.

As they ventured closer, the figure in the distance was revealed to be a human as well as a relatively small Pokémon. While the Pokémon didn't appear to be very threatening, the human - its trainer most likely - had their face hidden in the shadows of a hood. Now Martin was not one to judge someone by their appearance and Sera was not one to judge people at all, but still someone looking like this did seem to be a bit suspicious.
Well, to avoid someone simply because of their preferred style would be rather impolite.
And thus the duo wandered over.

Spry continued squirming enthusiastically until he finally reached the other adorably energetic Pokemon who was blue shifting her own way towards the other reflective duo she only just met. If Spry weren't so slow, he would've just kept running until they crashed into a hug, but he slugged along with that same goofy and happy face.

Valka approached the other cautiously, not walking directly to him, but rather off to the side as if to observe the Pokemon, and secretly observe the other person. She had her head tilted down to the height of the Pokemon, but often glanced upwards to the other. He seemed decent, not intent on battling instantly, not only caring about power and victory. He seemed to have a nervous, yet wise expression on his face. He was any other breathing, thinking human, but unique enough to be like none Val had ever met.

The only one she met to that day was an energetically insane young woman who seemed to be the exact opposite of this new-coming stranger. While she was crazy fearless and wanted to battle everyone she faced, this one seemed quiet and cautious. If Val were to be moving, she probably would've circled him. A voice used or not, a reaction to that, spoke anyone's personality at the moment. But this one's vibrations halted any such action she thought about; it seemed awkward for once.

Seeing the other trainer's Pokémon move towards them, Sera would almost have jumped out of her own trainer's arms to run towards the potential new friend herself. However being this high above the ground did put quite a bit of a stop to her plans.
"Greetings...", the Friendship Rater began to speak, hesitating as he found himself unable to determine the gender of the person he was facing.
"...fellow traveler.", he managed to break the slightly awkward silence that had resulted from his break.
"My name is Martin Ashdown and this little ball of joy is Sera. Say hello, Sera, will you?"
"Toge-piii!", the Fairy type instantly replied, waving happily.

Valka waved kindly at the small Pokemon and bent over on a single knee to introduce herself, showing trustworthiness. Spry smiled all around, nudging his trainers hand with his head. He liked nice people, cute energetic pokemon like himself, and new friends. He closed his mouth and held is little antennae back as he looked up and over to the other ecstatic "joy ball." The description seemed decent enough to describe the Goomy, as well.

Val hadn't spoken a word as she was concentrating on the other Pokemon, tilting her head to show she meant no harm. On her feet, but knees bend, already radiating the affection right through her arm as if it were a channel to her being. She knew this looked queer to people, but she only cared about the pokemon.

The other trainer remained silent, kneeling down however for some reason.
Not really knowing what he was supposed to do in a situation like this, Mr. Ashdown kneeled down himself, careful not to have Sera fall down. But what was he meant to do now?
Sera meanwhile didn't care much for what one was expected to do. She was grateful to be on eye level with this new person, extending her stubby arm to shake the trainer's hand.
Martin couldn't help but chuckle at her loving innocence, but still he was wondering. What was up with this trainer? Were they unable to speak maybe?

Val watched the adorable little fairy Pokemon hobble over and to reach out her little arm. The cloaked trainer reached out her own hand, touching a forefinger to the pokemon's nub, and gently brought over her thumb to touch the bottom, moving her wrist slightly to create a handshake to the little one. Val then smiled. Her position was low enough and head at an angle so the pokemon only could see her face, and even the smile.

Now feeling more comfortable that the pokemon was not shy, scared, and father outgoing, Val could assume her trainer was similar. The dragon-type collecter could tell a lot about a person just by their pokemon. At that, she stood up, reached a hand to grasp the lip of her hood, and pulled it back. She revealed her face to the stranger, her long hair flipping down to her shoulder blades, and finally making visible the cheerful and innocent face she owned, the smile still held, her dimples prominent.

Now the other trainer had removed her hood, revealing her face. It was a girl's face, a rather young one at that. However she still had not spoken a word since they had met. She definitely was a strange trainer to say the least.
What was she doing here, so far away from any civilisation? Why had she been hiding her face?
And what were her intentions?
There were many unanswered questions, but it would be rather impolite to ask about things like these, so for now all Martin could do was to remain silent as well. Maybe then finally she would start speaking and things would begin to make sense.

Val snapped out of her staring and turned to the side, gesturing over her Goomy and allowing him to slick up her arm onto her shoulder. She then scratched his "chin" with her other forefinger, causing him to close his eyes with pleasure and pull his antennae back, as it seemed he tilted backwards.

Valka only spoke if she had to. The stranger didn't know this, of course, but he would soon enough. For some reason, she liked acting mysterious. She liked to make sure people only saw her face when their curiosity was bursting, make them think she was mute, sometimes even blind, up until she had to show otherwise. It was a weird habit, and didn't have much reason or origin.

How would one get this girl to talk? There really was no way to hold a meaningful conversation - or any conversation at all if one of the conversationalists was doing all the talking.
Sera however didn't seem to be too bothered by something of the sort, still shaking the other trainer's hand. This other Pokémon was of interest to her too of course, but the Togepi found herself unable to find any hands to shake on the viscous Pokémon.
Martin now found himself forced to go back to the best conversation starter he could think of.
"It seems your Pokémon is quite fond of you. My congratulations. Not many trainers manage to forge this strong a bond with their partners."

Val picked up Spry off of her shoulder and set him back down again. In response to the Togepi's confused offer to handshake the Goomy, Spry turned sideways to use an antenna to shake her nub with. It wasn't so much as a shake, more like a touch, considering neither pokemon hand fingers.

"Oh, good, you noticed." Val said simply. "This Goomy and I had quite a past that made us bond this way. Ever since then, I always kept him by my side." she bent down and patted Spry, who jiggled with happiness.

Suddenly the girl responded, taking the gentleman by surprise.
It took a moment for him to regain his composure before he could respond:
"Oh, I am a Friendship Rater. It's my profession to notice things like that. Sadly one also tends to see...less pleasant relationships in this field of work to use the polite phrasing. At times it's making me want to petition for a sort of trainer license. Meaning that one would have to pass a test before one would be allowed to become a trainer. But I fear such an idea might not be successful."
Indeed there also were trainers who didn't treat their Pokémon the way they deserved, even though Martin had no idea how one could act in a matter that would make a relationship go sour like this.

Upon hearing that, Val grabbed Spry and held him close to her face.
"How could anybody abuse these dear things? Whether it's truly abuse or not, I agree with you. Although licenses could be easily faked by people as bad as that..."
Spry's reaction to this sudden act was only to nom her cheek with closed and happy eyes.

Having a lifelong profession as a Friendship Rater was rather curious... Useful, of course, and it also gave him a place in society. The concern with how other people are treating their pokemon hadn't been shaken in Val until now. She always wanted to protect pokemon... But she never thought of it this way before.

"If only I knew. But I only know that there have been quite a few cases of less than pleasant relationships. And yes, it would definitely lead to faking, but I believe it would stop at least a few cases of maltreatment."
Sera meanwhile had not listened to the conversation at all, instead simply happily running around between the two trainers. It probably was for the better, considering that Sera herself had only found her way to Martin by means of being left behind by an abusive trainer. Just how cruel could a human being be?

"Maybe some people don't even know they're doing it when they are..."
Sometimes it's not even that trainers hurt their pokemon for the fun of it. Sometimes it's when they're angry and don't know how to express their anger. Sometimes it's because of poor-sportsmanship. Sometimes, it's because the trainers don't know their own strength. But fortunately, most pokemon can evolve. When they do, they have a chance to fight back.

Spry was watching Sera dash around on her stubby little legs, and he, too wanted to join in on the fun little chase. He slimed with effort and might to catch up with her, which was kind of pointless considering he had no legs. It was still fun to him, though, even if the Togepi could pass him.

"It truly is a depressing topic, isn't it? Evolved Pokémon usually are able to fight back, but given enough abuse they tend to believe for them to still be too weak even in their evolved forms and never try. There's far too much violence in this world. That's why Sera and I don't fight unless someone's wellbeing is at stake."
Now this would be interesting. How would this girl react to Martin's pacifism? Most likely she would disagree just like so many other trainers. However this girl had acted so strangely thus far, that she might very well actually think about the situation and understand where he was coming from.

"Indeed... Maybe we can do less chatting sometime and take more action..."
Valka looked back down at Spry, who was gooing around happily. She loved the darling thing, and was glad it fell into her own caring arms rather than someone else's. Val was kind of surprised that this person argued with a Pokemon at all, but there can be several different kinds. Just like herself, the Goomy was raised to be obedient. There only were certain instances where his excitement would overpower his listening skills.

The dragon trainer, who was raised to agree with her parents, strangely enough had thoughts of her own. It must be the rebellious stage finally getting to her. But all the alternate thoughts were rather good. She was somewhat against changing Pokemon from how they naturally appear, and was against violence. At least the places she disagreed on were good.

"However this opens up another issue. Where would one draw the line? It would need to be carefully defined, what kinds of treatment would be abusive and which wouldn't. Also taking action would most likely involve rather...let's call them impolite means. It truly is a difficult subject, sad as it may be."
This girl had an interesting personality to her. She was very quiet to the point of awkwardness, but when she then finally started talking, she seemed to have a rather mature mindset. The four of them were quite alike it seemed. The other trainer and Martin both seemed to hold smiliar views while their Pokémon were busy running around and befriending everyone they could find.
Odd pairs they were.

Valka simply sighed in response. She didn't feel like talking anymore. Instead she set herself down again and placed Goomy on her lap, stroking his antennae he loved to be pet so much.
"So... Why ya here?"
She presumed it was to catch Pokemon, train maybe. In the past, she'd seen some really weird reasons for being in certain places.

Val began to daydream about all the dragons she could catch. The only place she should ever go to catch Pokemon was at the Dragon's Roost, but dragon egg group Pokemon technically counted as dragons, so she hoped to find some around somewhere.

"Oh, I've simply decided that I had been sitting around in Amicitia for too long. Being a Friendship Rater is quite the profession, but one doesn't really get around with it. And after I've met Sera we've decided to wander around Harmony to see the world for a bit. And what about you?"
Most trainers probably set out for quests like becoming the best or other things of that nature. However there could only ever be one best trainer by definition, meaning that many of them would either have to find a new goal or end up quite disappointed. Martin only had one thing he wanted to improve and that was the relationship to his Togepi. When the move Return would be able to deal 1-Hit KOs, then he would have succeeded. Not that he would ever find out whether that would be the case, being so adverse to combat after all.