"The voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

~Marcel Proust

The green and gold badge glimmered on the chest of his jacket in the dim sunlight filtered through the cloudy sky. It was a barely noticable difference but if you looked closely or just knew the boy well enough, you could tell he had his chest puffed out slightly in pride. The remnants of a smug grin of victory were also a sign of the same pride. It amused Touya to see his friend in such a mood. He could still remember when he had first won his first two gym badges and how excited he had felt over it, how big of a success it had felt like. All that before beating gyms had become a task he had no choice but to commit to. The memory warmed his heart pleasantly as they marched onwards on the path to Nimbasa.

"Have you decided on what path you want to follow now?"

Despite Kyouhei having been expecting Touya to speak up, he was slightly startled by the question. For a moment he stood still, sighing deeply, lost in thought. His dark brown eyes gazed at the sky. The sandstorm raging through the route was calmer today than usual so you didn't have to shield your face from it constantly. All in all it was a pleasant day to walk through Route 4. Yet Kyouhei's eevee groaned at the sun right upon experiencing it, hiding her head deep in the bag to avoid getting any on her silver fur.

"I think I might need more time", Kyouhei replied his smile faltering as he chewed on his lower lip in thought. "I'm proud of getting two badges so early on already but I'll need to try other options first before I can decide."

"Heh. Good choice", Touya replied with a smirk. "Anything in particular you want to try? Nimbasa has plenty of career options to try out."

"And also a lot of fun stuff to do", Kyouhei laughed out. "I think I want to have some fun first. I want to go to the amusement park."

"Ever been there before?"

"Yeah, since my mom used to work there in a Pokemon Center but it's changed a lot from back then from what I've heard."

A small chuckle escaped Touya's lips and a small, melancholic smile appeared on his face. Things sure were changing around the region. You'd think it would have been longer than just two years since the whole mess with Team Plasma if you didn't know any better. Unova looked so much different from back then nowadays. Even this very Route.

"Do you want to visit the ruins or the Desert Resort before we head out to Nimbasa?" Touya asked, noticing how much Kyouhei was looking around in the sandy area. They'd inevitably walk through the ruins but you could always stray slightly from the path to walk amongst the shambled walls and grumbling structures of an ancient town. Kyouhei seemed fascinated by these remnants of history long past. This surprised Touya slightly. The kid sure didn't seem like the type to be a history nerd. To check if his assumption was correct, he quickly added:

"It's Thursday, right? Small flocks of mandibuzz visit the area this time of the week."

Immediately the smaller trainer's eyes lit up with excitement. Hah. Called it.

"I was thinking of asking you what kind of pokemon live around here", Kyouhei said. "What kind of a pokemon is mandibuzz? Is it special?"

"You have a pokedex, don't you?" Touya joked. "Mandibuzz is a dark- and flying-type pokemon. A really mean looking one at that, to put it short. I guess they're somewhat special since only female mandibuzz' have ever been witnessed."

"...do you think I could catch one?"

"It'll be tough since they tend to be really strong but you definitely won't catch one if you don't try."

Just as Touya finished his sentence, a huge shadow flew across them and off into the distance, deeper into the ruins. While Kyouhei flinched at the suddenness of it, Touya immediately looked up with a smirk to see the pokemon that flew above their heads.

"That must be one of the-"

The sentence was cut off short. Kyouhei frowned slightly in confusion and glanced at the former champion only to see a hugely surprised look on the slightly tanned face.

"Huh. That's strange. It's definitely not a mandibuzz."

Looking to the direction of his mentor's eyes, Kyouhei soon spotted the pokemon in question. It was sitting on top of one of the old, crumbling huts and appeared to be shaking off sand from its large wings. The effort was useless in the middle of the sandstorm, of course, and the creature soon realized that and simply folded its wings around itself. The sandstorm, although mild that day, made it difficult for Kyouhei to see the bird properly from the distance but as he approached it, he could spot more details. The pokemon had its back covered in long, red feathers along with its wings while its chest, belly and the underside of the wings and its neck were covered in fluffier,nearly black feathers. A long and ferocious beak opened slightly as the creature groomed itself, the head covered and surrounded by puffy tuffs of white feathers, almost like a mane of sorts. The sharp talons had a firm grip on where the pokemon was sitting. Just the sheer size of the flying-type sent shivers down Kyouhei's back.

"It's a braviary."

Thankful for Touya responding to the question plaqueing his mind, Kyouhei sighed and chewed on his lower lip for a moment. One thing was sure – Touya must have not been joking about the strength of that pokemon. It really did seem strong, almost prideful to be so.

"...should I give it a shot?"

"Go right ahead", Touya encouraged, patting his student's back."Even if you don't manage to catch it, it's certainly worth the experience. Plus I have tons of potions in my bag in case your pokemon get hurt."

Kyouhei gave the older trainer a quick, thankful smile before taking a deep breath and stepping forward, facing the pokemon. Noticing the rookie at last, the braviary turned its head towards the trainer below him in the sand and slightly tilted its head in curiosity. Kyouhei traced his fingers over the pokeballs on his belt in thought, merely eyeing the creature up and down. From closer up the flying-type didn't seem quite as threatening, the white mane of fluffy feathers even managing to make it look slightly goofy.

"It's both normal- and flying-type", Touya advised. "So I wouldn't send out a sewaddle."

Kyouhei hummed to himself, finger now grasping at the pokeball with his tepig inside. With slow movements not to scare off the bird he called out his starter with a bright flash. The tepig let out a cheerful squeal upon being summoned once again and immediately looked around in glee. This glee soon turned into a look of confusion as the sand blowing on his face made him frown. The fire-type groaned slightly and lifted up his foot to his face in an attempt to shield it from the sandstorm.

"Don't worry about it, tepig", Kyouhei reassured. "I know it's uncomfortable but I need your help."

Almost as if realizing that it was being challenged, the braviary cried out loudly and spreaded its wings. In a matter of second it landed its talons on the sandy ground right before Kyouhei and tepig, making the duo back away slightly to avoid being scratched by the sharp claws. For a moment all three remained still and observed each other intensely.

Kyouhei was the first to move and break the awkward silence.

"Tepig, use Flame Charge!"

A bright flash of fire brusted from tepig's nostrils and he tossed his head back in a fast motion, coating his entire body with the flames in a matter of seconds. Having done that, it charged determinedly forward towards the braviary. A small battle cry of the fire-type filled the air only to soon be cut off by a flap of large wings. The braviary rose up slightly from the ground, avoiding the attack with ease. Tepig ran past the creature from right below it and quickly turned around to look at his trainer in confusion.

"It's faster than you", Kyouhei cursed quietly. "Keep going! Charge its back while it's facing away!"

With a fast nod, tepig dashed once more. Or at least attempted to. The quick turnaround was slightly too fast for its feet to keep up in the unstable footing of the sand, making the fire-type fall over to its side. The braviary watched silently, flapping its wings once more to get higher up away from its opponent. The gust from its wings threw some more sand at the tepig, making it growl in frustration. Kyouhei gritted his teeth and concentrated, looking for an opening in the braviary's behavior. Thankfully the flying-type had yet to attack.

"It's okay, tepig! Are you hurt?"

The small, orange creature shook his head and shook the sand off of its fur. He then hesitantly got up, feet looking for a firmer stance.

"Try Ember!"

A short snort caused another burst of flames to appear from tepig's snout, this time forming a small ball of fire that the tepig quickly flicked towards his opponent with a firm push. This time it was almost like the flying-type experimentally let the attack hit itself, staying completely still until the fireball hit its chest. It let out an unhappy croak and flapped its wings once more. Having gotten high enough, the braviary turned its head towards the tepig on the ground and dove towards him. And fast.

The tepig nor its trainer had time to react before the attack hit it target. Tepig was sent flying ahead by the sheer force of the Wing Attack, almost hitting against one of the walls of the nearby huts. Kyouhei gasped in terror and instinctively dashed towards his starter.

"Tepig!" he called out as the braviary simply landed back on the spot it had stood on at the beginning of the battle, almost as if waiting. Waiting for its opponent to try again. Touya eyed the flying-type curiously from afar, reminded of his own swanna by the demeanor of the pokemon. Before Kyouhei had time to kneel down to check tepig for injuries, the fire-type already got to his feet gritting his teeth. Kyouhei flinched at the sheer determination in tepig's eyes and watched as he snorted an angry burst of flames from his snout.

"Are you sure you can go on?"

A nod. Kyouhei quickly checked the tepigs body with his eyes before moving aside and turning towards the braviary once more.

"Okay... since he's fast and strong, we might need to change our approach", the rookie muttered to himself. "...tepig, do Flame Charge at braviary and wait for my mark!"

The braviary seemed unimpressed by the repeating fighting patterns and for a second Touya was certain he could see the creature yawn. A flap of wings and the flying-type was off the ground again. The tepig kept on running towards it, however.

"Jump!"

Following his trainer's orders, tepig jumped up, the speed from his dash giving him just the boost he needed to land a succesful hit on the braviary. The bird screeched in displeasure. As tepig landed back on the sandy ground behind the pokemon, the braviary flapped its wings and prepared to strike the rude rascal that had dared humiliate it in such a way. Just as it was about to attack, Kyouhei opened his mouth.

"Now Defense Curl! Quick!"

The braviary dove towards the smaller pokemon again, this time talons first and striking the creature furiously with its sharp claws. Tepig remained still and curled up into a ball to shield his face from the attacker, yet letting out a small, helpless yelp upon the contact of the talons. It still hurt, though at least not as much as it could have. Noticing that its victim was unmoving, the braviary screamed in frustration and annoyance. It flapped its wings furiously a few more times in an attempt to make the tepig move and as it failed, it dug its claws into the fire-type's fur and lifted it off the ground.

"...shit! Tepig, get away from there! Ember!"

Uncurling from the ball position at last, the tepig panicked slightly as he noticed that there was no longer ground under his feet. Kyouhei's voice comforted him slightly, just enough to have him take a deep breath and look up at the braviary.

The fireball hit the underside of the birds left wing, making it instinctively let go of the fire-type to try and escape the heat. As soon as the tepig landed on the sand again, Kyouhei dashed to check up on him with worry in his eyes.

"Are you okay, buddy?" he asked quickly, but the tepig paid no attention to him. His dark brown eyes were intensely focused on the opponent that was now screeching in annoyance and glaring daggers at the smaller pokemon. A tiny, almost chuckle-like noise escaped tepig's mouth an with that... he bursted into flames all over. Kyouhei practically jumped further away from his starter, landing butt first on the sand. His worry-filled eyes were now filled with something else as well. Awe.

"...tepig?"

Since his eyes were so fixated on the sight of his starter aflame, he flinched as he felt Touya's hand on his shoulder. A glance at the former champion was enough to have him sigh in relief. The older one was smiling.

"...is that some kind of attack I don't know?" the rookie asked quietly.

"No", Touya replied. "He's evolving."

As the two pairs of brown eyes watched, the burning figure in front of them started growing in size. The figure also seemed to stand up on its hind legs, forelegs moving to what seemed like a flexing pose. For a solitary second a pair of eyes seemed to shine bright through the flames with a concentrated look on them. Before the cloak of flames even faded to reveal the tepig's new form, the tepig, now a pignite, dashed forwards towards the braviary now with much greater speed than as a tepig. The flying-type barely had time to react, not even managing to move out of the way as the pignite charged it and then started punching it with intense speed. One punch. Second. Third. Fourth. After the fifth one the pignite stopped to roll further away from the braviary, glancing at his stunned trainer with a victorious grin.

"...he's-", Kyouhei began but was immediately interrupted by Touya.

"Stay focused. Yes, he's stronger now attack-wise, but he's now also a part fighting-type pokemon, so he's weak against flying-type attacks."

A quick nod. Kyouhei shook his confusion off and out of his head and clenched his hands into fists.

"O-okay then, te- ...pignite. Ember!"

To Kyouhei's horror, the furious bird was faster once again. Not even bothering to rise properly to its wings, braviary let out an angry battle cry and flew low, talons nearly gracing the sand, right at the pignite. The strike from the wing didn't send the fire-type flying this time, merely knocking him over in the sand. Pignite yelled in both pain and frustration, attempting to rise back to his feet only to be striken back down by another ruthless Wing Attack. Kyouhei could feel every cry that left pignite's mouth aching in his own body in sympathy. It didn't take long until he could no longer take the show, noticing that pignite wasn't getting up.

"That's enough! Get lost!" he called out to the braviary who merely ignored his pleas. Furious, Kyouhei stomped to his starter and shooed the bird away with his hand. "I said get lost! You won!"

Touya watched the ordeal from afar with slight concern, almost freezing in horror as the younger boy approached the still raging bird. Those talons were sharp and could do some serious damage on Kyouhei if he intervened. He was just about to run to Kyouhei, to stop him from going closer, when the braviary let out one final frustrated scream and flied off into the distance.

Luckily the pignite didn't seem to be in too bad a shape, merely seeming tired from the battle and the evolution and getting a couple nasty looking scratches and bruises from the assault. Yet Kyouhei seemed devastated by the damage. Even when Touya had offered to help spray the potion on the injuries, Kyouhei had refused, claiming that because it was his pokemon he had to take full responsibility himself. So Touya merely sat back, leaning against the wall of the ruins of a hut that they had taken refuge in for the time being. The brown eyes observed the rookie's handiwork closely. Kyouhei's every movement seemed gentle and calculated, even soothing, as he caressed the pignite's body for any sore spots. Despite how clearly he was upset by the loss of the battle, his gentle smile never faltered as he cared for his pokemon. He was even giving the fire-type reassuring words, saying things like "you did great", "I'm so proud of you" and "we'll get stronger together". The pignite didn't respond much, seemingly a little embarrassed for having lost. It was an enchanting sight to behold and for the longest time Touya didn't even dare interrupt. There was something... familiar with the way Kyouhei was caring for the pignite. Painfully so. Without realizing, Touya found himself staring at Kyouhei's lips for the longest time. ...was he only imagining it or was the shape of the boys lips similar to N's as well? Would they taste the same...?

"There we go, boy. That's all of them. I think. Are you still hurting?"

The pignite squealed happily and pushed its snout against Kyouhei's neck, happily snuggling it. The rookie laughed out in relief and petted his starter's back.

"I take that as a no. Do you want to get back in the ball?"

A nod. Kyouhei took the pignite's pokeball off his belt and called the fire-type back inside of it, letting out a deep sigh as soon as the pokemon was secured within.

"I screwed up, didn't I?"

As Kyouhei stood up and turned towards his mentor, he couldn't help but feel ashamed. He didn't look up at the older trainer at first. Not until he felt like the brown eyes were melting a hole through his entire being. And the second he lifted his gaze and his eyes met with Touya's, he couldn't help but freeze himself. Had the former champion been staring at him the entire time? And what was that look in his eyes? It seemed... almost angry. It took a couple minutes until Kyouhei finally cleared his throat awkwardly, snapping Touya out of his thoughts.

"O-oh. Sorry, I got lost in thought for a second", Touya laughed out in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his neck. "What were you saying?"

"Uhm... nothing important. I guess. I mean... do you think I fucked that up?"

The look on the former champion's face immediately softened.

"You did great. Isn't your pokemon evolving proof enough for you? The fact that you lost doesn't mean you failed. You still got experience."

A shy smile creeped on Kyouhei's face along with a slight blush.

"Thanks."

"Hey, what am I here for if not to help you out?"

There was an awkward pause during which neither of the boys said a thing. Neither of them dared to look at the other, either. There was something heavy in the atmosphere. Something unspoken. Kyouhei felt the pressure of the atmosphere on his chest and was just about to open his mouth and speak his mind when the eevee in his bag sneezed loudly. After a short silence Touya couldn't help but chuckle at the sound.

"We should get going before the little princess gets more sand in her nose."

"Yeah. That would be for the best."

"Oh, that's a pity. And here I was hoping I could have a quick chat with you."

That voice was eerily familiar. Kyouhei froze right where he was standing and merely watched from there as the figure of a blonde scientist moved to the doorway of the hut. Noticing the distressed look, Touya frowned. It was that guy he had seen with Kyouhei in the park in Nacrene. Kyouhei hadn't said much about what exactly had happened with the man aside from "he tried to catch my eevee" but it was clear to him that the rookie was not comfortable around him. Taking a deep breath, Touya moved in between the two and folded his arms, eyes measuring the slender male.

"What business do you have with Kyo?"

Colress chuckled lightly at the sight of Touya attempting to look threatening, offering his hand to the brunet.

"Ah, right. I don't think you got my name the last time we bumped into each other. Name's Colress. It's a pleasure to meet you, champion."

No response. Touya's hands didn't budge an inch from the folded position. Colress' smile faltered slightly in annoyance. He decided to ignore the older male, simply turning towards the smaller one. Kyouhei immediately gripped at his bag more tightly.

"I saw you battle the braviary just now", Colress complimented. "You put up a good fight for a beginner. I think you have great potential."

More silence. Colress' smile disappeared completely and he sighed deeply.

"Look, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I came off as far more intrusive than I should have. As a scientist though I simply can't resist the temptation of a rare specimen, you know", he explained in a slow and calm tone of voice, golden eyes looking directly into Kyouhei's dark brown ones. "It was all just a huge misunderstanding. I'm sure we can put that behind us and start anew."

"Look, dude. If Kyo is ready to hang out with your creepy ass, I'm sure he'll come around to you", Touya stated firmly in a voice that even sent chills down Kyouhei's spine. It was calm yet absolutely freezing. Sub zero, even. Colress, however, seemed unimpressed so Touya stepped up his act. He turned to look straight into the blond's sharp, golden eyes. "As you said yourself, it's a pity but we're leaving anyway. We have things to do and places to go."

"I do believe I was talking to... Kyo, was it? And not you", Colress replied, lifting his brow in slight amusement. "You might have been the champion before but since you no longer are, you have little to no power over others. What's the deal with that anyway? Why throw such power such... influence away like yesterday's trash?"

Touya shrugged.

"I value my privacy. As does my friend here. We're going now so see ya."

Having said that the older teen grabbed Kyouhei's hand and led him past Colress and out of the hut, back into the sandstorm.

A/N: Heya! Been a while again, hasn't it? Sorry for the long wait, had a bit of a long writer's block as well as huge personal issues. Luckily my personal life is finally starting to settle down. I have a new apartment that's all mine and for me alone and I love it to bits. My dog lives with me and is happy and calm here and I get to meet my friends in the city more often.

So yeah. I know this chapter isn't my strongest text but I need to warm up a little to learn how to write about these two little oddballs again since it's been so long. Thankfully the important stuff doesn't start happening until after Driftveil so I still have time to figure this out. I was meant to write the battle against Burgh at first but I figured I'd skip it because the whole concept of the battle seemed to be causing me the worst writer's block.

Anyway, until next time! I swear this time I'll update sooner than a year after!