(Owen walked with a spring in his step, tail flame blazing with his joy.)
(The caverns that he lived in had no sunlight, but the mushrooms that lined the rocky walls and ceilings glowed a natural sky blue.)
(Not that it mattered; complete darkness was a foreign concept to Charmander.)
(The central cavern was a stone's throw in width, with many smaller offshoots.)
(Other villagers made their homes in these rocky caves, mostly Fire Pokémon like himself.)
(In that sense, his adoptive mother was an exception to the population, though she could deal with the heat like any other Fire could.)
???: "Oh, Owen!"
(Owen stopped, spotting a large Arcanine bounding over to him.)
Owen: "Hi, Granny Arcanine!"
Arcanine: "Oh, hush, I'm not that old. Auntie Arcanine is just fine."
(Despite this, she smiled, passing a small bag of apples over.)
Arcanine: "You're going on a little mock expedition, are you? I gathered these up just for you."
Owen: "Aw, thanks!"
(Owen graciously took them, counting them for inventory, and slipped them into his pouch.)
Arcanine: "I figured it would save you the trouble of going by the apple garden yourself."
(Arcanine said, fluffy tail wagging.)
Arcanine: "It's not fair, but you're a busy Heart, aren't you?"
Owen: "Well, I'm not a Heart yet."
(Owen said, though his flame and chest both expanded at the thought.)
Owen: "Just wait! This time, I'll get it!"
Arcanine: "Ohh, your eyes are so bright."
(She laughed, waving him off.)
(Owen left at a full sprint, too full of energy to go any slower, and only looked back to wave her goodbye.)
(The passage narrowed until it was only a reminder to Owen that, one day, he'd have to be more careful about how he walked through it.)
(When he became a Charizard, he'd have to keep to one side so he didn't take up the entryway.)
(Though, now that he thought about it, he didn't see a lot of other villagers pass through this area.)
(They usually kept to themselves—it was a secret location, after all, which made it even cooler.)
(Owen stopped at what appeared to be a dead-end of the caves.)
(He hopped onto a small, flat square on the ground. Nothing happened.)
Owen: "Oh, come on."
(Owen stepped off the tile, swung his arms back, and hopped onto it, putting his full weight behind the jump.)
(The tile depressed a little.)
(Nothing happened.)
(He used to open this so easily.)
(Did he lose weight? Muscle weighed more than fat.)
(Owen worriedly pinched at his gut, wondering if his chubby Charizard traits were coming.)
(But it felt normal.)
(The lightweight Charmander scanned the ground and found a large rock.)
(That'll do.)
(He hauled it over with him and jumped onto the tile again.)
(Click....)
(The dead-end glowed a bright cyan, much like the glassy mushrooms.)
(The blockage, a huge boulder, rolled aside, revealing the bright sky.)
(Owen squinted, reptilian pupils narrowing until he could finally adjust to the new normal.)
(He emerged to the base of a rocky hillside behind him; green fields of grass as tall as he was greeted him ahead.)
(To his left and right was a simple dirt path, carved by traveling Pokémon.)
(Owen headed to the left, knowing that it would be a quick walk to get to Kilo Mountain.)
(It was a little raised hill in the distance from his perspective, but that was a whole mountain of black rock.)
(The ground rumbled, the boulder that had led to the opening of his hidden village rolling back into place.)
(Just a mundane boulder, perfectly hidden.)
(A short, quiet walk later, with the summer breeze tickling his flame, Owen stopped where the dirt road converged with many others.)
(Embedded into the ground was a flat, silvery hexagon with a few dim lights lining the sides.)
(The lights weren't very bright in the morning sun—it was mostly for visibility at night.)
(Instead, it made for a colorful, intricate pattern that, from what Owen had read, was meant to be aesthetically pleasing, and had little other functional value.)
(This was a Waypoint—a warp pad between different parts of the world.)
(In most cases, like this one, it headed right for the capital of the world—Kilo Village.)
(It was an old name that never got updated.)
(Owen stepped onto the Waypoint and gently tapped his ankle on the tile.)
(In a flash, he disappeared.)
(It hadn't felt like anything but a blink, yet in that blink, he went from staring at Kilo Mountain from far away to standing in the mountain's caldera, within Kilo Village itself, nestled in the mountain's extinct top.)
(Owen puffed out a small ember in satisfaction.)
(He adjusted his bag and ignored the odds looks he got from nearby citizens.)
(Compared to other Charmander, Owen had 'strong feral genes.')
(His lizard face was more pronounced and the whites of his eyes weren't as visible unless he widened them.)
(His stance was a little hunched and he could run on all fours if he had to go fast.)
(It unnerved people, thinking he was some wild Pokémon... but he wasn't! His biological parents just... probably had more feral traits or something!)
{'Welcome to Kilo Village!'}
(greeted a sign in the middle of town.)
(People didn't usually enter the village from the caldera; they used Waypoints.)
(The buildings that surrounded him were no more than two stories tall.)
(Oblong rocks bound by mortar shaped the buildings near the center of town—the oldest buildings of the crater, modernized with new, cutting-edge technology that Owen couldn't begin to comprehend, like screens made of glass and light that could display different things without ink.)
(These modernized buildings were not homes.)
(Instead, it served as a hospital for rescued and injured Pokémon.)
(Owen spotted a Chansey through windows of wood and glass, holding a few soft-boiled eggs in her tiny arms.)
(A Miltank was carrying a large jug of milk in the opposite direction.)
(Owen decided not to think too hard about it.)
(The northern side of the crater was dedicated to Dungeon items and equipment.)
(West was for training—Owen frequented there a lot—and he was often the first to volunteer for more experimental training techniques.)
(Even if his memories were fuzzy if he got too beat up.)
(Probably nothing to worry about.)
(The east was dedicated to eateries and restaurants for Pokémon that were either preparing for a mission or returning from one.)
(Sweet and savory scents mixed in the air and the jovial energy of a job well done permeated the atmosphere.)
(If it wasn't for the price, Owen would have eaten there every night.)
[To Be Continued...]