(Owen then glanced longingly at the southern part of town.)
(The Thousand Hearts.)
(The main building was a big, red, heart-shaped structure, with many smaller hearts scattered around: kiosks and special-purpose facilities.)
(Inside the biggest building was where all Hearts met for check-ins, assignments, and training.)
(Why a heart? Owen had no idea, though it might have something to do with their leader's personality.)
(All the sights and the bright sky lifted his spirits.)
(He couldn't ignore how nervous his parents were, and that dampened them slightly—but he figured that if he kept acting cheerful, maybe he'd be able to fool himself into truly feeling confident, too.)
(That feeling always nagged at him.)
(The idea that something wasn't right with anything he did.)
(Not that he did it incorrectly, but that something, in general, felt wrong.)
(Even now, it tugged at his mind.)
Zangoose: "Kid."
(he said.)
Zangoose: "you oughta get off the Waypoint."
Owen: "Sorry!"
(Owen scrambled away.)
Owen: "Okay. Okay, time to go. I need, uhh, what do my supplies look like?"
(He rummaged through his bag.)
Owen: "A-and I'm not a kid!"
(he shouted.)
Owen: "I'm just a late evolver!"
(He had two Oran Berries, two elixirs, some rations, those apples, a Pecha Berry, a Heal Seed, a Totter Orb, and—just in case—an Escape Orb.)
(That should be enough, hopefully.)
(No need to go to the shop to get anything.)
(He'd want at least one Reviver Seed, or even a tiny one just for the boost to escape from trouble, but he didn't have the funds for that sort of thing.)
(Oh! But what if they had a rare berry or two?)
???: "Kid. You're in the way."
Owen: "Sorry!"
(He stumbled.)
Owen: "Wait—I'm not a kid! I told you, I'm a late evolver! I'll have you know, I—uh—I, er..."
(He finally realized who he was talking to.)
(Not the Zangoose this time.)
(It was a Golem, a behemoth of a rocky sphere, staring down at him from his great height.)
(Defiantly, Owen puffed out his chest.)
(He was a full-grown adult! Or at least an adult! Lots of weaker Pokémon never evolved.)
(Sure, he had nightmares of being a wrinkly Charmander one day, but that wouldn't be him! He just happened to be strong and slow at evolution.)
(The Golem sighed and wobbled away.)
Golem: "Half-feral."
(he murmured.)
(Owen grunted and stomped down the street.)
Owen: "Kid… not a kid."
(muttered the certainly not-a-kid Charmander.)
Owen: "I'm just a little late. And maybe looking feral is an advantage! I bet I'm way stronger than even the average Charmeleon! Stronger than that Golem, too."
(Maybe not.)
(Owen mumbled more to himself, the rest incomprehensible, clutching his bag.)
Owen: "I didn't train with Dad for nothing."
(He hesitated on that line of thinking.)
Owen [in mind]: "What if he didn't evolve yet because he never got to train with a Charizard before? Could that happen? Is that how evolution worked?"
(Owen shook his head..)
Owen [in mind]: "No, adopted Pokémon weren't at some..."
(He bumped right into another patron.)
Owen: "Sorry! I'm sorry!"
???: "Ahh, it is not a problem."
(Owen saw an Alakazam whose mustache was large enough for Owen to walk on like a carpet.)
(Owen's gut twisted with a feeling he couldn't comprehend.)
(But then, he shoved that feeling away and instead tried to take in exactly who he was talking to.)
Owen: "Y...you're... you're...!"
(Owen's eyes sparkled.)
Owen: "Elite Heart Alakazam Nevren! Oh... oh, wow!"
Nevren: "Ahh, you've spotted me!"
(Nevren chuckled.)
(When he reached forward to shake Owen's hand, the spoon he'd been holding levitated in place until he grabbed it again.)
Nevren: "It's very nice to meet you."
(Owen tilted his head, confused.)
(Hadn't they met before? No, they hadn't.)
(He was just so well-known that he must have had that impression.)
(Nevren continued.)
Nevren: "Ahh, I see you have a Provisionary Heart Badge. Training to become one of the Thousand, are you? Quite a few open slots are coming up soon, you know. Sixteen official retirements."
Owen: "Sixteen?"
(Owen asked.)
Owen: "Wow! How come? Are... are some Pokémon not doing well?"
Nevren: "Ahh, no, no, it's nothing like that."
(Nevren said.)
Nevren: "These Pokémon are retiring on schedule. There will be a ceremony about that soon, you know. Perhaps you should attend and network with the others."
Owen: "But you're an Elite Heart."
(Owen said.)
Owen: "Do you think I'll be able to, um, get to that level?"
Nevren: "Well, surely with time, you can. Everybody begins at the Entry tier, of course. But, looking at you..."
(Owen felt a cold pit in his stomach at that analytical gaze.)
(Was he being judged, right there, by one of the most Elite Hearts in the whole world? There were only three Elite Hearts of the Thousand...)
(Nevren nodded.)
Nevren: "I see potential. Quite a bit!"
Owen: "Y'do?!"
(Owen said, worries gone instantly.)
Owen: "Wow! Okay! Then I'll do better!"
(Nevren nodded.)
Nevren: "In fact, why don't I give you a small gift?"
Owen: "What? A gift... from you?! Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Please! I'll treasure it!"
(Owen had no idea why Nevren would want to give him a gift so randomly.)
(But he wasn't going to question a freebie!)
Nevren: "Of course! Here, have this."
(A small stone appeared in his hand like magic.)
(It sparkled in the sun, but was mostly gray, like a shiny rock.)
Owen: "Cool!"
(Owen said politely.)
Owen: "What, uh, what's it do?"
(Rocks were a weakness of his.)
Nevren: "It is a special stone that protects Pokémon that have not yet fully evolved. It's called an Eviolite—and it will be useful if it is near your body. I, of course, have no use for it, but you certainly do."
Owen: "Oh! That means, so, when I get super strong, that's when I won't even need it."
(It was a constant reminder that he was a larva when he shouldn't have been.)
(But, at least now he had a boost.)
Owen: "That's the perfect item! Thank you!"
(Psychologically it was undoubtedly going to feed into some complex, Owen thought, but in terms of practicality? Priceless.)
(Nevren chuckled.)
Nevren: "Be sure to keep it with you!"
(He walked past Owen, and the Charmander was left puffing a little plume of confused smoke at the Alakazam.)
(Of course he'd keep it with him!)
(Completely forgetting about going to the shop, he headed south again to the Heart.)
(There, along the pathway, were many lines of warp tiles, each one with a label engraved on it.)
(They were Waypoints set up by explorers of the past in different regions of the world, meant for getting there instantly, rather than on foot or by wing.)
(The tiles were sorted alphabetically, so Owen walked a while until he found the 'W' section.)
Owen: "Western Crystal Cave, Western Wetlands, oh! Wooden Wilds! That's it, alright."
(Owen took a breath.)
Owen: "Tenth section. That's my goal."
(Before he had the chance to enter, someone bumped into him.)
Owen: "S-sorry! Again!"
(Owen said, a hint of irritability in his voice.)
(This place was too crowded.)
???: "Feh, quit standin'."
(A huge, orange jaw chittered in front of Owen, owned by a Trapinch.)
???: "Gahi, don't be rude."
(an Axew said just behind the Trapinch.)
(Right next to the Axew was a Chikorita, who rolled her eyes.)
(Owen's heart fluttered as if he'd seen old friends.)
(Yet, he didn't even know their names.)
(The Axew was the first to speak.)
Axew: "I'm sorry about Gahi."
(he said, motioning to the Trapinch.)
Axew: "We were on our way to do a little mission. Or, well, to find one."
Owen: "Oh, really? I was going to go exploring in the Wild Woodlands."
Gahi: "Y'mean the Wooden Wilds?"
(Gahi asked.)
Owen: "Yeah. That."
Gahi: "Heh, well, g'luck."
(Gahi said.)
Gahi: "Figure yeh ain't too experienced."
Owen: "I am too! I'm super strong! I just... didn't evolve yet."
Gahi: "Oh?"
(Gahi asked, his beady black eyes shining with interest.)
Gahi: "Well, that makes four o' us. Mispy, Demitri, 'n I all're late evolvers, but we're super tough!"
Owen: "Oh! Wait—late evolvers. Is that real?"
(Owen had just made up the term, but they used it, too.)
(Owen's tail-fire burned a bit brighter at the validation.)
Gahi: "Course it is!"
(Gahi said, stomping his tiny foot.)
Gahi: "Otherwise, I'd be a Flygon by now!"
Demitri: "And I'd be a Haxorus."
(Demitri said.)
Demitri: "Well, maybe just a Fraxure."
(He rubbed at his tusk, tending to a little nick on the right side.)
Mispy: "Meganium..."
(Mispy said, leaf drooping.)
(The three collectively sighed.)
Owen: "I know how you feel."
(Owen's tail drooped.)
Owen: "I've trained hard enough to become a Charizard already. I'm sure of it! But, it just never happened. It's so weird. Everybody else in my scales would've evolved by now, but..."
Demitri: "It's too bad."
(Demitri said.)
Demitri: "But, what can you do? We work with what we have, as Heart Entries."
(Owen's flame popped, flashing blue.)
Owen: "You're one of the Thousand?!"
Demitri: "Well, three."
(Demitri said.)
Demitri: "We're our own little team!"
Owen: "That's so cool! How'd you get in?"
Gahi: "Hard work."
(Gahi said.)
Demitri: "And."
(Demitri said.)
Demitri: "we got a good word in from our mentor, an Elite Heart."
Owen: "What? Who? Which one?"
(Owen asked.)
Demitri: "Lucario Rhys."
(Demitri said.)
(There was the smallest pause from Owen.)
(His enthusiasm dampened with a cold wash of... wrongness.)
(He knew the answer.)
(He knew these three were his students.)
(Trapinch Gahi, Axew Demitri, Chikorita Mispy.)
(It was obvious to him! But why?)
(No, don't look crazy. Not today.)
(He feigned a beaming expression.)
Owen: "He's so cool! He's the aura expert, right?"
Demitri: "Yeah."
(Demitri said.)
Demitri: "And he's super tough!"
Owen: "I already met Alakazam Nevren a little while ago! Those two are friends, right? Oh, can I meet... I mean."
(He stood straight.)
(Bowed. Stood straight again.)
Owen: "Um... I mean..."
Gahi: "Heh."
(Gahi said, amused.)
Gahi: "Maybe when yeh get stronger. 'Til then, we're gonna do our mission."
(He led the way to the main building.)
(Demitri followed, waving back in farewell.)
(Mispy gave Owen an apologetic smile and followed last.)
(Owen watched them with a tilted head.)
(Their entire conversation felt like one giant déjà vu.)
(No. Not again with this.)
(It was time to focus on the exploration.)
(Owen plastered a smile on his face and hoped his mood would follow.)
(The corridors of Dungeons were always so awkwardly narrow, made from raised ground nearby—in this case, of dirt and rock.)
(A strange gravity prevented him from climbing the walls, let alone flying over them if he ever sprouted wings.)
(Perhaps in his dreams he could.)
(The final Paras evaporated in front of Owen as if the flames had burned it away like tissue paper.)
(Owen knew it had just been ejected to the Dungeon entrance.)
(He'd lost count of how many he'd taken down.)
(He shouldn't have risked it through that nest, but they were all so weak that it was only a nuisance to him.)
[To Be Continued...]