One Step Forward

[Huginn]

She couldn't believe it, she really couldn't believe it. It was still so difficult to wrap her head around it. The build-up of excitement in her chest, the fact that she was holding an actual Trainer's license... It was all as if she was participating in some kind of dream.

She shook her head and Zazolai patted her on the cheek, the pair of them trying to fully awaken to the idea that Cadence was now fully considered a Trainer. She had spoken with her parents before she had left. Mom had congratulated her and wished her the best of luck. Dad had turned away, trying to hide his tears of pride, then smiled at her, stating aloud to her just how proud of her he was. Then she left, taking all of the supplies she could possibly need - as well as her starting pack - along with her in her backpack. Her excitement  was mounting and her pleasant mood soaring ever higher into the vicinities of glee.

Now, in the present, as she walked along the worn-down path of Route One, she shoved her Trainer's license in her jacket pocket and unclipped her new Pokémon's Pokéball from her belt (a specially designed one that her mother had gifted her with that very morning). She released her new companion with a press of the Pokéball's button. The flare of light that accompanied the release of the Pokémon vanished within seconds, revealing the Axew who immediately gave his surroundings a quick sweeping look, and then he looked up at Cadence. "Are we... on Route One?" His voice trembled with pent-up emotion.

"Yup," Cadence replied, smiling. "We're on Route One."

"Awesome," he breathed. He bounced a little on the balls of his feet, his eyes shining with excitement, and then cleared his throat, composing his expression.

"I thought we should walk together, being that this will be our first small step towards our bigger journey," Cadence said.

The Axew dipped his head in agreement and fell into step beside his new Trainer, surveying their surroundings as they walked.

"I was thinking, how does the name Gail sound to you? I wouldn't want to keep calling you Axew, after all." Cadence glanced down at the Dragon-type, catching his thoughtful look.

"Gail... I like it, it sounds fitting." He nodded.

Cadence tried to suppress a sigh of relief. Good, he liked the name. She'd been worried that he wouldn't. "I'm glad you like it. You know, it means 'calm'."

'Calm', hm? That definitely fit; the calm dragon to fight and hone his prowess beside his new Trainer. He clenched his fists in determination. From here on out, he'd make sure to do his best as her new partner!

[Birdybot]

A grey shape shot past Cadence, flying so low it almost clipped her. It was fast, quickly darting higher into the route's patchy covering of foliage. It could still be seen crossing the larger gaps between trees from time to time, but was getting further and harder to follow as it wove a convoluted path.

About a minute later, a shout came from up ahead. Along the path came running a Budew, his stubby legs not allowing him much in the way of speed. His sprint looked precarious, as though he might overbalance and topple over at any moment, but his desperation kept him going somehow. When he saw Cadence, opportunity flashed through his mind and he called out to Zazolai, knowing the dæmon would be able to translate for his human. "Trainer! Hey, trainer! Can you help me?" he could see she had a Pokémon with her, an Axew, so it was blatant she must be one of those new trainers fresh out the lab.

Looking around, he saw he could no longer see what he was running after. Slowing to a halt in front of Cadence, he panted heavily and stared at up at the trees in the direction the grey shape had flown earlier. He looked deeply upset. There was desperation in his expression, and determination, and he was trying hard not to cry. "COME BACK, YOU STUPID BULLY!" he bellowed after the disappeared grey shape, then looked up pleadingly at Cadence. "Please, please will you help me? Pidove thinks it's funny to take my things, she's mean and I hate her. She stole the pretty necklace I made for my mum. Can you help me find her and get my stuff back?" he asked. He was quite young, inexperienced in dealing with problems himself and unsure what to do in these situations.

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[Huginn]

A blur of grey swooped low over Cadence's head. Automatically, she ducked to avoid it. Zazolai hunkered down on her shoulder, turning his head to follow the progress of the fast moving figure. It was so swift that he lost sight of it as Cadence twirled to face the direction it had plunged.

A hint of a confused frown graced Gail's expression as he too attempted to follow the progress of the grey blur. However, before a single action could be taken between the trio, a shout rang out and they looked back along the path they had been traveling.

A small green Pokémon was unsteadily approaching them, sprinting as fast as his little stubby legs could allow. Quietly and quickly, Zazolai translated the Pokémon's call. However, already - prior to his translation - Cadence could tell something was wrong. The Pokémon, she recognized to be a Budew looked desperate. It was written all over the way the Grass-type pushed himself forward, refusing to give in to the stumbling, precarious manner of his steps. Zazolai told her he was asking for help.

The Budew halted near them, gasping for breath.

"What's happened?" she said, her brows creasing in worry. It looked like the poor guy was close to tears. However, her words were lost beneath his angry outburst, directed at the grey shape she had seen rush past them previously, she assumed. It was soon revealed that that was indeed the case and immediately, she felt a pang of empathy for the little Grass-type.

She glanced down at Gail, who nodded. He knew what she was going to say, and he agreed with it. They should help.

"Of course we'll help," she said, looking back down at the Budew.

Gail turned, trying to catch sight of the swift-moving thief. "She moves fast. We better move quickly, if we are to catch her," he said.

[Birdybot]

Budew was happy Cadence agreed to help him, but still too upset about his necklace to perk up completely. "Thank you so much!" he said, remembering his manners. He nodded to Gail. "Yes, she does. I can't always move quickly, so if you need to run feel free to pick me up and carry me," he told Cadence, looking pointedly as his stubby little legs. Once he evolved, he knew he would be graceful and potentially quite speedy, but in his awkward chunky younger form, he lacked all that. The strength and grace would come in time.

With that he toddled off in the direction the grey blur had gone, trusting the other three to follow. He stared up at the trees, eyes carefully scouring the leaves for any sign of the culprit. After a few minutes he started jumping up and down, pointing the bud on top of his head toward the branches of a tree some way to the left. "There she is! In the branches, see? She's just flown off towards us!"

A Pidove had been perched where his sharp eyes had seen her. Once he had noticed her, she had taken off, swooping closer. She dove into the leaves of another closer tree, which rustled for a while before falling still. Budew began to run over. "Pidove, come down and face us! Give me back my necklace!"