A Fool's Dream

Terrance had prepared plenty of food and water for this long journey. On the first day, he had only managed to travel a little over ten kilometers before night fell.

For one thing, the roads were difficult to traverse; for another, his body couldn't withstand prolonged exercise.

When he was tired, he rested for a while; when he was hungry, he filled his stomach with Berries or dry rations. Fortunately, with Beautifly for company, he wasn't quite so lonely, and when he encountered danger, he had some help.

Terrance's destination was Slateport City, a large city and the closest one to Fallarbor Town. Even so, it was still a week's journey on foot.

Terrance wanted to go to Qishui City first to take the breeder examination. Although Qishui City was also in the Hoenn Region, it was far too distant from where he was. It would take months to get there on foot, and besides, there was no way Terrance could cross the ocean by walking.

So the port of Slateport City was a place Terrance had to go.

Taking a ship was the fastest way for him to reach Qishui City.

Walking was monotonous, especially out in the wild, where he faced unpredictable weather and dangers that could strike at any moment. But Terrance had made it through it all.

Without a trainer's license, he couldn't stay at a Pokémon Center even when he reached a populated area. As for inns, his meager savings simply wouldn't allow it.

That money was all set aside for the breeder examination. Terrance couldn't afford to waste it.

"Splash."

Passing a lake, Terrance filled his waterskin and hastily drank from it.

"Hehe." Wiping the water from his mouth, Terrance smiled. After several days of travel, he was finally close to Slateport City.

It was Terrance's first long journey away from home, and he had found it somewhat difficult to adjust. Fortunately, he had made it through and was now used to the experience.

Along the way, Terrance occasionally picked a few brightly colored wild fruits. This wasn't to stave off hunger. If processed, these things could be quite beneficial to certain Pokémon, and with enough preparation, they could be sold for a little money. That was very important to Terrance.

Besides working at a Pokémon Day Care, a breeder would probably do things like this too.

Flutter, flutter...

Several Taillow flew over and attacked Beautifly, who was perched on Terrance's shoulder. Terrance was already used to this sort of thing. Taillow and Wurmple were natural enemies, and even after Wurmple evolved, that didn't change.

If the two Pokémon were on opposing sides, a situation like this could easily lead to a fight. Only if they were both caught and guided by their trainers could relations between them improve a little.

The tips of the four approaching Taillow's beaks glowed white as they flew toward Beautifly and Terrance. They were using Peck, a very basic move. Without thinking much of it, Terrance ordered Beautifly to defend them.

Beautifly blew out a Silver Wind swirling with Stun Spore, stopping the four Taillow in their tracks. The difference in their levels was too great. Seeing the Taillow flapping their wings weakly, Terrance and Beautifly didn't linger and left at once.

Taillow didn't know when to give up. If Terrance and Beautifly stayed, they would face a never-ending assault.

"Nice work, Beautifly."

After hurrying onto another fork in the path, Terrance praised Beautifly. Over the past few days, Beautifly had helped him a great deal, especially with String Shot, which had gotten Terrance out of trouble many times.

"Mmm~"

Beautifly gave a gentle cry, seemingly pleased by Terrance's praise.

"Let's keep going." Brushing the dust off himself, Terrance felt that Slateport City wasn't far away. To tell the truth, he really wanted a big meal right now. It didn't need to be anything fancy; a hot meal would be enough.

After spending days chewing on dry rations and Berries, Terrance was getting tired of them. He somewhat regretted not bringing cooking utensils.

"Strange. What's an Electrike doing here...?"

Suddenly, a puppy-shaped Pokémon appeared in Terrance's field of vision. With its greenish body and the yellow markings on its face, it was clearly an Electrike.

Looking at the Electrike, who was staring into space, Terrance shook his head. Electrike was a rare Pokémon, and its evolved form, Manectric, was quite good too. Unfortunately, given Terrance's finances, he simply couldn't care for a second Pokémon right now.

Besides, he didn't have any spare Poké Balls.

So Electrike's appearance only surprised Terrance a little. He didn't regret it, though. His circumstances meant he couldn't catch too many Pokémon; as things stood, he simply couldn't give each one the attentive care they needed.

Great potential and ease of care-these were, on the whole, Terrance's criteria for catching Pokémon at present.

If Terrance wanted to accomplish anything, not only did he need exceptional knowledge, but his Pokémon couldn't be too weak either. Otherwise, how could he talk about giving everyone at Qinggu House the ability to pursue their dreams?

Terrance's greatest wish was for everyone at Qinggu House to have the right to choose their own path in life. He regarded Qinggu House as his home and everyone there as family, and he truly didn't want them to drift through their lives.

But Terrance also knew it was easier said than done. It was ten times harder, or even more, than keeping the Qinggu House orphanage afloat. How could it be easy to provide so many children with favorable conditions?

Terrance was no longer the clueless newcomer he had once been. An ordinary trainer's license alone cost a hundred thousand yuan, enough to cover Qinggu House's expenses for a long time.

And that was only the beginning. A starter Pokémon, the cost of caring for Pokémon, the expense of treating them, and so on and so forth-all of it required money.

So even a well-off family wouldn't dare claim it could support so many children in becoming trainers and boldly pursuing their own dreams and lives.

But Terrance intended to work toward it. Grandma Oran had poured her heart into Qinggu House, and Terrance had always deeply respected the elderly woman who had cared for him so attentively.

That was why Terrance had always cherished Qinggu House too. Besides, as he saw it, his dream was no fool's dream.

Terrance simply wanted to give himself a goal, something to drive him.

Whenever he thought of his responsibilities, Terrance would sigh deeply and think of the protagonists in the novels he had read. Every one of them was free of burdens and utterly carefree. He truly envied them.

"Even if it is a fool's dream, you only live once, so you have to give it your all. Don't you think, Beautifly?"

Walking around Electrike and along a forest path, Terrance smiled at the sunlight in the sky. He had always firmly believed that if life had no definite goal, what was the point of living? So even if others thought it was something he could never accomplish, he still wanted to try.

"Hm?" Beautifly, flying beside him, gave a puzzled cry, not understanding what Terrance was saying. That made Terrance burst out laughing.