Pokémon: Exodus (G)

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

Chapter Four
On the fourth day of Katarina's journey, it rained. The skies opened up not long before sunrise and unleashed a torrent that woke her and the others and spurred them into moving far more effectively than any stern words from Exo could have accomplished. The gloomy weather was matched by the gloomy mood of the travelers, and there were infrequent flareups of temper as the going grew wetter, muddier, and more and more difficult. Ace and Augustus were particularly miserable, with the spearow seeking shelter in Spencer's arms under the cover of his greatcoat and the growlithe whining the whole way.

Katarina had packed her bag in anticipation of an entire week of warm, late summer weather, and now was reduced to a shambling and shivering state. When she tried to speak, her words had to navigate with great difficulty past her chattering teeth. The contrast with the warmth and comfort of the fire that she had been sleeping in front of only scant hours ago was striking and within half-an-hour, Spencer had taken off his coat and thrown its gray bulk around her. That helped a little, and it made her responsible for holding Ace. His warmth helped a little more.

None of it was enough to make for a happy journey, however, and they were all relieved when they found themselves wading through lush fields of wheat and other grains that grew higher than any that Katarina had seen before. The five of them emerged from the swaying stalks onto a small dirt road used by farmhands and saw a gleaming mansion built of stately marble in the distance. They did not have long to admire it before a man rode up to them from the direction of the manor and stopped a few feet in front of them.

He was a grizzled-looking man with large features that appeared to be fighting for space on his more average-sized head. He looked at the collection of children and pokémon before him with a lofty air of superiority, but even so his hand was on the grip of his saber. The rapidash that he was riding was obviously a well-bred and well-trained beast as it did not even flinch as the heavy drops of rain fizzled and turned to steam upon contact with its fiery mane and tail. That firelight gave the man and his pokémon an almost ethereal air, but, to the tired and waterlogged travelers, it also promised much-needed warmth. The man's countenance promised no such thing, however, and neither did his voice when he said sternly, "You lot are trespassing on the land of the most esteemed Lord Pryor. State your business or be off with ye."

The man gave every indication that he was anticipating that they take the second option, so one of his eyebrows rose a fraction in surprise when Spencer bowed low to the ground and said in a groveling fashion that made Katarina want to giggle, "Oh, noble representative of the House of Pryor, we are but humble travelers who have heard tale of your master's plight and have sought far and wide to retrieve his missing pokémon and to restore it to him." Swiftly, before the pokémon could react, Spencer scooped up Augustus and presented the growlithe to the man on the rapidash.

"Eh? Is that little Auggie?" asked the man. Katarina tried to catch Exo's eye, but the cubone stridently ignored her efforts. The man bent over to pick up the growlithe and examined his collar and tags. "This is him all right. Thank you for bringing him back, children."

"I believe that there was talk of a reward," said Ace from in-between Katarina's arms.

Spencer cleared his throat and said in a more authoritative voice than the wheedling tone that he had been using before, "We would request some shelter from the weather and an audience with the lord of the house to discuss our reward."

"You have some nerve, boy, to presume such generosity," the man began to say but then Katarina sneezed and his heart softened. "Oh, fine," he said gruffly and turned his rapidash toward the manor. "Follow me. We'll get you warmed up."

With varied expressions of gratitude, Katarina, Exo, Spencer, and Ace followed after the trotting pokémon. They passed great fields of cash crops and a set of smaller, but still impressive, quarters supplied to the laborers and servants that were the lifeblood of the plantation. The Pryor's man considered one of those dwellings as they passed, but a glance backwards at the soaked children and pokémon in his care made him think better of it. Soon they were in front of the door of the mansion itself, and the man on the rapidash made a sign to the footman standing by the door in a uniform that carried more buttons than Katarina could count, all of them dazzlingly polished.

After taking Augustus from his fellow servant, the doorman's expressionless eyes passed over the unexpected guests and then he reached behind him and opened the huge door into the manor. No one needed to be convinced to hurry inside and away from the cold and the rain.

Once inside, the group of travelers found themselves in a high-ceilinged room and standing on a lavishly designed rug that depicted characters and events from ancient history and myths in beautiful, vibrant colors. The rest of the room's décor was of a similar quality, with expensive-looking vases, antique furniture, and paintings of various stern-looking men and lovely women with red hair.

"I do hope that you are not planning on standing there all day dripping water and mud onto my inheritance," said a lofty young voice and all eyes were on a girl about Spencer's age with a lady's bearing and dazzling red hair the same shade as that of the women in the portraits. She wore a frilled dress that was the same deep, rich blue as her eyes and the same color of the sinewy pokémon that was slithering through the doorway after her.

"Apologies for the intrusion, Miss Marion," said the servant who had come in after the others. "These young people and pokémon had found the growlithe which was missing from your father's kennels and returned it hoping for a reward."

The girl, Marion, did not look at the visitors, but instead asked the servant, "I take it that they will want to speak with father then? I can take them there, Gennady."

With a low bow, the man said, "If you so desire, Miss Marion." His nose crinkled imperceptibly and the doorman added, "If you'll pardon the suggestion, it may be wiser to bring him to them rather than vice-versa."

"That will be all, Gennady," Marion said and she dismissed him with a small wave of her hand. Then, she turned her attention onto Katarina and the others. "Remove your shoes and follow me," she ordered with almost regal tone of one who is used to commanding and being obeyed. Katarina had her first shoe off before she had really realized what she was doing, but Spencer was more grudging in his acquiescence, muttering something unintelligible, but Marion paid him no mind as long as he was doing what she told him. Then, the girl spun gracefully on her feet and began striding down one of the hallways that led from the entryway and left the others scrambling after her.

"Do you see that pokémon she's got with her?" Spencer whispered to Katarina as they walked. "That's a dratini."

"A what?"

"It's a super rare pokémon. A dragon, like in the fairytales." Katarina's eyes lit up at that, but Spencer's concerns were more pedestrian. "If her family can afford one of those, then they must really be rich!"

Marion interrupted their whispering with a short, sharp, "Ahem," and the group came to a halt in front of a heavy oaken door that was nearly closed. "This is my father's study. I will go in and make introductions and then-" She frowned and asked for their names, then resumed, "And then he will ask you to state your business. You will be respectful and to the point. You will refer to him as 'Master Pryor' and be on your best behavior, or else you shall be thrown out of the house, and painfully so. Are there any questions?" Katarina, Spencer, and Ace all moved to speak, but Marion ignored them, saying, "Good!", and vanishing into the study followed by her slithering pokémon.

"'Master Pryor,’ can you believe that?" grumbled Spencer, but he still said it in a low enough voice so as to not be heard on the other side of the door. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet and the others, save for Exo, fidgeted alongside him, but Marion soon returned and held the door open to them.

"Enter," she said formally.

Spencer led the way, but when they were standing in front of Marion's father, it was Katarina who took the lead and curtsied as best she could to the seated aristocrat. Exo followed suit by lowering himself to one knee and Ace bowed as well. Only then did Spencer lower his head. It was not as deep or weighty a bow as he had favored the servant outside with.

If Master Pryor noticed this lack of deference, he gave no sign of it, and said in a resounding baritone, "My daughter has told me of the service you have provided to this family in retrieving our missing pokémon. Let me express the gratitude of my house in restoring our growlithe to us. Your commitment to doing so is to be lauded."

There was a heavy silence in the room save for the crackling of the fire burning in the study's fireplace. "Not to impugn your honor, Master Pryor," said Spencer stiffly, "but we had heard mention of a reward for our good deed."

"You wish for a greater reward than the satisfaction of doing the right thing?" asked the patriarch with an arched eyebrow. "As you wish then. I will provide you with two-hundred krona for your trouble."

"That's ridiculous!" Ace suddenly blurted out. "I bet that growlithe's worth ten times as much!"

"Maybe so," admitted Master Pryor, but his blue eyes were cold, "but since the pokémon is already in my possession again, you are in no position to haggle. This is not a trade, but a gift for your kindness, and, as such, it is for the giver to decide how far he wishes to extend himself."

Ace began to sputter, but Spencer put his hand on the spearow's head and said in an emotionless voice, "We appreciate your generosity, Master Pryor, but we would deign to make an additional request of you and your house." He gestured to his companions and said, "We have traveled a great distance in search of your missing pokémon and were exposed to the elements the whole while. If you could grant us shelter for a few hours from this storm, we would be most grateful."

"You speak well, young man," said Master Pryor. "Very well, you may stay for the duration of this storm. Marion will be your escort." His daughter looked incensed by this, but she was paid no mind. "If you need anything at all, you are to ask her and she shall help you to acquire it. That is all. You are dismissed."

"Excuse me, sir," said Katarina. "I have a question for you." Marion looked scandalized, but her father tilted his head for Katarina to speak. "Will Augustus be taken care of? I mean, will he be happy?"

Master Pryor studied her and answered, "I will endeavor to make it so."

Marion and her pokémon led the other children and pokémon out of the study. As soon as the door was closed behind them, she hissed at Katarina, "How dare you accuse my father, my family, of neglect of the pokémon under our care?"

"Oh, come off it, Red! Katarina didn't do anything like that!" said Spencer loudly.

"Well, she implied it, then," huffed Marion and she walked away without waiting to see if she was being followed.

But Spencer was not willing to let the conversation go that easily. "How about your father's implying that we're a bunch of stupid rubes who'd be happy to do a favor for him and get nothing for it but a pat on the head, huh?"

Marion did not say a word in reply, but instead tilted her chin upwards and gave a small snort of ladylike condescension. She led the others up a staircase, her dratini ascending the steps with only a hint of difficulty. The upstairs section of the mansion was just as lavishly decorated as the rest of the dwelling and Katarina and the others were led down a long hallway to a series of rooms. Marion opened up a door on each side and showed them into two rooms that had nearly identical layouts with a large feather bed, heavy wooden furniture, and a basin of steaming water. "You can get washed up and rest while my father gets your reward ready," said Marion crisply and then she turned on her heel and marched back downstairs.

"Nice girl," said Spencer, but he did not look as put out as he tried to sound. The lure of a warm bed and bath was too enticing to ignore. "I'll take this room," he said pointing a thumb at the open door closest to him. "Come and get me when you're done."

He vanished with Ace into the room and closed the door behind him by its crystal doorknob, and Katarina mirrored his actions and stepped into her own room. While Exo took stock of the room, Katarina undressed and began to wash herself, cleaning away what felt like weeks of sweat and grime even though it had only been a few days since she had set off on her quest. When she was done washing, Katarina stayed in the washtub a little longer, closing her eyes from the light of the chandelier above her, and waiting until the water had cooled to a lukewarm temperature. Then she got out, dried herself with a fluffy white towel that would have put those in most any hotel in Tinko City to shame, and redressed in a clean set of clothes.

During her bathing, Exo had maintained a vigil by the window, but once she was presentable again, the pokémon asked her simply, "What do you think?"

Katarina ran her fingers through her still-wet hair for a couple of seconds before she answered, "This place is very nice." Exo did not say anything, but he did not have to. "Maybe they can help us," said Katarina hopefully. "I mean, the Pryor's have so much. They could tell us where we are, and how to get to Tinko City in time to meet Professor Oak."

"Do you want to look for Marion or her father?"

"Yes, let's do that." Katarina hopped off of the bed and walked to the door. She paused before she opened it, and asked, "Do you think we should go without Spencer? He could use the rest." Then, Katarina added, "I also don't think his attitude would be very helpful."

Exo had joined her and said, "That would be wise, I think."

They crept out of the guest room and down the hallway, mindful of every sound that they made on the creaking floorboards of the old and elegant home. There was no sign that Spencer or Ace heard them, so the girl and the pokémon proceeded to the staircase without incident and went downstairs.

"Do you think that Mr. Pryor is still in his study?" Katarina asked. Exo said that did not know, but it seemed like as good a place to start looking as any. The two of them turned out of the entryway, but within minutes they were hopelessly lost. When they passed by the same statue for a third time, Katarina threw up her hands and slumped against a wall bedecked with a portrait of a gallant-looking man in armor on a rapidash plunging his lance into the side of a fierce-looking gyarados. "I don't understand. You were so good at directions when we were walking outside."

"That was outdoors," said Exo with a trace of irritability in his voice. The cubone was looking around the statue, first at one hallway, then at the other, and then back again, but to no avail. "I don't understand this place at all."

Katarina and Exo stood quietly for a few minutes and plotted their next move. As they were thinking, they heard a sound. It was a heavy thump that rattled the walls of the nook that they were in and the paintings hanging above them. Katarina and Exo exchanged a look and then started down the hallway that they had just come from in search of its source.

They were fortunate enough that the thumping continued in an uncertain rhythm and it was getting easier to navigate the labyrinthine hallways as the noises became louder and louder. Down another hallway with an impressive bust of some bearded man that Katarina thought might be a king, there was a tall set of double doors. The sounds of a violent conflict were going on behind them and at this distance, Katarina and Exo could hear the muffled sound of voices as well, although it was hard to make out what they were saying. Curious, Katarina stepped up to the heavy wooden doors and pushed one of them open with a high-pitched creak. She froze in place, but the sounds on the other side did not abate and Katarina chanced to look inside.

In contrast to the rest of the mansion, the room that the doors opened into was rough and unfinished. Its walls were made of stone and bare save for unimpressive fixtures that held dimly flickering candles. The rest of the room was similarly functional. The floor was simple wood covered with a generous layer of sawdust. Of much more interest to Katarina was the room's inhabitants. There was Marion and her dratini, but the girl had been completely transformed. Instead of the blue dress she had been wearing earlier, she was decked out in sensible set of black pants, a red vest over a long-sleeved white shirt like those that an athlete would wear, and her bright red hair was tied back in a tight ponytail. She looked like one of the illustrations of professional pokémon battlers Katarina had seen in books back home, right down to the determined frown set on Marion's beautiful but severe face.

The comparison did not occur to Katarina solely because of Marion's appearance. There was also her pokémon, the serpentine blue and white dratini. It had been by the girl's side since Katarina had entered the house, but now it was standing a few yards in front of Marion, closer to the center of the wide room and was swaying back in forth in the best combat stance that its limbless body could manage. Across from it was a different pokémon, a stout creature that looked almost like a child, only almost every inch of its blue-gray skin was bulging with muscles. Its red-irised eyes were narrowed and focused on the dratini and it was breathing heavily. Behind it, about the same distance as Marion was from her pokémon, was one of the Pryor plantation's immaculately dressed servants. In contrast to the girl's stern visage, the man looked almost bored behind his thin-framed spectacles.

"It is your turn, Miss Marion," he said, and Katarina's suspicions were confirmed. The servant's voice was heavy not only with the usual burden of his class, but also with a tinge of the same impatience that Katarina, Spencer, and the pokémon had been treated to ever since crossing over onto the Pryor's land.

Marion gave no sign of noticing the help's disrespect, however, besides to say, "I'm thinking, Nikita." Then, she stood up to her full height and jabbed a finger forward dramatically at the man and his pokémon. "Wanda! Use your thunder wave attack!"

At her mistress's command, the dratini surged forward in an undulating charge. The other pokémon made what looked to Katarina like a half-hearted lunge for her, but the dratini ducked below the smaller pokémon's arms and reappeared a few feet to its left. Then, the white nub of Wanda's undeveloped horn began to glow blue and crackle with electrical energy, building up until it was released in a burst at her opponent.

The other pokémon, a machop, Katarina had realized, seized up, but then it resumed its fighting stance, although its movements were a little jerkier than before. Wanda returned to her place in front of Marion and the servant, Nikita, said drolly, "An excellent strategy, Miss Marion. Please allow my machop and I to take our turn." After the girl nodded, Nikita continued in his laconic voice, "Very well. Beauregard, perform a 'low kick' on Miss Marion's pokémon."

The machop strode towards Wanda casually, and Katarina was sure that the larger pokémon would use the opportunity given to her to stop him in his tracks. But the dratini only tensed up, and Marion along with her, and let Beauregard the machop kick her flank. All of the preparation by girl and pokémon was unnecessary as the attack did not move Wanda one inch. But the machop seemed not to care one way or the other as he took his place in front of Marion's equally unperturbed servant again.

It was the strangest, most static fight between pokémon that Katarina had ever witnessed. Even wild spearow squabbling over spilled seed corn showed more life than these two. But Marion seemed completely invested in this farce. She widened her stance slightly and shouted, "Wanda! Try attacking with your slam attack!"

The dratini reared up on the back half of her long muscular body and then launched herself at the ground. With the aid of gravity, the force of her impact made the room rattle and proved to be the source of the strange noises that Katarina had been hearing before. The machop side-stepped the first few attacks, but Wanda continued her flailing motions and, after a small but insistent cough from Nikita, the machop stood in place and let his foe pummel him with the full weight of her body. Wanda slithered away, and with the other pokémon took her place once again.

"What a joke!" exclaimed a voice and Katarina whipped her head around to find Spencer standing not two feet behind her with Ace perched on his shoulder. He strode past Katarina and threw open the doors to the makeshift arena, obviously relishing the looks of surprise that met his intrusion. "Is this supposed to be a pokémon battle? Give me a break!"

The bravado and confidence that Marion had shown only a few seconds before in the heat of battle evaporated in an instant and she said in a strange, small voice, "Go away. Please, go away."

"No way, I want to watch this little show you've concocted." When neither trainer nor their pokémon met his eyes, Spencer's smile widened. "Are you telling me that you didn't know? Oh, that's too funny!" He grabbed a spot of bare wall some distance inside of the room and propped himself against it. "Listen," he said to the still-impassive servant and his machop, "I know a thing or two about running a scam and this isn't the way to do it. I mean, have you guys even seen a real pokémon battle? This thing is a total dud. It's all stiff and fake. A pokémon battle is like a dance, and I mean a real dance. It's gotta be more than this sham."

"If you know so much, then why don't you prove it?" yelled Marion. Her fists were clenched and her face was as red as her hair. "Battle me!"

Her manservant stepped towards her and said, "Miss Marion, perhaps it would not be wise to engage with-"

But Spencer raised his voice over Nikita and said, "Sorry, but it's just not worth my time, Red."

"I can talk to my father!" Marion blurted out. "I can get him to double, no, triple, whatever reward he was going to give you for returning his pokémon!"

Spencer made a show of looking curious, but even Katarina had known him for long enough to know that the boy was valiantly fighting down the smirk that threatened to break out across his face. "All right," he said the weariness of someone forced to make a great concession, "I suppose that I can show you what a real pokémon battle is like." Then, he turned to the servant and said in his usual mercenary tone, "You're a witness to this, right, pal?" Nikita sputtered something indecisive, but that was evidently good enough for Spencer and he shouldered the man out of his spot at one end of the makeshift stadium and whistled sharply.

Hopping off his shoulder, Ace the spearow fluttered to the ground and looked around the room with his piercing eyes. "What a dump," he said, but then he was all business as Marion and her own pokémon took up their places.

Nikita recovered rather well from the sudden turn of events and he had positioned himself at the midpoint of the room, lending the dusty arena a sense of decorum with his crisp uniform and grave bearing. "In this battle between Miss Marion and this young man-"

"Spencer!" Katarina called out helpfully.

"-Spencer, both sides will be limited to one pokémon each. Miss Marion has opted for her dratini, an excellent choice, whereas the boy will be using a common garden-variety spearow." Nikita ignored Ace's boos and hisses that greeted his comments and announced, "Begin!"

Marion had again adopted her act of what she thought that a professional pokémon trainer should look like, tensing up so much that it looked to Katarina and Exo as though she might try and join the fray herself. "I'm feeling magnanimous," she announced loudly, "so you can have the first move!"

Ace had already taken wing before the girl had finished speaking and found a perch on one of the wooden rafters supporting the room's high ceiling. "Don't think you can back out of this by pretending to be sick," said Spencer and then he added teasingly, "Your turn."

"Tell your pokémon to come down here this instant!" fumed Marion with a stomp of her foot. "Running away and hiding is no way for a real pokémon to fight!" It looked as though she wanted to say more, but suddenly a piece of wood plummeted to the ground between Marion and her dratini.

Everyone looked up to see Ace was tearing away at the rotting wood of the section of supports that he was standing on. When he had wrenched another piece free with his beak, the spearow transferred it to one of his clawed feet and asked, "Would a real pokémon fight like this?" Ace punctuated his sardonic comment by throwing the wooden missile in his claw at Wanda and it bounced off of the stunned dratini's head with a dull "bonk.”
"He can't do that!" sputtered Marion. Then to Spencer, she repeated, "He can't do that! You're his trainer! You're supposed to give him commands and he's supposed to follow them!"

Spencer shrugged, but he had already lost the fight to hold back his smile. "Even if I had come up with this plan, announcing it would have just let you know it was coming. Taking turns and telegraphing your strategy is a luxury that a real pokémon trainer can't afford in a battle."

"I thought you said that a pokémon battle was like a dance, Spencer," said Katarina from the sidelines.

"Oh, that was just a load of…nonsense. I go with what works."

After her outburst, Marion's temper was still simmering but she still had the wherewithal to issue a command to her pokémon. "Wanda! Use your thunder wave technique!"

The dratini slithered to a position where she could see Ace in the rafters and started to build up energy for her attack, but before Wanda could direct the waves of debilitating electricity at her foe, the spearow had taken a few hopping movements to a different part of the ceiling where he enjoyed a layer of protection between him and Wanda.

"Tell your pokémon to stand still!" demanded Marion as Wanda slithered her long body to another section of the arena to try and catch another glimpse of Ace.

"Why should I?" asked Spencer.

"Because it's underhanded and cowardly, and if you were-" Her abuse was interrupted by a sharp series of whistles from Spencer. Marion glared at her opponent and asked, "What did you do?"

"I gave my pokémon a command," replied Spencer.

Marion had to make a visible effort to tear her attention away from the boy to scan the rafters fruitlessly for Ace, and said, "That's not what I meant! What did you tell him?"

"You'll find out," Spencer said with a laugh.

"Fine, we can flush your bird out of hiding," snarled Marion and then she gestured dramatically at her dratini. "Wanda! Prepare to use your dragon rage attack on the ceiling!"

Nikita, Katarina, and Exo all blanched at the command, and even Marion's pokémon hesitated. The servant was the first to regain his voice and he said tentatively, "Miss Marion, I don't think that this is prudent…"

But Marion ignored him to continue scanning the ceiling for Ace, and Spencer's only response to their audience's concern was to slyly wink at Katarina. Then he gave a low mournful-sounding whistle and snapped his fingers.

"Now!" shrieked Marion and the small mouth underneath Wanda's white snout erupted with a stream of blue fire. As soon as the attack started, Ace dropped from his hiding place on the other side of room from where Wanda was aiming and started streaking low over the sawdust-covered floor towards the dratini.

Marion was shrieking at her pokémon to redirect her attack, but by the time that the Wanda could reorient herself, the dratini's attack had petered out, leaving only a few embers dancing on the labyrinth of wooden beams above them. She turned around and, without waiting for Marion's order, lurched for Ace as he flew towards her, but the spearow rolled out of the way of the larger pokémon's attack and continued on his flight. He zoomed past the confused dratini and towards the pokémon's startled trainer.

Ace took up a perch next to Marion's head, and her ear-splitting scream was cut suddenly short. The claws of one of the spearow's feet were digging into her shoulder while his other set of talons was pressed up against her throat.

"Yield."

Tears were swimming in Marion's blue eyes, caused by a combination of pain and humiliation. "You can't do this. This isn't how pokémon battling is supposed to go."

Spencer sighed heavily and held out his arm. Without a word, Ace flapped his way across the room to perch on the boy's forearm. "Sorry, Red, but that's how it goes in the real world outside of your mansion. If your pokémon can't protect you, then you can lose just as easily as in a straight-up fight."

His words did not seem to comfort the girl, but her dratini glided over to her and put her head underneath Marion's slack hand. "I'm sorry, Miss Marion," she said gently. "I'm afraid I've let you down."

"No, it's quite all right," said Marion as she curled her fingers to scratch Wanda's head. "My shortcomings are my own." She raised her head to look at Spencer past her chin. "I am a Pryor and a woman of honor, so I will speak to my father on your behalf." Then, under her breath, Marion added, "Even though you cheated."

Spencer rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, shut up!"

Before things could escalate further, Katarina stepped forward and addressed the other girl. "Excuse me, Marion, but I was wondering if you could tell me where we are."

"You're in the home and on the land of my father and the Pryor family," said Marion simply as she blinked away her anger.

"I know that," Katarina insisted. "What I meant was where are we in Tinko? I need to make it to the capital in three days."

Marion put her finger against her chin. "I'm not sure how best to put it. I can show you to a map. Yes, I think that would help." Then, she bellowed, "Nikita! Get this mess cleaned up!"

"Yes, Miss Marion," the servant said as he and his machop bitterly took stock of the damage and the mess that had accumulated around the room. Taking no mind of the bitterness in Nikita's voice, Marion led Katarina, Spencer, and the rest of the pokémon back through the wooden double doors.

As she led them easily through the winding hallways of her home, Marion asked Katarina over her shoulder, "What business do you have in Tinko City?"

"I'm looking to get my first pokémon!" replied Katarina excitedly.

Feeling Marion's eyes upon him and her unspoken question, Exo said simply, "I'm not her pokémon," and the girl accepted the explanation without a word.

"Professor Oak's visiting from the mainland and he's always giving away pokémon to kids who can't afford to buy one, but he's leaving in a few days so I have to get to the capital as soon as possible."

"Wait a minute," said Spencer suddenly. "Why don't you just get your dad to give Katarina a pokémon, Red? He's gotta have loads of them lying around."

Marion huffed. "My father's pokémon are not 'lying around'. They are exquisitely raised and cost more than you can imagine. They are not for giving away." When she heard how harsh her words sounded, Marion grimaced and said more gently, "Besides there's the whole matter of licensing and registration as a pokémon trainer. A man like Professor Oak would expedite that process far more easily than even my father could."

Not long after that exchange, Marion led them around a corner and came to a stop before a tapestry that stretched from the ceiling to the floor across a length of wall that showed a painstakingly woven map of Tinko replete with charging knights, dancing maidens, and fierce pokémon. A little way above the center of the landmass that was the subject of the tapestry was a seven-pointed star in brilliant yellow.

"That star," said Marion, "marks the location of this manor." She traced her hand towards the edge of the tapestry, where the green land met the blue sea. "Tinko City is here." She turned to Katarina and saw that the other girl looked crestfallen. "What's wrong?"

"It's so far away," Katarina said.

Exo patted her leg softly. "I'm sorry, Katarina."

The group could almost hear Marion's brain working under her head of vivid red hair. "When do have to be there?"

"In three days," supplied Exo.

"Oh, that's no problem at all then!" said Marion brightly. Relishing the attention she was being showered with, she explained, "You can just go by train!"