Preparing For Laverre
#18 of Cassidy's Journey
Cassidy slowly paced back and forth in her room in apparent thought.
Fenny sat on the edge of her bed, watching her pattern. He wasn't sure whether or not he should say anything, but he didn't have to since she stopped moments later.
"Añu!" Cassidy abruptly called, and he promptly appeared at the doorway, eyeing her. "Añu... you know bullet punch, right?"
Añu nodded.
"That'll help out a lot. You can go now. Thank you," Cassidy dismissed with a quiet hum following.
'Is it the gym?' Fenny was curious and could keep his thoughts withheld no longer.
"This one uses fairy type pokémon. Any steel type attacks would be a great counter." Cassidy sat a few inches from Fenny and rested on her back.
'Are you sure you should go today?' Fenny didn't want her stressing over another gym.
"I don't want to put it off any longer. I've had my break, Fen. I still have to do this. I have to get to the league..." Cassidy stood and went to her dresser to find an outfit to wear. "Laverre is three routes away." She pulled her black boots and jacket from out her closet, putting on both and leaving on the skirt she chose earlier. "Do you want to walk with me or stay in your pokéball?" Cassidy gave him a choice.
'I wanna walk with you.' That's what Fenny would always choose to do.
After adequately feeding and storing her pokémon in their pokéballs, Cassidy was ready to go. Her pouch was in hand and Fenny next to her. As she exited her house on the way to the next gym, she felt some relief embrace her being. Cassidy knew it was because she was back on her path to the league. It was the only thing keeping her truly happy nowadays other than Fenny.
--
They just exited Dendemille Town and were currently walking along Route 15's path. Some other trainers were lurking, a few sitting on one of the two bridges overlooking the route's river below.
"Laverre City is up next," she gave Fenny a heads up.
He barely heard her since he was busy gazing at the rivers and orange leaves covering the grassy ground in various places.
"If you like this scenery, you'll love how Laverre looks." Cassidy glanced at him while he looked around before focusing on her.
'Really?' Now he couldn't wait to get their destination.
Fortunately, they were merely a few moments from the route's exit, and once they entered Laverre City, Fenny saw how correct Cassidy was. Vibrantly colored trees and bushes, most sharing the leaves' color he saw on Route 15, littered Laverre's many steep grassy hills on the west side. Beds of vivid flowers sat in front of cozy one-story homes scattered about and were sprinkled across the fields. Ponds and berry bushes in small numbers also occupied the city. Its east side held civilization, small homes and shops. A river encompassed the city, bridges built over it to grant access. Laverre was a spacious, beautiful place.
"This is... where my parents lived." Cassidy stood at Laverre's entrance with Fenny.
'...You used to live here?'
"At some point," she replied and took a couple of steps forward, leaving the subject behind her. "You'll have to stay in your pokéball while I'm in the gym."
'I know... good luck, but I don't think you'll need it.' Fenny grinned at her.
Cassidy slightly returned it and pulled Fenny's pokéball from her pouch. She raised her arm and returned him to his ball for now. Cassidy let her arm fall, a silent moment passing before putting it into her pouch. Two gyms remained after this one. She pulled the small case holding her badges out of her bag and opened it while slowly walking across the bridge leading into the population. Memories filled her head. This was Cassidy's city, not Couriway. Laverre is where she'd be if her parents still existed. She wasn't there during the hiking accident at Pomace Mountain, but Cassidy wouldn't forget the day the news was broken to her, when two rangers knocked on her front door, and when she opened it to their sympathetic faces upon seeing a young teen standing clueless in the doorway. She'd never see Laverre the same. She could only hope that one day she'd see life the same.
Cassidy came to a stop by a pond and two homes, where she closed and slipped her case into her bag. She didn't have it in her to cry. She couldn't. Cassidy had a gym to fight. That's why she was in Laverre, not to mourn and reflect on an event she couldn't prevent.