A Dream Realized 5
#5 of A Dream Realized
When John woke up the next morning, it was to a slight weight on his chest. Looking down he realized that during the night, Mist had crawled up onto his chest and curled into a ball. John shook his head before looking at his alarm clock. When he read the time his eyes widened. It was noon and he was supposed to have woken up at 9. He sighed and carefully got up, keeping Mist held to him so she wouldn't wake up. Grabbing his hat from where it had fallen the night before he set it on his head and left the room. He was about to go into the kitchen to grab something to snack on when he heard knocking at the door. John sighed and went to the door, opening it to find Rose standing there. "I know, I am late. My alarm wasn't turned out last night so I didn't wake up till just now." Rose crossed her arms. "You don't usually sleep in so I guess I can let it go. I had to get my sleepingbag and backpack set up anyway." John nodded slightly, somewhat relieved. "I was just about to get a quick bite to eat for me and Mist before heading out." He looked down at Mist who was still curled up sleeping. "Though I may just have to hold onto a handul of food for her till she wakes up." Rose laughs and gestures down at her feet. "Yea, I had a hard time getting Orin to wake up too. Hopefully they won't sleep for so long after we start traveling." John stepped away from the door to let Rose in. "That goes for me too. I can't keep sleeping half the day away."
Rose stepped into the house as John went into the kitchen and she closed the door. "You're a hopeless cause if you think you can stop that." John glanced at her and shook his head. He grabbed a piece of bread and threw it in a toaster. "If you say so." He grabbed the toast when it finished and stepped out of the kitchen, throwing his backpack onto his left shoulder so he could keep his right arm free for Mist. "Is there anything you need before we head for Jubilife?" Rose shook her head. "I'm all set. So whenever you are ready." John stepped outside and grabbed a handful of pokemon food out of a bin that was at the side of the house. "Let me wake up Mist and then we can hit the road." Kneeling down, he set Mist on the ground and gently shook her. After a second her eyes opened and she stood, shaking her head to wake up fully. Putting the backpack on fully, John holds out his free hand to Mist. Grabbing two pieces of food, Mist climbs back onto John's shoulder to eat. John stood and turned to the road that led to Jubilife. "We should be able to reach Jubilife in a couple of days. As long as we don't run into too many problems." Rose smirked. "And how often does that work for you?" John shook his head and started walking.
For a while they walked in silence until Mist jumped from John's shoulder to walk beside him. John watched her for a couple minutes before glancing at Rose. "Kinda strange to think that we will be away from home for a while. After so long of having our parents around." Rose laughed. "What's the matter? Scared of being on your own?" John looked at Rose and raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding right? Aren't you the one who is paranoid any time she is out camping because she thinks some wild pokemon will attack her in the middle of the night?:" Rose opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself and looked at the ground. Reaching over, John pushed Rose lightly. "You know I'm just messin with you. Don't take things so seriously. Besides, You have 2 pokemon here with you." Rose shook her head and looked away, staying silent and making John frown. "What are you thinking?" Rose sighed and hesitated before answering. "You just reminded me of that fear. Even with you, Mist and Orin I don't know if that will go away." John laughed. "You just don't think about it. Find something to take your mind off of your surroundings." John looked into the trees around them. "Take the trees around us and just pretend we are back in my pasture. You didn't seem to worry when we camped out there a couple years ago." Rose sighed. "That only worked because i knew we were surrounded by pokemon that had trainers." John laughed. "No, I think it was the death grip you had on my arm when i tried to go to sleep." Rose's face turned red. "Well, if I had been the last one awake it would have been even worse." John just chuckled.
Again they fell into silence as they walked, watching as Orin and Mist ran back and forth on the path, looking at everything new to them. When John finally spoke again it was close to nightfall. "Guess we should set up camp for the night. If you set up the tent, I can gather up some wood for a fire." Rose nodded and John led the way into the trees a few feet before setting his backpack down. "Mist, wait here for me." Mist nodded and sat down beside his backpack as John walked off. It only took him a few minutes to find enough small branches to use as tinder to get the fire started but he couldn't find any that were of a size to keep the fire going. After a few minutes John returned to where he had left Rose. "All i'm finding is small branches, nothing long lasting. So we may end up not having much of a fire tonight." Mist glanced up at him before standing and jumping up into a nearby tree. Standing next to the trunk she found a short but think branch and raised one of her paws. After a second it began to glow white and she struck the branch further out and broke it off, letting it fall to the ground a few feet from John. He grinned up at Mist and pick up the branch. "Think you could get a few more for me?" Mist gave a short bark in response and leapt higher into the tree as John gathered the tinder in a small pile. A few seconds after he finished he turned to find a small pile of branches with Mist standing beside them. John walked over to the pile and picked it up, freeing a hand to rub the top of Mist's head. "Great work. Now we can get a fire going." Mist smiled and leaned into his hand slightly before he got up and finished preparing the fire wood. When he finished with the firewood, John stood and turned to find Rose struggling with propping the tent up. "Need a hand?" Rose started to say she was fine but in the end just nodded. "I've never really put up a tent before so I can't quite figure out how to get it to stay up." John walked over and kneeled down beside Rose. "There are slots in the bottom of the fabric that hold the ends of the rods." Pulling up one of the sleeves he slips the rod in and moves to the other side, doing the same there. Standing up, he checked the ten to make sure it would hold before hooking his thumbs in his pockets. "There ya go. Now all that's left is to start the fire."
Rose followed him to the fire and sat across from him. "And how are you going to do that?" John smiled slightly. "Matches." After digging through his backpack he pulled out a box of matches and pulled one out. Lighting it, he carefully set it under the smaller branches, letting the flame slowly take hold before growing. "Luckily my dad thought to pack these since neither of us have a pokemon that can use fire attacks." Rose watched the fire grow before looking at John. "So what are we gonna be eating?" Turning back to his backpack, John started digging through the pockets. After a couple of minutes he pulled out a small pot and a can of soup. "It's not much but it's food." Unfolding a stand for the pot, John sets it over the fire and pours a bottle of water into it. "Shouldn't take too long to get it ready to it." Rose looks at the can of soup then at the pot. "So how do we open the can." John looks through his backpack again, only finding a bowl and fork with a small camping knife. "Looks like I will just have to punch a hole in the top." Setting the can on the ground, he pulls out the knife and positions the point near the center of the can. Pushing the tip through twice he then uses the blade to pry back the metal and pours the soup into the pot. "All set." Rose pulls her backpack behind her and leans against it. "What's your end goal from being a trainer?"