Chapter Two

They walked in silence for some time, Mark glancing nervously at his watch, 
Rachel walking far ahead with a stony expression, Rebecca digging around in 
her shoulderbag and muttering something.

"Here it is!" she suddenly said, pulling out a folded sheet of paper. Mark 
turned to look at her and promptly tripped over a tree root.

"Steady on there," she said, grinning as he got to his feet with a curse. 
"You alright?"

"Nice to see you treat me with such respect," he muttered. "You do know that 
I outrank you, right?"

"Yes, but you don't exactly command as much respect the other admins do," 
Rebecca replied cheerfully, unfolding the paper and looking at it. "Do you 
have a pen? Pencil? Something to write with?"

"Sorry, you're on your own there." Mark ran a few steps to catch up with her, 
then gave the wrinkled paper a quizzical look. "What is that, anyway?"

"This? You can see it if you want," she said, holding it out. "I managed to 
get a list of the other entrants," she continued when he took it, "although I 
only got the names, not their Pokemon, so it's not that helpful, but it's 
nice to have.

He frowned. "Rebecca, this is handwritten."

"So?"

"Maybe I should clarify. This is in your handwriting. Where exactly did you 
get this?"

"Hey! You two!" Rachel suddenly yelled, making them both jump. "Can you hurry 
up? We only have fifteen minutes to get there!"

"Fifteen minutes is a long time, you know," Rebecca yelled back, snatching 
her list from Mark as she did so. "We're just about halfway there! We can be 
as slow as we want!"

"Please, just humor her," Mark hissed, walking a little faster. "Honestly, I 
feel like your father sometimes."

"You're nearly as strange as him. It might work."

"Wonderful. Let's change the subject. Is Sandy battling this year? I didn't 
see his name–"

"No, he's there. He trains electric type Pokemon, doesn't he? Was he the kid 
with the Pikachu? I can't remember."

Rachel had already continued walking, muttering something along the lines of 
"why can't they walk faster, it's not that hard" as she did so. Abruptly she 
stopped, staring at something brown she had just seen in the trees.

But as soon as she saw it, it fluttered off, leaving her to wonder. "Was that 
a Pidgey?" she wondered out loud. "I thought they were native to Kanto, 
though. I've never seen them here before."

She shrugged it off and continued walking.

-

Said bird was indeed a Pidgey, although Rachel did not and may never know. It 
flew swiftly through the trees until it came to the outskirts of a small 
city. This was, if its assumptions were correct, this "lava ridge" place it 
had heard of. However, Pidgey was somewhat doubtful. There was no lava within 
sight, nor were there any ridges. It did see a steel bird perched on a red 
bridge, staring into the rushing waters below.

"Hello!" it called out. Skarmory jerked his head up, surprised. "You are with 
the Land-Followers, are you not?"

Pidgey realized something was wrong when it was pinned to the rooftop of a 
nearby building. "How do you know?" Skarmory hissed. "Tell me!"

"I was told by someone different," it answered, frightened half to death. 
This was not what was supposed to happen. They should have said the Land-
Followers' Pokemon were like this. "Is it true?"

"It could be. Be quiet. Why?"

"I was told to ask for your help. Are there any more Sky-Creatures with 
them?"

His eyes narrowed. "Maybe. Why?"

"Stop asking."

"Why?"

Pidgey was getting annoyed, but was in no position to snap back at him. "I 
will explain. Listen."

When Rachel arrived at Lavaridge town, as she had given up on the others and 
simply ran the rest of the way, she was met with a flustered Skarmory who 
nearly knocked her over asking something. At least, it sounded like he was 
asking something.

"Calm down, guy," she said, taking a step back. "All I'm hearing is 'skar 
skarmory'. Wait 'til your trainer gets here, maybe she'll be able to 
understand you better."

Skarmory ruffled his feathers and glared at her.
"Oh, don't give me that look. I'm annoyed enough as it is. Could you do me a 
favor and find the gym for me? That's where the tournament is, right?"

Above them, a Pidgey sat on a rooftop and wondered how long it would take 
until its torn wing healed and it could fly back home.