"A battle?", Sinclair asked incredulously. "Look at me. I'm barefoot in a hospital gown in the middle of a- well, in the middle of Route Two. Do I really seem like a viable battle partner?"
The other boy shrugged, tossing a pokeball into the air and catching it. "You know the rules, don't you? If two trainers' eyes meet, they have to have a battle!" He grinned at Sinclair, eyeing his shellos.
"I'm not a trainer," Sinclair snarked back. "I just… wound up here, okay? I don't want to battle." He didn't even know how to, nor did he want to throw Marzipan into the ring when they'd just met. It didn't seem like the zigzagoon wanted to either, as it was busy barking up the tree that the fletchling had perched on.
Following Sinclair's gaze to Ben, Austin sighed. He seemed to register that neither party was willing. In response, he nodded, gesturing with his hand for Sinclair to continue on. "If you're sure then go ahead. I'll be seeing you." Sinclair dipped his head, turning back to where the path led south. He was lucky that the path didn't have very many dangers for his bare feet, but just in case, he carefully picked his way along.
*Disregarding the simpler question of 'why am I here,'* he thought, *why am I here without shoes?*
This thought alone disgruntled him. Whatever god had brought him to the pokemon world clearly wasn't very considerate! Then again, it was a miracle in itself that he was 'alive,' so perhaps Sinclair should be thankful.
Drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of rushing water, the boy glanced around. There was a river nearby that had been gurgling, but this was different- more intense and almost waterfall-esque. Now that he was observing his surroundings, Sinclair realized that the tall grass and bushes were thinning out. They were sparse enough that he could clearly see small pokemon wriggling about on the ground, some in a way that was less than cute.
*Note to self, I do NOT like bug pokemon.*
The longer he walked, the louder the water was until he could finally see it. Just up ahead was a bridge that spanned over a much larger river than the one he'd been walking beside. In fact, it looked as though the latter fed into the bigger one! That must have been the source of the sound.
The more interesting thing, however, was the town past the bridge. It looked quite small, with the most obvious features being four large apartment-looking buildings and a fountain. There were other houses and a few stalls here and there, along with some shopping centers, but nothing else really notable. From his distance Sinclair could just barely see some people milling about near the fountain.
He scratched his head, trying to remember the town from the anime. It must not have appeared for long, if it appeared at all, since he couldn't really remember it. Nevertheless, he bounced on his toes, excited to visit his first town in the pokemon world.
Taking a deep breath, Sinclair set foot on the brick bridge and was rewarded with a spray of water to his face.
"Fuck you, river! I'm going to Aquacorde whether you like it or not!"
His pokemon, however, didn't seem all that disgruntled by the onslaught. In fact, Marzipan chittered happily, wiggling in his arms. Sinclair almost dropped the slippery creature in surprise- he'd almost forgotten it was there!
"Careful, little buddy. Wouldn't want you to get swept away if I dropped ya." This seemed to mellow the Shellos, who nestled back into Sinclair's arms. He peered down at the pink pokemon, stroking its slimy back and carefully continuing on across the bridge.
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