For the first time since he started his journey, Touya woke up early and after eating he started walking towards his next destination through Route 7.
It was 8:30 a.m. and the fresh and humid air in the morning collided with Touya's face with a gentle touch, causing him to have occasional chills from the cold of the morning.
Some Zebstrikas enjoyed the tranquility while they ate grass and the occasional Emolga flew by.
"I should sleep early more often, this is very nice" Touya said with a calm smile as he slowly walked towards the nut mount.
'But this tranquility, you only feel it when there are no humans around' Touya thought a little doubtful and then put it aside.
'I wonder what my mom, Bel and Cheren are doing right now' Touya thought with a bit of curiosity.
'Is that legend true? And if so, what role do I play and how much can I influence future events?' Touya thought a little worried in the middle of his way.
*Ring**Ring*
Suddenly Touya's Xtransceiver started to ring, to which Touya answered the call quickly.
"Hello, how have you been son?" Touya's mom said with a smile on the other side of the Xtransceiver.
"Did you read my thoughts or what? I was just wondering about you" Touya said a little surprised but happy to see his mother.
"Huhu, a mother should always know her son, although with you it is a bit difficult, you are not a exception" Touya's mother said proudly.
"And tell me what are you doing?" Touya's mom asked curiously and approaching the screen.
"Well believe it or not, nothing weird has happened to me, except for being thrown by a cannon in a gym, but that happens to all trainers" Touya said with a shrug.
"What about the evil cult?" Touya's mom asked a little worried.
"Well, I saw them warming each other in a warehouse where it was very cold, any seriousness of the matter died there" Touya said remembering the wise man rolled into a corner.
"*Pfffff* A-are you sure it's an evil cult?" Touya's mom said holding back a laugh.
"I guess, apart from their leader, there isn't much to be scared of" Touya said calmly.
"Well, as always it was entertaining talking to you son, see you, take care of you, your pokémon and bring a girl home!" Touya's mom said saying goodbye through the screen.
"Bye mom, please stop reading my thoughts" Touya said also saying goodbye.
After this Touya walked a little faster and reached Twist Mountain
But before climbing the stairs he was stopped by a wild Cheren.
"Hello friend, how have you been?" Cheren asked calmly.
'This is already too much of a coincidence, if Bel appears this will be very strange' Touya thought a little shocked by the events.
"I've been doing well lately, what about you?, how was the fifth gym?" Touya asked with a smile.
"Apparently there were two options, going up a ladder or being thrown out by a cannon that didn't seem safe at all, obviously I chose the first one" Cheren said thoughtfully as he looked up to remember.
"Really? I'm happy for you" Touya said a little very jealous because Cheren could decide while he gritted his teeth.
"Lately I have asked myself a lot of questions, I enjoy the fights but is it because I win? Being the strongest does it mean something besides a title? What exactly do I want?" Cheren said as he threw many unanswered questions.
"In this I can't help you friend, what's more, any influence could do more harm than good, so just look for those answers yourself" Touya said as he patted his shoulder with a smile.
"It seems that my advice got to you quite a bit huh young man?" a voice said from the top of the stairs.
They both looked up and saw Mirto, who was standing with his arms crossed on the edge of the mountain while the wind blew his hair and then jumped off it and fell perfectly in front of them.
'Epic champion entry' thought Touya and Cheren with a nervous smile.
"Let me ask you another question young Cheren, why are you getting stronger?, and what will you do with such strength?" Mirto said with his typical imposing tone.
Cheren who was already overloaded with questions was now almost steaming from his ears and his eyes were spinning a few times.
"See what you're doing, you broke him" Touya said as he shook Cheren to try to bring him back to reality.
"Oops sorry young man, take this as compensation!" Mirto said giving each one a TM.
The TM turned out to be the surf movement, which is very difficult to find as well as very expensive.
'The idea of being a champion seems closer and closer to me' thought Touya seeing the benefits of said profession.
"One last little advice, never forget what your pokemon want, always take them into account!" Mirto said full of energy and then left.
"I came looking for answers and now I'm worse" Cheren said wearily as he adjusted his glasses.
"Still, I'm sure I want to be strong, then I'll see what to do with that strength" said Cheren confident in that thing.
"Do what makes you happy but without hurting anyone, that's all that matters" Touya said calmly.
"See you Touya" said Cheren extending his fist towards Touya with a smile.
"See you Cheren" said Touya bumping fists with Cheren and then going towards the Twist Mountain.
Cheren for his part seemed to have things to do in Mistralton city, so Touya went first this time.
Upon entering in the Twist Mountain, the first thing Touya could see was a large dirt road made of both the ground and the walls, which was very poorly lit.
Touya walked a bit and could see a rather familiar white hat.
"Ohh, but look what we have here, I didn't expect to find you here" Yakon said a little surprised.
"Yakon? What are you doing here?" Touya asked surprised by Yakon's sudden appearance.
"I came to visit the Twist Mountain, I really like this place, especially after crossing this road, but you will have to see it by yourself" Yakon said with a smile as he looked around.
"By the way, have you seen the team plasma lately?" Yakon asked, changing to a serious demeanor quickly.
"Now that you mention it, I didn't find any recruits yesterday, which is quite strange" Touya said realizing the lack of the team plasma.
"We've been discussing that at gym leaders meetings, it's like the ground swallowed them up, we don't even know where his lair is" Yakon said with a bit of annoyance as he scratched the back of his neck.
"But hey, that's not something to worry about, those are adult things" Yakon said calmly and then walked towards the exit.
"See you later tyro" said Yakon waving goodbye and then disappearing from view.
'What the hell is a tyro?' Touya thought searching for an answer to the most important question of that conversation.
After this Touya followed the path towards his labyrinthine adventure in the Twist Mountain.