Time passed to the next day.
That day Haley and Emily got up early, preparing for today's trip to the forest.
Yesterday she had borrowed outdoor clothes from Leah. Haley looked in the mirror, adjusting them.
"You'll probably have to wear this kind of clothes in Kalos later," Emily said while packing snacks for the picnic into the lunch box: "Want me to prepare a few pieces for you?"
Haley looked in the mirror for a long time. "They have to look good."
"Then no," Emily closed the lid, conveniently stuffed a nut to the Squawkabilly waiting nearby, then continued: "Outdoor travel is troublesome. It's best to wear clothes that are easy to clean and dirt-resistant. You might spend nine out of ten days outdoors."
She got this information from Abigail. Because it was on foot, from one town to another basically took one or two days to walk. And because the Gyms and Pokémon Contests were scattered throughout Kalos, basically half the time would be spent on the road.
The only good news was that when in town, you could stay at the Pokémon Center, where there were washing machines for Trainers to use.
Otherwise, she really couldn't imagine how Haley would survive in Kalos.
When it came to Haley's self-care abilities—thinking this, she looked again at Haley who was looking in the mirror, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
Haley also knew that Emily insisted on going to the forest with them today, not really for fun, but more to see if Haley could adapt to the harsh hiking lifestyle.
Actually Haley herself wasn't sure either.
She also couldn't imagine herself hiking all day long.
Seriously, was there no train service in such a large place as Kalos?
She thought, jogging to the window. Seeing the sun was shining today, she stuffed the hat she originally prepared back into her backpack.
"Not bringing it? You'll freeze your ears later," Emily organized her backpack and carried it on her back.
Thanks to the backpack's extradimensional space, although quite a few things were stuffed inside, it wasn't very heavy on her back.
"No need, the sunlight is very nice today," Haley said, hesitated for a moment, but still took out ear muffs and put them on her ears.
Emily bounced a bit, then left a spot on her shoulder for Squawkabilly.
As for Haley, because she had registered at the Pokémon Center, yesterday she received her own Pokédex, plus a travel backpack, and five complimentary Poké Balls.
Once in Kalos, she couldn't spend Pelican Town's money anymore, so Emily bought her some more Poké Balls. As for later, it would be the orders she completed herself, exchanging for corresponding payment as her living expenses.
But hearing from Joy that in Kalos, winning Pokémon Contests could also earn prize money.
Therefore Haley still harbored plans of earning a large sum of prize money, bringing back quite a bit of Kalos-specific fabric for Emily to surprise her. At this moment, after stuffing the Pokédex into her backpack, she picked up Sunkern beside her and walked to the door.
Emily was wrapped up tightly at this moment, wearing a fuzzy hat on her head that completely covered her face.
"Alright, let's go."
The two went out. Just as they arrived in front of Marnie's ranch, they saw Ron standing not far away, and Leah beside him.
Going to the forest only attracted a small portion of the Rattatas. The remaining portion, because their usual work was chopping trees in the Cindersap Forest and they already knew that forest like the back of their hand, all huddled in front of the fireplace, unwilling to go out.
Miltank and Ditto were quite interested in this. At this moment Ditto had transformed into Miltank's appearance, and the two were leisurely chewing hay.
Deerling nearby was circling in front of the two, guessing which one was the real Miltank.
Seeing the two approach, Ron greeted them first. Indeedee nearby bounced to Emily, showing her that felt hat.
"Beautiful, I knew it would suit you," Emily said, squatting down to pet Indeedee's head.
"Indeedee!"
The sunlight was just right, shining on the snow-covered forest not far away, a scene of silver and white.
Today's plan was to stroll in the forest, pick wild fruits, dig Snow Yams, and then prepare to have a picnic by the lake.
Leah unfolded the map and planned the route.
Listening to Leah enthusiastically introducing the itinerary, Emily's gaze stopped on Haley's face.
She knew Haley had changed quite a bit during this time, but Haley's current performance still surprised her somewhat.
She neither complained about dirtying her shoes upon entering the forest, nor started shouting about being tired upon learning the route. Instead, she was enthusiastically discussing techniques for finding snow yams with Leah.
"Rattata!" Hearing Haley's question, the Rattata below imitated Sailor by standing upright, then patted his chest with his front claws, indicating he could take on all the work of finding food.
"Oh right, where's Sailor?"
"Made an appointment with Sandy, he should be going to the desert to play for the entire winter," Ron said.
"I see."
Haley squatted down and rubbed this Rattata's head: "Then I'll trouble you."
"Rattata!"
The snow on the ground was really thick. With each step it crunched. The few people slowly walked into the forest.
This was definitely a novel experience for Haley. She looked up everywhere, watching Pokémon shuttling through the jungle, scanning everywhere with her Pokédex.
"Hey, what's that, why is there no reaction when I scan it?" Haley pointed at a bird flying by not far away and asked.
"It's probably a crow," Ron glanced and said: "Probably an ordinary bird, so no reaction."
"I see."
Before she finished speaking, Haley's Pokédex suddenly emitted a light sound.
[Minccino: the Chinchilla Pokémon. They greet one another by rubbing each other with their tails. It never neglects tail care, keeping it beautiful at all times.]
Haley's hand paused. Following the Pokédex's direction, she saw a Minccino lying on a tree branch.
"Mincci?"
That little thing was probably sleeping soundly in the tree, woken up by Haley's action. It climbed up and rubbed its eyes with its claws.
"Wow, it's so cute," Haley paused. "Sunkern! Use Razor Leaf!"
Sunkern in her arms immediately attacked that Minccino. Emily and Leah were stunned in place. Before they could react, Minccino began to counterattack.
A row of tiny stars swept down from its tail, heading straight toward Sunkern in Haley's hands.
"Ah, it's Swift!" Haley immediately remembered the scene she saw in the Contest Battle, so she said to Sunkern: "Use Razor Leaf!"
The next second, a flurry of green Razor Leaf collided with the incoming Swift. Instantly, the entire forest scattered with many fine dust particles.
Under the sunlight's illumination, they refracted the dazzling light.
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