“There isn’t a harness or something?” Ethan asked once more, nervousness obvious as he awkwardly hugged Togekiss’ back while laying on his stomach. He was making Togekiss uncomfortable with his shifting and fidgeting, but he was concerned.
“As I said before,” Cynthia replied as she settled on Garchomp’s fin. Garchomp used her bladed hands to act as a step for her trainer to climb up her towering frame. “You could fly upside down on her and not fall off. I am the Champion of Sinnoh, Ethan. Trust me on this.”
Ethan patted his magic bag and doublechecked its contents, seeing if he was ready for their trip. After two days of settling in with Meloetta at his ranch, with many jam sessions and music lessons taken throughout the days, Cynthia’s mini-vacation stay with him was coming to an end. More than anything in the world, she had wanted him to visit her hometown and enter the public ruins with her to see if he could glean any information within them.
While they often had differing views on the many decisions made by one another, they both did indeed respect each other. They were friends, with differing opinions and responsibilities—but friends nonetheless. While he didn’t agree with forcing him to battle her long ago, shouting out his tutoring capabilities to garner attention to his ranch, or the attempt at entrapment when he’d left his note for Giovanni, he could still see her side of things. She was doing her best and trying to help.
Although he couldn’t be one-hundred percent sure of the flip-side, Ethan was fairly confident that she could see his side of things as well. She didn’t agree with his stance on battling for the longest of times, but she did attempt to respect his wishes after their first battle. The trouble and work he’s caused her amounted to more than all the gym leaders combined, if he had to guess, but she took all those tasks onto her shoulders without complaint. She respected the fact that he chose her and the league to act in his stead with his information, and his attempts to change who he was for the better.
It was a unique friendship, that’s for sure… but a friendship at the end of the day.
While he didn’t owe this little expedition to Cynthia, he felt like it was a small thing he could do for her for all of her help…
And he had always wanted to fly on a pokemon. For a year and a half, he’d seen her swoop down on his ranch several times with a small spark of envy. He wanted to fly in the sky on the back of a pokemon as well! Just… with some safety precautions in place.
This would also be the farthest he’d ever traveled in the world of pokemon since his arrival. Celestic Town was on the opposite side of Mt. Coronet, the massive mountain that towered into the clouds that broke sinnoh into two. It was nearly three times the distance from Berry falls to Eterna City, with lots of elevation needed to climb over the monolithic mountain. The trip would take roughly four hours on the back of Togekiss, but a four hour ‘car ride’ wasn’t daunting to an American.
For his chosen pokemon, Ethan was taking Shuckle, Meloetta, Smeargle, Tinkatuff, Pachirisu, and Pichu.
Shuckle deserved a trip along with him out into the world. His berry bud had stuck to the ranch like a thick safety blanket, probably having learned that from himself. If he was going to cross the mountains for the first time, then his little bug would join him! Shuckle also didn’t want to say goodbye to Garchomp quite yet. So, he was actually willing to leave his succulent berries for the time being.
Meloetta was an obvious choice. They had just met each other not three days ago and were still growing attached. When music wasn’t involved, Meloetta often floated behind him curiously as he worked on the ranch, intrigued at his daily activities. Sadly, with her being a mythical and a shiny… leaving her to her own devices wasn’t a good idea. She might have to come along with him on every trip in the future, until he was sure that she’d be safe.
It also helped that she took the title from Ursaring as his strongest pokemon. He’d be surprised if any wild pokemon could beat her if they got into trouble.
Smeargle, being his Teleport pokemon and always willing to see and explore new things, was more than happy to join him on the trip. While he might not be strong enough to Teleport from Celestic Town to Berry Falls, it was surely possible. They’d have to see if he could do the massive jump or not. If he was unable to, then surely two separate jumps with Eterna City as a midway point would be do-able.
Tinkatuff wanted to come the instant she heard Cynthia mention that giant metal birds existed and could maybe be a threat along their travels. Skarmory did call some places of Mt. Coronet their home and lived along Route 211, which is the route they’d be flying over. Cynthia said that the chance was low for an encounter with both Garchomp and Togekiss being their mounts, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and she wouldn’t lie to him about the threats they faced.
Pachirisu and Pichu were a bundle, both coming along because Ethan wanted to hang out with Pichu more. While he’d spent time with Pichu and played with the tiny mouse often, he hoped that this little trip would make them grow their bond. Pachirisu, being a protective dad, insisted on coming along with his son. Ethan wasn't going to deny him that.
“You ready?” Cynthia asked, ready and obviously excited for their trip. At his nod, Cynthia spoke again. “Togekiss, you know what to do. Follow us and keep Ethan safe.”
“Tooooooge!” Tokekiss cried out as she flapped her massive manta-like wings, rising into the air by the power of flying type energy. If Togekiss had to fly using aerodynamics and the force of lift from wings, then he doubted she’d be able to fly in the first place.
Ethan couldn’t see the ground from where he was situated. For now, he was lying across Togekiss belly down, acting like a human cape. It was probably a blessing, as once the green trees of their surroundings dipped below his sight, memories of his and Ralts’ terrifying hot air balloon ride came to the forefront of his mind.
Garchomp had already taken off with Cynthia on her back. The shark-dragon had sprinted and launched herself into flight like a jet leaving an aircraft carrier.
When the expected slam of wind never arrived, Ethan gathered his courage to lean over and peer down below. For the second time in his life, Ethan got to see his ranch from the sky, and it really put how big his clearing was into perspective.
The clearing felt small when compared to the entirety of the green sea that was Eterna Forest, but in reality Berry Falls was a large swath of land. It was no wonder it took several minutes to walk across his ranch to go from one end to the other. His lines of berry trees, painstakingly planted during the worst days of his life, shone like colorful beads down below. The multicolored berries are easily spotted even from high in the sky.
Sadly, the image of his home faded into green as Togekiss glided through the sky without any effort. The wind played on the tips of her flappy manta-wings, easily parting for a smooth ride of ever growing wonder. He caught Togekiss turning her head to check on him, and seeing his small smile, cried out and bobbed in the air. Up and down they went. Ethan’s stomach dropped as they dipped, then felt heavy as they rose—like a dolphin jumping through waves.
Quickly, fear of flying faded to the wayside as the joy of flying on a pokemon came to life. His death grip loosened, and he even hazard just sitting on Togekiss instead of acting as a cape. Still, the wind didn’t even brush against him. Togekiss was truly a master when it came to flying.
His wonder at flying faded a bit when Togekiss tilted to the side in a sweeping glide. ‘Baby steps.” Ethan asked, earning a huff from the playful flying-fairy.
When the forest below transitioned into mountainous plateaus, the sea of green which he’d long grown accustomed to shifted into a rocky brown expanse. Littered across the rocky outcroppings of the mountain were pockets of white snow. They rose upwards in a steep climb. Ethan’s fear fought with the wonder of the moment as he felt like he was climbing up a gigantic roller coaster waiting for a drop.
He spotted some pokemon hanging about the mountain, although they were hardly clear from the distance. Machoke, Machamp, Graveler, Geodudes, and other pokemon he couldn't quite make out. One of the groups were definitely flying types—purple, which made him think Zubat… but different all together.
Before he could consider them, his brown surroundings transitioned to a stark white in a sudden shift. When they exited the clouds, they were soaring upwards to one of the massive peaks of Mt. Coronet, aiming to climb to the other side. The cold smacked him in the face, an unnatural drop in temperature if he had anything to say about it. Snow covered everything in sight.
Eventually, they began to even out. Ethan once again aimed to spot any ice-type pokemon calling this summit home. He saw some Snorunts gathered on a cliffside, colorful bodies shivering together in a small group at the entrance of a cave. Further up, two Beartic with three tiny Cubchoo held within their grasp used their keen eyes to watch them, wary of their intentions.
“Tooooge!” Togekiss called to them in a joyful cry as Ethan waved down at the wild pokemon.
The Beartic watched them go without moving, still wary.
When they reached the peak of the mountain, Ethan’s comparison to a rollercoaster ride was confirmed to be accurate. Togekiss dove downwards, picking up speed the instant they crossed over to the other side of Sinnoh.
Ethan wasn’t going to lie if he was asked later. He indeed screamed like a child in fear. No amount of wonder makes up for what felt like falling from the top of a damn mountain.
Togekiss laughed as he screamed, joyously surging downward and skimming the rocky outcroppings of the snowy mountain by what Ethan felt was mere meters. Ethan was back to being a cape, hugging Togekiss as Togekiss hugged the mountain itself. When they dived into the clouds at speeds Ethan didn’t want to think about, he clenched his eyes closed.
When he felt them even out again, he slowly opened his eyes, seeing a sight that he would remember for the rest of his life.
Directly below them, several enormous plateaus many miles wide—flat and brown—created discs of natural living spaces for pokemon. Ethan even saw a trainer on one of them, the colors of their climbing gear making them pop against their surroundings. Further ahead, several raging rivers rushed down the side of the mountain. Numerous small waterfalls leading the water down the path of least resistance, creating what looked to be bridges of waters linking the many plateaus together.
Far off in the distance, instead of a sea of green trees, was an everlasting and forever stretching meadow of grass, broken up by a tiny grouping of less than a dozen trees, bushes, or bright flowers. A dirt path wormed its way through the meadow of tall grass, showing where people and pokemon traversed.
“Holy shit.” Ethan couldn’t help but remark at the sight. While he liked his home, this side of Sinnoh was absolutely gorgeous.
The roar of Garchomp somewhere ahead of them caused Togekiss to adjust in the air, gently shifting to the side to angle off in a separate direction. Down below on one of the flat rocky plateaus, Cynthia stood with her hands on her hips. As Togekiss gently swooped down to land, Cynthia called out. “How do you like flying?”
Ethan practically fell off Togekiss, his legs failing him as he dismounted. He sat on his butt and held himself up with his arms as he shook his head. “That was the most wondrous and frightening thing I’ve ever experienced. In this world and my last.”
“I’ll remember it fondly for the rest of my life.”