[center][h2]Richard Evans[/h2][h3]Route 2[/h3][/center]
With his hands in his pockets and Luna following close behind him, Richard silently followed behind Laurel as the group left Byjerlfal City behind. Given how eventful the last few hours had been, the walk itself was a nice change of pace, but the brief thought that the luxuries of the city would momentarily be out of reach did bother him slightly. Given how he knew what he had signed up for, though, Richard had no room to complain.

When the smell of seawater grew stronger, though, the young man took a brief moment to pause and look around at where they had ended up. A far more "natural" beach swarming with vacationers and their Pokemon stretched out into the distance, and even from where they were now Richard could hear the chatter and cries of... Well, everyone and everything, really. It was far more muted than if he was closer, of course, but the Trainer had no intention of heading out onto the sandy beaches at that point in time.

It was then, though, that Laurel announced her intentions to spend some more time on the route. Hearing that, Richard brought one hand towards his chin and considered his options for a moment. After all, blindly walking ahead (even with his Rotom Phone's map at hand to guide him) meant that Luna would gain no practical experience whatsoever; sticking [i]with[/i] Laurel, on the other hand, could possibly stymie both of their chances at gaining proper training independently. There were a few other options to try and handle the situation, but only one really stuck out to him as the "best".

"Mmm... Well, I guess that it'd be remiss of me to [i]not[/i] explore, so I'll probably go check out those caves," he replied, waving to Laurel as he walked off towards wherever his phone determined the actual entrance to that system was. "Since you're in the area, I hope you won't mind if I reach out to you in case something goes terribly wrong in there. Hopefully it won't, but it doesn't hurt to be careful, y'know? See you later."

If anything, though, the Pokemon in the caves would hopefully provide Luna with a proper challenge; with any luck, though, it wouldn't just be training that'd be handled there. A new team member to shore up the Snivy's vulnerabilities would be quite useful, but Richard chose to keep his expectations low in hopes that they would be exceeded by some stroke of luck or another.

[@Rune_Alchemist]