Kei wanted to fight, Kazurai could tell from the way she was wriggling around and nipping at his sleeve. Soon, however, the Swablu's singing took effect and she began to doze... Kazurai just sighed and carried her out of the Pokémon Center, in the interest of keeping her awake. In the natural light outside, and away from the singing Pokémon, Kei gave what he assumed to be an approximation of a sigh and a huff. The little Ember she spat up - thankfully, away from Kazurai - helped her case.

Kazurai set his charge back on her feet and crouched down to her level. "I get it, Kei, you wanted to battle. It's been a long trip and we haven't had much time to exercise properly. And your Feather Dance might have helped. But we can't get caught up in a fight in the middle of the Pokémon Center on our first day here. We have places we need to be."

[color=#FF6103]"Rrr... tor."[/color] Kei seemed unimpressed with him. It was clear to Kazurai that she wanted a battle, and didn't really care where she found it. Looking around, he got an idea. There were patches of tall grass behind fenced-off sections of the city, although the one across the street didn't seem to be on anyone's property.

"How about this? There might be wild Pokémon past that fence. Let's see what kind of Pokémon live around here." That got Kei's attention. She led the way, slipping through a gap in the fence; Kazurai had to take the long way round. At the grass's edge, he tracked his Torchic companion by the orange feathers sticking out from the grass. She soon found something, hopping into a clearing to find an Abra sleeping there, flat on its back.

Even a dozing Pokémon was still a battle. "Well, Kei, time to get some exercise in. Pick one of the sequences we know and have at it." Kei got started immediately: she jumped upwards, changing the angle of her body mid-flight to aim feet first. She landed a clean hit and sprang off the Abra to ready her defense, but it didn't respond other than to twitch in its sleep.

"Ember!" At Kazurai's call, she hopped forward again, but this time spat up another small fireball. Again, the Abra didn't respond: Kazurai was a bit surprised that it could sleep through getting beaten up like this. Kei, too, was surprised with the Psychic-type's resilience. But she persisted, dashing forward to score another hit with her claws. That woke up the Abra: it sat up and began to hover a short distance off the ground. Its eyes were closed, but it turned its head from Kei to Kazurai, and before Kei could land another Scratch, it Teleported away in a flash of purple light and a loud [i]zwoip[/i].

Kei picked at her feathers, as if she hadn't just been stuck into the heat of battle. Still, she seemed content with the outcome. However, when she finished examining herself, she looked up at Kazurai, head to one side. Kazurai knew that look.

"You know I can't fight Pokémon that aren't trained to spar against humans. I'll run through some of my own exercises later: we need to get moving. Are you okay to travel?"

[color=#FF6103]"Torchictor!"[/color] Kei picked her way out of the grass, just as the Pokémon Center doors opened and the blonde girl from earlier - the one who had asked Kazurai about a place to find food - walked out. As Kazurai led Kei back to the road, he pulled out his phone again to double-check the map.

"Come on, Kei, Iki Town's this way."