Sam had gotten up early that day, stopping by both his mother and his father’s place on the way out. His dad packed a nice lunch for him and his mom gave him an old but reliable wilderness survival  guide. Sam doubted that he’d read it.  Both of his parents had given him gentle warnings about how difficult the journey might be, but Sam was good at ignoring them, and both of them knew that all too well. Sam lived on his own, and he’d deal with the consequences on his own.

	He was off for the town gate as soon as he had Wilbur’s saddlebags loaded up. His actual supplies were in his backpack, but he needed Wilbur’s carrying capacity for his cargo. One of the local tea plantations had been discarding the excess from a disappointing batch, not wanting it to hurt their reputation for quality. It was supposed to be composted, but after slipping a few pokedollars to one of the field hands he was able to run off with a few satchels of them. Soon enough he’d be looking for a buyer for this load of “exclusive, genuine top-quality New Bark Town tea”. Plus, there’d be plenty to share with the rest of the group. He wouldn’t even charge them for it, as long as they’d back him up when he went into his sales pitch.  

	Wilbur took his time through the streets even though his load wasn’t heavy, but Sam was fine with that because he knew there would be a lot more distance to cover today, and he didn’t want Wilbur to waste his energy. Smith was perched on Sam’s shoulder, enjoying some fresh air. As he got closer he could see that the group was already half-assembeled. He waved hello and shouted “Wassup! You guys ready to go out and make some history?” As soon as he waved, Smith began shaking and shrieking all over his shoulder, shifting its head and flapping it’s wings. Sam had no idea what was with his Natu, it just had a way of freaking out over nothing. He tried to calm it down by snapping his fingers and waving his other hand in front of the Natu’s face. Their relationship was a little rocky at the moment, Sam had won him in a poker game at college only a few months ago. Supposedly it could see the future, but all it ever seemed to do was get spooked and cause Sam anxiety. Still, he kept it around because he had a feeling it’d be useful to him someday.