Onwards!
I waved goodbye as the beat up, old biplane left a streak of black smoke as it flew back into the perfectly blue sky. That old pilot wasn't kidding when he said the ride to this place was bumpy. I would have been far more comfortable in a modern airliner, but I was shocked to find that not a single airport I knew of had a flight into Ponyville, let alone the Equestria Region. It's little wonder no one knows about this place, seeing as there is just the one guy with the biplane willing to fly over here.
The trouble I went through to find him is finally going to pay off. Now that I'm in Equestria, all I have to do is follow the road leading away from the forest and towards the town. After that, it's as easy as trouncing the Gym Leader, claiming my badge, and then kicking it in Ponyville until the pilot returns for me in a week.
Some movement under my patrol cap reminds me I'm not alone. I lift my lid up a moment and let a ball of yellow fuzz scurry out down the back of my head and onto my shoulder.
"Looks like it's you and me against the world, Joltik. It's a shame Jolteon isn't here, but would you abandon your cute little pups to come to this backwater place?" I ask my tiny companion. He buzzes a little agreement and nodes his tiny head sagely. "It's a shame, but we've got to press forward old buddy! I just know that this badge will be the one to finally put me on the map! I won't just be a badge collector, oh no. I will be the badge collector! After this my quest to own every badge in existence will be front page news! They might even put me and you on the cover of 'Cool Phrase and Obscure Badge Enthusiast Monthly'!"
Joltik chittered in excitement. He's just as passionate about collecting badges as I am. He was there when I earned my first badge, he's been there for every other badge I earned, and he plans to be there for all the badges I'm gonna earn. It's been ten long years of collecting, but the passion hasn't died down at all.
"Alright, Joltik, let's run through our inventory one last time! I know we had everything when we got on the plane, but it's bad luck not mess with routine," I say to Joltik. He throws a tiny salute and scampers to my backpack. He undoes the zipper and crawls inside. I get my shoulders out of the straps so I can look into the pack as well.
"Provisions and supplies?" Joltik chitters in confirmation.
"Pokedex? Another green light from Joltik.
"Badge Case?" Present and accounted for.
"Wallet?" Joltik climbs out of my backpack and crawls into my pocket. He backs out with my wallet in his mouth.
"My hat!" I take off my cap and place it over my heart. "And of course, the best traveling companion and team of Pokemon a guy could ask for! Onwards! Towards victory!"
The last thing I remember before blacking out is seeing a Pokeball flying towards my face as I turned around.