"Trent?" Basil would speak up, as Trent would glance away from the wheel towards the young adult.

"Where abouts are we right now? I don't recognise anything...it's all just water."

"Sorry mate," Trent would reply, a strong Frithosian accent in his voice, "but Amurg is still a fair bit away. We won't be seeing land until tomorrow, methinks." 

"Right." Basil would look away, before heading back down below deck, where Salem would be sitting in the room, tending to everyone's Pokémon. Although, Basil would be interrupted by a large creature tackling him affectionately.

"Hey, Basil! Isn't this cool? I've never been on a boat before!"

"Oh, hey Venaliz. I guess it is pretty exciting, huh?" Basil would smile slightly, crouching down to pet the overgrown electric lizard. After some convincing from the former, Venaliz had followed Basil onto the boat and towards Amurg, determined to save another region.

After all, they wouldn't be gone for too long. Right? Fritho would be fine in their absence - Nina and Tohowhal would see to that.

"Did you ask that Askos guy about when we'll reach land, though? Not gonna lie, the water kinda gets boring to see after a while."

"Sorry, buddy. He says we won't be there until tomorrow." Basil would answer, Venaliz frowning apon hearing this.

"Is that true?" A soft voice would speak up, and the Trainer and his partner Pokemon would look up to see Salem chiming into the conversation, as she stroked the Reapog on her lap, a Gengar standing beside her.

"Yeah...sorry, Salem." Basil would admit, walking over to sit down next to her.

"Oh... that's a shame." She would frown, before going silent again.

Basil would break the awkward tension with a question that had been plauging his mind ever since the two had met again…

"Salem...if you don't mind me asking...do you remember, three years ago, when me and Peter met you for the first time? You acted really strangely...how did you know Peter's name?"

Salem would look away into the distance, seemingly remembering something sad.

"I...I knew his name because we used to be friends, in the past. We went to the same primary school, actually, so I guess you could call us childhood friends, in a sense...but after primary was over, Wyatt pulled Peter into homeschooling, and I started to see him less and less, until, well...until Peter forgot I even existed, I suppose. He doesn't remember. But I do."

"You two...sounded like you were pretty close back then, huh?" Basil would comment, frowning. Even now, three years later, Wyatt had his way of seeping into conversations. He tried not to think about it too much, as he knew it was a sore spot for his brother.

He didn't care what he personally thought about what happened back then. Peter's feelings were more important. After all, he was the one who-

"Basil? Are you listening to me?" Basil would snap back to reality, as Salem looked at him questionably, a hint of concern on her face.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm...fine. Just got lost in thought. What do you think Amurg is going to be like, Salem?"

Salem would put a finger to her chin in thought, as she ruminated over the answer.

"Well, I'd like to believe it's nice there - evil dictators aside. It must have been nicer, at least, before Blake took the throne."

Basil would look away.

"King Blake...sorry, but I'm not really as well-versed in what happened as you two are. Could you maybe tell me more about what caused Amurg to be like this?"

Salem would sigh.

"You see...there were these two kings - brothers. You already know Mihai, of course, but there's also his lesser-known brother, Eric - the heir to the Delwis throne."

Basil would frown at the mention of Delwis. Out of all things he had an opinion on, he definitely knew the Delwis Empire were bad news. After all, they conquered the region Basil called home, and killed thousands in the process. 

He could never forgive people like that.

"Eric and Mihai had a good relationship, but their sons? Not so much. Eric's son, Fabio, was a nice enough kid, but Blake, well...there were rumors that he was born evil, but I don't believe that. As he grew up, he became power hungry. I think the word is megalomania. And eventually, it led to him murdering both his parents and King Eric, plunging both kingdoms into disarray."

"That still doesn't give Fabio an excuse for conquering the Fritho region", Basil would comment, scowling slightly, "Like Blake, the power got to his head after taking the throne from his father."

Salem frowned. "Basil, I was just explaining what could have led King Fabio to go down that path. Losing a father must have affected him a lot."

 "So now we have to stop King Blake from doing the same thing Fabio did, right?" Basil would mumble this, still sour from the mention of Delwis.

Salem would nod. "Yeah, pretty much…"

Basil would pause, thinking things over in his head. 

Basil would shake his head, looking back at Salem with determination in his eyes.

"Alright. I'm in."