The day had finally arrived for Shifty to start college. Since only one school offered him a spot on their battling team, his choice was easy. He decided to attend the Crestwood Institute of Technology. He was excited about the journey to the campus and ready to spend the next few years of his life there.

He used an old, beat-up red pickup truck as his means of transportation to the city. A farmer had gifted him the truck so he could travel longer distances for work. However, the shiny Zorua had never driven such a long distance before, and so he was feeling quite nervous. Despite his nerves, he knew that the truck was capable of getting him safely to the city of Crestwood.

As Shifty placed his last bag into the small slot behind the leather front seats. Heading back into his house he saw his mother in her favorite seat in the whole house, the rocking chair by the fireplace. Walking over to his mom he rubbed his head against one of her paws to get her attention, turning her head towards him she smiled.

"Hey, Shifty."

"Hey Mom, I just wanted to say one last goodbye and let you know I'll call you when I get to my apartment in Crestwood."

Shifty could see a few tears fall from his mother's eyes as she looked down at him.

"Goodbye Shifty, stay safe out there."

"I will mom, I'll visit when I can."

"I know you will, now go on, you're burning daylight."

With one last hug as a final goodbye, Shifty exited the house to start his new journey. Walking back to his truck he quickly hopped in before pulling out his phone he had bought a few weeks prior.

Shifty's route to Crestwood was fairly simple but he would be picking up a teammate three days into the journey. Shifty was fine with this since it meant that he wouldn't be alone for the whole trip and he didn't want to be alone in his thoughts.

Comet had decided to go to a different university than Shifty which stung, but Shifty also understood why Comet would choose differently than Shifty. Comet was given opportunities by some of the best teams on the continent while Shifty was joining a brand new team that would have to scratch and claw for even a sniff of the tournament.

Turning the key the engine roared to life before calming to a purr that many would describe as a beautiful sound and others would describe as a terrible sound. His journey had officially begun.

The first few hours of the drive were calm enough, not many other drivers on the road since Lakeside County was not densely populated. Things got slightly interesting when he reached Oakridge when he had to stop for fuel and was recognized by several residents who wished him luck on his journey. That evening he stopped at a hotel in Summit Hills.

Silverlake was his final stop before leaving Lakeside County and entering Valley Springs. Shifty lay awake for several hours as he couldn't fall asleep, deciding to check his route to his teammate's house. Mountain Haven City was the capital of Mountain Haven, and that was his destination then it was a straight shot to Verdant where Crestwood was located.

Exhaustion finally caught up to him and he fell asleep shortly after. The next morning went by in a blur, Shifty had some hotel breakfast and got back on the road. Most of his day driving was spent behind a large tractor-trailer. To pass this time Shifty found himself singing along to the music on the radio. It was also interesting to see what radio stations other places had and Shifty was not disappointed in the uniqueness of Valley Springs's music, it was a mix of folk and rock that was surprisingly pleasant on Shifty's ears.

While Shifty didn't consider himself a very avid music listener he still loved learning about the music and hearing the lyrics, Summit Hills was known for its metal music and that rubbed off on Shifty as he loved listening to metal when he was bored. When he wasn't in a metal kind of mood though he would listen to classical to help him relax.

The boredom he was feeling now though was beyond belief, being alone with his thoughts was dangerous and anyone close to him knew why. Shifty had a dark side that he preferred to keep buried deep inside himself, the thoughts that would come out were dangerous for both Shifty and anyone near him. Nightmares were the most common form his thoughts took, manifesting themselves into his greatest fears that he refused to tell anyone about.

Every time someone asked him how we were doing he would give one of two answers, either "I'm fine" or "I can't complain." Shifty always tried to justify his reasons for lying, to Shifty his problems were his own and no one else's. But Shifty knew deep down he was wrong, people cared about him, no matter what his subconscious told him.

Shifty was so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't realized it was night and he had missed any opportunity to stop in a town that night.

"How far is it to Mountain Haven?" Shifty asked himself before looking at his GPS. "Only two hours? How long have I been driving today? I guess I can try to make it to Mountain Haven and rest in a parking lot."

As with the rest of the drive, the next two hours were very uneventful and Shifty appreciated that, he saw a lot more cars on the road though and that made him slightly nervous remembering his extreme lack of close-quarters driving experience. Nevertheless Shifty continued pushing forward and eventually, he found a parking lot he could rest in, setting an alarm and he quickly fell asleep.

______________________________________________________________________

Shifty was running on only four hours of sleep, which wasn't ideal, but he had no other option but to make do with it. First, he stopped at a nearby gas station to quickly fill up the tank before starting his journey toward the suburbs of Mountain Haven. However, to reach there, he would have to drive up the mountain for quite some distance.

The road up the mountain was busy and slow-moving, Shifty found himself dozing off quite often while the traffic would be at a standstill.

After an unreasonable amount of time, Shifty finally made it to his destination and was not surprised by the size of the house, it was a blue house with white trim and had nice architecture with a sloped roof, two dormers stuck out as well facing towards the road. A porch was wrapped around the second floor and there was a swing overlooking the front yard.

Pulling into the two-car wide driveway Shifty parked behind a black and gold minivan which was parked beside a newer black pickup that was more bulky than Shifty's old pickup.

Turning off the engine Shifty hopped out and headed towards what he presumed was the front door. Getting over his nerves he knocked a few times before stepping back.

As the door opened Shifty saw an older-looking Luxray open the door looking at Shifty suspiciously.

"What do you want?" Luxray asked in a deep grave voice.

"I'm Shifty, I'm here to pick up your son and daughter to take them to the Crestwood Institute of Technology."

Still giving Shifty a suspicious glance he stepped aside to let Shifty in. The inside was more spectacular than Shifty could've ever imagined. To his right was a large living room with a comfortable-looking sofa and several recliners littered around with a golden oak coffee table putting the room together, a large TV also sat against the wall with a battling match on between a Dratini and a Sceptile. To the Left was a hallway that Shifty couldn't see down and there were two sets of stairs in front of him.

"Take a seat on the sofa, I'll grab Zeus and Frost then we can all chat."

Shifty just nodded and waited patiently while Luxray walked towards the stairs, while he was waiting an Alolan Ninetales walked into the living room and sat in a chair while quietly humming.

Feeling just slightly uncomfortable Shifty shifted his position on the sofa and saw 3 mons enter, one was the Luxray from just a few moments ago and the other two were a Luxio and Alolan Vulpix.

Both the Vulpix and Luxio saw Shifty and stopped in place, they both appeared to be attempting to process what they were seeing. Their ride to their university was a small Zorua who battled.

"Well then I think it's time for introductions, I'm Zenko, the mother of Frost and Zeus. The grumpy Luxray is their father Leo.

"It's nice to meet you all, I'm Shifty."

"I have so many questions," Zeus said, still looking dumbfounded.

"I assume you're confused about how I managed to get a battling scholarship?" Shifty asked Zeus who just nodded.

"Well, the best way I can explain it is that I am unable to evolve, no matter how strong I get and no matter how old I get, and I love battling so I've been training my whole life to get strong enough to battle professionally." Shifty shrugged at the end of his response and saw the surprised looks he was given.

"Wait... so you're a shiny and you can't evolve, talk about one in a billion. Sheesh." Zeus said before Frost smacked him on the back of the head.

Shifty held back a snicker at the sibling's antics. "So Shifty, where do you come from?" Zenko asked.

"I come from Summit Hills over in Lakeside County," Shifty responded with a small smile.

"That must've been one heck of a drive then, that's quite a ways away." Zeus inserted into the conversation.

Shifty nodded before Leo went to speak. "What's your battling experience Shifty? I need to know you can keep my children safe if anything goes wrong."

Frost and Zeus rolled their eyes at their father's protectiveness.

"Well, I've been competing in the Lakeside County tournament for the past four years and made it to the semi-finals this past year."

"Well, why didn't you win?

"I was too exhausted to win, I was facing a Grovyle and we traded blows for a while. Both our bodies ended up giving out but I fainted first."

"I like that you can acknowledge why you lost. That's a good trait to have. May I ask why you agreed to drive my children to the university?"

"Mostly I didn't want to make the whole journey by myself, it's been quite boring being by myself," Shifty responded plainly.

"How long do you think it'll be before we reach Crestwood?" Zeus asked, glancing over to Shifty.

"At least three days would be my best guess," Shifty responded.

Leo quietly glanced out the window and looked at Shifty's truck before looking back at him. "And you're sure that thing will make it there?"

"I've never had any issues with it, though this is the furthest I've driven in."

Zeus took a glance at the truck and turned towards Shifty with an intrigued expression. "Are you sure all 3 of us will fit in there?" Zeus pointed to Shifty's truck.

"It'll be fine, it's surprisingly spacious. I used it to make deliveries for my boss back home. Plus only one of us takes up a lot of room." Shifty responded, glancing at Zeus after he said the last part.

"You have a fair point, I have no rebuttal." Zeus surrendered.

"Well I think that's enough dilly-dallying, I say it's time for us to be on our way. I'd like to sleep in a bed tonight and not in my truck, mostly because I'd have to sleep sitting. Grab your guys' bags and meet me out there, we can figure out the storage situation when we're out there." Shifty announced getting off the sofa and walking towards the front door.

"Stay safe out there kid, and don't do anything dumb," Leo called towards Shifty.

Shifty waved a paw in farewell before closing the door behind him.

A few moments later Frost and Zeus came out to the truck and put their bags without anything vital to the journey in the truck bed. When they finished that Shifty rolled down the bed cover and made sure it was secure. After that, it was time for them to figure out the seating situation.

"I think Frost should sit in the middle, I don't want to accidentally shock our driver," Zeus said seconds before he accidentally shocked Shifty when patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm fine with that," Frost said, glancing between the two. It was the first time Shifty had heard her speak and he couldn't help but silently marvel at how beautiful her voice sounded.

Shifty chose to keep quiet to avoid stumbling over his words and only nodded before he went over to the driver's side and got in. Frost and Zeus quickly followed suit.

Something in the back of Shifty's mind told him the rest of the journey would be much more enjoyable.

"You guys ready?" Shifty asked the siblings sitting beside him, they both nodded before glancing at the GPS as Shifty inserted the campus's address.

"Whoo boy that's a long way away, it doesn't seem bad until you start the ride," Zeus commented.

"If either of you want to put on some music you can."

With that the final stretch of the journey had begun, Shifty enjoyed the company of the siblings and found out a lot about them.

Frost was on the shier side and Zeus was the complete opposite, Zeus enjoyed folk music while Frost liked metal. The drive went a lot faster that day than previous days and Shifty was thankful for it.

"What do you guys think the campus will be like?" Zeus suddenly asked while looking out the window at the expansive fields.

"I think it will be nice and futuristic, based on what I've heard it's fancy," Frost responded with a smile.

"I just hope it's nice, I don't have expectations since I've never heard of or seen it."

"Really? It's the highest-ranked school in terms of academics on the whole continent!" Zeus shouted while staring at Shifty wide-eyed.

"Well what can I say, Summit Hills is pretty secluded and usually people born in Summit Hills rarely leave for any reason."

"CIT is where our mother went and we know Crestwood pretty well. Maybe we'll show you around when we're all settled in on campus." Frost told Shifty.

"Well that's very nice of you, I might just take you up on that offer," Shifty responded, glancing over at Frost.

Frost just smiled in response before looking towards the road. They all sat in silence for the last stretch of the drive and they all just enjoyed the music playing.

It was night when they eventually reached the hotel. Frost and Zeus took in some of their bags while Shifty locked the truck up.

Running to catch up, Shifty, eventually reached them as they were checking into the hotel. They were thankfully on the first floor so they didn't have to climb any stairs for which they were all thankful.

Eventually, they reached their room and went in, it was small and quaint. Zeus and Frost took the bed closest to the door while Shifty took the one by the window. They all fell asleep quickly.

About halfway through the night, Shifty awoke to a loud thud and someone groaning in pain. Sitting up in bed he looked over and saw a certain Vulpix on the floor rubbing her head with a paw.

"You alright?" Shifty asked locking eyes with her.

"Yeah, Zeus just kicked me off the bed." Frost groaned in pain as she stood up. "This is kind of embarrassing to ask but could I sleep with you tonight? I don't feel like getting kicked again."

Shifty could see the blush easily through her white fur. "Sure, I don't mind."

"Thanks, Shifty, you're a lifesaver," Frost said as she got on the bed and got settled.

"It's no problem, goodnight Frost."

"Goodnight Shifty."

______________________________________________________________________

The next morning Shifty woke up to something cold pressing against his side. Slightly delirious from barely being conscious he looked over and saw Frost laying against him. Shifty immediately blushed before pretending to go back to sleep. But right when he closed his eyes his alarm went off.

From across the room, he heard Zeus mutter, "Five more minutes" before he felt Frost wake up.

Shifty did his best to pretend to not notice but Frost saw right through his fake sleeping.

"Oh my Arceus, I'm so sorry Shifty. I don't know what happened, I must've moved while I was asleep." Frost apologized.

"It's fine Frost, I don't mind." Shifty tried to calm her down.

"Are you sure?" Frost asked worriedly.

"I'm sure."

"Okay."

"Oi lovebirds, what are you two doing over there?" Shifty heard Zeus call over to them in a teasing tone.

"U-uh n-nothing," Frost responded looking away from her brother who only rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, sure. Well come on, I'm hungry and this hotel offers free breakfast."

"We're coming," Shifty said before getting up and heading towards the door only stopping to wait for Frost.

As they walked down to the small breakfast area Shifty caught himself glancing over at Frost now and then. Finally, on one of his glances, Frost looked at him, Shifty quickly turned away trying to conceal the blush that appeared on his face from embarrassment.

Zeus snicked when he noticed this and bumped lightly into Shifty who stumbled from the sudden contact. Shifty sighed in relief when they saw the lounge that held everything they'd need for a good breakfast.

Shifty had Oran berry stuffed waffles while Frost and Zeus had plain waffles. They ate in silence just enjoying their meals before they went back to their room to grab their bags and continue with their trip.

Shifty couldn't help but smile when he got into the driver's seat and heard the engine roar to life. Maybe, just maybe, I can do this after all.