Prologue

Seafoam and Eggshells

The ticket is weighted in his hands, pressed against the egg's incubator, and the young man looks over the boat side. His father is watching alongside his mother, waving him off with an encouraging smile. It was the last he would see of dry land, and his family for a while coming.

Weary sigh and he heads into the boat's belly, walking through the excited chatter of people, the boat's shift against the waves getting everyone whipped up into a buzzing excitement. He couldn't understand it, less why he agreed to this. But it would be, supposedly good for him. So, Rosaiah resigned himself, for his family's sake.

Once into the room, where his luggage had been settled prior the leaving of the bay, Rosaiah placed the incubator and it's egg down. He hardly trusted the waves to not jostle and crack it. Red eyes peer into the incubator, and a shiver goes down his spine.

His mother was a well-renowned breeder, and thus, she had sent him over to Alola, to transfer eggs with one of the Professor's there, to evaluate the quality of her breeding. Rosaiah hardly saw the point in it, she was plenty a good breeder, one of the best in Kalos. Even managing to set up connections with breeders in other regions.

She hardly needed an evaluation of all things.

But, it wasn't his place to tell her what to do and what not to do. Besides, he had worked with his mother on the ranch here and there, there were guidelines to follow. Maybe this was just another one of those Guidelines. A shrug and Rosaiah pulled up the brochure again, peering over the events on the boat. It would take a week or so to get to Alola, so the boat was filled with a few events. Mainly battle competitions, with a few contest like events. Nothing he was interested in.

Crumbling the papers up, he threw the wadded ball at a nearby basket, and sat down on the bed, hands over his face in a dramatic display. Of course, he was the only option they could send on this trip. No, was being forced to.

Grit teeth and the young man tucks the egg safely away amongst cushioned blankets and padding. The card in hand, he left the room once more, swiping the key to lock the door.

Food sounded good right about now in all honesty, and he didn't want to stay in that room, staring at the egg, any longer than necessary. What was so important about this one breed anyway? A snort. It probably wasn't even the Pokemon, but rather, making sure they weren't inbred. It made more sense than some stupid evaluation to a professor overseas. Popular breeders often got stigma, he knew this, because people became desperate to keep their Ranch or Breeding Factory up afloat.

Now that he really thought about it, that really did make the most sense. Trainers, Contest Goers, they needed specific types of Pokemon, down to their most hidden skills and abilities, to even just a gender or moveset.

And, Rosaiah had heard of the scandals of those caught inbreeding, or even just outright abusing their Pokemon in the form of overbreeding them to fit the bill they had been assigned. There's a sharp snarl twisting his lips, and he tugs at pink bangs, snapping himself from his anger. Why did it matter to him? He couldn't do anything all this way out from the main problem. But, he did promise this, if he ever did see something of the like, he wouldn't hesitate in shutting that operation down.

Big talk, considering he had no Pokemon of his own.

"Hey!" A jolt, and there's a girl on the ground in front of him, glaring up at him with icy blue eyes and some weird bandana wrapped around her hair. He must have bumped into her.

"Sorry," A hand is extended to her, to help her up, "I was lost in thought."

"I could tell," A snapped response, as she smacks his hand away. "Watch where you're going next time. Next time, I won't be so nice." her words come out like a sneer, and he grimaces in return, shaking his head.

"Fine, whatever."

This was already shaping up to be a lovely trip indeed, he thought, as the girl stormed off. Hands shoved into his pockets, he turned back to his path without another thought and went to find the mess hall. Rude woman or not, he still wanted something to eat.

What would a boat like this have to eat anyway? If it was a trip to a supposed paradise, maybe they had something like coconuts with straws in them, or something just as cringe-worthy. It would be even better if they had little umbrellas in them, Rosaiah snickered at the thought. Wouldn't that be something? Probably take a shot of that with his Holo Caster to send to his mother, she loved these sorts of little things.

Once to the mess hall, he found exactly what he had been thinking he would find. There were quite a few assorted fruits, and drinks, a few set meals like an all you could eat buffet. It must cost a pretty penny now that he really thought about it, though, money would hardly be an issue.

As long as he stayed on task, and kept his card, then, Rosaiah would continue to receive money from his mother and father by way of their Ranch. A soft huff and he slumps into a nearby chair, pathetic gathering of food on his plate, despite his previous thoughts of hunger.

This was going to be a long trip.

End Prologue

Seafoam and Eggshells