The Square

- Unity Square

Bryant Macallister sighed in relief as he read the sign from the window. He had finally arrived after spending hours on a mostly empty bus. Sandslash had drifted off to sleep during the travel and while Bryant could hardly blame the ground Pokémon, he knew that there was no time for rest.

"Sandslash," he called out to his sleeping companion. "Come on, you can sleep later. We need to meet up with Alex and Ed before we get assigned to a team."

"Saaaaaa..."

Sandslash stretched and let out a loud yawn before slowly opening his eyes. Bryant grabbed his green army jacket from the back of the seat and threw it on in a hurry not to waste any more time. He retrieved his wallet and made sure he had enough money to tip the bus driver.

"Thanks for the ride, Jim," Bryant told the old man.

"No problem, Beck," Jim replied with a smile.

Bryant let out a sigh and his amber eyes narrowed. "Beck's my brother..."

"Sorry, Dale...er Trent...?" Jim said as he named Bryant's older brothers. "Priscilla?"

The mentioning of his older sister's name made Bryant realize that he was fighting a losing battle. He wondered if Jim was truly losing his sight, his mind, or if he was just messing around with him. Sandslash, on the other hand, seemed to be getting a kick out of watching his trainer's growing frustration with the old bus driver. It was certainly not anything that he was unused to. Bryant was the youngest person in an extremely large family and was always being mistaken for someone else, especially his brothers – or his brothers and sisters in this particular case.

"I need to get famous fast..." he said with another sigh before finally exiting the bus with Sandslash on his heels.

"Alright then, Lori," Jim called after him. "Be a good girl!"

Bryant's irritation quickly evaporated when he was greeted with the familiar sight of Unity Square. Though it was not located in one of the great regions, Unity Square was a large subdivision complete with small residential and commercial areas. However, access to the square was purely restricted to special trainers in or affiliated with the Unity program. Bryant's family had been connected to the program since its founding over a hundred years ago and he was the latest in a long line of Macallisters that had completed the seven years of initial training. He was more than ready for any assignments that they had for him.

"We're almost to Will-O-Burger," Bryant said as he and Sandslash walked down the sidewalk. "How are you holding up?"

"Slaaaa!"

Sandslash curled into a ball and rolled forward. Even as a Sandshrew he had always been a showoff and it was obvious that he wanted to race his trainer to the restaurant. Bryant decided to humor the ground Pokémon and ran after him. He knew he wouldn't be much of a match for Sandslash, but it was always good to get in a little exercise whenever possible.

"Looks like you beat me..." Bryant panted when they arrived at the restaurant. "Come on, let's go in..."

Will-O-Burger was one of three restaurants in the subdivision and easily the least fancy and most affordable of them. The place was packed on weekends, but on mission days, it was usually semi-deserted. Unlike those who were still training in the program, the graduates worked year round and were often away on important assignments when the trainees returned from summer vacation.

"Bryant, over here!"

The voice came from the last booth on the left. Bryant and Sandslash quickly made their way to greet their friends.

It was Alex's voice he heard, but it was Ed that he saw first, hungrily chowing down on his order. Edward "Big Ed" Gaffer had always been massive, even before his growth spurt during their fourth year of training. He was as strong as he was tall with short dull brown hair and dark eyes.

Alex Brandt was sitting across from him, throwing her football in the air and catching it. Her hair was light brown, cut very short with side swept bangs and her eyes were hazel, more green than brown. If one didn't know any better, they'd say that she looked like a very pretty boy.

They were both two of Bryant's oldest friends, particularly Alex since his sister, Nicolette, and her brother, Jeremy, had always been close. The three of them had been classified as Earth trainers when they started the program and had spent years training together, but that would no longer be the case.

"You're just in time," Ed said with a mouth full of fries as Bryant took a seat beside Alex. "We were talking about who we wanted to be our partners when we get put onto squads in a bit."

"Who were you thinking?" Bryant asked curiously.

"Dunno..." Ed replied. "Blake Memoria would make a good Heaven teammate. Maybe Dillon Parry? Don't really know that much about the guy."

"Glenn Morrow wouldn't be too bad," Alex added. "But that little cutie, Lydia Brown, would be so nice to look at though..."

Bryant let out a laugh. "All those are Heaven trainers. Who do you guys want as your Abyss partner?"

"Honestly, I'd rather have another Heaven or Earth partner," Ed stated. "It's better than having a backstabbing Abyss on your team. The saying goes that a fifth of Abyss members go rogue. And this year there are going to be five new squads, which means that there's going to be five Abyss trainers, which means that one of them is gonna turn traitor."

Ed was always a bit paranoid when it came to the Abyss trainers, but Bryant had to admit that he had a point. When a trainer first entered the program, they were placed in one of three classifications that depended on their individual skills and attributes. Heaven trainers were said to be good at boosting morale, Earth trainers were good at bringing stability to the squad, and Abyss trainers were good at getting things done in any way possible. Although you could technically quit the Unity program at any time, the Abyss trainers who left tended to become criminals, the most recently famous being Vance Fitz, who Bryant knew all too well.

"That's a dumb superstition, Ed," Alex told him. "Just because a few went bad doesn't mean you should just make assumptions. It's not like they choose to be Abyss trainers. That's the class they're put in when they get here. Anyway, Bryant, who do you want on your team?"

"I don't care," Bryant answered simply. "As long as they help me get famous, that's all that matters."

"Is that legit the only thing you care about?" Alex asked. "I could have sworn that Unity was more about helping others than gaining glory."

"Dude," Bryant started. "Fifteen minutes ago, the bus driver mistook me for my brothers and sisters. That's completely unacceptable."

Alex shrugged her shoulders. "You guys do all resemble each other and Old Man Jimmy's sight really isn't what it used to be."

"I don't mean sound like a jerk," Bryant said. "It's just that I want to be Bryant Macallister and not Bryant Macallister. Get what I mean?"

"Totally," Alex replied with a grin. "Now, are you going to pay for our lunch like you said or what?"

"Yeah, yeah," Bryant told her. "Get whatever else you want. Everything's on me, but it's only because it might be the last time we're together like this for a while. That doesn't mean pig out, Ed. I'm on a budget."

"Whatever," Ed said. "All I heard is that you're paying. Bring on the burgers!"

If anything, Bryant knew that it would be better to start eating healthy once more so that he would be in top shape for any important missions. However, he was quite aware that beginners did not typically have any assignments that required much physical labor. It was mostly doing charity work in one of the great regions, so a burger or two would not hurt. After he and his friends had finished eating, Alex and Ed cleared out while Bryant went to pay.

"We better hurry up," Bryant told Sandslash as they exited the restaurant. "Coach will give us an earful if we're late-"

"Saaaa!"

Bryant did not catch his partner's warning in time to avoid tripping over the foot that had been placed in front of him. He fell face first onto the pavement and slid a few inches forward. Before he could react, Bryant was yanked to his feet and shoved against a nearby truck. Staring his attacker in the face, Bryant identified the young man as Austin LaRouke, an older Abyss trainer who had completed training a year earlier and been assigned to Squad Hydra. He was solidly built and slightly intimidating with fair skin and straight dark hair that fell down his face. His dark gray eyes were visible between his bangs as was his vexing smirk.

"Unless you're taking me to a movie later on, I suggest you not be so rough," Bryant remarked sarcastically.

"If there's one thing that this organization does not need is another Macallister hogging all the spotlight," LaRouke shot back. "Especially not a joke like you."

"This 'joke' here is going to become famous," Bryant countered. "And I'm going to do it without my family's help. Trust me when I say this. My squad is going to be the greatest team to ever come out of this place."

"Jumping the gun a bit early, aren't we?" LaRouke taunted. "You don't even know who is on your squad yet. For your sake, let's hope you don't get anyone too crappy. Judging by the kids this year...you're definitely going to be in for a rough time."

"Yeah, whatever," Bryant said. "Can you let me go now? If you want to battle, that's fine, but you're ruining my jacket."

LaRouke glanced over at Sandslash, who seemed ready for a fight as he rubbed his claws together. The Abyss trainer released Bryant from his grip and the younger boy straightened out his clothes, visibly irritated by the whole confrontation. Sandslash stepped in front of his trainer and LaRouke reached for a poké ball.

"You know what..." he started as he looked at the poké ball in his hand and then at Bryant. His grin grew even wider. "I just got back from a mission and I'm meeting my team here to celebrate a job well done. I'm not going to waste time on the likes of you."

Without any further words, Austin LaRouke headed inside of the restaurant. If Bryant's future Abyss teammate was anything like LaRouke, there was most certainly going to be a problem. He thought about what Ed had said earlier, but quickly dismissed it. There was a huge difference between becoming a criminal and just being a jerk and despite everything, LaRouke only belonged in the latter category. He checked the time on his phone and decided not to loiter around anymore. Alex and Ed were likely already at the headquarters and it would not be fair to hold them and everyone else up.

"I need an an energy drink..." Bryant said with a sigh.

A/N: And the first chapter is complete. This is an idea I had for a while, so I was excited to finally get it under the way. The first chapter was pretty short, but the next ones will definitely be a lot longer as we add more P.O.V.s and learn more about the Unity program as a whole. Stay with me because the ride has just begun!

Until next time!