This chapter is a lot shorter, kind of a transition chapter to the next one. So Autumn's parents are a little clingy, they don't want their daughter living so far away from them without them or her brother there to watch over her. She has her reasons for going to school and for wanting to leave Hoenn, though that reason may change later on. I did an attempt at putting in some French as Juan does speak it. It's not much and probably will be the most out of this whole thing. Enjoy!


"Hmm... 'What classes do you intend to take?'," Autumn murmurs, drumming her fingers on her knee.

Sitting pretzel style on her bed, Autumn stares at the application forming a neat pile in front of her. Mightyena is curled around her smaller body, napping and keeping her warm with his thick fur. She smooths his head in a soft rhythmic motion while reading through her application again and again.

It's been filled out for weeks; she's gathered the application fee, statements from teachers on her other skills, and her letter of recommendation from Juan. It came with her brother yesterday in an envelope with his name scrawled along the front in elegant handwriting. She's not too worried about it. Wallace said to be wary of it considering it was sealed with wax to prevent her from glancing at it. Juan has known them for at least four years now, but not long enough to know the mistakes she made when she was younger.

It can't be that bad.

Then again, it could be about her ability to communicate with others. Outside the house, she's a bit awkward and short with people. Social cues are harder to read than she thought, and she isn't sure how to keep a conversation going with someone other than her family members. Wallace's friends don't talk to her aside from a mandatory 'hello' and 'goodbye'.

That could bring her down.

"Well, my experience with pokemon should bring it up. Right, boy?" she cooes at the wolf pokemon.

He pops an eye open and glances at her, his tail props up at the attention, flailing side to side. She giggles and ruffles his hair, making his tail hit the bed harder. With a bark, he rolls onto his back, giving her access to his soft tummy. Now laughing, Autumn rubs his belly, hitting the sweet spots.

"Aww, I'm gonna miss you," she pats his stomach twice before draping herself on him.

The dark colored pokemon settles down and twists his head to glance at her, his tongue lolled out to the side. At her words, he whines a bit and pushes his head forward to bop her forehead with his wet nose. She laughs and hugs him.

"I just gotta get out of here and find myself," she explains to him as if he had demanded an answer. He twists back onto his belly and tilts his head at her, she scratches behind his ear, perking up. "I'll be back and you can come with me. How about that?"

He barks and licks her face. She grimaces, pushing his muzzle away.

"Autumn! Honey, you're going to be late for class!" Audrey calls up the steps.

"Crap!" Autumn gasps and scrambles to grab the papers before her mother can enter her room. She almost hits the ground, but manages to stash away the application in her drawer and grab her swim bag. "I'm coming! Come on, Mightyena."

"Hi, honey," Audrey greets her daughter right outside her bedroom door, looking a bit surprised at her sudden appearance. "Wallace is outside waiting for you."

"Oh, okay," Autumn breathes, reaching up to kiss her mom on the cheek. "I'll see you later then."

"Wait," her mother touches her shoulder. "How's your application coming along?"

"Really well, I have to fill out a small sheet on my personal goals and then I'm done," she answers with a proud grin.

"Your father and I are proud of you for doing this all by yourself, you know," Audrey speaks with a smile of her own. "We're still talking about you leaving."

"Right," Autumn drags out the word before checking her watch. "I'm gonna be more late, Mom."

"All right," her mother raises her hands, waving at them. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Mom," Autumn returns the embrace, and then laughs when Mightyena pushes himself in between them. "I'll see you later, bye!"

Autumn rushes down the stairs, racing against Mightyena, and leaps out the front door. Wallace is on the first step, hunched over his bag as he packs in some food for later. She bops his head while stepping by. He zips up his bag to catch up with her.

In Sootopolis, swimming is a required class until a certain level. There used to be so many drownings and accidents within the city that the law had to change. As soon as a child was able to, they learned to swim.

Autumn loves swimming. She loves the ocean and its vast beauty. Though at this point, it's within the gym and doing some laps down the pool and back. It's relaxing, and keeps her mind focused, so the class doesn't bug her.

The sun blazes in the sky with little clouds to protect her from its harsh gaze. Humidity is a common phenomenon that never ceases to make her sweat even more. Wallace wipes the sweat off his forehead and trudges along beside her.

At the bottom of the stairs, Autumn stands at the edge of the reservoir separating the city from its gym. The waters gleam as crystal clear waves lap at the surface in a gentle, welcoming rhythm.

Pulling out a pokeball, Autumn lets out her Kirlia. "Can you teleport us to the gym?"

"Kirlia!"

In a quick flash, they're standing in front of the gym entrance.

The door bears the emblem of the Rain Badge, the design cut in the middle of the doorway. Made of glass, it glows according to the light shining through it. With the sun high in the sky, it is a light blue.

The two push the doors open and trudge inside. Large in size, the gym has a retractable ceiling and a deep pool filled with pillars. Since Juan has been in charge, he often invites his fans in for a show of his pokemon. But today, the gym is empty save for her brother and the gym leader.

Juan is a dear friend of the family. He's been their instructor ever since they were little. Not only is he skilled in battling, but in contests as well, and he's been tutoring Autumn and her Kirlia for a while now. He also encouraged her to apply to the school in Rustboro to further her theoretical knowledge, a choice she is taking to heart.

"Hello?" she calls into the gym.

The ceiling is open, letting in abundant sunlight to brighten the pool. Random pokemon of Juan's sit on the pillars, basking in the light and squirting water at each other on occasion. Sitting in a rather elegant chair is Juan in his usual attire: black tights, purple pants, and a black shirt with a blue jeweled cravat. He sips at his tea turning the pages to a thick book on a small table in front of him.

"Hello, Juan," Autumn greets with a grin, setting aside her bag.

"Hello, you two. Prêt pour commencer?"

"Oui!"

OoOoOoO

"Of course."

Autumn groans as Juan picks apart her appeal. She did excellent, just the obvious mistakes of making it too large and too forced. It's her nerves over her application, it keeps popping into her head throughout lessons.

Work in the pool may have helped her clear her head, but once out of the pool, her mind went straight back to her application. Juan teaches them while speaking French, and she's been doing that just fine. But her appeals are lacking.

Despite sounding harsh, Juan is looking out for her. He is aware that Autumn will be going to school soon, he has no doubt that she'll get in, and wants her to be ready. The faster she picks it up, the better she'll do in class and in the actual setting.

Owning only a Kirlia, he does simple lessons for her. Sometimes he allows her to borrow one of his own pokemon, knowing that she and her brother have interests in water types.

"You did excellent, you will be fine," Juan assures her with a confident smile.

"Thanks," she smiles back as he approaches her side of the field.

Being late afternoon, they'll be heading back for lessons with Jeffrey and then dinner with their parents. Wallace clutches his rumbling stomach, having eaten all the snacks during French and Autumn's practice appeal. Their mentor compliments each on their work before seeing them out the door.

The gym sits on an island, in the center of the large lake with no pathways to the mainland. Juan's pokemon construct an ice bridge whenever he has a show coming up, other than that, Pokemon carry trainers out to the island. Autumn twists around and stares up towards the level where the big tree stands.

It's the best view of the tree sitting in the center of Sootopolis. It's said that it came from a towering giant from the far away region of Kalos. She's not sure about the towering giant part, he was a king or something. So maybe that's what the legend means, he had giant power, he couldn't have been a giant.

She loves that tree, it holds some sort of ancient power in it. It seems to always pulse whenever she visits it. Then again, it could be because the Cave of Origin is nearby. That is even more ancient and mystical.

Many tourists from the mainland come here just to see the entrance. No one is allowed in, and people born in Sootopolis definitely can't enter. She doesn't understand the reasoning, but it's well known that it's forbidden. As a child, she used to run by the entrance with her brother, both trying to see who can get closest without overstepping the known boundary just feet from the entrance. Then an Elder would find them and bring them home to be punished by their parents for being disrespectful on sacred property.

"Are you sure you're ready to leave?" Wallace tugs on his sister's braid.

She glances up at him, his eyes are fixed on the tree as well. The look in his eyes mirrors the same one she wears when she looks at the tree, or the peaks of the crater behind it. A longing to see the world, even if it's within the same region. To experience life and adventure. They both want it, she doesn't need to confirmation to know that it's true.

"Are you?" she returns the same gesture, reaching up to tug on his much shorter hair.

He laughs, his face lifting to the sky as he does so, and she watches him with a half smile. Sometimes, Wallace is sixteen, and other times, he's older than that. When she was little, she just thought it was him repeating the adults' words. But no. Wallace has always been wise. She wishes she could be, but then she'd have no need for him, and she doesn't like the thought of that.

"Touche. I guess we'll never know until we're gone," he tears his gaze away from the skies to grin at her. "And by then, it could be too late."