Chapter One: Formalities
It was utter chaos.
Over three hundred nervously babbling teenagers streaming through one door. A surging, pushing flow that carried Sefera and Arec forwards without any movement from themselves.
"This is cool!" Arec whooped, carelessly flailing his arms through the air. The tie she had so carefully fastened on him this morning threatened to come apart.
Struggling would be useless, so Sefera crossed her arms across her chest and tried to look as dignified as possible.
Moving at one step per minute, the group of rowdy teenagers finally reached the outside court.
The set up was quite simple. Various tables adorned the courtyard in a semi-circular fashion, while large, colorful banners flew above them, loudly proclaiming what they had to offer, from student ID's to uniforms to schedules. But there was one specific station that had the most people milling aimlessly around it.
The station was the biggest, taking up about one-fourth of the entire courtroom. Dozens of tired-looking adults stood behind it, while hundreds of eager kids strained to reach the front. It was the most simplistic booth by far. There was no banner flying above it, no need for them to try to bring the children to the front. All it needed was the one simple word that was haphazardly taped to the wall behind it.
STARTERS
"Seferaseferaseferaaaaaaaa," Arec practically screamed into her ear, "Let's go get our starters, c'mon c'mon!"
For once, she and Arec were thinking along the same wavelength. Sefera couldn't deny that she wanted to go and get their starters right now. But with Arec around, she was supposed to be the calm, responsible one.
"Arec…we'll get this done so much faster if we get all our other stuff first. I know you want your starter. I do too. But just listen to your big sister, okay?"
"But—"
"Come with me, little bro."
He sighed, eyes downcast, but he did follow along. She almost never used that tone with him anymore. It was the tone of their childhood, the voice she had owned back when she was innocent and happy and everything was right. Before she had to change.
Her brother wasn't an idiot, even though he acted like such most of the time. He was a goofball, a charmer, a little ball of infectious energy, but he wasn't truly stupid. Arec, despite all his flaws, understood his twin very well. And he knew that when Sefera talked to him like that, it meant she was serious. That she meant it. So he followed along, rumpled uniform and all, grasping the small, elegant hand he understood better than his own.
They were, Sefera noticed, practically the only ones who weren't crowded around the starter booth. The ones who weren't were here fellow intelligent students, she presumed. Or maybe even someone who had already gotten their starter, first in line. They were the ones she should probably become friends with.
She and Arec dragged themselves progressively through the various boring booths all around them. They picked up their schedules and their Pokédex's, and then proceeded to the photo booth.
A quick flash was taken by the alert Alakazam standing there. It might have only taken a second, but with an Alakazam's amazing brain, Sefera knew the picture would be in perfect quality. From there, they stood awkwardly at the area where they were going to get their actual IDs. It was a marvel of psychic mastery: the Alakazam at the photo booth immediately teleported the picture to his trainer, who printed it out upon the standard student ID.
The Academy student ID was unique in the Pokémon world. It had all the functions of a standard trainer ID, with several benefits only given to Academy alumni. One could use it to check into Pokécenters, get your Pokémon healed, all those standard things; but it also functioned as a debit card and let you into areas normal trainers couldn't until they were certified Masters.
Arec, knowing he was forgetful, even signed up for the ID grafting operation. For someone like him, it was almost a necessity: student IDs, once lost, were not refundable. Your only option at that point would be to get a new one, with none of your certification, money, or student points on it. Perhaps she would have the operation done later on too, when she was actually going on her journey, but for now, when she was just in the Academy, she didn't think that inserting a chip version into her arm would be that useful. The chance of her actually losing her ID when she was living in the same place for so long was utterly miniscule.
The Alakazam's trainer gave her and Arec their IDs, with a quick smile and "Good luck!" Sefera held it up to the light, astounded. It was so light, so small. The card felt like it was nothing but plastic, but she knew that within its seemingly innocuous surface lay the fruits of centuries of technological innovations.
In this card, Sefera could see her entire future.
At long last, after only one more detour (to grab their generalized uniforms), they had arrived at the starter booth.
"Finally…" Arec moaned. "I have never been so unexcited to get Pokémon-related stuff in my life."
Sefera heaved a giant sigh and clouted Arec on the back.
"Arec. We. Are. Ten. You barely have a life."
"Whatever, Sef! Let's not talk right now, okay. Let's just go get our starters!" Arec's face was a giant mass of jubilance, sunny enough to break even Sefera's veneer for a slight second.
There was, much to Sefera's annoyance, still a line leading up to the station. She could only imagine how long the wait would have been if she had let her emotions go and gone to this station first and foremost.
The line dwindled, slowly but surely, until Sefera found herself at the very front, staring to a veteran trainer. His face was gnarled and covered with scars, his voice gruff, but she could see the slight twinkle of glee in his eyes that reminded her of Arec. He was nothing to be afraid of.
"Name?" he asked, tapping his pen against the table. The pen didn't fit his appearance at all. It was nothing but a tiny little black smudge against his large, calloused hand.
"Sefera Patel," she responded. The sound of her voice, crisp and clear, seemed unfamiliar to her. All the confidence she had mustered up going into this was slowly draining away. But, through the sheer force of repetition, her stance remained firm, her back straight, her voice commanding.
He scanned the papers in front of him, flipping to and fro. "Patel…Patel…Oh, here we go! Sefera Patel…student #114733409. Do you already have your student ID?"
"Yes."
The trainer raised his eyebrows. "You don't talk much, do you?"
Sefera's forehead twitched slightly, but otherwise, she remained silent.
"Oh, it's totally cool, y'know! Gives you an air of…mystery! Who doesn't like a mysterious girl. Plus your name…Sefera…it's like a wood nymph or something! Pretty damn awesome, if I say so myself." His voice jabbered on and on as he shot a friendly grin at her.
Her fingers drumming at her sides, Sefera tried her best to hide her annoyance. "Yes, that's all well and good, and I like my name too, but I am at the starter booth to get my starter."
"Oh! Sorry kid, you just seemed so much mature than most of these other kids…just wanted to have a friendly chat with you, is all."
Once again, Sefera tried her best to not start ranting at the musclehead. He was just as kind as Arec…and just as annoying too.
"CHARLES! Charles, get over here! We're almost done; now stop slacking off!" The trainer facepalmed himself and released a huge sigh. "Sorry about this…wait here for just a sec. My Ambipom is just…lazy. I need to go get him…Jesus Christ!"
Letting herself lean forward, Sefera relaxed her posture a bit.
"Hey…hey Sef? Is that guy annoying you? Do you want me to beat him up for you?"
It was a mystery, honestly, how she had ended up with a brother who constantly lived on two extremes. On one end, he annoyed her to kingdom come and back. On the other, he was the only guy she would ever need in her life. She was half annoyed by his protectiveness, half touched.
"Like you even could, Arec. He has an Ampipom, which means he at least has one Pokémon over level 32. At the least. Right now, you don't even have a Pokémon, and in a second, you're just going to have a level 5 baby."
"Doesn't matter, Sef! If that guy is annoying you, he's going down!"
She reached out and ruffled his already tousled hair. There was a scale of things she did to Arec that only they knew about. This was one of the smallest things she could possibly do to him. It meant that he was annoying her…but only just barely.
"He's really only as annoying as you, airhead."
"And I'm backkkkkk!" The trainer skidded to a halt in front of Sefera, ridiculous grin back on his face. "And here, see—it's Charles!" An Ampipon walked slowly towards her, eyes half-closed. In his left tail was the object Sefera had been waiting for for so very long: her first Pokémon.
He picked up a sheet of paper that had laid on his desk all the while. Squinting heavily, he proceeded to read exactly what it said. "'Based on the personality test you took at the end of basic school, and the trial test taken at the same time on your Pokémon knowledge, the school board has picked this Pokémon for you that we believe best fits your…tem-per-a-ment. We hope that you have a wonderful time at the Academy and that you continue on your journey to become a Pokémon Master.'"
The Ampipon (Charles?) hovered the Pokéball above Sefera's head. She hastily reached out and grabbed it, deathly serious. This Pokémon, her starter, was her very first step on the long road to become a Pokémon Master.
Knowing what species of Pokémon it is could make all the difference in how she trained it.
"Thanks…" she mumbled, too excited to act as dignified as she typically tried to be.
Sefera stared at the Pokéball for a minute or two. In the back of her mind, she could hear Arec telling the trainer his name and getting his own starter. But all she could really think about was the Pokéball she had received. What if it was a useless Pokémon? But…it was her starter. Could she just replace it? No, no matter what, your starter is special. But what if? What…if.
"Hey…" A gentle hand was on her arm. Not Arec. But how could it Not-Be-Arec? Arec was basically the only human being who she let touch her. Sefera whirled around, an icy glare directed at Not- Arec.
It was the veteran trainer.
"Y'know…I was really scared when I got my first Pokémon too. I thought you had to get an awesome first Pokémon to get anywhere. I wanted…like…a Dratini, or a Porygon. Hell, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been surprised if I got Mew himself! In the end though, I got Charles over here. He's an idiot, but, he's mine, understand? He's my best friend, my companion, so many things. No matter what, your starter will always be there for you. It doesn't matter what they are. I mean…I started with this guy, and I've been a Master for thirty-one years already. Just release your starter, okay? And I promise it'll all feel better."
Sefera nodded. Fingered the button. Released.
A/N: FIVE DAYS BEHIND I AM DYING TRYING TO CATCH UP.
