"Hey, no fair! You can't use Mars to get away!"

For the second time that afternoon, Isaac had yelled for Mars to block the shorter and less athletically inclined Marie, while he dashed away to hide behind a tree.

"It's not my fault you don't have a pokémon of your own, Mar-Mar," he sneered back from the safety of his tree.

"He's not even yours, eye sack," she retorted. "Your dad just lets you borrow him!"

"I told you not to call me that!" he yelled, finally emerging from his hiding place. Marie then broke into a wide smirk; she knew she had already won. She might have been the weaker of the two physically, but she had almost ten times the brain power.

"Call you what, eye-sack?"

"Stop it!"

"Eye-sack, Eye-Sack," she jeered at him. As he threw himself forward, she tagged him squarely in the chest, laughing. "Gotcha!" she cheered, as they rolled forward together in the grass off to the side of the route.

"You two play nice over there!" called one of their mothers.

"Arc, arcaaa," barked his parents' Arcanine disapprovingly. But he didn't care, they were rolling in the grass, giggling and tugging at each other. They just kept rolling along- right into a girl who had been quietly reading at the edge of the grass, causing all three of them to roll over onto the substantially harder cobblestone path.

Almost immediately, their mothers were at the scene, picking them up and dusting them off, wiping away tears while quietly reprimanding them. Sometime during the whole mess, the other girl's parents had appeared and picked her up, checking her over for any cuts or bruises.

"How many times do I have to tell you Isaac? No rough-housing," his mother scolded. "I'm so sorry," she offered to the parents of the unfortunate victim, "I try and tell him to be careful, but he just doesn't seem to listen," she said, with a withering look in his direction.

"Oh it's fine," said the girl's father with a small chuckle. "No harm, no foul."

"I don't think we've seen you around here before," Marie's mother grunted, trying in vain to straighten out her daughter's new dress. "Did you recently move here?"

"Oh, uh, that's right! I guess we haven't introduced ourselves," the man said, turning a bit red in the face. "I'm John, this is my wife Tara, and this young lady here is Eileen," he said, pulling the girl and woman- Eileen and Tara- in. "We're the Martins! We just moved to Aquacorde from Sinnoh. Got relocated here 'cause of my job with the Valley Windworks. Scouting locations for future plants and all that."

"Well, I am Angela Gambrell, and this is my daughter Marie," said Mrs. Gambrell.

"And I am Charlene Lavoie; this is my son Isaac," his mother muttered, while trying to wrangle her son back into her arms. "Anyways, bonjour et bienvenue. We wish you the best of luck." she said graciously. But Isaac had quickly grown bored with this conversation and these boring people- he wanted to play. Sensing that she was losing her son's attention, his mother set him down, but angled him toward the new little girl. "Now, what do you say to this young lady, mister?" Isaac shuffled his feet and kept his eyes on the ground until he couldn't bear waiting any longer, he just wanted to leave.

"I'm sorry I knocked you over, okay? Okay? Can I go now?" he said, as Mr. Martin gently sat his daughter down on the ground.

"Now what do you say, Eileen?" prompted her father, but Eileen didn't say a single word. Not even as she walked straight up to Isaac, locked eyes with him, and pushed him straight to the ground herself.

Isaac played with Marie and Eileen nearly every day after that.

Isaac was so late. He came to a stop, panting, and pulled his battered cell phone out of his pocket.

7:50.

Shitshitshit.

But there was hope yet. After 45 minutes of frantic running, the Aquacorde Town gates were finally in sight. He got himself to start up a steady jog, and finally pushed through into the town. It was still as beautiful as ever. From the terrace he stood on, he could see the next terrace down with all of the apartments and cafes, the terrace after that, with a beautiful fountain surrounded by a variety of shops and homes, and the river further beyond that. Honestly, he had always been jealous of Eileen for being able to live here, though it was just as clustered as Vaniville and not much larger.

Luckily, though, he did remember where the city building was, so as long as some terrible disaster didn't strike, he could still make it in time for his test. He had to return his pathetic excuse of a pet halfway through Route 1, though, which left him to navigate the city alone. He quickly ran forward down the steps and through the city's central causeway, eventually taking a left and following the railing on the edge of the terrace to stay out of the mess of back alleys and side streets. Eventually, he came upon the old building with its tall steeple, and stepped inside just as the bells rang out above him. By no small miracle, he had made it.

He took a minute to examine the room around him- on any other day it would probably be a simple reception room, but today it was packed to the absolute brim. Every bench lining the room was filled with people, and dozens of others were standing. Unfortunately, he couldn't say he knew very many of them- only about quarter of the other teenagers here were from Vaniville too; their trainer classes had always been so small that they combined with the Aquacorde classes for national testing. He tried wading through the thick crowd to find his friends, muttering polite excuses as he pushed past others. Eventually, when he was about to give up all hope of seeing them before the test, he felt a light touch on his shoulder, and whirled around to find someone he did know behind him.

Isaac could've hugged David right then.

"You were almost late." Of course, he'd have to start the conversation out that way. But before Isaac even had a chance to respond, David quickly spun him around and gently nudged him towards the corner of the room opposite from that which he'd been heading in. After just a moment of moving forward, he was able to make out two girls sitting there, one with red hair and the other with brown. As he came into sight, the red head stood up and sauntered over, with a huge smirk on her face.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up. You know we thought we would be going on our journeys without you," said Eileen. Isaac just rolled his eyes and pushed her aside, taking her seat on the bench next to Marie.

"How long have you guys been here, Mar?" he asked.

"Don't worry, we only ended up here a few minutes before you," said Marie soothingly. "David and I were planning on finding some way to stall the proctors until you arrived." Isaac smiled at that. Whatever they might say, he knew he could rely on his friends. "Oh! I almost forgot!" said Marie, leaning into Isaac to whisper, her eyes wide. "Deidra stopped by earlier! She said-" but Isaac didn't find out what Deidra had said, because one of the proctors had stepped into the room, and everyone waited with rapt attention for the woman to make her announcement.

"Good morning, all!" she said yelled. "I am the Head Proctor of Central Kalos, Lisa Bellefrey. You all know why we're here! So, let's head to the testing rooms and see who our future trainers are!" With that, she made her way to a set of double doors opposite from the entrance, and motioned for everyone to follow her. Slowly, everyone sifted into their assigned rooms and sat at one of the tables set up. Eventually, the woman- Proctor Bellefrey- made her way into Isaac's testing room.

"Alright, everyone, you all know the rules by now. No eating, no drinking, and no talking," she said as she passed out the booklets. "Once you finish, you'll have to wait quietly until time is called, and please refrain from using your phones, holo-casters, pokénavs, pokégear, xtransceivers, or whatever devices you kids use these days. After the test, anyone who has requested an audience with the Breeder's Council will have to return to the reception area for further instructions, otherwise you will be dismissed."

She sighed and stood at the front of the room, finished passing out tests. "Well then, I hope you all do wonderfully. Bonne chance, you may begin."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Isaac finally breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down once more on the bench in the reception room. The test had been about as hard as he expected, but he had at least been able to figure most of it out.

"Well that was pretty simple, don't you think?" Marie said sat down beside him, primly crossing her ankles and smoothing her skirt.

"Shut up, Marie." The last thing Isaac needed was a reminder that even in training he seemed to be one step behind her.

"You did fine, Isaac. We all know that," David insisted as he took his seat beside them. "Besides, even if you didn't do well on the actual test, your audience with the council could easily balance that out." He, of course, was right. The council was always sympathetic to anyone who would undergo a session with them.

"Well I suppose I'll be seeing you all later. Good luck with your little meeting," Eileen sneered at them as she passed by with a group from Aquacorde. "Gimme a call whenever you get done, we can grab lunch afterwards."

"Wait, Eileen, don't you have an appointment? I thought your parents didn't want to spend the money for a private breeder," Isaac quickly questioned.

"They don't, but I'm also not bothering with a bunch of people who think they know something about me. That's why I requested express permission from Professor Sycamore and Professor Rowan to use a Sinnoh starter for my journey, since my family is from there. As soon as the results of my test come in, Rowan will be sending one my way," She flippantly replied. Isaac had to say, it was always impressive the way she took initiative. Just as she walked away, somebody from Vaniville went past, making for the door.

"Wait, Micah, don't tell me you're going too?" David gaped at him.

"Yeah. My parents are getting me a pichu from a breeder. I'm only interested in electric types, and wild electric types are too difficult to start with," he retorted, not even pausing on his way to the door. Marie made an annoyed sound and shifted in her seat, while Isaac just rolled his eyes. Micah had never been much of a conversationalist. He also didn't think much of etiquette, which certainly didn't help Marie's opinion of him. Which reminded him-

"Marie! What were you going to say about Deidra earlier?"

Marie screwed up her face at the question, but answered anyway. "She was waiting outside for you to get here, of course. When we arrived before you, she naturally claimed she was here to wish all of us good luck, but it was obvious that she wasn't interested in how we did. She asked us to have you call her once you were completely finished." Isaac sighed at that. Deidra had always treated him like the little brother she never had, so even when she left for her journey two years ago, she called him at least once a week to check up and visited whenever she could. Unfortunately, she was also the polar opposite of Marie. He had given up long ago on trying to help them reconcile their differences, but he still wished they could at least be civil.

"Thanks, Marie. I'll make sure to mention that you passed along the message."

"Oh, well thank goodness; you know I hope for nothing more than Dee's approval. Maybe I'll finally get some sleep tonight knowing that for a single shining moment, she felt something other than contempt for me."

"Mar, please…"

But Marie couldn't respond. Once more, Proctor Bellefrey came sweeping into the room.

"Listen now, everyone. All of the council has arrived, and so we'll be taking you one by one back in the city council's room for our meeting. We'll be going alphabetically, and I will come get you when we're ready. Okay? So, first up we have… Anita Archer!" At the sound of her name, the nervous girl from Isaac's class stood up. Proctor Bellefrey gave a reassuring smile and led her through the double doors, already scribbling down notes on her clipboard.

With the distraction over, Marie and Isaac were left to sit in terse silence.

"You're both being stupid." And just like that, David brought them all back. So, after mumbled apologies, they all sat in slightly less awkward silence. Isaac was reduced to watching the clock tick away as person after person was called in for their appointment.

"David Bellamy?"

Isaac looked up and saw the proctor standing in the doorway, staring expectantly at the group. David smoothly got up, giving a quick smile to Isaac. He then pushed his way through the double doors, not even sparing a glance at the proctor (which she apparently didn't appreciate, judging by the ferocity with which she began scribbling on her clipboard).

Unfortunately, this left Isaac with a very unhappy Marie. He sat there for what felt like forever, trying to come up with a safe topic of conversation that he could recover with.

"So… what are you hoping for? You know, for a starter?"

Marie squinted her eyes at him for the random question, but he didn't mind. As far as he knew, it was a neutral topic, and he was genuinely interested in her answer. Isaac and Marie had often talked about going on their journeys, but they had never really mentioned how they thought their teams would be like.

"I don't know. I feel like maybe something simple, but effective- one of the basic types. Maybe that would be best."

"Really?" Isaac questioned. "I mean, I just always figured that since you were so smart, you'd probably start out with something like a psychic, or maybe even a dragon…"

Marie gave him a look of pure horror at the very suggestion, but quickly softened her expression.

"I don't think so. I mean, it's just that it takes so much strength to raise a psychic, and a dragon… well; you've heard the horror stories. One day, a cute little friend; the next day, you're for dinner. No, thank you."

Isaac mused on that. Everybody aspired to train a psychic or dragon- one of the more "advanced" types- but naturally not everyone could handle them.

Would I be able to train one?

"Marie Gambrell?"

Isaac's thoughts were interrupted once again as Marie stood up walk back with the proctor. Before she could go, though, Isaac stood up and grabbed her in the tightest bear hug he could manage.

"You'll do awesome, Mar." Isaac whispered. Marie returned the hug after a second of shock, then quickly disengaged and walked past the proctor, who was again already scribbling down notes. Except this time, she was staring directly at Isaac, not Marie. But the moment passed, and she turned and followed Marie back to the examination room.

With nothing else to do, Isaac sat down and resumed his thoughts.

He did have to admit, the prospect of working with one of advanced types scared him a bit. Psychics, while more or less the most loyal, were of course also notoriously difficult to earn the respect of. Who could blame them, though? When you were near omnipotent, why would you take orders from some newbie trainer?

Not to mention psychics weren't the only ones- all of the "Big Four" types- psychics, dragons, ghosts, and dark types- were known for their attitude problems.

He didn't know what exactly he was looking for in a starter, but he knew he wanted something loyal and hard-working, something that would listen. Unfortunately, so many different pokémon fit under that category that it really didn't help much at all. One thing he knew he wasn't worried about though was strength. Strength could be developed; laziness was near impossible to work with.

But does that rule out the Big Four types?

Isaac was tired of thinking so seriously, though. He instead started to think about what starters he would give each of his friends until Proctor Bellefrey called his name.

"Isaac Lavoie?"

Shaken from his thoughts, it took Isaac a minute to realize it was finally his name being called. He shakily got up, and started for the double doors. He gave a small smile to the proctor as he passed by her, and pushed through the double doors. He paused in the hallway to wait for the proctor, unsure of where to go. She skirted past him, heading straight forward.

"So, I'm assuming that you and Miss Gambrell are close, Isaac?"

Isaac whipped his head around to look at the proctor in amazement at her question- he never thought of them asking such unofficial questions.

"Yeah, we've known each other for years. We grew up in Vaniville together. She's a good friend, and I think she'll be an even better trainer."

It certainly couldn't hurt to put in a good word for her, even after that fact. But Proctor Bellefrey just scribbled down some note on her clipboard, pressing her lips together. They finally reached the end of the hall, with another set of double doors waiting for them. She swung them open, leading Isaac into a room flooded with natural light from tall windows, and what looked like an elongated Judge's bench situated against the opposite wall. She directed him to a chair in front of the bench, and then briskly walked to take her place on the bench, directly in the middle of ten or so other people.

Although she was seated at the center, she still wasn't the center of attention. What captured Isaac's was a woman sitting at the far right end, wearing one of the most bizarre outfits he'd ever seen. She wore a long, skin-tight black dress, which was totally normal, but completely offset by her huge cape, which was covered in galaxy patterns and billowed of its accord. He realized with a bit of shock that she, too, was intently staring at him, also seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

Isaac heard a small cough, and turned his head back towards Proctor Bellefrey, who was looking between him and the woman in utter annoyance.

"Now, Mr. Lavoie, as you realize, we are the Kalosian Breeders' Council. Do you know why we are here today?"

Isaac didn't have to dig deep for an answer to that.

"You're here today because I asked for an appointment so you could assess my potential as a trainer and supplement the results of my exam. And, as a result, to assign a starter pokémon to me as you see fit." Isaac said, trying to sound as official as possible.

"That is correct. We are simply a group of breeders and trainers who want to help you out. So, I suppose it would only be appropriate to introduce you to our guest star for the day- Olympia, of the Anistar Gym."

She went on talking about formalities and rules, but all Isaac got out of her spiel was that he could now unashamedly stare back at Olympia, whose gaze had not wavered since he entered the room.

Once more, however, Proctor Bellefrey gave a cough (a little bit more forceful than last time), more irritated by now.

"Well, I suppose we better get this show on the road, shouldn't we, Mr. Lavoie?"

But Isaac could only grin sheepishly back at her cold stare.

"So, Mr. Lavoie, what field do you wish to go into, and why?"

"Just training. Both of my parents and two of my grandparents were trainers, so it kind of runs in the family. Plus, I want to go out and experience the world, you know, get out of Vaniville."

"So you're not interested in breeding or coordinating?"

"Not particularly. I think breeding is important, but I don't really have the patience, and coordinating just seems, well, frivolous, to me." Isaac was happy with his response; he had managed to use one of those crazy words Marie preferred.

"What about pokémon? Do you wish to learn more about them, or train many types?"

"Well, yeah, I want to learn more about them, but having a lot of them doesn't matter to me. I'd probably only train a few, to develop as strong a bond as possible."

Olympia smiled at that, but Proctor Bellefrey didn't even glance up from her papers. It went on like that for a little while, the proctor asking questions, Isaac replying, and all the other council members reacting except for the proctor. Overall, this was going much better than the written portion.

"So, Mr. Lavoie. You've talked a lot about creating a bond with your pokémon and building trust, but let me ask you this: say you were attacked out there, in the wild- by a swarm, a poacher, another trainer, anything which would put you in mortal danger. If your pokémon was in danger, or on the verge of death, would you do anything to save that pokémon?"

His answer was immediate. "Yes."

"Would you even give your life?"

The other council members squirmed and glared at the question, but Proctor Bellefrey looked him smugly in the eye, obviously expecting an answer in the negative. Honestly, he was expecting himself to answer in the negative. But the more he sat there and thought about it, the more selfish it seemed to. His pokémon would put themselves out there in the line of fire for him, so why wouldn't he do the same for them?

"Yes… I think I would."

Just as Bellefrey opened her mouth to respond, Olympia cut in, speaking for the first time.

"What he is says is true. I see selflessness in this boy's heart. His future is bright."

They all sat there in silence, shocked at the statement. Olympia was smiling, Bellefrey was glaring, and Isaac was panicking.

Selfless?

Isaac considered himself a lot of things, but selfless wasn't one of them. He forgot to get gifts for his friends' birthdays, he took the last cookie from a box but left the box in the pantry, for Arceus' sake, he ignored the sidewalk santas during the holiday season!

How can she even tell if I'm being truthful?

"I am able to see truth in you young man because I am a psychic trainer. My telepathy allows me to tell whether you are lying or not. Unlike others today, you have not lied once," Olympia assured him, although the idea that she was reading his mind was less than reassuring. Isaac looked to the proctor to get them back on track. However, she seemed to have had enough of being interrupted and simply sat there waiting for someone else to finish things. Olympia, seeming to sense the tension, continued. "One last question, to decide your fate. Have you any preference in pokémon? Any type or species you aspire for?"

Isaac sucked in a breath. Here came the moment of truth.

"No… I don't think so. I think that… that you all will know best. I think it doesn't matter what pokémon you have- you can both grow and become stronger."

Olympia smiled once more at him, while Proctor Bellefrey outright sneered at this point.

"Thank you, dear boy. You have done well. If you do not mind, I will escort you out now." Olympia suddenly disappeared from her seat, but the reappeared beside Isaac, making him jump back from shock. But Olympia only offered her hand to help him up. He took it, and suddenly the examination room disappeared around them. Next thing he knew, they were standing on one of Aquacorde's terraces. Looking around, he realized they were outside of Marie's favorite café. Isaac thought he was going to throw up.

"What-" he wheezed to her, "what was that?" He felt like his entire body had been scrambled.

She looked at him regretfully. "I'm sorry. I've forgotten my manners. I've been teleporting everyone out of the examination room as they have finished. That is why you haven't seen them. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for those new to it. When I made my way here this morning, though, I found this café to be of excellent quality. You should eat. I realize that was stressful for you." Olympia finally let go of Isaac's hand, stepping away from him. "You tried very hard to be truthful. It was impressive. I cannot wait until you come to my gym. It shall be a battle for the ages." And with that, Olympia disappeared again.

Isaac never even got the chance to ask her if that meant he had passed his exam.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Wow, it sounds like Bellefrey is just as much of bitch now as she was then."

Isaac sighed at Deidra as he transferred his phone to his other ear while fixing Mars' dinner.

"Don't say that, Dee. That's not really an appropriate thing to call the Head Proctor," he commented.

"As if I care. If the shoe fits, Isaac, you better fucking wear it. It's the same story every year: everyone thinks she so sweet and nice, until they actually spend more than a few minutes around her. Didn't I ever tell you what she said to me on my testing day?" she snarled at him.

"Yes, you actually did, Dee."

"She told me, to my face, that I would never amount to anything, because I had an attitude! I mean can you believe that?"

Yes, I can, he thought to himself. But he would never say that to her.

"I'm just lucky Wulfric was the gym leader representative that year, otherwise, well, you know."

Isaac understood.

"Yeah, I was lucky to have Olympia there. She kind of kept the peace. I feel like Bellefrey kind of scared the other council members…" Honestly, she had scared him, too, but he would never admit that. The last thing he needed was to add fuel to Dee's fire.

"Well, you know she used to be a big shot trainer. That's probably why she acts like she's tough shit or something."

Isaac nearly dropped the food bowl (much to Mars' excitement) from the shock. He carefully set the bowl down in his kitchen before replying to her.

"She used to be a trainer?"

"Yeah," Dee drawled, clearly less than willing to continue with the subject. "She was a real big deal. A type specialist, too. Water, I think. She wanted to be an elite four, but Siebold beat her out, and then she was denied a gym. Probably why she's such a bitch; she's bitter that all she was able to become was a glorified babysitter."

Isaac felt bad for her then. That really did suck, to lose such an exciting life for such a boring one. The Bureau of Trainer Reintegration tried hard… but he doubted that anything could compare to such a life of unparalleled freedom.

"So you think it went well?" Deidra asked, snapping Isaac from his thoughts.

"Yeah, I think it went well enough. I just hope the results come in soon," he replied.

"Don't hold your breath, kiddo. It'll be a few weeks. Anyways, how did you answer the big question? If you'd prefer any one pokémon?" Dee excitedly asked.

All Isaac could do was sigh. He knew that question had been coming, but he felt like a total dork for what he said.

"I said that I didn't think so, because they probably knew best, and I thought all pokémon had the ability to be strong."

Isaac waited for the inevitable snicker or snide comment on the other end of the line, but it didn't come.

"I'm so proud of you Isaac."

And then she hung up. That was all. Isaac had gotten use to a lot of things when it came to Deidra, but such explicit praise was not one such thing. So, Isaac resigned to not knowing what the hell went on in other people's heads, picked up Mars, and went to snuggle with him in bed. He'd had quite enough to do with people that day.