My and Dawn's agreement for today was to meet at the reception of the Pokémon Center before moving to Castelia's city hall. Instead, the receptionist tells me she's gone to the Poké Mart because she 'had something to buy'. I swear if she's one of those stereotypical ladies who can't stay away from shopping for five minutes…

"I told you, I'm a trainer!"

Her protests coming from inside the Mart cut off that train of thought. And looking inside, I can see her by the counter arguing with another lady. A frowning redhead keeping her hair in a ponytail and staying in a...strangely familiar pose with her index finger resting on one of her cheeks.

"Uh-huh," the redhead replies in a condescending tone. "So your card says. That means that even if you didn't have eight badges attached to you, you wouldn't be buying just one standard Poké Ball."

"And as I told you, it's for this one Maractus!" Dawn protests.

"Sure. And where is it now?"

Oh dear. What did I walk into?

"What's going on here?" I ask as Annette and I approach the arguing duo. Both ladies turn to look at us, the redhead arching the eyebrow of one of her crimson eyes, Dawn widening her eyes and looking like we're Jesus come to solve all of her problems.

"See?" she turns back to the redhead, giving an overly broad smile. "That's Annette, the Maractus I was talking about."

The redhead still looks unimpressed. "So I see. And I also see she's not yours. Sorry kid, no trainer discount."

Dawn winces at that news. "Wh-why?"

"Not your Pokémon, no trainer discount. Doesn't matter who's paying."

...trainers have a discount on Poké Balls?

"W-well, who says she's not actually with me?" Dawn replies, nervously twirling her fingers.

"And who would this guy be?" the redhead nods to me. "Your boyfriend?"

Now it's my time to wince. "Boyfriend?! Are you serious?!"

"Sounds like a no to me."

Oh goddammit, what kind of cheapskate are we dealing with?

Dawn seems of a similar mind as she massages the bridge of her nose. "He's a Faller," she huffs out. "And I'm helping him get settled in."

"Meaning he doesn't have a trainer license of his own?" Dawn lets out a sigh as she shakes her head. "Well then, it's the standard price of 450 dollars."

450?! That's more than double what it costs in the games!

"Fine," Dawn groans before grabbing a pouch from her pockets, grabbing cash from it and placing it on the counter, all with a defeated expression on her face. Meanwhile, the redhead hands over one of the iconic red and white balls.

"Hope to see you again," the redhead says, with a smile on her face that looks genuine but feels derisive.

"Oh, I'm sure we will," Dawn replies with a cold tone and a strained smile of her own.

After grabbing the freshly purchased Poké Ball, she heads straight out of the Mart and I follow her right after. And in the meantime, I get to hear her mutter some...stuff. I'd say curses at the redhead, but I can't understand whatever language she's speaking.

"So…" I intervene, hoping to interrupt her rant. "What did you actually need that Poké Ball for?"

Dawn takes a deep breath to recompose herself before putting up her usual cheerful smile and turning her attention to me. "For Annette, of course," she answers chirply. "What else would I be buying it for?"

"In case you come across a Pokémon here in Unova you like and want to take with you?" She sure seemed excited to meet a Maractus for the first time.

Dawn responds with a light chuckle. "If all goes as I think, I doubt I'll have the time to go catch Pokémon in the wilds." She sombers up after saying that. "Besides, my days as an active trainer are...behind me."

I can't help but quirk an eyebrow at her hesitation.

"No need for that look!" she says all defensive-like. "It happens when you land a job like mine!"

Uh-huh?

"Anyway, here," she hands the newly purchased Poké Ball over to me. The small red and white sphere feels pretty light in my hand as I just look at it, not really sure what to do next.

"Ra?" Annette draws my attention away from it. She's looking at me confusedly, her gaze turning to the Poké Ball a couple of times.

I turn to Dawn. "Do I really have to keep her in one of these?"

"Have to, no. But taking her around in it would be a lot simpler than forcing her to hop all the time, wouldn't it?"

Hmm, good point. Still, one other thing.

"You okay with this, buddy?" I ask Annette, who just looks at the Poké Ball perplexedly.

"Don't worry, Annette," Dawn intervenes. "It's comfy in there. And if you start feeling cramped, you can just come out."

I widen my eyes. "They can do that?"

"Not too often," Dawn replies. "Otherwise the Poké Ball can break apart."

"But they can?"

Dawn answers by looking down at one of the pockets of her coat. "Hey, E? Can you give us a demonstration?"

E?

A sound akin to something breaking precedes a white beam of light that comes out of Dawn's pocket and lands near her feet. That beam soon takes the shape of a quadrupedal creature with long pointed ears and tail and two rhombus-shaped flaps dangling beneath the ears. When it has taken shape properly, the light goes away to reveal a small mammal with light blue fur, save for the dark tips of the tail, limbs and ears; a teal crest on its head and a dark blue rhombus on its back.

"Gla!" the Glaceon cries out.

"Ra?"

Both Annette and I approach the new Pokémon, who looks at us with a neutral look. I crouch down to be closer to its eye level and I instantly feel a chill sensation coming off of it. Annette seems to feel it too as she takes a few hops back shortly after.

"This is a Glaceon, right?" I ask.

"Yup. Originally from a lady living in Hearthome City before being given to me."

That's right. Bebe gives the Eevee to the protagonist before beating Cynthia in Platinum.

As the Glaceon keeps looking at me, I feel the need to extend an index finger near her face. She seems to pick interest at that, as she sniffs at it.

"Gotta say, she is kind of cute."

The Ice type's eyes instantly widen at hearing that, before she frowns.

"Wait, he's not-"

Before Dawn can finish, her Glaceon bites my finger.

"You okay now, Annie?" I ask the little cactus shivering under the blanket covering her.

"R-r-ra!" she stutters.

"Don't worry," I reply in an attempt to reassure her. "These people are specialists. They'll look after you while I'm away." I steal a glance at the Ice Pokémon turned pin cushion resting on the other end of the infirmary with his own trainer. "Just try not to get in another fight, okay?"

Annette...does the closest thing she can to a pout but gives me a slow nod nonetheless.

"Good girl. I'll see you tonight then."

I walk out of the infirmary after that and wait for my chaperone to rejoin me. Surprisingly, when she does she doesn't look nearly as miffed as I was expecting.

"How is...what was his name again?"

"E," she replies, still not sounding particularly angry. "And they say it's not too bad. It's just a lot of spikes and he'll need the rest after." She then lets out a giggle. "I wasn't expecting Annette to be so temperamental."

If you can call her tackling that Glaceon, getting into a brawl with him and getting herself covered in patches of ice and him in spikes, all while I'm busy crying out in pain, as 'being temperamental' then sure.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I say, letting out a sigh. "It was my mistake to assume your Glaceon's gender like that."

"Ah, not to worry," she replies dismissively. "It happens fairly often with Glaceons. They do have a rather feminine appearance. And he's rather sensitive about it." So I've learned. "Still, he was out of line with your finger. Speaking of," she glances down at my bandaged index. "How is it?"

"It hurts," I confess. "According to the nurse, it's not so much because of the bite itself but for the fact it came from an ice type. Although I was about to strangle her when she made a frostbite joke-" Dawn snorting amusedly cuts me off. "Hey!"

"Well, admit it," Dawn says while trying to keep in another snort. "It must have been pretty funny."

I give her a murderous glare. She doesn't make any more snorts but doesn't otherwise look intimated in any way.

Dawn is the first of the two to break the ice. "Anyway, what did they say about your recovery?"

"A week," I answer. "I need to change the bandages every day, but they'll see how it's going after a week." A doubt comes to my mind as I say that. "We will be here in a week, right?"

"Not to worry," she replies. "Even if we are forced to go to another city, this Pokémon Center can send your info to any other one all over Unova."

Ah good. That should be helpful in the future. Not just for me, but Annette as well.

And speaking of her…

"And how's Annette?" Dawn adds.

"Shaken, but with most of the ice thawed out, she is not at risk of hypothermia," I answer. "I think it is also the surprise of coming in contact with an Ice type for the first time."

"Yeah, I can imagine," she giggles again. "Anyway, as fun as that was, we are going to be late for our meeting if we don't hurry. Are you all set to go?"

I nod to her. "Let's just hope we don't come back and find out those two went at it again."

Dawn's smile becomes more strained at that comment. "Let's hope not."

I hate to say this, but Annette having to stay at the Center may have been a blessing in disguise. With the way Dawn and I had to hurry to the city hall, there's no way she could have kept up with us by just hopping.

Thankfully we did manage to get to the hall in time. According to Dawn, we are supposed to meet with a notary - a Mrs. Melissa Black, if I got the name right - who will handle overseeing the process of giving me the appropriate documentations for this world. We are brought into this Mrs. Black's study shortly after arriving and it isn't long before the notary joins us.

At first glance, there isn't anything particularly eye-catching about this notary. Just a lady in maybe her fifties with brown hair and glasses and wearing a fancy dress. However, my interest is quickly picked by her weird eyes with abnormally large brown irises surrounding white pupils. What the actual devil…?

"Good morning, Miss Hikari, Mister Beccaria," the notary warmly greets the two of us, breaking my shock at her strange eyes.

"Good morning, Mrs Black," Dawn greets the lady back, with me joining her right after. The notary then walks to her side of the desk before addressing us again.

"So, Mister Beccaria," she tells me. "I have already been briefed about your situation as a Faller. I'm here to give you the necessary documentation to have you settle in our world." Yeah, I already knew that much. "If I have been told the truth, you already have your documentation from your own world with you. May I see it?"

I immediately grab my documents and hand them over to Mrs. Black, who proceeds to intently look over them. She asks a few questions every so often about some of the information on it, things like the names of places or what numbers on them represent. Simple stuff I can answer easily and that she takes in without making a fuss.

Except for one.

"What is this pink card?" Mrs. Black asks as she waves said document in front of me.

"That's my driving license."

The notary furrows her brow at my answer. "Driving license?"

"Yes." Do they not have cars in this world? "You see, it's for-"

The notary cuts me off with a raised hand. "I know what it is for. However, this specific document comes with a complication."

It's now my turn to furrow my brow. "What kind of complication?"

"Before we can offer a replacement for this card, we need to assess how different driving in your world is from driving here. To that end, a driving test is in order. Otherwise the standard procedure would be to seize it and have you start again from the ground up for a new one."

What? Oh hell no!

The notary seems to understand my inner thoughts, as she arches an eyebrow. "Do you agree to undertake this test?"

"Of course," I instantly reply. It was no walk in the park getting it the first time, I'm not starting over if I can avoid it.

"Good," the notary replies before grabbing all of my documents and standing up. "Just wait here a moment."

She leaves the room after that, closing the door behind her. And leaving me alone with Dawn.

"See?" the bluenette says after a bit. "It was as easy as I said."

"Driving license aside," I rebuke.

Dawn's mouth stretches into a strained smile. "Well, you've heard her. It's not unfixable. Besides, how different do you expect this to be from your world?"

Hopefully not too different. For all intents and purposes, the Pokémon world is supposed to be the same as mine but with Pokémon in it. I just have to hope that last bit doesn't affect road regulations one way or another.

Thankfully, it doesn't take long for the notary to come back. Although my documents are nowhere to be seen when she does.

"It is done," she says while sitting back at her desk. "I've handed over your documentation. By next week, we will be able to give it back to you, along with their counterparts as a citizen of Unova. I've also arranged for you to take that driving test on the same day."

"That's it?" I ask in disbelief.

She nods. "Yes. With what you've said, it is a simple task from here."

"So...is that all?" I ask Mrs Black, the excitement in my voice barely contained.

"Not quite." My enthusiasm is immediately dampened by that answer. The notary then leans on her desk and wraps her hands together. "There is another matter we need to address."

Ah, damn. "What is it?"

The notary gives a glance to Dawn, who now looks as confused as I am, before answering me. "I have been informed that in your time here, you have come in possession of a Maractus. Is that correct?"

I hesitantly nod to her. "'Possession' is not quite the right word for it. She led me out of Desert Resort and has been by my side since."

Mrs Black taps her indexes together. "I see," she comments before turning to Dawn again. "Miss Hikari, has he been informed of the necessary process to adopt Pokémon?"

I'm sorry, what?

"Not yet," Dawn replies. "But so long as I'm around to keep an eye on them, he can keep the Maractus. We can worry about the matter of the license when everything else is sorted out."

The hell?

"Wait a moment," I chime in. "What does a license have to do with Annette all of a sudden?"

Mrs Black furrows her brow at me. Dawn intervenes in her place. "Owning a Pokémon is not as simple as just picking one from the wilds. First of all, you need the proper authorization, which can either come from a license obtained after passing an associated test, or - if you are a trainer - from having a sponsor with the proper infrastructure to take care of them."

Uh-oh. "So...what you're saying is, since I have neither of those, I theoretically wouldn't be allowed to keep Annette around?"

Dawn shakes her head. "From a legal perspective, the fact I'm your supervisor is the only thing keeping the authorities from seizing her."

Shit!

"There is a way to prevent that, right?" Please say yes, please say yes, please say-

"There is," Oh thank God. "And it's simple: you study for the license for cacti Pokémon. With that you will be able to legally keep Annette. Or any other Pokémon like her, be it more Maracti or others like Cacnea."

"What kind of test will it be?"

Dawn purses her lips a moment before continuing. "They depend from test to test. For such an harmless species, I think it will be the standard test for plant Pokémon: a quiz about their biology and behavior. All to make sure you know how to take care of them."

Ah...I suppose just saying 'they need sunlight and can store lots of water' isn't gonna cut it.

"There is an alternative method," Mrs Black chimes in, drawing the attention of both of us. "Trainers rely on sponsors that provide what is needed for the care of their Pokémon. If you were to become one, it would be an easier solution."

...what?

"What?!" Dawn and I ask at the same time.

"Think about it," the notary continues calmly. " A trainer license takes less time to acquire, allows to catch more than one kind of Pokémon, requires a cheaper fee and the sponsors offer a salary. And, in your case, it would be an easy solution to finding a job, would it not?"

Okay, that last one is a good point. However…

"Is this just an observation or are you making an offer, ma'am?"

The notary smiles at my question. "Not an offer per say. But I know a few people in Nimbasa who are offering sponsorship to aspiring new trainers as of right now. I think you and one of them can help each other."

Convenient. Way too convenient. Not at all smelling like there's some scamming business when a notary makes an offer that benefits third parties. And judging by Dawn frowning at my side, I'm not wrong about thinking like that.

Still, better if I play it safe in this case. "May I have the time to think about it?"

Mrs Black is not fazed by my answer. "Of course. We can discuss this further next week. Same day, same hour."

I nod to her and just say "Thank you." Dawn and I quickly leave after exchanging pleasantries.

Dawn and I head back to the Pokémon Center after the discussion with the notary and we both go to check on our respective Pokémon. I find Annette not shivering any more, but she's not letting go of the blanket yet.

"Hey there, little gal," I greet her. "Are you doing better?"

Annette smiles at me. "Ra!"

I smile back at her. "Good."

I then proceed to tell her the developments that occured with Mrs. Black. The angles of her mouth fall down when she hears that we could legally be separated, but when I mention the ways we have to prevent that from happening she listens attentively.

"Considering you are part of this as well, what do you say?" I ask her. "Would you be interested in Pokémon battles?"

Annette doesn't say anything. She keeps looking at me while her...whatever she has instead of lips press tighter together.

"If you don't want to, we can always just go for just the license. I'm merely considering it since it sounds like being a trainer has more advantages."

"Ahem." I turn around and see it is Dawn. "Since I myself was once a full-fledged trainer, could I give my opinion on the matter?"

I nod. "I was honestly hoping you'd say that." I turn to her fully and cross my arms. "The offer Mrs. Black made, do you agree that it sounded too good to be true?"

Dawn widens her eyes. "What? What do you mean?"

"A notary who just so happens to know people that want to offer sponsorships to new trainers and is willing to speak about them with the first sod in need of a way to legally keep Pokémon." I arch an eyebrow. "Doesn't it sound fishy to you?"

Dawn stares at me for a moment before closing her eyes and letting out a sigh. "Is everyone in your world so distrustful or just you?" she asks while massaging the bridge of her nose.

I shrug. "Let's just say my world is not a pretty and just place like you make yours out to be."

Dawn's answer is another sigh. "Well, if this can assuage your worries, sponsors in search of new trainers are not so uncommon. There is always the hope for the next big name trainer with them. It isn't so unlikely a notary would know some of them." Yeah, sure. "And besides, Mrs. Black knows I'm from the International Police. Do you think she would have told you all that with me present if there was something illegal going on?"

Huh...good point. Unless she's taken a bribe or something. Although she doesn't seem the type. And if she had she wouldn't be giving me a spiel on how I'm being paranoid.

"Alright," I concede. "But in that case, what were you frowning at back there? Don't think I didn't notice."

It is at that question that Dawn hesitates. "Well...becoming a trainer would solve both the problem of being able to keep Annette around more quickly than getting a license for cacti Pokémon and your financial situation."

I sense a 'but' coming.

"But...being a trainer is an arrangement that works in the longer term only for a few. For one reason or another, most leave the competitive scene after a few years. Don't you worry it might be an unfulfilling experience for you?"

Hmmm...how do I break it down to a lady that was let down by the dream of her teenage years by the sound of it?

"It might be," I concede. "If my goal were to be 'the very best' or something like that." Dawn frowns while Annette makes one of her questioning cries. "But I'm not interested in that. I'm only interested in two things: the license and the cash. Fame and everything else is secondary to me at best."

Dawn's mouth falls agape at my words. "Oh," she says dully. "Well, that...huh."

"Don't tell me no one's ever had that as a reason to become a trainer."

She shakes her head. "No, it's not unheard of. It's just...rare."

Not so rare in a world that is not as utopic as yours.

"Well, in that case," she turns toward Annette, "what do you say Annette?"

She raises both arms energetically. "Ra!"

I smile at her. "Glad you're in, little gal."

And chapter. We meet another one of Dawn's Pokémon, Eugenio deals with bureaucratic issues and he finds a potential way to become a trainer.

As always, thank you to Softandhappy for betareading this chapter. You can find us at the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server at: 9XG3U7a

See you guys next time!