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November 20th, 2022 (Monday)
Viridian City
6 a.m.
In an urbanized part of the city, there was an apartment building. All the way on the 25th floor, where the high-class apartments were, was an apartment. Inside the apartment was a bedroom occupied by a teenage female, who was currently wrapped up in her quilt, snoozing the morning away. Her long orange hair was everywhere, and her legs were at odd angles.
Soon there was a knock on the door, and then a "get up!" from the woman who had knocked. Slowly the girl got up and turned on the light. As soon as she adjusted her eyes to the blinding light, she did the morning routine: brushed her hair, changed her clothes, and all the other things that the teenage girl always did.
Next was breakfast. The woman who had knocked on the door was making breakfast. She wore a plain blue dress and had pulled back her graying hair into a ponytail. When the teenager walked into the dining room area, she smiled. Then she quickly flipped the pancake on the skillet, for it was starting to burn.
Soon breakfast was served: pancakes, bacon and orange juice. Quickly the girl dug into breakfast, quite hungry. She had not eaten anything the previous night, too busy with other things.
"Excited about today?" the woman asked, eating some of the pancakes she had made for herself.
"Why wouldn't I?" the teenager answered as soon as she had swallowed. "It's my birthday. But I loathe Mondays…" she mumbled, taking a gulp of her orange juice. "Are you sure I can't skip school today? It IS my birthday…"
Sternly the woman stared at the girl.
"You know what your father said. You are to attend school today, and that's final," she said. "Besides, don't you get those important test scores today?"
The girl then slapped her head. She had forgotten all about the tests she had taken the previous month. For a girl like her, life depended on it. It was also bragging rights if she got a high score, and the girl wanted every reason to brag.
After more of the morning routine, the girl got her backpack and went out of the apartment. The hallway was bare, with white walls and brown doors. The most decorative object was the gold elevator door. As soon as it came, the girl got on the elevator. A couple of students from the psychic school also got on. All of them wore blue uniforms. One of them, a tall blond female, snickered.
"Look, it's Nayana again. How's school with the losers?" she asked in an annoyingly high-pitched voice.
"Fine," she replied, glaring. The girl didn't think the school was for losers. Her high school was decent enough for her.
"And how's your MOTHER? Killing innocent people again, I presume?" the girl continued, grinning at the now annoyed teenager in the corner of the elevator.
Nayana turned her back to the others.
"Like I care about her. The only connection we have is blood," she said, staring at the corner of the elevator.
The elevator stopped. The psychic students got off the elevator first, all glaring at Nayana. As soon as they moved, she also got off.
Stupid stuck-up academy students, she thought to herself.
True, she had been one of them, before the other students had decided to hang her because of her "blood relations". Luckily, Nayana had come out alive with a sore neck, and she had gotten a school transfer. Now she attended school with other normal students and psychics who didn't want to go (or couldn't quite afford to go) to the academy.
Next, Nayana stood at the bus stop, for her school wasn't within walking distance. Even though she could easily teleport to school (she was psychic after all), it was nice to socialize with the other students. And the school bus was a great place to brag, since most students would listen and tell their friends.
When the yellow school bus came, she got on and sat in the back, where the "cool" crowd was. She wasn't one of them; that was where her seat was. Not even the "cool" crowd apposed her as she sat down. They all knew what she could do to them, and it scared them to death.
Soon the bus was at the school. It was three red brick buildings, one being the gym and the other two being for classes. Everyone got off the bus, going on their separate ways.
The next stop was the nurse's office. Since most teachers didn't trust the psychic students, they had to get their powers blocked. There was a device called a patch that did this. It kept a mind clear enough to do normal things, but not enough to bend a spoon. Almost all of the psychic students, about fifty, stood in line, waiting to get the okay from the nurse. (Most patches were implanted in the ear, so that they could alter how much power they wanted, but a few were temporary).
"Next," the nurse said, poking her head out from the doorway. Slowly the line went down until it was Nayana's turn.
The office was about as plain as the apartment building hallway. White walls and plain brown cupboards were all that Nayana saw. The teenager sighed, hating the plainness of the school.
"How's your day been?" the nurse asked while looking for the device to check power. She filed though a cupboard until she found Nayana's.
"Fine," Nayana replied, yawning. "Wish I had the day off."
The nurse held the device to the girl's right ear. The display screen showed a number: 4.5. The number was how strong the mind and its brainwaves worked; it needed to be 5 to do the simplest of psychic techniques. Nayana was okay to go.
"Happy birthday!" the nurse said while Nayana went off to her first class.
The rest of the day was good for her. Most of her teachers were nice to her today. One of them even gave Nayana some candy (which she promptly ate). At lunch, the very few friends she gave her gifts. But the best part were her test scores, which were handed out at the last period of the day.
The test was called the PSI (which most people rolled their eyes at, wondering why the person who named it gave it that abbreviation). It determined how smart and how strong one was, and it was essential for getting a job that involved powers. The higher the score, the better jobs that one was likely to get.
"I'm gonna get a 100, just watch," Nayana bragged to anyone who'd hear.
"Grow up," most of them replied, glaring.
"Not even Sabrina, one of the smartest psychics of all time, could get a score that large. She got a 97," one of the smarter psychics said. "A 100 is impossible."
"Oh shut up," Nayana said.
Most of them couldn't stand how the girl bragged. It was bad enough that she was the strongest psychic who hadn't ingrevated (a process that strengthened the power of the mind, ultimately bringing it up four tenths), but having to hear her brag about a perfect PSI score would drive them mad. It would be all they would hear for days and days, and by then, they would have no hair. Each one of them would have pulled it out by then.
Soon Nayana got the scores. It was high: a 98.5. Unfortunately, that wasn't the score Nayana wanted to get at all. That was too low for the teenager, who wanted the ultimate rights to brag.
"WHAT?" she yelled so loud, the students in the class across the hall could hear her.
The man who had given her the test score took a look at it.
"Wow! A 98.5! That's the highest score I've ever seen!" he said, smiling. "You should be proud that you got such a high score. You know, the sky's the limit for a score like this. Any psychic employer would like an employee as smart as you!"
Nayana still glared at the man. He had a very great point, but Nayana was still disappointed.
"It's not perfect though," she mumbled, taking it back and putting it in the envelope she had received it in. She couldn't afford to lose those scores.
Eventually the last bell rang. Glad that school was over, Nayana ran out. Her grandmother, the woman who had been in the apartment before, would be picking her up to get her driver's license. The girl was glad that she was getting it; she had always wanted a car. Of course, she had to get the money first, and that was where she was stuck. Ms. Daila, a manager, was talking about giving her a job at her café, but Nayana didn't want that kind of job.
As Nayana spaced off, thinking about what she would do when she got a car, a girl walked up to her. The girl had long black hair, wore a pair of black flares, a black t-shirt, and a sweet, innocent smile on her face.
"Hello there!" she said, sounding as innocent as her smile.
"Uh, hi," Nayana replied, startled. The girl looked quite suspicious to Nayana; she had never seen the girl before, and her enemy almost always used this kind of approach to catch her off her guard. Also, girls in that dressed in black were usually Goth, and this girl didn't sound Goth to Nayana.
"I heard it's your birthday today!" she continued, smiling sweetly. But then she switched her innocent smile for an evil grin. Swiftly she pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Nayana's head.
"Too bad it'll be your last."
Nayana sighed. It was the usual "let's get back at the father by killing the daughter" gig that most evil organizations did these days. Her father was wanted by most, considering that he did run the famous Pokémon League. Everyone wanted that power, and they knew how to get it.
It was too bad for the enemy that Nayana excelled at psychic combat. The girl snuck away and stuck out her pink tongue at the enemy. Next, she shouted "nyah nyah", which angered the enemy even more.
Enraged, the girl attacked her. She shot the gun, only to hit the grass. Several of the students still hanging around screamed, and one of them pulled out their cell phone to call the police.
"You missed, loser!" Nayana yelled. "My grandma could aim better than you, and her hands shake!"
Still enraged, the girl then tossed the gun to the ground. It was obvious to her that she had to fight using her powers as well. The gun would do no good.
The first thing that the girl did was focus her powers on Nayana. She imagined that Nayana was being constricted on every part of her body, and that was what happened. It was a painful technique, as many people knew. But Nayana thought the exact opposite, and her power cancelled out the girls in a flash.
What the… the enemy thought. She's really strong! How could she get out so fast? I'm 8.2! No one could be much stronger than that…
Next Nayana focused her powers on her right hand. Slowly she clenched her hand. Soon a sphere of purple energy appeared, floating slightly above the palm of her hand. After that she threw it at the shocked girl in front of her. The sphere of energy landed in her stomach, pushing her back into the street.
Purple??? the girl thought. Her powers can't be purple like that, not unless she's above the power of 8.5, which just CAN'T be possible… Mother said only three have reached there, and I severally doubt she's related to one of them…
But she couldn't think about it any longer; an old brown car was coming right toward her. The girl teleported away, afraid for her life.
The car stopped in front of Nayana. Inside, her grandma smiled and waved. Quickly Nayana got in the car and sat in the passenger's seat.
"How was school?" the woman asked, eyes on the road.
"Just fine. I got a 98.5 on the PSI," Nayana grumbled, taking her blue backpack off. Her books had been scrunched from the constricting attack.
"You make it sound like a bad thing," Nayana's grandma replied. "Anyone would kill for that kind of score. Don't go complaining about how it wasn't the best; be glad about what you got."
Nayana could only sigh. Her grandma was right, but she still wanted that perfect score to brag about. That, and it would make her look like a true genius, which she was not. She was only above average.
The next thing Nayana knew, she was walking out of the license place with her driver's license. It was a piece of cake getting it.
Next in her plans for the day was her homework. There wasn't much for Nayana to do, for no one except her math teacher had given out homework. She was glad as she went though her difficult math homework, punching numbers into her calculator.
After that, it was goof around until dinnertime. There wasn't much to do, since most of her friends never went out on a Monday night. So Nayana went to the recreation room and played some pool with some of the other residents of the huge apartment building.
Her grandma was a great cook, and she went overboard with dinner. It was everything Nayana could have ever wanted. Not a scrap of food was left; between Nayana and her grandma (who knew exactly how much she'd need to make), there were no leftovers.
"Good thing your father is gone," the woman said, "otherwise he'd be mad. Some of your favorites are his too." Then she smiled and went to doing dishes. Nayana then pulled out some ice cream and scooped some out for herself.
"You aren't going to the café?" Nayana's grandma asked while Nayana ate her vanilla ice cream.
"What, to go get a job application? Nah," she replied. "I don't want to be a waitress. Too boring. Yah, sure, the tips can be good, but other than that, I don't like it."
Nayana's grandma stared at her. She seemed quite shocked that Nayana wasn't jumping at the chance for a job, after begging her father to give her a car. Of course, her father said no, since Nayana needed to learn to get things herself.
"I thought you knew," she replied. "They have another company applying there. Today is the last day to pick applications. Why don't you check them out? I'm sure you'd like that job."
Nayana shrugged. She had nothing else better to do, and it was a job. As long as it wasn't waiting on tables or working in fast food, she was going to try it. She needed money if she wanted a car, and she had to pay insurance after that. So the girl quickly ate her ice cream, put her bowl in the sink and teleported to the café.
The café was on Main Street, and it usually had quite a bit of business. But today, it was busy for a Monday night. Many people were crowded around the glass doors of the Time Travel Café, wanting to get the applications as well.
"What kind of job is it?" Nayana asked a random teenager.
"The best job a psychic can get!" he replied, smiling. "This place is the only place in this part of the country handing them out. I can't believe my mom's letting me try out… I may get killed…"
Nayana glared. It didn't help her out much. What she wanted to know was exactly what this job was.
But soon she got into the building and was at a table. Only a few applications were left, and many people were fighting over them. Every single one of them ignored the now short line to the table. Ignoring them, Nayana went up to the long table.
"Can I have an application?" she asked, pointing to the envelope. The man nodded and handed her the last one.
Everything was in large tan envelope, and it was heavy for an application. Nayana could just see how much paperwork she had to fill out, and she didn't like paperwork too much. It was boring and dull, and Nayana hated the dull.
"That's it folks! Party's over! Get moving!" he announced. "We're out of applications!"
Disappointed, the others who had been fighting left the café. Nayana then took a seat at a table, wanting to know what she had just taken an application to. No one had told her what it was.
The manager, in a pink dress and a blue apron, passed her by. Her long hair was up in a hair net, and she was smiling. The woman liked Nayana's company, despite her flaws.
"Want anything to drink?" she asked.
"Nah, that's okay. I just want to see what this thing is," Nayana replied. "I want to know what I just picked up. Once I'm done, I'm going back home."
Laughing, the woman then went to the cash register, where a few were standing.
Slowly Nayana opened the folder. She dug around until she saw a pamphlet. It had the job information she was looking for. Curiously she took it out and opened it. The second she saw what was in it, she was glad she had taken the last application. It was the job for her.
The job was the Timetravelers. Just their name intrigued Nayana. It was obvious that they traveled though time (a more recent psychic discovery after doing studies on Celebi). Nayana had her time travel license, but had no use for it. Not just anyone could travel though time. One had to have a good excuse to, and that was extremely rare. Most people who learned it learned it because it made them feel smart.
Curious, she read the pamphlet.
"The organization is run by the government. The job of the Timetravelers is to keep a close watch on time, and to make sure that no individual or organization messes with its well-being.
"The organization is separated into three groups: Group A, Group B, and the backup group, who are replacements in case one of the other groups needs it. Each group is led by two responsible Timetravelers and the Group Leader, who assigns the missions.
"The groups meet everyone Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:20 Central Time."
Nayana liked the sound of the job. It was millions of times better than being a waitress. Quickly she put the pamphlet back in the tan folder and went home to talk to her grandma about it.