"We're doing what?" Lorelei asked in disbelief, not wanting to believe what she had just heard. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard them talking, but she was too overwhelmed to hear them. According to her parents, they were going to move to Kanto, a place where she could not use any of the Pokémon she had caught in the last four years. She had been planning on using two of those Pokémon in the Altan League, which, according to the rules, she was allowed.

According to Kanto's strict Pokémon battling laws, Pokémon caught by a person under the age of ten, once brought to Kanto, did not belong to the trainer, if the trainer became a Kantan citizen. They were, in a very real sense, wild Pokémon. The law had been put in place because the starting age of the Indigo League—Kanto's Pokémon Training League—was ten. Therefore, if she moved to Kanto, she'd have to leave all four of her Pokémon behind.

But if her parents did, in fact, mean what they were saying, then she would be moving away from everything she had ever known. The only life she had ever known. The only friends she had ever known. From the only Pokémon team she'd ever known. That was the worst part.

For a fleeting moment, Lorelei wondered if she could stay behind with her brother, but a glance at her parents told her that they were determined to bring her with them. So that was it, then. She was being ripped from her life, and being set down in some Kantan town to try to put her life back together.

It couldn't be. No. She'd worked too hard for this. She was in the running for the Internationals this year. If she moved to Kanto, she wouldn't be able to participate. The Internationals, as almost every person in Alto knew, were a series of events such as boxing, melee scrapping, Pokémon battling, and others to test the abilities of each contestant. Obviously, she wouldn't be able to enter all of the events, but she had been hoping—had been planning on attending to compete in one or two events.

"It's not fair," she said quietly, and realized that all conversation had stopped. Then she realized that she had said the words out loud. "It's not fair," she repeated, louder and more adamant this time, "I'm not going to Kanto. I'm staying here, and I don't care what you say."

With that, Lorelei got up so fast her chair tipped over backwards, and ran from the room before anyone could stop her. Brandon sighed and put down silverware with a clatter. "I hope you're happy," he said darkly, and got up, albeit slower than Lorelei, and followed Lorelei out the door.

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Lorelei walked along the path, glancing back at her house only once. She sighed. All she had ever wanted to do was to try to join the Altan Pokémon League, and now that opportunity was being taken from her. There had to be some way that she'd be able to stay here in Alto. There had to be. All she had to do was find it.

She looked up at the sky, and admired the freshly darkened sky. Faint tinges of tangerine and ruby still graced the sky at the very utmost of the horizon, but, for the most part, night had begun its nightly march. She heard a movement to her right and turned to see her Duskull appear. She smiled and began to walk again.

Duskull, for it's part, fell into step behind her, and said nothing. It seemed to sense that she had a lot to think about, and didn't want to bother her. For some reason, it always seemed to be able to detect her moods. Maybe she should have listened more carefully to Professor Silph when he had lectured her on the varying degrees of telepathic abilities. Maybe then she'd be able to put a name to what Duskull was.

She smiled slightly, remembering how she and Duskull had first met. She had just captured her first Pokémon, Sneasel, with one of Brandon's "borrowed" Pokémon, and she had been eager for a fight. It had been nearly dark, and the first Pokémon she had spotted was Duskull. She kept trying to get it to fight her, but the Ghost-type had dodged every attack Sneasel had unleashed, and had refused to retaliate.

Then, after she'd given up trying to battle it, she returned home to scolding and a one-month grounding for catching a Pokémon before she was the right age, and borrowing one of Brandon's Pokémon without his permission. His Scyther was fine, except for the fact that its right wing stayed frozen for three entire days. That night, she had woken up, and Duskull was in her room. She had been angry, and somehow Duskull had made her feel less angry. Probably because of it's talent, whatever it was called.

Lorelei smiled and felt the ground beneath her feet growing soft. She was nearly there. Haunter was probably there, as she rarely left the Special Place, and Graveller was probably looking after his little Geodudes in the rocky area of the Winters grounds, on the other side of the compound. That left Entrophen. Where was he?

He was probably wandering around the Winters Estate, and that meant that unless she had a Psychic, she'd never know unless she could see him. He'd gotten quieter than usual lately, and Lorelei attributed that to his relative old age. He was nearly four and a half years old. That meant that he only had about six months left to live. Her parents, she was sure, would allow her to take him to Kanto with her, but that was probably it.

Lorelei spotted the thick hedge that surrounded the Special Place up ahead, and smiled softly. How old had she been when she'd discovered this place? Five, six years old? This was where she had met Haunter. She had tried to attack him with Duskull, but the Haunter had merely fled, and returned a few minutes later. After several more attempts to attack and/or capture Haunter, she had let the Pokémon be.

Duskull had, over the course of several years, befriended Haunter, and had eventually convinced the other Ghost-type Pokemon to join her team. She hadn't figured out why until she had seen the affectionate looks the two shared when they thought she wasn't looking. She smiled. She was glad that they had managed to find happiness.

Even if she still didn't know what was so special about this spot to Haunter, just that whenever they came home from a trip, and she released her Pokémon, Haunter would come to this place and never move, unless he had to go somewhere. That was the nice thing about being a ghost, Lorelei considered, you didn't have to sleep, and you didn't have to eat. Must be really nice.

She got down onto her stomach and began crawling under the thorns that surrounded her special place, and, after a few moments, passed through to the other side. She got to her feet, and looked around.

Most people had told her that the whole place was just a thick, solid growth of thorns, with nothing inside of it. For several years, she had believed them. Then, one day, when she was feeling more rebellious than normal, she had crawled under the thorns, and had come out to the other side. That had been, of course, the day that she'd first tried to capture Haunter.

She couldn't have even considered crawling underneath the obstacle if she hadn't broken down and decided that yes, she would let a Blissey heal her. She preferred to let her body do its own healing, but at times she recognized that it needed a little help. As it was, she was as good as new.

She slithered under the last of the thorns, feeling several catch several places in her clothing, and grimaced as she realized just how far she had come from that naïve little wannabe trainer four years before. She doubted that she would stop growing anytime soon, and that made her want to scream and demand that she be frozen in time for as long as she wanted to be.

She didn't want anything to change. She didn't want Entrophen to die in half a year. She didn't want to move to Kanto. She didn't want to leave her home here. She didn't want to wake up one morning in a strange bed, and realize that she was hundreds of miles from where she was born.

Lorelei shook her head, closed her eyes, and mentally kicked herself. She'd come here to forget everything, not try to think about them. She sighed, and breathed in the air that always seemed to be fresh in here, and the smell of a babbling stream. It was odd, but somehow this spot always seemed to calm her down.

She opened her eyes and saw Haunter hovering in the exact center of the small hiding place (she'd actually brought a tape measure once, and it had confirmed that Haunter hovered over the exact center of Lorelei's tiny niche), over the small river that flowed through the tiny hollow, dividing it into two flower-covered halves. On the side upon which Lorelei was lying, there was also a small rock, and it was there that she usually sat, and just thought, sometimes for hours.

She got up and walked over to the stone, and looked up to see Duskull coming down from over the hedge, as she always did. Because some parts of the Ghost-type were solid, Duskull was too big to go under the hedge, and instead always flew over when she was sure that no one was watching.

Lorelei bit her lip as she began thinking about her situation. How exactly could she get out of going to Kanto? She could pack her bags and run away, but that wouldn't work, because as long as she stayed in Alto, the Psychic Array that the Global Police used would find her nearly instantaneously.

She could try to fly out of the country, but she was pretty sure that the only people that wouldn't take her or turn her into the Global Police would be unsavory. And the same would also be true of trying to take a boat out of Alto. So there was no hope of trying to escape Alto before they moved. If she tried to feign serious illness, Antonio Silph or the Winter's Nurse Joy would know almost immediately that she was faking it.

Slowly, it dawned upon Lorelei that despite any of her best efforts, there was no way that she could avoid moving to Kanto. There was no stopping it. Just like there was no stopping Grandpa Winters from eating all the lettuce and nothing else at salad bars. Or from stopping Grandma Winters marching up to the restaurant managers at the restaurant that had the salad bar was and demanding to know where the drinks were, because it was a bar, wasn't it?

Then an idea sparked into existence. The only way to convince her parents to move back to Kanto would be to be as nice as possible to them in the time she still had left in Alto, then making their lives miserable once they began their trip to Kanto. There was no way that they'd stay there very long once she started acting up really badly, was there?

She grinned. And if she made it to Kanto, she'd be eligible to get her Pokémon license, right? And once she got that, she could run off and never be seen again! It was the perfect plan.

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Lorelei's eyes glittered as the school bus pulled up in front of her house. She could have ridden in her family's limousine to school, but she didn't really like flaunting that her family was rich.

Besides, she got to spend more time with her friends this way. As she got on the bus, she ignored the spontaneous applause and cheering, and made her way to her friend Sabrina Williams, a foreign exchange student from Kanto. Sabrina had said that she was a Psychic, but Lorelei wasn't sure if she believed the Kantan or not.

Still, sometimes the Kantan's intuition was uncanny. She knew things that she normally shouldn't have been able to, been able to reach things she shouldn't have been able to, and convince a person to do something they normally wouldn't have. Maybe it was just because Sabrina was more beautiful than her, according to her guy friends.

Maybe. But Lorelei didn't really care. Well, if she was going to move to Kanto, she had better get all the information she could. Sabrina would probably have something that she could use to get out of Kanto as soon as she got Sneasel's kid. Then she would leave Kanto, and never look back.

That poet—what was her name—had done it, so why shouldn't she be able to? All she'd had when she left Alto the first time was an Entrophen, and she became one of Alto's most famous heroes and poets. Devon Harding. That was it. She'd have to do research at school on Devon, and then from then on pattern herself after her.

"Lorelei?" a voice cut through her thoughts. Almost literally. "Lorelei!" she felt someone shaking her right arm, and she looked over to see Sabrina staring at her in concern. "Are you okay? I was asking you about the press conferences you've got today, but you were in a world all your own."

Lorelei shook her head to focus herself, and replied, "Yeah, just a bit distracted. Sorry." She looked past the Kantan to the window, and watched the countryside flying past. This was one of the last times she'd see it, she realized, "I'm-" she paused, not quite sure what to say, "I guess I can't wait until they're over. Especially the one with the school."

Sabrina smiled, and somehow something deep inside of Lorelei made her want to smile along with her, "Well," she said, "Don't worry about it too much. The more you worry, the greater the chance that subconsciously you'll mess something up."

Lorelei sighed and leaned her head against the headrest, trying to ignore the drone of the rest of the bus, "Great," she muttered, "Just great."

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The rest of the day was a blur, full of teachers and students alike congratulating her. Lorelei wished that they would just stop. She'd won a National Tournament, so what? Any of them could have, if they had put their mind to it and trained as hard as they could. They hadn't, but she had. It was that simple. Now, they were making a big deal about nothing.

She sighed and walked to the podium Vice-Principal Giovanni had set up in the main auditorium. The Vice-Principal had tried to be nice, but it was something Lorelei had dreaded since the moment she had won the tournament.

She swallowed hard and stepped to the podium. Immediately, three hundred of her schoolmates were on their feet, yelling questions at her at the top of their lungs. Among them, of course, was Ross Richter, that same grin he'd had the first year, getting ready to ask the same question he had asked that year and every year since.

She inwardly grimaced, and pointed at him, and spoke his name aloud. Might as well get this over with. "You know," he said, grinning from ear to ear, "You're going to have more boyfriends than the rest of us combined. Because, you know, that's the best thing about being famous!"

Lorelei grinned back. She had finally thought of a witty remark to his comments. It had taken her four years, but it would be worth it to see the most popular kid in school being embarrassed like he would be. "You're saying," she replied loudly, "That all of you want boyfriends?"

There was a moment of silence, then laughter, catcalls, and booing could be heard. Most of it directed at Richter, who sat down quickly, his cheeks burning. Now that that was out of the way, she could enjoy the rest of the press conference. She pointed at the head cheerleader, Elizabeth Tenloss, or Beth to her friends. Which, of course, her being a celebrity, she was. But why someone named after a gun could be popular was beyond Lorelei.

Beth stood up, and smiled, showing off twin rows of perfect white teeth, "When," she asked, and Lorelei instantly knew what the question would entail, "Are you going to ask out Jeremiah Ortez?" she demanded, referring to a popular actor who starred in a series, funded by a small company known as Devon Corporation—Altan-based, named after the person Lorelei would try to emulate—portrayal of life on a Journey. Even though it was still in its first season, it had gathered a large fan base, and would probably rake in millions.

Lorelei sighed, and shook her head, "Look," she said, "if I've told you once, I've told you a hundred and twenty-seven times!" actually, that was the number. She'd kept track, "I'm not going to ask Ortez out. Yes, I know you would if you were in my shoes, but I am happily single, and plan to remain that way!" unless, of course, Devon hadn't been single. Then she'd have to find somebody to be her boyfriend. She'd have to check on that.

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Lorelei sat in the library, biographies of Devon Harding surrounding her, interspersed with histories of Devon's time period. Some of the histories she'd discarded, as they referred only to Hoenni, Nuschantian, Effeulan, Sintaurian, or other country's history.

She had also discarded the dozen books of poetry that Harding had written, most of which were love poems, Lorelei had discovered, to her extreme distaste. Apparently, Devon had been hopelessly in love with the Tintian Gerahid for most of her life. The research she had done indicated that they had barely been together for, at most, a few months during their entire lifetime. But there was that time when both had been missing…

From what Lorelei had been able to gather, Devon had had purple hair, and she was tempted to dye her hair, except she knew that her mother would be horrified and chop everything off.

So that was a no-go. Apparently, Devon had also had an Entrophen, but Lorelei couldn't find any mention of what age it was. She'd have to catch another one before she left, so her parents would have no excuse but to let her bring it. Apparently Devon had specialized in Poison types, as she had also had a Blounter, a Venasaur, a Gengar, a Menill, and several other Pokémon.

Lorelei raised her head, and frowned. She could certainly catch a Menill before she left Alto, and possibly a Blounter as well, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to. Menill were part Psychic type, yes, but they were protectors of the Altan's Shrine to Allnian, and she didn't really feel like it was right to take one away from their duty.

Then there were Blounters. They were odd creatures. Apparently they were more common back in Devon's day, but she was certain that she could find one. They were huge, after all, sluggish, and ate a lot. They were Grass types, though, and Grass types were just too common for them to merit a place on her team.

Lorelei sighed and rubbed her eyes. How long had she been at this? She glanced at her chronometer. Two hours? Had it really been that long? She shook her head, and lowered her eyes to the books again, then suddenly realized something. The OTHER Press Conference. The real one! It was about to start! And she wasn't there yet. Lorelei groaned, leaped to her feet, grabbed her backpack, and ran.

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Lorelei breathed hard, staring into the sea of reporters. There were definitely more than fifty here, and that would have made her nervous, if she hadn't had had years of experience. She had ran as fast as she could, but she hadn't been able to make it for the beginning of the press conference, but, fortunately, had made it just as they were announcing that she was late.

"Miss Winters!" the reporter she had indicated several seconds before asked as the other reporters sat down on the edge of their seats, ready to leap up again the second she finished her answer to this reporter's question, "Roger Clydesdale, Johto News Network. How do you feel about the rumors of a Pokémon division being added to the next Allnian National Tournament?"

There was dead silence in the room. No one knew what to say. Lorelei's eyes widened, and turned around to face the ANT officials behind her. They shrugged, and Lorelei swallowed, "This is the first I've heard, but personally, I'm horrified that such a long-standing tradition of personal talent, endurance, and skill would be marred by throwing Pokémon into the mix."

There was a slight pause as the reporters waited to be sure she was done, then they leaped to their feet. Lorelei squinted into the crowd, and spotted a familiar emblem. The top of a Pokéball—white, of course—with the control, on a red background. She frowned, and pointed at the man. "You," she said, "With the Indigo Battle Network."

The man grinned as the other reporters around him sat down slowly. "Eusine Fratine," he said, "The Indigo Battle Network has recently heard rumors that your father, Archibald Winters, is stepping down as chairman of Silph Company in Alto, and that he is being transferred to Kanto. My question is twofold. One, do these rumors have any precedence in fact and, two, if you do move to Kanto, do you plan on becoming a Pokémon trainer?"

Once again, the silence was absolute. Lorelei stood, stunned, knowing that whatever she said next would be discussed on news networks all over the world. She was, after all, one of the most famous people on the planet at that moment. Her moving to Kanto and becoming a trainer after a short career as a fighter who fought without Pokémon, would be a phenomenal shift.

She paused, thinking for a moment. Should she really answer the question? After all, her personal life, as she'd told reporters multiple times, was none of their business. However, she had a sneaking suspicion that her parents wouldn't want her to answer. That was what made her answer. Despite her being semi-congenial to her parents over the last ten hours, she was still mad at them, and would be for quite some time.

"Yes," she said, grinning as she thought about how mad her parents would be when they found out that she had leaked news of their move. Well, good for them. Now they'd know how they made her feel. "We're moving to Kanto. I think I heard my parents say Viridian City."

She paused for effect, mentally laughing as she heard a river of murmurs abruptly running through the press seated in front of her, and some of the men and women in the back reaching for their cell phones and hurrying out the back doors, all wanting to be the first with the news that she, Lorelei Belle Winters, was moving to Kanto.

"I would like to participate in the Indigo League," she said slowly, an idea forming in her mind even as she was speaking, "But I'm not sure that my parents will let me." There. That ought to be enough to stir up a few of her most devoted fans into writing her mother and telling her to let Lorelei join the Indigo League. "Any more questions?" she asked.

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"How could you?" Lorelei stared up at her mother, who had been trying her best to hold her temper while still lecturing Lorelei immediately upon her return from the press conference. "We had agreed, I thought, not to let anyone know about our move until your father announced it himself." She conveniently ignored, Lorelei realized smugly, the part of the press conference where Lorelei had stated that her mother wouldn't let her participate in the Indigo League. That meant that her assumption had been correct.

"They asked me a question," Lorelei said, grinning, "I had to answer them. I had a press conference to run, after all!"

Her mother glared at her, "Just because they asked a question doesn't mean that you have to answer it. You know that. You've known that since the first time you were in a press conference. Even before that. When you watched some of your father's press conferences."

Lorelei narrowed her eyes, "Will you let me have a Pokémon Journey in Kanto?" she asked, point blank, wanting an immediate answer.

Her mother shook her head and sighed, "You've shown that you obviously can't handle responsibility, so no. As of this moment, you are forbidden from starting a Pokémon Journey of any kind until you begin to show some responsibility."

Lorelei's eyes narrowed, and the two glared at each other. She had won the first battle, but her mother had responded quickly and won the second. Only time would tell who would win the war.