"The city's distance from the rest of Unova has largely kept it off of Plasma and Cipher's radar. The few grunts that brazenly approached the town were quickly and quietly dealt with by Cheren. However, several promising young trainers that were attending the Aspertia Trainer School have gone missing over the last few months. It is feared that they were forcibly recruited by one of the teams."
-Unovan Crisis Gazetteer entry on Aspertia City

"Can you please stop pacing? It's not going to make them come any faster."

Rosa halted in her tracks and looked at Hugh who was lounging in one of the desks in the otherwise empty classroom. "I know that, but I'm so excited I can't sit still!" Rosa exclaimed with a smile and bounced on her toes to emphasize the point. "Aren't you excited too?"

Hugh scoffed. "Of course I am! I can't believe it took them this long before they decided to actually let us do something!" His tone mellowed as he finished his short outburst and he added, "But we're already getting to leave a full day early. I can wait a few more minutes."

"That just makes the wait even more awful," Rosa argued lightly. One of Cheren's gym trainers had shown up at her house early that morning to let them know that her mentor had arrived early. Rosa had been ecstatic at the news, though it had led to a flurry of packing that she'd been putting off. Once the panicked packing session had finished, Rosa had fully regained her enthusiasm and none of it had faded since then. It was a bit of a bummer that it was one less day that she got to spend with her mom, but that didn't sting too badly since she could call her whenever.

Without noticing it, Rosa had started pacing again and Hugh could only stand it for a few seconds before he asked, "So what starter are you going to pick?"

If Hugh had been hoping that the question would make Rosa stand still, he was disappointed. "I still don't know," Rosa replied with a bit of a whine in her voice. "They're all so amazing!"

"Of course they are, but which one are you going to pick?" Hugh pressed, but this time he didn't get a response as Rosa continued walking around the classroom. She also started humming as she considered her options, blissfully unaware of Hugh's growing annoyance.

Rosa was still thinking about her choice when she heard the classroom door open. She whipped towards the door at the same time that Hugh scrambled to his feet. The first person to come through the doorway was Cheren, and Rosa ignored her former teacher to get a better look at the other three. She instantly recognized Bianca next and while on any other day Rosa would have been ecstatic to meet the famous trainer, she was likewise ignored. Next was a man with spiky red hair that she recognized as Michael, who was going to be Hugh's mentor.

That made the last person Rosa's mentor, who she'd been told was named Eleanor. She was wearing a simple t-shirt and shorts with a bag over one shoulder and an odd, but familiar, device on her other. Eleanor's black hair was a little bit shorter than Bianca's, though it was messier than the Unova native's, and Eleanor also had a white headband in hers. Rosa was surprised to find that the older girl was actually a bit shorter than she was.

Rosa was still in awe at the gathering of acclaimed trainers that were only a few years older than her when Hugh interrupted her thoughts. "Are those Snag Machines? Do we get one?" Rosa's eyes darted back to the machine that she'd seen on Eleanor's shoulder and arm, and now that she recognized it, her eyes went even wider in wonder. Eleanor's eyebrows raised at Hugh's loud question while Michael chuckled.

Cheren moved past them to set a briefcase on one of the desks before answering Hugh. "No. The league has only produced a few Snag Machines so far. Since the two of you will be traveling with someone who received one, you won't need one."

Hugh scoffed at that, but Rosa was distracted when she noticed some more movement by the doorway. Entering the room behind the four trainers were an Umbreon and a Jolteon that were following Eleanor and Michael respectively. While they were sticking close to their trainers, Rosa could hear the pair softly talking to each other.

Cheren took the opportunity to do introductions, which Rosa thought was a little funny since everyone already knew who everyone else was. That said, when her name was called, she didn't miss the opportunity to smile brightly at Eleanor and say, "Thank you for agreeing to travel with me!"

"I'm looking forward to it," Eleanor replied with a smile, though hers couldn't match Rosa's intensity.

With his mentor in sight, Hugh's earlier patience had completely disappeared and he had spent most of the introductions tapping his foot. Cheren must have noticed and decided to have mercy on the new trainer since when he finished, he turned to Michael and said, "You two won't be needed for this next part."

"Well, I guess we might as well head out then," Michael said with a shrug, and Hugh crossed the room in an instant. The two boys and Jolteon quickly left the classroom and before the door closed, Rosa could already hear Hugh starting to grill Michael for information on Cipher.

The sound of a latch unclasping returned Rosa's attention to Cheren as he opened the briefcase. Even though she had already known what was coming next, Rosa's excitement returned in full force and she bounced up and down at the sight of the three Pokeballs that were inside.

"Do you already know which one you want or would you like to meet them first?" Cheren asked.

"I want to meet them," Rosa promptly answered.

Cheren looked completely unsurprised and tossed each of the three Pokeballs to the classroom's floor, expertly catching each of them as they bounced back. Tepig was the first to act and it immediately bounded over to Eleanor's Umbreon with a curious expression. Oshawott stared in silence up at the four remaining trainers in the room before dashing behind one of Cheren's legs. From its hiding space, it peeked around the room but stayed solidly behind cover. Unlike the other two, Snivy stayed in place as it clearly tried to appear aloof, but Rosa could see the curiosity in its eyes as it unsubtly glanced at the room's inhabitants.

Rosa giggled as she watched all three Pokemon, but found that her attention kept returning to Snivy for some reason. After Rosa had almost a full minute to observe the Pokemon, Cheren asked, "So what do you think?"

"I'm picking Snivy," Rosa answered with certainty that even surprised herself. At the sound of its name, Snivy whipped its head towards Rosa, giving the new trainer its full attention. The other two starters looked dejected at Rosa's declaration, though Bianca was quick to reassure them that they would find trainers of their own soon. The pair reluctantly nodded and after Tepig gave Umbreon a small wave with one of its front legs, they were returned to their Pokeballs.

"Snivy is a great choice," Bianca happily said while Cheren placed the two Pokeballs back in the briefcase. "My starter was a Snivy as well. It seems like that was forever ago now." She sighed happily at the memory and smiled at Cheren.

Cheren nodded and then cracked a rare smile. "Yes, and I remember you destroying Hilda's bedroom immediately after."

While Bianca flushed in embarrassment, Rosa turned her attention to her new Pokemon and knelt down to pet it. Snivy seemed a bit hesitant at first but quickly decided that it was in favor of the experience. While she petted Snivy, Rosa wanted to ask Bianca and Cheren about the event they were referring to, but she was more curious about something else. Looking up at Eleanor, she asked, "What was your starter?"

Eleanor had been leaning against the wall by the classroom door and started slightly at her sudden inclusion. "My starter was a Murkrow, but I didn't have all of this," she said while vaguely gesturing to the room. "There was a flock of Murkow that lived in the forest near where I'm from. I sometimes left treats out for them and there was one that kept coming back for more." She smiled fondly, "One day, he just didn't leave to go back to his flock."

"That's amazing!" Rosa exclaimed with wide eyes.

"I agree. It's very impressive to befriend a wild Pokemon like that when you don't have any of your own," Cheren chimed in, though Eleanor simply shrugged off their compliments, making Rosa even more impressed by her mentor. She was still looking at Eleanor when Cheren leaned down to her and handed her a Pokeball. "You're all ready to go now. I look forward to your gym challenge when you're ready."

"I wish I could stick around to see it, but I better get back and see how Hilda is doing," Bianca said sadly. "She gets pretty stir crazy whenever I leave."

Cheren frowned at that piece of information. "Well, tell her hello from me."

Bianca's expression turned stern in an instant. "Tell her that yourself. You could call now and then!"

"I've been busy!" Cheren claimed with a wince. After a glare from Bianca, he amended, "But I promise that I'll call more." There was a brief pause as the two friends seemed to suddenly remember that Rosa and Eleanor were still in the room. With a cough, he said, "And speaking of, there are some other things that I need to do this morning."

"We'll let you get to it then," Eleanor instantly said and looked at Rosa while tilting her head towards the door.

More than happy to leave as well, Rosa hopped back to her feet with a call of, "C'mon Snivy!" She paused before following Eleanor out of the room to add, "Thanks Cheren! Thanks Bianca!" With that said, she left the room, and the two humans and two Pokemon made their way towards the school's exit.

"Well, that was awkward," Eleanor said softly before clearing her throat and turning to address Rosa. "Is there anything you need to grab before we leave? We won't be back until late."

Rosa tilted her head slightly, "We're coming back?"

Oddly, Eleanor seemed as confused as Rosa, then relaxed to explain. "Back home it was always easier to stay in town instead of on a route. Here it's not even a contest. Plus, the first gym that you'll be challenging is right here so we wouldn't want to go far anyway."

Rosa suddenly felt a bit silly about her frantic packing session that morning. "That makes sense! I better let my mom know that we're coming back tonight then." Eleanor nodded, and after Rosa quickly called her mom, she eagerly told Eleanor, "I'm ready to go!"

Eleanor had a pensive look on her face and hesitated when Rosa finished her call. After a brief pause, she asked, "How do you want to do this? Everyone is saying I'm your mentor, but really I'm here to make sure you're safe. I don't want to overstep if you just want to do things your own way."

Rosa empathically shook her head at the suggestion. "No way! I'd be a real dummy to ignore the help of a great trainer!"

Eleanor smiled with a bit of a flush. "Well then, we better head over to route nineteen and get started."

Rosa cheered in excitement and the four of them began making their way west towards the gate that led to Aspertia's only connected route. While they walked, Rosa repeatedly glanced back at Snivy who stayed next to Umbreon and curiously looked around at the city's buildings. After passing the Pokemon Center they turned left, and it only took them a few more minutes until they reached the gate. Rosa suddenly felt uncharacteristically nervous and paused before walking through. "This'll be my first time leaving Aspertia in almost a year," she commented softly.

"That must have been hard," Eleanor said sympathetically.

Rosa nodded absently. "There really wasn't anything stopping us, but it just wasn't worth the risk." She trailed off and was quiet for several long seconds before suddenly raising both of her hands to get herself pumped up by lightly slapping herself on the cheeks. Feeling a tiny bit better, she locked her gaze forward and purposefully strode into the gate.

She'd only taken a few steps before a voice to her right said, "Heading out Rosa?"

Rosa's smile returned when she recognized the voice, "Hi Leo!" Sure enough, sitting behind the gate's information desk was a boy her age that she knew from the trainer school. He'd been enrolled along with her and Hugh, but he had ended up dropping out a couple of months back. Despite not wanting to be a trainer anymore, Leo had still wanted to help and had volunteered to watch the gate with the help of some of Cheren's Pokemon.

Leo returned Rosa's smile. "Congratulations on getting your starter! Hugh and his mentor came through a little bit ago and said you might be right behind." Rosa glanced down at Snivy and saw that the grass snake Pokemon was looking around the building, all pretense of disinterest from before gone now. At the same time, Leo typed something into the computer he was sitting behind and asked, "How long are you going to be on the route for?"

"Just for the day," Eleanor answered for Rosa.

Leo gave her a quizzical look. "Really miss? Hugh's mentor said it would be a few days before they came back."

Eleanor sighed and Rosa giggled at how quickly her mentor's first lesson was undermined. Sticking up for Eleanor, she chimed in, "We figured it would be safer to come back in the evenings."

Leo nodded. "That makes sense. Though, it looks like this part of the region is pretty safe right now." As he finished, he gestured to the gate's news ticker behind Rosa. She turned around and quietly spent a few seconds watching the ticker as it displayed that there was more Plasma activity in Lacunosa Town while Cipher had been spotted near Icirrus City.

Rosa's excitement from earlier drained out of her as she read the news and blandly commented, "Yeah. Looks like it."

Leo loudly cleared his throat, trying to push past the sudden drop in the mood. "Well, good luck training! If something comes up and you need to stay on the route longer, just let someone know, or else someone will be sent out to look for you."

"Will do. Thank you Leo," Eleanor said and lightly pushed Rosa forward, forcing her to stop looking at the ticker and walk through the gate.

After seeing the sobering news, Rosa had half expected to see route nineteen in a ravaged state, but her spirits were lifted somewhat when she saw it wasn't that different from a year ago. The path was definitely overgrown and while there were far fewer wild Pokemon, she could still see a few off in the distance. The most notable change though was that there were no signs of any trainers, making her and Eleanor the only people in sight.

Rosa was still taking in the sight of the route when Eleanor kindly asked, "Do you know what you're going to name Snivy yet?"

The simple question snapped Rosa back to reality and she realized with a start that she hadn't even checked Snivy's gender. "Not yet," she answered while searching through her bag to find the Pokedex that she'd received as a graduation gift the previous week. A quick check of her Pokedex revealed that Snivy was female, but that didn't give her any immediate ideas when it came to a nickname. Rosa looked down at Snivy, but she just gave an indifferent shrug. "What about your Pokemon?" Rosa asked Eleanor, hoping for some inspiration.

"I'll introduce you," Eleanor said with a smile. With the same ease that Cheren had shown earlier, Eleanor took the Pokeballs off of her belt and tossed each of them to the ground in rapid succession. A Honchkrow, Drapion, and Sneasel appeared in front of them and Umbreon trotted up to stand next to them. "Everyone, this is Rosa. Like I said before, Devo was my starter and you've already met Inno. Last are Honor and Patty," Eleanor pointed at the Drapion and Sneasel in turn as she finished.

"It's nice to meet you all!" Rosa enthused. Honor waved while Inno and Patty simply nodded at her. Devo didn't react at all and continued staring at Rosa with squinted eyes.

"Oh, right," Eleanor said quietly before continuing in a slightly louder than normal tone. "Rosa is my new left-hand woman." Rosa tilted her head and gave Eleanor a confused look at that, but before she could say anything, her mentor explained in a hushed tone. "That's for Devo's benefit. From what I've learned, Honchkrow like to be near the top of the hierarchy of any group they're in and also want to know where everyone else stands."

Sure enough, when Rosa looked back at Devo, the large bird gave her a respectful nod, making her giggle. Snivy moved up past the trainers to stand in front of Eleanor's Pokemon and started talking to Inno and Honor, with the Drapion being particularly happy to meet her. Rosa shut her eyes to think for several seconds before admitting, "I still don't have any ideas for a nickname."

"That's fine. Plenty of trainers wait a few days before nicknaming their Pokemon," Eleanor reassured. "How about we get started on some training now that introductions are out of the way?"

"Sounds great!" Rosa said with excitement, and Eleanor started leading them further into the route. Devo flew above the group while Inno walked next to Eleanor's side and Snivy next to Rosa. Honor chittered excitedly to Snivy as they walked, but Patty remained a bit more aloof and stayed about five feet behind everyone else. They'd been walking about a minute when something finally clicked in Rosa's head and she looked at Eleanor, exclaiming, "You're a dark specialist!" She felt a bit silly for how long it took her to connect the dots but at the same time felt it was somewhat excusable. Foreign Pokemon were a recent addition to the Unovan curriculum after all.

Eleanor didn't comment on Rosa's slow uptake and simply smiled. "Yep. After catching Devo I spent some time researching other trainers with Murkrow and got inspired by a famous dark specialist."

"That's awesome!" Rosa said, then glanced down at Snivy and mused, "I wonder if I should be a specialist too? I guess I'd be a grass specialist."

"You definitely could be, but you don't need to be. Being a specialist has some advantages since you're more used to Pokemon of your type. On the other hand, you get hurt a bit on flexibility and your team usually has more weaknesses than a generalist. Dark isn't so bad there because it only has two weaknesses, but grass types have five so that would be much more difficult to balance. And if you do decide to become a specialist, you don't have to pick grass. Plenty of specialists have a Pokemon or two outside of their preferred type." As she finished her small lecture, Eleanor stopped in her tracks. "This looks like a good spot to train."

Rosa had been nodding along eagerly with Eleanor's advice but halted in surprise at the sudden declaration. She looked around to see what she would be training against, but she didn't see anything and the Aspertia gate was still in sight. "But there's no wild Pokemon here?"

Eleanor shook her head. "Today you're going to practice against Patty."

Rosa's eyes darted towards the Sneasel who had finally caught up with the rest of them. "But she's an ice type," Rosa pointed out hesitantly.

"Correct, but for now, Snivy is just going to try to tag Patty. She won't even hit back." Without any further explanation needed, Patty continued walking past the group for another couple of yards before turning back to face Rosa and Snivy. She waved one claw towards Snivy, beckoning her forward, then crossed her arms, apparently content to wait.

Still a bit unsure, Rosa looked down at Snivy and asked, "Are you ready?" Snivy nodded, and Rosa felt a bit more confident seeing her Pokemon's surety. "Alright, then get in there with Tackle!"

Snivy started running to close the distance between the two Pokemon, but because of her stubby legs, it wasn't a particularly quick approach. Patty easily jumped out of the way and Snivy skidded to a halt as Rosa told her to try again. Unfortunately, Snivy's second attempt didn't go any better with Patty cleanly moving out of the way again. Snivy didn't wait for another command from Rosa before charging for a third time, leaving Rosa to watch and wonder what she was supposed to be doing differently. Even if Patty didn't have the clear advantage in experience between the two Pokemon, Sneasel were supposed to be a particularly quick species so Rosa wasn't sure how Snivy was supposed to be able to tag one.

Rosa was still thinking when she noticed Eleanor nod out of the corner of her eye. The meaning of the signal immediately became evident as, instead of dodging, Patty simply sidestepped and held out a leg, making Snivy trip. Rosa started to cry out in concern, but her voice died in her throat as two vines sprung from Snivy's collar and halted her descent before her long snout hit the ground. Snivy used her vines to push herself back to her feet and turned back to glare at Patty, who was completely unconcerned by the look.

"Are you alright?" Rosa asked, and Snivy turned to her trainer to nod, though her frustration and annoyance were still clear. Despite her Pokemon's disposition, Rosa smiled. "Okay, then use Vine Whip!"

Snivy paused for a moment at the command, then slowly smiled and turned back towards Patty, who suddenly looked much more focused. A moment later, twin vines once again erupted from Snivy's collar and shot towards Patty. The Sneasel was forced to jump away to avoid the vines and Snivy started advancing, slowly pushing Patty backward. It took almost a minute, but Snivy was eventually able to slap Patty in the stomach with one of her vines.

Rosa cheered at the hit and she was echoed by excited chittering from Honor. Snivy turned to look back at Rosa with a satisfied smile and Rosa held out her right hand. It took Snivy a second to realize what Rosa wanted, but when she did, she used one of her vines to hit Rosa's palm, giving her a high-five.

"Great job," Eleanor said approvingly. "We'll do a few more like this and then take a break for lunch. After that, we'll really get into it."

It was a little after five in the afternoon when Rosa and Eleanor walked back through the Aspertia gate. They had returned their Pokemon to get some rest as Snivy, in particular, needed it. The training had gone well enough that they had even started doing some light sparring between Snivy and Patty. Even to Rosa's untrained eye it was obvious that Patty was holding back, but she didn't think that detracted from Snivy's progress at all. The only disappointing aspect of the afternoon was that they hadn't been approached by a single wild Pokemon as they were seemingly too wary of humans.

As they re-entered the gate, Leo waved at them. "Did your training go well?"

"It did!" Rosa proudly gushed.

"That's great! Will you be back tomorrow?"

Rosa gave Eleanor a questioning look since she had set the schedule for the day and was glad when Eleanor replied, "Yeah. I think we'll spend at least a couple more days training on the route."

"I'll see you then!" Leo said with a wave and the pair replied in kind before they exited the gate and reentered the Aspertia City limits.

They continued walking quietly through the city until they reached the Pokemon Center, where Eleanor paused and asked, "So when do you want to meet up tomorrow?"

Rather than answering, Rosa glanced at the building. "Are you staying at the Center?" When Eleanor nodded, Rosa said, "You should stay at my house! We have an extra bedroom and my mom would love to have you!"

"Are you sure?" Eleanor asked, looking surprised by the offer.

"Yeah! It'll be fun and way easier!"

Eleanor slowly smiled. "Sure, let's do that. I'll just need to drop off my room key and we can head over there." Rosa cheered, and after they made a quick stop in the Pokemon Center, Rosa led the way to her house.

"I'm back!" Rosa announced as she entered her house and her mom rushed down the stairs to give Rosa a big hug, which she happily returned. When the two separated, Rosa said, "This is my mentor, Eleanor!"

Eleanor had looked a bit uncomfortable during Rosa's hug with her mom, though she quickly recovered and held out her hand to Rosa's mom. Instead of giving her a handshake, Rosa's mom swept Eleanor up into a hug as well. "Thank you for taking care of Rosa!"

"No problem," Eleanor managed after a stunned second.

"I told her she could stay in the spare room while we're still at home," Rosa explained.

"Of course!" Rosa's mom exclaimed, finally releasing Eleanor from her embrace. Unfortunately, Eleanor didn't get a respite and was practically dragged upstairs to see the guest bedroom.

Rosa stayed behind in the entryway, making the most of her first moment alone to really let it sink in that she had finally gotten her first Pokemon. Her reflection ended up being short-lived as she soon heard her mom asking Eleanor rapid-fire questions about where she was from, what Pokemon she had, and what her favorite food was. With a wide smile, Rosa followed them upstairs, deciding that she should probably save her mentor from her over-enthusiastic mom.

A/N: And our full cast of main characters has been introduced. I'm having a lot of fun writing Rosa and while you didn't get to see much of Hugh yet, he's definitely a cool character to write for as well.

Thanks to Star for betaing. Next up is Chapter 4: Bioluminescence