Pokemon Radio Signals
Letter of Reason

1A tap on her shoulder drew Nichole out of the book she was reading, and she looked up to see she and their teacher had arrived back at the lab. Her lips pushed together as Heather and Amy came over to greet them, making her wonder what the two got up to if anything while they were gone, but then her mind wandered to the two inside. The strange bison with two tails continued roaming the field, her interest definitely perked.

Not that they planned on staying.

In the back of Nichole's mind, she knew that despite the fact she wanted to stay and explore this new world, even become a scientist in this world, and finally do that one thing her older siblings hadn't yet done that might make her parents proud, there was the fact they couldn't, no shouldn't logically stay if they could indeed get back. She tucked her book under her arm, having already absorbed the basic idea of a world where people lived beside creatures that looked as if they were out of mythology.

When they arrived inside, they discovered Chelsey and Felicity sitting on the couch. Chelsey continued sulking, muttering things every so often to Felicity which appeared to otherwise go ignored while Felicity scribbled away at a notepad while looking at a picture longingly. From beside her, their teacher let out a deep sigh. "Felicity, please tell me you didn't go digging in Professor Oak's desk without permission."

The girl's head darted up, her mouth opening ever so slightly, before looking at the notepad she scribbled in, almost as if she were afraid the teacher would in fact take it away. She also pulled her picture closer to her while Chelsey continued slouching while her arms crossed her chest. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Their teacher let out a deep breath. "Perhaps not the notepad and pen, but the picture? Please return the picture from where you found it. It wasn't right to take the personal items of another person."

"You mean like…" Felicity looked at Nichole, which of course confused Nichole slightly as if there was something she didn't know. Her mouth opened, but then she looked away, not really wanting to get into an argument with any of the girls. The times that arguments started up between her and the other girls at school – well, often real-world logic didn't seem to go anywhere, but with the fact, there were things she really didn't know anything about, such as taking care of injuries and washing dishes.

"Anyways, Professor Oak's neighbor said she would be in at lunchtime to teach you girls how to make rice balls, but I think it is time for you to start working on your letters, or at the very least I think you should be considering what you want to write in them. Felicity, since you know where Oak keeps the pens, I'd appreciate if you would get one for each girl, but also give each one a piece of paper from that notepad you found."

Felicity let out a sigh but complied so each girl soon found themselves sitting at the small table in the lab's kitchen, looking down at the paper and wondering what to write. The first thing which came to Nichole's mind was to write, "I would like to stay, please. After all, this is the chance of the lifetime, for me to actually research into something which hasn't been researched into." Yet, Nichole knew that this wasn't what the teacher was expecting, nor did she really consider herself close enough to her parents to say anything else.

Amy of course dove right in, as did Heather. Chelsey leaned over from where she sat, letting out a slight snorting sound. Heather pulled her letter away, glaring at the girl. "You shouldn't be reading other people's letters."

"Heather is correct Chelsey."

"But you're going to read them," Chelsey protested, suddenly snatching Amy's letter from her which resulted in a protest from the blond-haired girl. "So what does it matter if… oh!"

"Give it back!" Amy looked as if she were about to cry.

"Little miss perfect here isn't so perfect it turns out! She…"

"Knock it off!" Heather stood up, her chair clattering to the ground.

"Yes, but…"

"She's already planned on telling the teacher, so you can shut your trap about it, Chelsey."

"But was she going to tell the rest of us that she shouldn't be here, that she forged her parents' signatures?"

Nichole's eyes widened, wondering why anybody would feel the need to forge their parents' signatures on an academic trip that she'd thought she would be the only person who actually wanted to come on, at least until some of the girls learned that Pokémon were real. The teacher let out a sigh, covering her eyes and eyeglasses. "Chelsey…"

"Well, she lied, so…"

"I wish you would stop antagonizing the other girls. We need to be working together, not against each other." The teacher let out a sigh while Felicity looked back and forth between the teacher and Chelsey.

"Well, you've already ruled out the option of us becoming Pokémon trainers even though we ended up the chance of a lifetime! Do you think we were brought here just because?"

"Well, yes, at this point I do, but that's beside the point." The teacher let out a deep breath. "I don't have your parents' permission to…"

"You don't have permission from Amy's parents. With the rest of us you've already been placed in charge of us by our parents, so…"

"Am I interrupting anything?" Nobody noticed someone coming in the front door, but it was Professor Oak's neighbor with…

"Mimey!" Nichole called out, quite pleased to see the strange creature.

"Oh. You must be Ash's mom," Amy piped up.

The woman smiled at her. "Yes. Ash is my boy, and this is Mimey."

Felicity's eyes blinked, her head turning to look at Amy. "How did you know that?"

"Ash's mom gets a Mr. Mime she called Mimey in episode sixty-four."

"That episode's not aired yet." Chelsey rolled her eyes. "Or are you so spoiled your parents get you…"

"I'm not sure what you're saying, but Mimey's actually been a part of our family since Ash was very little."

"Is that another way this world differs from the ones they know about?" Nichole piped up, her curiosity definitely perked.

"Seems so," Heather muttered, looking at her letter.

"I still don't see why we're having to write these letters."

"Well…" Ash's mom placed a finger on her chin. "Coming from the standpoint of a parent, Profesor Oak and your teacher was to let you go be trainers, then perhaps it is a good idea to think of these letters as your way of explaining your case to your parents or just letting them know you're okay. Because I'd certainly want to know how Ash is doing, wouldn't I?"

"Well, Ash doesn't actually spend much time making contact with you in the show. It's mostly about his journey to becoming a Pokémon master."

"Oh. That's a real shame. Anyways," Ash's mother clapped her hands together. "Let's get started learning to make rice balls and a few other things that you can not only make on the trail but not actually cost much in way of supplies. While we're doing that, think of what you want to put in your letters if you are allowed to go, but I doubt either one will let you go if you don't write that letter."

Nichole nodded her head, now feeling what she wanted to write from the beginning was actually logical after all.