Cedric was fourteen now. The plane that took Adeline, Cedric, and Mellon to Kalos touched down in Cyllage City hours ago. They were now on a train, heading towards Laverre City, where Adeline's parents were waiting for them. When Cedric emerged through the gate to Laverre City, he was awed by the beauty of the maple trees and old looking buildings.
"Whoa!" Towering above all the other buildings was a huge tree. It almost seemed like it was fused with clockwork mechanics. A structure created in unison with nature.
"That's the Gym." All Cedric could do is marvel for he was speechless.
"This is amazing." Adeline smiled at him. He was wearing the outfit she pick out for him: red shirt, black pants, and black beanie. 'It really makes his hair and eyes stand out.' She thought.
"I want to show you my house." She picked up Mellon and left Cedric with all the bags. She ran to a house taller than the others, with some clockwork mechanics in it as well. She waited until Cedric hefted all the bags to the porch with a huff.
"You live here?" Cedric asked.
"No, this is my neighbors' house. Of course it's my house!" The door opened and a tall, burly man stood in the doorway.
"There's my sweetie pie!" He had dark skin and Adeline's piercing golden eyes. His dark hair was pulled in a small ponytail.
"Dad!" She flung herself into his arms, crushing Mellon.
"Uf, you're getting too big for this old man." He let her down and turned to address Cedric. "And this must be that boy I've been hearing so much about." He lumbered over to Cedric, who shrunk down next to the monstrous figure before him. Faster than he could react, Adeline's dad pulled Cedric into a headlock and gave him a mean noogie.
"WAAAAH!" Cedric cried. Adeline's dad held him back and shook his hand, giving Cedric whiplash with the force.
"Nice to meet ya, kid." He gave a deep, rich laugh.
"Nice you meet you too, Sir." Cedric replied shakily.
"Please, call me Adrian."
"Yes Sir." They went inside.
"Hey, Sis." A girl was standing at the bottom of the stairs. She had her father's dark hair. Her skin was lighter than her father's, but darker than Adeline's.
"Sina!" Adeline exclaimed, hugging her.
"Aw, who's this?" Sina poked at Mellon's nose.
"This is Mellon. Our pet and, hopefully one day, Pokémon!" Adeline's sister gawked over Mellon.
"I still can't believe you're waiting until you're 15 to get your License." They chatted about life in Johto and how much they had missed her and how Cedric was doing in school and Adeline's internship. It was only a few hours later that the door opened again.
"Mom!" Adeline rushed to hug her. "Hello my darling!" Said the elegant and petite woman at the door. She had light skin and red hair like Adeline's and blue eyes like Sina's. She looked to Cedric.
"You must be Cedric. I'm Amy! I'm sorry about my tardiness, but I had a meeting. I've heard so many wonderful things about you! I'm so glad you were able to visit us this time!" Cedric smiled.
"Thanks you, Ma'am." They sat and talked over dinner, getting to know each other. Mr. Uleman, Adeline's father, is a Pokémon wildlife preserver. He arranged and built Pokémon habitats for endangered and homeless Pokémon and relocated them if they were in danger. Mrs. Uleman worked as an architect and was working on reconstructing some destroyed cities from 10/12. She even constructed their home as well as the Gym and many other buildings around the city.
"I even am taking a business trip to Johto in the autumn, so I might be able to drop by." Adeline smiled.
"That would be totally cool!" After a week of being in Kalos, Adeline, Cedric, and Sina took a trip to Lumiose City. The city was shaped in a circle and was huge. It made Goldenrod City look like a small town.
"Hey look, Adeline, a boutique!" Cedric started towards the door, but Adeline grabbed his collar and jerked him back.
"We don't go in there." Cedric looked at Sina questionably.
"The stuff in there is way too expensive." She answered. Cedric turned to Adeline.
"What happened to Lesson two?" Adeline smiled at the personal joke.
"That doesn't apply here." Sina guided them to a building and led them inside. "Sina works here. This is Professor Sycamore's Lab." Cedric's eyes widened.
"Really? Like, the guy who gives out Starter Pokémon?" Adeline nodded.
They went up an elevator and into an office. The walls were covered with paintings of Audino, Sigilyph, and many other Pokémon.
"Hello? Professor? I've got visitors." A man poked his head from around the corner.
"Hello Sina. And is that Adeline I see?" He had dark, curly purple hair and a shaggy soulpatch. "Welcome! It's been so long since you visited, my dear! Are you here for your Pokémon license?" Adeline shifted.
"No, Professor. I'm just showing my friend, Cedric here, around Lumiose. He's from Johto." Cedric stood up straighter.
"Hello, Professor." Professor Sycamore scanned Cedric up and down.
"Hmm. Interesting." He walked to a desk. "So, you're not here for your Pokémon License?" Adeline frowned.
"No." Sina tapped her foot impatiently.
"She says she wants to wait until she's 15." It was Sycamore's turn to frown.
"I see…" He turned to Cedric. "Do you want your Pokémon License?" Cedric was feeling uncomfortable.
"Uh, no. I mean, Yes. Just… not right now." Professor Sycamore stroked his tiny beard.
"Quite interesting indeed. So you're both waiting until you're 15, correct?" Adeline crossed her arms with impatience.
"Yes. That's what we said." The Professor opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when the elevator opened and a blonde haired young man darted to the Professor.
"There's a robbery going down at the Lumiose Museum." He turned to Sina. "Do you want to…" He glanced at Cedric, "go check it out?" Sina nodded and went into the elevator with him. Cedric turned to Adeline.
"Maybe we should follow…" Adeline interrupted him.
"So, Professor. I was wondering if you could show us the Starter Pokémon you issue to new trainers." The Professor brightened at that.
"Yes! Follow me." He walked around the corner and went to his desk. He brought out a case that was similar to the case Elm had and opened it. "Go on. Open one." Cedric pick one up and tossed it in the air. It flashed and a Pokémon with brown fur and green spines appeared. "That is Chespin, the Grass Starter we give out." He picked up the other two. Moments later, a frog-like Pokémon and a fluffy fox Pokémon appeared. "The Fox Pokémon is Fennekin, a Fire Starter and the Frog Pokémon is Froakie, a Water Starter!" Cedric gawked at the three in fascination. "I want you to pick one." They both stared at Professor Sycamore in shock.
"But we don't have…"
"I know that." He interrupted. "Just pick one. You are going to challange the Johto and Kanto League are you not? So come and challenge the Kalos League afterwards. I'll hold the one you choose until you reclaim it." Adeline spoke up.
"But that could take years…" Professor Sycamore eyed Cedric.
"I don't think so, Adeline. Go on." Adeline looked the Pokémon over. She sighed.
"I guess I always wanted Froakie…" She burst into a smile. "Besides, you could pass up an epic ninja frog Pokémon anyway?" She picked up Froakie and rubbed its head. Cedric looked between Fennekin and Chespin. It was so short notice. Which would be better for the Kalos League? He didn't know a lot about Kalos… 'Let's see. There's a Fairy type… and an Electric and… a Grass?'
"Oh screw it." He picked up Fennekin. "It's just sooo cute!" Sycamore smiled.
"Very good. Now are you going to name them?" Cedric wasn't prepared to pick a Starter Pokémon let alone name one.
"Sheik." Adeline said immediately. Cedric turn to her and raised an eyebrow. "What?" She said. "I saw it in a game and I liked it." Cedric sighed. He thought of good names. He picture came into his mind: the beautiful sunlit maple trees when he saw Laverre City for the first time.
"Maple." He said. "Your name will be Maple." He turned to the Professor. "It is a girl, right?" He chuckled.
"Yes, Maple's a female." Cedric smiled with relief. Sina returned shortly after that. He asked what happened at the museum and she said that someone stopped the robbers and dropped the subject.
Nothing of importance happened until weeks later when a freak storm came to Laverre City and caused a fire at the Pokéball Factory. It was at night and everyone was in bed. It wasn't the thunder that woke Cedric up, but Mellon's quivering body under the covers. He scooped up the Sentret gently and stood up to go downstairs. As he past Sina's room, he heard a thud. Curious and a bit concerned, he knock and opened the door.
The first thing he saw was Sina putting boots on. She was wearing a white cloak and white pants, along with white boots. She also wore a red scarf around her neck. The next thing he noticed was a figure outside her window. It was the same blonde haired man from earlier. He was wearing an outfit matching Sina's, but was wearing a blue scarf and a mask. Sina noticed him and stood up in surprise.
"I heard a noise…" Sina got in Cedric's face.
"If you say a word to anyone about this," she hissed, "I will take that Sentret there and shove it up your ass." Cedric and Mellon stared at Sina in horror. The Sentret made a motion similar to a zipper and locking motion across Cedric's mouth. Sina backed away, clipped a belt with three Pokéballs on it, grabbed a mask off her bed, and walked to the window. "Not a word." She threatened again. With that she leapt out onto the tree where the blonde haired man was and jumped down, out of sight.
The first thing he did in the morning was tell Adeline what he saw.
"I knew about Her and Dexio's hobbies for a while." Adeline confessed.
"Dexio? The blonde guy?" She nodded.
"They're kind of like vigilantes in Kalos. They go around helping people. They probably stopped that robbery when we were at the Lab." Cedric's mouth was a hard line of thought.
"So they're like superheroes." He concluded. "And you were covering for them?" Adeline hung her head in shame.
"I should have told you. The fact that you told me when I didn't tell you…" She sighed. "You would be a good friend to tell me if I didn't know and I should've been a good friend to tell you…" Cedric put his hand on her shoulder.
"It doesn't really matter. Do your parents know?" Adeline shook her head.
"They'd kill her if they found out." She laughed. "She and Dexio helped the Champion defeat Team Flare, you know." Cedric started.
"So she knows the Champion personally?" She nodded.
"They even keep up contact. She probably wouldn't introduce you, so don't ask."
After that, Cedric hung out with Sina a lot. She even let him and Adeline tag along of one of her and Dexio's "missions". They were apparently issued by Professor Sycamore and were mostly robberies and gang busting, but some were top secret covert missions they weren't allowed to speak of. Cedric had so much fun in Kalos. He spent the months exploring, studying the new Pokémon, having fun with Adeline, Sina, and Dexio, and playing with his new Fennekin. The last day before they left for Johto, they were eating lunch at a café in Lumiose.
"So the next time I see you, you'll be the Johto Champion!" Dexio held out his hand. Cedric took it.
"Thanks, Dexio, but I'll be content with finishing the Pokémon League." Sina clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Maybe when you two become powerful trainers we can team up and kick some ass together!" Adeline laughed nervously.
"You betcha!"
Adeline said goodbye to her family.
"It was so nice to get to know you, Cedric." Mrs. Uleman said.
"Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure!" He shook Mr. Uleman's hand, who gave him another predicted noogie.
"Be good to my daughter, boy." He said. As they walked to their plane, Amy Uleman said to Adrian Uleman,
"You know, with all the things Adeline said about him, I was expecting someone taller and more handsome." Adrian smiled.
"That boy's got potential, though. Adeline will sort him out."