Meeting and Greeting

"Hey," the boy smiled at Daphne. "You must be my new room mate. I'm Conan." Daphne gaped at him. She hadn't even entertained the idea that her room mate could be a boy. He had dark purple hair that was short and spiky and was wearing red pyjamas.

"But you're a boy!" protested Daphne in horror. There was no way she could share a room with a boy. There had to be some sort of law against it, mustn't there? For her sake, Daphne hoped there was. Conan laughed, but not in a cruel way. He swept the things on his bed to the side and sat down, carefully studying Daphne, who was silently freaking out. Her heart beat wildly while Conan gazed at her. It suddenly struck Daphne what a long way away from home she was, and the first signs of fear were beginning to creep up on her. She fiercely crushed them down though, and forced herself to think about the situation logically. There had to be a reason why her room mate was male.

"Everyone is roomed with the opposite sex. They become team mates, and are given one Pokémon between them. My last partner was a girl called Rachel and we had a Paras together. She dropped out and was really attached to Paras so she took him with her. They're going to assign us a new Pokémon in the morning," explained Conan. Daphne nodded in understanding – things were becoming clearer to her.

"Sorry, I just remembered I didn't ask for your name!" said Conan apologetically.

"It's Daphne."

"Nice to meet you, Daphne," smiled Conan. They shook hands formally and Daphne sat opposite Conan on her own bed. He began to explain how things worked in the school.

There were seven groups: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. Daphne and Conan were in Red. They woke up every weekday at seven to get to the dining hall for seven thirty. They would eat breakfast while being briefed at the same time about their mission for the day. Breakfast would end at eight o'clock where they would retreat to their classrooms and gather the equipment they might need for the day. Then they were dismissed from campus until they completed their mission – they weren't allowed to come back until they did. Dinner was at whatever time they made it back and they had to be in their rooms by eight. On the weekend they might have to do some additional training if their coach thought they needed it but if not, they were free to do what they liked. Most people went to the recreation room and chilled out there.

Once Conan had explained all that to Daphne, she decided to get ready for bed. In her drawers she found pyjamas just the same as Conan's. She took them – along with some clean underwear – with her to the bathroom and proceeded to have a shower. She brushed her teeth, got changed and by the time she went back to her bed Conan was already asleep. Daphne saw that he was clutching a small photograph and when she gently prised it out of his hand, discovered that it was of a little girl around the age of eight or nine. She looked just like Conan except for the fact that she was wearing glasses and had her hair in bunches. Daphne guessed that she was Conan's sister. She looked really cute and Daphne found herself wondering how Conan could have left her for Team Rocket.

As carefully as she could, Daphne replaced the photo and got under her bed covers. She would have to ask Conan in the morning about the photograph. Daphne stared up at the ceiling for a while, just thinking about all that had happened in her life so far. Her mum's death, her dad's addiction, her friend's rejection. Then she dropped out of school, got in trouble with the law a few times and eventually saw the old flyer advertising for young Team Rocket recruits. A young woman with long magenta hair had caught her looking at it and approached her. She had been in Team Rocket uniform and Daphne knew she should have been scared – but she wasn't. Daphne couldn't remember everything the woman had said but the one thing that stuck in her mind was 'Team Rocket may be a group of criminals, but that doesn't mean we don't know how to work as a team. We never double cross each other – unless we have to, of course.'

---

The next day, Daphne and Conan were woken up at 7am by a loud alarm clock, screeching the sound of a Growlithe. Annoyed and groggy, Daphne whacked the clock's 'off' button and dragged her body out of bed. Conan was used to early starts and graciously allowed Daphne to be first in the bathroom. Daphne found out that the clothes provided for her were all the same outfit: a black and white striped t-shirt, dark purple dungarees shorts and matching purple knee-high boots with long black thigh-high socks to complete the look. Conan also had duplicates of his outfit, which was a black shirt with a dark green design, dark green trousers and matching fingerless gloves. Daphne noticed that his trainers were the only thing not matching – they were black with a yellow lightning strike on the side – and Conan explained they were his from his home. This information persuaded Daphne to keep her black hat on, as there didn't seem to be any punishments for customising the clothes they gave you.

On their way to the dining hall, Daphne attempted to quiz Conan about the photograph but she ended up forgetting all about it in the hustle and bustle that was other students all trying to get to the dining hall without stopping for anyone. When they eventually arrived at their destination, Daphne took in the enormous size of the dining hall. She had already seen it yesterday but that was when it was empty. Now it was overflowing with teenagers wolfing down their breakfast, talking loudly and animatedly or playing with their Pokémon. Conan led Daphne to their table, with the other Red members. As she made her way to an empty chair, Daphne accidently bumped into a girl carrying a Zubat, causing the girl to drop it. The Zubat became angered at the treatment it had just been subjected to, hissed viciously at the girl and flew away quickly. The other girl's cheeks turned as red as her fiery hair.

"You incompetent fool! Do you have any idea how hard it was to catch Zubat??" the girl yelled. A boy completely identical to the girl joined her side, and Daphne noticed that they were also wearing similar clothes. The girl was in a light blue dress with a matching bow in her hair whilst the boy had a light blue t-shirt and matching long shorts. Conan groaned; the twins were hard to deal with at the best of times and now Daphne had angered the girl.

"I didn't mean to! I'll help you catch it if you like," Daphne offered. The twins shot her cold stares with their matching green eyes and marched off in the direction the Zubat had gone. Daphne sighed to herself; it was only her first day and it seemed like she already had enemies. Conan patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry about Zoe and Zack. They're happiest when they hate on someone. Let's eat." Daphne reluctantly sat with Conan and was soon cheered up by the sight that greeted her on her plate. It was piled high with goodies: scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, beans, and hash browns. Daphne tucked in delightedly. When she was halfway through her breakfast, Daphne felt a tap on her shoulder. With her mouth still full, Daphne turned around.

"You must be Conan's new partner!" a girl boomed happily. People around her winced at the volume of her voice but otherwise didn't say anything; they were used to her by now. She was dressed in black sleeveless top, a yellow skirt, and black boots with yellow over the knee socks and had a yellow bandana wrapped around her should length black hair. Her skin was tanned, as if she had been in the sun for hours too long. Standing next to her was a boy whose outfit was a red long sleeved top, black trousers and red trainers. He had fairly long light brown hair for a boy, which he tied into a pony tail. He smiled at Daphne, the twinkling of his light blue eyes matching the shine of the pendant on his necklace. The boy was cradling a Kakuna in his arms, as if it were a baby. Daphne thought they both looked like pirates.

Conan turned around and introduced them all. The girl with the loud voice and yellow bandana was called Vivian and the boy with the long hair was Massimo. They were both in Red group and had been friends with Conan and Rachel since they enrolled at the school together. They were all from different regions and would never have met if it hadn't been for this training school. Conan expressed what good friends Vivian and Massimo were to him and Rachel, as they had helped them out on more than one occasion.

"It is nothing, Conan. We are friends, no?" smiled Massimo. Vivian and Massimo sat near Conan and Daphne and began eating their breakfast. Vivian cooed over her Kakuna as she ate, treating it like an actual baby, which made Daphne want to laugh. A teacher dressed from head to toe in bright red came over to them and handed them each a piece of paper with their mission for the day. Daphne guessed that she was the coach for their group. When she got to Daphne and Conan, she also handed them a Pokéball.

"Thanks Miss Billow!" Conan enthused. Miss Billow threw a small smile his way before moving on to the next couple.

"I wonder what it is..." Daphne mused.

"Don't wonder – find out!" said Conan, releasing the Pokémon. A red beam emitted from the ball and at the end of it, a spherical shape took form. It soon transformed into the recognisable Pokémon Gastly. Daphne studied the black ball of ghostly matter surrounded by a purple glow of smog. Gastly had big, white eyes and a mouth with a pair of small fangs in it. Gastly took one look at its surroundings and tried to get back inside its Pokéball. Daphne could understand the feeling; the dining hall was pretty overwhelming. She and Conan did their best to calm Gastly down and it eventually did. It seemed to like its owners already and wanted to obey them even though its instincts were telling it to run away.

By that time, everyone had more or less finished their breakfast and was heading to their respective classrooms. Conan realized he hadn't yet read what their mission for the day was and took the opportunity to do so then.

Conan and Daphne. You must find and bring back one Ponyta. That is all.

Daphne had been reading over Conan's shoulder and grinned to herself. Their mission didn't sound so hard. She and Ghastly followed Conan to their classroom where they met up with Vivian, Massimo and Kakuna again. They sat behind desks with their Pokémon next to them while Miss Billow addressed the entire class from the front. Silence reigned over the students as they gave their coach time to give her motivational speech – she gave them one every morning.

"Good morning everyone! As always, I want you to all do your best to be the best – you hear me? Complete your missions by any means necessary!" A cheer went up and Miss Billow dismissed them. Daphne stayed in her seat while around her, her classmates got moving. Unsure of what to do, Daphne looked to Conan for help. He was at the back of the room, talking with Massimo. Daphne looked around and was glad to see that Zoe and Zack weren't in Red – that would have been a nightmare.

'A nightmare hmm...' Startled, Daphne's eyes darted around the room in search of the person who had said that. The voice had sounded like a little girl's, and there seemed to be a definite lack of them in the room.

'It was me who said it. Well, kind of.' Gastly floated in front of Daphne's face, grinning mischievously. It dawned on Daphne that Gastly was using telepathy to communicate with her. She also recalled something her mum had told her years ago about Gastly: they loved to play tricks on people. This information made Daphne wary of Gastly.

'Please don't fear me. I won't play tricks on you. I like you and Conan too. I want to prank Zoe and Zack,' offered Gastly. Daphne could only imagine the mischief Gastly could do and it made her smile to think about how the twins could suffer. She looked over at Conan again and realized that it wasn't the time for pranks. The class was almost empty by now as most students had already set off on their missions. If Daphne and Conan didn't leave soon then they might not make it back on time. Daphne assured Gastly that she would get her chance later but right now they needed to focus on the task at hand. Gastly sighed but agreed with Daphne. They joined Conan, who was on his own now that Massimo had left with Vivian on their mission.

'Conan, when can I play tricks on Zoe and Zack?' asked Gastly sweetly. Conan's eyes widened.

"Never! No-one can touch the twins – they're completely off-limits!" he said. Gastly pouted.

'But whhhyyyy?' She sounded just like a whiney child and it made Daphne laugh. She also wondered what made the twins so untouchable, so Conan explained it to them while they made their way out of school.

"Zoe and Zack are somehow related to Giovanni. No-one knows what the relation is, but we know not to do anything stupid to them. When we first got here, this boy tried to stand up to them and challenged them to a battle. The next day he was kicked out. I don't know about you, but I'm here to join Team Rocket, not get kicked out for picking fights with the twins," said Conan, leading Daphne and Gastly through the back exit of the school. Beyond it was a vast forest, and Conan said that beyond that was a small town. The trio stepped into the wood and were immediately shrouded in shadows; the trees were so thick that not much light could get through. They walked close together – or in Gastly's case, floated – so they wouldn't get separated and then lost.

Around them, Daphne was aware of various Pokémon purposely staying out of their way. Pidgeys sat on the branches of trees, Rattatas cowered in bushes. Once, Daphne was sure an Oddish ran across their path, its green leaves flapping behind it. Doubt was beginning to wheedle its way into Daphne's mind. Did Ponytas even live in this forest? How would they catch it if it was going to run away like all the other Pokémon? The mission was starting to appear harder than Daphne had first thought.

Note: I had the feeling that if I didn't end it there, it would have never ended...Congrats to Keiichiro-San for figuring out Daphne's room mate was a boy (although I think that was pretty much obvious).