"… or go to the nearest police station, if the bearer is not provided with the necessary transportation. We look forward to welcoming all those who have been marked, though more details can only be divulged to the chosen ones. In the name of the Parelle League, we guarantee that no harm will come to them. Thank you for your cooperation."

Mairin can't believe it.

All her life, she has been waiting for something to happen to her.

A fairytale, perhaps.

Not the kind of fairytale where a prince comes and rescues her from this miserable place, but the kind of story where she is adopted by a nice, kind gentleman or lady who helps her hone her skills and she eventually gets a decent, respectable job.

The kind of fantasy that may actually happen, yet has never.

Now something even more amazing is in store for her.

She glances down at the mark on her left palm. The flash has long since waned into a dull light that kind of glows in the dark, but there's no mistaking it – the Parelle League is looking for her.

Her.

Simple, clumsy Mairin, whom everyone says will never get adopted. Who is always the last option. Who never gets chosen.

All those hopes were dashed momentarily when the matron told her snarkily that she would not allow Mairin to go. That there was no way the Parelle League would want her.

The other kids had sniggered at Mairin.

Payton, in particular, had laughed in Mairin's face, relishing the younger girl's crestfallen expression, and told her cruelly that there was no way the Parelle League would ask for her when she couldn't even work for them as a cleaner.

"Though you slipping and pouring water all over yourself may be fun to them. Ah, I know, you can work as a clown!" Payton chortled.

Mairin's teeth grind as she remembers that memory.

No matter.

If they won't let her go, then she will just have to escape on her own.

A thrill runs through her.

Her mundane days of being mocked and derided are over.

Rewatching the broadcast has solidified something in her. Somehow, she has been chosen. And she will answer the call.

It's a little past midnight when she finally makes her great escape.

Actually, nothing about her plan is grand.

There's a fence that goes around the outskirts of the orphanage, but Mairin has long since found a doggy hole that is big enough only for her to pass through. This is one of the rare times when she is grateful for her small stature.

She doubts the tall and snobbish Payton or her curvy lackey, Nadia, can pass through that hole.

Mairin doesn't even bring anything with her. There's nothing in this rundown orphanage that she wants, anyway.

Sneaking out of her room is the hard part. The wooden tiles creak and as if that isn't enough, when she eventually reaches the staircase, even the steps creak. There's even some steps missing, though she has them memorized.

She tip-toes past the common room, where the others have spent hours playing card and board games while ignoring Mairin. She sometimes resorted to hours of playing cards alone, wallowing in pure misery. She was so lonely that she could stare at one card for hours, playing a game with herself where she committed to memory all the details of the card and then had to draw it out.

The other kids burned those drawings.

Thankfully, Mairin manages to reach the backdoor without bumping into anyone. The door is locked from the inside, so Mairin manages, with much difficulty, to twist and pull back the rusty lock that refuses to budge.

Someone will discover her missing in the morning.

But that's fine.

She'll hopefully be on her way to the Sinnoh League already.

So Mairin opens the door by a tad, slips out and closes it softly. Then she giddily runs to the doggy hole, her heart beating frantically from excitement and nerves, gets on all fours and wriggles her way out.

She can't believe it.

That quickly, she has attained what she has always longed for.

Of course, she couldn't escape in the past as she would have either been kicked back to the orphanage if found by the authorities or had to live a life of begging – or worse, been kidnapped by nefarious people.

The refreshing scent of freedom and dream, urges Mairin on as she steals away into the night, never once looking back.

Elsewhere in Unova, just as Mairin is executing her getaway, Striaton Gym has degenerated to a madhouse.

"Take this, oh, and this too!" Chili fires rapidly, throwing miscellaneous items at Cilan.

Cilan sighs exasperatedly. "Did you not hear the broadcast? We were told to pack lightly. That is, the bare minimum." He holds up the utterly hideous flannel shorts that Chili tossed at him a moment ago. "Which means I definitely do not need these shorts –" he drops the shorts, picking up a tennis racket " – or this racket. Or the socks with numerous holes for 'aesthetic purposes'. Or the flute that doesn't even work. Or the ten pairs of mismatched shoelaces you have procured. Or the –"

"Gee, I get it," Chili flops down onto the bed.

Cress looks up from where he is perched on his chair, reading a book.

"That's my bed, by the way." He says mildly.

Chili childishly lies down and stretches out on it. "Yeah, now it's mine since Cilan is moving out."

Cress raises a brow. "That makes no sense, since you have your own bed, but sure."

The three brothers share two rooms. Every half a year, one of them gets a room to himself. Currently, Cilan and Cress are sharing a room, and they're in said room to help Cilan pack.

"Help" is subjective, though, since Chili is more of a hindrance.

"Anyways, how will our restaurant cope without you?" Chili bemoans. "It's already hectic enough as it is."

"What do you think? Obviously we'll need to hire some workers." Cress says matter-of-factly.

He doesn't sound enthusiastic about it.

That's probably because they did hire some workers a few months back until Chili got into an argument with them and threw the contents of his frying pan at them. Said workers got drenched in smoked salmon omelet and white sauce, and threw in their resignation letters the next day.

Chili groans. "Not new workers again!"

Cilan swats at him when he tries to smuggle the flannel shorts in. He glares at Chili. And Cilan has a rather impressive glare.

"Get out if you aren't going to help me!" Cilan growls.

Chili whistles. "Yes, now that is a cool growl. If you keep doing that, maybe you'll finally pick up some gir –"

Cilan whacks him.

Chili catches his hand and flips it around.

There, the mark of the "chosen ones" gleams.

"You think we can increase the number of patrons by putting a sign that says 'the chosen one works here'?" Chili asks hopefully.

Cress shakes his head. "The broadcast told us to minimize the number of people we tell about the mark. Sometimes I think information goes in one of your ears and comes out the other."

Cilan nods, agreeing.

Chili shakes his head. "Is it my fault that my ears only retain useful information?"

"If that's the case, how did you not hear us when we told you that you were adding too much pepper in the last Gym challenge?" Cress retorts crossly.

He is still upset about that loss two weeks ago; of the three of them, Cress holds a grudge the longest and deepest.

Chili pouts. "T-that was because I was too nervous!"

Even that excuse sounds weak to him.

Chili goes back to packing, this time around without Chili's much unsolicited help, thankfully.

Chili mutters self-pitifully. "No one appreciates me around here."

None of his brothers contradict him.

Another place that has descended into madness is Pearl Mansion, Sinnoh.

"You are not going!" Johanna shrieks.

Glass lies shattered around her feet, and both she and her daughter's shoulders are heaving.

They have been at it for almost an hour.

The entire household was woken by their screaming and fighting.

Nothing unusual.

What is abnormal is how stubborn Dawn is acting. She usually caves in after one or two stern refusals from her mother. But now, she is adamant.

It's 2 am, and seeing how things are progressing, the staff reckon deplorably that the young lady and her mother may be at it until dawn cracks – be it the young lady or the time.

Lucas steps in, serving as the mediator. He is always the mediator.

"Dawn," he begins, but his twin sister holds up one hand.

Her navy blue eyes are blazing.

"Not one word from you, Luke." She says stoically. "I won't back down on this, Mom, no matter how many vases you break or how much you holler at me."

In contrast with her mother's dramatic reaction, Dawn is almost unfazed.

"How can you be so much like your father," Johanna hisses. "No matter how I see it, you take after that bastard so much that it's sickening."

Dawn flinches. Barely.

Her father is a taboo topic for her mother.

But she holds her head high. "Then you must be glad to get rid of me the way you ditched Dad, Mom." She spits out unabashedly.

"Dawn Calliope Marina Walters Berlitz!" Johanna screeches.

Lucas cringes. "Dawn, you've gone too far this time. Apologize to Mom, now."

Sometimes, she hates him.

Now is one of those times.

Her perfect, obedient brother. Who never says no to their mother. Who always makes her the bad guy. Who should have been on her side no matter what. Who is their mother's son before he is her twin brother.

Dawn is glad that her voice doesn't break when she tells Lucas coldly, "stay out of this. You don't understand. You've never tried to understand me."

She turns to her fuming mother, stating in the same tone. "And Mom, I did everything you wanted me to."

She takes a deep breath, and this time her voice does wobble. "I dropped out of the drama club to play the violin and piano because you told me to. I gave up on going out with my friends because you arranged dance classes for me. I broke up with my boyfriend because you wanted me to get engaged. I even forsake cheerleading because you made me a model for D&P's newest apparel. But I can't give up on this. I will go to the Sinnoh League."

Johanna's lips curl up. She's a beautiful woman so such a nasty expression doesn't suit her. Yet she wears it so often.

"How will you get to the Sinnoh League without my approval?" She glances at the head butler. "Sebastian, from now on, make sure that my crazy daughter doesn't take a single step out of this house."

She turns to her daughter. "You're grounded."

Dawn laughs – an empty, broken, hollow sound. "I am always grounded. Have I ever been let out of this house without your permission?"

She doesn't wait for an answer and turns, stalking back to her room, and the wretched back view of her shuddering is akin to a bird whose wings have been clipped.

She can almost hear the clang of her metal gate being closed.

It only hardens her resolution.

Besides, at least her window isn't locked.

A deranged smile graces Dawn's lips. After all, according to her own mother, she is insane. Insane enough to risk climbing out of the third story.

Even times can come when a caged bird regains its freedom anew.

In the faraway region of Kanto, as dawn is slowly breaking, someone is rapping impatiently on the Ketchum household's door.

"Ashy boy!" A voice calls out sharply.

Said Ashy boy mumbles in his sleep.

"Wait Mom, just five more minutes…"

The door unlocks and thundering footsteps chase up the staircase.

Ash yelps as his blanket is taken away abruptly and he is left shivering in the cold.

"What in the worl – Gary?" He rubs his bleary eyes, hoping that he's seeing things.

But no, no matter how much he blinks, he can't blink away the sight of Gary Oak standing in front of him.

They're childhood frenemies, attended the same elementary, middle and now high school, and yet Gary has always been the popular jock while Ash remains as an honorary member of the Nerd Society. Though if you ask Ash, Gary is more of a jerk than a jock.

Lame pun, he knows.

"Who let you in – Mom!" Ash yells indignantly.

"But Ash, you have to treat your friends well!" Delia Ketchum chides from the living room.

Ash sags. Even if he keeps telling his mother that he is not friends with Gary, Delia seems to have selective hearing. She only hears the "friends" part instead of the "not" part.

Gary shakes his head at Ash. "Tsk, tsk. You always oversleep. It's time to get going to the Sinnoh League if you wanna make it by noon. We're taking the –"

"CRAP, THE FLIGHT!" Ash intercepts in a panic.

" – morning flight." Gary finishes. "Don't worry, you won't miss it. You have fifteen minutes to get ready, though."

"I haven't packed yet!" Ash hollers, hopping around as he changes out of his pajamas. No time to shower.

"Too bad," Gary replies unsympathetically. Knowing him, he likely waited until the last possible moment to wake Ash up. Delia had tried to wake Ash up earlier to no avail, so when Gary volunteered, she happily left the arduous task to him.

Ash runs to the washroom to wash his face and then grinds to a halt, whipping his head around.

"Wait. 'We're taking the morning flight'? 'We're'? You're going to?" Ash demands.

Gary smirks, raising his left palm to display the mark. "Duh. Why else would I have bothered to drag your sorry ass out of your bed?"

Ash smothers a growl, brushing his teeth furiously, while Gary watches, highly amused.

He spits out his toothpaste. "What about Misty? And Brock?"

While Ash and Gary live in the same town and have known each other for all their lives, Ash only grew to know Misty in high school, and Brock afterwards because even though she was so young, she ran the Cerulean Gym with her sisters and as the Gym Leader, she became acquaintanced with Brock, the Pewter Gym Leader, who was also fairly young.

And coincidentally, all four of them manifested the strange mark on their left palms – the mark that has the entire Parelle League in a frenzy. However, Ash hadn't known about Gary's manifestation until now.

"Misty will be meeting us at the airport. Cerulean City is too far away from Pallet Town for her to travel over. And I don't know about the Brock guy." Gary shrugs. He knows Misty because of school, but clearly doesn't really know nor care about Brock.

Ash deduces that Brock is also at the airport since he is supposed to meet up with Misty.

Which is why when Misty calls him ten minutes later, asking if Brock is with him, Ash is surprised.

"No, isn't he with you?" He says, getting an uneasy feeling.

"No. I don't know where he is. We were supposed to meet two hours ago because he wanted to buy a suitcase. He's usually punctual, but I thought he was being held up by something important when he didn't pick up my calls."

Misty's voice is distraught when she continues a heartbeat later, "I… I think Brock is missing."

"Serena, you're going to be late for your flight." Gracie calls.

"Alright, coming!" Serena lies as she tries on her fifth hat. Hmm. Alright, that looks decent on her, though it doesn't look quite as nice as when Dawn Berlitz had worn it on the cover page of Styling!Sinnoh.

Serena has been living an utterly ordinary life. She's pretty and a high school cheerleader, but with average grades, her dad having an average job, and pretty much everything else average, her life has been mediocre so far.

While she does have her ups and downs like the occasional quarrels with her mother and flunking her exams, all of those things only make her more normal.

So she herself was the last person she expected to receive something as peculiar and strange and interesting as the mark that the Parelle League is searching for.

She eventually decides on the very first cap that she tried on, grabs her luggage, stuffs a small piece of cloth into her pocket and hightails out of her house before her mother continues to nag her.

"Bye, Mom!" Serena says, struggling with her luggage. Sure, it may not be the light packing that the league had asked for, but surely they won't kick her out for that?

"Stay safe, honey, and remember to call home often!" Grace waves goodbye to her, feeling concerned.

Serena is the kind of daughter her neighbors want. She's generally mature even if she does butt heads with her own mother at times, but that's why Grace is worried. What if something even more bizarre pops up and her daughter can't cope with it?

Her mentality isn't particularly strong and she doesn't have any forte. She's rather aimless in this aspect, though Grace tries to have faith that hopefully her daughter can pursue her own path after settling the league business.

Serena takes a cab to the airport, concealing the mark on her hand by wearing gloves. The glow has dimmed considerably since it first appeared. According to her mother, Serena was sleeping so deeply that she couldn't be awakened for over an hour, nearly giving Grace a heart attack.

Serena doesn't feel any different from normal, though. If anything, she may even feel a bit more awake.

When she reaches the airport, she is guided to the VIP section immediately after showing the guard the mark on her palm.

She can't help but feel a little excited, even if she is nervous.

To her surprise, there is someone else at the reception area. Of course, she must not be the only person in Kalos with the mark on her hand.

The person has raven hair and eyes like chips of ice.

"Um, hello," Serena greets somewhat awkwardly. "I'm Serena. Do you have this too?" She shows him the mark.

He nods his head and says curtly, "I'm Alain."

And indeed he carries the same mark on his left palm.

Giddiness rushes through Serena and she hastily sits down.

She's glad she didn't imagine the whole thing, that someone else has the same mark as her, albeit a complete stranger.

Serena isn't really good at small talk, and the guy – Alain – doesn't exactly look the friendliest, but she racks her brain trying to think of a way to start the conversation, and fails miserably.

Someone steps in, wearing thin high heels and donning a pixie cut.

Serena's eyes widen.

"Dia-diantha!" She gasps, stunned to see the dazzling movie star in real life.

Diantha smiles down at her. "Hi, are you two Arcana?"

Serena's brows furrow. "Arcana?"

"Oops, sorry, you guys haven't been briefed yet."

Alain's interest seems to have been piqued by the word "Arcana", but Diantha continues, "each region will have their Champion personally chaperoning the… chosen ones over to Sinnoh League."

Serena's eyes have enlarged to the size of saucers. "No, no! How can someone as magnificent as you escort me, a nobody?" She exclaims.

Diantha laughs. Even her voice is magical.

"Give yourself a little more credit. Serena, was it?"

Serena can swoon. The Champion knows her name. Diantha knows her name!

"You lot are more incredible than you know, but you'll realize that soon enough." Diantha says mystifyingly.

She takes a seat beside Serena. "Oh, we're waiting for one more person, I believe. She's currently at the police station, being transported here."

Serena scarcely registers Diantha's words.

The fangirl in her is squealing.

She can happily die now that she has seen the rare beauty in front of her eyes.

The whirring of the motor isn't enough to distract May Maple from her headache-inducing thoughts.

How did this happen?

No, really, how did she find herself sitting beside Drew Hayden in a helicopter on the way to Sinnoh?

Thank Arceus it's only a fifty-minute ride because Hoenn is quite near to Sinnoh.

Still.

Any minute that she spends in the insufferable presence of that cocky Drew Hayden is a minute too long.

May is squished rather uncomfortably between Drew and Steven Stone, with Wallace taking the front seat while Aaron sits beside Drew.

Honestly, May isn't quite sure why Wallace decided to invite himself to the party, except that if he weren't here, then Steven or even better yet, May could have taken his seat and avoided getting sandwiched so agonizingly.

The good thing about the loud noise is that Drew has no chance to babble his mouth off and irritate.

Or so she thought.

No, he has to flick that chartreuse hair of his so obnoxiously. And gives her a side glance that is just so vexing.

Both of them grew up as fierce rivals in Hoenn.

May and Drew both want to be designers, crafting elaborate outfits for models to show-off on fashion runways. They both attended the Hoenn School of the Arts, were both the top students and also competed at various contests together.

Somehow, Drew usually came out on top.

Of course, it's not that May is being a sore loser.

But His Smugness had to rub it in her face every time she was the runner-up. He once gave her a bouquet of roses, which admittedly gave May butterflies, until he smirked and said it was for the model who wore May's dress.

She really, really had to suppress herself from giving him a good, hard smack.

People always told May that she only lost to Drew because he was Drew Hayden – rich, arrogant and in a league of his own. They compared her, who came from a relatively modest background, though her dad is a Gym Leader, and had to climb her way up the showbiz ladder, to Drew, who pretty much had everything handed to him on a silver platter, despite his undeniable skills, and chalked her continuous losses up to fate.

But May doesn't want their differences to be an excuse for her lagging behind her longest rival. She wants to beat Drew using her own capabilities and strength, fair and square.

Perhaps… It's because her rival is Drew that she is able to push herself so hard.

Then Drew leans in and whispers in her right ear, "I think it'll still be a while until we reach, so why don't you catch some sleep first?"

May freezes, her heart squeezes, and she tries to tell herself that it's nothing, that she should stop acting like it's something, that she should be calm and relaxed and not fainting on the inside!

Gee.

Why does he have to go and do misleading things like that?

And now May can't even sleep when she wants to – because if she did, then she would have felt like it was because of Drew's words. Gah!

She turns her head away from Drew only to meet Steven's knowing gaze.

This is absolutely humiliating!

It's not true, of course it isn't, but May has a gut feeling that the Champion somehow knows all about her secret tiny invisible almost non-existent crush on Drew. But that's impossible, when even May herself is in denial about those nearly imaginary feelings.

May glances at her watch.

How is it possible that only three minutes have passed?

May grits her teeth and resigns herself to an excruciating forty-seven minutes.

Sinnoh is unsurprisingly sweltering at this time of the day, though one person is still surprised.

Iris grumbles under her breath as drags her suitcase up the hill.

Having never been to Sinnoh before, all she knew was that the weather was supposedly cold, so she donned a long-sleeve shirt, tight jeans and brought similar clothes.

Now she's regretting her decision.

On the bright side, the Sinnoh League is just in front of her.

Though how she can see anything else but the bright side is beyond her; the sun is shining directly into her eyes, rather ruthlessly.

Iris has dwelled in forests almost all her life, but at least the forest is usually shaded. She is certainly unused to the heat.

To top it off, the wheel on her suitcase gets stuck on a bump at the road and, when she tries to yank it out, the wheel rolls off.

Darn that stupid old thing.

She should have bought a new one, but the Village of the Dragons doesn't sell suitcases, and she got this dilapidated one from one of the villagers as a farewell gift.

At least it managed to serve its job well, which was to survive on the flight from Unova to Sinnoh.

Speaking of that flight…

Iris really wishes she has stayed behind like that green-haired boy – Cilan – advised her to.

Technically, they were supposed to wait for the Champion to arrive. Yet said Champion – Alder – never even showed up.

They were about to miss their flight, so Iris wanted to go, but Cilan argued patiently they should wait for Alder.

She had only told him annoyedly, "you can wait for him. I'm going."

And this is how she ended up here.

At least if she was with Cilan, perhaps he would have helped her with her suitcase. He looked like a gentleman, after all.

Iris grabs the wheel, and turns back only to realize that her suitcase has begun rolling down the hill.

No! After she spent so long climbing it!

Iris can climb trees all day, but put her on flat ground and she's like a newborn fawn.

The suitcase is stopped in its tracks by a pair of black shoes.

Iris blinks hopefully, and looks up.

No gentlemanly Cilan to be found there.

Instead, a most decidedly unfriendly guy stands there.

With a mop of mauve hair and rather intense onyx eyes, he looks downright terrifying. Iris almost gulps, and she has seen her fair share of shady guys.

It's that gaze this guy possesses – so wholly dark and detached.

"Uh, hi?" She says, then realizes that this guy must be one of the so-called chosen ones as well since he's also hauling a large bag up to the Sinnoh League, and no one goes there for no reason.

She says as much, and introduces herself.

He stares down at her and says flatly, "let's go."

Oh, and he pretty much tosses her suitcase at her.

Great.

What a rude jerk.

Iris glares at his back as she continues lugging her suitcase behind her, wishing even more fervently that she had stayed behind with Cilan instead of meeting Mr Grumpypants.

Just when she thinks her day can't get even worse, another one of her suitcase's wheels falls off.

The guy in front of her doesn't even bother to wait for her as he continues stalking ahead, while Iris is left to grapple with her suitcase.

She hopes he trips on a rock and rolls down the hill. She'll assist him by giving him a kick as he cruises by her.

Or maybe a passing bird can poop on his head and complete the shithead that is him.

Yeah, that'll be fantastic.

A/N:

Finally the first chapter! I forgot to acknowledge the rules and regulations so I wasn't able to upload yesterday and I was like ? But I finally figured it out. (Is it too early for me to ask for a review?)