Not Another Pokefic 6-Welcome to Jubilife

"Come on Angie, lighten up."

"No, you two ditched me."

"B-But we're sorry for it."

"No exceptions."

"We didn't mean to."

"Yes you did."

"P-please forgive us...?"

"You already are."

The conversation continued like this as the group neared Jubilife City. Angie was still upset over her friends ditching her and having a battle without her. It was unfair to her, yes, as they left her out and didn't tell her. She searched for fifteen minutes before she finally found them. And what did she find? Two trainers fighting them. Not only that, Roku had even chosen to battle, completely forgetting about lunch and her. She said she had forgiven them, but Roku and Xander weren't convinced.

"I-is there any way we can make it up t-to you?" Xander asked.

Angie thought about this for a second, before finally saying, "Yeah, never ditch me again. And get me some ice cream, that sounds good..."

"Ice cream is doable," Roku said.

"T-then we'll stop for it," Xander responded. "And we won't d-ditch you again, Angie."

Angie sighed, then turned to face them again. Her scowl had vanished and she seemed to have truly forgiven them now. Their apology seemed sincere to her now, and they had been willing to get her ice cream. Angie loved ice cream, but she loved popsicles and watermelon more. She slowly began to speak to them again now, but avoided the topic of their earlier battle. Roku and Xander got the hint and didn't speak of it too. The rest of their trip lasted shortly. Before they knew it, they were stepping into Jubilife City. Xander looked around the city in awe. He had seen big cities before, like Slateport City back in Hoenn, but Jubilife City had a different feel to it, though he couldn't put his finger on what. It was a beautiful, and yet a little overwhelming. Xander wondered what kind of adventure could await them. Roku, however, was the one to jump in first. He grabbed Angie's hand and dashed off ahead, dragging her along. Xander sighed and ran off after him.

"R-Roku, lemme go!" Angie called.

"You didn't want to be left behind again, right?" Roku called, smiling at her. Angie sighed. At least Roku was keeping his part of the promise. However, since he turned his head to smile at her, he wasn't watching where he was going. Slam! Roku ran into a man rounding the corner carrying a few eggs. The man fell down, throwing his arms down to break his fall, but dropped the eggs. Angie managed to not collide with the man and Roku. She rushed over and caught the falling eggs, except for one. Fortunately, it landed safely in the man's lap. Phew, she thought, they're safe. Angie sighed with relief and smiled. Other than a few bumps and bruises, nothing was seriously hurt and the eggs were safe.

"Sorry, sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," Roku said. He got up and held his hand out to help the man up.

"It's okay," the man said, taking Roku's hand. "I'm fine, and so are the eggs." Roku pulled the man up off the ground. The man brushed himself off and smiled at both of them, just as Xander caught up. Angie gave him the other two eggs.

"Ah, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Isaac and I'm a breeder. These eggs are Togepi eggs. Miss..." Isaac said, nodding towards Angie.

"Angie," Angie said. "My name's Angie."

"Miss Angie, if you want one, you may take one, for saving these eggs," Isaac said. Angie's eyes lit up. Angie had aspired to be a breeder and now she had two eggs to hatch and raise, the first being the mysterious egg in her backpack.

"Wow, really?" Angie said, plucking an egg from the three the man had. "Thanks, Isaac!"

"No problem. If you hadn't been here, these three eggs would be omelets on the sidewalk," Isaac said, nodding towards Roku. Roku felt guilty again and apologized another time, but Isaac told him not to worry about it.

"What are you going to do with all the eggs?" Xander said. His sudden input surprised all three of them. Isaac nearly dropped the remaining two eggs.

"You startled me, boy," Isaac said. "Do you know these two?"

"Yeah, he's our friend," Roku said. "His name is Xander."

"Xander, huh...? I wonder if...nah," Isaac said. "Well, he kinda-"

"Sorry for startling you," Xander interrupted, trying to change the subject.

"It's alright, Xander, just don't sneak up on people like that," Angie said. Xander simply nodded.

"Anyways, I'm taking these eggs to the GTC," Isaac said.

"The GTC?" Xander asked.

"You don't know what the GTC is?" Isaac asked. Xander simply shook his head.

"He's from Hoenn," Angie explained. "And the GTC opened recently. He may not have heard of it because of moving." Isaac stared at Xander again, as if searching him over. After awhile, he sighed and gave up.

"The GTC stands for the Global Trading Center. It's a place where anyone anywhere in the Pokemon world can go to trade his Pokemon. If there was someone in Saffron City who wanted, for example, a Bonsley, he could go to the GTC and find someone from Sinnoh who was willing to trade a Bonsley for another Pokemon, say a Pidgey. If the person from Saffron City had a Pidgey, those two could trade. It's very convenient for trading Pokemon from entirely different continents," Isaac explained. "There's one in at least once major city in each continent. Here, we have one in Jubilife. Kanto has one in Saffron City and one on Cinnabar Island. Johto has one in Blackthorn City and Goldenrod City. Hoenn has one in Mauville City and one on Sootopolis City." Xander nodded to show he understood it.

"Hey, do you guys want to get a few Pokemon and try it out?" Roku asked. Angie didn't mind, but Xander looked intrigued. He had a few Pokemon in Hoenn he wanted to get, and a few Sinnoh Pokemon might be a good trade. Professor Rowan had stated before he was willing to study a few foreign Pokemon, why not some from Sinnoh? Xander simply nodded. He glanced over at Angie. Four Pokemon, though half of them were eggs, occupied her team. He wondered if she would try to trade an egg or possibly catch another Pokemon to trade. He wasn't sure though. For one, the Pokemon she had caught so far had came as eggs. Xander also realized he had never seen Angie battle once. Angie looked over at Xander and noticed him staring at her. She gave him an odd look, causing Xander's focus to return. He simply shook his head and began to follow Roku towards the town limits. Angie followed closely behind Xander.

It didn't take long for Xander and Roku to each catch a Pokemon to trade. Xander settled with a simply Starly, while Roku caught a Bidoof. They were quite common around the area, but they would do. Professor Birch of Hoenn wouldn't mind at all. To him, they were new Pokemon that he had never seen or studied before.

"You sure you don't want to try it?" Xander asked Angie. Angie simply nodded. She hadn't caught a Pokemon to trade yet, and had chosen not to.

"Why not?" Roku asked.

"I'm perfectly happy with my team," Angie said. "And I can't think of a Pokemon that I absolutely want that I can't get here."

Xander accepted this. He was only trading for one Pokemon, a small, odd looking Pokemon called Trapinch. Most people thought Trapinches were odd and avoided them. Xander would have too, but they evolved into Xander's favorite Pokemon: Flygon. Xander decided to get one to train here in Sinnoh. Roku had merely decided to catch a Pokemon to try out the GTC. He wondered what he would get, but he decided to leave that up to fate.

"Shall we go back now?" Angie asked. Xander gave a curt nod in response. Angie started back towards Jubilife City (they hadn't gone far). Xander followed her, with Roku right behind him.

Eventually the trio reached the entrance to the GTC, a large building with light blue paint covering its exterior. It had a few windows in the front, allowing some natural light into the building when the sun was in the right position. Xander could see a large amount of people inside, though he was unsure of what they were doing. Roku and Angie were awestruck by such a large building (it dwarfed the lab back in Sandgem). Xander, however, was unfazed. He had seen things like this before.

"Shall we go in?" he asked. Roku and Angie both agreed. Xander walked towards the entrance, with Angie and Roku following his footsteps like shadows. However, before they reached it, the door slid open and a young woman, maybe a year or two older than them, walked out. She had dark red, wavy hair, thin red eyes, and wore a close-fitting body suit. Xander stopped and looked down, trying to avert her eyes. The young woman simply smirked and brushed by Xander's side.

"Hello Xander," she whispered as she walked past. Angie and Roku waited until she was out of sight, then turned to Xander.

"Who was she?" they both asked simultaneously.

"I...I d-don't know," Xander replied. He didn't look up at his friends as he spoke, trying to not give away that he was lying. Xander did know that woman. She, too, was from Hoenn, someone he had known while he was there. He knew her quite well, though he wasn't going to let on that he did. However, Angie and Roku weren't so sure.

"Are you positive...?" they asked. Xander looked up and gave a curt nod.

"Okay then," Roku said. They bought it. Xander felt a little relieved. Now, with that out of the way, they could enjoy the GTC.

"Now, let's do what we came here for!" Roku yelled, running into the GTC. Xander grabbed Angie's arm and dragged her in behind him, trying to make sure she would stay with him and they wouldn't get separated.

Inside was a large reception hall, bustling with people. No trading was taking place, but on one side, there was a large reception desk with a small line of trainers waiting to gain access to the GTC. On the other side was a larger group of people, talking, taking a break from their trading, showing off Pokemon they had got from a trade. It looked like a nice place to Xander. He already saw Roku in the line, so he, dragging Angie behind him, joined Roku in the line.

"Xander, let me go!" she said, struggling to get free. Xander did as she asked, releasing her arm. Angie rubbed where she had been grabbed.

"Sorry, Angie..." he apologized.

"It's okay Xander," she said. "I can handle myself though, you don't need to drag me along everywhere."

"You did say you didn't want us to abandon you anymore," he replied.

"You don't need to go as far as dragging me by the arm though," Angie said giggling. Xander nodded, blushing embarrassedly. They then turned and watched as the line began to move. Eventually, they reached the front.

"Welcome to the GTC," the receptionist said with a cheery smile. "Are you new traders?" Angie, Roku, and Xander nodded slowly.

"Then may I please see your ID?" she asked. Angie and Roku reached into their back pockets and withdrew small cards, shaped like credit cards. However, they'd be quite useless as credit cards, because they were the trainer cards every trainer received when they became Pokemon trainers. They passed them to the receptionist, who scanned them, uploaded them to the computer, then handed them back. Xander pointed his earpiece at the computer. A small, blue beam shot out of the eye attachment to his own earpiece into the computer, trying to upload his ID that way. The receptionist allowed the upload after typing a few keys on the computer keyboard.

"There. Now you're registered into our systems and can come back by typing your own code into the keypad here," she said, pointing to one by each reception desk. Angie thanked her, Xander echoing her thanks, while Roku dashed ahead to the now open door. Xander and Angie sighed, following after Roku.

Inside the door was another hall, branching off into many hallways. On each side of the hall were doors leading into other rooms.

"May I help you?" said a voice behind them. Angie jumped in fear, while Xander was merely startled by it. Roku seemed completely oblivious. Xander turned around slowly and saw another man, standing behind a desk.

"We're new here, where can we trade Pokemon?" Xander asked.

"Let's see..." the man said, pressing something on his desk. Xander looked over the top. A small computer had been installed into the desk, showing multiple small squares, side-by-side. Some were white, others were bright red. Next to the grid was a small row of numbers numbered one through five. The man was pressing each number, showing the same grid, just the squares would differ in numbers.

"How many are trading today?" the man asked.

"Just two. Angie's here to watch," Xander said.

"Hmm...two rooms then," the man said. He pressed a few more buttons, then found a spot. "Two rooms can be found on the second floor. Go down the hall, and at the end you'll find a stairwell to the second floor. Go up it and head to the center of the hall. Take a left, then look in the farthest room on the right and left. Those two are open for use."

"Thank you. Come on guys!" Xander said, walking towards the end of the hall. However, Roku was already opening the door and heading up the stairwell. Xander sighed again and walked after him, making sure Angie was right behind him. They made it up the stairs to see another hall, exactly like the one below him, except this one branched off on the left. They walked to that hall and looked down it, seeing Roku standing at the end, tapping his foot.

"You're too slow!" he said in a somewhat cocky manner. Xander immediately thought of hedgehogs when he said this, but couldn't understand why he thought of this. Xander and Angie walked down the hall and met up with Roku. Xander decided to take the right room, while Roku took the left. Angie followed Roku into his room, but told Xander she'd visit him soon. Xander entered his own room. Inside was a large control panel, with a lot of buttons and keys. Xander hoped he'd be able to handle it well. He walked forward and stood in front of the control panel. In front of him were numerous, blinking pink pads. They intrigued Xander. He noticed a green button blinking on the control panel. He tentatively pressed it. Suddenly, a small hologram came out and smiled at him.

"Hello! I am your guide to the GTC!" it said cheerily. Xander was reminded of the receptionist back at the front desk.

"Allow me to instruct you on how to use the trading room. To begin a new search, press the search key. To put your own Pokemon up for trade, hit the new trade key. To quit at any time, press the quit button," the hologram said. Xander noticed three keys, place directly next to each other, lit up. The one on the right glowed a bright red color, making the word "quit" appear much more easily. The one on the left glowed blue, marked with the word "search". The middle, a bright yellow, had "new" imprinted on it. Xander wondered what to do.

"May I call a friend?" he asked. The hologram nodded and pointed to a small speaker with a keypad next to it. Xander reached over and dialed in the number for Professor Birch. Suddenly, a holo-screen appeared in front of Xander. It appeared blank at the moment. Ringing could be heard from the speaker. Suddenly, Professor Birch's face appeared upon the screen.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hello Professor," Xander replied, smiling.

"Hi Xander!" the professor said cheerily. "It's been awhile since we've last spoke. How's Sinnoh?"

"Just fine," Xander said. "I've already managed to make new friends and I've caught a few Pokemon too!"

"That's great, Xander!" Birch said, smiling.

"But I also have something to ask of you. Can you go to a Global Trading Center and put up a Trapinch for trade? I was hoping to trade you a Sinnoh Pokemon for it," Xander asked.

"Sure! I'll be right there!" Birch said enthusiastically. He couldn't resist the urge to study a Sinnoh Pokemon.

"Call my PokeNav when you get there," Xander said.

"Okay, seeya!" Birch said, hanging up. Now all Xander would have to do was wait. He began to ponder how long it would take Birch to get there. He could have one of his Pokemon fly him there, but even that would take half an hour at least. He would be a little while. Suddenly, the door opened behind him. Angie slid in and walked over to Xander.

"How're you doing?" she asked.

"Just waiting for Birch to call," Xander said. "I'm going to be a little while. Once Roku's done, why don't you two go and find the Pokemon Center. I'll be along shortly."

"I'll wait with you," Angie replied, smiling.

"Nah, it's okay. I'll be fine on my own. Please go back with Roku," Xander insisted.

"But-" Angie said, before Xander cut her off.

"No buts. I'll be fine, don't worry," Xander interrupted. "I don't want you hanging around her waiting for me. It'll get boring."

"...fine. But be back before dark," she said. Xander nodded. Suddenly, the door opened again. Roku walked in, smiling happily. His trade must've gone successful, as a new Pidgey was sitting on Roku's shoulder. Xander smiled. It looked happy and well-groomed. It's old owner must've been a good trainer or breeder.

"Meet Pig!" Roku said. The Pidgey chirped happily. The two made a good pair. Xander grinned.

"Congrats Roku," he said.

"Thanks. How goes your trading?" Roku asked.

"I'm waiting for the trader to reach a GTC," Xander replied. "So while I'm taking care of this, can you take Angie to the Pokemon Center? I'll be there shortly."

"Sure," Roku said, taking Angie's hand. "Let's go!" He began to take her along with him. Angie waved by to Xander. Xander simply smiled and waved at her, then began to wait. He pulled out a small picture and began to stare at it. It wasn't in the best of condition, but it showed a younger Xander, smiling and hugging his mother. In his arms was a Ralts, looking confused as it was being squished between Xander and his mother. Xander smiled at his picture. He had loved Ralts since he was little, though he somewhat pitied the males for evolving into Gardevoir. Suddenly, ringing could be heard throughout the entire room. He replaced the photo and pressed a button on his PokeNav. Professor Birch appeared on the holo-screen in his earpiece. Xander smiled.

"Hello Professor," he said.

"Hello Xander! Now, you said Trapinch right?" the Professor replied.

"Yes. Put it up for trade, please," Xander said. He pressed the search button and typed in 'Trapinch'. All of a sudden, the pink pads began to glow. Holograms of people began to appear from each pad. He recognized none of the people, until all of a sudden one more hologram appeared in the corner. It was one of the professor. He tapped on the Professor's hologram lightly. It suddenly vanished, and the pad beneath it slid away, allowing a small pedestal to appear from the floor. He placed the Starly's Pokeball into a slot in the pedestal. The Pokeball turned white and vanished, only to be replaced moments later by another one.

"Thanks for the Pokemon, Xander!" Birch said from the PokeNav. Xander picked up the Pokeball from the pedestal. The holograms vanished and the pedestal sank into the floor again. Xander returned to the control panel and pressed the quit button.

"Seeya later, Professor," Xander said.

"Seeya Xander!" the Professor replied. Xander hung up the PokeNav and left the room. He began to head home for the night.

Meanwhile, back at the Pokemon Center, the young woman Xander had met before was sitting inside a room. Accompanying her was another girl about her age and a boy about Xander's age. The girl had bright blue, shoulder-length hair, big blue eyes, and wore a suit similar to the other woman's. The boy had a bright green hair and eyes and wore a green jacket with blue jeans.

"So you're sure you saw him Ruby?" the boy asked.

"Positive. Xander even acted the same, using his little nervous reactions. It was definitely him alright," the woman, Ruby said.

"Yay! We found Xander!" the other woman said in a bubbly manner. "Now we can take him back to Hoenn with us!"

"Calm down Sapphire, that's not what we're here for," the boy said, grinning.

"Oh," the blue-haired girl, Sapphire said. "Then what are we here for, Emerald?"

"To show Xander that I'm truly the best out of all of us!" Emerald said, grinning madly.