Six Months Prior

Sometimes, I had dreams. Everyone did, of course, but mine were always showing me what could have happened, should I make a different choice.

In this case, I felt the warm spring rain beating down on me as I spun around in circles, laughing to myself. Finally, I had become a trainer. Finally, I had started becoming something worth being proud of. Finally, I would know what I was capable of.

While I wasn't exactly a people person, and I didn't like that my battles would be televised, I did like the idea of pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I had a quick mind, and a decent sense for battle. I was creative enough that most battles, especially against other new trainers, would be a breeze!

Or, so Marnie said. Piers warned me that I had to keep my ego under control, or I'd risk loosing more than just a battle.

They would be shocked to see me now. My long, usually neat teal hair was both a windblown mess, and drenched. My usually impeccable outfit, a black, long-sleeved turtleneck and black cargo pants, with my grey battle belt, and matching trench coat, were messy and covered in mud. My poor backpack needed to be washed too. But, for once, I didn't care.

I was free.

I turned my wide grin towards my starter, a Galarian Zigzagoon that I called Zagovory, and laughed again. My little mischief maker had been jumping in puddles. He looked like a Hoenn variant, if I didn't know better.

I couldn't quite make out my second Pokémon but I knew it was there, just like I knew the reason I was so ecstatic was because I'd recently won a gym badge. I might have been way behind Marnie, and a lot of the other competitors, but I was still making my way across Galar, in hopes of making my family proud.

Then, all at once, I was blinking awake. It had been a dream. I suddenly knew that there was no pride for myself, only a cold, boxed up room and myself, wrapped in a grey-and-black sleeping bag next to my brand new bed. Not in Galar, like I should have been, but in Paldea.

My family had moved here weeks ago, and I had come along. Mostly because my mom enrolled me into the top trainer academy here without telling me. I groaned into my sleeping bag. Today was the day the last of the paperwork would be signed, and I would start school on Monday morning.

I hated that being here meant being alone. Yes, I would still have my parents nearby, and yes, I'd have new classmates, but...

No, I shook myself and sat up. No, I was not going to spend my last few hours of freedom wishing to be somewhere else. I was better than that, I could still get the experience I would need to make Marnie proud, without being in Galar. Besides that, I had promised to call at least once a week, so that we could compare journeys. One day, when I could finally leave Paldea, I'd go back to Spikemuth for our battle.

And it would be glorious.

Until then, I had Zag. Zag, short for Zagovory, was a Zigzagoon I had befriended and finally gained the trust of a few weeks ago. He was a chaotic gremlin when he wanted to be, but thankfully, he was curled up on the bed I didn't use, asleep.

I didn't really know much about Paldea yet, but I did know it wouldn't have the same chaotic storms that Galar was known for. That was probably a good thing, even if I wasn't thrilled by the change in climate.

Or the timezones. I glanced at my phone, grimacing, it was already nine am here, yet, to my very Galarian body, it was nine pm. The twelve hour difference was awful, but I'd adapt.

I let myself pout, knowing no one was around to see it. The Galar League started today, or, well, yesterday. Which meant that Marnie was in Motostoke, and would probably leave when she woke up tomorrow for Turffield. I wondered how she was doing. Did she already go to bed? Was she having trouble sleeping? Had she already called Piers? I didn't know, but I knew I'd end up watching the ceremony tonight, once I was fully moved for the second time in twenty-four hours.

I pulled the phone closer to me, and pulled up the new Pokédex app on my phone. The Galarian in me didn't need it, since I had spent so much of my time getting ready for my adventure, but as a new resident of Paldea, there was a lot I didn't know yet. I did have some new favorites, of course, even if I've never seen them before. I still preferred the Pokémon from Galar, considering they were the most familiar to me, but I hoped that I'd find a place here. Eventually.

At least I'd learn a lot.

I laid their for a while, just looking at the types of gyms, and teachers, I'd be spending the next few years around. I knew that, eventually, we'd be released from the dorms for a week or two at a time, in order to gain badges, or whatever else we wanted, but that wasn't something that happened this early in the school year, was it?

A harsh tearing sound jolted me out of my thoughts. As soon as my eyes landed on my bed, and my now destroyed sheet, I groaned.

Zag's red eyes were glowing in mischief, and I knew that if we didn't start moving soon, nothing would be safe from my chaotic gremlin of a partner. He wasn't afraid to cause havoc if he thought I was being lazy.

Fun fact about Zag: we originally met because he kept knocking over the trash and outside our house. My parents wanted to call someone to get rid of him, since he was a pest, but by the second day, I knew something they didn't. It took all of two weeks from that first day for Zag to follow me into the house and raid the kitchen. From there, I was his human.

In other regions, its a lot more common for new trainers to be gifted their starter, but in Spikemuth, that was a little different. Marnie, my best friend, gained her Morpeko by tempting him in with rock music. The small dark-electric duel type adored hard rock, and, apparently, had a special interest in drums of all things. Evil little gremlin ate my shoe when we were first introduced, but Marnie adored him, so that was that.

Thankfully, Zagovory mostly kept his chaos to the outdoors, but no plant was safe from those evil red eyes.

Despite the Pokéball, and the fact that he was legally registered as my partner, both Zag and I knew the truth. I was his human a lot more than he was my starter. He indulged me by listening, when he was in the mood, but when it came down to it, he saw me as his person. Partly because I loved the chaos, but mostly because I fed him.

I slowly got up and moved towards my bag to brush and braid back my hair, since that was how I always started the day. Once that was done, and I was dressed in my comfortable travel clothes, I packed up my sleeping bag, and headed towards the kitchen, Zag nipping at my heels to make me go faster.

Once he had his food in front of him, and half of my breakfast as usual, I could finally relax a bit. My dad had made waffles, which turned out surprisingly good for once. Both of my parents sat at the table, with their Pokémon spred all over the house and yard.

"Good morning, Bumblebee." Dad said, quietly, trying not to interrupt mom's almost meditative focus on her food.

I gave him a small smile. "Morning dad. How's your team settling in?"

"Oh, you know them. Huey, Dewey, and Louie are probably sulking somewhere, but Ursula is happy enough. I think Tempo and Tomb are in the backyard, so be careful, okay, Bumblebee?"

Hughes, or Huey, was dad's Kantonian Meowth and the oldest of the trio. He was also the sneakiest of them, who liked to get into the cupboard and steal the bags of Pokémon. Dewdrop, or Dewey, was the Alolan variant, who loved to play in the water. She was also the only other girl, minus his starter. Ludwig, or just Louie, was the Galarian variation, named for his love of music, made up the final of the trio. Tempo, a Galarian Slowbro, had gotten his name because he used to screw up the pace of any battle he was around. Not that it stopped him from being one of dads favorite Pokémon. Finally, the last member of his team, Tomb, was a Runerigus, who he, as you could guess, found in a tomb he was visiting with a colleague.

As for Ursula, well, that was what he named his starter all those years ago.

A word about my parents really quickly. My dad was named Ethan Winslow, and he was a giant nerd. He had a trio of Meowth that followed him everywhere, from Kanto, Alola, and Galar, along with his starter, a Cursola that spent most of her time napping in whatever room he was in. He was very interested in regional variations, and could talk for hours about the genetic differences and development of Pokémon. He worked different short term jobs that had him traveling for eight months out of the year, but he loved it. He was also really tall, wore large, rounded glasses, had short teal hair like mine, and silver eyes.

My mom, Victoria, on the other hand, was, in a word, stunning. Her short, pixie styled royal purple hair was always in place, and her gorgeous lavender eyes were able to pierce the hearts of anyone watching. She was a psychic trainer, and had been a contest winner dozens of times over, in several different regions. She was short, petite, and looked to be about twenty one, despite her age being closer to double that. Her own starter had been a Ralts, once upon a time, but was now a formidable Gardevoir. All of her team were psychics, since she herself bonded well with them. She called herself a psychic, even though I knew she was a mild empath at best.

She was also the reason we'd left Spikemuth. Originally, she liked the charming darkness of the place, liked living in the last place people would look for her, but not anymore. Now, she was retired and wanted to teach yoga of all things. Apparently, the energies told her that Cabo Poco was where she truly belonged in the next phase of her life.

I had been an only child the first decade of my life. I wasn't sure who had been more shocked by the birth of my twin brothers, me or my parents. Now, almost two years later, Edgar and Elliot were trouble makers. Apparently, all little kids were.

They were identical, with dads silvery eyes and moms royal purple hair. Both of them needed glasses, but hardly ever kept them on. The twin terrors spent their days hunting and stalking the Pokémon of the house. While my parent's teams might put up with it, Zag had to stay away. Just in case he got a little rough with them.

Personally, I thought my parents worried too much, but that was the rule, so I listened.

We finished up our late breakfast in silence, while the boys played in their playpen. As soon as we were done, Zag and I were out the door, ready to spend some time burning off some energy. I knew to stay close, since the teacher would probably be here soon, but the playtime was very appreciated by Zag.

All too soon, I heard my name being yelled, and reluctantly headed inside. The man was tall, though shorter than my dad, with white hair styled in neatly, while his facial hair was styled into a short beard on his chin. He wore a violet colored coat, with white slacks, and a white belt. His dark purple eyes were half hidden behind thick white glasses.

My eyes, which were a dark, stormy grey, widened as I recognized the man from the UVA website. This was director Clavell, a champion ranked trainer and the newest headmaster of UVA, who had only been there for a year or so, but had already been whipping the school into shape.

The older man caught my eye and inclined his head towards me. "Miss Beatrice Winslow, I presume?"

I nodded, before biting my lip slightly. No one except my parents called me Beatrice. My friends and neighbors always called me Trix or Trixie, but I was a trainer now, and part of that meant using my proper name. Even if I didn't really like it. "Nice to meet you, director. Thank you for coming."

"You should have received the paperwork yesterday, unfortunately, I was caught up in a few meetings, but, no matter. Your parents just need to sign a few more documents, and you, young miss, will be ready to go." He said, pointing towards the briefcase on the table. He flicked it open with a practiced move, before handing the pages over to my dad, along with a pen. "While your parents are going over that, why don't you come with me, I have a present for you, to celebrate your enrollment."

I glanced at Zag, unsure for a moment, before I led us towards the front door. Once we were outside, Zag sprinted away in his usual zig-zag run. I wasn't worried though, I knew he wouldn't go far.

"Is that your Pokémon?" Director Clavell asked, tone more of a fake conversational interest than a desire to know.

I nodded. "His name is Zagovory. He shouldn't be a problem though."

The man gave me a fake smile. "I've never met a Zigzagoon that isn't a problem, but I do hope you are correct. Now, miss Winslow, as a tradition for Uva, we give our students one of three Pokémon, should they want them, as a congratulations for enrolling. I know you are new to Paldea, but have you heard of Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly?"

Thankfully I had actually. Sprigatito was a small cat like, grass type Pokémon. Quaxly was a water type, duckling, and Fuecoco...

My mind went blank. It was a fire type, I knew that for sure, but I couldn't remember much more. "I remember reading about the grass and water types, but I don't remember much about the fire one." I admitted sheepishly.

The man closed his eyes for a moment, as if praying to Arceus, before he simply pulled three Pokéballs from his belt and released them. I recognized the blue duckling and the green kitten immediately, but the other one...

I pulled out my phone, and scanned it.

Fuecoco is a bipedal crocodilian Pokémon with a mostly red body and a white stomach and face. Its body contains a small flame sac, which constantly leaks fire energy due to its size. The energy releases in the form of two yellow tufts on top of its head; should Fuecoco get excited, more tufts of flame may emerge. Fuecoco is known by their black eyes and triangular nostrils, and its mouth has three teeth, with one in the upper jaw and two in the lower jaw. It has stubby arms and large feet with two black toes on each foot. Fuecoco has yellow square scales on its stomach, back, tail, and the soles of its feet. These scales are warm to the touch, although they can become heated. The scales absorb external heat, such as from warm rocks where it lies on, to be turned into fire energy.

Huh, cool. "I get to pick one?"

"Usually, they are a test to new trainers, as approximately three quarters of our students have one of the three. Typically, since we work with trainers working on getting their licenses, our students do not have a Pokémon at the start of their enrollment, so we offer them one. You do not have to take one, if you don't want to, of course, but we highly recommend it, since they are all useful to those who wish to go down the path of the trainer."

I glanced at the other two for a moment, I could see the potential they held. All three would end up as dual typed Pokémon, and all of them would be amazing for younger trainers.

A part of me didn't want to. The part of me that wanted nothing more than to have walked across the field with Marnie said to stick to Pokémon that a Galarian trainer could find. And I could. There were tones of Pokémon that were in both places, so it wouldn't be difficult to build a Galarian team.

But...

"Do I have to decide right now?" I asked quietly.

Director Clavell hummed for a moment. "Do you see that house over there?" He asked, seemingly randomly. "I have to visit there next. If you would like, you can go grab your bag, and walk over with them."

I bit my lip slightly. "I.. yeah, I think that would be a good idea. I don't want to make a rash decision that could hurt them, Zag, and my future team as a whole."

Clavell looked at me, approvingly. "Yes, well, do not forget that the journey is different for everyone, miss Winslow, but it is always more fun with good friends. And, I may be a bit biased here, but all three of these little ones would make excellent friends."

I ducked my head slightly, and headed back to my temporary room. Maybe this wasn't the journey I had planned on having, but who said not having a plan was a bad thing?