Juniper's Assignment

When she got outside, she leaned against the door and exhaled heavily. Great. If I'm not a trainer, then what am I? And now Lara's totally mad at me. Damn it. She made her way to the bike rack and wrestled out her bike.

Miya gripped Milo's poke ball, fastened to her belt. "Well, come on out!" she said in a huff, and with a flash Milo was flapping around on the hot sidewalk. Milo protested. What was Miya trying to do, roast him?

"Oh, sorry, wasn't thinking," said Miya, and she picked him up and put him in her bike basket. "Better?" she asked, smiling at Milo. Milo batted the basket with his scaly flippers happily. Much better, thanks. "Well... let's go see Professor Juniper, I suppose," she said, and hopped on her bike. With a kick to the kickstand, she pedaled out of the courtyard towards the bridge to nearby Nuvema Town and the professor's lab.

She talked to Milo along the way heatedly, debating with herself on what she should do. "Professor Juniper better tell me what the hell is going on. I mean, come on, Milo, I signed up to be a trainer! Not... ugh, I don't even know."

After about half an hour, Miya reached Nuvema Town in the mainland - her old home. She breezed past her old haunts: the downtown where she spent much of her meager allowance as a child, and the floating docks where she spent much of her time catching water pokémon in nets while waiting for her father's boat to come in, and some of her old friends' and classmates' houses. Finally she reached the gate to the professor's lab. The gate lifted and she pedaled in. She parked her bike in the front circle and buzzed in.

Professor Juniper's stout assistant greeted Miya at the door and invited her in. "Here to see Professor Juniper? She will be with you in just a moment. Have a seat." He shuffled down a hallway out of sight, leaving Miya to peruse Professor Juniper's various pokémon periodicals sorted neatly on a table.

A few minutes later, Miya heard the clicking of high heels coming down the hall. She shut the magazine and stood up eagerly. When she saw Miya, Professor Juniper smiled warmly. "Hello, Miya! I guess you saw the trainer sheet, huh?"

"Well... uh, yeah."

Professor Juniper patted Miya on the shoulder. "Hm... how do I put this? Well, you won't be getting your trainer license this year, that's it."

"I know that. Principal Kenta told me," Miya said dully.

Professor Juniper laughed kindheartedly. "Oh, Miya, don't worry about that! You have plenty of tries for your trainer license! And if you try next year, you won't have to write a paper about it!"

"I know..." mumbled Miya. "But if I'm not a trainer, then why does the sheet say I get to go with Jiro?"

"Ohhh... I might have pulled a couple of strings for you..." Professor Juniper chortled.

Miya looked up, shocked. "What? But why? How?"

"I decided to stick up for you. Since you're an intern here, I've decided to send you off to help me with my research. I know how much you wanted to go on a journey. This way, you can still go. You aren't licensed to earn badges or anything, but under my provisions you can still possess pokémon for whatever research you do and travel Unova together."

Miya felt like she'd been washed over by a tidal wave. Feeling a combination of overwhelming gratitude, joy, hope, and twinges of guilt and embarrassment, she didn't know what to say so she stood there, gaping. Not voicing a single one of her thoughts, the only thing that left Miya's mouth was, "uhhhh..."

Professor Juniper adjusted her hair absently. "Soooo... pretty much all you have to do is answer a few questions for me, report back everything you find- and I've also got to have you write a few extra papers. Sorry about that."

Finding her voice again, Miya croaked, "It beats sitting in school all day."

Juniper gave a small laugh. "It certainly does. And you get to bring Milo. The thing is, though, I really do need you to do some research for me. You're partnered with Jiro Takata, right?"

Miya nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay. Interesting circumstances, huh? Anyway. Talk to him, and see how he feels about leaving early."

"Sure, no problem. Why do you want us to go early?"

"Well, I'll have to get special permission from your school to start early. We've got to jump on this research! The origins of Pokémon won't reveal themselves, will they? Hopefully we'll be able to uncover more than just myths and legends." Her eyes brightened and she seemed to be gazing off at something in the distance. "And this summer, my friend Fennel, who studies pokémon dreams, is finally coming home for about a week. Well, to her home, I mean, in Striaton City. And she says she might have a few clues about how pokémon see their creation. I'd love to go talk to her, but I've got several important meetings that week and I probably won't be able to see what she has to show me..." Professor Juniper trailed off slightly dramatically.

"So you want me to go talk to Fennel?"

"If you don't mind. Consider it a head start!"

Miya grinned. "Okay, Professor Juniper. Look, I really appreciate all your help. Without you, I wouldn't be going on this, I wouldn't have met Milo, I'd be... very pokémon-less," she finished lamely. "So thanks."

Juniper smiled softly. "Ah, Miya. You're so welcome. I was just like you as a kid, always wanting to be close to pokémon. Helping kids like you, it's my pleasure."

Miya nodded. "Well, I guess I should go talk to Jiro." She took a few steps back.

"Yep, and I'll pass the leaving early part past your principal. I'll see you later, Miya,"

"Yeah, by- no, wait. What's in this envelope?" She waved the envelope the principal gave her.

"Just a few forms. And a letter explaining your predicament, I mean, your assignment," the professor joked.

Miya snorted. "Okay. Thanks again!"

"Come back with a yes, okay?" Juniper called, waving.