The Aspertia Gym stadium was a hub of nervous energy, full anxious conversations between the prospective trainers as they waited for Clyde, the Gym Leader, to make an appearance. Every teenager in the city was present to contribute to the noise, as was mandatory. We were seated by age and gender; youngest in the front, oldest in the back, with the girls on the left side, and the boys on the right. At fifteen years of age, I was seated near the back of the girls' section. All of the parents had to wait outside, which always created a huge crowd that took up the entire street. They were only able to see what was happening inside by virtue of the instant replay on the large screen set up in front of the Gym.
At the thought of my mother, who was watching that very screen with no idea what I was planning, I felt a momentary twinge of worry. It was quickly overwhelmed, however, by the thought that the Reaping would be starting soon. My stomach was writhing uncomfortably, warring between feelings of nervousness and impatience. Fortunately, the wait didn't last much longer, because at exactly one o'clock, Clyde came out to stand behind the podium that has been set up for the occasion. The crowd teenagers stayed in an uproar until Clyde lifted his fingers to his mouth and let out an ear piercing whistle. The noise quickly settled down to sparse whispers, followed by complete silence.
"Let's get this show on the road," the Gym Leader said in a gruff voice that was magnified by a microphone. Our Gym Leader was the strong but silent kind of man, who was always straight to the point when he decided to speak. In his old age, he'd only grown more blunt with his words than I remember in the past. Back then, I had been a little girl watching the screen outside with wide eyes alongside my parents, as my older sister waited fearfully within the Gym stadium.
"This year, only six of you will be chosen to become pokemon trainers." There was a brief smattering of relieved whispers throughout the room. "Training pokemon is not an easy task. There is a good chance that anyone who is chosen – or chooses for themselves – ," he added as an afterthought, "to become a trainer on this day will most likely die young. However, every trainer is of vital importance to the protection of this city, and we expect those of you who are chosen to do your best to honor that responsibility, regardless of the circumstances that lead you become a trainer." I rubbed surreptitiously at the goosebumps that had risen on my arms."That being said," Clyde concluded, "are there any volunteers?"
That was it; the moment I'd been waiting for. My hand trembled slightly as I lifted it into the air, and the stares of everyone in the room were drawn to me as I stood up. Hushed conversations sprung up throughout the crowd, and Clyde's eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise before he motioned me up to the stage. It had been a good few years since anybody had volunteered during a Reaping. The other girls in my row all cringed away from me like I was diseased as I squeezed by them. By the time I'd made my way up to the podium, I'd managed to gain a certain amount of control over my shaking, firming myself in my decision. Once I climbed up the stairs to the stage, Clyde placed a firm grip on my shoulder, looking at me piercingly with his dark eyes as he asked for my name and age. There was a strange twist to his lips as he turned to repeat my information into the microphone.
"Dahlia Moore, age fifteen," rung out into the absolute silence. "Are there anymore volunteers?" You could hear a pin drop in the quiet. No one moved as much as an inch, so unwilling were they to draw attention to themselves. I stood as still as possible in my place slightly to the right of the podium, unwilling to draw more attention to myself by fidgeting. "No?" the Gym Leader queried, giving it another moment. "On with the Reaping then." Clyde reached into the big glass bowl for the first draw.
"Sandra Gregorio, age fourteen." A tall girl with sun-streaked brown hair shakily stood, then walked slowly up to the stage. Her face, which looked like it was normally tan, was pale. Once she reached the stage, she stood to my right with her head down and her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
"Joseph Rogers, age sixteen." Joseph was lean boy with messy dark blond hair who bore a grim expression on his face as he took his place to the left of the podium, opposite me. He was dressed in ripped jeans and a well-worn black t-shirt. I vaguely recognized him as being from the class one year above in my school.
"Damon Whitfield, age fifteen." I knew Damon as the heartthrob of my age group due to his supposed bad boy attitude and good looks. I had overheard countless conversations between the girls in my class on the topic. He was fairly tall, with dark hair and slate gray eyes. He frowned forbiddingly at the crowd when he took his spot next to Joseph, his hands shoved firmly in the pockets of his jeans.
"Zachary Travis, age twelve." The kid who rose to his feet next was tall - especially for his age - and skinny. His hair was light brown hair and shaggy. On his way up to the stage, he tripped and almost fell, only catching himself at the last minute. His jeans were noticeably high-waters, and his white tennis shoes were scuffed. In all, he looked pretty awkward and uncomfortable throughout the the whole process. He came to a stop at Sandra's right.
"Geoffrey Crawford, age thirteen." Geoffrey had the most negative reaction so far, turning deathly pale upon hearing his name called. He remained frozen in his seat, and seemed to be hyperventilating. Despite the urging his nearby year-mates, he refused to move. Just as it looked like the observing trainers were about to step in, a voice rang out, and all eyes turned toward the back of the auditorium.
"I volunteer," the young woman shouted once more, with slightly less volume. "I'll take his place." She walked shakily up to the front and engaged in a whispered conversation with Clyde after clamoring onto the stage, standing to the far left. Her riotously curly hair was the same shade of flaming red as Geoffrey's, though she lacked the abundance of freckles that her brother was in possession of.
"Linda Crawford, age sixteen." Clyde stated solemnly, and if it weren't for the microphone his voice would have been inaudible to the audience. His eyes, so dark that they appeared black, were shadowed as he stared one last time at my former peers. "...The rest of you are dismissed."
As one, everyone who's name hadn't been drawn began to chatter loudly in relief as they streamed out of the Gym, eager to get away from fear and uncertainty of it all. The sudden loudness was a shock to the system after the fearful quiet that had been upheld during the Reaping. After several minutes, the Gym was empty except for myself, the other new trainers, and Clyde. The next part was something I had been quietly dreading, when the parents of those chosen to become the newest pokemon trainers were allowed to enter the Gym in order to say came through the doors in a slow trickle, having to fight their way through the crowd to get in.
A woman who looked a lot like the first girl who'd been Reaped, Sandra, and a dark haired man entered together, her mother and father by the way the woman embraced her immediately. The mother and daughter were both crying, while the man gripped her shoulders tightly from behind. A tall, red haired man and a woman with curly blond hair appeared, to have a quiet, serious conversation with Linda Crawford. Zachary Travis' mother was a tall, thin woman wearing a business suit who was frowning as she spoke to him.
My mom filed in as well a few minutes later, looking pale and drawn. My dad was working the fields today, and wouldn't hear about this until later. I don't think I'd ever been more nervous as I watched my mom slowly walk across the stadium to me. She stopped about a foot in front of me and looked me in the eyes, her chocolate colored eyes gazing straight into my own similarly colored ones. Then, abruptly, she reached out and pulled me into a hug so tight, I was briefly afraid that my ribs would crack. Like my father, she worked in the fields, and the years of manual labor had made her quite strong for a woman of her short stature. My eyes burned painfully as I fought against tears, inhaling her comforting scent as I leaned down to hug her back. Though I knew she loved me, a small part of me had worried that she might want wipe her hands of me. I knew that there were families that did just that if their children were chosen as trainers, too fearful of their association with pokemon. Especially since I'd actually chosen this for myself. We remained in our position for several minutes without speaking, until finally, she loosened her grip and stepped back, though she kept her hands on my arms.
"Be careful," was the first thing she said, her voice raspy and her eyes bright with unshed tears. "And make sure to call the house when you can. Your father and Beck will want to speak with you." With that, she left a lingering kiss on my forehead just before she and the other parents were ushered out. My dad hadn't been able to afford to take a day off from his work, and my younger brother, Beck, was paralyzed from the waist down, and had never accompanied us to a Reaping. Our older sister Thea usually watches him on Reaping Days, when our parents can't. Thea, who is ten years older than me, had recently gotten married, and had been slowly drifting away from us since she moved to District 3. Her new home was an upper-middle class district, and her new husband, Rodney, was an up and coming architect. We had all been delighted to see her when she'd arrived that morning to look after Beck. I'd given her an extra tight hug before leaving this morning because I worried that it would be the last time I ever saw her. She was deathly afraid of anything pertaining to pokemon, and would likely never speak to me again due to the decision I'd made. I watched my mother until she vanished through the doors, and after all of the parents had been successfully ushered out, Clyde whistled once more to get our attention.
"Walk and listen, kids," he barked, leading us out the doors of the Gym at brisk pace. "This week will be used for learning whatever you think you need to know about pokemon before your Trial. No one is going to babysit you, and whatever you learn is entirely up to you. Once the week is up, you will go out in the wilderness to complete your Trial, and your Trial will only be finished once you return alive with a pokemon, or die outside the walls. Upon the completion of your Trial, you will automatically become what is known as an E class trainer, which is the lowest possible trainer rank. As an E class trainer, you will only be allowed one pokemon on your team. Once you pass the rank test to reach D class, you will gain one more pokemon slot on your team. Each rank you reach after that will gain you two more spots for pokemon on your team, and the ranks go as follows: E rank, D rank, C rank, B rank, A rank, and S rank. S class trainers, who have reached the highest achievable rank, are allowed to carry up to ten pokemon at one time. If you ever catch more pokemon than you have space for on your team, that pokemon will be placed in stasis. You can only have two pokemon in stasis at any given time; this will remain true for the entirety of your career as a trainer."
While the Gym Leader continued with his flood of information, I kept an ear on him while also taking the time to observe my fellow trainers. The red headed girl and the tall kid, Zachary, both seemed subdued, but were listening intently nonetheless. The other girl, Sandra looked to be in shock though, staring blankly into the air in front of her. Damon was scowling darkly at the ground as he walked, while Joseph, the messy, blond haired boy from the year above me in school, appeared to be drinking in our surroundings. Which was understandable given that this was our first time seeing District 13 beyond the Gym. It would also be our home district from this day forward, I thought with a slight pang of homesickness.
p"You will be allowed to stay in rooms at the Pokemon Center free of charge for six months, with two free meals a day for your first two weeks, and one free meal a day after those two weeks are up. After your six months are up, you'll have to find your own living space. Feel free to ask any of the more experienced trainers any questions you have. Some of them might give you good advise." We stopped at a building with a red roof that was several blocks away from the Gym. It was around the same size of the Gym, with vague, stylized image of a pokeball above the automatic door. Clyde proceeded to lead us inside, where we ended up in a spacious lobby. "Welcome to the Pokemon Center. Directly in front of you is the pokemon hospital. At the front desk, you will usually find one of the Nurse Joys."Clyde gestured toward a woman with distinctive pink hair that was tied back in two loops. She smiled warmly and waved when she saw us looking.
"To your right is the Center Pokemart," Clyde pointed, drawing our attention again, "which only sells basic supplies: your regular pokeballs, potions, repels, antidotes, and what not. On your left is the lounge, an area for trainers to hang out and relax. At the end of the hallway next to the lounge is the cafeteria. The doorways in to the left and right of the hallway lead to the library and computer room respectively. Your rooms are upstairs, along with the communal showers and bathrooms. E class trainers aren't allowed to go out on jobs, but once you make the jump to being D class trainers, you will be able to take missions appropriate for your rank. You can find missions either in the online database or posted in the lounge." The Gym Leader, paused looking each of us in the eyes. "Nurse Joy will give you your room assignments. She will also be giving you a starter manual. I expect each of you to meet me here at eight sharp tomorrow morning." With that, he was out the door before any of us even realized he had moved.
There was a long moment of awkward silence as we all stared blankly at one another. It was Damon who made the first move. He rolled his eyes with a huff and slouched off in the direction of the front desk, and the rest of us quickly followed in suit.
"Hello," Nurse Joy welcomed, walking out from behind the desk with six keys in her hand. "Ladies first," she handed numbered keys out; number two to Linda, three to me, and five to Sandra. Rooms seven, eight, and nine went to Joseph, Damon, and Zachary. "Girls will be on the hall to the left, boys on the right," she explained. She then started handing out booklets to everyone. "These manuals basically just expand on what Gym Leader Clyde has already told you, though I'm sure there are some things he didn't get to. It's definitely worth a read." She clasped her hands together with a slight bow. "With that said, I wish you all the best of luck. If you have any questions, I am always willing to answer them, and my fellow Nurse Joy feels the same. Good night," she said with one last smile, before returning to her post.
While I stood awkwardly, unsure what to do, Linda tugged Sandra off to the side, where she spoke to her for several minutes, trying to draw her out of her shell-shocked state. Soon enough they headed up the stairs, presumably to find their rooms. Damon and Joseph exchanged speculative looks, then simultaneously headed toward the the lounge, where an old movie was playing on the TV. Zachary, the youngest of us, stood awkwardly by himself for several moments before heading down the hall. I followed him, thinking about trying to talk to him, but when he continued on to the cafeteria, my eye was caught by the library. Upon stepping inside, I found rows upon rows of towering book shelves. There were also tables and chairs placed strategically throughout. As I browsed through the numerous shelves, I was pleased to find a very broad selection of books, ranging from fiction, to geography, technology, and beyond. The largest section was, of course, dedicated to books about pokemon.
It was late in the evening by the time I decided to settle down in my room, planning to read through my manual. No sooner had I climbed into my new bed, however, than I started to feel drowsy, and I quickly found myself succumbing to sleep.