Alice ended up not getting much sleep, unsurprisingly. She ended up awake most of the night, ears strained for people walking towards her tent. Houndour, on the other hand, slept soundly and (surprisingly) quietly, curling up in a ball in the corner of the tent. Alice had felt a bit weird about sharing a tent with her new pokemon, but the dark type had been well behaved so far. Now if only the pokemon would actually listen to her orders.

Now, Alice found herself nearing Jubilife City. She had been there plenty of times with Jack, due to it being the nearest city from the Joy mansion, but arriving there on foot as opposed to Noah teleporting her there felt a lot different. While Noah would have probably had no problem with it, Alice had wanted to go by foot on her own. After all, if she couldn't handle traveling to a familiar city nearby in a relatively safe area, was she really ready to become a trainer? If she could pull it off, it would certainly prove a certain mother of hers wrong.

Nearing the city entrance, Alice saw a bunch of kids loitering close by. Some appeared to be just chatting with each other, while others seemed to be battling, using space near the road for their pokemon to fight. They were trainers and, as it began to finally hit her, so was she.

Alice looked down at the pokemon at her side. The Houndour was looking in the same direction she was, watching the pokemon battles going on with caution in its posture. While technically under her name, Alice still couldn't bring herself to refer to the Houndour as hers. She hadn't trained it, and the proud dog wouldn't even listen to her orders. The other pokemon she had, the Starly, she had just caught yesterday. She didn't feel comfortable letting it out of its ball until Houndour would listen to her, or until she met up with Jack.

So overall, Alice was a pretty pathetic excuse so far, and she'd be damned before she let any of the other trainers see that, especially the ones younger than her.

Alice picked up her pace, keeping her head down. The Houndour looked at her curiously, but sped up its pace to match her.

Alice had almost reached the steps that led into the city when she heard a shrill voice that seemed to grate her eardrums. "Hey! You there!"

Alice's heart sank. So close. She sighed, and turned to face the voice.

A few meters away, a boy who couldn't be older than 12 was running toward her. His lightly tanned face had small beads of sweat running down it, and Alice could almost see the excitement burning in his eyes.

"Yeah you! You're a trainer aren't you?"

"N-not really" Alice muttered, looking away. She could already tell this was the exact type of kid she didn't want knowing about her pathetic trainer skills.

"What's that mean? You obviously have to be some kind of trainer if you can get a dark type to listen to you!"

If only you knew, Alice thought, looking at the pokemon by her feet. Noticing her stare, the Houndour snorted a plume of smoke at her feet, and then continued to stare down the boy.

"Anyway, how about a battle?" The boy took a quick glance behind him before turning back to her. "C'mon, it'll be fun!"

Alice looked past the boy. In the distance, several kids his age were watching the two of them. Oh, he wants something to boast to his friends about. If he can beat an older trainer it'll impress all his friends.

Embers of anger began to simmer as Alice turned back to the boy. "I'm not interested, okay?"

"What, you scared?" The boy grinned. "Afraid of losing to a kid?"

"Of course not." Exactly.

"Sammy!" One of the kids watching in the distance called out to the boy. "Quit bothering people who obviously aren't interested!"

The boy, apparently named Sammy, huffed, and ran over to his friends, not even giving Alice a parting glance (thankfully). Breathing a sigh of relief, Alice finally began to make way into the city.

Jubilife City was as busy and bustling as always. Crowds of people and the occasional pokemon walked around one another, trying to reach their destinations. Billboards advertising various products loomed overhead. Windows displays with fashionable clothing littered storefronts.

The Houndour kept itself close to her leg, watching the crowds of people in awe.

"Excuse me, miss?" A voice jolted Alice from her absent-mindedness. Seemingly out of nowhere, a middle aged balding police officer stepped in front of her. His beady eyes were flickering between her and the pokemon by her leg. "Are you a licensed trainer?"

Alice's mind drew a blank. "Um, I'm not sure. I think?"

The policeman's brow wrinkled. "Can I see your ID?"

Alice felt herself slowly begin to panic as she reached inside her travel pack for her pokedex. The policeman's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the expensive device, but he still carefully read over the information on the screen.

"Miss, it seems that your license is still pending. You can go to the nearest pokemon center to complete the process". The officer's eyes slid to the Houndour at her side, the dog staring at the officer in return. "Though I will have to ask you to return your pokemon to its pokeball while you are within city limits. You're required to have at least one gym badge in order to have a fire type out of its ball in the city."

"O-oh, right, sorry." Alice had completely forgotten about the rules on pokemon within cities. While the Houndour didn't listen to her orders, the dark/fire type had been well behaved on her way to the city, never straying too far away. The dog wasn't overly aggressive or excitable, simply content in watching its surroundings. The discipline in that regard might have been due to Jack's foundation. Though now that she thought about it, strolling around with a dangerous fire type that wouldn't listen to her sounded pretty bad.

As she took out the pokeball, the Houndour gave her a glare of betrayal that seemed to say "don't you dare." Alice gave the pokemon an apologetic smile as she returned it to its pokeball. Hope that didn't set things back between us.

Seeing the pokemon return to its ball, the officer nodded. "Good. One last question. Did you happen to see anyone suspicious recently, whether it be inside or outside the city?"

Plenty. "What do you mean by suspicious?"

"Odd people loitering around in groups, pokemon that looked out of place in the area. Anything along those lines?"

Alice had definitely seen a suspicious group, but she'd be damned if she was going to get wrapped up in some dangerous shit. The last thing she wanted was to have someone coming after her for selling their friends. "Nope. Things have been… normal. Normal as can be. Yep."

The officer eyed her for a moment before nodding. "Good. And if you do happen to eye anyone suspicious please notify the Jubilife Police department."

The policeman turned and lumbered off, and Alice let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Hopefully that's the end of that.

Alice finally entered the Jubilife Pokemon Center, the place she was supposed to meet Jack. As the doors to the center opened. Alice was hit with the nostalgic smell of medicine and berries. Jubilife Pokemon Center was one she had been to many times in the past. She had even done an internship at the "encouragement" of her mother.

Wait… shit that's right! Alice immediately kept her head down, walking at a brisk pace to the waiting area. Amanda knows Mother! If she sees me here it's only a matter of time before I'm in deep shit!

Amanda was the a nurse at Jubilife Pokemon Center, a distant cousin, and a friend of her mother. Additionally, she was a huge gossip. Alice had learned a lot more than she wanted to about the other staff from loud conversations.

It'd be one thing if she were just meeting up with Jack, but she had to get her trainer license too. If Amanda learned about that, she'd definitely get curious and ask her mother, who obviously had no idea about it.

Well she won't be at the counter forever. While Amanda usually worked the front desk, her shift usually ended sometime in the evening. Looking at the clock in the waiting area, it was almost noon. So, just wait in the corner of this small waiting room for Jack and pray she doesn't notice the weirdo that's been sitting in the same spot for hours. Gee, what could go wrong.

In anycase, she had to let Jack know before she got here. Pulling up her hood in hopes of hiding her pink hair, Alice shifted her posture away from the front desk and pulled out her phone. Please don't hear me. Please don't hear me. Jack's number was dialed, and Alice slowly held it up to her ear.

Her friend's all-too casual voice echoed from the other line. "Hey, I'm almost there! Sorry I'm late-"

"Jack, there's an… issue that came up."

"What? What's wrong? Did your mother find out?"

"No, nothing like that so far," Alice whispered. "But it might not stay that way for long."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember Amanda? My cousin? The one who worked at Jubilife City?"

"I think so. She was the one who talked a lot, right- Oh I get it now."

"Yeah," Alice hissed into the phone. "We can't meet up here."

"No problem, let's just meet somewhere else-"

"But I have to apply at the Pokemon Center to get my license, right?"

"Shit, you're right. That's is an issue," Alice could almost see Jack tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, I guess we'll just have to delay that for Oreburgh."

"I mean, I thought we could just wait until the evening. She shouldn't be at the front desk forever."

"Good thinking! Alright, wait for me… near the Trainer School!"

The Trainer School? Great, more kids to deal with. "Alright. I'll see you there. You're in the city, right?"

"I'm right outside the city. I'll be there soon, ok sweetie~?"

"I'm not a sweetie," Alice huffed. "But ok, I'll see you soon." She hung up and took a breath. Alright, that was one step. Now to get out of here without Amanda noticing. Trying not draw attention, Alice slowly stood up and began to walk towards the door. Her legs felt like the dead themselves were clinging to them, taunting her, daring her to mess up. The distance to the center door seemed to take an eternity, and when Alice finally reached the automatic doors, she felt her soul jump out of her chest.

The same bald police officer that had stopped her was strolling into the center, a stern expression painted onto his face. Noticing her jump, the officer's hard eyes immediately focused on her, but softened slightly upon recognizing who she was.

"Good day miss, I'm glad to see you followed my advice."

"Y-yeah.."

"I just got a report about a suspicious-looking individual at the Pokemon Center waiting area. Did you happen to notice anything?"

Alice could feel the heat rising off of her face. "N-no. Sorry, I'm running late. Bye!"

Before he could get in another word, Alice walked briskly past him and out the center, leaving the officer with a befuddled expression on his face.

The Trainer School wasn't that far from the center. Straight ahead from the center, a few blocks away, Jubilife Trainer School stood, the building remarkably small compared to the tall architecture around it.

Alice sat on a large fountain nearby, the noise of the water echoing behind her.

"Well, well, look who it is. Miss new trainer herself here to take her first steps to becoming the champion." Alice couldn't help but crack a smile at that all too familiar voice.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Alice turned to face her best friend. "I don't know if I'm going to continue this trainer business anyway."

Jack hadn't changed much since Alice had last seen her. Her once pale, freckle covered skin now had a slight tan. She still wore the same black leather jacket that contrasted well with her fiery orange hair, though it had a lot more rips and tears than Alice remembered. She wore a large black backpack, and Alice could see various trainer tools hanging on the sides. She wore a pair of jeans that seemed brand new, yet still had a couple of tears, though they seemed more intended for fashion rather than natural wear and tear. However, what caught Alice's eye the most were the several ultra balls hanging from her belt. It was that moment that it really hit Alice how far Jack had come. She had known her friend was an accomplished trainer, but seeing her friend in-person, pokeballs and all, really made it hit home. And in the end, what did Alice accomplish compared to that?

"What, I don't look that bad, do I?" Jack's quip shook Alice out of her thoughts.

"You look as horrendous as always," Alice joked back, walking up to her friend. "I thought I was looking at a pokemon for a second."

The two friends stared at each other for a moment, before bursting out laughing, Jack almost knocking Alice over giving her a hug. "I really missed you. I've visited so many cool places, and now I can finally show you them!"

That's right. Alice was a trainer now too. She had the chance to achieve things too. Alice tightly hugged her friend back. "I missed you too."

"So, welcome to Jubilife Trainer School!" Jack stood in front of the trainer school with her arms outstretched and a grin on her face. Kids passing nearby gave her odd looks, and Alice groaned and looked away.

Jack, unfazed as always, continued her speech, turning around to admire the building. "When it comes to learning the basics, this place is probably your best bet. I mean, I haven't really tried anywhere else, but all I hear are good things about it, and it worked for me so I'm pretty sure it'll work out for you!"

But I'm not you, Alice thought, the words almost spilling out of her mouth. But she simply bit her lip and nodded at her friend's words.

"I've already signed you up, so things should go pretty smoothly once we go inside."

Alice was about to mindlessly nod but something about what Jack said threw her off. "Wait, what? You signed me up without my knowledge? How?"

Jack shrugged. "Top trainer authority I guess. Besides, it's not like it costs either of us anything, so relax."

Alice wasn't quite satisfied with that, but before she could say anything else, Jack grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the school.

The trainer school itself wasn't as impressive as Alice thought it would be. Past the reception desk, the first room in the school was a large indoor field. There was apparently a battle going on already, with two kids battling one another with a stern looking man in a suit serving as the referee. While it was pretty spacious, Alice couldn't help but note that the gym in her family's mansion was bigger. The second floor was a hall that was littered with classrooms. Most seemed to be empty at the moment, but a few seemed to have a class going on. In those, a handful of kids were listening to a teacher and the subject seemed to vary, from pokemon diets to health. The third floor seemed to be reserved for teachers, with a large lounge on one side and desks for paperwork. There were only two teachers in the room at the moment, a man doing paperwork and a woman relaxing near a coffee machine. Seeing the man, Jack smiled and walked towards him, still dragging Alice behind her. At this point Alice wasn't putting up any sort of resistance, simply trying to take in what she could before she was dragged somewhere else.

Jack stopped in front of the desk, Alice stumbling at the sudden stop in momentum. "Hey teach, I brought the friend I was telling you about!"

Slowly, the man looked up, his tired eyes reluctantly looking away from his paperwork. He seemed to be in his fifties, with slight wrinkles on his white skin; his black hair was neatly tied up in a ponytail.

"Hello Jack," the man said tiredly, slowly pushing his papers to the side. "Is it time already? I swear I had about an hour or two."

"Yep, we're a bit early! Things happened, and now we have some time to kill. So I thought I'd get her up to speed on trainer stuff."

The man's eyes turned to Alice, and she suddenly felt like she wanted to climb into a hole and hide. Was he judging her? Wondering why she had decided to start now? He turned back to Jack and sighed. "Give me a few minutes."

Jack smiled and turned around to look at Alice. "So? What do you think?"

"About what?" Alice mumbled.

"The school dummy! Pretty cool right? I spent about a month here before I got my trainer license. Of course, we won't spend nearly that long here, but I think this is a pretty good place for you to pick up the basics, maybe even make some rivals!"

Rivals? "You want me to battle people already?"

"Well, yeah! That's what makes a trainer, and the best way to learn is to try it! Of course, I don't expect you to win your first battles-"

"Jack, the Houndour you gave me doesn't even listen to orders, and the other pokemon I have tried to claw my eyes out! How the hell would I be able to battle?"

Jack gasped. "You have another pokemon already? Lemme see!"

"JACK!"

"Calm down, I heard you." Jack closed her eyes briefly in thought. "I'm surprised the little guy isn't listening though, he seemed to behave just fine when I introduced him to some newbies for a practice run…Does he try to run off or battle on his own?"

Alice shook her head. "No, it- he doesn't. He was pretty well behaved. Followed wherever I'd go with no issues. He just ignores me when I try to give him orders."

"You mean in battle?"

"Well, I mean, I haven't really done an actual battle yet-"

"Well this is a good opportunity to build trust between you two!" Jack grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry, I'll help you every step of the way."

Alice felt herself calm down a bit, though she still felt anxiety bubbling in her stomach. Behind Jack, there was a loud screech of a metal chair on the floor. The male teacher was standing in front of the desk, a few papers in his hand.

"Now, allow me to introduce myself, since I'm quite sure Jack hasn't bothered to." While Jack let out an annoyed huff, the teacher turned to Alice. "My name is Julian Lewis. I am one of the head instructors here at Jubilife Trainer School. You can refer to me as Mr. Lewis" He held out his hand. "And you?"

"Alice." She tentatively took his hand. She could feel slightly calluses on his fingers as Mr. Lewis firmly gripped his hand into her own.

"Now then," Mr. Lewis let go, and held out a bundle of papers in front of her. "Please take this exam."

Alice's mind went blank. "What?"

"All students are required to take an exam before starting. Don't worry about failing, it's simply to measure your knowledge so far"

Alice was hoping to be done with exams once she became a trainer, but it appeared that wasn't the case here. Jack noticed her friend's scowl and piped up. "Don't worry, this is the only test you'll have to take. Probably."

Alice sighed and took the papers. There was no point in prolonging the inevitable.

At first, the exam questions weren't that hard. 'What are fire types weak to, what does the move hypnosis do', simple things like that. However the further Alice went, the harder and more complex the questions got. 'What are five regulations in regards to pokemon being in cities? What are the governmental responsibilities of the champion?' By the end, Alice found herself being unable to fully answer questions, simply giving vague ideas of what the answer could be. She had thought that her time in the prestigious nursing school her mother had made her attend would help, but there seemed to be a lot of regulations regarding being a trainer that she had no knowledge of.

While Alice was taking the exam, Jack had left the room at some point, so now it was just her and Mr. Lewis, with the latter chipping away at one of the piles of paperwork on his desk.

Finally giving up on the last question, Alice put her pen down and stood up. Mr. Lewis slowly raised his head as Alice walked tiredly over to his desk, and held out the exam.

"Finished?" Alice nodded in response. Mr. Lewis took the exam and slowly looked over it, his expression unchanging as he skimmed through her answers. After what felt like an agonizing silence, he gave a small nod and rose from his seat.

"So, how'd I do?" Alice said. Despite being told the exam didn't matter, she still felt a bit anxious.

"Above average," Mr. Lewis stated simply, his tired eyes turning to her. "For a beginner, you do have a grasp on some concepts most starting trainers don't. However…"

"However?"

The instructor walked past her, waving for her to follow him. "This test isn't over yet."

Alice found herself being led by Mr.. Lewis back to the indoor battlefield. No one seemed to be battling at the moment, but Alice spotted Jack chatting with a few kids on the bleachers. On que, Jack seemed to notice them, and waved them over with a shining smile. The kids on the other hand, seemed to get a lot less cheerful when they realized who was accompanying Alice, their smiles slowly morphing into frowns.

"So, how'd she do Teach?" Jack asked when they made their way over, her foot tapping in excitement.

"Decently well," Mr. Lewis said, giving the kids a stern glance before turning to her. "Though from what I've heard, the second part of the test won't be as easy for her."

Alice felt her face heat up in embarrassment. He had been listening to her conversation with Jack. And based on where they were, she had a pretty good idea what the next part of the test would entail.

Mr. Lewis turned to the young kids. "Gina, Richard, Albert. I trust you have better places to be." The students scrambled over one another in their haste to escape their teacher. Seeing the kids run away, the teacher turned back to Alice. "I'm certain you've figured it out by now, but your next test is a battle."

Well shit. Alice turned to Jack. "Can't we just skip this? I think it's clear to everyone here I'm failing this part."

"Not so fast," Jack held up her finger. "Houndour aside, you have another pokemon you can use, right?"

"The Starly? Jack, I haven't even taken it out of its pokeball since I caught it. It's probably even less likely to listen to me."

"Newly caught pokemon are more willing than you think as long as you treat them nice" Jack grabbed Alice's hand and began pulling her down toward the field. "C'mon, let's get you acquainted! Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing bad happens in the worst case scenario."

And so, after a lot of prodding by Jack, Alice stood on a corner of the battlefield, pokeball in one hand, berry in the other, and a pit of anxiety forming her stomach. Jack stood nearby, a pokeball in her own hand just in case, but Alice couldn't help her body from shivering from the tension. Mr. Lewis stood on the opposite side of the field, patiently waiting for them to finish.

Calm down. Alice thought, closing her eyes as she pressed the button on the ball. Jack's here. It's fine. It'll be fine. Things will work out fine.

Still closing her eyes, Alice tossed the ball to the ground, flinching at the noise of the pokemon being released. There was a pause, and Alice slowly opened her eyes, her body tensed, ready to run at any flying claws.

Near her feet, the Starly sat calmly. Contrary to the aggression it showed when she caught it, the pokemon seemed to be relaxed, looking at her with what seemed to be…curiosity? Heart beating out of her chest, Alice slowly bent down and held out the berry. The Starly hopped towards her, eyeing the food. She could feel her hand tremble as the bird cautiously pecked at the food. It was actually working. The Starly wasn't clawing her eyes out. Alice gave a bewildered look at Jack, who smiled and slowly walked over.

"Like I said, caught pokemon tend to be chill, most of the time. How do you think young kids are able to tame them?I think something in the pokeball has to do with it, but I'm not sure. Ask the scientists about that kinda stuff." Jack grinned down at her. "Anyway, take out your pokedex. You're going to want to see what moves this little guy has."

Alice's heart fell. Right, the battle.

Next up, Alice's first battle! This chapter probably would have been out earlier if not for family medical issues. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!