"Tomorrow is Friday, and I'm nervous all over again," Julie told Alyssa while they sat on Julie's bed after school. They were mostly talking but getting some homework done as well. It was a perfect balance if you asked Alyssa.
"There's nothing to worry about. It'll be a straightforward discussion. Go along with it and act confident and casual. It worked well enough last time." Alyssa looked up from her phone that sat on her open textbook with Veela opened, scrolling past a video of Goldenrod's airport in progress and pausing the next of a massive, deadly chemical explosion that happened yesterday in Sinnoh's Hearthome at a factory by the outskirts. "You have this. You have to have this."
"Ugh, I know. I can't afford to screw up… It's my only chance at having him." Julie lay back and rested her head on her pillow while looking up at the ceiling. "If I don't get him, I don't think I'll ever move on. It's like… when you choose your starter pokémon. You come across and catch other pokémon during your journey, but none of them are as special as your first. That's how I feel about him. We have this connection I'd never experience again if I lost him. I know I wouldn't. Ever."
"Let that fuel you then, and don't act desperate or nervous if you can help it. You've gotten this far."
"Hm…" Julie tapped her cheek with her pencil.
"Try not to overthink, either. I know you're good at that." Alyssa grabbed her phone, closed her book, and reached to hold Julie's leg. "We'll talk more tomorrow. I've gotta get home. It's getting late." She got up and went to put her stuff in her backpack.
Julie nodded. She wanted her at home before dark as well. "Text me when you're home."
"Uh-huh."
Soon after Alyssa left, Julie felt restless. Her mind wouldn't let her get an ounce of homework done, and knowing herself, this would also lead to her getting inadequate sleep tonight. For once, Julie wanted to get out of the house alone and put her mind somewhere else. She grabbed her phone and wallet and put on a shirt, gray jacket, and jeans, heading downstairs and seeing her mother asleep on the couch with the TV on at low volume.
Julie grinned and went over, reaching for the remote beside her hand and grabbing it. She turned off the TV and set the remote farther away, leaning in and kissing her mother's cheek. Julie then went to the kitchen, loaded the dishwasher with what was in the sink, cleared the island and counters of loose seasonings and items, and set everything in their respective places in drawers and cabinets while humming a tune to herself. Afterward, she wiped the kitchen down and left it spotless.
She tended to the stove handles, burners, microwave, counters— everything, before walking to the door. Julie slipped into her sneakers and left the house. She lessened the load her mother had to deal with whenever she could and was decent enough at cooking and cleaning because her mother had taken the time to teach her.
It was gray and chilly outside, making her pull her jacket down and zip it up fully while stepping off the porch and walking the pavement toward downtown. "Where are you going, though?" She wouldn't go far, but there were only a couple of hours before evening, so she needed to decide. She couldn't go to the mall and get the mani-pedi she'd been putting off since it was over twenty minutes away, and Julie couldn't be bothered getting on a bus close to nightfall.
She could go to that classy noodle restaurant a few blocks away, but she didn't feel like being waited on either. It usually made her nervous when she was alone and all focus was on her. "Oh, maybe Cherubi's." Julie just remembered. It was her favorite fast-food place close by, and between both of those aspects, Julie wouldn't be there for long. That's where she'd go.
Cherubi's used to be the quintessential Johto restaurant until they started outsourcing to other regions in recent years and putting locations across the map for money. She couldn't blame them.
She pulled out her phone to text her mom her whereabouts so she wouldn't worry in case she woke up and couldn't find Julie. She glanced up from her screen when a few cars drove by and when she passed yards with people mowing their lawns, gardening, or children and pokémon frolicking.
Julie always tried to be aware of her surroundings, especially when she was downtown. It wasn't difficult to be hypnotized by her screen while walking; then she'd miss someone potentially following her or a person trying to snatch her phone and running off with it. Maybe it was her paranoia, but it could save her one day.
Julie walked for around ten minutes before reaching the big city, stuffing her hands in her pockets and passing some shady people and homeless sleeping on blankets by markets or in alleys, feeding their pokémon scraps or asking for change. One held a large sign claiming Arceus wasn't the true creator of all in bold red letters, and she didn't bother to read the paragraph explaining why under it.
She took a right at the end of the street. It's why she stayed away the later it got, but she'd be okay if she kept to herself. Julie upped her pace and spotted Cherubi's ahead: a rounded, lit-up, and flickering white sign elevated over the sidewalk with a pink smiling cherubi berry in the center.
She pushed open the double doors after arriving and looked around at a half-full house, likely because people had just gotten off of work.
Low pop music resounded off the pink, brightly lit walls decorated with framed black and white paintings, such as older-modeled cars driving on city streets among buildings or simple homes, the Magnet Station with men in formal suits boarding, and historical Cherubi's paintings like a shot of the restaurant decades ago with customers at tables and employees cooking in the back.
Vibrant pink writing under the gallery with the restaurant's slogan: 'Everything's sweet!' The indoor seating had vibrant colors too: a pink and minty light green blend.
Julie stood in line behind a few people and sought with her eyes all of the available seats. The center was packed and full of voices, but the free booths in the corner by the restroom looked perfect.
Only two lone people, a quiet couple, and a younger teen girl with her raichu were over there. Julie stepped forward after a person in front of her ordered, leaving one more, making her nervous. Julie could order food for herself and had more times than she could count, but it didn't stop that pinch of anxiety.
She took a breath after seeing the last two customers in front of her separate and approach the two cashiers behind the green counter wearing the restaurant's colors and a hat with the logo. One was an older teen male on the left end who looked beyond tired, probably nearing the end of his shift, and the other was a female, around the same age, who seemed to have more energy in her.
Julie had to gather her words before going up to the counter so she wasn't as awkward. Maybe the school was right about her. She had to prepare just to order a meal.
The customer on the right left first with a card he put in his pocket, and the woman called for the next in line and beckoned Julie, who approached and held her breath at first.
"Hi." The woman grinned. "What can I get you?"
Julie looked at the digital menu above and spotted one of her favorite dishes here among many cherubi-related ones, like cherwraps, rubi-coated chicken, and the popular rubi-drenched fries. She hadn't been here in too long. Their cherubi smoothies and deep-fried candied berries were amazing but contained at least fifty percent sugar, and Julie wasn't in the mood for anything that sweet. "Uh, I'll... Can I have the Rubi Salad and a small fountain drink, please?"
"Sure thing." She rang it up. "Your total is seven hundred. Anything else?"
"No, that's all." Julie took out her wallet and counted her pokédollars, giving exact change to the woman with a minute grin and brief eye contact.
She took the money and put it in the register, then printed out a receipt and handed it to Julie along with a straw and paper cup sporting the restaurant's color scheme and logo. "You're twenty-two. We'll call it... and could we interest you in the all-new Rubicard?"
"Sorry, the what?" Was that the thing the guy walked away with?
The woman reached into a drawer under her and pulled out a light blue card with the restaurant's name in green letters and a smiling cherubi underneath, holding it out to Julie. "It's some innovative incentive to boost business pushed by the higher-ups. You buy, we input the ten-digit number on the back into our system, and you earn and build points you can use to get free drinks or sides after enough saving. Not sure if it'll last, but at least if you're buying what the CEO dude's poisoning us with for profit, your money is put to something."
What a reminder. At least Julie was getting a salad. "Oh... That sounds nice, actually. How much is it?" Alyssa would probably get fries and a smoothie if she were here. Julie wished she'd tone down on sugar and anything processed that sickened over time, which was also about anything on the shelves of a grocery store. If the corporations had to mass produce for millions and make too much money in the meantime, they had to take unregulated shortcuts and make them addicting.
"Free." The woman handed it to her. "You can go to our website on the back of the card for more info."
"Thank you." She'd look into it later. She was deeply fascinated by the concept. Julie put the card in her wallet and her wallet in her back pocket then made a beeline to her booth with her items and sat, sliding to the end by the wall and taking a deep breath. The environment was quieter over here, so Julie could relax. She leaned back and took out her phone for a second to see if Alyssa had texted her that she was home safely yet.
She may prefer staying inside a lot of the time, but going out was refreshing as long as she did it on her terms. Julie mainly did so when it was required unless Alyssa wanted to do something together. Julie was more willing when she was with her since that was always fun, and she could fall back on Alyssa, but Julie couldn't be like that forever. Alyssa wasn't with her 24/7 and wouldn't be around forever. Hopefully, that meant until death, but with friendships, you never know.
Around five minutes later, when the woman called her order, Julie went and got the plastic bowl, fork, and small cup of dressing from the counter and stopped to get lemonade at the machine with light ice before sitting back at her booth and setting everything down.
The salad looked delectable. It was full of greens, flavorful berries, nuts, cheese, and more. The savory sweet house dressing was the cherubi on top, which Julie wasted no time popping the lid off and pouring over. She tore open the fork's plastic wrap and took a bite of the salad that filled her mouth with a rich, sharp, tangy flavor that had bursts of sweetness coming from the berries, then washed it down with a sip of her drink.
Julie had no one to talk to, so she took out her phone and opened Veela for entertainment, scrolling through a few posts and stopping on a beedrill fact by 'Deadlymon.' It was an image of a beedrill pasted on a white background with black text underneath: 'Did you know that beedrill are responsible for over eight hundred deaths per year between humans and pokémon? They are naturally a highly aggressive species that could attack at a slight or unintentional disturbance. When one engages, the entire colony will follow without fail.'
Julie kept scrolling. "One of the most terrifying species out there. Wish we could get rid of them." She remembered what they'd recently done to that poor girl on the news. She was lucky to have survived the initial attack, and Julie wondered if she had recovered and was alive now, but she didn't even want to check.
Beedrill weren't the only concerningly aggressive species to exist. Ekans typically avoided humans, but on occasion, especially when hungry or pent up for any reason, were known to attack and strangle humans to death. Arbok were capable of messier scenes, onix, graveler in caves. Nidorino were known to charge and stab people, pinsir literally ate people, and the way it handled its prey with those claws and teeth ensured pain and suffering.
Ursaring incidents were rare due to them living in secluded, deep forests, but explorers and rangers were known to go missing. If the ursaring hadn't killed the person for a meal or to defend its cubs, they were sometimes found, and don't even get her started on those perverted hypno.
Julie didn't even know why they were allowed freedom with that stupid strung ring after being responsible for so many women and children going missing annually, men as well if the hypno was female or had a preference. Hypno rarely murdered people, but it did steal innocence and create trauma in the undeserving. It's why more effort was being made for rangers to patrol routes; pokémon assaults in general were why authority urged people to travel in groups, with their pokémon, and to avoid routes at night.
Whatever. Julie didn't like thinking about it. She passed the next few posts and a few product ads, stopping at a trending video with hundreds of thousands of interactions from WorldOrigins playing clips of the after-effects of the tragic chemical explosion. Its cause was equipment failure, which had killed twenty employees, several pokémon in the area, and injured other pokémon and citizens that lived up to half a mile away.
It showed shots of dilapidated homes and other buildings that owners and families cleaned out or stood by, medics lifting people onto stretchers or tending to peoples' and childrens' wounds by ambulances, and Doption trucks taking pokémon to their centers to patch them up.
White text faded in and out on the screen that gave updates on the calamity as the video played, including that there were an estimated thirty casualties and fifty collective injuries so far, but the investigation was still underway.
"That's so awful..." Julie felt deep sympathy and sorrow stir in her chest. At least there were humanitarian aid groups delivering food, water and offering temporary shelter to those affected. There were clips of them giving water and food to pokémon as well.
She scrolled over another couple of posts and stopped on one of a video by JohtoNN. It was of the Accord's current president serving his five-year term, Jacob Vallint, a bald older male in a white and burgundy suit, giving a speech on a developing category four hurricane en route to the Ferrum region, apparently rare to form during the winter. Jacob assured that the entire Accord was on standby and ready to aid by sending resources and medical supplies if necessary.
He was a transparent, kind, and just leader, one of the best the Accord has had in ages, and reached out to aid and financially support regions in need often. He sometimes neglected the Accord in the process but made up for it with decent policies that had created countless well-paying jobs and sparked economic growth that kept it more robust than ever.
While friendly, he also defended the Accord's honor and reputation valiantly, unafraid to sensibly challenge or speak out against other first-world regions for disrespecting the Accord through words or actions and even for questionable or criminal acts toward their own citizens.
As was more or less the current case toward Unova and its current president in the middle of serving his fifteen-year term. The Unovan people and most of the world saw him as a better leader during the first half of his term. Now, he seemed to be making concerningly radical moves that overreached upon his masses. It was a gradual shift in direction but one that raised eyebrows all the same; no one knew where it was coming from as of yet.
Julie heard a melodic beep and saw a white '1' appear at the bottom right of her screen over her message tab. "What now, Ali..." she mumbled and opened her messages, then she and Alyssa's conversation, where she saw a linked video post of a cinderace sitting at a desk above an accompanying text Alyssa sent. Julie first read her message:
'Thought you might like this one. Pretty sick.'
Julie then clicked the link and paused the video posted by 'GIS.' It was an acronym for 'Galar Institution of Science.' She read the post's short description with thousands actively reveeing, liking, and commenting since it had been posted an hour ago.
It stated that the cinderace shown in the video clip had been trained extensively in language, math, and had been evaluated 24/7 by contemporary machinery utilizing sensors that monitored its brain's responses to various situations, including stress, pressure, physical and emotional pain, grief, love, pleasure, and more.
Its emotional and social intelligence had been measured like never before from a scorbunny under a safe and healthy seven-year scientific experiment in Galar in which a team of ten renowned scientists assessed and documented information closely throughout the process.
She pressed play and saw clips of the cinderace sitting at a desk in a white room resembling a classroom while writing with a pencil in its curled paw, then cutting to it reading a book, and finally to one of the scientists giving it a spelling and then a math exam before a whiteboard.
It finally cut to a red-haired female scientist in the study standing before the board in a red jacket, and Julie upped her media volume to listen. The woman had a Galarian (british) accent that Julie had always been fond of.
"Greetings. I'm Chloe Aldra, a pokétologist at the Galar Institute. This multi-billion-dollar project was one that broadened the scope and created new breakthroughs in just how intelligent bipedal pokémon can be in curricular activities and in day-to-day life. By the time our cinderace, Era, had evolved into what she is, she was well-versed in middle school level English and math and could solve multiplication, division, algebra, geometry, data analysis and probability, and more. She could read and recall much of what she had read from books and write them out in short eighth-to-tenth-grade essays. Her handwriting was subpar, but the content was clear and flowed well for the most part with only a few punctuation and grammatical errors here and there."
At one point, we brought in a male cinderace, who we set up with sensors, and monitored their interactions, emotions, and brain activity while putting them in a natural environment for a week, which lined up with our intelligence in that regard, down to their mating practices and what they felt and thought that we won't cover here, but you get the idea."
The scene cut to the two cinderace chatting and grinning, then to various others of them eating together, walking, and napping, overlayed by the woman talking.
"We then added a male lucario to the equation, which Era showed little to no interest in while with the cinderace. Her body and mind displayed attraction and whatnot, but she didn't seem to follow it. Many bipedal species have been known to practice monogamous relationships. This is less so the case for most quadrupeds through past observations, excluding some like ninetales and rare cases with eeveelutions.
Our final assessment is that Era exhibits the general intelligence of a fifteen-to-sixteen-year-old human teenager. Bipedals are a lot more alike us than they aren't. They are very, very capable creatures, and we are glad the Regional Science Association funded this project. We plan to run similar future experiments on quadrupeds next, such as ninetales, lycanroc, eeveelutions, bidoof, rattata, and more. We would also like to test and observe larger groups over a long period to study the social aspects of community, cooperation, altercations, and more. Unfortunately, these studies consume a staggering amount of time and money, so we are unsure when this would possible again, but we are anticipating. Thanks for watching!"
"Alyssa was right. Wow." That was such an intriguing experiment and showed how little humanity knew about the extent of pokémons' knowledge. Julie genuinely hoped they would gather the funding to run more on different species— especially the eeveelution tree.
She opened GIS' profile and followed them, texted Alyssa to thank her for the post, then closed the app and set her phone aside. Besides that video, maybe this wasn't the best time to be on Veela, as she never knew what she would come across.
Eating at a fast-food place may not take her mind off her troubles permanently, but it pushed them aside and would make life feel better for a moment. Julie was glad she decided to go out. She had urges to sometimes and should adhere to them more often. The polluted, somewhat fresh city air and being in inviting environments around people took her away and lifted her spirits.
She had managed to get good enough sleep on a full stomach with minimal tossing and turning and woke up early the next morning, yawning and stretching her arms while hearing a couple of subtle cracks.
Today was the day.
Her blanket was below her chest, which she tugged on and tried pulling up to her neck to no avail. Julie lifted her head and looked down at Lilly kneading the blanket by her legs, purring while staring at her. Julie lay back and sighed. Lilly was rarely in her bed during the mornings. Maybe she needed a break and some rest from the outdoors in a safe environment. Julie had to get up anyway.
She was in jeans and her yellow jacket in fifteen, and to get a break from her hair, Julie had bundled it into a low ponytail.
She was approaching the doors to school and had taken the ride here to gather her composure. Hopefully, today would play out like any other. Afterschool was the only thing Julie wanted to focus on besides her daily lectures, but just her luck, she saw someone standing by the school's entrance. "Ricky…" Julie recognized him from a distance but ignored his presence.
However, as she entered, he caught sight of her.
"W-Wait, Julie!" he blurted just as she was about to pass him.
She stopped reluctantly and turned slightly to look at him but didn't speak.
"Look, I'm... I'm really sorry for what I said and did to you at your locker a month ago. I was just kind of hurt and upset that you rejected me so quickly. You're kind and pretty, not... the names I called you, what I said about you... and you never deserved what I did. I wanted to thank you for not telling Willam the horrible things I said to you when you had every right to. That's... admirable."
His apology seemed genuine, and it caused her to soften a little. She shrugged and twirled one of the drawstrings on her jacket. "It's whatever. I'm over it, but it gave me something to think about and reflect on."
"Well, c-could, you ever forgive me for that, Julie?"
"I can. I accept your apology."
"Thank y–"
"But..." She kept her tone flat. "That doesn't mean we're friends, and you're never getting another chance at asking me out, but still, I appreciate your apology." With that, Julie kept walking.
Okay, maybe that last comment was unnecessary, but so what? If Julie hadn't tweaked her ways after the past incident with Ricky, she probably would have taken a jab at him, and who was Ricky, anyway? If she recalled, he lived west over in a trashy area in Olivine, but Julie shook that condescending thought. She was nowhere near perfect and lived middle class at best; how or where someone lived didn't determine their character or how she should interact with them.
Julie got her items and sat in her first class, chatting happily with Max and Jane. Remembering what the teacher said last class, Almia and Johto were going to be discussed today, which made her think more about where she'd go once through with school.
There were plenty of regions, but Julie had to choose one to experience. It would be reasonably expensive, after all. She could try Kanto, but that was right next door, so she could go whenever. Julie wanted to travel far away on a ferry to a region vastly different from Johto. She fought between Unova and Sinnoh currently but would have to research more. Unova called her name.
Julie looked ahead as the teacher entered with her regional history text and laptop as usual, dressed in a cute navy button-up and black pants.
"Morning, class." Miss Vasella went and set the book down at her desk, then stood at the whiteboard and grabbed the eraser to wipe it clean from yesterday's lecture. "If you all recall, we will be touching more on the marvelous Almia and delving deeper into what we've learned about our region over the last week. I brought a question about Johto that we learned a couple of classes ago for anyone willing to answer." She looked around at all of the tired eyes on her before continuing. "Who can tell me why the Whirl Islands are split into four parts, creating a spiral? I want a detailed answer."
Julie immediately raised her hand. She'd researched the frick out of that and every island there after reading the passage about it in her book and could remember almost every detail like it was yesterday. It was one of the most interesting and astounding historical events she'd read.
"Come on. Give them a chance, Jules." Jane giggled.
"Trust me. They'll have one," Julie replied with a slight grin and glanced at her, sitting up in her chair slightly to raise her hand higher. Talking about her favorite subject while sitting at the back of a class was about the only time she felt semi-confident in herself.
Miss Vasella glossed over Julie and looked around for more hands that had yet to show. "They are located between Olivine and Cianwood City. I want to see hands," she said, mimicking the action with hers before letting her arm fall and waiting a few seconds before seeing one shoot up in the second row to the left. "Gale!" She smiled. "Go ahead."
He scratched his head of short red hair and sat up in his seat, feeling eyes on him. He wasn't too confident in his knowledge on this question, but he felt that he knew enough to give an answer. "It... Lugia. Lugia did it to stop the war happening on the island between two regions." He sat back, clearing his throat.
The teacher's smile faltered slightly, waiting for more that didn't come. "Thank you, Gale. That's correct, but I'm seeking a more descriptive response..." She looked to Julie, whose hand was back up, and sighed under her breath. "Go ahead, Julie."
Julie lowered it and briefly shot her eyes around the eyes on her. "Lugia shattered the island into four sections with strikes of, uh, lightning after Ransei and Johto actively fought over it for weeks, resulting in much death the legendary couldn't handle... Afterward, Lugia, um, vanished permanently behind the waterfall basin."
"The legendary is said to reside deep under the sea from that day onward in fear of its destructive capabilities." Miss Vasella smiled again. "Good work, Julie. I didn't set up slides, so we'll be using the traditional method today." She turned to the whiteboard and grabbed a black marker from the shelf underneath, drawing four vague outlines of each major island and dotted a few smaller ones around them.
"Now, the four major islands are Red Rock, Silver Rock, Yellow Rock, and Blue Point Isle. Minor ones include Ogi and Pudgey Pidgey Isle." She wrote the names above their corresponding outlines. "Civilization is present in the forms of towns, cities, and villages, all with their own traditions and aspects that make them unique. However, all are taught to appreciate and praise Lugia for what they have and celebrate a holiday called Sea Day, dedicated to the legendary and water types that many of us around Johto honor, as does the entire region when it comes to the Day of Rebirth, as we all know. It celebrates the skies and Ho-oh's mythical ability to raise the dead."
The holidays held parades and festivals around the region. Julie had attended Rebirth Festivals countless times in Goldenrod Central with her parents while growing up and had with Alyssa as well. Rebirth Day was held toward the end of the year on the final day Ho-oh was seen by humanity hundreds of years before the Ecruteak tower ordeal, so it was still a few months away. It was a day that spread collective joy across the region, as the legendary was believed to appear only before those with pure hearts, blessing the soul of whoever witnessed it with eternal happiness.
Julie set her chin on her palm and leaned in. She couldn't wait to hear more about the islands. She'd store every piece of information, and what she didn't, she would research at home.
Miss Vasella turned to face the class. "For instance, many of the southwest island, Yellow Rock Isle's traditions, are rooted in the pokémon known as corsola. Its residents construct homes atop their massive nests and co-exist with the pokémon, even considering the corsola a member of their family. There is a deep respect held for the species there. Conservation groups preserve their habitats and ensure that people treat their nests with care. It is also known that many aspiring pokémedics move to this island for work, as positions are prolific and tasked mainly with caring for the nearly one thousand corsola occupying the island and its surrounding waters.
So, Julie didn't know that part, but it made a lot of sense. One thousand corsola? How many medics would that require to upkeep? Now she wondered how many currently worked on the island.
"And we must not forget about the single tradition that popularized the islands and brings them all together every three years, televised globally for the world to witness and complete with parties and celebrations spread across every town and city within the Whirl archipelago."
She turned briefly to write: 'The Whirl Cup' beside the outline of Red Rock Isle to the northwest. "Trainers passionate about the water and that have well-trained water-type pokémon travel from various regions all over the globe to participate in the competition or get front-row seats. They sign up initially at Inland City within Blue Point, but the competition is hosted at Red Rock at the water-filled Whirl Cup Colosseum. The opening ceremony is hosted by a Sea Priestess of the islands, Maya, by summoning what is called the Sea Spirit Union. It combines the energy of every existing water-type pokémon to bring honor and breathe life into the event. Maya's crucial responsibility is keeping the tradition and its teachings alive."
Miss Vasella paused to catch her breath. "The competition lasts for approximately six days and boils down to the trainer that has the strongest pokémon and is the most deeply connected with it through tireless battling. The winner is awarded a Mystic Water pendant, a prestigious item, and is given the title of a 'New Sea Hero' by Maya herself. Her closing quote— and I have it memorized word for word, is as follows. I'll write it out. Ensure you jot this in your notes."
Julie knew of the pendant and was enamored with it. Unfortunately, she'd never own one. Many wouldn't since they had to be the toughest trainer among the toughest trainers, which brought the pendant so much value. If everyone could hang it around their neck, it would hold little. It was a gorgeous piece that would make her current collection pop.
She watched the teacher turn and write quotation marks, mumbling the passage as the teacher wrote it out. "O, Great... Sea Spirit and... past Heroes... of the Sea, continue to watch... over the Whirl Cup competition... and safeguard the harmony... of all humans and pokémon alike." It was beautiful and very heartwarming, making her grin. Julie added the Whirl Islands to her bucket list. It was already there from when she'd researched it, but now it was twice over.
"You seem like the type of trainer that would hate keeping their pokémon in poké balls."
"Maybe I am. I don't see a reason if I only own one or two, and it's unnecessary captivity," Julie replied to Alyssa, speaking over the buzzing around them. They sat at one of the empty cafeteria tables after having just finished lunch while students sat around them, dumped trays, and left the room to prepare for classes.
"Anti-pokéball... I mean, I get the stance." She sat back. "Anyway. I've decided I'm gonna have a full party and may challenge the gyms with 'em, and I've added one to my roster. I also need a haunter."
"That'll be a lot of traveling and catching and… training. Just don't ask me to babysit all six of your scary pokémon."
"You won't need to. They'll be in poké balls."
That brought a brief giggle out of Julie.
"And speaking of... you know the, uh, Pokémon Academy over in Violet City?"
"Yeah-huh? That's where the aspiring trainers and curious kids all go to understand pokémon and learn how to battle them." Julie wasn't invested enough in pokémon to attend, but it did hold her interest. It had an appealing campus and a notable curriculum.
Alyssa shrugged. "I was looking into it and thought it may be a good place to go if I want to see success. A lot of famous trainers graduated from there. I also don't think my stupid SAT score will affect me getting accepted there too much, either."
"Hm." Julie giggled. "Alyssa researching something?"
"Whatever..." she muttered and shifted her eyes away slightly.
"Hey." She stopped and eyed her, reaching her hand across the table and placing it atop hers. "No, but that sounds great, seriously. Did you tell your parents yet? They'll be happy that you're setting up a future." Julie had never seen Alyssa so serious and passionate about something.
"Not exactly, and I don't think they'll be too happy, actually, but we'll see. I'm not ready to break it to them yet. Also, you ready to revisit the office?"
Julie pulled her hand away. "About as ready as I was last time..." She again felt it in her stomach upon her bringing it up. The nerves were worse than last time because this was the deciding visit.
"Remember our talk. No desperate stuff, and just have confidence in yourself. You want that umbreon, and you'll take care of him better than the next guy, but at the same time, don't let that fill your head and start begging, not even a little." Alyssa got up from the table since her next class started soon and took her tray consisting of an empty milk carton and bread from today's sandwiches. "Basically... just be less like you and more like me."
Julie only looked at her.
"Joke." She slightly stuck her tongue out and bit it. "I'll be in front of the office when you're out of your last class. See ya then."
"Funny..." Julie mumbled. She watched her jog away, and it felt like deja vu. Alyssa was always taking off somewhere.
She stayed at the table for a while after, taking in what advice Alyssa had given her. She was right. Julie had to be confident about wanting Midnight without pleading, as that may ruin her chance. One slip meant possible failure, which brought her most of the anxiety she felt. Julie had to play this perfectly.
"I can't do this, Alyssa." Julie grimaced. "Oh— what am I supposed to say once I'm in there?"
"Whatever you feel is right. I can't help you much with that part, but keep my astounding advice in mind." Alyssa gripped Julie's shoulders and stared into her eyes. They were standing by the door to the office since school had ended for the day.
"Okay… Okay, I guess I'll go in now." Julie tightly hugged Alyssa's waist. "Thanks bunches..."
"Go get im'." Alyssa patted her back.
"Can't believe this." Julie pushed the door open.
"Ah, Julie. He's expecting you. You may pass," Mrs. Emery said with a smile.
"Thank you, ma'am." She grinned and walked to the principal's door, grabbing its handle with a quivering hand she couldn't help and turning it. After a second, Julie pushed it open. As expected, Mr. Willam was at his desk, but what stole her breath was Midnight sitting to the left of it, and Midnight seemed just as surprised.
"I'm glad you could make it, Julie. You may stand there. Just… close the door, if you may," the principal said, and Julie did so. "We discussed the other day that you were interested in taking Midnight. Now, I believe strongly in destiny and wouldn't give him to anyone he couldn't connect with." Mr. Willam nodded once.
Julie eyed him, then shifted to Midnight and could almost smirk. This was the perfect test, and in his eyes was the same thought. She could feel it.
She crouched and beckoned Midnight toward her with her hand.
He swayed his tail subtly and fixed his gaze on Julie, standing while his rings started revving up. He walked to her without hesitation but didn't stop at that. Midnight then tilted his head up and nuzzled her palm.
Julie smiled. She couldn't hide this one. Forget a simple addiction. Midnight practically turned her blood itself into sugar.
Mr. Willam was bewildered. Shocked, which was visible on his face. "I... You two must already be well acquainted with each other, I assume?"
"A bit. I, uh, see him in the halls a lot, and we meet at my locker often between classes every day. He's really helped me get through my year," Julie replied. "He's like... a best friend to me." Yep, that was all.
"He, well, seems to be fond of you and vice versa. Have you any prior experience with owning pokémon?"
Julie stood. "I own a liepard that my mother and I have taken good care of for years now." She'd leave out the part where they let her outside in the big city regularly.
"Hm..." He cleared his throat. "Four families, two dedicated trainers, and even hospitals have contacted me for Midnight, but I can't possibly get in the way of this." He pushed up his glasses. "It is a remarkable sight, and it's clear that he knows who he wants. I mean, look at his rings... You graduate in two months, correct?" He leaned forward in his chair.
"Correct, sir." She suppressed the burst of happiness building within.
"How about this… So you can focus on your final days at this school, why don't I give Midnight to you on the day of graduation? It would be quite the parting gift."
Julie was on the verge of squealing. She agreed wholeheartedly. Midnight clouded her thoughts and took her from what she should be focused on if she were honest. If Julie had him in her hands now, it would likely be to a more substantial extent.
"That... s-sounds great. Thank you, sir." Julie smiled, full of warmth, especially down at Midnight. She swore she could faint. The room and everything about existence felt surreal right now.
"And thank you for making the rehoming process easier for me. No paperwork and traveling involved." He chuckled heartily. "Good luck with your studies."
"Thank you again." Julie didn't want to seem obsessive, but she was genuinely grateful. She never expected this outcome, at least not for it to come so easily. She would have tried to buy Midnight if she had to as a last resort. "I appreciate you allowing me to have him. You didn't have to give him to me, sir."
He shook his head and threw his hands up, smiling back. "Oh, but I did. We both saw a miracle take place between human and pokémon. These creatures are very much capable of choosing their trainers but rarely get that option. I don't believe enough people consider it. Their feelings matter too."
"I agree, sir. I really do."
After leaving the office and stepping into the hall, Julie sighed deeply and leaned against the wall, giggling.
"So… what happened?"
"I got himm, Alyssa!" Julie abruptly pulled Alyssa into a hug and held her firmly, tears welling in her eyes.
"F-For real?" She spoke with a slight wheeze as Julie was currently squeezing the life out of her.
"Yes! Right after graduation."
"Damn, congrats. That's so close." Alyssa took a deep breath after Julie released her. "I knew it was in you."
They received a few glances from a couple of students who had come down the hall and entered the office, which they paid no mind to.
"I have him— guaranteed." Julie wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sniffled. Every night now, she would anticipate holding him in her arms permanently. She had no problem waiting for that day. She would work hard on every assignment and ace every test.
Riding home through Goldenrod's busy streets with Alyssa later that afternoon, Julie felt at peace knowing her life would move along much smoother after graduation with her umbreon by her side. Julie would genuinely have something to hold onto, something with her that would surely brighten her days and keep her great company, that would explore cities with her and keep her smiling inside and out.
"What are the odds that this ended in my favor, like honestly?" Julie asked as they exited a Poké Mart with two waters and mounted their bikes.
"Feels like a dream, huh?" Alyssa shrugged. "I wouldn't question it. Some things are just fate... or extreme luck, but either way, you did take the biggest risk in risk history."
"It was my dream for so long. It just finally came true..." And it wasn't difficult, surprisingly. All Julie had to do was put herself out there. "I couldn't imagine the result if I hadn't stepped into that office. You helped me in that department."
"Needed a push. That was all."
"It wouldn't be the first time you've pushed me. I'm too afraid to act on situations half the time... whether it be a rough patch or something as big as this. I owe you for it."
Alyssa opened and sipped her water. "Only thing you owe me is your friendship; I don't think that's going anywhere."
Julie grinned. "Never."