The snow came earlier than expected, and Pallet Town was covered in a thin layer of white when the letters arrived. Four letters were delivered to three houses. They came in thick envelopes colored deep purple with the words "INDIGO POKEMON LEAGUE" printed in gold embossed writing on the front.

Josh and his brother opened theirs together, and read the writing inside. Their names were the only things that made them different, but both of them held the letters in front of them and stared at the writing as though it were a sacred treasure — their own validation after so many struggles. Jake laid his letter on his desk, making a mental note to get a frame and hang the letter on the wall, right next to his diploma. Josh folded his letter neatly back into the envelope and stashed it in his bag — partly from pride, wanting to have it handy whenever he felt like showing it off; but also out of uncertainty, wondering if he may need to have the physical copy for some reason when he went to Victory Road.

Avery Oak couldn't help but think of her own fateful letter, the red envelope that had been delivered to her dorm mailbox at Viridian University, which held the news of where she would be doing her residency as a Pokedoctor. The purple envelope from the Pokemon League was even fancier, and Avery knew exactly why — the tournament at the Indigo Plateau was a national holiday when everyone dropped everything to watch the matches. It made Pokemed school feel small. Avery had known that even before Ryan and Josh had gotten obsessed with battling.

Avery went upstairs to deliver the news to her brother, mentally bracing for the arguments her parents were going to have with Ryan. But there was no stopping him. That was another thing Avery had known deep down with a grim certainty — the moment Ryan had left to go on his Pokemon journey, he was going to be at the Indigo Plateau. Avery had known that despite her secret hopes he would lose at some point and finally learn some humility.

But those hopes had come true in the worst way possible. Avery couldn't stamp down the feeling of guilt on that day when she had rushed to the hospital and seen her brother, bloody and bruised, his arm twisted, after he had finally lost a battle. Which was why Avery felt compelled to give Ryan his letter herself, and to support him when he came down the stairs and confronted his parents. She owed him that. And she comforted herself with the thought that no matter how hard she had tried to ignore it, her brother had a talent that couldn't be dimmed.

Ash's mother was the first to see the envelope, under the junk mail and bills that the Delaneys normally received. Mrs. Delaney's reaction to the letter from the Pokemon League was identical to her reaction when her daughter had received an award for setting a national record in a swim competition — disbelief, at first; and then guilt for not believing her daughter would be capable of something like that.

But of course she would, Mrs. Delaney reminded herself as she reread the contents of the letter. Pokemon are drawn to her. They always have been. And she justhas a way with them. She's better with them than she is with most people.

Mrs. Delaney felt as though she owed her daughter an apology. For not believing in her, for secretly wishing she would give up on Pokemon, and for almost wanting to keep her from going where her friends would be. The only two boys who had ever been nice to Ash.

It was a strange tug-of-war that went through Mrs. Delaney's mind. She was terrified of walking into a room to find her own daughter lying in a hospital bed. But the happiest she had ever seen Ash was when she was with her Clefairy. Nothing thrilled her more than the afternoons she spent in the Professor's lab, learning about Pokemon. Ash had never shown that much interest in anything else — whether it was swimming, piano, and especially not boys.

At least for now, Mrs. Delaney thought to herself with a chuckle.

She went up the stairs and gently knocked on the door to her daughter's room. She opened the door a crack, and found Ash sitting cross-legged on her bed, with a leather-bound book open in her hands.

#

Like the day of a new school year, Josh Dale took stock of all of the items in his bag. Instead of textbooks, notebooks, folders, and a pencil case full of highlighters, his bag was now full of Ultra Balls, Full Heals, vitamins, and an escape rope.

The Dale brothers set off from their house together. At one point, Josh thought he recognized the silhouette of Ryan's Charizard on the horizon. Ash had apparently already left.

A thousand questions swirled around Josh's head as he followed his brother up Route 1, through the Viridian Forest, and into Viridian City. How did Ryan get onto Vulcan's back with one good arm? How did he convince his parents to let him go? Why was Ash going too? How did she even qualify?

They trekked into Route 22, and as they passed the grassy fields the memory of Josh's first battle against Ryan came back to him. In a way, the whole hike had been a trip down memory lane. Route 1 had been where he caught Hermes. The Viridian Forest was where he had won his first battle. And Viridian City was where…

"We're here," Jake announced.

He had stopped walking, and Josh almost ran into his back. Josh jumped and quickly sidestepped to avoid the collision. Then he looked up. Josh saw the same steps leading up to the building with the words "INDIGO PLATEAU" plastered at the top in big, bold letters. When was the last time Josh had been here? Almost a year ago. But it felt like a lot longer than that.

"You ready?" Jake asked.

Again, Josh jumped. He looked up at his brother. Only then did Josh realize he was shaking — the gravity of what he was about to do was finally catching up to him. But even worse than that was the way that Jake was giving him a pained half-smile — the kind of smile that betrayed Jake's own nervousness.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Josh mumbled.

"Well. Let's go, then," Jake said.

The two brothers climbed the steps together. Josh's nervous jitters urged him to move faster and faster until he was practically running up the steps two at a time. His brother kept pace, and soon they were at the entrance and completely out of breath.

They were met with a pair of guards standing at the front gates who looked them up and down without showing any emotion on their faces.

"Badges?" one of the guards said.

Jake reached into his bag and took out his Badge case, snapping it open and displaying it to the guard. Josh did the same to the other guard. Josh's Badges were neatly aligned and polished, although seeing the temporary Badge he was given as a replacement for the Earth Badge stung him.

The guard nodded to Josh. Then, he tipped his hat up with his thumb, allowing the sun to reveal his face. Only then did Josh recognize him. He had a wide, thick mustache and a beard that tapered into a pointed end. He looked like a viking.

"You really did it," the guard said with a smile. "You know something, kid? You're the first person from Pallet Town who's walked through these doors in 36 years."

Josh didn't know what to say. He only stared with a mix of surprise and pride as the guard reached back and swung the doors open for him.

#

The Victory Road Reception Gate was like a fancy hotel. There was a massive chandelier hanging from the ceiling with what looked like a thousand bulbs to illuminate the place with a warm, orange glow. The floors were adorned with long carpets that reminded Josh of the red carpet at a movie premier — except these carpets were deep purple, rather than red. There were a pair of Healing Machines and PCs against the wall, and a few Trainers were using them. Some Trainers were relaxing on the couches and chairs that were strewn about. Other Trainers were standing in groups, quietly murmuring to each other. One Trainer sat cross-legged with her back to the wall, wearing earphones, silently muttering something to herself.

From what Josh could see, there were about 30 Trainers in the Reception area, including himself and his brother. But he didn't see Ryan or Ash anywhere. Josh also noticed several more guards — some flanking the doorways, and one in each corner. Something told Josh that there weren't usually so many of them inside, despite it being Josh's first time there.

For a moment, neither Josh nor Jake did anything. Then, one of the Trainers approached them. She walked right up to Jake and hugged him tightly.

"You finally made it!" she said. "Would it kill you to check your phone? I was wondering what was taking so lo— oh, hello again."

Only once she separated herself from Jake and took a step back did Josh recognize her — Sayaka, the Ace Trainer from Saffron City Josh had met when Jake was challenging Sabrina.

"Hi," Josh said.

"Since when do they let family in here?" Sayaka asked Jake.

"I'm here to register," Josh said.

Sayaka's eyes darted from Josh to Jake, waiting for one of them to start laughing, but neither of them did. Then, she shoved Jake with one arm.

"And you never thought to tell me, 'oh, by the way, my brother's competing too'?" she said.

"Our parents almost didn't let us," Josh said.

"It all kind of happened fast…" Jake began, as the two of them began to walk away.

And suddenly Josh was standing alone in the lobby. Only then did Josh realize he looked like the youngest person there. All the other Trainers looked at least Jake's age, if not older. There were even more adults than there were teenagers and even one Trainer whose hair was starting to go gray.

Finally, a familiar face appeared, when Ash Delaney came in through the same doors Josh had. Josh watched as she took a quick look around and immediately shrank into one of the large padded chairs while every Trainer there stared at her.

Josh knew why. At the end of the day, the Trainer world was a small place. Josh recognized plenty of them — some from the day in Viridian City, and others from former Indigo Plateau Conferences he had seen on TV. Every now and then, a Trainer would break a record or save a local business from some unruly wild Pokemon and get featured on TV. No doubt, many of the Trainers here had already heard of him.

But has anyone here ever heard of Ash? Josh wondered to himself.

Josh could also tell by the way that Ash sat — with her knees together, her hands clasped in her lap, and her eyes down — that she was nervous. Ash usually did well in crowds, like in Cerulean and Saffron, but being alone in a room full of people staring at her was probably hard to ignore.

Josh walked over to her and sat in a chair next to her.

"So, you came," Josh said.

"Yeah… I did," she said.

Ash reached into her pocket and pulled out a Badge — the same one Josh had in his Badge case — the replacement for the Earth Badge.

Unlike the seven other Badges, it was only a simple white circle. There were no markings or details of any kind on it. Bruno had told Josh it was a 'temporary substitute' while they found a new Gym Leader and designed a new Badge after the last Leader's real identity had been revealed. It was plain, ugly, and a reminder of something Josh would rather forget.

"I must be the only person here with exactly one Badge," Ash said, "and not even a real one, at that."

"Maybe not," Josh said. "You never know. I remember once, in 2001, they let a former Champion from another region compete without challenging the Gyms. He was from a whole different country. They called it… it was something like —"

"A wild card," Ash said. "That's what they're called. It's what I am."

Josh didn't like the way Ash was staring at the floor. He glanced around. The other Trainers were all still staring at them. Josh had wanted to ask her how she even got that Badge at all, but he knew now wasn't the time.

"You deserve to be here," he said after a moment. "You're one of the best Trainers I know."

"Yeah, and you know lots of Trainers," Ash said with a scoff.

"Yeah, I do," Josh said.

Ash finally looked up. The look in Josh's eyes as he held her gaze threw her off. It reminded her of that day in the hospital.

"… Thank you," she murmured finally.

Eventually, the doors opened a final time, and Ryan Oak entered. Again, all the Trainers in the lobby couldn't help but stare as he walked in and made his way to a chair next to his two friends.

"Something on my face?" Ryan remarked as he collapsed into the chair across from Ash.

"I could have given you a ride," Josh said.

"Yeah, but then I wouldn't have been able to get this baby," Ryan said.

Ryan lifted one leg and rested his foot on the armrest of Ash's chair. He was wearing a special belt that attached to his left thigh, holding six Poke Balls.

"Oh, wow," Josh said, "those are the ones with the special magnets and stuff?"

"Yup," Ryan said. "Can't let this stupid cast keep slowing me down. And they're made by Silph Co., which no longer exists, which means I got it for a steal."

Ryan looked pointedly at Ash as he said the last part, and she looked away.

"So, you're really going through with this," Josh said.

Ryan looked back at Josh and narrowed his eyes. "Like you said. If I'm not here and you are, it won't mean anything, right?"

"Yeah," Josh said with a nod. "That's right."

The two of them stared each other down, and for once, Ash didn't think they looked painfully juvenile. She couldn't help but smirk.

The staredown was interrupted when a League official wearing a purple suit entered holding a clipboard and began to list off names followed by each Trainer raising their hand and announcing their presence. It only took a few minutes for the official to reach the end of their list and account for every Trainer there.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen," the official said as he made a final note on his clipboard. "Each of you will be escorted to your room where you will stay the night. You are free to leave and make a few last-minute arrangements, but there is a hard curfew at midnight, tonight. After that, you are confined to your room and this reception area until tomorrow at 9:00 AM. I suggest you get a good night's sleep. You're going to need it."