Twin Colors 2
From the skies to the streets
By tremor3258
"Well drat," Rose announced, in the middle of stuffing the last plushies and toiletries for the trip.
"Break something?" Mei asked absently. She was debating whether to rehang one of the Milo posters to balance out the Leon before she left for the term. Terpsi was bravely tugging a pillow across the bed into the open case.
"No, I think Azucena's fine," Rose said. Mei whirled around at that, to see the little Pokemon standing on their desk as Rose held her hand out. Mei put her hand to her chest.
"Don't scare me like that!" she chided. "What are you doing, anyway?"
"Well, the dragons were mainly thinking of thanking us by boosting us as trainers, so I thought I'd try something like Energy Ball real fast, just to get an imprint in," Rose said. "Too fuzzy, though, it's not coming together right at all for Azucena to recognize a construct."
"You've got no materials, and you're trying for like ten seconds," Mei said flatly, "That isn't a good teaching procedure in any timeline."
"I was just figuring to get started," Rose said defensively. "Can you?"
"Well maybe something a little lower-tier like Grass Knot we can get something," Mei said, and concentrated on her and Terpsi.
"Okay, that's feeling really sketchy. Blast it," Mei almost cursed. "She had a clearer shape of it, but I'm going to need anchors unless I want to teach bad habits."
"Okay, anything else she thought of as simple," Rose muttered, closing her eyes to concentrate.
"Okay what are 'Return' and 'Frustration'?" Rose asked, eyes still closed. "They seem straightforward, and all over the place in that life. I never remember seeing them in any League match I've ever seen."
Mei closed her eyes and tapped her head after a moment. "Okay, they're in here too. Something normal-type but yeah, I've never heard of them. Rotom phone, you got anything?" she asked her smartphone.
The little electronic buzzed and returned a web search after a moment. "Okay, open top entry and float over here, I need to help Terpsi with that pillow," Mei said. She turned back to the bed to give a shove to the pillow to help the Bounsweet's towing attempt until the pillow fell into the suitcase as she read.
"Okay, summarizing: looks like something historical – early attempts to reclaim the power of the individual trainer bonds pre-Poke ball by researchers. As trainer styles made more adjustments to Poke balls and multiple full partners, international League convention decided to retire teaching them. Trainers were developing a raw bond without fully synching with partners and it was decided they were stunting growth," Mei lectured.
"How long ago?" Rose asked, "Has to be annoying for normal trainers to lose out, though. Old Rose thought Return was pretty potent, and it was widespread."
"Says over a decade ago now, so before we were born," Mei said.
"Huh, maybe something with having fairy types helped trainers bond better? Or stumbled on a better raising method?" Rose theorized.
"Not that Flare cared about international conventions but that Rose doesn't remember it being dropped either," Mei said.
Rose made a face. "That sounds like the Infinite Energy reservoir was holding people back, somehow, then. That's the biggest change we found so far back," she said, disgusted again thinking on it.
"Add that to the list of reasons it was horrible," Mei said with a sigh.
"Are you going to put any posters back up?" Rose asked, changing subjects. Mei had three Milo posters, one that had come signed, and she'd been going back and forth on taking them all or putting one back up in their room here.
Mei checked the time briefly on her phone. "I've got time to tape it up, but I'm going to take my share. I'd rather he roots me on at Naranja instead of here. The Charizard was just the bonus item from that set, anyway. Do you need help with anything?"
"No, I'm going to leave that one up for now, and the other pictures are just print outs. I've got all my books packed, and if I'm missing a pen, the school has a store," Rose said.
"Great, so looks like the Taxi's in about twenty minutes so we're somehow on schedule after everything," Mei said. Terpsi puffed up, proud of her helping out. Mei grabbed her back to her shoulder.
"I'm going to be sad having separate rooms – especially since without sharing that Rose was a total slob," Rose said with dramatic emphasis. Azucena tsked for emphasis.
"Yeah hopefully we've got good habits from keeping each other on the straight and narrow. I don't get why we couldn't share, those suites are huge! Our first apartment in Hammerlocke wasn't as big," Mei said.
"We really had a lot more space once Mom switched to the research department," Rose mused.
"She's going to go on about how she never thought she'd like an office job and how glad she is we're going to secondary school to have options," Mei predicted.
"You want to make a quick bet?" Rose offered. Mei folded her arms and motioned for her sister to go on.
"Not on that she'll go on about opportunities. That's given. Mom's been riled about the schedule all morning. I'll cover that if we wait five minutes to go down, she's going to threaten to send Burndozer up here to drag us out," Rose said, grinning.
"Even though she said be down at ten minutes til?" Mei asked after giggling.
"Especially so," Rose confirmed.
Mei thought briefly before replying, "Okay, I'll take that. Since we've been on about Budew so much she'll threaten to send Thorny and force us out from sludge fumes. Usual stakes?"
Rose nodded and the two shook on it. On a quick signal, Azucena hopped back into Rose's arms as the twins sat on their beds and waited out the clock by petting their new Pokemon.
"This really is better than I thought it would be," Rose said after a minute, content.
"I'm looking forward to when we get settled and trying out matches. I know you are too," Mei said, directing the last part at Terpsi.
At fifteen on the clock, Hannah's voice floated up the stairs. "Girls! What are you doing up there? You're going to miss the taxi! I will send Zappy up there to charge you into moving, if I have to!" Hannah called.
The twins sighed in disappointment as they stood up, recalled their Pokemon, and grabbed their suitcases. "Guess we're both making dinner then," Rose observed.
"Has she ever actually mock-threatened us with one of her Tauros?" Mei asked as they went to the door.
"She must have. I would," Rose answered.
"You two were waiting for me to shout, weren't you?" Hannah asked suspiciously as the twins arrived fully prepped downstairs suspiciously quickly for how quiet it'd been upstairs.
Rose managed her best look of innocence as Mei feigned shock.
"Why, mother, how could you think us so low as to provoke you for our own amusement?" Mei said, hand on chest, appearing hurt.
"When we're so grateful you had a chance to assert parental responsibility one last time before sending us into the world?" Rose added, blinking her eyes a few times to add to the effect.
Hannah looked at them dubiously for several seconds until the twins couldn't hold it and broke into giggles. Her lips quirked in a smile involuntarily. "Well, I guess even divine intervention can't change some things," she said. Mei just made motions like casting a rod and fishing in in response.
Hannah sobered a bit at her own words. "Honestly, I'm so happy you two aren't… aliens somehow from whatever gift the dragons were trying to provide." The two nodded, straightening up themselves at that.
"We had to fight for it," Mei said grimly.
"We were going for the Championship yesterday," Rose declared, "So I'd have been happy to skip out."
Hannah looked between the two of them. "You guys figured out you missed out on something upstairs, huh?" she guessed.
"The moves they knew got all fuzzed or just how the bond works here isn't quite the same somehow. We're still going to have to read up from square one or cash out for TMs," Mei said, shrugging it off.
"Back in my day," Hannah said, "We thought the four move limit was it rather than the prepped energy forms, so at least you two know you can switch around."
"I can't believe everyone got scammed by the 'Master Reminders' so long, every time you tell that," Rose stated.
"There's so many things with Pokemon that are an individual experience people just figured the Order had special personal abilities. And the Pokemon didn't help either, since the thought process they use for switching out translates most easily to human mentality as 'forget'," Hannah explained.
The twins looked dubious. "Yeah some professors lost their posts over that for shoddy methodology," Hannah said.
"But on the here and now – sunglasses?" Hannah asked
"Check," the two said, producing them. Mei had found an old pair of aviators she'd fallen in love with and Rose had a set of wraparounds she usually used.
"Hats too for after the ride," Mei added, opening her bag to pull it out of the digital abyss. It was a white straw number with a red ribbon.
"Now you know trainer classes are more stereotypes, you don't have to go all in on aroma girl," Hannah said.
"I'm sort of hoping to get that petal effect, though," Mei protested, "It's always one of the more snazzy channelings on TV."
"You two are a way off from getting spillover energy effect," Hannah insisted.
She switched gears and sighed happily as she continued, "I'm so happy you're getting this opportunity to see so many things. I know you're mad on battling because it's exciting to watch; I never thought I'd like an office job, either." She stopped. The twins were doing a better job stifling them than earlier, but were definitely trying to hide giggles.
"Well, you remember me, clearly," Hannah said, a bit miffed, then shook her head.
"We're running low on time – ear plugs?" Hannah listed.
The two pulled them out of their pockets.
"I really miss Corviknight taxis," Rose said, not looking forward to the coming experience.
"We shouldn't have to use them that often," Hannah said, "And yes, me too. At least with the school account they're free."
"Folding bike prices what they are, we're going to have to look into Cyclizars to cover the gaps in the service," Mei predicted.
"You're probably going to have to work up a bit before they'll pay attention enough to come over for a challenge," Hannah warned, shooing them to the door.
"Yes, Mom," Mei answered listlessly as the twins let themselves be herded.
Outside, the neighbor mowing his lawn with the help of his Hoppip waved. "They're heading off?" he yelled. Hannah waved confirmation.
"It's going to get noisy in a minute, sorry!" Rose yelled.
"Oh, you get used to it!" the neighbor called back cheerfully. "Enjoy school!" Rose and Mei waved again.
A minute later, Hannah started to hear the discourse of a group of Squawkabilly. A lot of discourse. Given the girls had their ear plugs in, it took them a bit longer to realize. As raucous as they were, they settled right on the railings on top of the Taxi after the Taxi landed, though still bickering at each other. The driver hopped off, though didn't bother taking off his goggles – this was really a tight schedule.
"Two direct to west Mesagoza, right?" the driver said cheerfully as he easily plucked the cases away from the twins as they held them over their heads to stash behind the seats.
"That's right, they should be meeting some staff there," Hannah fretted.
"Yeah this is the big admissions window – too much traffic to send everyone to the Academy straight… is the official explanation, but I think they just like to show off the city," the driver explained as he tightened the straps.
He motioned the two aboard, though Hannah gripped their hands before they could, and pulled them sequentially into hugs and pecks on the cheek. The two leaned in and kissed her back.
"You both be careful – there's a lot you're going to see that's wonderful but it's not always safe. It's part of learning, but still, I worry" Hannah said.
"Love you, Mom," Mei promised.
"Love you – we'll call when we get settled," Rose added.
"Remember to keep practicing Paldean! And no hair dye!" Hannah called as they finished climbing in.
The two settled on the seat and the Taxi quickly took to the air. The two waved until Hannah wasn't visible more than a dot.
"That was embarrassing. We're trainers now, not babies," Mei said flatly, if loudly, as she put her arm down.
Rose had been thinking a bit further ahead and typed text on the screen on her phone, and held it for Mei to see. "I just figured to give her that one."
Even with the rough night, flying at altitude was too chill to actually fall asleep, so the two spent most of the flight scrawling messages on the Notes app to each other – they didn't necessarily want discussions of alternate timelines and legendary dragons over the Paldean messaging network by quick agreement.
"I still don't get the hair dye thing," Rose complained to start, "We've already got striped hair. Mom has striped hair. It's not like I'm wanting to go straight brunette or something else weird, like style it into wings or something."
"I dunno, I think we could pull off straight black or brown. Not everyone can. Did you want wings?" Mei asked.
Rose held her hands up to the sides of her head to flap them and laugh, before continuing. "No, it was just a dumb example. I could probably do the ends like leaves but what a hassle to keep up."
"Yeah that whole flame effect the Knight had with her hair? With it curving up at the ends? Three hairdressers every morning for a half hour," Mei reported. Rose giggled then sighed.
"Ignore Mom for the moment – what are we going to do about all this? Telling the League may be the moral choice, but everything we know already happened differently so I'm not sure if it would be any help to them," Rose wrote.
"You've been thinking about this," Mei wrote, not as a question. Rose nodded. Mei glanced up at the driver, who was paying no attention to two girls fussing with phones.
"So have I," Mei said, holding her phone up so Rose could read it. Mei sighed and continued typing once Rose nodded.
"I don't think they'd drag us into testing or anything. We don't have anything as proof we don't just have a rich inner fantasy life. If we were really put here with a 'live well' from the dragons, I don't want the League to have an idea of us as troublemakers if we come across something serious like poaching," Mei said.
"That's a good point – I'd say do it anyway if something got reported there that didn't here, like some of the perpetrators, but then we hit Return being obsolete. That's a much older and wider change than anything we could be involved with," Rose said.
"You don't think that was 'just' the change then?" Mei wrote.
"I wonder if the dragons just found two girls who looked closest, dumped the memories in, and figured they were done," Rose wrote bluntly.
"Both those universes may be going, too. I don't think Giratina was quite ready to give up on his responsibilities. We'll never know," she wrote, sighing.
"Not a very spiritual viewpoint," Mei commented.
Rose tapped her trio necklace. "They have bigger problems than us," she wrote. "I'd rather not be responsible for the billions of people and Pokemon being rewritten around us so we could go to a good school." Mei winced at that.
"Oh I hadn't gotten that far thinking about it yet," Mei wrote. She put her head in her hands for a bit. Rose patted her back awkwardly. Eventually Mei continued.
"Talk about self-centered," Mei wrote, and jabbed a motion with her thumb at herself angrily.
"A whole universe and world ending because of a madman is more than I can take in," Rose admitted.
"Or it's one of those things we're being distanced from processing," Mei answered.
"I don't feel like the Ranger because everything her senses told her is different – and what was 'wrong' in the Knight's universe to her is perfectly right to me. How are you doing?" Rose replied.
"Like a thousand PSAs on what not to do – her life was like a nightmare, and however she is as a trainer, everything with Terpsi so far doesn't feel like it at all. She genuinely, utterly loathed her partners. Everything I've read before this would say that level of antipathy it isn't possible to be Pokemon and trainer," Mei wrote.
Rose read the last statement, and beckoned for a hug for Mei for a bit. Mei shivered a bit; not from the air, but eventually leaned back out to write.
"I really didn't want to let that person go forward or ever be me, she was a wreck. I actually remember her fantasizing about getting her Pokemon in some accident so she could stop. I'm glad you helped me in there when we had to drive them off," Mei wrote.
"The Ranger doesn't have as much guilt, but I don't want to be a stranger. I'm pretty sure with an entire school I can figure out what she did but better," Rose wrote, and crossed her arms defiantly.
Mei leaned back in her seat for a few minutes, then wrote on her phone quickly. When Rose read it, she immediately nodded.
"We're in real trouble, aren't we?" was the short statement.
The two looked out the windows for a few minutes; the landscape was rapidly disappearing. Rose tapped the button for her camera app, and then decided against it. She wasn't in the mood. Finally, Rose tugged on Mei's arm.
"Maybe try and think on what's upcoming – what do you think the classes will be like?" Rose wrote.
Mei smiled wanly and started speculating.
The rest of the flight passed a bit better, with idle speculation on classmates and what battle class would cover to Not Think About It, until the Taxi's driver thumped the roof with his hand.
The twins looked up from their discussion and when the driver saw it, he pointed ahead. The two looked forward and gasped in excitement.
Shining in the morning sun, with the Great Crater sparkling in the distance off to the right; Paldea's great city and capital of Mesagoza gleamed in the sun, its clean brickwork and bright paint giving an aura of cheerfulness.
It was big and chaotic, and reaching to the sky, horizontal growth restrained by the rivers surrounding it. Rising even higher as if an example was Narnja Academy, set apart and above. This early in the day, the light reflected back in their direction off the great Poke ball decoration and other metal spires of one of the world's top Pokemon institutions.
And given just how broad a set of fields studying 'Pokemon' was in all their myriad powers and interactions, it wasn't far off to say Naranja wasn't one of the top research academies period.
And, hopefully, if they didn't mess up, the twins would spend most of their time in the next four or five years associated with the academy. Actually being there, with the Academy's famous Treasure Hunt independent study, would be less than half their actual time.
Somewhere they couldn't see was the Pokemon League headquarters itself, behind the Academy northwest of the city. In theory, their first and last steps to prove themselves as trainers was laid out before them. The Gyms themselves were all over.
Mei tapped Rose's arm. "I bet there's old Gym relics underneath the city from before the League was established," she wrote on her phone. "That may be a fun first project."
"I wonder if the Academy building was a Gym before it was Naranja. Gyms don't always rule cities, but it's a good position for a Gym," Rose wrote back.
"Naranja's website didn't have much on what was there before then, but that's a good question too! The whole post-Paldean Empire part of history's a confusing mess. No real histories written at the time, or anything first-hand, survived compared to during the Empire," Mei wrote.
"Galar was changing from a monarchy about the same time?" Rose wrote back. Her history wasn't quite as precise. Also, Mei liked to show off a bit. Indeed, Mei's smile brightened as she went with her stylus with relish.
"About that time they were adopting a League format, yeah. Kalos had the last Regrowth Cycle finish around then, remember? It changed the arable land around so much it knocked out most of the nobility. Paldean archeology seems to indicate they weren't as badly affected, though. Farther away," Mei wrote.
"That'd explain why the Pokemon seem dense here if they avoided that. All these Hoppips that keep showing up in our sleep the last few weeks? Mom's not usually much for fliers but we really needed Zappy to save the yard," Rose wrote back.
"Sinnoh was being settled by the Clans about that time. I remember reading about Kanto/Johto hitting an age of prosperity – it was in that book on the great Towers in Ecruteak you got me for my birthday?" Mei wrote.
"Busy section of history. How did Paldea forget to write it down?" Rose wrote to ask.
Mei leaned in to reply but got cut off as the Taxi lurched as they entered Mesagozan airspace. The Squawkabilly, which had been occasionally chatting with each other, broke into a raucous chorus as they asserted their right-of-way.
The twins covered their ears; somehow after getting more used to the lower noise of travel, it was worse in the small metal taxi than when on the ground. Mei just gave a smile and shrug instead, and a hand sign of 'watch me find out!' before rushing to cover her ears again.
The noise, somehow, got worse the lower they went – the skies were crowded with Taxis; Mesagoza being the great crossroads of Paldea. Their driver knew the skies well, and there wasn't another lurch after that first bump. Rose glanced out the window a few times; seeing brightly painted apartments and buildings rush by but couldn't manage too many as she mainly kept her hands over her ears. The noise was getting into her head and without respite she could feel her stamina draining away.
It was seemingly without modulation or change besides always getting louder – a constant howl of four Squawkabilly complaining about getting in each other's way. Mei if anything was doing worse. She'd brought her knees up on the seat to curl in a tighter ball to keep it out. Rose scooted over to lean over if physical contact helped, but there wasn't much she could do.
Objectively, it couldn't have lasted more than five minutes. The Squawkabilly settled down to dull bickering again as they landed at the asphalt tarmac outside the Pokemon Center, set in a park against the rise of city's tiers towards Naranja. The two rapidly departed the vehicle. Rose debated kissing the ground, but the asphalt looked too hot for the effect to be worth it.
The taxi driver hopped down at their pale faces. "Sorry, it got a bit noisy, huh?" he asked, jolly. The two nodded, too tired to play full social nicety with an accidental tormenter. "It's better leaving the city. You can go right for altitude and get out of it," he advised, and then went to get their luggage.
"I'm off to Levincia for my next pickup, you two have someone to walk with?" the taxi driver continued as he sat down their suitcases.
Rose glanced at Mei then answered for both. "Thank you, our homeroom teacher should be along soon to introduce us to the city." She tried to think of something positive but was just tired.
"You got us here faster than we thought so we'll sit a few minutes, thank you," was all she managed, and gave a bow. After a few seconds, Mei blinked and bowed as well.
"Have fun at school kids!" the driver said boisterously, taking back up the reins. The twins got their hands back over their ears just in time as the Squawkabilly started back up.
Mei gave it twenty seconds for the Taxi driver to be well and truly out of hearing range, before grabbing Rose's lapels. "I. Am getting. A Flier!" she said, speaking slowly and punctuating every couple words for emphasis.
"The Ranger had a little trouble with birds, just in warning. Not that I disagree with the sentiment," Rose said, taking Mei by the hand. "Let's get you sat down and I'll find some drinks." The two grabbed their cases.
"I don't really care. I'm finding a Rookidee who will sync with me if I have to battle a thousand of the, and he or she will shame every taxi in Paldea for not considering nice quiet Corviknights!" Mei vowed.
"I think some of it was just the power didn't flow the same, if I'm remembering that right, but I already have that problem," Rose reflected, mainly talking to herself, as she pulled Mei over to a shady bench to sit down.
"I hate when I get like this," Mei moaned as she sat, head slumping.
"Pull Terpsi out," Rose directed. Mei glanced up in surprise.
"I keep telling you, having something to center on helps," Rose said, a bit slowly, then tapped her trio necklace.
"Wisdom from elsewhen?" Mei said, a trifle sad. Rose shook her head, frowning.
"Sorry," Mei said, and brought out the Poke ball. A quick tap on the release and Terpsi popped out. She happily hopped into Mei's lap and worked under her fingers, bringing a smile to Mei's face as she began petting her.
"Let me know if it works better than my usual method because I'm collapsing right next to you after I get some bottled water," Rose said.
"I'll guard the suitcases," Mei said.
Terpsi, seeing Mei look slightly more lively, hopped on Mei's suit case to valiantly keep an eye out. Mei couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks – I guess you do have something there – I'm feeling a little better," Mei said, to the Bounsweet's unspoken question.
"I see the link's doing pretty good already, if you're seeing what I'm feeling so well," she observed with a more critical eye. Terpsi burbled back happily. It was… very different from the emotions she was getting from those cursed memories, but more what she had hoped.
She reached over and patted the little Pokemon again. "I wish I could say it was skill but I'm always good at reaching out to grass types, if Mom didn't explain it. We'll work and see how moves and attack routines are later, I promise," Mei said.
Terpsi cheeped a quick questioning tone. Mei nodded. "I think I got most of that. You're wondering why Rose knew better to cope?" Terpsi hopped in the affirmation.
"Not that either of us go out but she drains out faster than I do. We didn't have someone to sync with for an anchor so she found her own. I think the memory dump the Ranger was more similar. In 'my' other time – you're getting a little of that, right?" Mei interrupted herself to ask. Terpsi mimed a shiver in response.
"Sorry," Mei apologized, but the little Pokmon waved it off with a rustle of leaves and mental assurances she was Terpsi's trainer now.
Mei glanced around but no one was close – it was midweek in the morning and most people weren't having a reason to hang around a Pokemon Center. She leaned in anyway.
"So for the Knight – yeah loud noises hurt but all the back and forth with the driver? Well, we try and follow all that and it takes a lot, and it's not fun for us anyway. Normally, it'd take longer for either of us to be drained, well, today is a day." Terpsi nodded in agreement, nearly falling over from the motion.
"The Knight just ignored it wearing on her as she was tired usually. Or sad. If she was in the middle of a bunch of people and she was exhausted she couldn't let it show because she didn't want someone to have an excuse to hurt her. So, she would just have to pretend to keep going no matter how painful until someone would let her sleep," Mei continued, disgusted.
Terpsi made angry noises. "Yeah, she was pretty strong, but they'd made sure she never put that together she was stronger than them until Iris took out a couple of the scientists who were the worst to her," Mei said.
Terpsi made deeper angry noises. "Yeah, I'm happy to know I can just stop too," Mei said, and ran her hands through her hair before fingering her braids.
"Some of it's probably the battle sync for the first time, making everything more stressed. That's a bunch of stuff up here that's rerouting," she said, tapping her head.
Terpsi sighed and blew upwards, blowing the leaf over her face up and down, looking frustrated. "Oh, Mom tried to explain it to you, huh? Didn't get it then?" Mei asked, the little Pokemon nodded.
"There's a bunch of brain patterns scientists have seen in EEGs that show up when actively synching with Pokemon," Rose said, interrupting, carrying three waters. Azucena was on her head working on a fourth.
Rose continued walking slowly the rest of the way, concentrating. Even if her Petilil wasn't that big, it still weighed 6 kilos to keep balanced on her head. She handed two bottles to Mei, who twisted one open to give to Terpsi who messily started gulping, before she started on the other.
"But they aren't seen at all pre-trainers. It kicks in right away but it's like getting new shoes or glasses; it's a little while for the mind to catch up with the new state," she continued.
"Did you need glasses?" Mei asked, curious. Rose shook her head as she sat down. To her credit, Azucena flowed with the balance and kept drinking without spilling anything.
"How much did Terpsi, get of that, by the way?" Rose asked, looking over. "Since we've partners now does it get through better or worse?"
Rose glanced at Terpsi as she rolled on her back to keep drinking from the bottle and giggled. "She doesn't know what an EEG is, but she got the thrust of it – I had to fill in a little," she said.
"So, a bit better than the neighborhood Hoppips?" Rose pressed on, and Mei nodded.
"Also, Mom took good care of Terpsi in the Poke ball; she's not absorbing much of that water through her skin, so she didn't get dried out at all. I'm… not sure how I'm getting that but it's coming through," Mei said.
"So, you would like…" Rose trailed off, digging into her case.
"A towel, yes please," Mei confirmed. Rose handed one over, and on a mental nudge, the Bounsweet stopped drinking (slightly swollen from amount of chilled water she was packing away) to step daintily onto the towel to stop her from leaking through into the suitcase.
"How are you doing?" Mei asked after they watched Terpsi roll back onto her back to keep gulping.
"Besides feeling a little like I should be taking embarrassing baby photos when she's all grown up and a glamorous Tsareena?" Rose asked, briefly flashing a cocky grin before going back to exhausted.
"I am tired, I can't believe I forgot that!" Mei exclaimed and pulled her phone over to shoot a couple. Terpsi shot an irritated look at her trainer, who grinned and kept shooting. Terpsi rolled her eyes and went back to drinking. Rose waited for her to finish before continuing.
"I don't want to pile on you – but this has been a lot.. I would like a dark room later, please, and a couple hours to nap with no dragons and no dreams. Having Azucena to chat with is helping to strain out the city noise, a lot. I forgot, you get me out of the city for a few weeks and I get all jumpy," Rose said, reaching up to pat the little Petilil, who reacted to lean into it even before Rose's hand was in position.
"I should have thought of that this week before all this happened. Remember that Wild Area trip? You couldn't sleep the first night in Hammerlocke after we spent a week learning orienteering with Mom," Mei said regretfully.
"The traffic okay for you?" Rose asked.
"I'd hate to be in a crowd talking around me all the time but it's not too bad right here. There's enough green space here I think I'm drawing off that through Terpsi – that's new," Mei commented. Terpsi paused gulping – the bottle was two-thirds down now – to look smug.
"Oh, is that what I've been getting?" Rose asked, looking up towards Azucena. The Petilil shrugged, expressively.
"I thought you weren't as heavy as you should be up there – don't keep it up when the teacher comes and we're walking though. It'll be asphalt and stone around, not grass. No need to wear yourself out," Rose directed. The little bulb stopped drinking to bend at its 'knees' to pat Rose reassuringly on her head.
"Self-assured little thing, isn't she?" Mei remarked.
"Their leaves are good in folk medicine for stamina," Rose remembered. She leaned in towards Mei a bit and cupped her hands to Mei's ear.
"She's showing off a bit, I figure let her – they know we've got another Pokemon coming today," Rose whispered. Azucena paused to squeak pridefully, patting her chest. Terpsi, finishing her water, looked up, considering.
"Even if they have grass-types, there's no reason to double up a niche. You need coverage on a team, or different roles. We're going to lean into those kicks," Mei consoled the little Pokemon. Terpsi gave a sigh of relief.
"Even our little trainer school covered this part – this isn't 'old' info coming through. The best trainers still only have twenty-four moves and six Pokemon to choose from. You can't cover every possible strategy but if you're careful and smart, you can cover a lot," Rose lectured.
Mei looked up towards the sky past the shaded part of the Pokemon Center – the water and Terpsi were giving her a definite boost, at least for the moment.
"If you do want an 'old' tip, everyone's got a different style, even if they're using the same strategy. I don't know where we're ending up, but with you, Terpsi, the sensible second partner would be one that can give support or ranged attacks. But we're still all figuring out moves, so we can find good partners to sync with and then figure out the moves from there," Mei said with a smile. Terpsi burbled happily.
"We are pretty much at the 'most complicated construct is slamming into an opponent with a body' stage, aren't we?" Rose asked, looking up again. Azucena looked down and made chiding noises, waving her arm.
"Okay I got that – nearly, better than I thought after trying grass knot earlier. Magical leaf? Absorb?" Mei asked. Azucena nodded at the second one.
"Okay that's what that was," Rose remarked, "I can feel something with powder starting to sort out in there too. I never was sure how this part of it worked-" Rose stopped, making an expanding motion from Azucena's head down to her own, waggling like a set of grass or a loose flower.
"That's pretty strong for a passive bond right away. Terpsi and I keep sending little feedback pulses to keep it strong. I'm working on it," Mei assured her. She was a tad jealous how in sync they were already.
"It's nothing like the Ranger had. Or how Mom does it. Like a tree stump, or something. Now that I have a Pokemon I want to see her in action so I can really get how she does it. I feel like I have dozens of threads. Little strands of fibers and grass – they don't feel very strong but they're holding. I've no idea how it's going to work for energy without blowing them," Rose said, betraying some worry.
"Maybe build the image as you go? I know how Mom does it but that feels… slow for Terpsi," Mei said. It'd seemed easier on TV and in the Knight's memories, but that wasn't a surprise, looking at it from a distance. Those were both with carefully trained Pokemon for weeks or years. Put a Champion with Terpsi and she's still move slower than a Bounsweet that was well practiced and long-synched with a trainer.
"Yeah, more fluttering. We'll get more in school though," Rose added quickly, determined to stay at least outwardly neutral day one, despite the universe seemingly trying everything to bring down her mood.
Rose plucked Azucena off her head and hugged her again. "I don't know if it's grass to grass or just because I'm tired but this is better than I thought it would be. Or how it's described. Maybe it's a rush with the first."
"If someone told me in the doors of Naranja to 'unlearn everything you learned before' I think I'd thank them right now, but I wouldn't lose synching to Terpsi," Mei said. She picked up the (slightly heavier and waterlogged) Bounsweet and examined her.
"We're going to have to work on those table manners, though sweetie," she lectured. Terpsi stared back at her defiantly and licked water off around her lips. The twins burst out giggling.
Rose checked her phone for the time as she finished her own bottle. "Okay, Professor Miriam has a couple minutes left but I kind of suspected she'd be early for this," she reported, looking around.
"It's a big city. Maybe there was traffic," Mei suggested, looking around, and tabbing her own phone open.
"You're not going to call her?" Rose asked in Kantonian, a tad appalled.
Mei opened her mouth, paused, then continued in Paldean, "You're going to make me do it if you switch like that, you know. I was just being prepared."
"Sorry," Rose said, then made a face. "And now that I've spoken actual Kantonian, I'm really hearing the Solaceon in my Paldean. I don't remember my Kantonian being that far north."
"You got an extra dose of Sinnoh from the Ranger, on top of this quick-learn. I really hate it messed our Galarian to back when were like five or so. If I'm ever in Poke ball range of whoever built this language pack, no jury would convict me," Mei said grimly.
"If you start speaking Kalosian in your sleep, I promise to wake you up. Aw, no, right," Rose said, looking down, remembering again they'd be separated.
"Terpsi, if I start speaking Kalosian, wake me up," Mei directed, and rubbed her eyes. Separate rooms were going to be rough tonight.
"I don't think that will happen though," Rose said, forcibly bright again, over almost gritted teeth. "'She' seems to be behaving herself in my head. Just a lot of stuff I recall that hasn't happened and – over on your left there's an elite trainer that just stepped into my view in the park." Rose finished at a rush.
Mei twisted around and it took her only a second to spot her. Pink and purple hair – yellow light sweater over a blouse with floral accents, and a Meganium ambling behind at a casual pace. They knew the face from the welcome emails, and they didn't need the Naranja brochures to extoll the virtues of the campus faculty. This was someone, had they the inclination, could throw themselves into the Galar circuit and emerge with glory and fame.
Unsurprisingly for a high-level trainer, Miriam blinked a little as she realized she was being observed, and very quickly spotted them back. Rose felt her eyes meet Miriam's for a second and it was a charge almost electrical that caught her by surprise.
No reading and no distanced memories could prepare for that actual eye contact. This was a genuine challenge inherent to Pokemon trainers. But not today, she told herself, throttling down the instinct to put Azucena forward. Facing the professor wouldn't even really be a learning opportunity yet; Miriam would basically be bullying it would be so easy for her.
Still whatever reason was telling her, she could feel Azucena tensing in her arms and her mouth was suddenly dry. She swallowed a few times and once her tongue didn't seem to be a stick, she whispered to the little plant. "Later, it wouldn't be fun for either us or them, right?"
Azucena considered, looking at the Meganium again, and relaxed reluctantly. The charge feeling dissipated. Rose couldn't help but be a little disappointed in herself. Professor Miriam was the health teacher, but a jolt like that she apparently didn't mind her Pokemon getting rough in her free time.
Mei's eyes didn't quite meet Miriam's, but she could feel a flash besides her from Rose, like a pitch rising between her and Azucena. But there was also a strain as it was held back, and Rose had it tamped down quickly and whispered to her Pokemon. When Rose's breathing seemed more normal, Mei did have to ask though, "What was it like?"
Rose considered briefly, but not long – the teacher was nearly in earshot. "Bracing," she decided.
The twins quickly stood as Miriam got close enough to wave, a friendly smile on her face. "Spotted me first, didn't you? I'd heard you two had been getting trained in the basics," she said. Her breathing was slightly flustered – she apparently had been moving a bit faster before she reached the park.
The twins bowed in response. "Professor Miriam?" Mei asked quickly to take the lead, not quite trusting Rose to avoid some sort of berserker charge.
Miriam showed off her faculty badge, "That's right welcome to homeroom 2-C – but just Miriam is fine. Most of the faculty will say so too, but that's their call. Professor makes us sound more important to Pokemon than we are, we're teachers, not elite researchers!" she finished with a small self-effacing giggle.
"Pretty elite anyway," Rose said, loudly. Probably too loudly, still a little jumpy. "That's a wonderful Meganium." The Meganium preened a bit at being noticed, shaking her torso to rustle the flower growing there, sending a wave of a soothing scent out. Mei could hear the Center's staff behind them sigh when it reached them.
"You two do have good eyes," Miriam said appreciatively. There was a flinty gaze for a second and then Miriam shook her head and it was back to all smiles. The Meganium cooed lowly. The twins spread their hands apologetically. Whatever challenge Rose had gotten, Miriam had gotten a little of it too, but the twins simply weren't worth it yet.
"She's a recent pick-up but she's coming along great to fit in. We've been working with a partner school a lot near Unova this summer, and I managed to catch her there!" Miriam continued.
"I thought you might appreciate her than some of the others. I'd usually walk with my Glalie for the city – it gets steamy with the asphalt later in the day during the summer, but I read up your files, and didn't want to do that to you," Miriam continued. The twins nodded in appreciation.
"Thank you," Mei said, bowing again. "We're not worried about a trained Pokemon but it's a little stressful." Miriam nodded, making a mental note.
"It's only ice too – all the other of grass's weaknesses don't get the same antipathy just from around us," Rose explained.
"I used to work at a Pokemon Center before coming to Naranja. It'd be nice to be able to get such a good dialog with so many Pokemon! I never had a strong inherent type affinity or a preference when I got into serious training," Miriam said.
"In Galar, most people at your level had ended up specializing. Just with starting to plan, can I ask if you did? Is that polite in Paldea?" Rose asked.
"I've got more of a theme for how they work together than a type. It's not really a problem, most people would just say they have Pokemon. The majority of Paldean trainers don't reach very high battle skill or try to integrate their team that highly. Most battle-trainers just have a couple to help them through the countryside with wild Pokemon or with work rather than to develop a full strategy," Miriam admitted. "Is it rude in Galar to ask?" she asked, intrigued.
"Not really, though some people won't answer. Gym leaders are pretty well known for their favorites, but a lot of challengers try to keep it concealed as best they can when they start the Challenge. The Gyms watch the challenger interviews too so people don't want the Leaders to be adapted to them," Mei explained.
"Mysterious plays up well on TV, too, a lot of the time. Reporters love digging up a mystery and more airtime can be a big help in sponsors," Rose added.
"You're definitely more active up in Galar than usual here. But to fully answer your question, I favor a close-in style, lots of physical contact, with a variety of types. I used to work as a nurse and that mindset comes to how my Pokemon and I interact. Needle pokes, compressive binds," Miriam said, smiling a little as she thought on her team, and patted her Meganium absently, before putting her fists together.
Mei looked over Miriam's light colored ensemble. "I have to say, I did not expect that just… you know, how people tend to end up vibing with their Pokmeon," she admitted.
Miriam wrapped some of the purple streak in her hair around a finger and twisted it around a few times. "I've a good friend who's accused me of trying to bury a poisonous streak," Miriam admitted.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think you were doing anything… uncouth? Is that the word?" Mei hastily apologized.
"If we were in our mother's homeland, we'd have both started with grass/poison types," Rose added.
Miriam giggled a little and waved it off. "No, there's a bunch of people at the school who saw me and kept calling me an Angel, though the Battle Brawl has helped settle that down," she explained. There was that flinty glint again briefly, Rose noted. Miriam was a battle trainer, definitely, even if her personality off the court was (at least at the surface) gentle.
Out loud, Rose did say, "There was a little on some recurring tournament in the packets we got – we were worried our class time would be pretty much theory, but it sounds like that shouldn't be a problem."
"The Battle Brawl's a recent addition but it's proving quite popular. Oh – and do you mind walking and talking? I had another overseas student before – a transfer – and we got caught up in talking shop too. All the students I've been meeting for class have been such fascinating people! That's why I was nearly late," Miriam said, apologizing.
The twins nodded and stood up, bringing out their Pokemon's Poke balls. Miriam held out a hand to stop them. "Oh, it's traditional to usually have one out when outside in Mesagoza, too. I know you haven't been in Paldea long," she explained. With a squeak of satisfaction, Terpsi jumped off Mei's suitcase and rubbed her face against Mei's calf.
"Careful, sweetie, I didn't pick these stockings out for durability," Mei warned. Terpsi, slightly chastened, nodded, then went back to rubbing more slowly. The grass trainer giggled at her antics.
Azucena and Rose shared a silent communication, the little bulb looking up and down at Rose, before nodding and jumping to the street out of Rose's arms.
"Your tutor definitely put some work in that you knew bonding theory," Miriam said appreciatively.
"We're still getting some fade but I hope a few weeks and we'll be good sync," Mei admitted.
"So far, it's feeling pretty nice. We're being extra polite with each other still, though," Rose stated.
"That's not a bad starting point," Miriam encouraged, and then held her phone up so her Meganium could gently take it in her mouth. She stood to the side and ran a line along the map app, tracing a brief route.
"So, we don't have time to do the full city tour but tomorrow on Friday there'll be one as an option in the morning, and on Sunday in the afternoon. We're at the Pokemon center so you don't need that pointed out. There's plenty of shopping all through the west district! I'll point out a couple of the more popular stores as we go along," Miriam explained, and gestured for them to start walking.
"Is it a lot of work keeping up a full-time team as a non-professional trainer? Sorry, I counted the Poke balls on your belt," Rose explained.
"Oh, don't be, not like I'm hiding it. Teaching, and nursing before that, does cut down the time we can share outside the Poke balls. That's probably the biggest issue. I don't get as many battles as we might want but I don't have to worry about finances as much too. It does mean a fair amount of the remaining free time is just in training to keep up my edge," Miriam said.
"Do you feel like you've hit any walls?" Rose pressed.
"Many times. But the professional trainer life on a battle circuit never called to me. Putting everything into trying to get another degree hotter fire, or pushing just a little more distance into an attack. A life to that degree isn't really having a goal at the end, and I'm not that ambitious. Having my life in teaching with them at my side, even in their Poke balls, is a kind of training too. Does that sound hokey?" Miriam asked. Rose shook her head.
"Now I know some people whose hobby is battles, but a lot of people, even if you want to keep getting stronger, there's a point where you have to be human on top of being a trainer to keep growing," Miriam reminisced, smiling fondly.
"Huh," Rose said to herself. Mei gave her and Azucena a glance. They seemed more curious than aback. Life for the Knight had been training, and it sounded like the Ranger didn't exactly have a life outside training. Their mother had been head's down when she was on her journey.
"You'll probably get a little different answer from everybody you ask, but even Gym Leaders have hobbies. Burnout on young trainers is a real problem," Miriam pointed out.
"It's not easy on either end of the scale, huh?" Mei said. Terpsi walking along, burbled agreement.
"I don't regret making my choice, to be with them on the battle side," Miriam said, nodding to her Meganium and gesturing at her belt of Poke balls simultaneously. "There are goals I wish I'd reached earlier or people I wish I'd said something different too, or adventures I should have had. Even if it isn't full-time in a gamblers' den somewhere or guarding a city from a Gym, I'm proud of what we've accomplished." The Meganium bellowed and reached down to be petted. Miriam laughed lightly and scratched behind her antenna.
"Now, I'm afraid the next part will be crowded, so meet under the yellow sauropod if we get separated, okay?" Miriam said with a playful wink.
Miriam hadn't been joking. Once out of the park and on the way to the central plaza they joined a mass of human and Pokemon moving on the streets. Worse, as the buildings closed in the Squawkabilly started to become much more audible overhead. Mei felt her headache returning, and bringing reinforcements.
Still, Miriam's Meganium poked out of the crowd with her antenna like a flag. Miriam kept up a pace of chatter on the various shops useful to a student, and Mei grabbed onto that line of dialog like a lifeline to try and tune the rest hammering on her out. She'd picked up Terpsi to ride on her shoulder to help as well, but the ciyt was crowding in.
Rose had started to grip Mei's hand, and Azucena was sending worried glances to her trainer. Mei glanced down a sec and found her fingers were nearly white and looked over to see her sister trembling despite trying to hide it.
"Professor, I'm sorry – we need to stop," Mei said, wiping sweat from her head. The streets were closing in.
Miriam nodded, but didn't stop talking, she'd seen the twins bobbing along to the beat of her voice. "Good on you to not try and power through that. We're almost to the central battle plaza, so let's pop over there? It's where the Battle Brawl is held but there's plenty of benches around it. It's usually quiet in the morning."
Mei barely heard Mirima over the ringing in her head now that a stop was announced, but managed a nod. Miriam sent a signal to her Meganium, who dropped behind the twins to give some extra protection from the crowd press as they reached the crosswalk.
Stopping for a second for the light had Rose bending down, hands on her knees, but after a second held a hand up, shaking a little. "I'm not going to faint. I don't know what it is but it's not that," she insisted, tapping her necklace repeatedly as a tic. Azucena ran around her feet, worried but having no idea on her own what do.
"Come on, Rose, keep walking for a little longer," Miriam said encouragingly.
"I can't describe it but there' ssomething," Mei said, eyes squinting. The sun felt like knives in her eyes at this point. She thought she knew the word for it, but it was the Knight's not hers.
They got across the street and onto a bench set near the plaza. A Staravia and Corvisquire were going at it with encouragement from two Birdkeepers on the center, but the Meganium didn't spare a glance as it moved around the bench to serve as a backstop, leaving the two to collapse into the scent. Their partners, worried, hopped in their laps.
Miriam felt their foreheads, and then tapped the heads of both partners, with her eyes closed. "Well it's not bond rejection or a feedback loop," she said, and hesitated.
Mei risked opening an eye partway. "It's Lumiose Syndrome, isn't it? With all the stress" she asked.
"Yes, that's my guess, but it's not nearly as bad as that. No shadows or lights in your eyes? Any ringing in your ears?" Miriam asked, concerned. The two shook their heads.
"I don't think so. But I can't keep anything out," Rose said, still trembling a little.
"Mainly just the noise driving in. And everything seems bright," Mei said. "I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize," Miriam said, firmly. "You got those two little darlings today, didn't you?" The twins nodded.
Miriam sighed, and said, "Naranja does its introductions to new trainers late in the day because of this. Usually, starters are given where the area is quiet so it's easier to take the new neural load without the outside world making it ramp up. You two got them, were in a Taxi, and now here? I'm sure it was with good intentions to see you on your journey but take a few moments and focus on them and I think it will help."
"It's been a very busy day," Rose said, in a massive understatement.
"We have a lot of students from the quieter parts of Paldea. They can usually adjust fine, but you aren't the first to be worn out by Mesagoza. You two aren't fond of crowds normally?" Miriam asked. The two shook their heads.
"Is this going to cause problems with the study Pokemon?" Mei asked weakly, keeping her eyes closed as she breathed in Meganium. She could feel, in and out from the headache, Terpsi sending reassuring thoughts and she rustled the Bounsweet's leaves.
"No, but do you mind if I push you back a few hours in the schedule so you can rest? We were going to do it after we got past the stairs, but I think it's best to get you to your dorm rooms," Miriam advised.
"Are these stairs crowded?" Rose asked.
"No, but there's a lot of them," Miriam warned.
Mei struggled to her feet and made sure her sunglasses were firmly in place. "We have calf muscles like steel cables, lead on!"
Behind them, ignored, the Staravia cried victory as the Corvisquire dug a trail through the dust on the plaza as their final exchange.
Things were better on the stairs – partially since no one really was climbing them for fun when the sun shone most down on them, so the noise had dropped considerable. The twins had produced their hats to put on the circumstances, but despite the glare and the heat, the retreat of the noise meant the mental strain was easing.
Miriam was delighted that their first day wasn't getting any worse after everything. Still out of concern, she pulled them aside between flights halfway up to point out some of the city features from the near-aerial view, from a far enough distance to the city they had to remove their sunglasses. The health professor surreptitiously checked their pupils, but no unevenness.
"I pointed out the big battle plaza below, but you can see a few of the other ones. There's some smaller ones that aren't as well maintained – limitations on Ground moves, mainly, without paying a fee. But there's three decent sized complexes where you can really go all out across the city. They have reservations but it's not too hard to get a close time in a day or two," Miriam explained.
"In a city this size? Does the Academy have priority?" Mei asked.
Miriam winced, slightly. "Technically no. But while most of the student body aren't battle trainers, we have a lot of dabblers. There's plenty of people with Pokemon in the city, but not that many interested in formal matches besides getting in a challenge once a month or so for the Pokemon's health."
"Hammerlocke had restrictions on private battling in city limits off registered pitches. How do you keep that many Pokemon happy? Is the city built that strong?" Mei continued.
"Not really – I've been overseas a few times and I see what you're getting at. Paldea's trainers tend to shoot for a certification or give up on trying to strengthen early. Most of what would be 'average' trainers either on a battle circuit or just in daily life elsewhere work for the League here in Paldea to help keep people and Pokemon safe. We don't have that many. No battle circuit and straight tournaments tend to be local affairs. Most trainers are pet owners with one or two as their bond limit," Miriam explained.
The twins shared surprised glances. "We read up on Paldea that the trainer circuit wasn't as developed. We thought it was all the wild Pokemon compared to Galar. Less sports, more rangers," Rose said.
"Naranja's worked closely with the League, of course. The current League Champion thinks it's a vicious cycle. A lot of Paldea's best trainers head to Kalos or Galar or Unova for the tournaments there, so the competition isn't as good here, so more trainers leave as the competitions aren't as good here," Miriam said.
"You sound a little doubtful," Rose observed.
"Growing up here, Paldea always seemed sleepy compared to other areas on television. I didn't do as well on motivation myself, outside training, until I came to the Academy and met foreign students. Last year was a big jolt. I didn't think we were as good at ambition, generally, as other regions." Miriam said. "It sounds a little shameful."
"You had the Paldean Empire basically fall apart because of how much it threw into failed expeditions. I could see that as a bad example of what trying really hard gets you," Mei said.
"What do you two want to do?" Miriam asked.
"Be Champion," they answered together. Miriam giggled a little and waited.
"I know, it's not likely. There's plenty of people with talent who never get too far. I've tried to learn as much as I can on training to be ready. More than I thought I could," Mei said a tad ruefully, then shook herself and continued, "Besides plant studies, which I don't really have a choice in - I like history a lot, otherwise. With Pokemon, I can see a lot of the areas outside towns that aren't safe unaccompanied. I'm not sure where that will end up. I hope I can get good enough for some sort of professional trainer career though."
"We're both good around plants, flowers, trees, grass-types," Rose listed off, "I've liked when we could go into the wild areas and go away from the city. I've been doing pictures, lately, so I've been thinking on maybe wildlife surveys for my Treasure Hunt this year." Rose held her phone up and tabbed her album with her favorites briefly.
"These look more like landscape shots, if these are your favorites," Miriam said after a minute. "You may want to talk to Professor Hassel, too."
"Mom thought it best to hold off the art electives so I could get used to studying. I probably have more chances of making Gym Leader than photography as a career, right?" Rose said, with a touch of regret.
"That's probably true, sadly. Though if you spend time next year over the break in Artazon you can see a lot of part timers!" Miriam encouraged.
"You said you were Pokemon Center staff; what got you into human health?" Rose asked.
"I think it was I always liked talking with the trainers on their adventures. They often had extra eggs and I'd take care of them – probably why my team is diverse and had my breakthrough when the choice came up. Naranja was hiring more staff and sixty percent of the job is Pokemon care, and from there I decided to try and pass the teacher certification," Miriam said.
"I nearly gave up for a while. I have no trouble with medical knowledge but something with the test just blocked me for a bit. Last year we had another child from Galar, actually, funny enough. He blazed through the Gym tests and Championship evaluation. It got a lot of people revved up and me too! And that time I passed," Miriam said.
"Is the student still here? We're deep into the second half of the Circuit now, but even with the testing and packing up, I didn't hear about anyone coming in with that kind of reputation of tearing through a foreign gym series," Mei said.
"Oh yes, Florian is interested in completing his education. He arrived mid-term shortly before the Treasure Hunt and had a very busy spring and summer," Miriam said.
"He reached Victory Road in six months?" Mei squeaked.
Miriam admitted, "A bit less. Actually. He did summer courses at our partner academy in Unova."
"Did he train under someone in Galar we might know? There's been some changeover in the Gym circuit the last few years, after the new Champion," Rose asked.
"Oh, he said he didn't have Pokemon, in Galar, actually. He's a few years older than the two of you, but only a year ahead in classes," Miriam said.
"He'd never had Pokemon at all. A completely novice trainer, and he," Mei stopped mid-sentence, overcome. Terpsi, meanwhile, had her eyes shining at the idea of charging through so quickly to evolve.
"I may be experiencing those hallucinations my sister mentioned, Professor," Rose said calmly, eyes wide in disbelief. Azucena helpfully pinched her hand. Rose started slightly then patted the Pokemon.
"He's quite the open character – you think he'd be intimidating at that level, but you wouldn't think he's a trainer at all sensing him. An unusual prodigy, our director said," Miriam stated.
"You don't grade on a curve, I hope," Mei said, twisting her braids. Miriam giggled.
Worried about wasting time after that revelation, the twins and Miriam got into motion, reaching the main forward courtyard. The view, both towards the Great Crater, and down towards the city were spectacular in the morning sun. Miriam paused a moment to rub her calves, while the twins were still a bit bleary-eyed from stress.
Miriam finished getting the worse knots out and brightly exclaimed, "Welcome to Naranja Academy! Formally! Founded eight hundred and six years ago with some of the world's top Pokemon Professors have completed studies or even taught here! Some of Paldea's best," Miram patted her chest and simpered slightly, "are here to teach! I hope you'll have a wonderful time here!"
With new applicants arriving through the end of the week, the courtyard wasn't very busy yet. The rest of the student body would move in over the weekend to start courses next week. A few students – one could tell from the uniforms, ages were all over the place, were walking around on errands.
Some small group of students had also set up what looked like an astronomy club sign-up table near the main entrance.
Miriam, however, pointed them to the left around the school. "Let's go straight to the dorms so you can rest. I'm sorry you both have to deal with trainer shock and moving in on the same day. I hate to add more, but the Academy prefers to start the study Pokemon as soon as possible, but I still think we should reschedule for the afternoon."
"Three or so hours should be fine for a nap to recharge a little. If we can wait that long," Mei estimated.
"I'm very sorry. I've never had it so bad, so quickly," Rose said, bowing again, then winced. Miriam didn't notice anything odd on the comment, fortunately.
"No, both of you – listening to your bodies is for the best. Even if you hadn't said something I would have had us stop soon. You two were in a bad way. But if you're in the field, you don't want to push too hard. Your Pokemon can't necessarily pull you back if you go too far, and you don't always have backup. We'll cover some of the warning signs in class," Miriam said.
The twins nodded. Miriam waved and they followed her around and into the building. A resident advisor was sitting at a long oak desk, with a Shinx napping on the counter, and quickly got them set up with key cards. They would, at least, have rooms next to each other.
"The floor warden will have a meeting this evening at eight. Given the range of Naranja's student body, we don't set a curfew, but the front desk is only monitored until ten and then the doors will auto-lock. There is a small cantina if you go down to the right from here on the way to the library, but you'll want to go down the stairs into the city for cooking supplies. It's not much cheaper, but the variety's better and they stock fresh vegetables," the RA said, giving what was clearly the same speech for the dozenth time today.
Mei nodded blearily. Rose spoke up, "Is there any restrictions on deploying Pokemon in the rooms?" Miriam nodded in approval.
"The floors are rated for four hundred kilograms past the first floor. Cooking is expected in the suites so no restrictions on deploying Pokemon with open flames and odd smells. Please be mindful of your neighbors. The building does have an automatic sprinkler system and someone sets it off at least once a term. Don't be that person, if possible," the RA said. The twins nodded again.
The RA looked up and peered at both of them. "Thought that was Miriam at first, excuse me. I would mention this first otherwise to people coming in as trainers. Naranja forbids matches within school grounds outside the registered battle courts. Controlled Pokemon usage for practice, class tasks, and demonstrations are allowed given proper precautions are taken to avoid damage to school property and teacher permission is given. Pokemon are not to be outside their Poke balls during lectures unless specifically permitted by the teacher," the RA lectured.
"Your Shinx looks nice," Rose commented, partially out of politeness and partially to let Mei catch up.
"Thank you," the RA said tersely, then smiled and continued, "She's new but I'm training up Glowstick here on Coordinator style drills for a paper I'm working on."
Mei shook herself into brief focus. "There's a Pokemon Contest system in Paldea?" Mei sad. Galar had one but it was basically a feeder system for Kalos. Anyone Galarian taking Coordinating seriously headed overseas. Hannah had mentioned Sinnoh's system a few times but she'd never paid much attention to it, thinking it too frilly compared to the work of ranching.
Rose had dragged Mei to her fair share of (local, Normal-rank) contests in Hammerlocke because she had wanted to see the flashy moves, though.
"No," mourned the RA. "A few pageants now and then but what can you do? The League can barely keep the Gyms staffed, let alone organize a Contest judge corps on top of it."
There wasn't much else to say to that, so the key cards were handed over in relative quiet.
Miriam checked her own phone by the elevator, and confirmed, "I'll be here three hours from now in the lobby to see about setting up with your new partners. The campus tours are tomorrow as part of orientation, and you'll get a chance to meet your homeroom classmates after the opening speeches. Oh – I'd head into town tonight to get groceries, if you can manage. Enough people signed up they scheduled a short Battle Brawl this evening. Top students and staff, so you can see the Academy's battling at its best."
"Will you be there?" Rose asked. She'd grabbed Mei by the hand again and was towing her sister along at this point. Terpsi kept giving a few encouraging nudges from behind.
"No, I'll be meeting new students and we have some conferences this evening to prepare," Miriam said, a tad regretfully. With getting set up as a Naranja teacher for a first time, it'd been over a week since she'd gotten any matches in.
The elevator dinged, and the twins staggered in. "Get some sleep you two and leave your Pokemon out – it'll help finish getting this all aligned," Miriam directed. Mei started to bow for thanks, and Rose managed to catch her before she fell over as the doors closed.
Miriam chewed her lip briefly and glanced at the RA. "I just paged the floor warden – she'll keep an eye out," the RA promised.
The dorm rooms were indeed massive. Rose led Mei into her room, then across the room, then across the room again to her bed where she helped her put her packs and suitcase down. Terpsi hopped on the counter to investigate a small welcome basket. Azucena sighed and sat down on the suitcase.
"Right with you," Rose said. She looked around. They'd never had this much room to share.
Mei sat heavily on the bed,and forced her shoes off. "I'm not bothering with the rest," she announced, and fell 90 degrees over to her side before rolling onto the bed, putting her arm over her eyes.
"Do you need a mask or anything?" Rose asked, eyeing the curtains.
"No, I'm going to curl up," Mei said, switching absently. She briefly uncovered her eyes.
"Thank you. I know how bad it's hitting you too and you've been putting all your energy into taking the lead anyway. If getting this in my head was whatever price I needed for a sister, it was worth it," she said sincerely.
"I'm going to go lay down myself in a second," Rose promised, ignoring the second part. She dithered over by Terpsi and the welcome basket.
Mei forced herself up on her elbow. "What?" she asked.
"I feel a little responsible," Rose said, switching over herself.
"Don't. Even if it feels like us, it's some other people, for whatever reason," Mei said. She waved vaguely and fell back, covering her arm again.
"None of this feels like what they did. Thank Arceus and the dragons. I know it's still in there and I'm somehow also a terrible person, but I must try and ignore it," Mei said.
"It's taking a lot right now?" Rose asked softly.
"Yeah, probably why I'm more beat up," Mei acknowledged.
"Okay, let me just put a kettle on this hot plate so you can just flip it on before your shower," Rose said, doing as she said, before she pawed at the basket.
"You can take the chocolate, if there's any in there," Mei offered. Terpsi gave Rose a hard stare, daring her to do so.
"I should have my own," Rose assured the little Pokemon. Azucena hopped over to fold her 'arms' and keep an eye on Terpsi.
"Okay, I definitely need to nap too, but… wow," Rose said, amazed as she finished her investigation.
"What?"
"Three different coffee packets, and only one kind of black tea. Barely. If you can call it that," Rose reported.
"Black tea will work in a pinch," Mei said, too tired to debate blends.
"We definitely have to go shopping this evening. We're not the first people from Galar, and there's a big home ec department at the Academy. Someone must sell green tea," Rose insisted.
"Yeah, that's for later," Mei insisted. Rose smiled, briefly, then went over and kissed her sister on the forehead.
"Okay, you're clearly going to be fine getting to sleep so I'm leaving to collapse. I'll see you later," Rose promised.
"Fine first day," Mei mumbled, starting to drift off. Terpsi rolled off the counter before going to jump on the bed, settling in.
"Keep an eye on her, okay?" Rose asked the little Boundsweet softly, scooping Azucena off the counter with one hand, as she grabbed her suitcase. Terpsi cheeped bravely, but her eyes fluttered as well.
Rose paused at the door to look around, still amazed at the size, before turning the lights off, leaving mainly shadows. The curtains were doing nicely against the morning sun.
Rose closed the door softly, then leaned against it, covering her eyes for a second, trying not to cry now that she wasn't in front of her sister. Azucena patted her fondly.
"No, it's not you at all, or Mei or Terpsi," Rose assured. Azucena nodded sagely.
"Just damn you Rose, wherever you are, for this," Rose whispered darkly, and then headed next door to lay down herself.