Chapter 2 - Zangi
The ferry violently shook while it came into port. It wasn't anything new for Yurie. Docking and unloading all of the cars wasn't always the smoothest process.
Yurie was coming to Sinnoh without making it publicly known to the Pokémon League. So, no one was expecting her. Last year, she had to register as soon as she arrived in Kanto. But this time, she could simply walk to the Pokémon Center and do it there.
She was still unsure if she wanted to continue doing contests. It was the only thing that she knew when it came to Pokémon battling. Could she do gyms?
She thought on it for a moment, and the idea of completing the gym challenge and then making it to a conference frightened her. She wasn't cut out to battle in a full six-on-six format.
Canalave City was a port town isolated from the rest of Sinnoh by the ocean and mountains. It had hundreds of wide canals where children played and people rowed their small boats.
Someone had offered Yurie a ride to the Pokémon Center by boat where she could take in the view of Canalave City. A lot of the buildings that they passed were built of concrete. Foliage had grown on many of the houses, blurring the transition from forest to city.
Even though it was the end of summer, she instantly could feel that the air was cooler than Hoenn. She was excited and nervous about what was to come.
In preparation, she wore her red sweater, long black tights, and skirt. She had to look cute, not for other people, but for herself.
When she got to the Pokémon Center, her first order of business was to register with Nurse Joy.
"What's your name?"
"Yurie Kawahara!" she stated happily.
"Oh? Little Miss Yurie! I've seen your contests! It's nice to have you here!"
"Thank you!"
"You're here for contests?"
"Yes, ma'am! Well, and the food! Any recommendations?" Yurie responded.
"If you like fried food, then you should try zangi!"
"I'll look for it!"
"How many Pokémon have you brought with you?" Nurse Joy asked.
"Three: my Torchic, Minun, and Eevee!"
"A very cute trio, indeed!" Nurse Joy exclaimed while typing in Yurie's information. Her machine buzzed and produced a diamond-colored Pokédex. "Here you are!"
"A Pokédex! I should definitely try to use this one," Yurie said, thinking about how much dust her other Pokédex collected.
"This Pokédex comes with a map application! I recommend using it. You can even find food with it!" Nurse Joy exclaimed.
"That's amazing!"
She was thankful for the map application. Before, her friends did all of the guiding. She always knew where to eat, but she never knew how to get there.
The plane arrived at the Jubilife City airport. Cyan had slept most of the way. He watched a couple of movies that he had missed out on over the years, but the seven hours on the plane passed by quickly.
His mom had bought him a relatively cheap ticket, which meant that he rode in the back. He had no issue waiting, but the crowd lethargically got their luggage and then moved forward. Cyan had only brought his new, and big, backpack. He managed to fit it in the overhead bin and felt like he outsmarted all of the other passengers. They would have to go to luggage pick-up, but he could leave the airport instantly.
Slowly, the other passengers moved forward. He tried to get glimpses of the outside. His image of Sinnoh was snow, but there was no snow on the ground. It was summer, so that made sense, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit excited about snow, even if he had bad experiences with it when he was younger.
He took one step out of the airplane and onto the walkway. He was blasted with the cool air of Sinnoh, and the thin hairs that he had on his arms stood up.
"It's freezing!" he shouted. Since he was the last one out of the plane, he put down his bag and pulled out his brand-new pink sweater. He quickly zipped it up and tightened the hood so that it'd cover most of his head.
He wasn't as comfortable with changing from his shorts to his jeans in public, so he dashed inside, found a bathroom, and changed. It was the first time that he had worn something past his knee in years. It felt odd to have his shins covered, but this would be his life for the next year.
Since he was a trainer coming from a foreign land, he had to register his Pokédex and Pokémon. He met with the attendant at immigration, a woman in her twenties. She looked kind, but she could also reject his application and send him back to Alola.
"Name?"
"Cyan Kokura!"
The girl's eyebrows twitched, and she looked at Cyan one more time. She could recognize him from television, but it would be unprofessional to say anything.
"Reason for coming to Sinnoh?"
"Uh, travel? Pokémon training? I don't know yet."
"How many Pokémon have you brought with you?"
"Just three!"
"Please place your Poké Balls on this machine," the girl said while handing out a small tray. It looked similar to the ones that they used in Pokémon Centers.
"Venusaur, Vulpix, and Urshifu, correct?"
"Correct!"
"Well, Mr. Kokura. It looks like you're all registered! Stay out of trouble and have fun!" the attendant said while handing over Cyan's new Pokédex. It was pearl-colored, matching Cyan's sweater.
"Thank you! By the way, do you know where I could buy a scarf? It's really cold!" Cyan said.
The attendant gave him a confused look. "It's not even autumn yet, Mr. Kokura."
Yurie's eyes got big as the waitress put a plate of fried food in front of her. They were simply massive pieces of fried meat, but the way they fried it in Canalave was supposed to be special. They battered it with wheat flour and potato starch, and she could dip it into some soy sauce and ginger.
It tasted special. And it was only the first food that she had in Sinnoh. She still had many more meals to come.
She pulled out one of her notebooks. This one was blue. She had many different notebooks, all with different levels of importance. This was one that she could carelessly scribble down miscellaneous notes in.
She opened her Pokédex and looked for the contest app. It had all of the information that she needed, but she enjoyed writing it all down with a pencil.
The first contest of the season was set to take place in Jubilife City, the capital city of Sinnoh. If she wanted to make a big splash in front of the Sinnoh crowd, then that'd be the place to go. And luckily for her, it wasn't too far. It'd only be a few days of walking, but she could take a train and get there within an hour.
She looked at her food and took another bite of the fried meat. She had ordered green tea, which helped her get the chicken down.
This reminded her of one other reason to go to Jubilife City, her first rival, Michika. They had competed together in both Hoenn and Kanto, constantly one-upping the other. But it was Michika who ultimately came out on top in the last season, winning the entire Kanto Grand Festival.
Michika's mother ran a tea shop in Jubilife City, and that was first on Yurie's list of places to go.
She picked up one of the pieces of her fried meat and held it out for Torchic. "Wanna try?"
Torchic looked at the food curiously, wondering what kind of meat they could have fried.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
A short chapter, but I wanted to get out a bit more information about the trainers without doing a massive info dump. Also, I'm gonna do my best to describe more of the cities as I go along. I recently went to Hokkaido (which is real-life Sinnoh), and it's absolutely gorgeous. I hope I'm able to convey that.
Next chapter, Cyan will attempt to earn a new Pokémon, and Yurie will make her way to Jubilife City!