The muffled pressure pressing against my ears, the salty tinge of seawater brushing past my lips, the temporary feeling of weightlessness underwater; these were all things that I had slowly gotten accustomed to during my lessons with Zades since our lessons first started.
"Not too bad. You lasted a little longer as compared to the last time," Zades complimented the moment I broke through the water surface to gasp for air once more. Zades' starmie helpfully offered me to cling onto its body and use it as a buoy. Till date I still had not managed to defeat Zades but I could feel myself improving. My team is now able to coordinate their attacks and movements with better ease and I could feel myself improving as a trainer, be it how I should command my team or what kind of judgement calls I should make out on the field. We are now capable of creating more sophisticated plans on the fly and I could feel myself being capable of commanding such a large pokemon team with better proficiency. That intangible feeling of improvement is not something that could be easily described with words but knowing that you are improving does wonders to improve your mood and self-confidence.
"Beating you is impossible," I groaned and gathered the strength into my arms to push myself out of the water to sit on starmie, who then ferried me closer to Zades. The pokemon on my team which I was using to engage Zades in an underwater battle earlier had also started to pop back up onto the surface on their own accord. It was a time limit challenge where we were supposed to defeat at least one pokemon on his team within ten minutes. Obviously, we didn't succeed. Zades' kingdra broke through the spherical psychic barrier that Rena and I relied on to conduct our underwater battle at around the ninth minute mark and I was forced to quickly swim to the surface where Zades' starmie picked me up.
Rena paddled over to me and climbed up onto starmie as well to hitch a ride. She's always in a slightly foul mood whenever we have our lessons with Zades because she really hates getting wet. The only reason she did not voice her opinions out loud was because like me, she could feel herself improving by leaps and bounds under Zades' guidance. She's willing to take this opportunity to learn despite her aversion to water.
"Come on, how long has it been since you first started out on your journey? And how long has it been since I became a pokemon trainer? You seriously expected to be able to defeat me now when there's still such a wide gap of experience between us? Not everyone can be like Steven Stone, you know?" Zades made a counterpoint that I had to begrudgingly acknowledge. Despite being only a few years older than I am, he's been in this industry far longer than I do. There is no lack of geniuses in this world, but not every gap could be bridged with just talent alone. Experience is also a factor that shouldn't be ignored.
"Speaking of which, have you changed your mind regarding the issue of taking up Juan's mantle as Sootopolis Gym Leader?"
"Nah, don't feel like it," Zades answered immediately without an ounce of hesitation from where he was riding on his whiscash. His whiscash swam leisurely alongside starmie as we both slowly made our way back to the nearest piece of dry land, a small sandy beach jutting out from the sea in the middle of nowhere. Such small spots of dry land are actually a common sight along Hoenn's main sea routes, although they may sometimes be obscured from view during high tide and only be visible again at low tide.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Are you free next friday? Most of us are finally able to clear our schedules and friday seems to be the day where we can all finally free up some time to meet up once again."
"Sure. I have nothing on my hands now either way," I replied. The meeting that Zades was referring to was the meeting with my fellow ability holders in Hoenn that he had introduced me to via the group chat. I had only met Zades and the twins in person before, and I am looking forward to meeting the rest as well.
"Good. We traditionally hold our meetups at Dewford cos that's where granny Hiyako lives. She is getting on in her years and the doctor advised her not to make any long distance travels. Our meetups are usually hosted at her place and she always insists on cooking up a feast despite us trying to dissuade her from doing so because she's not exactly young anymore. We don't want her to tire herself out so each of us would usually bring some food along so that we could have a potluck party and that granny Hiyako would not need to busy herself with the chores. Just something for you to keep in mind."
"In that case why not host the meetup at my place instead?"
"Your home is at Petalburg."
"My father gave me a number of properties on my last birthday. I have at least one in every town or city in Hoenn. We could gather at my place at Dewford instead of granny Hiyako's. Like this, she wouldn't need and also have no reason to concern herself with the chores."
Zades stared at me silently for a few seconds.
"Sometimes I really forget that you are a literal princess. You really don't act like one."
"I'm just lucky to have been born into a super rich family," I shrugged. My mind was already starting to plan how I should host my very first meeting with Hoenn's ability holders. I would have to enlist Mila and Mika to assist me in preparing the place and food and whatever things that I might need to host a potluck party. Come to think about it, what's the address of my Dewford residence again? I couldn't even remember if it's a terrace or an apartment or a bungalow or… it couldn't be a mansion, right? I don't think I remembered seeing a mansion among the list of properties I received on my fourteenth birthday.
It didn't take long for us to reach dry land again where Mika was waiting for my return. Ever since she was assigned to be my personal assistant she had insisted on tagging along whenever I am having my lessons. I had told her that there's no need for her to do so, and that she's free to go off and spend her time elsewhere instead of pointlessly wasting her time here waiting for me until I'm done, but she would always wait for me until my lessons with Zades for the day were completed.
Mika handed me a large dry towel the moment I touched down on dry land once more and I quickly tried to dry my hair which was dripping wet. The sea breeze was a little chilly and I felt a little warmer after I wrapped myself with the towel. Zades had taken a dip into the sea like I did and I had no idea how Zades was not affected at all by the breeze. He's simply unaffected.
"So, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"
"I don't think it really matters," I remarked dryly, "but if I have to choose, let's start off with the good news."
"Alright. Good news is, you had already learnt all that I could teach you for naval battles. There's no longer a real need for these lessons to continue any longer. If you really wish to further improve your skills at naval battles, it will have to be through real combat experience, not the mock ones that we are having, but I don't think your father would be too pleased with that because that would mean subjecting you to real danger. Of course, if you really wish to continue our lessons on naval combat I could probably pull some strings with my ex colleagues in ACE to include you in their–"
"We are fine as it is, thank you," I quickly cut off any and all possibilities of being involved in naval combat for the foreseeable future. Naval combat training is fine and all, but dad would not be pleased if I really rope myself into real naval missions with ACE. Furthermore, I believe that my pokemon and I are all really sick of naval combat at this point. The hellish lessons out at sea had been going on for months. I really want a break at this point.
"I expected as much," the twinkle in Zades' eyes confirmed my suspicions that he's deriving pleasure at my expense. "The bad news is, since you had been making improvements in manipulating and controlling your ability, our lessons would now have a heavier focus on how to improve your control over your ability. The things that we had been doing the past months, naval battles, field combat and how to better improve your command skills as a trainer, helping your pokemon to achieve mastery over certain moves; you will have to continue them in your own free time without my supervision. Of course, if you ever need supplementary lessons or advice I'm just a phone's call away."
"I'm still unable to understand why this is bad news."
"I have to get some additional help when it comes to your ability. Your family is not the only party hoping that you will be able to master it. Ghost-inclined abilities are really rare even if we were to go by official global statistics and your ability showed signs that it might be combat-oriented, or possibly possess practical applications in combat. Just for that alone you would find that there are many people in high places who would voluntarily pull strings to help you with your ghostly problem."
"The league is involved?" I immediately connected the dots and Zades nodded. I understand why he said this is bad news because none of us had a particularly good impression of any regional leagues since we had both witnessed how dirty the dealings could get at the higher level of politics. It might be my own bias speaking but I'd still think that the politics of the Hoenn League is still less cutthroat than those of the other regions, although I would still prefer to avoid having any direct dealings with them if possible. It's simply not worth the trouble and headaches that might come your way.
"The league was already involved when your father found me via Wallace. The assistance that you needed was not something that your family could resolve on their own and your father understood that. Your lessons with me to familiarise yourself with naval battles and move mastery, and your subsequent lessons to control your ability, it was a joint effort between your family and the league from the very beginning."
"So who else, specifically, would be involved in my lessons going forward?"
"Jason. The socially awkward guy I told you about with the grass-inclined ability and the person that Wattson elected to be his preferred successor. Elite Four Phoebe will also be there to supervise your lessons for extra insurance because the world at large knows too little about ghost-inclined abilities. We wouldn't want something like the Devouring to suddenly occur out of the blue."
"Fair point," I agreed. If something unexpected does happen, it would make us feel slightly safer if a skilled Ghost Specialist like Phoebe were there.
"Our lessons with Jason and Phoebe wouldn't start so soon because Phoebe is a busy woman, so you have the next two weeks to yourself. I will update you again in detail the exact date and time our lessons will resume so in the meantime, go and do whatever you want, go and have some fun. You and your pokemon earned yourselves a vacation."
"Wonderful, I'm definitely staying away from the coastal areas for the next two weeks," I audibly heaved a sigh of relief which was immediately parroted by my pokemon. None of us would be too keen at surfing the waves for the next two weeks, that I'm sure. I think I might just tour central Hoenn in my free time during these two weeks where dry land is abundant. Maybe I would visit Lavaridge again and have the spa that I had been pining for since my stay at Unova. Maybe reward myself with a full body massage from a good massage therapist while I'm at it. I could get mum to come along with me, she would enjoy a full body massage and we could have some mother-daughter bonding time that's long overdue.
And if Flannery happened to have some free time on her hands, she could join us too.
"For some reason I feel like I'm being insulted."
"It must be your imagination," I snorted in a very un-ladylike behaviour that mum would definitely frown upon if she were here.
"Fine, fine, whatever floats your boat, princess. I shan't keep you here any longer. Just remember to keep us updated about your plans to host the meetup at your place at Dewford."
"Will keep you guys updated latest by tonight," I promised with a mock salute and watched as Zades surfed away at blindingly fast speed on the back of his sharpedo with the rest of his water types trailing behind. I could tell that he truly loved surfing the waves. It's just a pity that I couldn't share his love for the vast sea after the hellish lessons that I had been through under his tutelage.
I really had enough of being dunked into the sea day in and out. I really want to stop needing to wear the full body nylon-latex swimsuit every morning that signifies the start of another lesson out at sea and being at the mercy of Zades' water types. This vacation came at just the right time.
I recalled my pokemon and teleported home together with Mika through the assistance of her alakazam. I released my pokemon from their pokeballs and allowed them to wander off to wherever they usually hang out on the farm. After which, I immediately made my way to my bathroom after informing my parents that I'm back home. Having a nice and long warm bath is the only thing that I look forward to everyday whenever I have my lessons with Zades, the only thing that gives me the strength to push on until the lessons are over.
During the course of our lessons I had grown to dislike the horrid sticky feeling coating my skin after being submerged in seawater. I really had no idea how Zades tolerated it.
I crashed on my bed and had my two hour nap after my bath. By the time I woke up again it was already lunchtime. Dad and mum were already halfway through their meals when I entered the living room and there was an unknown guest sitting together at the table with them. Even Vance had returned home while I was asleep, which was a rarity in itself. He's recently busy with work at one of our branch offices located at Rustboro. It's getting rarer and rarer to have all four of us sitting at the dining table at mealtimes these days.
Vance's presence was what immediately clued me in that our guest had to be someone special. My gaze immediately fixated itself onto the lady sitting beside Vance and opposite dad at the dining table. Everyone had noticed my presence by now and Vance had immediately waved me over the moment he saw me.
"Just at the right time too. C'mere, Vel," Vance waved and I walked over, quickly combing my somewhat messy bed hair with my fingers and hoping that I would not look too sloppy in front of our unknown guest after just getting out of bed. The unknown guest is a lady, who had stood up and offered her hand to me the moment I approached her.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Velda. My name is Anna, and I will be your bodyguard starting from today."
Dad had told me a long time ago that he would hire a bodyguard for me. Maybe it's because I had only just woken up and my brain was not functioning at full capacity, but the first reaction I had when I heard Anna's introduction was to blink my eyes and do a double take. Of course, inwardly, I knew the real reason why my first reaction to Anna's introduction was one of doubt and it had nothing to do with the fact that I just got out of bed. She really did not look like the part of a bodyguard. You would never associate her as a world class professional bodyguard that dad had talked to me about some time back.
If I were to describe her in a single word, she looked average. If I had to use two words to describe her, it would be that she looked plain and simple. I had learnt very early on during my travels that it's fatally foolish to judge an individual by their appearance. My region's newest champion earned that position within two years since he first started out on his journey. One of the laziest men I knew was the strongest gym leader of his region. One of my reincarnated friends who had the most intimidating appearance had one of the most gentle and patient personalities. The most clumsy bespectacled woman who's also my friend is a brilliant scientist of unparalleled intellect. The most unassuming man that people subconsciously overlooked turned out to be the best double agent that Indigo had produced who also single handedly brought Team Rocket to their knees. One of the most well respected gym leaders in the world turned out to be the head honcho of what used to be the largest terrorist organisation that had terrorised two entire regions for decades. The list goes on and on.
I knew that logic by heart and I understood what it meant, but you just cannot help but let your guard down when you first cast your eye on Anna.
She looked too average.
She's of average build. In fact, I would say that while she's not petite per say, she's definitely a little on the smaller side for a woman. She's slim, her arms looked a little too dainty for a bodyguard even if there were subtle signs that her arms had to be stronger than it seemed if you looked hard enough. I vaguely recalled that the resume she sent in stated that she's somewhere in her late twenties, but she had a face that made her look much younger than her actual age and in fact, if she were to don a school uniform and sling a school bag across her shoulders she would have immediately passed off as a high school student without anyone giving a second glance.
It didn't help one single bit that she had tied her long black hair into low twin ponytails that gave her a slightly cutesy and youthful look rather than the stereotypical image you might imagine of a female bodyguard.
But if there's one thing that I liked about her at first sight, it would be that she has a very sweet smile. She emanates the cute and friendly girl-next-door vibe, the kind of girl you would expect to be a boy's first crush and puppy love.
However, dad had never spared any effort when it came to important things, especially when it comes to Vance's and my well being and education. That was something Vance and I had experienced for ourselves since we were young kids. When dad told me that he had found a professional bodyguard for me, I knew that he meant it in every sense of the word. He would definitely have interviewed and tested her skills for himself. He would definitely pick someone who would be the most suitable bodyguard for me in every aspect. Whoever that person may be, she definitely would be world class material. My parents always gave us the best that they could afford.
So, no matter how unassuming Anna looked, I knew that she had to be good at her job. Dad picked her out of the countless candidates out there in the world. I knew that, I understood that, yet the first reaction I had when I saw her was an uncontrollable sense of doubt. It's the silent question that I asked myself when I first laid my eyes on her: is she really the bodyguard that will be protecting me for the next year or two? She didn't look the part.
But after I took the hand she offered and shook it and my brain started functioning from its previously half-asleep state, I started to think deeper. The deeper I delved into it, the more surprised I was after realising that I had indeed harboured those doubtful thoughts. If my stint in the interpol had taught me something, it was that if you knew someone had to be capable, the more unassuming and harmless they looked, oftentimes, they are the ones you have to watch out for.
I could list many examples right at the top of my head. Volkner, Jayce, Looker, Jasmine, Mary, Akamu, Shannon; most of them looked ordinary and lived humble lives but it's an entirely different story once their expertise was needed when the going gets tough. Even those supposedly "less accomplished" ones were made of tough stuff that easily differentiated them from the average joe. Nova is a well rounded trainer and respected historian who managed to hold off a rumoured Champion level trainer like Ghetsis to a standstill long enough for us to complete our mission during the Battle of Castelia. Skye is a top class Ranger who earned countless accolades under her belt during her time as a ranger and her swift reinforcement during the One Day War was the main reason why the Indigo Rangers had the intention to roll out a plan to train a small squad of dragonites solely for transport and rescue, just to try and imitate what they know Skye had accomplished.
Vance's respectful attitude towards Anna was another giveaway too. She had to be someone who's extraordinarily good at her job to earn his respect. In front of me, Vance had always acted the part of the goofy older brother. Why he acted that way was really only because I'm his little sister that he cannot help but dote upon, it's the soft side of him that he showed only to me and those who he cherished.
But I'm also aware that Vance has a very different side to him as the heir apparent of the noble and ancient Vera family, he simply doesn't like to display that side of him in my presence. He's one of the brightest and most talented Vera to grace our family in three centuries. Even dad had confided in me and admitted that Vance is the perfect heir, the one who would bring our family to heights that he could never achieve. It was why dad and Sebastian were doing everything they could to help pave the path for Vance in the last few years. They see hope in him. They see hope that the Vera family might return to the glory that we once had in our prime many many years ago with Vance at the helm.
Our family had been lying low for the past few decades for various reasons beyond our control but we had been steadily entering the public's view in the last two years. Most of it was Vance's handiwork. Whenever the ancient families of Hoenn were being mentioned the first family that people would think of is the Stone family thanks to the presence of Steven Stone and also due to their high profile manner of doing things. Most people wouldn't immediately associate the term "ancient family" with the Vera family or the Draconid tribe.
Vance felt that our family is now ready to stand into the spotlight once again and remind the region that one of the six great founding families of Hoenn, the ancient and noble Vera family of Petalburg, still exists. He had been taking steps to gradually allow our family to start taking centre stage. Political reasons had to be involved, I'm sure, but if Vance doesn't want me to know I'm sure he had his reasons.
So seeing Vance truly treating Anna as his equal, an act that I could tell was genuine and from the bottom of his heart, meant that Anna had to be very capable in contrast to her average appearance. She would also be responsible for training Mila and Mika to be professional bodyguards during her time with us, so that they would be able to better protect me after Anna had left our employment as already agreed upon. I had already known that Anna had only agreed to come work for us on the condition that her employment would not extend any longer than two years, but she had agreed to stay for a minimum of one year.
I joined everyone at the dining table and was quickly acquainted with Anna. She had this aura that made you subconsciously want to make friends with her, to get closer to her in order to know her better. She had perfect manners at the table; demure, polite, sweet, and I believe most men would have this sudden urge to protect her when they lay their eyes on her because she just looked so defenceless and occasionally, a little meek. It's very difficult to reconcile the contrast between what you knew had to be the truth and what you cannot help but feel deep down at the back of your mind.
That's the scary thing about her as I soon realised. You knew she had to be very capable, probably dangerous, even. Yet, you still cannot help but underestimate her. That in itself is a very deceptively lethal tool when used effectively. And what if you had no idea what she's really capable of? I'm willing to bet that most people would very likely be fooled by her harmless appearance if they saw her for the first time.
My parents and Vance had quickly left to do their own things after lunch was over. I'm sure they wanted Anna and I to have some time alone to get to know each other better. I'm positive that Anna had been assessing me since she first saw me just like how I was mentally assessing her when we first met. I was assessing if she really was as good as dad told me she was. She was probably assessing what kind of client I was, the troublesome kind or the not-so-troublesome kind.
That's just my personal guess though.
I decided to give her a quick tour of the farm in order to break the ice. I didn't show her everything nor did I bring her to every corner of the farm. There are areas where secrecy and confidentiality were concerned and showing her the entire farm was impossible, even I cannot claim to have visited every single section of our family's farm because it's just that huge. I did show her my favourite spots and usual haunts so that she would know where to find me if she needed to find me in a hurry, especially the ghost habitat that I now frequently visited to hone my abilities in private whenever I'm at home.
"These are the usual spots that I frequent when I'm at home. I tend to come over to the ghost habitat a lot more frequently now due to my unique constitution. I don't think the ghosts here would actively seek to hurt you after I've introduced you to them but you might still want to keep your distance if there's no real need to get close. Ghosts are very unpredictable creatures."
One reason why I decided to bring her over to the ghost habitat was to allow the ghosts that I befriended there to recognise Anna and know that they are not to harm her. I believe that there would be a lot of interactions between Anna and I now that she's my bodyguard and since most of my time spent at home would be at the ghost habitat if I'm not in the house itself, I find it necessary that she knows where the ghost habitat is located and ensure that the ghosts there do not mistook her for an intruder.
Even a skilled trainer like Vance is unwilling to get close to the ghost habitat unless necessary and that's saying something about ghosts in general. If he had to come fetch me he would stand at a safe distance and obnoxiously use a loudhailer to remind me that it's time to head back home. These realisations are making me start to appreciate and cherish my affinity with these otherworldly creatures with each passing day.
There's also another piece of good news, that there are a growing number of ghosts in the ghost habitat that's starting to evolve or are reaching the next stage of their evolution. The downside to that was that it might be harder to keep them on a leash if they ever went out of control. Just yesterday dad and Vance were discussing the necessity and possibility of setting up a team of trainers specialising in anti-ghost combat, just in case there came a day where the ghosts there suddenly decided to create chaos and I'm not around to stop them.
The same phenomenon could actually be said for the ghosts that chose to stay in my shadow instead of migrating over to the ghost habitat. The little litwick that I used to hug and use as a hot water bottle to tide through Unova's winter had recently evolved into a lampent. Some of the gastlys had evolved into haunters. Sometimes one or two dusclops might cautiously poke their heads out from my shadow to observe our surroundings if they were feeling adventurous. There were even a few cofagrigus hiding in my shadows now and the number of banettes playing hide and seek in my shadow had increased to more than just a handful. They were previously the shuppets that had followed me over from Unova and they had quickly evolved under my guidance. It was much easier to train the shuppets as compared to other species of ghosts due to my experience with raising Dolly. I even daresay that I am somewhat of an expert when it comes to the shuppet line. Training them was as natural as breathing to me because I knew everything there is to know about this species like the back of my hand.
My gift is a very unique gift that could potentially allow me to easily bridge the wide gap that would differentiate me from the average Elite trainer. Not even Phoebe or Agatha could claim to be able to control so many ghosts at any one time, yet I easily achieved what they couldn't even with a lifetime of practice and experience. Agatha told me that I possess the potential to become a Ghost Master if I put my heart into it and I didn't believe her back then. I didn't believe that I had the potential to earn the ultimate prestige that so many people yearn after but could only dream to achieve, which is to become a PWL recognised "Master".
I do now.
There's also the possibility that I would never be able to reach the level of a Master, but that's okay. My horizons had broadened after my travels to a handful of other regions and I had the confidence that even if I would never become a Master, I can become a skilled Ghost Specialist if I decide that this would be the direction that I would be heading towards as a pokemon trainer. Additionally, I do intend to start picking up on training my pokemon soon, in earnest this time, just like how I did when I first started out my journey and how I did when I was preparing for my Ever Grande Conference. While I don't think I would ever go back to being a field agent and bust crimes day in and day out, it does not hurt to get stronger and a handful of my pokemon do wish to grow stronger under my tutelage. My lessons with Zades gave me a wider perspective on how I could train my pokemon and finalise the direction which the focus of our training should be, which is attaining move mastery. I plan to oversee that aspect of my team's training too.
I want to try and embark on this endeavour, just to challenge myself and see if I could do it. Agatha often told me it's a criminal waste to possess a gift like mine but chose not to use it. I might need to add a few ghosts into my main team; I couldn't attempt to become a Ghost Specialist if I didn't try my hand in training other species of ghosts aside from the gastly and shuppet line that are more commonly found in this part of the world. However, whether the ghosts that I will eventually select ended up as members of my main team or not really isn't that important. Most of them were already living together as one with me in the depths of my shadow. The only thing we lacked that officially bound them to me was the usage of pokeballs to mark them as mine in the eyes of the law.
"I don't think we have exchanged numbers yet," Anna replied and it took us only less than a minute to exchange numbers with our phones. I was a little surprised when I saw the registered name of Anna's number, which read "Anna Tide". Coincidentally, there's one other person I knew of that had the same last name but he's an orphan last I checked.
"Anything the matter?" Anna asked when she realised I was being unnaturally silent. I looked up from my phone, contemplated a little if I should clarify my doubts and decided to go ahead anyway.
"Are you from Sinnoh? There's one other person I know of that has the same last name as you did, but he's… how do I put it? Kind of a famous figure, but I'm sure he's also an orphan."
"Let me guess, you are referring to the former Sunyshore Gym Leader, Volkner?" Anna smothered her giggle with her hand and I nodded. I wasn't expecting her to connect the dots right away so maybe this wasn't the first time she was asked such a question.
"Yes, you are right. I am a Sinnohan, Sunyshore is also my birthplace. I am also born in the same generation as Volkner and Flint, the two famous figures which shot our city to stardom," Anna patiently explained. "As for why I share the same last name as our former gym leader, it had to do with the history of Sunyshore itself. I had heard from your father that you had once worked as a PWL agent, specifically in the interpol, and had assisted in the One Day War. Did you have the chance to meet Volkner back at the Battle of Olivine?"
"I did."
"Do we look anything alike?" She asked and I shook my head. "That's because while we share the same last name, we are not blood related. Sunyshore city was a very different place back then when our generation was born. We were known as the crime city. We are located at the very edge of the region and the local geography made it hard for laws to be properly enforced until Volkner came along. In fact, long before the warring era Sunyshore was a place that nobody wanted to rule over due to the harsh conditions there that made it unfavourable for survival. It then became a place where prisoners or heinous criminals were exiled to, a place where people were left to die for crimes that they might or might not have committed. Over time, these people then started to build a city and named it Sunyshore due to the sun shining down on it at most times of the year. My birthplace was originally a city where sinners congregate and the indigenous people there, like me, are all descendents of sinners and criminals. That is the history of Sunyshore."
"I… I knew Sunyshore used to be infested with crime, but I wasn't aware it was historically a place where criminals were exiled."
"It's not exactly a part of our history that we are proud of, but it's not something that we can erase. Either way, since it used to be a crime city, it was to nobody's surprise that Sunyshore had a considerably larger number of orphans as compared to the other cities. Orphans had to be taken care of at the local orphanages in accordance with the law but by the time my generation was born Sunyshore just had too many children without families. Nobody knew exactly how it started, but over time certain things became "tradition" when it came to these children. Sunyshore was a city built on the rocks jutting out from the sea. It is a coastal city. Our way of life, our culture and tradition, it's all intimately connected to the sea. Many of these orphans were given last names that had relations to the sea or the beach that surrounds our city; Tide, Wave, Breeze, Shorres, Sanders, and so on. In Sunyshore, you could actually identify who is an orphan based on those last names. It's also an unspoken rule in our city that if you meet a Sunyshorean with any of such last names, it would be rude to ask about their family, because they very likely had none."
"That means… you are…"
"Yes, I am also an orphan of Sunyshore," Anna graciously admitted. "It just so happens that I am given the same last name as Volkner by the matron of the orphanage I used to live in, similar to the many other children born in my generation. I'm not the only person who shares the same last name as he did and people like me do receive such questions from time to time due to his fame. I had already gotten used to receiving such questions so I'm fine with it, but if you have the chance to visit Sunyshore in the future it would be wise to remember what we talked about today."
"I will keep that in mind," I promised before another question came up in my curiosity. "So… have you met Volkner before?"
"I had definitely seen him on TV and in person before, but I was just one of the many spectators who happened to be there at the scene witnessing him clean out the local gangs and mobs. Watching Volkner wiping out the thugs infesting the seedier parts of our city used to be our city's favourite pastime when he first became a gym leader," Anna smiled fondly at the memory. "If you are asking if I knew him on a personal level, then no, I'm afraid not. The city is a big place and while the circumstances surrounding Volkner and I are similar, we do not know each other."
"I could introduce you to each other if you want? You sounded like you looked up to him a lot."
"There's nobody in our generation who did not look up to Volkner," Anna proudly stated. "For orphans like us, we are able to relate to Volkner and the hardships that he had to overcome to climb to where he was. He not only became a Pillar all on his own power, he changed the city for the better so there would be lesser orphans like us for the future generations. To us, Volkner is someone who we hoped we could be, someone who had achieved what we only dared to dream to achieve. There are many people among my generation, especially orphans like me, who truly idolised Volkner and look up to him as a role model. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Sunyshoreans would literally put their lives down for him if he faced a crisis that would place him in mortal danger. In Sunyshore, his name still held more weight than our champion even if he had already been in retirement for several years."
"I really didn't know that," I blinked my eyes and tried digesting the information that I just learnt from Anna. I knew that annoying lazy man was loved by the people of his city, but hearing it from a local just put things in a different perspective. It ignited a desire within me to travel to Sunyshore just to see for myself how popular Volkner really is in his own city.
"Sunyshore is a really nice place to visit despite its dark history. You should go and see the field of gracidea flowers there for yourself. They bloom all year round and are a very beautiful sight to behold. The gracidea flower is not only our national flower, but also Sunyshore's city flower because our city is the only place in Sinnoh where gracidea flowers can be found in abundance."
I had seen gracidea flowers before. Volkner planted them in his own home and Jasmine had made tea out of them back when we were plotting to stop Team Rocket and their schemes. They never told me that the gracidea flower held such significance back in Sinnoh.
Maybe I should plant some here at home too.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 14, Female, Pokemon Trainer
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Clefairy (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male
Mika Verinda, Age: 16, Female
Pokemon on hand:
1) Chimecho (Chichi)
2) Alakazam
3) Slowbro
4) Meganium
5) Altaria
6) Alolan Ninetales
7) Sceptile
8) Darmanitan
Mila Verinda, Age: 17, Female
Pokemon on hand:
1) Arcanine (Cinder)
2) Blaziken
3) Camerupt
4) Sawsbuck
5) Tangrowth
6) Heliolisk
7) Darmanitan