Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by the Nintendo, Hakunon/Fate is owned by the all-powerful Mushroom(Nasu), and all that stuff.
Walking into the PokeCenter made her realize how much she missed air conditioning, the walls were sterile white, silver tiled flooring, and there was a large waiting room, there was a receptionist at the counter with a pink streak in her otherwise normal green hair. While it wasn't hot outside, it felt nice to be in a cooler en-
Her Portable Terminal vibrating broke her out of her thoughts, a glance at the device had a new message on its screen.
Connection Point Detected. Please Connect the Portable Terminal to the located device.
Hakuno tilted her head, she looked around causing Kurt to stop.
She couldn't see anything that could serve as a 'connection point.' The Pokecenter's main floor was fairly bare with something similar to the phones Kurt used, a few people were milling about but nothing stood out in particular, she did see that most of them had a Pokemon or two wandering near them.
Her eyes were drawn to a blue-gray cat with a piece of gold on its forehead. "Maneki-neko…" The cat looked at her before scoffing curling into a ball on its human's lap, the young man gave a tired smile as he began to pet it.
Seeing how content the Pokemon was… reminded her that she was alone.
"I'm going to head back, I've got a few more orders to fulfill. Come back when you're all done here." Kurt waved his hand as he exited, "They will take good care of you here."
She wasn't made to wait too long, the Pink-Haired nurse walked out of one of the many side rooms "Ah, Hakuno, I've been waiting, are you feeling better?" Hakuno gave a slight nod. She didn't look convinced but chose not to comment thankfully, "Alright… so come on back, we are just going run some tests on you, get you your vaccinations, and see if we can't register you."
Hakuno nodded, she understood the first part at least. "Register? Register for what?" That part she didn't understand.
The Nurse shushed her and brought her to a side room, "Technically we aren't supposed to help non-trainers this particular center has a bit more leeway due to Celebi being playful. There are a handful of Centers in the world that certain Legendaries and Mythhicals typically send the ones they… displace. We will also send your DNA to the Jenny Clan for them to run it in the International Police database." Hakuno noticed the spite in that last statement.
Hakuno wasn't concerned though, she knew they wouldn't find anyone related to her.
She is alone in this world after all.
"But what am I being registered as?"
"A Pokemon Trainer, at least a provisional one." Hakuno tilted her head, this was the second time she mentioned a 'trainer'. Noticing her confusion, or remembering that they believed Hakuno was from a different time, "A Pokemon Trainer… is someone who trains Pokemon. Typically, at least once in their life, a child goes on a Journey in their home Region. Their license acts as a form of identification which is the part you need, some jobs even view them more important than birth certificates." A… journey?
…
Checking to make sure the needle was full of her blood the Nurse nodded, she didn't even see the moment she was stuck with the needle, "I'll be right back with the paperwork and to put this away."
Was this their way of telling them to leave? Hakuno was resourceful, but she knew she would die out there, without Magecraft… armed only with a Portable Terminal that can't do anything.
She estimates that at most, without a way to gather food or water without theft, she would last one to three days due to most likely dying via Pokemon. How long does she have until Kurt kicks her out? A week? Maybe two? Then what should she do after that?
She had no reliable skills that could be used, could she work in an office or at the Pokemart? She has all the knowledge that a teenager would have in 2030 from her original timeline, but she doubted history was the same here. She can't imagine Math would be that different from what she knew other than the names of units…
Nurse Joy wasn't gone for long, and she brought with her several large packets of paper "Of course, we aren't forcing you to go on a Journey, it's an option. If you wanted to go on one you would be able to get all the amenities that the Pokemon League offers their beginner trainers. And the league circuit doesn't even start for another two months. And, if we can prove either a Drifter or a Faller you're entitled to the displacement care package."
Hakuno nodded hesitatingly, "I'm… not sure what I should do for now." Nurse Joy placed her hand on Hakuno's shoulder before she spoke.
"Kurt is probably the best person to have found you, he may be stubborn, but he does a lot for the community, and his Granddaughter already likes you." She heard pitter-patter in the hall before it opened. When did his Granddaughter even meet her?
"Chan Chansey~" The Egg walked pushing a card with a row of needles, she came up to her and gave Hakuno a large hug that she melted into. The egg felt safe.
"A Pokemon Journey is more than going around and getting badges… it's about finding who you are as a person. Most people don't even get more than three or four badges, who knows maybe you will end up liking it, some people love battling and proving themselves…"
Battling?
"Battling?" She asked while turning her face to look at Nurse Joy.
"Most Pokemon have a drive to fight, to get stronger. Even Chansey here has her way of getting stronger." Said Chancey 'flexed' and spoke her name, it was adorable. "Pokemon are naturally hardier than humans and recover leagues faster."
Hakuno paused, she was tired of fighting. But… she does guess there is a difference between fighting for your life and fighting for fun. She doesn't understand why you would fight for fun…
But to most people, she would be considered insane for enjoying Nero's ballads. So who was she to judge? As long as they find some value in it, and they don't have to be killers again.
That's under the assumption that she finds a Pokemon to be her partner.
She misses Saber.
The paperwork wasn't nearly as bad as she thought, she was still filling it out but more than a few questions were waived due to her status. While her blood will be analyzed to ensure she wasn't lying, and that she truly was someone not from this time, having two Pillars of the Community as a reference made a lot of difference. Celebi's Time Travel left something on her that could be analyzed if taken quickly enough, although Nurse Joy wasn't too sure what it was other than a specific type of 'Type Energy'. The only reassurance she could give was that it wasn't harmful.
"Hakuno Kishinami… age 16, huh… thought you were younger then that…" Nurse Joy was flipping through the pages, "You will have to do a written test in a week about Pokemon and Survival with little Maizie's class and she already informed me she would like to tutor you. As… for your starter…"
She couldn't have Chansey, could she? The Pokemon's calming ability was nice. At least she could ask. "Possibility for Chansey?"
Joy let out a small chuckle, "Sorry, Joy Clan rules, we can't give out any of their eggs unless you marry into the clan, and finding a wild Chansey or Happiny is nearly impossible without badges. Bugsy's already gave out his starters…" She checked a few papers on her clipboard, "Kurt or Maizie might be able to help you talk to some of the local Pokemon, or in the worst-case scenario when approved your fund can be used to purchase an egg."
Hakuno wasn't sure how that process worked, she didn't fully understand Pokemon yet. But… at least she was grateful that she wouldn't be left without some money or assistance.
But there was one way to find out, "Do you have a library or computer I could use?" Nurse Joy gave a nod, hopefully, something she could hook her Portable Terminal to…
"We can let you use our library to study for the test, it only covers Pokemon native to the Johto Region, not the ones that the Aether Foundation has brought over," She sighed, "But computer access is limited to only those who have a License or Birth Certificate as you need your identification to log into them." Hakuno nodded.
"As long as you get a decent score you'll be provided your Provisional License, it'll just limit you to two Pokemon until you take a basic training camp and get your first badge. Sadly it can't be from the same town your Provisional is from, so no Bugsy, depending on your Starter you should go to either Chuck or Falkner."
That… sounds like a stupid rule, but she supposed that depending on her Pokemon how long she will continue to get badges…
If they want to fight then who was she to stop them? Nero loved it when her blade finally took down difficult opponents, and when they increased their bond and boosted their stats it always made her flush with excitement.
Hakuno shoved her feelings down as they began to bubble, choosing to focus on the paperwork in front of her.
Eighteen types, one only recently decided amongst the Pokemon League and the Professors on it being its own type, and there were countless Pokemon. Most Pokemon also seem to change over time, they called it Evolution but she didn't know why they called it evolution when it isn't. She could not understand how non-bug types were able to metamorphosis.
But this world has a Pokemon that can travel through time, so she should take all her previous knowledge and toss it out.
Normal animals don't exist except for certain Bilateria, insects, and certain types of fish.
Science, at least in this world is completely broken due to Pokemon. Then again, she was an Artificial Ghost of a Girl with memory problems so she really shouldn't be the one to point that out.
She did find an old Johtonian Pokedex which was a hardcover book that had more dust on it than anything else in the diminutive library which had some terrifying entries, hopefully, as most of the entries are aimed towards children they are heavily exaggerated. She sincerely doubts that a common 'Evolved' Pokemon would be hotter than the surface of a Yellow Star.
Type Energy seemed magical, each 'Pokemon' could use a wellspring of energy inside of themselves to power 'moves' and certain Pokemon have a harder time using specific Types than others.
She was mildly intrigued by 'Fairy' type and 'Ghost' typed Pokemon, and was saddened to read that while Chansey showed characteristics of being Fairy type, they are not fairy-type Pokemon.
She was concerned about the lack of mention of Celebi other than 'We know it exists, it can Time Travel, and we classify it as a Mythical Pokemon. It will let you find it if it wants you to.' It did list a few places where the Pokemon had a greater influence, such as the Illex Forest and the Lake of Life. Both were marked as extremely dangerous and had a minimum of 5 badges for off-route exploration.
She had to silence her Portable terminal again. It was getting annoying, she isn't fully sure but the connection point is most likely the computer she doesn't have access to yet and it has to be close by.
Another point to at least attempting a Journey…
The Johtonian Pokedex will require a few additional reads as she had barely flipped through it so she placed it separately from the completed pile. She closed her current book Type Energy for Dummies! Joining Clans of Johto a Tourist Guide, and Johtonian Legends on her completed pile. And started a new one, Ilex Forest and you.
She frowned slightly while reading, Ilex forest… was dangerous. The basic 'route' through the forest was passable for those with a Pokemon or two, but go slightly off route or be unlucky and you could encounter swarms of giant bees or giant angry beetles.
She heard a soft knock on the table beside her causing her to look up and notice a young girl. She was a few years younger than her, had brown hair that was closer to red than her own in two long pigtails, bright blue eyes, and a tired but cheerful expression. Hakuno glanced down and noticed the two Pokeballs on her belt.
"Hakuno right?"
She had no idea who this was but nodded nonetheless.
"Sweet, took me forever to find you. I told you Pokey she would be here." She probably wasn't supposed to hear that last remark, as it was said a lot quieter and she had glanced at her Pokeball."Ah, sorry I'm Maizie, Maizie Bonguri, Grandpa Kurt asked me to bring you home."
Ah, she is the one who made the Onigiri.
"Thank you for this morning." Hakuno nodded her head slightly, "They were good."
Maizie got a cocky smile, "Of course! If you're going on a journey you must know how to pick Lum Berries at the perfect time! They are the most important ones while rarer than Chesto or.." She coughed in her hand, "Sorry, Grandpa Kurt kind of grilled into me all about learning how to live off nature."
Hakuno glanced at her book, she will have to remember where she left off, "Can you help me put these back?" Maizie shrugged, it only took them a few minutes to put them all back.
Hakuno gave the Nurse at the counter a small wave as they exited the library. It was late, the sun was setting casting an orange glow on the town.
"So Hakuno, where are you from? Grandpa was really hush-hush about it." Hakuno weighed on the words, she hadn't told Nurse Joy or Kurt about her actual past… perhaps she should?
Their current way of thinking about her might be true, Celebi might have found a way to rescue her from her deletion, but she wasn't too sure about it, she doubted she would find any answers unless she asked the quasi-diety itself. But… Hakuno at least liked to think she was an honest person, Nero called her naïve for her trusting nature, while they could take her away and use her as an experiment.
She was getting the feeling that they wouldn't, at least Nurse Joy and Kurt.
But for now; "It's complicated." That would have to be the best for the younger girl.
"Awww, not even a hint?" Hakuno glanced at the girl, Ȃ̶̜͠ ̸̰͎͎́̃g̴͎̳͘ǐ̸̛͇ͅr̵̩͉̒̋̓l̵̹̿̑ ̷̛̪̫́͝į̴̤̃n̴̳̪͕͐ ̶̢̝͒̋̄p̵̛̎͛͜ḁ̵͓͌̅͊s̵͈͐t̶̮̫͆̓é̴̼̪̈́ͅl̴̦̺̃ ̴̖̯̹̇b̶͔̐l̴̡̨̠͒̑ṷ̶̎͊ĕ̸̛̝̥͊͜ ̷̟͒̉l̷̬̭̔͌o̶͈̝̘̅̌͛ö̴̥͇͠ḱ̷̦ͅȅ̴̗͉d̷̙̘͝ ̸̥̯̙̈́u̵̟̭̞̎p̷̺͗ ̵̡͂̈a̴͉̲͊ț̵͙̳̀͝ ̶͚̌h̶̡͍̚ͅe̸͍̹͑r̷̲̝̃͋͝.
Hakuno's pulse quickened, and Alice was gone in the blink of an eye, Maizie returned, and she swallowed thickly as she spoke "...I'm far from home."
She gave her a funny look, "I can see that, your Pokegear was really cool! It was locked though, never seen one made out of crystal before." Her Portable Terminal buzzed as she spoke causing her to sigh.
"It… hasn't synched with this area yet, it needs access to a computer until then, it can't do much." Maizie nodded, her eyes shining bright.
Hakuno saw it before Maizie did, the small pink gnome dashed out from Kurt's forge area, a pink trail of wind coming off it as Kurt's Shuckle hissed at it, trying to gain on the much smaller Pokemon.
Maizie frowned at the sight, "Sorry you had to see that, it likes to try and steal stuff from Grandpa's forge." Hakuno nodded as her eyes followed the small pink gnome running away from the Rock Octopus before it ducked into an alley and disappeared.
"What is it?"
Maizie frowned, "Not sure… not a native Johtonian Pokemon and I don't have access to the Pokedex app until I get my license, but all we know is it's been in town for a month or three. Not sure what it does with the metal it steals unless it's a Metallivore." Metal eater? Pokemon are strange…
Author's Note: Probably not the best place to end the chapter, but ya know whatevers.
Also, I'm raising the age from a Pokemon Starting journey to 13, Kurt mentioned his granddaughter as being a preteen cause she is one, she will be turning 13 before her journey though.
Also, raising the age slightly from 10/11 to 13 in Johto/Kanto, they are still kids but slightly older. Other regions will have slightly different ages due to their own cultures…
Maizie is currently 12 going on 13 and will be 13 before she leaves.
And got Personal Terminal mixed with Portable Terminal, went back, and made the correct changes.