"Do you really have to go now?"
An 11-year old Alice watched her best friend pack her belongings. "Couldn't you wait just a bit longer?"
"No." Jack stuffed another shirt into her bag, tears in her eyes. "I'm done. I can't stand it anymore."
Seeing her friend so upset made Alice want to tear up herself. Jack was usually the one who had to comfort her, not the other way around.
"M-mom said it's dangerous for kids to travel alone." Alice said. "Shouldn't you at least find some online friends to travel with-"
"I don't have time for that!" Jack snapped. Alice almost jumped at her friend's fierce tone, A tear ran down her cheek.
Seeing her friend's expression, Jack looked down in guilt. "Look," she said. "I know it's a little risky. But I don't want to listen to another word she says. I've already got permission, so I'm going to go before she takes that away too."
Alice nodded sadly. "Ok. But you'll be back right? And you'll call me every day, right?"
"Of course!" Jack stood up a little straighter, puffing her chest out in confidence. "You need to see step by step how I become the champion after all!"
Alice giggled , and the two friends hugged. Despite this, Alice felt herself falling deeper and deeper into a sea of sadness. Jack had been around her entire life. Her leaving felt like Alice was ripping a piece of her soul out of her body. She unconsciously gripped Jack's arm tightly, making her friend flinch. "I'll miss you."
Jack relaxed, and gently removed Alice's hand. "I'll miss you too."
The two stood in silence for a moment, and after a while Jack took a step back. "I need to go."
She lifted up her travel pack, filled with supplies that Noah had bought for her. The two of them left Alice's room, and not a word was said while they made their way to the door.
Noah was waiting for them at the front entrance, an unreadable expression on his face. He nodded towards Jack. "Are you ready?"
She pointed towards the large pack. "Yep!"
Noah eyed the bag that was almost as tall as Jack was. "We might want to stop for some smaller bags. Or at least some easier to carry. Well, things for later." He took Jack's bag, turned around and pushed the large mansion doors open, walking past them.
Jack followed the man, giving Alice a wave as she walked away.
Alice watched as her best friend walked away. When will she see Jack? Would she make it on her own? Would she be safe? All of these questions broke the damn that held her tears back, and she ran inside, unable to look for a moment longer.
Opening the pokedex, Alice scanned the Starly, her Starly (that was something she had to wrap her head around).
There was a ding, and boxes of information began to appear on the screen. There was the normal information, talking about the behaviors and biology of the Starly line. Alice absent-mindedly tapped one of the boxes, and a machine voice echoed out. "Starly, the starling pokemon. They live in fields and mountains, gathering in large flocks. Together, their cries are quite annoying. Though small, its wings are quite powerful, capable of leaving injuries that can last a week."
Looking at the appearance of a healthy Starly, hers didn't appear to have any noticeable health issues. The injuries it had gotten from the Houndour must have healed, apart from a discolored feather here and there. The Starly she had caught was apparently male, and a bit smaller for its species. Then she saw what she was looking for. The moves Starly knew so far. Tackle, Growl, and Quick Attack.
"Pretty normal for a young Starly." Alice jumped. Jack had been looking at the device over her shoulder. "Although they're similar, for now I'd recommend Tackle for close range and Quick Attack for closing distance. It's probably learned Quick Attack recently, so give it some time to get used to moving at high speeds."
"Y-yeah, I'll do that." Alice looked at the bird, who seemed to be dozing off, fluffing up its feathers for comfort. "Do you think it- he will really listen to me in battle?"
"If you're that worried, why don't you ask him yourself?" Jack said, pointing to the relaxing bird.
Alice looked at the pokemon. Noticing her stare, the bird gave her a stare back. This certainly wasn't awkward. "Um, do you think- No, I mean would be ok with listening to me during battle-"
"Ask with a bit more authority," Jack said. "You're the trainer here."
Alice took a deep breath, straightening her shoulders. She gave her pokemon a (hopefully) commanding glare. "Please, listen to my orders."
The Starly tilted his head, looking at her. Was he confused? The bird then chirped and did a little hop on the ground, startling Alice.
"Is that a yes?"
"I think so!" Jack said, giving her a smile. "Congrats!"
Alice let go a sigh of relief. Well, that was one thing taken care of. She turned to Jack. "Now what?"
"Are you ready now?!" Mr. Lewis's voice echoed from the other side of the field, making her jump.
Jack chuckled and looked towards the field. "Now, you battle."
Alice stood in the trainer section of the battlefield. She had seen it more times than she could count on television, but there was something uncanny about standing in it herself. Jack stood as the referee, bouncing on her feet in excitement. Mr. Lewis stood on the other side, a tired expression on his face.
"You kept me waiting, Ms. Joy." Alice couldn't help flinching hearing her family name. It reminded her she wasn't supposed to be here. "I hope you've sorted out any issues you had."
"Umm, kind of? One at least."
The teacher gave a grunt of acknowledgement and nodded towards Jack.
The girl stopped bouncing, and addressed the two on the field with an authoritative voice. "The battle exam between the examinee, Alice Joy and the Examiner, Professor Lewis will now begin. This will be a one on one pokemon battle, with no substitutions allowed on either side. Professor Lewis, choose your pokemon."
Mr. Lewis casually tossed a pokeball from his pocket. "I'll choose this little one for this battle."
The pokeball opened, revealing a brown rabbit. It had large ears with bits of fluff on the tips, and stood on two small feet, also covered in fluff that reached up to its belly. A Buneary, a pokemon pretty popular as a pet. However, if it was being used for this battle, it obviously was caught with battle in mind.
Hmm, can the pokedex scan it from here? Alice opened her dex in the direction of the Buneary. Surprisingly, there was a ding, and prompt saying a Buneary had been detected, and asking if she'd like to see its information. Huh, I guess it can.
"Hey Jack, am I allowed to use the pokedex?"
Jack chuckled. "A bit late for that. But yeah, I'll allow it. I think most official battles and tournaments do too. But a heads up, a lot of trainers see it as an unfair advantage to be able to use a pokedex scan on an opponent's pokemon. You do get to see a pokemon's learned moves after all, so be prepared to get some flack for it from randos."
"Noted." Alice frowned, looking back at the device.
"I'm pretty sure the one you should be asking is me, the one who's in charge of this exam." Mr. Lewis said dryly. "But yes, I'll allow it too. Now, choose your pokemon Ms. Joy."
"Hey, I'm supposed to say that!"
Ignoring Jack's outburst, Alice bent down to the bird that was still patiently waiting in front of her. "So, um, standby over there opposite the Buneary, and don't attack until I say so, ok?"
The Starly gave a chirp and hopped away. It was still strange seeing a pokemon that had been so hostile to her before becoming so obedient. Was it really just the effect of being caught?
Seeing the Starly hop over, Jack nodded and returned to referee mode. "Both pokemon have been chosen. Starly vs. Buneary, BEGIN!".
"Fly up!" Alice shouted. Alice wasn't any sort of expert at battles, but she knew that her Starly needed to be airborne to be at its best. The little bird chirped and took off surprisingly quickly, reaching the heights of the gym field in a split second.
"Defense Curl. Be prepared for any attacks from the sky." Mr. Lewis said, looking at the bird circling above. His Buneary hunched down, covering itself with its large ears. Alice would almost think it looked cute if she wasn't trying to win.
Defense Curl obviously raised its defensive capabilities. Unfortunately, Starly didn't have any moves to counteract that effect. They could, however, do something else. "Growl!"
Starly let out a piercing screech, grinding into Alice's eardrums. The Buneary finched, curling into itself even more. Even after the cry had finished, Alice's ears were still ringing. No wonder a Starly's cry was infamous. A group of them screeching at each other must be hell.
Alice looked toward Mr. Lewis for a response, but the man simply stood with his arms crossed, watching the field. It was on her to make the first attack then. Starly was quite far away, so in that case: "Quick Attack!"
Starly chirped and began to speed up, the bird's body glowing faintly. The pokemon dived, turning into a black blur as it dived toward its opponent.
"Counter with Pound!" Mr. Lewis yelled. The Buneary let out a cute cry, angling its body towards the feathery missile heading towards it. At the last second, when Starly was about to hit, the bunny jumped toward the bird. The two collided into each other, the force sending them both flying. The Buneary tumbled backwards a bit, but managed to scramble to its feet. Her Starly, on the other hand, wasn't so grateful, awkwardly flapping its wings in an attempt to regain balance as it tumbled on the field.
"After it! Pound!" Mr. Lewis said. His Buneary ran towards her bird, who was still trying to pick itself back up.
He knew that would happen. Alice realized. It was his aim from the start. "Fly back up!" She yelled. Starly struggled to get up, but the Buneary was too fast. The bunny tilted its head towards her pokemon, and its rolled up ears shot out like a slingshot, slamming into the bird and sending it further away.
Alice winced at the hit. A hit from a Buneary's ear could shatter stone, and she'd heard all too many horror stories from Pokemon Center's of kids with broken bones from getting too close to a wild one. They were generally extremely skittish, but even the most timid of animals would bite if it thought it was cornered.
Starly tumbled backwards again, but this time he managed to keep his balance, landing on his clawed feet. Letting out a chorus of annoyed chirps as he shot into the air again, though a lot closer to the ground than before.
"Defense Curl again." Mr. Lewis said. The Buneary again curled itself into a small ball of fluff.
Alice frowned. If he was aiming for the same thing again, she had to change her approach. But what could she do differently? She looked at the Buneary's posture, its powerful muscles coiled up ready to spring forward. Forward…wait, the solution was obvious!
"Starly, Quick attack! Aim at it from behind!"
Mr. Lewis caught on quickly. "Turn around Buneary!"
"Don't let it! Hurry!"
The Buneary attempted to adjust its position, but it was too late to curl up like before. A black blur hit the bunny, and it let out a cry of pain, stumbling a few feet backwards.
Yes! Alice thought. Maybe she was better at this battling thing than she thought. "Quick Attack again! Same strategy!"
Her pokemon let out a cry and sped up again. If she could just keep this up-
"Buneary! Jump on top of it!" Alice's mind blanked at Mr. Lewis's words. What?
As Starly sped up, the Buneary turned around quickly. Without the defense curl, its response was a lot quicker. As the black and white bird sped towards it, at the last second, the Buneary jumped into the air. The jump itself was surprisingly fast, her Starly letting out a squawk of surprise. The Buneary tried to land on him, but the bird was going too fast, and its feet grazed the bird's feathers.
Alice breathed a sigh of relief as Starly managed to flee upwards once more. She was pretty sure the battle would be over if the Buneary had caught him. But now, what to do? It felt like every move she made had been thoroughly countered. What could she do?
"Buneary, it's time to end this!" Mr. Lewis yelled, interrupting Alice's thoughts. He was going to make a move now? But what could he do? Starly was flying in the air-
"Now!" The professor said, "Jump!"
Alice watched in amazement as the Buneary jumped what must have been several meters in the air in an instant. Starly let out a cry of surprise as the Buneary rocketed towards him.
"Watch out!" Alice yelled, but it was way too late. The Buneary's ears slammed into Starly with an impact so hard Alice could almost hear it, and she jumped in surprise as the bird sharply fell from the impact, landing near her pocket of the battlefield and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Alice coughed as she felt some dust enter her lungs, and she squinted as she tried to make out her pokemon. Her Starly lay in a small crater, the force of the blow apparently hard enough to crack the ground even from as high as it was. Dust covered its wings, and the bird didn't move a muscle, aside some from very slight breathing. Her pokemon had fainted.
"Starly is unable to battle!" Jack said, raising her hand towards Mr. Lewis's side of the field. "The winner is the Examiner, Professor Lewis!"
So it was over. Although this exam supposedly didn't matter, Alice felt a strange bitterness. During that battle, Alice had felt she had a chance to win. Could she have? Was there one move that would have given her that victory?
Jack walked over to Alice, a small smile on her face. "So, what'd you think?
"Of losing?"
"No, you dummy. Of battling! This was your first battle on your way to becoming a badass pokemon trainer!"
"I don't feel so badass." Alice said, slowly walking over to her fallen pokemon.
"Well duh, that comes later! No one's a complete badass at the start. Well, except me."
Alice ignored her friend's jokes and crouched down next to her Starly. Gently touching the feathers, Alice could see the bruises left by the Buneary's blows. However, there was nothing that looked as though it would leave a lasting scar. When training as a pokemon nurse, Alice had known pokemon could take a beating. However, there was something different about seeing it happen in front of her, of owning a pokemon that had participated in a battle.
"Jack, can you get my bag from the stands?"
"Huh?" Jack looked towards the fallen Starly and realized what she intended. " You know, we have machines here that can-"
"I want to do this myself." Alice said firmly.
Jack looked at her, and whatever expression she had was enough for her to head to the stands without another word. As Jack left, Alice heard a pair of footsteps approaching. Mr. Lewis and his Buneary walked towards her, the former with a soft expression on his face, and the former looking sheepish.
"Buneary sent your Starly a bit too close to you for my liking." Mr. Lewis said, giving his pokemon a stern look. "If that had hit you, that certainly would have been dangerous. I apologize."
It took Alice a moment to realize what he meant. The crater made by the impact had been pretty close to the trainer box, a foot or two more, and it would have been a close call.
"How often do trainers get hurt in battles here?" Alice asked.
"Rarely. Of course, there have been accidental collisions or burns, but most of the pokemon owned by trainers in the school aren't strong enough to cause any permanent harm accidently. Most gyms and tournaments have barriers to protect both trainers from harm. But you're more likely to be harmed by a wild pokemon than get hurt in the crossfire of a trainer battle. That does assume, of course, that the battle is in an official format."
Alice nodded absent-mindedly. Getting hurt from trainer battles was a possibility that she hadn't really considered. However, seeing the injuries her Starly had gotten, and how easily she had gotten hurt had made her realize something. Pokemon battles were dangerous.
Jack made her way back, carrying a small case in her hand. It was a first aid kit, but larger and a bit fancier, with the Joy family crest painted on the cover, a white cross with a J in the middle. Alice had asked for her bag, but Jack had brought what she'd been looking for anyway. She was thankful, but a bit irritated that Jack had gone rifling through her stuff without asking. Hopefully she hadn't made too much of a mess.
Opening the case, Alice took what she needed without a second thought. She was familiar with the contents of that case to the point she could probably pick out whatever she needed in the dark. Her mother had made sure of that.
In this case she didn't need much. A potion would do. Taking the small bottle, Alice gently sprayed Starly's bruises. For the small wounds, a couple of sprays would suffice, but large bruises required a lot more. By the time she was done, the potion bottle had run dry, but Alice put it back into the case. It was a custom bottle, so Alice would have to refill it later.
Even after the Starly wounds were treated he didn't wake, which was normal. It would take something like a Revive to rejuvenate the bird, but that wasn't really needed at the moment. Standing up, Alice recalled Starly into its ball. She'd done all she could for now.
Looking up, she saw both Jack looking at her with odd expressions on her face. "What?" Alice said, a bit more harsh than intended.
Jack blinked as if she was caught off guard. She shook her head as if trying to shake a thought away and then smiled. "Nothing! I just think that you look cute when you're all focused like that~."
Alice rolled her eyes and turned to Mr. Lewis. "Well? How did I do?"
The teacher closed his eyes in thought. "You performed well on the written portion. You answered many questions even older trainers wouldn't have an answer to, though I assume that's a result of your poor education. When it came to the battle exam…"
Alice felt her heart sink. Calm down. She thought. The test doesn't count towards anything. Though she couldn't help but feel a bit of frustration that she hadn't won.
"I would say you performed… about as well as someone in your position should. You performed a bit better than the young ones that come in, but I would expect that at your age. Compared to others your age you performed quite poorly, but that's expected for some who've never battled before."
Alice nodded, frowning. She understood she was a bit late as a trainer, but did everyone have to remind her of that fact?
"However," The Professor said. "What you did during the end of the battle was commendable. Too many trainers don't properly check on their pokemon's condition after a battle. Pokemon are sturdy, but all it takes is the right type of injury to be fatal." That wasn't what Alice had intended for when she had treated Starly, but she wasn't about to complain. "So did I pass?"
"Yes, I believe so. Altogether this would be more than enough for a passing score."
Alice sighed in relief. It'd be embarrassing to fail an exam meant for children.
"Well then!" Jack slapped her back. "I don't think we'll have to spend too long here. We'll attend a few classes in battle theory, and have you battle a couple of kids to get experience."
Alice's stomach lurched at the thought. Losing to a professor was one thing, but she wouldn't be able to take losing to some ten-year old.
"But let's get you signed up first! I think enough time has passed by now."
Alice had almost forgotten about her trainer license. It was easy to forget but even if she had her first battle, she wasn't an official trainer yet. Had Amanda's shift ended by now?
As the evening sun began to set in the horizon, Alice, standing a few feet from the center so the automatic doors wouldn't open, lightly pushed Jack towards the center. "You go check first. If she recognizes me there's no way she won't blab to mother."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you literally walk in the center before without her noticing?"
"I just got lucky, I'd rather not gamble on that again."
Jack chuckled, but walked towards the center, the doors opening and the chime announcing someone had entered the center. Alice had meant for her just to peek inside, but Jack continued onwards, and Alice ended up having to jump to the side to prevent herself from being seen.
Please be gone. Alice thought. I just want to get going already. She had wanted to leave the city as soon as possible, but in the end Jack had wanted to stay for longer. Alice was afraid that her mother would find out, but Jack didn't seem to care. She doesn't know how scary mother can be. But in the end, Alice was depending on her friend to discourage anything her mother would try. Top trainers could handle almost anything, right?
After another minute Jack poked her head out of the center. "It's all clear. C'mon."
Alice breathed a sigh of relief.
Jubilife Pokemon Center was about as big as any city pokemon center should be. Due to there being no gym in this city, most of the patients here were normal people with pets, rather than trainers. The trainers that were here were quite young, due to the trainer school nearby. The standout was a young woman who had attracted a crowd of young trainers in the waiting area with her Stoutland, a pokemon quite rare in Sinnoh.
Alice switched her attention to the front desk. It looked like Molly, the center intern, there at the moment. Molly was a bit older than Alice, at 18-years old. The young woman usually kept to herself, which was exactly what Alice needed right now. Someone who wouldn't gossip.
Jack was already at the desk, leaning over and chatting merrily with Molly, who simply continually nodded with a strained smile.
"Anyway," Jack was saying, leaning a bit too far forward. "You've gotten even prettier since the last time I've seen you."
"Yes, I heard you Molly leaned back, her smile straining even more than Alice thought possible. Once she saw Alice however, her smile turned more genuine. "Ah! Alice! Long time no see…"
Molly was as soft spoken as ever, even when suffering from Jack's flirting. The two of them had worked together at the Jubilife Center. While Molly was the older of the two, Alice was her superior when it came to pokemon nurse knowledge. She had started her training way earlier. After all, what else but nursing would the child of Amelia Joy do?
Alice gave Molly a nod. "Good to see you. I'm surprised you're still interning here."
"Well, that's because I'm not an intern anymore. I've been a full employee for a while now."
"Oh. Congrats."
Molly gave a light smile. " Thank you. Now, Jack was telling me you came here for something?"
Right. Alice steeled herself as Jack snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! Alice here is going to become a trainer, so I'm going to need you to register her please!"
Alice's heart jumped as Molly looked at her with a stunned expression. "Really? That's a surprise! I always thought you would become…"
"Things change!" Alice snapped, and felt a pang of guilt as Molly flinched.
"What Alice means," Jack said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Is that she wants to explore her options a bit. That's all."
"O-of course! I understand completely!" Molly nodded her head rapidly, a bit too quickly for Alice to believe those words. But in any case, there was one thing she had to make clear. Alice looked at the young nurse in front of her, trying to wear that same gaze she wore from a few years ago, when Molly was the ignorant intern, and she was her senior. A patronizing, cold expression that her mother gave her when she was in "work mode". It worked, as Molly immediately stiffened.
"Molly," Alice said, keeping her tone low. "I need you to not tell anyone I'm doing this. Not Amanda, not even Mother. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am." Molly said, sweat running down her brow. "I won't tell a soul."
"Good." Alice said. Part of her still didn't believe her, so she kept that gaze leveled at the older woman as she spoke. "Now, you know how to register new trainers, right? Or do I have to show you that too?"
"No ma'am, that won't be necessary!"
"Ok, that's enough." Jack said, lightly tapping Alice's shoulder. "As cute as this is, let's save the bullying for another time."
Alice sighed and nodded, taking out her pokedex.
Seeing the device, Molly's eyes widened, but she took it without a word. As Molly opened the pokedex and typed a few things into the computer in front of her, Alice found her thoughts drifting back to her mother. She definitely would be against Alice doing this, but what would she do first? A voice from a past memory echoed in Alice's head, words that Alice hadn't ever forgotten. The Joy Family was built upon pokemon care. A Joy that forsook this mantle does not deserve to be called a Joy at all.
Sky slowly trudged through another wall of bushes. It had been almost a day since he had managed to escape capture thanks to that girl with the Houndour. Afterwards, he had finally managed to make it to Verity Lakefront, but he could still tell his pursuers were on his heels. They had almost managed to pin him down, covering most of Route 202. But they failed at the critical moment, and that let him slip into Route 201, and towards the lake. Towards his escape route.
For anyone else, this would be a dead end, which was probably why his pursuers weren't as urgent as they were before.
Speaking of which, Sky lowered his body to the ground, and went under another wall of bushes, this time stopping so his body was completely obscured. A few of them were nearby.
After a moment of silence, a shadow passed above his head. It was a Haunter, its two hand-like appendages grasping at the air. If it was this nearby, Sky's pursuers must have gotten ahold of his scent again. He was running out of time.
Sky waited for a while even after the Haunter was out of sight. He then slowly, but urgently began to inch his way forward. He couldn't afford to scramble and run for it. If he messed up, and they were nearer than he predicted, everything would be over. Calm down. Deep breaths. The odds were still in his favor.
And then, his ears picked it up. The sound of water nearby. His escape route. He slightly adjusted his body, twisting towards the sounds he heard while making as little noise as possible. Calm down. Deep Breaths.
After he managed to crawl through a particularly thorny bush, he squinted as light hit his face. He had made it to the edge of the lake. Shy could hear the sound of water a few feet below him; He had arrived at a small cliff. Perfect.
Sky slowly lifted his body, his muscles aching as he was forced to change positions again. He held his breath, listening for anything that had heard him. Nothing. He then slowly walked to the cliff, his body rigid with tension.
Sky could now see the lake below, his silhouette reflected by the murky water. One more step. Relaxing his body, Sky slowly pushed himself forward. He didn't bother taking a breath. After all, it wasn't really necessary.
As always, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Any reviews are appreciated!