A turn in the Gwen family's fortunes had them moving back to their roots in Hoenn after the twins' 7th birthday.
Her father's company, Gwen Group Realties, had to declare bankruptcy after several unwise investments had not paid off. Felicity, Amaris and Amadeus' socialite mother, had not taken the news well. She had remained inconsolable for months, and had only recovered after carefully ingratiating herself to Lilycove's gaggle of trophy wives.
It did not help at all that, prior to the declaration of bankruptcy, Zachariah had purchased a dratini egg for Amadeus. It had cost the family a truly staggering amount of pokedollars, money that they could no longer get back after the dratini had hatched and had imprinted on the older Gwen twin.
Amadeus, all of seven and unaware of their family's looming financial turn, had simply been ecstatic that his 3-year campaign of asking for the rare pokemon had borne fruit.
Amaris, watching all this happen with too-wise eyes, had opted, as usual, to remain silent. It was not her place to berate her parents for their poor financial decisions. Besides, in what world does a child scold their parents? Not in this one, surely.
So Gwen Group Realties had declared bankruptcy, and the Gwen family had fled back to Hoenn, to take over one of their smaller (and founding) companies (perhaps the one Zachariah considered the most lucrative): Guren Hospitality Group.
According to the family's long history, the Gwen family could trace its roots back as humble inn owners in Hoenn, centuries ago. Then they had become hospitality experts: dominating the hotel and inn industry before branching out into real estate as the family moved from region to region.
They had come from Guren in Hoenn, to Gowenn, and finally, to Gwen in the Kalos region. Gwen Group Realties owned one of the most high-end luxury hotels in Lumiose City, several factories, and a sprawling farm. All of these assets were lost when the family declared bankruptcy.
The Gwen family had no choice but to relocate to Hoenn. Felicity Gwen, as previously noted, did not take this news well.
For the twins, however, all this meant was that they were moving from a stupidly large mansion to a smaller one. Zachariah, while dismayed, had not been devastated. Amadeus had cried at the thought of leaving his friends behind, but as all seven-year-olds were wont to do, quickly rallied himself and soon forgot his old friends after the first week of his new school.
The Gwen family had gone from stupidly, staggeringly rich, to: still rich.
It was no skin off Amaris' back. Guren Hospitality Group owned 7 hotel chains and several multi-family buildings in Hoenn. They were not struggling.
Still, a move like this had been jarring to Amaris for three reasons: the first was the language. Kalos spoke Common and Kalosian. Hoenn spoke a little Common and Hoennian. Emphasis on a little. Hoennian, a bastard combination of Kantosian and whatever dialect the Hoenn region spoke, was totally unfamiliar to Amaris' ears. It did not help that, after years of being homeschooled, Amaris was finally being enrolled in regular school alongside Amadeus. This was the second thing.
The third was the weather: Amaris both hated and loved it. The weather in Lumiose City leant itself to cold and snowing, and two months of summer. Hoenn weather was stuck on two dials: rainy and sunny.
While Amaris loved the heat, she did not enjoy the muddy roads of Lilycove when the rainy season did hit. Still, it was just another thing to get used to. She would miss the snow, however. Hoenn snowed not at all, apparently. It was a tropical region from north to south, east to west, save for some very localized cold pockets where ice-type Pokemon thrived in.
While Amaris struggled with these three things, her brother seemed not at all bothered. Sure, he had pouted and cried the whole move from Lumiose City to Lilycove City, but after a week of school he was back to his normal self.
It certainly helped that he was popular in his class-- he was the sole owner of a dratini, after all. Amadeus had no trouble adjusting after the move.
Amaris... not so much.
It was her first time interacting with kids her age aside from Amadeus, and it showed. She was silent around them, almost morose. She seemed to merely observe the children her age: an outsider peering in.
Her teachers all noted this and informed her parents. For their part, her parents explained Amaris' circumstances, and the teachers eventually eased off. Moving from one place to another would be an adjustment for any child, let alone a previously autistic, homeschooled child. The teachers would just wait and see, and hope for improvements.
Another thing that stood out to the teachers, though, aside from Amaris' lack of social interaction with her peers, was her exceptional abilities in class. She was leagues beyond her classmates. This would, normally, be seen as a good thing. The school's psychologist, however, had seen cases like Amaris' and had cautioned her parents.
"I've seen cases like hers before. She... might be special needs," the psychologist counseled.
Her mother, who had been the one to attend the meeting, listened and asked questions, "What do you recommend we do?"
"Well, regular check ups from a child psychologist, for one," the psychologist had advised, "And regular checkups with her bonds to pokemon, for another, especially psychic types. I've noticed that she has two ralts."
"Is this a cause for concern?"
"If her results turn out positive, then yes," the psychologist replied, "But I've done a checkup on her myself, and nothing seems to be amiss. Still, a specialist might caution otherwise. It's best to check."
That was how, a few months after moving to Hoenn, Amaris met Pokemon Professor Birch. She was 7 and 8 months. Summer was making its way to Autumn. For Hoenn, this simply meant that it was a little rainier. Since the region experienced no winter, the leaves remained evergreen.
The Gwen family had travelled via boat from Lilycove City to Mossdeep City, Hoenn Region's center of research and development, where Professor Birch's laboratory was situated. It had taken the Gwen family some months of back-and-forth and numerous appointments with increasingly specialized doctors before Amaris was finally referred to the esteemed Professor.
When the family arrived in the Pokemon Professor's lab, Amaris looked around the space and noted that they were in the middle of what seemed to be a move. Some spaces were strangely empty, as if something had been there before and had been relocated. There were empty shelves all around, and even some shelves that sagged in the middle but were bereft of contents.
When she was presented to Professor Birch, he had asked her to release the twins from their pokeballs so he could examine all three of them. Amaris complied. Silently, she took the balls from either side of her hips and pressed the release button at the same time. The twins materialized before a closely watching Professor. Garrick, the male twin, crossed his arms to stand protectively in front of Amaris. Galene, the female twin with blue hair, padded closer to Amaris and held her hand before peering curiously around her. After a brief sweep of the room, Galene focused on the stranger before them.
"Tell me what you know about their relationship," Profesor Birch asked, grabbing a notepad and pen. The query had been directed to her parents, so Amaris remained quiet.
Amadeus, Arceus bless his heart, had been taken away by another researcher for a tour of the nearly empty lab. His hyperactivity would have been a distraction.
"We gave the twins these two ralts a little after their fourth birthday. Amaris and Amadeus were supposed to get one of each, but, as you can see, both ralts prefer Amaris."
A few more questions were asked, with the parents eventually reaching the point of Amaris' autism before she met the ralts. The Professor rubbed his chin, humming and admitting that he was no expert on human child psychology, but that he had read cases of Pokemon being used as amplifiers for psychic power in humans, which could be a connection.
Zachariah had nodded, "We've heard of this from Professor Sycamore as well," he had said, mentioning a Kalosian Pokemon Professor whose name Birch was familiar with.
"Let's get these three read in our scanner," the Professor said after several minutes of information gathering. He asked Amaris to recall her pokemon, which she did, before leading her away into a sterile-looking room.
"This is the only AuRa Scanner in Hoenn for now," explained the Professor as the three Gwen family members made their way to the room, "The technology is relatively new. Professor Oak all the way in Kanto pioneered its creation, but it's now being used in nearly every region despite its infancy. With this new technology, we hope to further understand the intricacies of human-pokemon relations."
Amaris had heard about it in the news. The Autonomous Radiation Scanner, or AuRa Scanner for short, was a series of machinery that read the energy that humans and pokemon emitted.
In the haze of her fragmented memories, Amaris marveled that things like friendship and trust between humans and pokemon could be read as energy in this world. It was more than that, she knew, but maybe Ash Ketchum wasn't completely crazy when he relied on the power of friendship to pull him through tough situations. That power, in this world, was a thing.
Autonomous Radiation, or AuRa, was measurable, something invisible but still quantifiable, like an earthquake's magnitude or a calorie. It was first quantified and measured by Sir Aaron Aurelius and his lucario. They created a system for it, too. The system was designed thus: the higher the energy output, the higher the autonomous radiation level, or AR for short.
AR levels started at 1 and its highest value was 60. AR 60 was a level only achievable in rare cases in history. Sir Aaron's AR with his pokemon was one of the first notable ones. Throughout history, a few were good, some were bad, and some were evil. All of them, every single one, impacted this world's history in one way or another.
Professor Oak in the Kanto Region, last measured during his Champion days, was AR 57. Lance, the current Kanto Champion, sat at AR 52. Experts were debating on Lance's potential, though: his AR level might yet increase. He was also only 28 years old. Prognosis was in a growth-bound direction for Lance.
"Well, here we are," said Professor Birch as he opened a door and led the family in. The room was small, but a large glass window showed another room beyond double doors that housed a curious, blue-tinted room with various machinery attached to the walls and ceiling. There was a monitor beside the glass. It was switched off at the moment.
Professor Birch told Amaris to change into a sterile gown and wash her hands. Her pokeball were taken from her and sterilized as well. Then, barefoot, she was told to enter the room and release her ralts and then return them. She was told to do this thrice. And then she was told to let her ralts remain outside their balls for 30 minutes. After the time was up, Amaris was told she and her ralts could leave the room. While Amaris was changing back into her clothes, she could hear Professor Birch talking to her parents through the changing room door.
"Let's wait until she comes back before discussing anything," her mother had advised, "Despite how she acts, that child is curious, and she will want to know."
When Amaris exited the changing room, the Professor was holding a sheet of paper that was as long as he was tall. He was looking at it and mumbling to himself, when he noticed Amaris, he smiled briefly at her before he addressed her parents:
"Everything seems to be in normal range for her. She's in an above-average AR level for her age, but it's nothing bad. You said the twin's pokeballs are still registered to you, correct?" the professor asked Zachariah.
Her father nodded, "That's right. I'm shouldering my son's dratini as well at the moment."
"What other pokemon are you housing?" asked the professor absently.
"I have a vulpix, an infernape, and a machamp."
"So that's... 6 pokemon. You're cutting it a little close," mused the professor, "Have there been any discomfort so far?"
"Well, there is another thing..." started her father.
"Yes?"
"We have a ninetales in our family. She's been with us for generations. In fact, I don't know how old she is."
Professor Birch nodded and made an inquisitive hum, "And do you feel a bond with her?"
"Yes, but it's..."
"More like she's the one sheltering you than the other way around, correct?" prodded the professor.
"Yes, exactly!"
The professor nodded, "This is usually the case with ancient pokemon like the one you have. Pokemon who have longer lives than the average human tend to have greater AR levels than their bonded trainers, and this disparity usually means that it acts as the "trainer" in the relationship, to some extent. How is the ninetales' attitude and relationship toward you?"
Zachariah thoughtfully pondered the professor's question, "She usually just... doesn't do anything? I mean, I've certainly never tried to command her. I never felt that I could."
"As is normal, then," said the professor, "Well. We all know what happened when a human tried to control a pokemon with significantly higher AR levels. The Wartortle War just proved it."
Everyone in the room, save Amaris, winced. She blinked and looked at the adults curiously. Wartortle War?
"Kanto is mad for allowing squirtles to breed in the wild," mumbled her mother.
Professor Birch sighed, "With that sentiment, Hoenn should cull treekos, and Unova should do the same with all deinos. No. We must remember that we must not fear the pokemon that opens its maw to smite, but the trainer who told it to do so."
"We ought not fear a gun but the finger on its trigger," said Amaris. These were the first words she spoke in the presence of the professor, who looked at her with mild surprise. He rallied himself quickly, though, and smiled at her words.
"Just so," the professor said.
Her mother, however, huffed and said, "A rather foolish sentiment, if you ask me. Some pokemon don't need a trainer to kill people."
Amaris remained quiet. Her mother had always been wary of pokemon for a reason unknown to her. Perhaps it was due to some past traumatic experience. Her father had only managed to convince her mother to bond with a pokemon a few years ago: a furfrou Amaris suspected was trained to the teeth. Her mother had reluctantly agreed, and bonded with the furfrou she had named Poochie. Poochie was perhaps the most laidback and docile pokemon Amaris knew. The furfrou had all the chill in the world. Perhaps Poochie's only point of contention with his owner was that he refused to answer to the name Poochie, and thus her mother was forced to call the pokemon Furfrou when she wanted to command him.
His certificate said Poochie, but no way in hell did the furfrou recognize it.
Thus, Amaris' quiet conviction that the furfrou was an agent in disguise: a pokemon her father had bought to protect her mom.
"Well," Zachariah interjected, knowing full well his wife's feelings about pokemon, "What else is there we should know, Professor?"
Professor Birch went back to scanning the report in his hands, "Her AR level will increase once you officially transfer the pokeball ownership to Amaris. She's currently at 19, by the way--"
"What?" blinked her father, slightly incredulous, "My daughter's AR level is 19?"
Professor Birch nodded, "Like I said, above average."
Her dad spluttered, "But that's! That's incredible! She's 7 years old!"
Professor Birch hesitated, "Well, to be honest, I've seen quite a few cases where AR growth is exponential and the child has a higher AR to match."
When all three Gwen members looked confused, Professor Birch started to explain: "AR growth or lack thereof moves in five different directions, as far as science has discovered. You've heard of child pokemon prodigies, correct?"
"Well, yes," said her father, "There are quite a lot of them in history."
"But have you never wondered why they never manage to make a name for themselves after a certain age?" asked the Professor leadingly.
"Come to think of it..."
"Meryl Temple, 12 years old. Wolfgang Sirius, also 12 years old. James De Locke, 14. The oldest recorded of these certain types fizzle out at 18. Very near to us are the incumbent Gym Leaders for Mossdeep, Tate and Liza, twins, whom I'm quite certain you've heard of?"
Felicity exclaimed, "Why, yes! They're both--"
"Currently 9 years old, yes. They'll begin their tenure once they hit 10," said the Professor.
"That's incredible," said Zachariah.
"Incredible, yes," said the professor noncommittally, "But at the same time, brief. You see, they have a certain type of AR movement that's called exponential growth, not to be mistaken for an exponential curve, which means they grow rapidly during their childhood and even teenage years, and in turn make them incredible pokemon trainers able to command and wield the most powerful pokemon, but once they hit a certain summit, which is called the exponential ceiling, the growth stops and then their AuRa starts to plummet."
With his finger, the professor drew an upside-down V in the air, demonstrating his point, "This phenomenon in AuRa levels is rare, and once discovered in children, usually means that their talent should be nurtured while it lasts. Like fireworks in the sky, their time is brief but, well, explosive.
"So, going back to Tate and Liza, their tenure as gym leaders will perhaps last only a handful of years, maybe just a little more, before they will be forced to retire."
Amaris frowned, and spoke up for the second time that day, "So... I am... like them? Is that why my teacher wanted me to be checked so badly?"
Professor Birch looked her in the eye and said: "To put it simply: no. I can see why your teachers at school would worry, though. One of the signs of exponential AR growth is high IQ and early bonds with pokemon."
Amaris blinked and said, "Oh," she intoned, a few things her teachers said to her and her mother now making more sense.
"So if my daughter doesn't have... exponential growth..." said her father slowly, "Then what are her results?"
The professor smiled reassuringly at the Gwen family as he said, "Not to worry, Mr. and Mrs. Gwen. According to the results, Amaris has incremental AR growth. Notable examples in recent history would be... perhaps all the regional Champions and even Professor Oak himself." Professor Birch then chuckled, "That isn't to say that your daughter would reach the same heights. She might be less, she might even be greater. The thing about incremental AR growth is that it can grow or even diminish. It's usually a net positive as the trainer ages, though."
Her parents seemed relieved at the news, but still asked if the results were certain.
"How accurate are these results, Professor, and should we get a second opinion? Not that we're doubting your expertise!" her father quickly reassured Professor Birch, "But might there be something like er-- an error with the machine or..?"
Professor Birch rubbed his chin, "Well, if you really want a second opinion, then I believe only Professor Oak would be able to have a more in-depth analysis of your daughter's AuRa. The AuRa scanner technology is still in its infancy-- cutting edge, if you will. Not to brag, Mr. Gwen, but I was trained by Professor Oak himself. Going to other regions aside from Kanto will be the same as going to me. Only Professor Oak can surpass my expertise on this, I would say."
Zachariah smiled weakly at Birch, "I see. Then, we will trust in these results, Professor. I hope you didn't take any offense to my inquiry."
Birch smiled jovially back at him, "No need to worry about it, Mr. Gwen. I understand your need for certainty. But these results have a 99.99% accuracy, so please, be rest assured."