I followed behind Beatrice silently, taking in the unfamiliar sights of Jubilife City. The sun had long since set by now, but the city remained... bright-- obnoxiously so. What little stars could be seen in the sky were all but choked out by a thick blanket of light pollution. Lilycove City had by no means been small, but Jubilife easily dwarfed it by comparison. This city was big.

On our way we had passed a large building with a comically massive TV screen mounted on its front-- displaying the current time and weather conditions. Despite it being rather late, the streets were bustling with traffic; absolutely teeming with people and pokemon alike. More than once I had been stopped by someone offering me 'the deal of a lifetime', but Beatrice quickly shut that down and continued to hurry me along.

"Don't make eye contact with them. Just keep walking." She told me. I gave her a nod.

"Is it always like this?" I asked.

"Here? Yes." she sighed. "You'll get used to it."

We continued walking, ignoring the street vendors along the way-- which admittedly felt a teensy bit rude, but only the first few times. After the fifth or sixth person attempted to flag us down, I happily threw my manners to the wayside. Being annoying seemed like a common business practice here.

Hopefully I wouldn't be spending too much time here, apart from my stay at the Academy. While I could admit that the city itself was impressive, crowds had always made me anxious-- and the pushy street vendors certainly didn't help. Everywhere I looked, the buildings seemed to close in around me. I found my vision rapidly focusing into a tunnel with Beatrice at its center. She continued to walk ahead of me with her head held high, seemingly unbothered by the cacophony of stimuli that pelted us from all sides. I willed myself to hold it together-- Perhaps she was right, maybe I would get used to this-- though I seriously doubted it.

------

I shivered as I stared up and the hulking building before me. The Jubilife Trainer Academy cut an imposing figure, even among the rest of the cityscape. It wasn't just big, but it was ornate--featuring chiseled stone columns along the entranceway, among other impressive feats of architecture. The courtyard was decorated with a brilliant display of meticulously trimmed hedges and shrubbery, which coalesced around an impressively large fountain that featured a statue of a familiar pokemon at its center- A Lucario, if I wasn't mistaken. The Lucario was positioned in a triumphant stance, as if challenging any who opposed it. The rest of the Academy seemed to exude the same energy.

I clutched my knees, letting my luggage fall to my sides for a moment. The trek through the city had taken more out of me than I realized.

"Are you alright?" Beatrice asked, stopping in front of me.

"Yeah- I'm fine," I panted, forcing myself to smile up at her. "Crowds just make me pretty nervous."

"I see." Beatrice's eyes lingered on me for a moment, but her face betrayed nothing of what she was thinking.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Let me know when you've regained your bearings."

--------

Upon arriving at the dormitory, I asked Beatrice if there was a phone I could use to call my family. She led me to a landline phone, before leaving me with a note that had my dorm number hastily scribbled onto it. I thanked her, but she said nothing in return-- only giving me a polite nod before heading up the stairs. I felt a little bad that the school had sent her halfway across the city to retrieve me. I had honestly expected a teacher or staff member-- someone at least getting paid for such a tedious task. I would have to do something to thank her properly later.

I hobbled awkwardly up the stairs with my luggage, once again stopping to catch my breath upon making it to the third floor. Picking myself up, I hurried down the hall in search of my dorm room, which thankfully didn't take long to find. The siren song of sleep was calling my name.

"Twenty-four C," I muttered, looking at the note. "Yeah, seems like this is it."

I reached out to knock on the door, hesitating for a moment. I hoped I wouldn't be waking my roommate up-- though, they would probably be expecting me. Attempting to swallow my anxiety, I gingerly knocked on the door.

No response.

I knocked a little louder.

No response.

A little louder.

Still no response. Maybe my roommate was out?

I didn't want to be rude, but my feet were practically screaming at me by this point-- I was exhausted. I gulped as I tried the knob, which was fortunately unlocked. "Pardon me," I called sheepishly as I cracked the door open. Peering inside, I could clearly see that the lights were on.

"Er- Hello?" I called again, opening the door to poke my head further inside. I was met with no response, but someone else definitely lived here. Clothes were strewn about one side of the room, and a cute Chansey doll rested atop disheveled bed. Opposite that, the other side of the room appeared empty, save for a bare mattress. Presumably, that would be my bed.

I once again checked the note and number on the door, confirming that I did, in fact, have the correct room.

Oh well. I entered, closing the door behind me. I was just too tired to care.

I immediately plopped myself onto the bare mattress, and the world around me went black.

----

I awoke to the sound of footsteps entering the room, causing me to shoot up. How long was I out?

In the doorway stood a petite girl with shaggy pink hair. She wore thick, dramatic eye makeup--and a completely deadpan expression.

"You're awake." She spoke, her voice as devoid of emotion as her face. "You're the transfer student, I take it? I was told you'd be late."

"That's me," I yawned, offering a wobbly hand to the girl. "I'm Peppa. You can call me Pep, though."

"Pep it is then." She gave me a dubious look, before shaking my hand. "I'm Rita. You can call me.... Rita."

I laughed nervously. Was that supposed to be a joke?

"I had some.. family stuff to take care of last night, so I left the lights on. I didn't expect you to crash without even changing clothes, though. Long trip then, yeah?"

"All the way from Hoenn," I replied, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Well, as much as I love small talk, we really ought to book it. Our teacher is.. interesting. I'd prefer not to be on her shit-list."

"We're in the same class, then?"

Rita nodded. "You missed orientation yesterday, so I was told to make sure you got to class today. You mind getting a move-on?"

"Ah, right. Sorry." I replied, scurrying out of bed. I didn't want her getting into any trouble on my account.

As I rose, I realized I had been draped with a pink, fuzzy blanket. I turned to look at my new roommate, but got the feeling that she was intentionally avoiding my gaze. I smirked. What a nice girl.

After a quick rinse in the shower, I donned my favorite outfit- My signature corduroy jacket, a cute Gulpin t-shirt, and some light-denim jeans. Tying the ensemble together was my trusty pair of (slightly scuffed) steel-toed boots. Fiddling with my bangs for a moment, I gave myself a quick once-over in the mirror, decidedly pleased with myself-- I was ready to go.