As Metagross carried me and my new pal back to Outskirt Stand, I hummed the OG Pokemon opening, Trapinch chattering along to it in my lap. Ehehehe~ I was already bonding with my new friend! I was on cloud nine as Metagros pulled up to the train turned gas station/diner. And as luck would have it, Papa was finishing up his business at the same time! Only…He looked a lot less excited than I did. His expression looked kinda worried actually…

“Ah! There you are, Cherry! What would you say to…to…is that a Trapinch…?” He asked, incredulously.

“Yup! He’s my new partner!” I said, stroking the top of its head, which it leaned into, clearly enjoying the attention.

“...Shit, Aria’s gonna kill me…” Papa muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t quite make out, but I’m pretty sure I heard Mama’s name…?

Before I could try and figure out what was said, Papa turned his attention back to me. “We’ll talk about that later. Anyways, as I was saying, what do you think about moving to Sinnoh?”

I blinked

“We’re moving to Sinnoh?! When?!” I asked excitedly.

“That was easier than I thought...Just hope Aria is as willing to go along with it…” Papa was muttering again but I didn’t care to even try to make out what he said this time! We were going to Sinnoh!

“Papa! When are we going?” I asked again. “Ah, if everything pans out, we’ll be leaving in a week!” He said, hoping up onto Metagross’s back behind me. “Hold on tight, Sprout! We’re going to be in a bit of a rush!”

Papa pulled me into his lap and hugged me close. Instinctively, I did the same for Trapinch.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Metagross! Hurry back to Agate! Go all out!” Papa called out to his Pokemon, which responded with a mighty “Meeeetaaaaaaa!” and suddenly I felt a lot lighter…just before we rocketed across the desert! Fast! Way too fast!

What the Distortion had happened in there to make Papa in such a hurry?!

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“What was that?!” I asked Papa when had finally reached the village entrance.

“Oh that? Just a little combination of moves your Papa cooked up for high speed travel!” He laughed proudly as he returned an exhausted Metagross to its ball. “Magnet Rise and reversed Gravity to make us lighter, Aerial Ace to reduce the wind resistance, and finally Extreme Speed to propel us forward. Oh, and can’t forget the triple Agility to raise Metagross’s base Speed! It takes a lot out of the poor thing, but it’ll get me where I want to go in a hurry… Speaking of, let’s hurry back to the house.” Papa said, rushing off towards our house by jumping over rooftops, eliciting shouts from our neighbors…again. Leaving me no choice but to follow him, albeit via the actual winding pathways. No seriously, there was nothing else to do here for me. There were no other kids here in Agate besides a bunch of babies and toddlers. I couldn’t wait to leave, even if there were a few grannies I’d miss.

As I walked home, I caught sight of my reflection in a puddle, and far from the first time, I mulled over just how different I looked. I was definitely Mama and Papa’s daughter, that was for sure. Papa had white spiky hair, piercing red eyes, and olive skin. Total edgy main character energy, which wasn’t helped by the fact that he dressed in all black. Mama on the other had dark green hair, ocean blue eyes, and pale skin. Nothing normally out of the ordinary for this world…except for her pupils. Unlike the black pupils that most people had, hers were sky blue, which admittedly matched well with the ocean blue of her irises.

Then there was me, who looked to be something in the middle of both of them. My green hair wasn’t light enough to be called “light green”, but it was definitely much lighter than Mama’s. My skin wasn’t as dark as Papa’s, but it definitely had a natural tan quality to it. And most strikingly were my eyes, having inherited both Papa’s piercing gaze and Mama’s dual colors, though mine had orange irises and yellow pupils. No wonder some of the babies cried when I looked at them…

Trapinch squirmed in my arms, grabbing my attention by chattering its teeth at me. I picked up…concern? Was it asking me if something was wrong…? “Oh, it’s nothing. Just checking my appearance. It’s a human girl thing…Actually come to think of it, are you are boy or a girl? One click for boy, two for girl.”

Two clicks. So a female. Neat.

With that fundamental mystery of the universe solved, I started making my way to the house. Only to be met with an open door and a Papa laid out in the yard. Looks like Mama kicked him out again. Not as in evicted him or anything. No I meant, she *literally* kicked him out. Mama was scary when she got mad.

I sighed. My new family was kind of crazy…but it was mine and we loved each other. Smiling at the thought, I stepped over the groaning Papa and into the house.