Thursday, June 1, 1978, 0930

"So, what's the plan?" Ellie chirped jovially as we headed out of the Seiichi compound. I didn't feel an ounce of remorse as we departed through the elaborate gates marking the entrance to the compound.

I sighed quietly, too soft for Ellie to overhear. The day was only just starting, and I already felt exhausted from the tumultuous start. Her energy was diametrically opposed to mine, and I felt blinded by being this close to her.

"Our first goal is to register and get out of Fuchsia. This whole day has been beyond my expectations, and I'm feeling a bit out of sorts," I remarked.

The rest of the morning had been relatively uneventful, all things considered; we packed up our belongings, said goodbye to our families, and had been summarily ejected from the compound. Sula had breezily run off to the beach to start her journey towards Cinnabar Island to face Blaine. She had given me a quick hug and never looked back.

Kiriel didn't even bother with the hug, of course, but my dad at least gave me a warm smile and brief embrace with an apologetic look in his eyes—I considered myself lucky to receive even that.

I shivered at the thought of spending the entire day traveling through the Seafoam Islands. Sula had taken me there for a trip last year, and I knew how cold it was, even in Summer. Not to mention the annoying masses of baby Seel that were ever-present throughout the caverns. The islands were frozen year-round due to the intense concentration of ice type-energy that saturated the area in perpetuity.

I knew Kiriel had high expectations for me, but traveling to Cinnabar Island and beating Blaine's personal team in a single day was a high hurdle, even for Sula. The man was a military legend and hadn't lost a private match in years. The trip alone took nearly ten hours of ocean travel, and I knew Sula was planning on riding her Lapras, meaning her only water-type pokémon would be exhausted for the battle at the end.

People struggled to beat Blaine's regular gym team even with a squad chock-full of water types, and matches using a gym leader's personal team featured six-on-six battles, or as many as the challenger could field against the leader's roster. Not many trainers had a team of six, considering the standard gym circuit only featured three-on-three matches, and pokémon were logistically quite challenging to take care of on the road.

Sula had an entire roster of powerful pokémon at her disposal, so she might break the trend. Kiriel had spared no expense ensuring Sula only had access to the best pokemon breeders could produce.

Of course, she's going to win. Who am I kidding? The worse the odds, the better chance Sula had of success. Or, at least, it felt that way to me every time I had to watch her pull a victory out of nowhere.

Ellie bounced along beside me, practically vibrating with excitement, utterly oblivious to my internal analysis. "Hmm, I guess that makes sense! I would be pissed, too, if my dad sprung something like this on me! I had the last few weeks to prepare for this! Are you mad? I don't really know what 'Out of sorts' means, but it sounds like a cop-out way to say mad, which I get, but still," Ellie accused.

She walked a few feet ahead with standard hiking gear: ankle-cut brown leather boots, khaki shorts, and a white linen shirt with rolled-up sleeves. She wore a mint-green sunhat pulled low over her face to protect her pale skin from the sun. I couldn't help but notice her socks were covered with tiny pineapples.

I love pineapples.

Perhaps that was a good omen? It was too early to tell, but I was at least slightly superstitious, as any true Kantonian ought to be.

"Yes, I suppose anger would be the appropriate emotion," I responded, softer this time now that I knew she too was a pineapple lover.

I scratched my head as I considered the idea that I was actually angry at my family. It wasn't something I felt often. Or rather, let myself feel often, at least. Being upset about something didn't matter to the Seiichi; all they respected was power or influence. I hadn't yet earned the right to express emotions unless I could back it up. My match with Koga had confirmed clearly that I couldn't. Not yet.

"No matter, I'll not let it affect our travels. Let's get registered at a pokémon center and get out of Fuchsia, and I'll show you the map Sula made for me. It's quite detailed, to say the least. It's her guide for the rest of the region from her last two years of travels," I explained.

Ellie nodded in confirmation. "That sounds great! What's a pokémon center? Why do we need to stop there before we leave?"

"Are you serious?!" I burst out, turning to her in shock. How can anybody not know something so simple?

"Pokémon centers are where most of the day-to-day needs of trainers are met. They have everything from housing, food, or even medical care for your pokémon. It's literally one of the only things I would've expected you to know already!" I paused and took a breath to stave off my mounting frustration.

I can't believe I'm assigned with a rank amateur. I can do this. Sula had to explain all these same things to me. If she can do it, I can do it.

My internal pep-talk calmed me down a bit, and I turned to Ellie with newfound patience, even doing my best to adopt a smile. "We need to stop and apply for our trainer's licenses before heading East from here. From what I understand, it shouldn't take too long."

I had frequently left the compound, but we had spent little time within Fuchsia City, preferring the wilds over anything else. Fuchsia City was more populous than average for Kanto but still smaller than the inland metropolises like Celadon or Saffron. However, it had much more going on than other cities in the region, like Pallet or Pewter, whose only draw was their proximity to well-maintained routes devoid of anything remotely threatening.

The main draw of Fuchsia was the Safari Zone, which took up vast swathes of land north of the city. It supported a variety of rare species that had nearly been poached out of existence in the wild. In the central city, the architecture was an odd blend of traditional multi-tiered pagodas and sleek modern gray-scale buildings in development.

Groups of Machop and Machoke ran about in a frenzy at the various construction sites we passed on our way to the center on the city's eastern edge; they were the go-to species of pokémon for labor, known for their strength and endurance. It was nice to see them here since they were becoming increasingly obsolete as construction technology improved to support the massive towers of steel and concrete developing elsewhere.

At this time of year, the city shimmered in the sweltering heat even this early in the morning. We were traveling down one of the main thoroughfares in the city, and it was filled to bursting with people heading about their tasks for the day. Their one task.

On a typical day, the street would be filled with farmers bringing produce from the surrounding area or fishermen hawking their catch to the various high-quality restaurants that inundated central Fuchsia. Today, however, the 'people' almost entirely consisted of excited young trainers making their way towards whatever route they preferred for the circuit.

Most of the trainers appeared to be headed towards the ferry that brought them in droves towards Pallet Town, where the circuit traditionally began. The more experienced trainers used flying pokémon to immediately travel to whatever gym or training area they opted to start with.

Very few were heading East, so we were wading against the traffic flow, making our progress slower than I would have liked.

Ellie continually chittered about various things as she trailed behind me. She was currently focused on the map, which was apparently a big deal to her for some reason.

"Also, like, wow!! I can't believe she let you have that! Most trainers are horribly possessive about stuff like that. Isn't she afraid of you catching up and passing her or something?" Ellie questioned as we shuffled through the crowd of boisterous teens.

"No way!" I huffed petulantly. "The only reason she gave me her notes is because she's sure I won't catch up to her, even with the notes. She has a two-year head start and had more personal training from Kiriel than I ever received. She's a monster in shiny packaging. I don't know how she does it, but somehow, Sula always manages to pull out a win regardless of the odds."

Ellie hummed thoughtfully. "So, it's not that you're bad, but your sister is really really good? She did seem kind of intimidating but still nice. I'm an only child, and my dad and I moved here late last year after my parents divorced. I wish I had a big sister, even if she was crazy good! What kind of pokémon do you have anyway?"

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

Glancing her way, I sighed again. "You sure like to talk a lot, don't you? Yes, it's not that I'm bad. In all likelihood, I'm quite skilled compared to the average trainer. I think anyway. I haven't had many opportunities to challenge other trainers my age without a license. Sula and Kiriel are in another league, though. I bet you have a lot of friends; you seem like the type to get along with others easily," I remarked; my voice took on a bitter edge as I blithely ignored her oversharing.

Ellie fumed in mock anger. "Don't dodge the question! And stop with the sighing! What kinds of pokémon do you have? Also, for your information, I don't have many friends. I did back at home in Goldenrod, though… It's hard to be a Johto girl in Kanto," she said glumly, looking off into the distance for a moment before refocusing on me.

"It's been tough here; people seem super wary of anyone new. I'm excited to be your friend, at least. My dad only had good things to say about your family. Don't disappoint me!" she joked with a charming grin.

I struggled to follow Ellie's rapid changes in emotion, finding it disorienting and difficult to understand, but I gathered that she felt lonely and hurt, making it hard to stay wary of her. I wanted to be angry, but it just wasn't happening. As we neared the city's edge, I concluded I may as well be honest with Ellie since we were both apparently pawns in some plan beyond our means.

"Since we'll be traveling together for a while, I might as well tell you. I'm unsure if you know this, but my dad specializes in breeding Eevees, so my sister and I have one. Hers evolved into a Flareon a while back, but I still need to decide which route to take. I'm leaning towards Vaporeon due to its versatility. My other pokémon is a Growlithe; they're a common choice in the Seiichi Clan because they can learn commands well. When I deem him ready, I'll eventually requisition Kiriel for a high-grade firestone to evolve him into an Arcanine."

I paused momentarily before adding, "I technically have a Larvitar now, too, after this morning. I don't really know much about Larvitar, though. I only had the opportunity to briefly examine the guide Kiriel supplied; it seems it's some kind of rock-eating pokémon?"

I shrugged helplessly. "It doesn't sound strong, but if she says it is, I suppose it must be."

"You're still so formal, just like, relax a bit, please. If we're going to travel together, I don't think I can stand it if you always talk to me like I'm some kind of grownup. We're fifteen! One-five. You have the rest of your life to talk like an old man," she critiqued.

I bristled but chose to hold my tongue. Ellie had no way of knowing how sick I was of people teasing me for things out of my control.

"Anyway, I'm excited to meet your Eevee! They're so cute and fluffy! Growlithe scare me, but the jury is still out for that larva pokémon you got today! And since I'll assume you meant to ask me what pokémon I have, I'll tell you. Besides the cute little Dratini egg that your mom gave me, I have a Totodile and a Bulbasaur! They're super adorable! Their names are River and Petal! I like nature names, so I don't want to hear any judgments about their nicknames! Also, I've never even heard of Larvitar, so it must be pretty rare," she said with a conciliatory pat on my shoulder.

I winced as she tapped the wounds she would have had no way of knowing about.

Ellie picked up on it right away. "You okay? You looked like you were in pain for a second there?"

I nodded curtly as I suppressed a grimace; the movement had opened the wounds, and I could feel pustulant fluid dripping down my arm. "I'm good. Small run-in with an Arbok yesterday. No big deal. More importantly, how the hell did you manage to acquire two starters? The professors around here hoard those beasts like gold. My sister barely managed to get one, even with Kiriel pulling the strings!"

"Ha! It is pretty awesome," she gushed. "I managed to get River because my dad used to work an internship at one of the labs back in Johto. Petal was an expensive apology gift on behalf of my mom after the divorce. Since she basically forced me to move out here with dad, it was her attempt to make it up to me? I guess? It didn't really work, but Petal is amazing," Ellie explained in a detached tone that didn't quite match up with her words.

"Wow, that's some lucky family drama. I'm sorry to hear your parents divorced, though. My parents are a bit much sometimes, but I'm still glad they're together at least," I added, feeling somewhat awkward about the conversation.

"Thanks," Ellie said curtly before walking on ahead of me, ending the conversation before we could get into it.

Fine by me; it wasn't like chatting about my family was my favorite thing, either.

Enjoying the silence, I realized that while we were talking, we had finally reached the edge of the city. It was home to the largest pokemon center in Fuchsia city. The center was three levels high and took up an entire city block. It was painted classic red in the stylized League fashion. We went inside, enjoying the cool air that washed over us from the powerful air conditioning.

I made up my mind to appreciate it while it lasted; AC was yet another luxury Kiriel didn't allow at the compound, and we certainly weren't going to catch a break as we headed off on a nearly two-week trek through the jungle east of the city.

The first floor of the building was bustling with activity, and there were three long lines of new trainers waiting to register with the overworked staff; their faces were drawn tight with stress as they struggled to maintain smiling facades in pursuit of optimal customer service.

I made my way to the shortest of the three lines. Ellie trailed behind me, her eyes wide with wonder and excitement at the scene.

"Are all these people new trainers, too?" she asked incredulously.

I smiled at her blatant awe.

"Yes. Anyone who participated in the circuit last year should already have their license, so everyone here is either waiting to get their pokémon healed, which I doubt, or is here to receive their license," I explained calmly as I tried to ignore the crowd.

I had never done very well with crowds and had few opportunities to be around people my age. Pinpricks of nervous sweat popped up on my body, even in the face of the cold air blasting from above.

We had to wait for over an hour before we finally made it up to the front of the line, and we filled the time with absent conversation about trivial things. I learned that Ellie had only recently received her pokemon, and they were more akin to pets than partners.

It was fascinating to me to hear about a life that was so utterly different than mine. I couldn't imagine simply using pokemon to keep me warm at night or watch cute shows on TV with. It was bizarre, frankly.

Pokemon were partners, yet they were also tools to be used, just as I was. It was how things had always been done in Kanto.

Our attendant appeared in her mid-twenties with black hair and pinched lips. Some wealthy family from Celadon had recently started commercializing pokémon centers, and all of their staff had pink hair. Fortunately, Fuchsia was far enough away that the latest trends hit us last, if at all. I thought the pink was tacky, so I was grateful to see normal hair.

"Welcome to the East Fuchsia Pokémon Center. How can I help you today?" the attendant asked mechanically, her voice already dulled from repeating the same tired lines. She stopped clacking away at her keyboard and looked up at us expectantly, clearly ready for us to be gone.

"We're here to apply for our pokémon circuit licenses, please. My name is Mare Seiichi, and this is Eleanor…," I floundered, realizing I didn't know her last name.

"Rayne, Eleanor Rayne," she supplied helpfully. Ellie had been zoning out, taking in the center's atmosphere, but appeared to finally be paying attention. Not that I could blame her, really. I knew all too well how hard it was to focus when first confronted with novel situations.

"Rayne, right, okay. We'll start with you first," the attendant said as she directed me towards one of the chairs. "Please sit down for a picture. The lighting here is awful, so it doesn't particularly matter what kind of expression you make. Just know that you can only change it once it expires ten years from now. "

I sat down, fixing my face in what I hoped was a smile.

"CLICK," the shutter closed, and I mentally crossed my fingers, hoping for the best. We only had to wait about thirty seconds for the image to process before the nurse turned her monitor my way to display my license photo. Contrary to my hopes of a relaxed smile, I was greeted with an intense glare, my lips quirked into some distorted half smile that looked like I was in actual pain trying to express happiness.

Ellie giggled behind me when she saw it. "Wow, Mare, there will be no doubt for the rest of your training career that you clearly take things a little too seriously; you can't even smile right!"

I glared back at her, embarrassed at the situation. "I do take things seriously. Being serious helps you excel in your endeavors. Maybe you should learn from my example," I retorted.

Ellie just waved me off casually. "Yeah, yeah. I'll believe it when I see it. Is it my turn yet or is there more to do?" she inquired.

The attendant ignored her, much to my satisfaction. "Mare, I just need you to sign here, indicating your entrance into the league circuit for a ten-year period. Your license can be revoked in the case of extreme circumstances. Never intentionally injure another trainer or pokémon beyond what is required for a match or otherwise violate local laws. Please be aware that although most laws are standardized, many local clans still maintain archaic laws from their previous governance. Checking for major differences when reaching a new area is a good idea. If, for whatever reason, you do violate a regulation, your case will be submitted to a committee for evaluation, and your license will be suspended until the ruling is passed. Do you have any questions at this time?"

"None. I'm well aware of the league's rules regarding their licensing. Thank you for your help," I said with a slight incline of my head, accepting the small, laminated document as it finished printing. I tucked it into a transparent flap in my pack that was easily visible to be checked if needed.

"Excellent! We also offer badge holders for sale at the desk to my left, but you are welcome to store them any way you see fit, as long as they can be presented for proof of your progress at the various gyms around the region."

As she finished my licensing, the attendant turned her attention to Ellie. "Do I need to repeat all of that, or were you paying enough attention for me to get your photo? We're pressed on time, as you can see," she said as she gestured in exasperation to the line of impatient trainers waiting behind us.

Ellie shook her head from side to side enthusiastically. "Nope! I'm good to go! Let's just get a quick photo! I'll ask Mare any questions I have anyway; he's good for that kind of stuff. Thank you very much for helping us today!" Ellie said with a bright smile that even seemed to cheer up the overworked employee. I caught the hint of a smile on her face as she directed Ellie for the photo.

The rest of the intake process went seamlessly, and we were out of the center in just a few moments. Much to my chagrin, Ellie's photo turned out great—her auburn hair and bright green eyes stood out vividly in the photo, and her smile was contagious just from looking at her license. She was currently holding it out excitedly in front of her as we made our way to the edge of the city.

"Mare! Don't I look cute? The lighting in there was perfect! She must tell people the lighting is bad so they feel better if they don't look good in their photos. That's sooooo nice of her! Are we close to the edge of the city? I've never explored the outskirts of Fuchsia before!" Her jubilance practically permeated the air, but I ignored her all the same, determined to get out of the city and away from the crowds as expediently as possible.

This would be a long day, but I could already tell it was shaping into an interesting journey.