“So, Daisy…really…my cooking aside, what makes you not want to pursue the battle track?” Lee asked.

Daisy mulled the question over in her head. Battle was sorta fun, the cheers and general excitement made her heart beat and rush the adrenaline all over. But she couldn’t quite understand why people enjoyed watching Pokemon beat each other up all the time. The Pokemon Contests were so much cooler. Daddy had taken her to see a show in Verdanturf. A Trainer and her Weavile had won after the Weavile had sculpted the judges’ likenesses on stage while using the move Triple Axel. Why couldn’t more folks do that instead of fight?

Daisy shared these feelings out loud, watching her father’s face with some trepidation. Professor Lee Henson was a seasoned veteran of Pokemon battles as the trophies around the room suggested. Even in his current profession, most of Lee’s research had a direct influence on the current “meta” as he put it. How would he react? Daisy had more or less gone with the flow at school just so she didn’t have to answer questions like this. To become a Pokemon Trainer was the education track that everyone wanted to do. Trainers had the potential to be the equivalent of rockstar politicians, amassing a following and if strong enough could become Champion and “rule” over the region. Daisy already had enough troubles fitting in, but she knew that she could care less about things like that. She wanted to be happy, make friends that mattered, and one day have a family just like her own.

“Oh thank god!” came the response. Daisy watched her father sigh and lean against her mother, his hands relaxed as did the rest of him. Daisy hadn’t even noticed the tension in her father’s shoulders until it was no longer there. Her eyes widened, wait what?

Lee chuckled as he continued. “You’re probably a bit surprised at my reaction, Daisy, but years ago when I first started my own Pokemon journey I struggled with the same feelings. Watching your mother bleed and break in an arena just didn’t sit right with me.” Lee’s eyes had a faraway look to them. “I understood that Pokemon had physiologies that far outstripped any human. I knew that we had medical facilities that could essentially reverse any damage…but I had to come to terms with it the hard way. I needed to make a living and provide for myself and my team, and Gruncle Birch had given me the perfect opportunity.”

Ninetales chimed in. “He was quite the worrywart back then. Even now your father doesn’t go anywhere without a full kit of healing items, but you knew that already, Daisy dear.”

Daisy did know this. If at any point that her father went out on field work, he would spend the previous evening packing his Professor’s rucksack with enough stuff to be a walking apothecary. “Never hurts to be overprepared” he would say each time.

“Humph! Your old man is more than a worrywart, girlie. He’s downright paranoid!” cawed Corviknight. Sceptile simply nodded, but a small twitch quirked his lips in a smile. Octillery didn’t respond as his eyes were still glued to his tablet.

Lee gestured his surrender to the claim with arms up and palms open. “Alright, alright, maybe I still am a bit overly cautious…but back to the point! Daisy, your reasoning is more than sound. I for one would much rather see you doing something besides battling every day.”

Relief washed over her as Daisy let out the breath that she had forgotten to let go of.

“That being said…the world out there isn’t like the Ranch, the Lab, or your Classroom.”

Daisy winced…and here came the rain dance to water over her parade.

“You will still need to be prepared for contingencies. Even Contest Trainers are expected to respond in event of an emergency, and wild Pokemon are not always going to be friendly. You will need to learn at least the basics before you...” Lee hesitated.

“Before you strike out on your own.” finished Ninetales quietly.

As the evening wore on, Daisy’s family continued to discuss her options. Lee didn’t particularly like the idea of sending Daisy out into the wild world on her own as even Kabu’s presence wasn’t enough to assuage his fears. There was also the issue where Matt was not eligible to be Daisy’s starter being that he was listed as a sibling. This had led to a heated tangent as Daisy subsequently requested several Pokemon that Lee outright rejected as far too dangerous. No, she could not have a Houndour or Magby. Yes, they were “cute”, but one had an evolution that was difficult to control and the other was only found in volcanic areas. By the time Ninetales had intervened and put a stop to the arguments and whining, no decision had been made on a starter.

However, Lee would be calling up Kabu and asking him whether he knew any Chefs or Contest Trainers that Daisy could shadow. It was far too late for a call now, but tomorrow was another day.

Ħ

On the other side of town, Instructor Turo was making her evening rounds through the school. Littleroot Pokemon Academy had grown significantly from its early days as more businesses and people flocked to setup shop by the region’s arguably most famous trainer. What was once an office and two classrooms had ballooned to three offices, a schoolyard, four classrooms, a training arena, and an apartment that now belonged to Instructor Turo. The Pokemon League often lent several Pokemon to each Academy as educational aides, most of which were of the “wholesome and safe variety” such as Parachisu, Skitty, or Fletchling. However, due to its vicinity with a region-class laboratory, the League had sent several rarer species which required more specialized care.

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Kristine Turo had been ecstatic to have been assigned to Littleroot. Even in the middle of its growing pains, the town was relatively quiet compared to her hometown in Rustboro not to mention that the Professor Henson resided there. Kristine had had plans to use her position as a fellow academic to somehow get introduced to the Lab and maybe join its ranks as a Research Assistant. To her happy surprise, the Professor apparently had a child that he was enrolling which should have made introductions easy.

Of course, that all changed with the Pokemon that Kristine was on her way to visit.

“Knock knock. It’s Kristine…may I come in?”

Kristine peered through the doorway that led into one of the bedrooms of the apartment. Within resided a fluffy pink bipedal feline that was currently laying on its back staring at the ceiling. One of its arms rose before flopping back down which Kristine took for permission.

“Hi Espurr. I’m sorry that we haven’t been able to find you a home yet. Do you need anything?”

Kristine felt guilty for this poor Pokemon’s treatment following the incident. If Professor Henson hadn’t intervened, the little creature would have certainly been put down. That day lived rent free in Kristine’s memory and she often revisited it as she wracked her mind on how to handle the bullying that followed that day.

Kari Noble was the daughter of the town’s richest family. The Nobles owned several businesses and even one or two of the apartment complexes. They held considerable sway over the rest of the Academy’s Board and Bryce Noble was rumored to be considering a Mayoral campaign. He spared no expense on his daughter and lavished her with the latest trendy clothing, accessories, and gear.

It should have been no wonder that Kari turned out to be a bit of a brat.

The day had started off ordinary enough. The class was being introduced to Pokemon Physiology and the Academy’s resident Pokemon would be joining the students and be poked and prodded as things such as fur, tails, and wings were to be discussed. Of the Pokemon, this Espurr was special as it was what was considered a “shiny” variant with pink fur instead of its species’ grey and white. Kristine was surprised that the League had sent her an actual living specimen instead of having her show slides like most classrooms had to. She had thanked her lucky stars that she was in Little Root and had proudly presented the Espurr to the eager minds of her students. Before turning the Pokemon loose for closer examination, Kristine had made sure to spend time going over the details and had warned the class to avoid touching the Espurr’s ears.

Kari had either not been listening or had ignored her warnings in favor of playing with her pocket make-up mirror again. Not ten minutes had passed before Kristine had nearly fainted in fright as the girl had grabbed both of the Pokemon’s ears and was in the process of trying to unfold them. Several of the overhead lights had shattered as Physic Type Energy began to leak out. Before she could intervene, Kari had been stopped by none other than the good Professor’s daughter. One slap later and both girls were fighting on the ground, pulling each other’s hair and hitting each other with balled fists. Kristine had pulled the two apart and was in the middle of assigning detention when the unthinkable happened.

The Espurr attacked Kari, blasting her out of Kristine’s hands and sending her clattering over several desks and leaving her in a crumpled form by the back wall.

Kristine’s credentials were taken into question as the situation was investigated. Her job was threatened and the Espurr had been taken into custody during the trial. Bryce Noble had been out for blood and wanted Kristine sacked immediately. It was only thanks to the classroom footage and other students recollection of the events corroborating with her own that kept her license and out of a cell. Bryce then went after the Pokemon and tried to sway the judge into putting it down. “It’s dangerous! Damn thing nearly killed my daughter!” he had cried before the judge. Professor Henson had then dressed the man down reminding him that all Pokemon were potentially hazardous when not handled with the appropriate care. He then had made a few threats of his own and reminded everyone in the courtroom that he was more than capable of relocating his facilities to a different city. That had silenced everyone, and a compromise was brokered. The Espurr would not be put down but would not be allowed to return to the classroom. The Academy would be responsible for its care until such time that it would be adopted by a willing Trainer.

In the weeks and months that followed, Kari Noble began a vendetta against the Henson girl. Many of her privileges had been taken away by her parents and she saw Daisy Henson as the reason for her loss. Kristine had tried teaching several conflict resolution methods, but none of them stuck. From modelling empathy and active listening to positive feedback and books on the subject, Kristine’s efforts were all in vain. In truth, she had even tried to pawn off the girl to one of the other Instructors, but they all saw the ticking time bomb and had refused.

Kristine had been exhausted. She very much wanted Daisy to remain in the classroom. To say that Daisy was smart was underselling her abilities. Kristine saw the girl’s potential and wanted to polish it as much as she was able. But Kari simply would not let the matter drop, and Daisy’s tendency to withdraw into herself in the face of conflict had only made things worse.

So Kristine looked into alternatives and settled on the ACE Program. Usually only offered to top students once they hit twelve or thirteen, Kristine had convinced the League to make an exception for Daisy. As much as it weighed on her, Kristine believed it was one of the only options that would allow her to keep her job…and Professor Henson in Little Root.

Seeing the Professor’s face earlier this afternoon had told her everything that she had feared had come to pass. There was no way in hell that she was going to be offered a Research position now. She had failed her students and herself.

“Oh Espurr…I really made a mess of things that day, didn’t I?”

The pink Pokemon had moved onto her lap at some point during her introspection and was softly purring. Kristine ran her fingers through the soft fur on its back as she sighed.

“And today I managed to piss off the whole family. What was I thinking? I should have consulted them earlier.” The rumbling under the fingertips was the only response. “To think that Daisy has a brother, though…now that was a surprise.”

Kristine continued to pet the feline Pokemon on her lap as she mentally went over the ACE program contract in her head. It was truly a stroke of luck that Former Gym Leader Kabu had been willing to partner with her.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t let you go with Daisy.”

“Purrrrr…”

Kristine jolted upright as the realization dawned on her.

“Hold on now… Espurr?”

“Mrweow?”

“How would you like it if the girl who helped out that day became your Trainer?”

The Espurr’s eyes widened, and wave of happiness expanded through the room.