Episode 1: A Chance Meeting

A thick bustle of leaves hung overhead, shielding the night sky from view. A wonder that there was so much woodland in this desert region, where the forest floor was sandy enough to make sandcastles out of. Kayla idly smoothed the edges of the sandcastle she was building, though her waist was itchy from how often she dusted her paws off on her fluff skirt. A drawback for Buneary and this bad habit, that fluff of hers held dirt annoyingly well.

Just as she satisfied those itches, her Plusle companion coughed to grab her attention. “I envy how you’re not nervous about this. I mean, this is gonna be a pretty tough battle, ya’know? We could die here,” Plusle began, twirling her singular weave of headfur around a digit.

The thought made Kayla look down at her sandcastle. It was impossible to make without one of those novelty buckets, yet she had managed to build it with just her paws. It had a moat, battlements and even a little flag. If she could casually build that without tools to pass some time, she wasn’t worried about her skills in battle, no matter the foe.

“I guess I get it. We’re doing this, ready or not and whether we like it or not. I kinda wish they’d hurry up so we can get a move on then. In this house, we jump straight into the lava!” Plusle pumped her fist. “But well, that’s me. I’m nervous and I can’t help it, but what about you, Kayla? You’re always being playful ‘n stuff, but you’re not usin’ that as a mask to hide your nervousness, are ya? ‘Cos if ya are, you don’t need to just ‘cos you’re our leader ‘n all that. I’d feel way more comfortable if I saw you being yourself.”

Kayla’s gaze turned to her sandcastle again. She wasn’t nervous. She didn’t even know what was going on, deep down. She just knew this was going to work out. If this was a big battle against a bad guy, she’d give them one hell of a battle. These delicate paws were good enough to mold sand into artistic perfection, they could slam a villain into next week.

“Are you two having fun there? We’re ready, you know,” a posh woman’s voice interjected. Hopping down from the branches above was a Raichu adorned with a scarf around her neck and a sweatband wrapped around her left ear. “We needed you to be ready at a moment’s notice.”

“And we’re ready. No need to have that attitude. Is the way ahead clear?” Plusle responded, paws on her hips.

“As clear as it’ll ever be, but it won’t be forever. If we go now, we’ll get the jump on that archfiend. Let’s go!” Raichu waved for them to follow. Plusle obeyed right away, so with one last glance at her sandcastle, Kayla followed.

There were a few bushes to push aside and the sand remained all over the floor. Darkness took over once they left their little clearing too, leaving only the bright colours of these two Pokémon to guide Kayla. She kept after them with ease, though she couldn’t help but slow down once the woodland began to open out. Just outside of the forest was the peak of a steep cliff that overlooked the real desert.

The sand up here was still heaped at her feet, so she could only imagine how deep it was below. Cool winds carried clouds of dust across these hills of pale orange, blurring formations of cacti and the few rocks lodged amongst ruins. Towering above their level was the main attraction of the desert, and their destination: a pyramid. A perfectly triangular pyramid so tall and wide it didn’t fit into her view from this distance, even though she was far away enough that its surface was faded. The clouds and night sky hid the rest.

The other surprise awaited her on the very edge of the cliff. The magnificent legendary dragon of truth, Reshiram, in all its glorious white feathers and glowing tail. Her companions stood either side of the dragon as if to welcome her onto its back. That was the Plusle and Raichu from earlier, and one new face, a human woman.

“There’s no chance of ambush or being shot down. The skies are all clear, but I doubt they’ll be for long. This will be our only chance. We go in, slay the archfiend, and our job is done. If you understand, get a move on,” the human instructed. Her voice was awesome, as was her costume, too. She was tall, dark, a little built, and- “What do you think you’re doing? Don’t stare at me. You trying to jeopardize this at the home stretch? Hurry up and get on.”

For some reason, that broke Kayla’s nerves a bit. The tone oozed with spite and commandeering. This woman’s perfectly cool appearance was obviously balanced by whatever hatred she had with their group. She wouldn’t look directly at Kayla, side-eying her in such a way it was as if her mere presence made her ill. Regardless, they wanted her on this feathery dragon, so she eagerly obliged. Reshiram was easy to grip and climb, and was surprisingly comfortable thanks to its natural fire type warmth that flowed out from within.

“Take off. And no matter what happens, do as I say and don’t turn back!” the woman ordered once the others were mounted.

Reshiram opened out its wings in response and gave the world a wolf-like howl of a cry. Its tail burst with flames, and then it took off with a few flaps of its wings. Not long after, the jet tail grew stronger, allowing Reshiram to settle into a speedy glide straight towards the pyramid.

The woman was right. Nothing but wind ruffled against Kayla and her allies. No enemies in the sky, no attacks from the ground, and no weird magical turrets from the pyramid or anything. All Kayla had to do was hold on tight and look as cool as she wanted. She had to keep her ears rolled down to her head as two buns to stop the wind from irritating her thanks to how fast they were moving. Reshiram’s heat didn’t combine well with this chilly wind or the cold of the desert night, but she found herself sweating and concentrating, ignoring these new discomforts.

Less than a minute later, they broke right through the wall of the Pyramid. A little bit of crumbling and a large cloud of orange smoke gave the group upon entry. When the smoke cleared, each of them was ready for battle, stood back-to-back with their eyes locked on every angle ahead. Nothing came at them, so they promptly returned to neutral and hugged themselves against the back wall of the corridor. The woman exchanged nods with Reshiram, who took off back into the night sky. It was a little worrying to see it go just like that. If the legendary wasn’t helping them in whatever this battle was, then this group were as confident as Kayla was earlier.

“Huh? This is royal,” Plusle commented at the grand appearance of it all. A red carpet with gold sewn patterns lined these halls, while blue stone blocks made up the walls. Instead of candle lamps to brighten the place, rich chandeliers with all the expected glass bulbs and gold swirls hung every couple of inches, yet the lighting was dim and the furthest distances were dark. Even the hole Reshiram had broken through was pitch black all of a sudden.

Kayla didn’t question any of it. She was more excited about facts she was realising about this place. She always thought of pyramids as cursed dungeons filled with history and the awful stench of corpses. This one was high-tech with lights in the walls flowing in between the stone blocks, and certainly up-to-date with its regal décor. She led the way at random, impressed by the lack of hieroglyphs and other ancient doohickies around.

To make matters even better, the hall was pretty linear. There didn’t seem to be any branching paths, and she made sure to check the stone patterns in case they were hiding the outline of a door or something. The chandeliers continued to light the place every twenty centimetres, while the carpet turned with the corridors and never ended even when the halls got wider. The hall was long, but turned many square corners in such a way that it never went back on itself. She was running out of breath so she slowed to a casual walk, keeping her wits about her.

“You seem a bit confused… stop trying to look at me,” the woman spoke up. “I don’t hate you or anything, but it must seem like I do. In fact, I envy you. This perfect lifestyle you’ve got, I wish I had it. Instead, I have to be here, and it’s all your fault. You do know that, right? So I guess this makes it seem like I really hate you. But I don’t. Heh, I’m just confusing you now.”

“That one really loves to run her mouth all cryptic and stuff… y’know what? Keep being your funny little self, Kayla. I much prefer that noise,” Plusle commented with a nudge.

“We have you for noise. Kayla doesn’t need to do a thing,” Raichu shrugged.

“Hey!” Plusle pouted.

“That said, it would do us all a favour to remain focused right now. We have no idea what our foe may pull on us, and these silent, empty halls don’t fill me with confidence that our infiltration has gone unnoticed,” Raichu continued. “Be ready for anything, all of you.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” Plusle rolled her eyes. “So hey, what do you think these guys eat? Plants don’t grow in the desert, and I doubt there’s much hunting to be done.”

“We saw cacti on the way here. You do know what a cactus is, don’t you?” the woman asked.

“I know what a cactus is. Ugh, you know what I’m talking about,” Plusle rolled her eyes. “Can’t imagine it’s very fun carryin’ food through these long hallways every time.”

It was a valid question Kayla thought, but one she didn’t know the answer to. Pyramids were for royalty, so what kind of Pokémon royalty would live here? Why did the Pokémon even need the pyramids? Answering questions with more questions was a one-way ticket to being annoying, so she didn’t answer. This place was too comfy on her feet to care, a nice change from the itchy sand from before. The confusing warmth remained, or maybe that was just the sweat from her run earlier.

They soon reached an end to the hall. A huge set of double doors fit for a human barred the way. They were taller than any of the Pokémon here, and the wall around them was adorned with swirly patterns and bumpy mosaics made of gold, sapphire, and other gemstones. It was best described as a colourful children’s poster display, the kind you would find in a primary school. It even had an unnecessary number of arrows pointing to the door.

Despite the friendly appearance, Kayla couldn’t help fear a confrontation. She didn’t know what was going on still, but if this place didn’t spell bad guy, then she didn’t know what did. Her allies seemed relaxed and likeable enough, but could they face this? Some powerful presence was beyond the doors for sure, and even if they could win, having to fight with all her might was something she didn’t like doing. More than anything, she just hated pain.

“We’re walking right into a trap, aren’t we?” the human slumped.

“Well there’s only one path. We’re awesome, so we’ll bust right through this trap and win the day,” Plusle shrugged. “Unless you’re a scaredy Meowth.”

“Don’t start. Please open the way,” Raichu sighed.

The group did as they did when they first entered: rushed in ready for battle, back-to-back to scan as quickly as possible. At this point, instinct drove Kayla past her nerves; she followed her allies perfectly even though she didn’t want to fight. This next room was lit up by mist that seemed to flow all over. It was thick enough that Kayla could barely make out the décor being similar to the hallway they were just in. The mist had an unusual green glow to it, like a swamp lit up by moonlight, complete with little red sparkles and gaps of darkness where she could see through the mist. Everything periodically brightened and dimmed, while there didn’t seem to be any walls or even a ceiling. It was too cold for those things to be here. A light breeze soon picked up, making her guard herself.

They were right about this being a trap. Before she could prepare, Kayla found herself floating off the ground and lost all control over her body. Every limb felt like it was being chained in place, and though she could wriggle ever so slightly, every movement hurt. Her teammates were no better, each of them being held up off the floor to struggle against their will. They were floated high, drew an S with their movements, and then began to float in a circle around the room. Whoever had a psychic hold over them was having fun playing with their bodies like dolls.

The whole time, their eyesight was faced on the end of the room they came in from, not that they could make out anything other than this mist. Kayla stared with increasing angst; each moment worse as her strength was giving out from trying to break free. Having all control taken away from yourself like this was not fun. It was nightmarish. The most uncomfortable she had ever felt.

When something began to come through the mist, her heart jumped. The end was coming for her, and it was in the form of three curved lines right in front of her. Two of those lines opened up into a pair of eyes. Large, dark eyes with eerie, glowing yellow irises and empty pupils. The third eye refused to open, but was evidently larger than the pair below it. Kayla couldn’t take her gaze off them, and their unmoving nature as she was spun around the area made her feel like she might be sick.

“You truly are fools!” a high-pitched girl laughed at them from a distance, her voice booming with reverb and echo. “I am impressed you made it this far, but a puny team like yours can’t do a thing against my power. You have quite the imagination just being able to reach me!”

“Wha-what’s going on? I can’t move! Unhand me this instant, fiend!” Raichu demanded.

“Lemme go! I swear to gods when I get my paws on you I’m gonna so help me I’ll- rgg!” Plusle growled.

“It’s no good. I can’t move. Kayla, do something already!” the human shouted, growling and panting in effort.

But Kayla was little better herself. Her heart raced and her body ached. That feeling of wanting to be sick had reached a high, but every muscle in her body was so knotted up that she couldn’t even manage that. Only by subjecting herself to unbearable pain and strain could she so much as twitch, pain enough that she couldn’t stand to brace for more than a moment. Eventually she cried out in agony, yet it gave her no respite.

Kayla shut her eyes and wailed helplessly, yet it wouldn’t end. Her body succumbed to pain and began to fade out. The cold chill of this misty room, the terrifying stare of that demonic trio of eyes plastered in her memory, and the everlasting mockery of those evil laughs were burning into her very soul as she let herself melt away into nothing.

…

…

Suddenly, there was total darkness. She didn’t feel like she was trapped psychically anymore, but she also didn’t feel like she was… there. It made little sense, but she was here, and not here. Conscious, but unable to feel or see anything but pitch black. She didn’t have a body, even. Just here, in this realm.

And then, a pair of eyes filled her sight. These eyes were dark, but green and cute. They blinked twice.

“Remarkable. You’re here,” a young, smooth voice spoke. It was stale however. Each word it said was devoid of emotion and at the same tone as the last. Yet still, describing it as robotic was wrong. She couldn’t even tell whether it belonged to a male or a female. “What you just saw, what do you make of it?”

Kayla had thoughts, but she also didn’t. She was here, but also not here. It was the strangest sensation. No feeling, no thoughts, just these eyes and the conscious that she had those things. As if understanding those conscious factors that weren’t there, the voice continued.

“It was a dream, yes. But if you have the power to have a dream like this, let alone speak to me here, then I am very curious about what you intend to do with this dream. I will ask again: what you just saw, what do you make of it?”

The eyes blinked twice, and then the voice continued. “Are you the type to see it as a premonition of things to come? If it is so, will you treat it as events that are meant to happen? Will you try to make those events happen? Or will you completely ignore it and carry on with your life as is? Or do you see it as an unavoidable scenario, and accept it as your future? If it is a future of any kind, will you attempt to alter this fate?”

More silence, and more subconscious feelings came. The eyes shut for a moment as if deep in thought, and then appeared gleeful.

“I cannot believe I am able to speak to you here. And to have a dream like that… Regardless of your answer, I would like to meet you. Yes, we will meet, someday, somehow. In person. Why? I am curious about you. Until then, I hope you are able to stay alive. Right now, our time is too short.”

The eyes blinked once more.

“I cannot allow you to see more of this dream. I cannot elaborate why, either. Why would you want to know, anyway? What you do with the information presented in this dream is down to you, but explaining things to you may influence your decision. I wish not to do so. I am curious about you, after all.”

The vision began to fade as if the view of the eyes were vanishing into the depths of deep water. They rippled and fluctuated as their colour gradually turned as dark as the surrounding void.

“Who am I? I believe I can tell you that. My name… is Jirachi.”

…

…

“Kayla Brunswick, wake up!”

The words were loud, clear and stern enough to make the Buneary’s heart race. They were the stone-cold orders of a mother, the kind you know not to mess with unless you want to challenge the worst possible punishment.

Kayla squirmed and groaned a bit, finding it tougher to sit up than she liked. Her mind was groggy and her eyelids were heavy, but she managed to get there. She curled forward to wipe her eyes on her blanket, and then blinked a few times to focus. She was greeted to the relieved sigh of a Hatterene so close to her their noses were tingly with touch. Kayla squeaked and flew back so hard her head hit the backrest, to which she lost her voice.

“Oh my goodness, pull yourself together!” Hatterene yelped, fretting over the Buneary as she squirmed in discomfort. She refrained from touching the little Pokémon, but the way her claw hovered implied the soothing touch of love. Kayla soon recovered, but not without a few tears in her eyes. Seeing that, Hatterene sighed and stood back. “Thank goodness… I’ve never seen you sleep so rough. Bad dreams?”

Hatterene’s voice was as smooth as her complexion, something of a confident woman in her young twenties. This Pokémon was her mother, the coolest Hatterene she knew. Granted she was the only Hatterene she knew, but that still held merit over other psychic types. Where the species were known to have one spike on their head to resemble a witch’s hat, Mum had two, resembling more of a jester’s hat. She didn’t have white spots near her face and instead had stars that seemed to change colour with her mood. Kayla always found that funny about her.

Ugh… I must look like a wreck right now, Kayla grumbled as she scratched her side. She normally didn’t care about how she appeared, but if she looked as bad as she felt, then she’d have to put some effort in. She was stiff from being held by that psychic demon or whatever it was, while her stomach churned like she had jet lag. The pangs from hitting her head didn’t help either. She tried to shake it off, but that only made her head worse.

“Really, are you okay? Did you have a nightmare, muffin?” Mum began to fret more seriously again.

“I’ll be okay,” Kayla sighed as she stumbled out of bed. She landed on her feet fine, which was a good sign. A quick dolling at the mirror and she’d be up for the day.

She didn’t look too bad, according to the mirror. Well, that’s if her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. Her fluff skirt was puffier and larger than usual, most likely just messy and out of place from her rough sleep. She forced a smile at the mirror and blushed a little. The pudge in her cheeks overwhelmed even herself in the cute factor. She had an extra puff of fluff on her head which acted as a hairband, letting her style excess fur into a large ponytail that went down to her neck in length. She liked to let a little coil of fur slip through the fluffband on her head and let it hang over her nose, and even dyed that extra coil pink.

Kayla fit the nickname her mother gave her in more ways than one. Her ears resembled little cakes when rolled up against her head, but also, her figure was easiest described as a chubby muffin top, crude as that comment might be. Only herself and her mother were allowed to use the nickname.

“You remember what today is, don’t you?” Mum asked, out of the mirror’s view. Kayla didn’t respond, twisting to admire herself in the mirror still. “Well I wasn’t going to let you oversleep. We’ve got to be ready to get to RSE. Today could be long.”

“RSE…? Oh gods- the academy!” Kayla gasped and bounced.

“Good, you’re awake enough to remember. A good thing your head’s still here. We’ve got that digital meeting shortly, and then we’re to make our way there,” Mum explained.

“I remember, I remember! No need to run it through me,” Kayla squeaked. “Uh-er, I’ll go get ready.”

“Get ready with what? Just make sure you’re awake,” Mum smiled.

“Silly, I can’t look all dumb while you look smart. I’ve gotta look ready to explore, too!” Kayla pointed out as she slid over to her bed. She hummed a round of jingles as she pondered over belongings, and grinned as she hatched a plan.

A large shoulder bag fit for Pokémon her size lay at her feet. It was empty, but she’d manage with it… somehow. She just needed to look the part. With a deep breath, she lifted one foot and tensed up the same way she would as if to use Jump Kick. That foot stomped the floor hard, millimetres away from the bag. It was enough to flick the bag up into the air, and then Kayla flew into action. She bounced up after it, spinning with style to equip it in mid-air. Of course, the straps flailed everywhere and the bag whacked her in the face. She must’ve smacked into the bed again too, but landed on her backside, dumbfounded. “Ow.”

“Silly muffin, what’s all this about?” Mum tilted her head with a giggle. Kayla sat there blankly, tied up in the straps. The bag sat on her head spreading her ears apart. She blushed as the Hatterene helped to untie her and put the bag on properly.

“I need to look as good as possible if I’m going to get into the academy. This is like, the final test, right? The more I look like an explorer, the more seriously they’ll take me,” Kayla reasoned. “I know it’s a little small for me now, but having my old bag ought to do the trick, right?”

“That’s not how this one works. Making a good impression is best don’t get me wrong, but looking like an explorer will only imply you don’t need to go there. Their aim is to make you into an explorer, after all,” Mum explained. She began to reorganize the room, picking up trash and things with her psychic while her claw pulled a table and wooden stools over to the middle. The other funny thing about Mum, her feet were invisible behind that cloth… skin of hers, whatever it was. She could use psychic without any body movement whatsoever, so it looked like items were flying about on their own while all she did was slide across the floor. “Besides, you have my recommendation. The only thing you need to do is be yourself, someone who really wants to go.”

“… So the bag helps?” Kayla grinned cheekily.

“If you could actually use it, it would,” Mum replied, sliding it off her with psychic. She stopped to stare at it. “Where did you even find this? It’s so old, I can’t believe you brought it with you.”

“I brought lots of things with me. Most of it’s just,” Kayla trailed off as she remembered why her fluff skirt was so puffy right now. She began to wiggle and shake herself while stomping again.

“Hey c’mon, there are Pokémon below us. Stop now, Kayla,” Mum warned.

“I just- lemme get—” she grumbled. Bits and bobs littered out of her fluff, from marbles to seeds to even half eaten berries. Eventually a papercraft team badge popped out, which she quickly kicked up to balance on her nose. “There you are! No wonder I was so itchy. This too. If we’ve got any glue, could you put this on?”

“… We are not gluing anything to your fur young miss. And all this is… when you get to the academy, promise me you’ll take a bath? I can’t believe you slept like that!” Mum leaned over her.

That deflated the Buneary. She sat back and pouted, letting the badge roll behind her. “I can’t help it.”

“… I know you can’t,” Mum sighed. “But I promise you, things will get better here. RSE academy doesn’t need to see you being a capable explorer who has everything figured out. They need to see you… like this. You being you. If you would really like to make a better first impression, you could start acting more like a lady.”

“That’s boring, though,” Kayla puffed out her cheeks. Mum started to clear up again, picking up Kayla to put her on a stool so she could look over the table.

“You are going to have to start acting your age eventually,” Mum stated.

“Urgh, seriously? This talk again? Now?” Kayla leaned back. She almost fell off the chair and squeaked.

“You know full well that I aim to support you in anything I know you really want to do, or that is right for you. That is why we’re here now, waiting for this call. But you are seventeen,” Mum began to drone on. Kayla mimicked her with cheeky mouth movements. “It is customary for Buneary to have started thinking about evolution by now.”

“What if I don’t wanna evolve?” Kayla gurgled skyward.

“You can’t stay my little muffin forever. Well, you will be in my heart, but I just fear you may be limiting yourself to many of life’s greater goods with what you’re doing,” Mum continued. Kayla resumed mimicking her, but stopped as Mum’s tone changed. “I just want you to live your best life. I don’t know if that can happen if you stay a Buneary.”

“I prefer Buneary to Lopunny, and I can do anything I want to without evolving,” Kayla argued.

“Pokémon will always treat you like a child as long as you are not evolved,” Mum replied.

“That doesn’t mean I am!” Kayla raised her voice.

“You just told me you’d prefer to act like a child!” Mum pointed at her. She sighed to calm herself, setting a plant on the edge of the table. “I’m just worried about what things will be like once I have to leave you. Pokémon will treat you like a child just because you’re a Buneary, even though I know you can be more mature than that. If you were at least trying to evolve, I could be at some ease. I hope you understand.”

“Don’t Buneary have to be in love to evolve, anyway? I can’t be bothered with that stuff. If my paws could be full, I’d have them pretty full just trying to do what I wanna do,” Kayla shivered in her seat at the thought. “Having to please some guy just sounds like a chore.”

“I know you’d rather keep such thoughts private so you don’t have to answer, but… have you ever had feelings for another Pokémon, Kayla?” Mum asked. Kayla gave her a look, yet was met with a confidently cocky grin. “Nothing? Not even a thought like… ‘whoa, that guy is really cute!’ or something? No? Well, don’t knock it ‘till you try it. Love can be a truly wonderful thing.”

Says the single mother, Kayla rolled her eyes and turned away. “Can I just do what I wanna do and you do what you wanna do, please? Without being judged or expected?”

“I am only making a suggestion, now. I truly am worried about you,” Mum began again, but was interrupted by a buzzing vibration. “Urf, we’ll continue this later. For now, it’s showtime.”

Mum presented a team badge, the source of the vibration. The gold device was a little bigger than a pocket watch. She flicked it open, tapped a few things on the screen inside, and then slid it carefully to the centre of the table. The hologram of a Tyranitar lit up from it, coloured entirely in shades of emerald green and big enough to cover most of the table space. It was a little fuzzy, but clear enough to make out its features.

“Good morning, newbie adventurers!” Tyranitar gave a hearty chant. “What’re we doing today?”

“Challenging the world!” Kayla bounced just as cheerily.

“And how do we do that?” Tyranitar asked even louder.

“With a smile in the face of challenge!” Kayla did just that.

Well now, someone’s been doing their research. It’s not often we get a new recruit that’s learnt our morning cheer so cleanly,” Tyranitar praised. He wore a glass eye which didn’t move or blink once, always bulging larger than a normal Tyranitar’s eye. His left eye was normal however, and narrowed with glee. “Now I’ve got to make sure I keep up. Miss Beaurette and young Master Kayla, am I right?”

“That’s me!” nodded the Buneary.

“I’m looking forward to having you here at RSE. The journey to get this far must have been tough on you both. You’ve travelled a long way,” he remarked.

“It wasn’t too hard. Mum helped most of the time… or like, all the time,” Kayla’s eyes narrowed at her mother.

“I protected and guided you, as I should have,” Mum shut her eyes and turned away.

“Research done, family bond good, enthusiasm in the right place, why, I’m looking forward to working with you even more,” Tyranitar nodded in glee. “My, I’ve forgotten to introduce myself. This is the first time we have met… over voice, after all. I am Headmaster Gema. I direct many of the courses and manage all the ins and outs of this grand academy, but please do not feel intimidated.”

“It’s okay, I’m not. I know you’re a really friendly guy,” Kayla kicked her feet casually. “I have my own bag and stuff too, Headmaster Gema. I’m way prepared to do my best out there!”

“Please, just call me Gema, and it is very nice to hear that you are so eager and prepared. But we will provide you with gear and a bag when you get here. As a student of RSE, it is mandatory that you represent us with uniformed equipment,” Gema replied. “I have bad news for you, I’m afraid. I planned to come and pick you up myself, but an emergency has arisen that prevents it!”

“Oh no, what is it?” Kayla gasped.

“The forest between RSE and Repose, the final mystery dungeon separating our two regions, has had some sort of disturbance. The feral insects that live there have begun to run amok! No one can get through safely. I daren’t try to escort you through such a crisis, and I highly recommend you don’t try either,” Gema explained. “I have already sent capable Pokémon to deal with the matter, but I don’t imagine they will be back until tomorrow. I have already contacted the Inndeedee for you. They should house you until we give the clear.”

“Aww, we have to stick around here?” Kayla slumped.

“Headmaster Gema is doing his best. Don’t pout now, muffin,” Mum patted her on the head.

“Sit tight for now, you two. I will keep in contact and update you on the situation. If it weren’t for the type disadvantage, I would try still… but I also fear for endangering a new student. If we can avoid that, I will,” Gema continued. “When you get here, I will endeavour to make it up to you, Kayla. It is not fair your patience has to be tested like this.”

“Oh… no, it’s okay really, I understand. I was just excited is all,” she grinned. “But aren’t you rock type? So you have a type advantage, too.”

“Ahaha, that is true! More bonus points to you!” he seemed even happier. “However! My rock type moves are very high calibre and destructive. As much as these ferals are outraging, destroying their homes is not the way to deal with the issue. Were I passing through under normal circumstances, I would refuse to use my rock moves to spare damage to their homes.”

“I guess that makes sense. Rock Slide is pretty messy, I think,” Kayla cocked her head.

“You understand? Perhaps you will see me use it one day. I am not above showing off to my students if their safety is ensured, so keep being a good girl and I may put on a show for you one day,” Gema became happy again.

“Headmaster Gema…” Mum groaned and cocked her head. She cleared her throat and slid closer to the table. “Kayla, why don’t you go outside and play for a bit? I have some things to talk about with Gema. When you get back, breakfast will be ready.”

“Oh really? What don’t you want me to hear?” Kayla grinned cheekily. Her answer was silence and a frown. “O-okay, sure I’ll be back later!”

She hastily skipped over to the door, but then hesitated. There was a handle. Without having to ask, Mum opened it with psychic, letting her slip out. The door wasn’t closed fully so she could come back in.

“I understand your worry, but—” Gema resumed, but cut himself off as Beaurette silently hushed him with a nail by her mouth. He grumbled at the response and a silence that began to last too long. His left eye narrowed and his fangs began to show, but the Hatterene remained unfazed

“She is an extraordinary Buneary. She has powerful and accurate ears,” she finally warned. “But seriously, Gema? ‘The bugs are rampaging’? That’s a horrible excuse. You scheduled a field test on the same day as our arrival, full well knowing months in advance when we’d be coming?”

“It is beyond my control. One of those opened up in the forest, and the feral bug Pokémon truly are rattled,” Gema responded. The gruffness in his voice finally came off as intimidating, almost as monstrous as he looked. “We can’t afford to have Kayla suspect anything, so it’s this or we call the operation quits. And you know what happens if you quit now.”

“My daughter can take care of herself at home, you know. She’s a smart girl thanks to being raised by me,” Beaurette thrust a nail at his hologram. “If you don’t want to help me, I have nothing to lose abandoning you for good.”

“Oh? After begging me for this opportunity all those months ago, this is a concerning change of attitude,” Gema’s tone went even lower, and the pupil of his left eye began to glow red. “I will take care of your daughter personally. Everything we agreed on is already set in stone. To quit now would be to break contract.”

“I know the ins and outs of the team. You wouldn’t keep us on the run,” she shook her head.

“Is this an announcement or a threat? It sounds like you truly believe that you could escape me,” Gema’s eye glowed brightly, now. It ignored the blue hued limitations of the hologram to glare right through Beaurette. She was the psychic type who could read emotions better than any other Pokémon, yet it felt as though he was the one piercing her mind to read her deepest thoughts on the matter. It caused her to break into a sweat and tremble like a frightened child, and a gulp failed to settle her. “This operation may have come up on a whim, but I can assure you it will not last more than a day. I will send an explorer to meet you both and take you to RSE as promised, or I will meet you myself. All you have to do is deal with this setback by staying in town for a day. I suppose there are no other issues?”

Beaurette’s claws clicked and she let out a gasp. She hadn’t been breathing. “No, sir. But there are predicaments… developments, about Kayla, that I wanted to inform you of.”