CHAPTER 1

“And would you look at that! Weavile has gone down! Craig Goodwill’s Salamence has completely swept Petra Dixon’s team with barely any difficulty! What a testament of his skill as a Pokemon trainer!”

“You’re right about that, Doug. Goodwill’s Salamance was good enough to overpower Dixon’s ice and fairy types. With this victory, he continues his undefeated streak at the Sunyshore tournament. I think Craig will be the one to watch during this year’s conference at Fall’s End.”

“For sure. That Salamence and Typhlosion are a deadly combination, and we haven’t even seen the rest of Goodwill’s team! Now, for the next match, we have Ellis Bahl all the way from Heahea city in Alola against Peter Newman from Pastoria right after this commercial break. Stay tuned!”

I groaned, hitting my head against the couch. This tournament was the only good thing on T.V., and they had to have ads in between every battle, even when said battle lasted five minutes.

“Prrrii!” My Togepi squealed in my arms.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m just bored,” I said, petting her head.

August was fast approaching, and that meant that soon, thousands of trainers would sign up to Sinnoh’s league circuit again, like every other year. What that meant, however, was that unlike every other time of the year, there was a serious lull in battle content on television. Most tournament organizers wanted to wait for trainers to be traveling to start up again, and gyms were closed. And so here I was, watching the only tournament on T.V. today, where some guy that was clearly way better than everybody else was crushing the competition. He was probably on a power trip. Props to him for having raised a Salamence, though. I wouldn’t be able to be anywhere near those things.

As I turned my brain off watching some advertisement about Ultra Balls, I heard our apartment door open.

“Toge! Prrrri!” Togepi said, squirming out of my arms. She jumped off the couch and ran toward the door.

Weren’t you almost asleep just a second ago? I thought with a silent chuckle.

A balding man came into the living room and dropped three paper bags on the table.

“Welcome back, dad. Not too busy out?” I asked.

“Nah, it was fine. You know Jubilife, people are out with their families enjoying the break— Oh, hello little princess!” Dad exclaimed, picking up Togepi. He spun her in the air and blew a bunch of kisses at her.

“Dad, stop babying her. Plus, you just look silly,” I sighed. I stood up and made my way to them. “What d’you get?” I rustled through the paper bags and saw some juice, berries, food, and— “Yes!” I screamed. “Chocolate cake! Gimmie some!”

Dad laid Togepi back down and snatched the bag away from me. “Nuh-uh, that’s for after dinner tonight. I’ll put it in the fridge.”

We talked about our day while Togepi was simply content to listen in, and after he finished putting away all the food, we laid down together on the couch.

“To! Toge!” Togepi said. It took him a while to understand, but dad let her go, and she snuggled up against me.

“Watching the Sunyshore tournament, eh?” Dad grinned.

“Not this again, please,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Stop trying to—”

“Make you sign up for the circuit, yes,” Dad interrupted. “Sorry, Grace.”

We had gone through this before. I had turned fifteen this year, which was the age every kid dreamed of reaching all over Sinnoh because that was when they were allowed to go out into the world and start traveling, challenging the gyms. It was every child’s dream to get their eight badges, win the conference and then go on to beat the elite four and the champion. And yet I had never been interested in all of that. Sure, watching battles was fun and all, and it would have been a lie to say that I hadn’t daydreamed about doing it, or theory crafted about which Gym Leader was the strongest at school or whatever. Normal kid stuff. But when I looked at Togepi, and I imagined her being hurt, or even worse… it sent shivers down my spine. I couldn't imagine actually sending a Pokemon you owned and loved out to fight like that.

“Prrrri?” Togepi looked up at me, like she sensed something was wrong.

I scratched one of her crown “spikes”, which were actually quite soft, and she smiled.

Cute, I thought. Dad had gotten me Togepi for my fourteenth birthday— well, it would be more accurate to say that he won an egg completely by accident at a lottery and gave it to me. He had been after the pokedollars, but he ended up being pretty happy with his win. His plan was to get me to train her as my starter for when I went on the league circuit. Even back then, battling hadn’t really interested me that much, but when she hatched, and I looked into her eyes… all of my interest in the field evaporated.

‘Twas still fun to watch, though.

“You know, I was going to ask you something,” Dad started after lowering the sound of the T.V.

“Can’t it wait? Come on, I want to hear the commentators speak,” I said lazily.

“Just hear me out for a sec, alright? I already know you won’t like this.”

I pouted playfully. “Whatever.”

“I’m serious, Grace. I’m going to be really busy with work for the next week. We’re pushing for a new version of the Poketch to be out by the holidays, and the crunch is real,” He said.

I nodded. Dad worked at the Poketch company, and they made a new version of the device every two years or so and sold it at full price, even though they barely added anything to the new model. Supposedly though, this one was the real deal.

“But I was also supposed to deliver some vitamins to your mom’s Herdier. He’s getting old, and he needs these to stay healthy. I really can’t afford to be traveling right now or my boss will fucking kill me,” Dad said, with a flash of fear appearing on his face.

“So? Just get it delivered or something,” I said, letting a little bit of panic slip in my tone. “Or get mom to buy the vitamins in Twinleaf. This has nothing to do with me.”

“Twinleaf is a small town, Grace. There’s no internet there, no delivery services, and no Pokemart or Center. You’ve got to do this. I know you and your mother aren’t on the best terms, but you don’t have to stay. Just pop in, say hello, make some small talk, give her the vitamins and go.”

“And how do you expect me to get there? Togepi’s an indoor Pokemon! I’ll need her to protect me, but what if she gets snatched by a Staravia or something?!” I screamed.

Togepi flinched at my sudden outburst and began to whine.

“Damn it! You made her cry!” I hissed at him. “I’ll be in my room trying to calm her down. In the meantime, let me know how you expect me to get through two routes with her without dying!”

I grabbed Togepi, ran to my room, and slammed the door. I placed her on my bed and began pacing.

“I hate him! I hate him, I hate him, I absolutely hate him!” I muttered. “Stupid dad and his stupid vitamins!”

I jumped into my bed, screamed into my pillow, and kicked repeatedly. I felt two stubby arms touch my hair. Togepi was petting me, just like I always pet her when she was sad. I teared up and hugged her.

“I love you, Togepi.”

I spent the next few hours on my Poketch— that I had gotten for free thanks to my dad’s work— browsing the internet for information about the upcoming circuit. I always followed a few trainers during their journey and rooted for them through the screen. Apparently some hotshot from Unova had just flown into Jubilife to prepare for the circuit. Her name was Cecilia Obel, and her brother, Mark Obel, was Unova’s newest champion. There was a picture of her posted to the Circuit forums. It was blurry because it had been taken by the press while she was walking toward a taxi right out of the airport, but it was the best we had. She had beautiful brown skin and dark hair tied into a ponytail.

“She’s just some carpetbagger hoping to ride her brother’s coattails,” One of the comments said.

“I heard she’s been training since she was five years old to be a trainer. Plus, her family’s rich, so she’ll have all the potions, vitamins, and top-tier food to keep her team healthy. I wouldn’t underestimate her.” Someone replied.

“Oh yeah? Well I already signed up to the Circuit, so I’m bound to run into her eventually. My Bidoof and I will destroy her and send her running back to Unova,” The first commenter said.

My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. A Bidoof?! Talk about being confident. Anyway, I ignored the comments, but bookmarked the page. She’d be interesting to follow, even though ‘carpetbaggers’, or people who flew in from other regions to join another League Circuit, were frowned upon. I spent a few more minutes scrolling for interesting trainers before hearing a soft knock on my door.

“Don’t come in!” I said.

To my dismay, dad opened the door anyway and sat down at the foot of my bed.

“I said not to come in,” I muttered before turning away from him. Togepi had woken up again and began trying to climb his back.

“Listen, kiddo…” He sighed.

“Whenever you use kiddo, you usually just want to appear relatable to me so I forgive you,” I said quietly.

Dad laughed softly. “You’re right on the money. But seriously, listen. I know I’m asking a lot out of you, but you gotta understand that if I had any other way, I’d let you stay here. You know that, right?”

I didn’t answer.

“It won’t take too long. A week and a half at most for the round trip. Route 202 and 201 are really short,” He said.

“Mm.”

“And the Pokemon there tend to be really weak and relatively peaceful, especially next to Twinleaf. I’d say it’s a good opportunity to get Togepi to toughen up a little bit, right? You’re the one who always tells me to stop treating her like a baby,” He continued.

“Mhm.”

“And it’d be nice for you and your mom to reconnect. I haven’t forgiven her, you know. It’s not like we talk every day. I’m still pissed she took our Herdier!” He said. “But I also know how depressed she’s been ever since she moved back in with her parents. You haven’t been answering her calls. I— I want you to know your mother, Grace.”

“I already know her. She’s a bitch.”

“Language, young lady! Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that I’m sorry, but I think that long term, this will do you a lot of good,” He said, caressing my shoulder. “Now come on. Gimmie a hug.”

He spread his arms and looked at me with Lilipup eyes. I tried rebuking him for a few seconds, but I ended up embracing him.

“I love you, dad,” I said. “And I’m sorry for saying I hate you, I know you heard that. I don’t actually hate you.”

He held me tightly “I know you don’t. Every teenager is entitled to saying they hate their parents at least once.”

“Prrrri!” Togepi cheered.

“Aww, aren’t you a sweet one,” Dad said, petting her shell. “Look, she’s happy we made up!”

I smiled. “So when do I have to leave?”

“Uh, in two days would be ideal. You have time to prepare and buy some supplies, I’ll give you some money for potions. I’m getting a big bonus when this damn Poketch is released.”

“Alright,” I sighed. “Let’s do it then. I hope you’re ready for this, princess.”

“Toge?” The little Pokemon looked at me and tilted her head.