What a strange, strange world this is. With the laws handed down on a whim by the current Pokemon Champion, a league set up to determine a successor by battle, and even just the fact that daily lives have everyone – from the elderly to the young – pitting creatures called pokemon against each other in mortal combat for sport and money. And yet nobody seems to do anything about it.
What a strange, strange world this is, that our young heroine finds herself living in. Nineteen is a bit older than most trainers are when they leave on their journey, let alone by the time they have their first battle. Yet perhaps having a bit more experience under her belt would prove to be a blessing more than a curse. Only time would tell.
You see, Stella will be embarking on a different sort of journey. There is no notion of fainting: when something reaches zero, it's gone for good. In addition to that, catching any more than the first pokemon that she runs into per area is highly illegal, unless it's something that she's already caught – this is regulated as per the laws given out by the current Pokemon Champion, Steven Stone.
Our story begins with our young hero trying to sleep in the back of a moving truck, en route to her new home.
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It seemed like hours that the truck had been moving, Stella thought to herself in the darkness. Thankfully, the movers had arranged her furniture rather tightly along the floor of the trailer so that she could at the very least rest on her bed during the journey without the danger of anything falling on her. It would be a pain to disassemble it again when moving it, but hopefully the moving men wouldn't blame her too much for wanting that comfort.
Stella felt the truck begin to slow, and as if to confirm that the motor began to quiet down, both winding down in unison until at last everything was quiet and still. She sat up on the bed, unsure if she should try to move or escape, though she didn't have to wait too long until that was answered for her. Her hand rushed to shield her eyes as the door began to slide out and light flooded into the trailer, blinding her.
The hand was slowly lowered, Stella growing accustomed to the light as it slipped through her fingers, and now she saw that one of her movers, most likely the one that had been driving the truck, standing at the end with his arm extended to help her. Stella carefully climbed over the boxes and bags of her belongings, grabbing the worker's hand when she got close enough so that he could help her out onto the ground.
Stella stretched a bit as she approached the house that the truck was parked in front of, rubbing her eyes as they seemed to finally adjust to the brightness. It was a simple two-story building, and the roof looked as though it had just recently been done, and everything else about it too seemed fresh and redone. The door was open and Stella's mother, Jennifer, was nowhere to be seen, so it only made sense that she had already gone inside, and so Stella followed.
She stood in the doorway and looked over the first floor, though it seemed a bit small. Directly ahead of her was a staircase going up, and to the side were a kitchen and a living room, both already set up like how she remembered back at their old house in Petalburg. She slipped off her shoes and stepped out of the doorway to let the movers do their thing, just in time for Jennifer to come downstairs.
“Hello, darling! I hope your trip wasn't too bad,” she said, coming closer to hug her daughter. “I'm sorry that you had to ride in the trailer, but there were just those two little seats up front. I assure you that you probably had it best, I could barely move my legs!”
That was Mom, Stella thought to herself quietly, always trying to make herself a victim. She simply nodded in response, reaching to clutch her left arm with her right behind her back. Stella had been hoping that after the divorce and moving out here to a more rural neighborhood things would change for the better, though this wasn't a good start if that were to be the case.
Jennifer swept Stella forward and wrapped an arm around her, giving her a small tour. “The living room has been set up just how you like it, darling, and the kitchen was fully stocked yesterday. All that's left is your room.”
Stella merely nodded again, stepping forward into the kitchen and seeking out a glass to fill with water. Once her target was acquired, she leaned back against the counter and nursed the glass, assuming that like always her mother would have more to say.
“It'll take some time to move everything up there, but why don't you run upstairs to set the clock before the men start bringing in your furniture?” With her trademark giggle, Jennifer smiled a bit wider before turning and going to sit on the couch, turning on the television.
Stella rolled her eyes once her mother's back was turned, setting down her glass and walking over to the stairs. It wasn't that she had a problem with doing what her mother asked, but it was the way she said things, how forced it felt. Stella had seen Jennifer chew out her father before the divorce, had seen how nasty and bitter her mother could really be. So why, then, did she seem to care so much about acting nice to her daughter?
She could only wonder on this for a brief moment as she maneuvered the stairs. The first door to the right was open wide, and upon further inspection the room that it led to was barren of any furniture aside from a clock on the wall. Stella checked her watch. It was just past noon, meaning that ride was just slightly under an hour. Even though it wasn't far from her old home, it felt like she was on another planet.
It was easy enough to set the time, and soon enough Stella was back downstairs. She grabbed her water from the counter and sipped it when the television caught her attention. “Thank you for the interview, Norman. This has been Gabby, live from Petalburg Gym. Back to you, Paul.”
Norman? She nearly slammed the glass on the counter and went as quickly as she could to see the television, but sure enough they were already on a different topic, some report about somebody suing the Pokemon Center up the road. “Mom,” Stella started calmly, “why didn't you tell me that Dad was on TV?”
Jennifer put a hand to her chest, looking taken aback. “Well there's no need to accuse me of anything, I was just flipping channels. I was as surprised to see that as you were.”
Stella sighed and sat down on the arm of the couch, turned so that she could watch out the window as the movers came with boxes for her room. She soon felt her mother's small hand on her back.
“I know, why don't you go over next door? When I was here yesterday I met the most wonderful boy, he seemed right around your age.” The hand on Stella's back patted her a few times.
If you want me to get out of the way for a while, why not just say so? “Alright, that sounds good. I guess that wouldn't hurt.” It was an easy matter of slipping her shoes back on and she was out the door. Weirdly enough, she only saw two other buildings nearby, the rest of the titular town seemed to be just a meadow surrounded by trees.
Stella stuffed her hands into her pockets and walked over to the larger of the two first, though when she got to the front all she could find was a sign on the door. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I'm out doing research on the route to the north. Professor Birch. Birch? That name sounded familiar, maybe she could meet him later when he was back.
The smaller building looked quite similar to her house, Stella noticed as she grew closer. Soon after she rang the doorbell it was opened by a somewhat large woman. They exchanged a glance, after which the woman beamed and lunged forward to crush Stella with a hug. “Oh, you must be Jennifer's daughter, Stella! So good to meet you!” Stella could swear that she felt her ribs snapping like twigs, but soon enough she was released as the woman ushered her inside and went to the kitchen. “Can I get you anything to drink? Oh, but you must be hungry after that trip!”
Stella could feel herself blushing from the stranger's hospitality, shaking her head as she stood near the door. “N-no thank you, it wasn't that long. Besides, I shouldn't stay long, I just wanted to meet you, Miss...?”
The woman laughed heartily. “Oh, I'm sorry! My name is Lucille, don't worry about calling me Miss. Well you're welcome to stay as long as you like, and my son should be up in his room, first door on the right.”
Now that Lucille mentioned it, Stella noticed that this house did seem to have a suspiciously similar layout to her own. “Thank you,” she said as she walked over to the stairs and climbed them. The door was open, so she slowly peeked her head in. There was a boy sitting at a desk in the corner of the room, headphones on and seemingly in deep concentration. Stella tried waving, though when that failed to capture his attention she walked over and tapped his shoulder.
He jumped up immediately, knocking over his chair and collapsing to the floor himself. “Gah!” he exclaimed, rubbing his head. He took a moment to sit up and orientate himself before taking a look up Stella's body. “You surprised me, I didn't hear you come in. You must be the new girl next door?”
Stella nodded to him, waiting for him to stand back up. “Sorry I startled you, you're not hurt are you?” She folded her arms behind her back.
“Oh no, I'll be fine. I'm actually kind of glad you got me off that thing, I've been meaning to leave.” The boy stepped around her to grab his backpack from the bed and swung it on. “I'm Brendan, by the way. I think Jennifer said that your name is Stella?” She nodded. Brendan stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet ya.”
Stella gingerly extended out her own arm and gave a halfhearted shake, but Brendan didn't seem to mind. “You too,” she said softly.
He stood by the door and showed her out, following her down the stairs. “I wish we could chat longer, but I've got to go do some work for my dad up north. I'll catch you later, Stella. Bye Mom!” he waved in Lucille's general direction before opening the door and running off.
“Such a nice boy,” Lucille muttered before turning to Stella. “Did you have a chance to meet my husband? He should be in that big building down the path.”
Stella shook her head. “I went by, but there was a note on the door.”
Lucille scoffed. “I swear, that man is going to work himself to death. Well if you'd like to meet him, he probably didn't go too far up north. He's got a bad knee, y'know.” She worked her way around the rooms, straightening and cleaning until she came to stand in front of Stella again. “You come back here anytime, sweetie, you seem like a nice girl.” Stella felt that pain return as she was once again wrapped up in one of Lucille's bear hugs, thankfully much shorter than the first.
“Thank you, Lucille. Have a good afternoon.” She slipped out the door and heard it close behind her as she started walking toward home again. Well, that could have been worse, Stella thought to herself. She saw that the truck was still parked outside her house and the moving men were still at it, so instead she took a left and started wandering up toward the route north. Soon she found herself at the entrance. She had heard stories of people wandering between towns without any pokemon to defend them, they were always on the news. But Stella assured herself that she would be safe as long as she stayed away from the tall grass where they lurked and set off walking.
It was certainly more peaceful here than in Petalburg, and especially than what she remembered of growing up in Rustboro. The air was cleaner and there were certainly less people around. Stella thought that perhaps she could grow to like it here.
Suddenly, a loud noise pierced her thoughts. It sounded like somebody screaming, and suddenly Stella felt herself shaking. There was probably someone more able to help up ahead, a trainer or something, she told herself. No. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists, standing up straight. She heard someone scream, she had to go see what was wrong. She took another breath and ran as quickly as she could up the path.
She soon came to a clearing, and it only took a moment to see what was wrong. A forty-something looking man was on the ground, trying to kick at a grey wolf-looking pokemon biting into his leg. His eyes widened as he saw Stella. “You there, help me!” he screamed out desperately.
Stella's mind raced. Help? How, did he expect her to run up and kick it? “I-I'll go get someone! I know a trainer that just came by here, I'll go get him!”
The Poochyena shook his head a bit and the man yelled again. “F-ah! There's no time!” He kicked at the wolf's face, but it was determined to stay latched on. “In my bag there! There's some pokemon, just send one out and help me!”
Stella rushed forward and dropped down next to the bag, jamming her hand in and pulling out the first ball that she felt, throwing it toward the wolf. There was a light as the ball opened, and next to it materialized a blue squishy-looking creature. “Mah~” it happily exclaimed.
The man was struggling fiercely against the wolf now, though he seemed hesitant to do anything more than kick at it with his free foot. “Mudkip! Tackle!” he yelled out, though the blue creature didn't react at all. “Dammit, why can’t you listen to me! Girl, you try!”
Stella was confused. If the creature didn't listen to him, why would he to her? But it was all she had. “Mudkip! Tackle!” she repeated, and this time the creature rushed forward, slamming itself against the grey canine. It was knocked off immediately, and the man screamed in agony as it was pulled away so forcefully. Stella didn't think, she merely ran over in front of the man to protect him. “Tackle it again before it can recover!” The blue amphibian reacted quickly, slamming into the wolf again and knocking it down. The wolf raised much more slowly this time, and growled as it backed away into the trees. The blue creature raised as if prepared to chase after it, though Stella turned and crouched down next to the man. “Are you alright?”
The man shook his head. “I've been better. The bastard snuck up on me and bit my bad leg when I had my back turned.” He coughed, then turned his head down to look at the wound. “See, it's just some bite marks. He was just a puppy.”
Stella furrowed her brow, this man was insane. The wound wasn't deep, but it was bleeding down his leg. “Come on, let's get you up.” She helped him to stand on his good leg, leaning against her to support the rest of him. “You aren't Professor Birch, are you?”
He chuckled at that. “The one and only. Come to think of it, you came from Littleroot. You must be the daughter of that woman from yesterday. Stella, right?” Birch faltered now and then, but they moved pretty easily, considering.
“Well let's get you to your house, I'm sure Lucille can help you better than I can to get that cleaned up.” He nodded and left it at that, and no wonder given his ragged breathing and occasional coughing fit.
After a short while, they came to his house and went right inside. Lucille was in the kitchen, though she all but went into shock as she saw her husband's leg. She instantly ran for the bathroom and started to run a bath, leaving Stella and the professor at the base of the stairs before she returned to help her carry him up. “Relax, relax,” he reassured her as she fussed and chided him. “It was only a baby, it'll heal in no time. I'll be able to walk tomorrow, I bet!”
Stella caught Lucille rolling her eyes, and once they got him settled sitting on the edge of the tub, she took that as a cue to go. Birch lightly grabbed her arm. “I'm sorry to bother you, Stella, but could you go and retrieve my bag? Just leave it on the porch, and thank you so much for helping me. I'll what what I can fix up to pay you in return.” He smiled to her and released her arm.
As she left, Stella heard Lucille start to fuss over him again. She seemed like a really caring wife and mother, Brendan and Birch were lucky. As she closed the front door behind her, though, Stella noticed a bright blue fin poking out from the side of the house. She stopped in her tracks and watched as it slowly protruded further, the face of the creature that helped her before slowly coming out as well.
“Oh... Hello there,” she said, walking toward it slowly. It didn't seem to mind, the creature sitting back on the grass and looking up at her. “I completely forgot about you. Mudkip, was it?”
The creature beamed. “Maaah~”
“Well, I suppose you can follow me, you were a big help. But you seem more like a blue marshmallow to me.” Stella set off for the clearing once more, the blue marshmallow following her just as she thought it would. They went relatively uninterrupted on their task, making it there and back in less time than it had taken for Stella to help the professor back to his house.
All the way, the creature following her seemed quite relaxed, following her step and staying by her side most of the way. It just seemed mean to put it back in the ball that it came out of, so she let it roam free. It didn't seem to have any intention of running away, as no matter what she made her pace, it kept it.
With the task done, Stella didn't feel quite right just leaving the bag there. Even if they were the only two families that lived here, she thought it would be the neighborly thing to do to return it in person. Thus, she knocked.
It was not long before Lucille opened the door. “Oh, hello again Stella. Welcome back.” She seemed somewhat surprised, but all the same stepped out of the way to allow her in.
Stella accepted the invitation. “I just wanted to be polite. How's his wound?”
Lucille laughed. “We got it all cleaned up and I made him lay down for a while. I'll make sure he gets this.” She took the bag from Stella and set it on the couch. “You know what, Stella? I'm glad you came by. It just struck me, Brendan left before Birch got bitten, didn't he? Could you be a dear and go find him? Just head north from Oldale if you can't find him, I don't think he would've gone toward Petalburg.”
She didn't even seem to notice the Mudkip, but that was all well and good since Stella would likely need his protection. She picked him up and set him on her shoulder for lack of any other way to carry him and started jogging. Perhaps thanks to this, the duo did not encounter anything on their way to Oldale, though there was also no sign of Brendan.
Oldale seemed to really just be a larger version of Littleroot, and the first thing that caught Stella's attention was a woman with an apron standing out in front of the pokemon center. Upon being waved over, Stella approached the woman and gave a soft wave. “Well isn't that a cute little guy?” she chimed, leaning in to get a closer look at the Mudkip. “Are you a new trainer, Miss?”
Stella nodded. “Yes, ma'am. I don't know if I'd call myself a trainer exactly, and this isn't really my pokemon. I'm just borrowing it for an errand.” She reached up and patted the marshmallow on the head. “Though he does seem to like me quite a bit.”
“Oh yes, he seems very well behaved. In any case,” she trailed off, digging a hand into her apron. “Please, have this as a gift.” She held out her hand, offering a small spray bottle. “Just in case you run into any trouble on your errand, take this potion. It'll heal your little friend right up if he gets hurt.”
Stella took it and slipped it into her bag. “Thank you very much. No offense, but I really hope I won't have to use it.” She gave the saleswoman a polite bow before continuing on her way.
Continuing north as Lucille had advised, Stella soon found herself facing down some cliffs, at the top a thick forest like that which surrounded Littleroot. Thankfully, she found a small path that let up and around the sides of the cliffs, and the two progressed slowly through the grassy area. With her mudkip acting as a second pair of eyes, Stella made her way up the cliffs, only to find Brendan sitting next to a tree, a green lizard-looking pokemon in his lap. “Ah good. I finally found you,” she said, sitting down next to him.
He had one hand gently rubbing his partner's back. “I didn't know you were looking for me, what's up?”
Stella thought for a moment. She didn't want to alarm him, after all. “Your dad is fine, but he was attacked by a small grey wolf pokemon while he was researching. Your mother cleaned up the wound and made him get some bed rest, so I'm sure he'll be all healed up soon.”
Brendan seemed to take the news rather well. “Yeah, that happens from time to time. He just loves pokemon too much, Mom always has her hands full trying to keep him still and safe. I guess I'd better head home to see how he's doing.” He stood up, offering his hand to help her up stand as well. “What're you doing with that mudkip, anyway?”
Stella hated to seem rude, though even still she stood up on her own, nodding to him. “This little guy is the one that helped me fend off that wolf thing.”
Brendan laughed. “It's called a poochyena. And that's pretty cool that you got him to listen to you, Dad always has a problem with him. He's just too relaxed and indifferent to a lot of stuff.”
Stella shrugged. “I noticed that, but he seemed to listen to me well enough.”
The two continued to walk in relative silence. Stella waved to the saleswoman, who was still outside the pokemon center, as they passed through Oldale, and after a brisk walk they found themselves back at Brendan's house.
He went in first and ran upstairs to see his father while Stella stayed near the door. Lucille finally noticed the mudkip, perking her brow with a smirk. “Well hey, seems someone finally made a friend. I didn't realize you took that one with you.”
Stella blushed. “I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to. He just sort of followed me...”
Lucille gave a loud laugh, reaching to stroke the mudkip's fin. “Oh, it's fine. Birch told me this little guy was key in helping to save him, I'm sure he won't mind. Speaking of, he said he wanted to see you when you got back.”
She patted Stella on the back as if to push her off toward the stairs, and Stella didn't want to argue. She heard Brendan and Birch talking in hushed voices as she drew close to the open door, which stopped as they must have heard her footsteps. “Come in, Stella,” Birch called.
She did.
“Brendan and I were just talking about you. I think I've found a way to repay you for saving me earlier, but we'll have to test you first.”
Stella tilted her head a bit. “Repay me? You really don't have to. Oh, and I meant to give this guy back earlier, but he followed me.” She scooped the mudkip off her of shoulder and held him out with both hands.
“Give him back? Whatever for?” Brendan snickered at this.
Stella's eyes widened at the implication. “He's yours, isn't he?”
Birch smiled. “That one has never listened to a word I've said. Frankly, you'd be doing me a favor by taking him off my plate.”
Stella felt herself start to return his smile, holding the Mudkip close to her chest. “Thank you, professor.”
The professor sat up a bit in his bed with a sharp breath. “Are you going to give him a name?”
Stella held him out again so that she could look at him in the eyes, smirking. “Well... I've been thinking that he kind of looks like a blue marshmallow. So... Marshmallow, I suppose.”
Birch chuckled. “Well them, Marshmallow it is. I'll leave it to Brendan to take care of the rest, thanks for coming by. Frankly, I wish you could just do it here, but Lucy would throw a fit.”
She wanted to ask 'do what,' but she decided not to and allowed Brendan to lead her back to the front door and outside. He led her over to the clearing between their two houses.
“Quite frankly,” he began, “my dad is completely dumbfounded at your ability to command that mudkip. So he wanted me to test if it were just a one-time thing. Catch my drift?” He flashed her a grin.
“You want to have a battle? Here? Now?” Stella's eyes widened, she didn't want to have him taken from her so soon, and there was no way she could beat someone like Brendan...
“Relax, relax, no stakes. If you think Marsh is in danger, then we can stop. Same goes for me. It's a test of your ability to command, not his ability to fight.” Brendan took a ball from his belt and clicked it, causing the green gecko from earlier to appear. “I'll only use my treeko in the sake of fairness. He was the first pokemon that I got.” He turned and walked a short distance away.
Stella wanted to object, but surely there was no harm in a mock fight. It was only a test, after all. “Alright, I'll trust you.” She carefully picked Marshmallow up and set him down on the ground. “You can do this, buddy,” she said softly to him. “Just like earlier, okay?” He made a soft noise in response, and she stood back up straight.
Brendan crossed his arms. “Alright. We start when you issue your first command. Sound good?” Stella nodded. “Good, yeah. Now then...” All she knew to tell him to do was tackle, so... “Marshmallow, tackle!” The mudkip jumped forward, lunging at the treeko, but the attack was just barely dodged. Brendan didn't even need to issue a command for the treeko to know to pound its hand against the mudkip as he flew by.
“Don't get put off by that, it wasn't your fault!” she exclaimed, “Try it again!” This time the mudkip struck true, his shoulder slamming right into the treeko's chin and sending him flying back a foot.
She saw Brendan mutter something to himself before turning to treeko and pointing toward the mudkip. “Go, leer!” The treeko jumped to its feet and struck a menacing pose, and Stella could tell that Marshmallow was a bit shaken.
She clenched her fist and glared at the treeko. “Don't fall for his tricks! Tackle him again while he's wide open!” The mudkip reacted immediately, charging forward and slamming his head against the gecko's torso much harder than before, sending it flying back and rolling as it landed.
The treeko was down for a second, but attempted to stir, barely making it up to one knee, and she could tell that it was panting heavily, that last attack must have knocked the wind out of him. “Enough!” she head Brendan shout, running over to return treeko to his ball. “That was wonderful, Stella,” he said, coming closer.
She knelt down and Marshmallow came bounding back, so she picked him up and returned him to her shoulder. “Thank you, but I don't really know what I did that was so special. I guess that means I passed?”
Brendan nodded. “With flying colors. Come with me.” He turned and walked away from their houses toward his father's lab. He produced a key once they got to the door and opened it, flicking on the lights. “See, after today's incident, my father decided that he was getting too old to go out and do research in the field like he wants to.” He started rummaging through some equipment on a desk in the back.
Stella followed him, watching as he dug through and tossed aside high-tech looking stuff as though it were toys. “Uh huh... But how does that relate to my test?” She had a feeling she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it explained in case she were leaping to conclusions.
Brendan apparently found what he was looking for, because he turned back around to face her and stepped away from the tables. “He wants the two of us to go out in his place. Travel the region, capture and raise pokemon in the name of research, may even take on the Pokemon League.”
Stella's eyes widened at that. Exactly as she had thought. “That's quite an offer... It sounds unbelievable.”
Brendan shook his head. “Apparently, he already talked to your mother about it, and she fully supports it. He wouldn't tell me specifics, but he said she can tell that you haven't been having the best time at home lately. Apparently she's got some stuff planned for you at home. And before I forget, this is for you.” He held out his hand, offering her a small red computer-looking device. “This is called a pokedex. It’s an encyclopedia of all known pokemon in the Hoenn region, it'll help you on your journey.”
She could hardly believe what she was hearing. How could she turn an offer like this down? “I'll do it,” she said softly, then again with a bit more confidence. “I'll do it, Brendan. Marshmallow and I... I can't promise we'll be the best battlers, because I really don't want him to get hurt. But I'll do my best.” She took the pokedex and held it firmly in her hand.
He reached out to pet the Mudkip. “With battling like that, I'm sure you'll be fine. With Marshmallow, and whoever else you find on your journey. Trust me.”
Stella blushed, but nodded. “I still don't get what you mean, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it out. I've got a potion, so I should be safe training a bit against the wild pokemon around here.
Brendan nodded. “That's the spirit. You'll do great. I think you can get pretty far. Maybe you can even take on Steven one day.” He laughed.
“Yeah, maybe.”
They said their goodbyes and Stella returned home. Jennifer was in the kitchen when she got there, cooking up a storm. “Welcome home, darling. Have you had a talk with the neighbors yet?”
Stella kicked off her shoes and laid her back on the couch, moving to take a seat at the counter with Marshmallow still perched on her shoulder. “Yes. And I think I'm taking him up on his offer. Birch, I mean.”
Jennifer placed a plate of noodles with a creamy white sauce in front of her. “Good. Then you'll find your going away gifts in your bedroom after dinner.” She turned her attention to the blue creature that was on her shoulder. “As for him, Birch had a feeling he'd be with you, so he also gave me a bit of food for him. It's up in your room as well. He's a cutie.”
Stella ate quickly, doing everything she could not to jump out of her chair and run upstairs that moment. Maybe she had been a bit harsh on her mother recently, it seemed that she really did want her to be happy. “Thank you, Mom. For everything.” She placed her plate in the sink and rinsed it off, then raced upstairs to her room.
Laid out on her bed were quite a few gifts. Five pokeballs were arranged in a circle, empty but ready to be used. There was a belt, most likely of Birch's design, that had six slots for balls to fit into, as well as a pouch that was just the perfect size for her pokedex. Next was a brand new bag that looked quite durable. Inspecting it, she found quite a few different pockets, which would probably be useful for sorting out anything she found in her travels. Lastly, there was a shoe box containing a brand new pair of shoes. Stella looked down, perhaps it was time to replace them, especially if she were going on a brand new journey...
There would be time to thank everyone tomorrow before she left. For now, she just wanted to relax in her room. Her room! She had almost forgotten. She hadn't even realized that everything in her room was set up exactly as it had been at their old house in Petalburg. And suddenly, she felt a pang of sadness. All that effort to preserve her room, and here she was leaving the very next day. Though it wasn't as though anyone could have predicted that, she told herself.
Stella noticed the bag of food sitting on her desk, and she quickly set to work pouring some into a bowl and setting it on the floor, sitting next to it and petting Marshmallow as he ate. “I'll have to ask the professor how much to feed you, but this should be fine for tonight. I hope you're as excited as I am.”
She got up and fastened the balls to her belt and slipped her pokedex into its pouch. There was no ball for Marshmallow, but she supposed that he was a bit special. He'd be fine without one. She got the rest of her new gear sorted out and laid out a set of clothes, then packed a case with more changes. “I wonder how far we'll make it tomorrow,” she muttered to herself. “Maybe we can get as far as Rustboro. I haven't been there in years...”
Stella spent the rest of her night on the couch watching TV with Jennifer and Marshmallow, then took him outside to take care of anything that he needed to before closing her bedroom door for the last time that night. “Well, that about wraps up our first day together, Marshy. I don't know how I'm gonna sleep tonight...”
She stripped out of everything she was wearing and pulled the covers back, placing the Mudkip up on the bed before slipping into it herself and getting comfortable. She yawned, hugging him in close against her. “Goodnight, Marshmallow,” she whispered, curling up with him and letting herself drift off to sleep.
Stella awoke the next morning with the sun hitting her eyes, and the Mudkip's cool, damp skin pressed against her, the feeling surprisingly comfortable on her bare skin. She sat up slowly and stretched, kicking her legs out of bed and jumping out. “I guess today's the day,” she said. She checked to make sure the coast was clear, then dashed into the bathroom for a shower, afterward quickly throwing on the clothes that she had picked out the day before. She swung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed her bag with the other hand, kneeling to let Marshmallow up onto her.
She carefully went downstairs and set her stuff by the door. Jennifer was nowhere to be seen. She knocked on her mother's door, but she didn't seem to be in the house at all, so Stella made herself a quick breakfast of eggs and toast. Even after that, though, there was no sign of her mother.
More than a bit confused, Stella equipped her bags once more and headed over to the neighbor's, knocking on the door. The door swung open, and inside she found Lucille, as well as Birch and Jennifer sitting and talking. Her mother was the first to speak. “Good morning, darling. I didn't want to wake you, but I thought you would've still been sleeping. You got everything all packed?”
Stella nodded. “Yes, I think I'm ready. Thank you for your gifts, professor. And you too, Lucille.” They both smiled to her.
“If you have any problems with the pokedex, feel free to come back to my lap and I'll take a look at it,” Birch said. “As it is, you can use it to message me any time you want, and I'll respond when I can.”
“And if you ever feel homesick, please just come say hello,” Jennifer added.
Lastly, Lucille just gave her a great big hug, just a rib-crushing as the first she had received of yesterday. “I'm sorry that we didn't get more of a chance to meet each other before you had to leave like this. Brendan took off about an hour ago, so I bet you could catch up with him if you tried.”
Stella returned the hug as best as she could, but she just couldn't get that same force behind it. “Again, thank you for this great opportunity, professor. I'll do my best to make you proud.”
He just smiled to her. “Go get on the road already, you have a journey to start.”
She wasn't sure how to respond to that, so with everyone looking she just picked up her bags, gave them a sort of half bow, and walked out the door.
A minute later she was standing at the entrance to the Route 101, staring out toward her destiny. Somewhere in that grass lay her second comrade. She took a deep breath, and took her first step into a new life.
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Current team:
Marshmalow (Mudkip) Level 6 – Tackle, Growl, Mud Slap
