---

A small smile lit Rhea’s lips as she exited the small clinic in the Center, passing dozens of sick boys and girls; each bi-seasonal start was usually filled with elation and sickness across the regions.  Nova was positively glowing with positivity after receiving so much attention while Mya was still as a gentle brook, conserving her strength.

Shifting the pack on her back, Rhea glanced around, soaking in the commotion of the most crowded place she’d ever been.  She thought it would be more terrifying than it turned out to be once she’d entered, and there were clusters of Trainers from other regions spotted between groups.

Rhea left the Pokémon Center, moving further into the heart of Pallet; the entire city was growing more congested by the minute with tourists, new Trainers, and every news station imaginable, but she expected as much.

Her focus shifted between the large bands of teens with their parents, knowing many of these new Trainers would become her competition, and the rivalry between the regions was palpable this year with the new initiative.

The concept of battling didn’t really frighten her since she’d grown up around high-tier matches, but it did make her a little hesitant when adding one’s public image into the equation, especially with taking part in the new event that marked this year’s tournament.

Her vision followed the flat displays in the air, held and powered by several Magnemite, their Trainers contracted by the organizations.  Dozens of news companies had converged on the city once Kanto was announced as the first region to host the International Bronze Division with the International Bronze Cup as its prize.  Even Kanto’s Indigo Summer League was being overshadowed by the event; of course, it would probably take center stage once the preliminaries were over.

Rhea slowed on the side of the road, staring up at The Poké Dudes’ Show, hosted on KPN, one of Kanto’s major networks.  The butterflies in her stomach swarmed; in just a few minutes, the league would begin, and she’d have an hour to make it to the lab for Oak’s orientation before the opening ceremony.

She still had some time to kill, though, and she suspected Sabin brought her early to give her time to calm down after experiencing the city.  A lump dropped down her throat while watching the popular show, hands gripping her backpack straps as other people slowed to a stop around the sidewalk to learn the newly released information.

“And we’re back,” said Jof Sullivan, a twenty-year-old green-haired news commentator with his older brother, Luis, sitting beside him.  A screen behind them displayed ‘International Bronze Division’ in bright gold letters.  “Yo, Luis, what do you expect to happen when the list is revealed?”

His handsome older brother gave the camera a smirk.  “Aye, we all know what’s gonna happen here!  How many regions were confirmed to participate at the United Indigo Summit, Bro?”

“If you don’t know, you’ve been living under an Onix!”  Jof counted off his fingers with a grin.  “We’ve got three-hundred rockin’ seventeen-year-old competitors arriving from each of their home regions; we’ve got Hoenn, Sinnoh, our hound dogs across the sea in Unova, shout it out!  Our Alola thugs, trippin’ Galar, the royal losers from Kalos, and even those country fools out west in Johto, Bro!”

Luis held up his hands in a sign.  “Kanto, east side represent!”

“Yo, we’re talkin’ twenty-one hundred foreign Trainers jumpin’ in this Muk, my east side Dudes!  The next league could be in any one of those regions, but this year, we got the home turf advantage with over forty-five thousand young Bronze registered dudes ready to ride on these fools!  Aye, yo, Bro, put me in!  Know what I’m sayin’?!

“Aye, aye,” Luis chuckled, “I’m with ya, but we gotta wait for the International Silver Division to hit, Bro, but know we’ll be there; what you thinkin’, Bro, ride on them Kalos fools!”

“For real!”

“Yo, yo, but check it; I know what all dem Trainers reppin’ south side Galar be spittin’, though, Dude,  sayin’, ‘yo, yeah, three-hundred of our finest!’ ”

Jof chuckled, stomach shaking.  “Naw, naw, Bro, dem Kalos preps be holdin’ their pinkies up at us, Dude!  I ain’t got time for that Galar Muk!”

“Weak!”  Luis snickered.  “Aye... yo, Bro, it’s almost time for the list!”

Rhea’s lips tightened; everyone was now glancing up at the displays, showing different feeds from the various regional news outlets; she had between now and fifty-five minutes to reach the Pallet Research Institute, but it was only a ten-minute walk according to her phone.

Jof cleared his throat, looking to the right at another screen off-camera.  “Three dudes from each region were selected by a regional Master’s poll to be the front-runners of the competition!”

“And yo, this Muk was tight-lipped, my dudes!  We only got one leak, and that’s from dem preps in Kalos…”

“Mukin’, Kalos,” Jof grunted with a derisive shake of his head.

Luis waved his stiff hand at his throat.  “Aye, but it’s big news, Bro!  We got ourselves a Kalos star tryin’ to make his name in our backyard!  Aww, can I get a Fairy no, my dude!”

“If you haven’t heard, then I don’t know where you’ve been!  I’m talkin’ the son of the Fairy of the Film Industry, Queen of Fashion, acting Champion of the Kalos League, and Grand Mukin’ Duchess, Diantha Allard herself, and her husband, the Smooth Fangirl Slayer, Cool Blue Player, Duke of the Kitchen, Siebold Allard, 3rd Ranking Kalos Elite Four washout’s son, Lucian Allard!”

An image of a light-brown haired, bright blue-eyed young man plastered across the screen; he wore a white suit with a black bowtie, making him look like the kind of stuck-up noble that much of the Kanto news liked to criticize.  He was more than handsome with his sharp looks, but the image had a negative view in Kanto.

“Kalos,” Luis rolled his eyes.  “It had to be…”

Jof’s brow suddenly shot up.  “Aye, aye, Dude!  VCN just dropped a bomb!  Giovanni Rocket just left Viridian on a new type of Rocket H-Series Jet!  You don’t think…”

Luis’s lips parted in a wry grin.  “Oooh!  Bro, you think Amira Rocket made the list?  No... I mean, with Rocket’s reputation among the Master-tier Trainers?”

“Hey,” Jof interrupted with a grin, “VCN called it a month ago... wait, yo!  VCN is killin’ it; Former Champion Lyra was just spotted leaving Viridian airspace with Amira!”

“For Pallet?”

“Man... The list just... there she is!  What’d I tell ya, Dudes?”  Jof snapped his fingers.  “I’m telling you, this is gonna be one crazy League!  Wait... yo, the two Kanto slots are no last-namers, Bro!  Check it…”

“Rhea and Jason... yo, who?”

“Uh... nah, look at the other stations; yo, everyone’s confused, my dudes?”

“Dude... there goes my Kalayna bet... still, High Master Erika’s daughter will be in the crowd, I guess,” Luis mumbled.  “Muk, not even a picture for them; that’s pretty rare.  Wait, all the regions had to cooperate to have equal gender representation, right?”

“Yeah... for the teams.  Let’s just hope we don’t get a Kalos kid with one of our Kanto dudes!”

Rhea’s lips pulled in; a lot of the news coverage would depend significantly on who she was randomly paired with.

Luis hummed with a suspicious eye.  “Still, Amira Rocket?  Yo, Tory’s gonna be pissed!  Two girls and a boy?  Huh.”

Rhea glanced down at her phone; she probably should be heading out soon to be sure, but she wanted at least a bit of information about the twenty-three other Trainers and the eleven potential girls she could be paired up with.

“Heh... Alright,” Jof chuckled, cracking his fingers.  “You can say the Rockets are up to foul-play, but Former Champion Lyra?  Naw, that woman’s as clean as it gets!”

“Well... Silver,” Luis said with a strained smile, “Ehh, ya know?  I mean, we can’t assume anything, right, but, uh... yeah, Bro.”

“Yeah... okay, but, Bro, let’s get down to the list, and to start it off, we’re already on fire with the controversy in our own backyard, Kanto!  For the dudes on the home team, we got Rhea, Jason, and you know her, Amira Rocket!”

Luis still seemed to be stuck on the Rocket bit.  “My guys, if our region gets shafted because someone calls Rocket B.S., then... anyways, to our northern dudes in Sinnoh, holdin’ it down!  We got... woah, an all girl’s selection?”

Jof forced a chuckle.  “Eh... I mean, Active Champion Cynthia, and her pupil, already Champion-tier, Dawn; talk about role models representing the female Trainer-base.”

“Dude, no joke!  Let’s get back to us, though!  We got some awesome reps comin’ in from our east side brothers, though!  Let’s kick it off; Karen Brooks—Johto’s rank one E4 member—our party superstar’s own daughter is throwin’ it up,” Luis laughed.

A video of a gorgeous teenage girl with silvery-blue eyes and hair, her locks even thicker than Rhea’s, popped up on the screen.  She was recording herself on social media while dancing in a club, clearly intoxicated with her laughter and rosy cheeks, singing to the punk-rock song.

“Aww yeah... Girl’s got style!”  Jof laughed.  “If you followed that Livestream three weeks ago, Casey Brooks avoided the Goldenrod authorities for three hours before finally being caught after passing out behind a couch.”

Luis picked up where his brother left off.  “Some stiff media personalities—you know who I’m talkin’ about, GCN—might call Casey Brooks a wreck, but who doesn’t love hearin’ every story that hits, and when she pops up in the news, you know it’s gonna make you laugh!

“Then, we have Former Champion Lance’s nephew and Gym Leader Clair’s son entering the stage with Gym Leader Morty’s son, finishing off our east side reps!  We’ve got Angel Villarreal and Mark Krahl.  Eh…”

Jof gave his brother a forced smile as the two pictures popped up.  “Yeah, sometimes I question if Angel is a guy or a girl with those looks... I mean, Former Champion Lance registered him as a dude, but uh... ya know?”

“Aye, Bro, no homo, but that dude sends some mixed signals to my brain, yo!  Both boys haven’t made many waves, so we can’t tell you much other than their parents are High Masters, and the Dragon-type specialist is bordering on Grandmaster.”

“Some speculate High Master Clair will challenge the Kanto and Johto E4 soon for a position!”

Rhea frowned upon watching Johto and Kanto’s reveals; she’d met Karen frequently with her visits to the village but only met her daughter a handful of times. The Gossip App was filled with events regarding the wild girl’s activities.  Describing her as a wreck was about half right.

Her mother was like most Dark-type specialist Grandmasters she’d met, more than a little shady and carefree to a fault while being sharper than a tack.

It didn’t surprise Rhea that Casey was selected, though.  Rhea just didn’t know if she could keep up with the party girl if they were placed in the same group.

Angel Villarreal was a pretty shy boy for being the son of a fierce Dragon-type legendary family with a long history, including his mother, Clair, and uncle, Lance, but he seemed nice during the few times she’d met him.

On the other hand, Mark Krahl was a complete mystery to her.  Morty never actually talked to her when he came by the village, which was strange for most visitors, and considering he seemed so charismatic whenever on the news.

Rhea glanced to the left as cheers sounded around town; chants of Casey’s name could be heard a few streets over, taking the spotlight of the reveal.

However, she assumed Amira was a much more recognized name than Casey, especially with the older generation’s obsession with Rocket.  The organization was in just about every region, and smear campaigns were run against them on repeat.  Rhea had personally never met any Rocket except Former Champion Lyra, and she was only attached to the Rocket name by marriage.

A few years ago, an ad mentioned the granddaughter of Giovanni, but it was enough to go viral; although, the company that ran the ad had been bought out by a corporate hostile takeover of the shares and dismantled the following day.  The event sparked much stricter ad legislation that was pushed through the United Code of Business Conduct that same month, restricting the use of minors in media or smears.

If the video was to be believed, Giovanni’s influence had rubbed off on his grandchild.  The clips showed several pieced together video footage from teens at a public school; Amira shoved a girl, cursing at others, and started a fistfight with a boy, which was more than one-sided by the beautiful girl that had obviously taken martial arts classes since a young age.

The information about it was mostly scrubbed from the web, but she’d seen it when it aired, and even Rocket’s resources couldn’t keep it restrained for a time.

Jof waved his hand dismissively after the pictures passed the screen.  “Dude, and hasn’t Pallet been poppin’ off the last few years?  Hotels, resorts, inns, you name it, and they’re booked!  If there’s one good thing Rocket’s done, it’s the work they’ve done improving city infrastructure and travel, but Muk, that girl’s gonna be a target by foreign media and Trainers alike.”

“Hehe,” Luis shrugged his shoulders.  “Hey, I’m sure Giovanni’s granddaughter can take care of herself, right?  Everyone in Kanto’s seen the video, and she’s legal now... don’t take us down, Grandmaster Giovanni,” he said with a forced smile, “I’m just sayin’ what everyone’s thinkin’!”

“Yeah, Dude!  We’ll be covering every moment of your girl’s run…”

“Ah......Ahem,” Luis continued.  “Uh... Kalos, we have Lucian Allard, Jean Trouvé, and Ludovic Malet... how do you even pronounce some of these names, man?  Gah, ya know it, Active Champion Diantha, yeah... and, Jean’s High Master Korrina’s nephew... yo, I’m sensing some Kalos nepotism here, bro…”

“For real, Dude,” Jof growled, glaring at the screen while it popped up to reveal the well-dressed Trainers.  “Grandmaster Siebold’s son and nephew... let’s just skip by the clear Mukin’ corruption, and move on to our western dudes across the sea, Unova represent!”

Luis’s eyes lit with excitement.  “Yo, yo!  Talkin’ about Casey, we got the wild party pair of the north, Mallory Medina and Len Hart jumpin’ into Kanto to tear it up!  Mallory, younger sister of the famous author and Unova E4 4rd Rank, Shauntal!

“Then we got the supermodel, renowned electro-genre hoppin’ artist, and High Master... the accolades are just too long, Bro!  You already know who I’m talkin’ about, Gym Leader Elesa Hart is sending in her son, Len Hart, droppin’ the region into the Shadow Realm for a legendary rave!”

Both men started performing moves in their chairs while singing, lights dimming while lights flashed across the room.

“...I just wanna say I’m sorry; some days I know I get out of hand.  Wish I was anyone else; I’m a wreck, but you understand.  I can’t help myself; I’m just not well, my own worst enemy.  Can’t help myself, think I’m going to the Distortion Realm; I’ll probably never leave!  You know I hate it when I’m left alone, but you always find the best part, best part of me!”

The commentators broke into laughter as the lights returned to normal, and Jof continued, “Elesa Hart’s hot new single, Best Part, toppin’ charts in Kantos, Johto, Unova, and Sinnoh after it dropped last week, and it’s still there, boys!  Unova’s sendin’ us their own versions of Casey Brooks to rock the clubs and keep authorities on their toes!

“Oh, and we’ve also got Barry Ford, grandson of High Master, Gym Leader Clay joining them, but we gotta get back to these bars, my dudes!”

Rhea chuckled as they burst back into song, throwing out moves, but it didn’t last long before they moved onto the next region; she still had more than enough time to get there, so she decided to only listen to one more reveal, and it happened to be from her aunt’s region.

“Our northern sister be sendin’ some of their finest ladies!”  Luis replied, still busting moves from the soft music playing in the background.  “Which flower of Sinnoh we talkin’ about first, bro?”

“Aye, we got a triple whammy flyin’ in; all High Masters and Gym Leaders, Gardenia, Maylene, and Candice are representing from the north!  High Master Gardenia is…”

Knowing each of the girls, Rhea left for the research center, pondering on the information.

Her aunt was known to have the most influence out of any Champion in shaping the Trainers in her region, followed by Leon of Galar.  Almost every notable Trainer in Sinnoh was mentored in some way or fashion by Cynthia, which means Rhea had heard enough about them and many had been to her birthdays.

The brothers seemed to have skipped several details about Casey’s family tree, but it was probably for a reason.  Unova’s Dark-type Grandmaster, Grimsley Brooks, was Casey’s father.

From everything she’d heard from the whispered conversation between Masters, Karen and Grimsley had a bizarre relationship, to say the least.  They loved each other, and their flirting was heavy when around one another, but they just couldn’t live together.  So, they kept their distance, and Casey often moved between regions to spend time with her parents.

There were several things the news wouldn’t know about Mallory’s private life either that Rhea was privy to, growing up in a secret gathering point for Masters.

For one, she preferred to be called Lori by friends, not that Rhea was incredibly close to her, and that both Mallory and her sister were Grimsley’s step-daughters since their parents died when the two were very young; with no relatives, it caused the Grandmaster to take them under his wing.

As such, Casey and Mallory had grown up as step-sisters; although, Mallory was a very different type of rebel than Casey, taking more after Grimsley’s mannerisms.

Rhea’s thoughts moved to the Sinnoh results; the 4th E4 position was currently held by Dawn, but she was only a placeholder when Grandmaster Bertha retired.

Dawn was more than qualified for the position; in fact, she was qualified to become a Champion, but her aunt had held the Active title for decades for a reason; she far surpassed Champion-tier, standing in Legendary-tier.  Still, Dawn filled the position while Cynthia was away from the region.

Her aunt was actually quite displeased about the current E4 positions, not that Dawn was bad, but the problem in Cynthia’s eyes was that she overqualified for the position, which meant she couldn’t go all out and had to hold back on challengers, not that many ever reached her.

Some speculations were being tossed around online that some of the High Masters were training to take the position, but Rhea wasn’t so sure.

Giovanni was one of the first examples of a Grandmaster refusing to take an E4 position upon qualifying, choosing to return to his Gym Leader status, which had its issues; however, there were other speculations as to why he wasn’t in the post.

Similarly, the Sinnoh Gym Leaders all loved their gyms, representing their home cities.

Auntie would have been involved in the voting, and Wake’s son should be around seventeen, so he’ll be coming to Kanto, too; kind of odd that Amy was picked instead of Tanner, though.  Still... if those girls are coming, then yeah, I don’t have to worry about standing out too much…

She paused after passing another news station from Johto that had the list of all twenty-four candidates by region with their most famous relative; this was probably the information the Sullivan brothers had been reading from.

The Unova station down the street played popular beats created by Elesa, showing their relative’s highlights and pictures of each contender.  Rhea found it a little sad when Jason and her own pictures came up, displaying a question mark before throwing on past regional Starter Award winners that had hidden their information.

 

Kanto

• (Female) Rhea (Relations Not Listed)
• (Male) Jason (Relations Not Listed)
• (Female) Amira Rocket (Gym Leader, Grandmaster Giovanni’s granddaughter; Former Champion Lyra and High Master Silver’s daughter)

Johto

• (Female) Casey Brooks (Active E4 Rank-1, Grandmaster Karen’s daughter, and Active E4 Rank-2, Grandmaster Grimsley’s daughter)
• (Male) Angel Villarreal (Champion Lance’s nephew; Gym Leader, High Master Clair’s son)
• (Male) Mark Krahl (Gym Leader, High Master Morty’s son)

Hoenn

• (Female) Iva Deutschmann (Gym Leader, High Master Watson’s granddaughter)
• (Female) Isabella Abernathy (Gym Leader, High Master Flannery’s younger sister)
• (Male) Allen Henriques (Gym Leader, High Master Brawly’s younger brother)

Sinnoh

• (Female) Ariel Hoffman (Gym Leader, High Master Gardenia’s daughter)
• (Female) Amy Wright (Gym Leader, High Master Maylene’s niece)
• (Female) Olivia Palmer (Gym Leader, High Master Candice’s daughter)

Unova

• (Female) Mallory Medina (Active E4 Rank-4, Grandmaster Shauntal’s sister)
• (Male) Len Hart (Gym Leader, High Master Elesa’s son)
• (Male) Barry Ford (Gym Leader, High Master Clay’s grandson)

Kalos

• (Male) Lucian Allard (Grand Duchess of Kalos, Active Champion Diantha, and Duke of Kalos, Active E4 Rank-3, Grandmaster Siebold’s son)
• (Male) Jean Trouvé (Marchioness of Kalos, Gym Leader, High Master Korrina’s nephew)
• (Male) Ludovic Malet (Duke of Kalos, Active E4 Rank-3, Grandmaster Siebold’s nephew)

Alola

• (Female) Inoa Kaiuwaihui (Active E4 Rank-3, Grandmaster Olivia’s daughter)
• (Male) Kale Ano (Active E4 Rank-4, Grandmaster Molayne’s cousin; Active Trial Captain, High Master Sophocles’ younger brother)
• (Male) Hi'ilei Malina (Former Ranked IPO, Active Alola PO, and Island Kahuna, Grandmaster Nanu’s nephew)

Galar

• (Female) Catherine O'Keenan (Former Gym Leader, High Master Melony’s granddaughter; Gym Leader, High Master Gordie’s daughter)
• (Female) Ellie O'Finnegan (Gym Leader, High Master Kabu’s daughter)
• (Male) Victor Hughes (Gym Leader, High Master Milo’s younger brother)

 

It was an intimidating line-up with a few of the regions instituting the age-lock later than others; it only made sense to Rhea that when the countries finally came together on the restriction, the first International Bronze League would add even more pressure.  These were the beginning Trainers that the Masters of each region most recommended to look out for, and Rhea knew her own pedigree would spark a lot of chatter, much like Lucian was getting.

The one thing that drew her lips together upon reading all the names was that a little more than half of those boys and girls knew about her, at least by name, and it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together by her region.  Masters were a part of a tight community, and word got around.

Her eyes settled on Lucian and Ludovic’s names; her dad wasn’t on good terms with Diantha, but hopefully, that hadn’t made it home.  From everything she heard, the Active Champion was far too busy to spend much time with her son, much like her own mother.

However, word down the grapevine said he was very adamant and active about proving his worth to his mother.  Rhea doubted his mother thought he wasn’t worthy of being her son but could understand why he’d feel inadequate with his parents’ accomplishments at such a young age, and him not being able to start as early.

Rhea took one last breath before walking the rest of the way to the research center, passing packed restaurants; however, she slowed to stare at a few large buildings designated for fish farms.

Over the past two decades, animal wildlife conservationists, such as Flare, had begun making waves again after their previous leadership’s glorious debacle.  Since the Pokévirus and Gigavirus rapidly spread through the world from the Ultra War, Pokémon had become far more aggressive and resource hungry, which meant the already in danger animal kingdom had diminished substantially.

Pokémon were now feeding on each other’s energies in the wild, where before they’d gain much of their nutrients from the almost defenseless wildlife.  Tens of dozens of fish species had vanished from the oceans, and many more were nearing extinction.  Therefore, wildlife activists and Pokémon activists clashed on the proper way to handle such a crisis.

Humans were mostly concerned because their precious meat and ingredient supply was diminishing swiftly, causing several large companies to band together to respond to providing predator-free zones for farming wildlife, which Rhea guessed was better than letting Pokémon ravage the world of animal life.

“Hmm…”

She watched several large breeds of fish in the building display front play with one another before moving on; Flare had made great strides in humane wildlife conditions within the community, which most people saw in a positive light.

On the other hand, the companies hated the organization with a passion since they usually had crazy, unreasonable demands while, on occasion, providing manipulated framing to get the public up in arms to force them to settle in court.

It was a complicated mess that Rhea didn’t want any part in, but she did love the products the saved animal species provided them.

She turned her attention to the closed-off street ahead, roadblocks put in place to stop vehicle traffic, but the crowds were pushing slightly behind even those with the volume of people from every region.

Rhea glanced up at a nearby news board while finding a path through the throng; packs of people were taking photos and looking for the twenty-four Trainers scheduled to enter within the next thirty-five minutes.

The closer she got, the harder it was to push forward until she saw a path that had been opened for vehicles carrying the trainers from the city’s airfield to get through; Pallet Officers were keeping the line.

Making her way to the break, Rhea managed to get to an officer; she gave a charming smile to the impatient man with a 6-foot-tall Machoke by his side.  “Excuse me!”  she said, trying to be heard with the loud chatter surrounding them.  “Excuse me!”

He frowned, glancing down at her with a furrowed brow as she held up her phone, showing the email message from the Oak Research Foundation that she was a recipient.  The projected holographic display caught not only his attention but the others around her; the phone was only a rumor among tech junkies.

“Rhea... the mystery Trainer on the list?”  the officer asked with a furrowed brow, glancing down at his own phone to be sure.

She chuckled at the whispers branching out around her.  “Not a mystery anymore, I suppose.”

As could be expected, the crowd was pushed back as individuals tried to make room to take her photo, launching so many questions at her that she wasn’t sure who asked what.

“Is there a reason for the secrecy?”

“Which Masters are you related to?”

“Do you have any comments about Amira Rocket making the line-up?”

“What’s your last name?”

The officer quickly ushered her through with the throng closing in to continue their barrage, but the Machoke’s large frame moved to block them from breaking the barrier with a low grunt, and several officers nearby moved to help support him with warnings by law enforcement to stay within the designated area.

Rhea did her best to ignore the excited rush of noise that followed her as she walked the final block to the Oak Research Center’s main entrance, but she couldn’t help but blush upon hearing the loud overhead news commentary as they followed her lone march in the middle of the paved road.

“Yes... We’ve just got confirmation that one of Kanto’s mystery participants has just made an appearance on Pallet’s Main and 200th street!  We’re getting live footage now... as you can see, she already has two... quite unique pokéballs, and by the close-up... yes, the activation indicator shows they are in use; Rhea already has two Pokémon bonded to her.”

A male voice followed the female.  “Rhea must have a prominent lineage from that fact alone, Brenda!  Bonding to two Pokémon on the first day of the League without visible side effects, and... does that mean she won’t be receiving a partner from the Oak Starter Award?  Has that ever happened before?”

Brenda hesitated for a moment.  “One moment…  Our research team is going through the data entries now... not often, Michael.  We’re talking about Pokémon that are among the top of their breeding tiers, and there seems to be a clause in the Award that the participant can bring their own Starter, but they may not choose from the cast selection online.”

“Isn’t that insane?”  Michael mused with interest.  “Rhea forewent the traditional, very thoroughly bred Starters for a third party, and two of them?  What could they be; do you think it’s a strategy she’s using to gain the upper hand against the others since she knows the possible Types the other competitors have to choose from?”

“Mmh, yeah, that's my bet,” Brenda replied with a questioning tone.  “Although... oh, we’re getting reports that bets are already flying in on various aspects of our mystery girl!  Tens of thousands of credits are being put forward on Rhea’s Pokémon Type-selection alone that might be able to counter Water, Fire, and Grass-types.

“However, there’s a lot of confusion sweeping the betting field as experts are trying to determine what Pokémon Type combination would offer the best offensive and defensive line-up.  It’s already being posed that she’ll ask for a double battle, fighting two of the young Trainers herself, using two specially selected Pokémon.”

Rhea was more than a little floored at the speculations.

Seriously... people are going crazy over the smallest things... Wait, what was that?

Michael hummed thoughtfully through the display speakers.  “Do you think it could be a Numel, Fire and Ground, with some prepped TM Moves?  No, I’m seeing someone say it has to be a Wooper with maybe a Rotom?  Lists are already flying in with projected team line-ups!”

TMs... no, we can’t have any of that on the first Starter Battle; it’s against the rules.  Well... great, I’m going to make a ton of people lose their money, and I’ve only been seen for what... a minute or two?  Yup... people are gonna hate me.

She made it halfway up the stairs to the center when the crowd went silent.  Turning around, Rhea watched an expensive-looking limo with pitch-black windows rolling through the street.  A large, elegant R was painted on the hood and doors, waving the Viridian City symbolic crest of a fierce Nidoking and Nidoqueen with the chocolate diamond-encrusted Gym Badge between them on the material’s dark green background.

It pulled to the front entrance for a large bodyguard, complete with the entire black suit and glasses getup, to get out and open the back door while saying something while pressing the device in his ear.

Amira exited the vehicle, looking somewhat annoyed while muttering a few things to someone inside before shutting the door a bit harder than was necessary.  Still, she kept a reasonably restrained demeanor as the guard moved to the back, opening the trunk to get a rather cute red and black tote backpack with pink trim, just as packed as Rhea’s.

Unlike Rhea, though, the Rocket girl was wearing a three-floor, tiered rogue dress that ended just above her knees, completing the outfit with short matching heels, a red heart crochet beaded bracelet, a velvet choker, and gold-framed, rose-tinted teashades.

She was a lot prettier than what Rhea remembered.  Her thick crimson hair was silky and straight, pulled back into a feather braid with a waterfall twist to keep her hair out of the way.

Amira was slightly more curved than the images she’d seen of her mother and appeared to be taller, taking after her father and grandmother’s line, but still an inch shorter than Rhea.  From the few images of Amira online, she knew that it wasn’t her rose-tinted glasses that gave Amira her big red irises either, and the girl was definitely a bit more fit than Rhea.

Rhea was a little taken aback by how quiet the throng had gotten, and Amira didn’t pay them the time of day, walking over to take her pack from the bodyguard before he could take it up himself.

Both Rhea and Amira’s attention moved back to the car as her door opened again, revealing her mother.  Former Champion Lyra was noticeably smaller than her daughter by at least three inches and had a much more casual outfit with a brown long sleeve shirt on with matching shorts as she rushed over to hug Amira, whispering something to her.

Amira’s features softened, hugging her mother back.

Not wanting to gawk, Rhea went inside the building.

She seems close to her mother... that’s nice.

Lyra was well within her rights to claim the title of Active Champion, but like many of the Kanto past contenders, she wasn’t interested in the job’s duties and instead acted as a back-up.  Active Champion Chase was the current chief of the Johto and Kanto Pokémon League.

It was well-known that he was among the weakest of any regional Active Champion; however, the number of Kanto Legendary Champions lying in the shadows was more than intimidating by the normal regional standard.  Kanto was basically universally known to have the greatest military power out of the major regions because of the Legendary-tier figures it was home to, making it an excellent start to an International Tournament.  Rhea wasn’t personally that fond of all her region’s legends, though.

Rhea glanced around the front office area where dozens of scientists moved between floors, apparently far more interested in their research than the multi-regional collaboration happening around them.

A rather famous individual instantly caught her attention as he spotted her; Professor Elm hurriedly walked over to greet her.  “Ah, Rhea!”  he exclaimed, glancing down at a sheet of paper to tick her name off.

“That’s me,” she greeted with a forced chuckle, rubbing her left ear as it itched, still feeling the stress from the noise outside; Elm had met her a few times.  “Umm... Professor Elm?  Isn’t your lab on the Johto side?”

“Ah, yes, yes, but I make stops to see Professor Oak from time to time; there’s so much happening recently with new Pokémon breakthroughs coming through that it’s often hard to keep up!”

“Yeah, my mom seems to think the same way, hehe.”  Rhea nervously rubbed the back of her neck.  “So, uh... where should I go?”

“Ah, ah, right!  You can follow me... wait, is there another arrival outside?”  he questioned, glancing at the expensive vehicle below.

Rhea followed his gaze, readjusting her backpack.  “Umm, yeah.  Amira Rocket just arrived; she’s just saying goodbye to her mom.”

“Rocket, huh?  Well, I suppose we’ll wait for her, then!  Most of the other participants arrived quite early to skip the crowd, and several chose to sleep here to avoid the clamor entirely,” he laughed.

She nodded, eyeing the throng surrounding the building through the glass.  “Yeah... Probably something I should have thought of…”

He hummed with interest.  “Yes, the mystery approach was taken by your brother two years back.  It’s more of a sure-fire way to get more attention on you than less, I’m afraid, but you do have a rather large number of well-known family members,” he noted with a strained chuckle.  “I suppose it might be seen as more fair to the others.  Oh, wait!”

“Hmm?”  Rhea’s focus shot back to him as he ruffled through a few papers in his big lab coat pockets.

“Gah... Where was it... ah, here it is!  I read your mother’s recent work on the fusion of evolutionary stones with Pokémon anatomy and was floored by the immaculate work!  Uh... let’s see... yes, the instability of temporary PokéEvolutionary synthesis in Mega, Syncro-Burst, and Z-Moves causes a junction between Trainer and Pokémon through a unification of genosyncrisis energies that creates a combustion of focused elements to break past the evolutionary wall for a limited time.

“By studying the elemental stones, there was evidence that a more stable means of similar delivery systems could be artificially created to replace the synchro-fusion devices Masters commonly use, integrating the energy found within into a Pokémon, and potentially, even the Trainer.”

He gave her an expectant stare, but all she returned was vacant eyes.

“Uh... Professor... I don’t know what all of that means, but umm... wait, maybe I do, but... you’ll have to talk to her about that.”

“Ah, right, right, but for someone as renowned and brilliant as your mother... is she inferring human evolution here?  It’s just so wild of a theory, but she’s already found a means to accomplish the former process with what I heard from a few Silph colleges I know.  It’s just... it’s so exciting!”

“Yeah…”  Rhea chuckled.  “I’m sure it is, Professor.”

His grey irises shot to her crochet belt.  “Ah... I saw that you weren’t going to be selecting one of the Pokémon each of the Professors gathered for the Award!  Did your mother breed them?  Oh, I’m sure there are so many other things she’s done,” he mumbled, sparkling eyes glowing as he ogled her pokéballs.  “Master Balls, too?!  Interesting... how are you feeling?”

Rhea did her best to not look uncomfortable; she’d often been told Professor Elm was kind of an eccentric guy, but she heard the same thing about every major regional professor, and to a degree, it was true with every one she’d met.

“Umm... a little sore, to be honest, but I’m told that’ll be normal for a bit,” Rhea mumbled, watching Amira climb the stairs with her mother’s teary-eyed wave in the background.

“Is that right?”  he whispered.  “You know, considering your pedigree... I mean, most of the other selected Trainers for the Award shouldn’t feel a thing from even the specially bred Pokémon.  It makes me really wonder what your mother did to your Pokemon that caused such a strain on you... considering they’re Master Balls, though.  Hmm…”

They both turned to welcome Amira as she entered the building; she adjusted her backpack, placid expression settling on them before folding her rose-tinted glasses, securing them on the front of her dress.

The three of them stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before Amira asked, “So... is there a place I’m supposed to be?”  Her voice was pretty, and Rhea could see her being a good singer just by her tone.

Elm jumped.  “Ah, yes, yes, follow me!”  he motioned, leading them toward the left-branching hallway.

Rhea did her best not to stare at Amira, but the girl didn’t seem to have the same reservation, eyeing her with an appraising expression, which wasn’t that unnatural; they might be spending several months with each other.

“Hmm... You’re Rhea, right; the girl that didn’t reveal her parents?”  Amira asked, heels tapping lightly against the tile floor; it was a bit distracting to Rhea, making her mind wander.

How are you going to go hiking in the forest with those?  Did she even bring hiking shoes or sandals... her bag seems about as full as mine…

“Umm... yeah, that’s me... the girl that no one knows…”

“Rhea!”

She winced, glancing up to see Ariel, Amy, and Olivia waving at her.

“Heh... The girl no one knows?”  Amira mumbled with a lifted red eyebrow.

Great timing, guys…

Ariel had the same orange hair and slim build as her mother, but unlike her, she refrained from using her trademark headband, instead crafting her long locks into a flower bun.

Amy didn’t resemble her aunt at all, towering over the other women at 6’1 with a very fit physique that showed her daily martial arts training with Maylene.  Her shoulder-length white hair and striking pink eyes were filled with glee upon seeing her.

Olivia, on the other hand, took after her mother in many ways, including her curves and bubbly attitude.  However, unlike her mother, Olivia was very much a dress-girl and hated the way she looked with Candice’s style of braids from a young age.

Rhea did her best not to glare at the girls as they ran over to greet them.

Ariel was in the lead.  “I haven’t seen you for like two years, girl; you’re so cute with that skirt!”

“Oh?”  Olivia winked, eyeing her legs.  “I thought you’d be too embarrassed to show that much skin.”

Rhea’s cheeks burned as Elm stepped to the side with Amira, giving them space to chat.  “I have yoga shorts underneath!”  she huffed.

“I’m sure you do,” Olivia snickered.  “Booty shorts, hmm?  Oh, what do you think about my new blue dress?  Like the pink ribbon?  A boy back home gave it to me as a parting gift,” she giggled.

Amy gave her friend a testing grin.  “Yeah, she won’t shut up about it.  It’s like a boy’s never given her a thing in her life.”

“Hey!”  Olivia growled, giving Amy a scowl.  “I’ve gotten plenty of gifts from…”

“That’s the point!”  Ariel giggled.  “Oh, so, Rhea, your aunt said you already got your Pokémon!  Can we see?”

Amira’s eyes fell to her belt, lips pressing to the side.

“Oh, purple pokéballs... with pink dots?”  Olivia squealed.  “You always get the nice stuff; wait... I swear I’ve seen some of those before!  Huh... I want to be fashionable, too…”

Professor Elm cleared his throat, drawing their attention.  “I’m afraid we’re running out of time, girls,” he said with an apologetic smile.  “It’s almost time for Professor Oak to give his opening speech before handing out each of your Pokémon that you selected through the email link, and then there’s the ceremonial battles.”

“Ah, okay, okay,” Ariel replied, giving Rhea a grin.  “I’m gonna win, Rhea, so make sure to get on my team!”

“You know it’s random,” Amy mumbled while rolling her eyes.

“Amy,” Olivia sighed, “it’s an expression!”

Rhea giggled, following after the three as they entered the hall.  Sure enough, almost every seat was filled, all watching them.

Several boys and girls called their names with a friendly wave, and Olivia leaned in with an amused grin.  “Smile and wave, girls.  Smile and wave.”

Unsurprisingly, Rhea saw the Johto and Unova group on the same row, Casey, Lori, and Len together, while Barry, Angel, and Mark took the other side.

Casey was wearing a sports bra and tight-fitting blue jeans that showed off her body far more than Rhea was comfortable with.  Lori wore black tights, gloves, and a purple dress that was similar to the one she’d seen her sister wear once, and figured it was probably a gift; the theme matched her purple irises and long silky hair that fell to her lower back.

Angel was very noticeable with his fair, feminine features, slim build, and thick, long, blue hair tied back into a ponytail.  He wore a few accessories that highlighted his feminine appeal even more, but they were probably gifts from his mother.

The Hoenn gang knew of her because of her grandparents, but she’d personally only met their relatives while she had almost no information on the Alolan gang, but their colorful attire and darker skin attracted her attention; it was rare to see that kind of tan in the far south of the Orange Archipelago or Sevii Islands, much less Kanto.

Rhea frowned, realizing the Kalos boys and Jason were the only people missing.  The Galar girls’ strange accent stole her focus as they spoke to the boy with them, and strangely, he didn’t seem to have the same odd words or phrases they used, but she had to remind herself that the accent changed from north to south Galar.

Casey leaned forward to whisper, “Hey, girl!  How’s it been in nowhere land?”

She took a seat with the Sinnoh girls beside her, catching Amira sitting in the furthest chair back upon glancing around.

“Good,” Rhea forced a chuckle while setting her bag in front of her with the others.  “That party seemed pretty crazy a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, wait ‘till ya see what I have planned next!”  she snickered while adjusting her bangs.

Len leaned forward with a wry smile.  “Cass hasn’t even told us what it is.”

“You expected her to spill this soon?”  Lori smirked.

“Heh......Viridian, it’s the place!”  Casey whispered excitedly.  “I’ll send y’all the info when we all get there; it’s gonna set the news on fire!”

Before Rhea could say she was trying to avoid that kind of attention, everyone went silent as Professor Oak walked through a side door, taking the small platform that had been set up in the room, and just as her phone buzzed at her side, indicating the time had arrived, three boys entered the hall.

Oak smiled as everyone’s focus moved to the group.  “Ah, the Kalos group, punctual to the minute.”

“Professor,” the three handsome and well-dressed boys responded, moving to sit together in the middle row.

Casey glanced back at the boys with a snicker.  “Think the self-image posse are really wild under those suits?”  she whispered.

“Mmh,” Len followed her gaze with an appraising smile.  “I dunno; that Lucian guy seems as tight-laced as it gets, ya know?  Think they’ve even had a girlfriend?”

Lori’s smirk was still in place.  “If they pulled in a Jinx, I’d be impressed.”

Ariel, Amy, and Olivia winced at her comment, and not a few seconds later, Jason came jogging through the door with heavy breaths, completing the twenty-four attendees.

“S-Sorry, Professor, umm... I got, phew, got held up at the strip.”  Rhea guessed his mother had been on a picture frenzy to the very minute he had to leave.

Oak chuckled.  “I’m sure you did, Jason.  Please, take a seat.”

The Professor took a deep breath, staring around at the seventeen-year-old boys and girls, showing a proud smile.  “Each of your region’s professors will be in shortly, but I just wanted to say, it’s such a treat seeing so many Trainers from various regions coming together for a friendly competition.  Your journey marks a new beginning for your countries’ relations, but don’t let that get in the way of having the time of your lives.  You’ll never get these years back; make the most of it.”

Rhea’s smile fell a little as Casey leaned to her right to whisper to Lori and Len.  “That’s what I’m talkin’ about!  Let’s get this party goin’.”

The Professor eyed the pair, making them give a small chuckle before falling silent.  “There will be plenty of time for fun, and I know you’re all antsy to receive your first Pokémon, bond with them, and feel the thrill of battling, but first, there are a few things that must be addressed…”

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