Prologue
"You're really going to have me do this then, huh?"
Evan sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at the ball in front of him. The pressure of his grandfather looming over him kept him from looking up as the two shared this quiet moment.
"You
will travel."
The elderly man's deep, gravelly voice resonated throughout the empty room. His labored breathing, the only thing louder than the soft spring breeze which flowed through the cracks in the old, rotted wood. Today was Evan's birthday - his eighteenth, to be precise. Over the last five years this day had both been prophesied and promised to the boy.
"Evan, as an adult you must learn how to earn your own. You will take this next year to travel Sinnoh; learn to provide for yourself as I have these last years, learn what it means to live, and labor to rectify the ignominy your parents have left on our name." The man leaned back, causing the floorboards to creak with his weight as he pulled a smoking pipe out from beneath his leg. Richter took a few long and practiced puffs on the pipe, his gaze still fixated on the young man in front of him. "As long as you continue to do as I say, your sister will be provided for."
Evan's hands slowly curled into fists, which he quickly hid beneath the towel in front of him as he leaned over, prostrating himself before his elder. "Yes, grandfather."
- - - - -
The First Chapter - Begin
Evan watched the town as it passed by from his seat by the bus' window. It had been a lengthy trip, riding down from Celestic City and transferring between the shuttles with each new city that they ended up passing through. Thankfully, the ticket itself hadn't been horrendously expensive, but it hadn't left him with much in the way of pocket change to start his new journey with.
Not that his grandfather had sent him off with much to speak of to begin with, but whatever cushion was supposed to be afforded the beginning of this adventure had been pulled and picked from in every which direction. Richter had definitely never been one to give more than was necessary, but there had been the smallest sliver of hope in the back of the boy's mind that perhaps he might have accounted for nourishment and travel to somewhere more hospitable at the very least.
Evan shook his head, his gaze floating out over the sparkling waters, ignoring the watchful gazes reflected of the girls sitting across the aisle. He'd not been ignorant to the feeling of their eyes resting on him, but it wasn't anything unusual for him. Ever since he'd come to this part of the world he-
"Uhh, 'scuse me."
Evan inhaled sharply, caught off guard by the effeminate voice coming from beside him. He slowly turned his head to look at her, his eyes focusing first on the ring-laden hand which had found its rest upon his thigh, and then slowly trekking their way up to her face. Her brown eyes locked with his own, and it seemed as though her bronze cheeks began to glow with a slight reddish color as she pulled her hand off of his leg.
"Um, sorry, but… I think those girls were talking about you." The young woman slowly jerked her head towards the girls across the aisle. The woman slowly lifted her hands towards her hair, pulling back the afro of loose black curls and doing her best to tuck them slightly behind her ear.
It wasn't much, but it had given Evan enough of a chance to glimpse the two girls he'd been wary of since transferring to this shuttle several hours ago. "Of course they were." The boy stated bluntly, catching sight of the small smile forming from the lips of the girl beside him as he slowly turned back towards the window. "They always do," he muttered, shaking his head.
Evan sighed, his eyes fixating themselves back on the world beyond the glass divider. 'They always talk. Even coming this far, everyone still knows what my parents did… I don't know. Even if I try my hardest, will I ever be able to make up for their actions? Maybe Grandpa Rich just expects me to fail… to come crawling back, begging to be let into the church so I'm not stuck out here.'
'Oh my god, did you hear that? He's so fucking hot. 'Of course they were.' Uggghhh, so confident!'
'His leg was so stiff and muscular too! Oh my goddd, I wanna know what he does for a living. I'll have to try and catch him when the bus stops.'
'Heh, back of the line girlfriend. Just because you got the seat next to him doesn't mean you have any special rights to him over us.'
'Oh yeah? What if I put my hand on his leg again, huh? Jealous? Huuuhh?'
'Don't you dare!'
Evan felt the seat next to him empty. The boy sighed again, shaking his head. 'Of course… once she recognized me she must have decided to grab another seat. I guess that's just the way it's going to be until I can make an actual change. And perhaps, the first step to that…' The young man slowly pulled out his wallet, paying no mind to the conflict erupting behind him as he pulled out a slip of paper which had been tucked away behind a few crumpled poke. 'Doctor Jacob Albright… I wonder what he'll be like.'
- - - - -
Evan stood in front of the Sinnoh Institute, his brow furrowed as he stared at his own reflection in the glass panes. 'What am I doing here? Am I really worthy of being a... a researcher? I don't even look the part.'
'Is that a new professor? He certainly looks important, other than that I don't know why someone
normal would be wearing such hot clothes in this nice weather.'
'Yeah, definitely... hot...'
'Cindy, c'mon. The boys are waiting back at the beach. I'm not going to listen to Peter all the way back home
again.'
'But Moooooll. Just look at... his muscles! He's got-'
'Eh. Neh. Zip. Nuh-uh. Don't wanna hear it. We're going.'
'But Mooooolls! I could
totally be like, a researcher's aide or something! Ughhh, why do you hate me?'
Evan peeled the leather of his glove away from his skin, letting a bit of the summer breeze make its way in. His hands were drenched in sweat, and he could feel it beading up on his back as well. However, as he'd gotten off the bus, he realized he didn't have anything more appropriate for the weather and had made the choice to stick it out either way. "Can't let any opportunity slip by, I suppose." The boy whimpered, pulling a lint roller out of one of the interior pockets of his jacket before quickly rolling it across his clothes to do away with the sand which had found its way into the town. "Presentable, presentable, uhhh, what do I even say to... to a professor? A doctor? Sir? Mister? Ah, jeez. Maybe they'll make it easy on me and I won't even have to meet the guy today."
Evan took a second to hype himself up - and then another to ensure his clothes were tidied and his hair looked to be presentable - and then pulled the handle of the nearest door, making his first steps into the Sinnoh Institute. The boy was greeted by the fresh flow of conditioned air, the vague aroma of lemon-scented cleaner, and the quiet of a mostly empty greeting room in the early afternoon. The fledgling trainer looked around, seeing only a single desk at the far end of the room, and an endless line of doors on either side of him.
"Hi, how can I help you today sir?" A small woman with messy blond hair stood up from her seat behind the desk. She pressed her glasses up the bridge of her upturned nose with her ring finger before placing a stack of papers into a short cabinet that sat atop the desk. "I don't believe that the Doctor had any more residency visits due today, may I ask if there's been an emergency?"
"Emergency?" Evan furrowed his brow, looking around him slowly. "Does it... seem like there has been? I've not seen anyone since I came inside."
The woman quickly blushed and tried to speak, but tripped over her words a few times. "I- We- I'm- I'm- I apologize, sir. I'll look for the professor right away, just let me-"
"No, it's not..."
The woman matched Evan's gaze, her eyes slowly widening as she dropped into a bow. "I'm so terribly sorry, I didn't mean to cause any issues for you. I just meant to grab the doctor so he could clear up any misunderstandings you might have had. I'm just a desk clerk, I don't really have any-"
Evan calmly pulled out his wallet, producing the small paper that had been folded and refolded into an unintelligible mess over the course of the various bus rides down. "I'm a student from Celestic City. I was provided this flier by my counselor and was told I should come here if my gap year should find me in the area."
The clerk's gaze slowly rose as she glanced at the page which the young man had produced. Rather than allow herself to become calmed and composed from the revelation that Evan was in fact nobody important, the realization she'd made a fool of herself in front of a prospective student simply aided to fluster her further. "Embarrassment on embarrassment," she muttered in between uneasy laughs.
The woman quickly dug through the cabinet on her desk and then reached into a box hidden beneath the counter before procuring several materials. Her lips remained pursed as she started to lay them out upon the counter in front of the young man, and it wasn't until she'd finally placed the clipboard which read 'Enrollment Agreement' in black, bold typing at the top that she finally allowed herself to speak. "This is a short list of the materials which are being offered to you. We don't expect any of this really to be returned to us in the event you choose to pursue another career, so don't feel as if you're being held accountable for whatever you do or don't use. However for our own records it would be appreciated if should you deign to go elsewhere you would return your journal and the film roll provided to you so that we may add at least that to our own findings. If you'll just go through and give me a 'check' in each of the boxes to ensure everything necessary has been provided to you today, and then sign and date on the bottom lines there. Once that's been completed, I'll be able to add you to our list of applicants and get you on your way."
"Thanks." The young man stated bluntly, ignorant to the state of the woman as she ran her hand through her hair which had grown increasingly messier since he'd come through the door. Evan glanced down the list, his eyes darting to each of the items as he came across them before crossing out the associated box. "It looks like it's all there. And... there." Evan placed the pen beneath the clip of the board before passing back across to the clerk. "Signed. Dated."
The woman grabbed the clipboard and quickly traced her finger down the list of boxes before finding her nail resting on the boy's name. "Evan... Mimph?"
Evan clenched his fists behind the cover of the short desk, not sure how to answer her. 'Does she want confirmation? Or maybe she recognizes me too... or maybe I-'
"Well, welcome, Evan. As this is only part of the application process, I'm sure that you will be fine. You only need capture three specimen for live inspection, and then reports need to be made with photographic evidence charting your personal discoveries or experiences on fifteen further Pokemon. You've been provided with a book on the region's Pokemon and various berries with which you might find yourself acquainted. It is, of course, not a comprehensive study - but rest assured you will yet find use in referencing its pages." The woman stacked the various items up before shoving them into a small tote bag. "Now then, unless there's... anything else?"
Evan shook his head, grabbing the bag from the clerk before slinging it over his shoulder. "I'll be sure to do what I can to prove myself useful. Have a good day, ma'am." The boy quickly turned and strode back towards the door with a confidence he'd not had since leaving Celestic City. 'As long as there's something to strive for, this should be easy enough.'
'Ma'am?" The woman slowly tapped her fingers against her face. "I'm only twenty-three... am I... ma'am?'
Evan pushed the door open, the faintest traces of a smile forming upon his lips as looked up at the sun. "I guess I'll try and find something that can hold its own then."