"Look! It's Leon's Charizard!"

    Anastasia and Izziadora rolled their eyes as they followed the human path towards the Lab. The blonde held onto her friend's hand so she wouldn't get lost in the crowd. Their journey just started; and Anastasia didn't need another Arceus damned reason to coddle Izziadora even more. She barely paid attention to Leon when they got to the lab; although she probably should have. Her mind was still occupied by what she found earlier.

    She prayed to Arceus that her friend's mother wasn't some wanted criminal. "Stasia, look, look, look! Sonia's lab is amazing!" Izziadora gushes as she shakes the blonde back into reality. Anastasia looked around seeing many books surrounding them; honestly, it felt more like the Wyndon Athenaeum. Then again Sonia IS the professor's assistant...

"LEON! I swear to Arceus, if you've come back to bother me about some overpowered pokemon again I swear I'll-Oh! You've brought guests. Is that little Izziadora I spy?"

"Little?! I'm not--I'm still vertically challenged!"

Anastasia interrupted her before she started something, "Hi, I'm Anastasia and this is who I'm sure you already know is Izziadora,"

    "It's nice to meet you, I'm Sonia and this little guy is Yamper,"

The small electric type barked as his little body wiggled from his wagging tail. "Awww wittle baby," Izziadora cooed. "Sonia here is amazing. She makes great food. Like the food, you can gobble down in a flash-"

"Seriously? What kind of introduction is that? Did you forget we were rivals during our Gym Challenge? All those times Yamper AND I helped you out?" The redhead huffed. Anastasia and Izziadora exchanged knowing looks, deciding to tab that conversation for later. "Okay, Okay-sorry these three are new Pokemon Trainers. Set them on the right path, would you?"

"Wait is Lee just dropping us here?" Izziadora whispered as the champion took his leave. Sonia let out a sigh as she approached the two, "What does he think I am? He's such an airhead; no wonder he gets lost all the time,"

Izziadora snickered, "Lee's a himbo-"

"Oh, you two have a Rotom-phone. Hi, Rotom!"

Both of the teenager's devices flew out of their pockets to greet the redhead. "Rotom Phones are handy little things, aren't they? They've got a map and a navigational tool. That said, Leon still gets lost...Oh, sorry. Tell me, do you two know a lot about Pokemon?"

"I know a good amount. I wouldn't say I know everything about them; Izzy here spent a lot of time looking at her old man's browser on his old stylus," Anastasia shrugged as she turned to Izziadora. "There's more pokemon out there, but I haven't heard much from my aunt in Xane, so I probably know as much what's been registered..." the brunette replied while twiddling with her fingers. Sonia smiled, "Smart girls! You're right that there is probably more than we are aware of. Even with the situation in Xane; they've probably discovered some new pokemon since they're no longer internationally isolated. In that case, to make things easier, I'll install the Pokedex on your Rotom-Phones,"

"Oh my gosh that makes things so much easier," Izziadora gushed as the app appeared on her phone. "Consider it a gift from my Gran. You should let her know you've received it...she's still not the most tech-savvy person when it comes to Rotom-Phones yet. She lives in the house down along Route 2-you can't miss it!"

"Right, But Izzy might-come on," Anastasia said as she dragged Izziadora away. "Hey! I'm not that dumb!"

Sonia smiled as she watched the two leave. The pair reminded her of when she and Leon were younger. She was most definitely happy to see Izziadora out; a sight like that was impossible with how overly protective her father was. But she could tell that this journey would be good for her. Outside Anastasia was giving Izziadora the rundown on the basics every trainer should know. "In almost every town is a Pokemon center that contains both a Pokemart and other services for renaming Pokemon and learning moves. Always talk to Nurse Joy if your Pokemon need to be healed."

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk to strangers?" Izziaadora questioned as the two walked into the center. "We're older and we have our pokemon to protect us now. Also, Nurse Joy is a huge exception. You can always talk to her," Anastasia reassured as she led her to the front desk. After exploring and stocking up, the girls headed for Route 2 where they saw Hop.

"Oi! Hopscotch! Whachu doing staring off like some daft Gothita huh?"

Hop turned around as the girls approached him. "Hey, you two. Good to see you've caught up. Izzy, I see your old man finally let you out eh?"

Izziadora sweatdropped, "I guess. But only if I'm with Stasia and on my best behavior. Anyway, what's up? You looked like you had something on your mind,"

"Well, you two know about the Gym Challenge right? To participate you need an Endorsement and well...Lee doesn't think I'm up to snuff, so.."

Izziadora snapped her fingers in realization, "Oh, you're hoping that Professor Magnolia will!"

Hop nodded, "Yeah! You two have to participate! Every trainer needs rivals and you two are all I got ya know?"

"Gee don't we feel loved," Anastasia said sarcastically. Izziadora skipped ahead of them with a bright smile on her face. "Well? What are we waiting for? The Professor's house is just ahead, so let's get going and get our teams stronger too, so we can knock the snapback off Lee's big head!"

"Hey!"

Izziadora squeezed Hop's cheeks while cooing, "Don't worry Hopscotch-you have a much cuter face wif these cute whittle cheeks!"

"Ew! Get off!"

Izziadora laughed as Hop chased after her. Anastasia shook her and followed after them. It didn't take the blonde that long to catch up to them; they were tousling in the tall grass like a pair of Poochyena.  "IZZY STOP TICKLING ME! I'M GONNA THROW UP-"

"SUFFER!"

"Should I interfere? Or should I let them work it out?" Anastasia asked herself before Izziadora shrieked. Anastasia looked up to see the brunette repeatedly hitting Hop while yelling in her native tongue. "Que te pasa, pelotudo? Calling me fat huh? I'm just thick you puta madre!"

"Arceus...why me?" The blonde asked herself as she stepped in to break the fight up. After she got the two to calm down she held them by the ear, waiting for them to apologize. "Look, I get we're all excited to leave, but there's a level of how many fucks I can give on this journey, and right now, they're selling out fast with this tomfoolery. Can you two keep it together until we con those Endorsements out of the professor?"

The brunettes pouted but slouched in defeat. Anastasia smiled and pulled them even closer; prompting them to apologize.

"I'm sorry you're thickness makes you fat,"

"Eres un pija."

A dark aura surrounded the blonde causing the two to flinch. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear...So sorry-allow me to fix that..."

"I'm glad you two have decided to cooperate! Rivals should also know when to put their ego away for the greater good," Anastasia beamed. Hop and Izziadora leaned against a tree, both battered and bruised from the blonde's peaceful interference. "I feel like I've been hit by a Lucario's Close Combat.."

"Ditto," Hop winced next to her. "Alright, you two! I think it's about time we filled up our teams and--"

"And I'm here to show you how!"

The three screamed in fright as Anastasia turned around and sucker-punched the voice behind her. Hop and Izziadora winced but freaked out when they saw the voice belonged to none other than Leon.

"Holy Mew! Lee!"

The three crowded around the champion as they frantically apologized and asked if he was okay. Leon waved them off, "I'm okay! Stasia, quite the punch you got there! No wonder Hop and Izzy follow in line so well,"

The blonde chuckled nervously as the brunettes behind her gave her pointed looks. Leon then took notice of them, "It seems I'm not the only one who received Stasia's special Knuckle Sandwich. But you two are used to it..."

"You know our friendship dynamic is weird when even the Champion is used to it," Izziadora commented. "Anyway, if you three are going to fill up the Pokedex you're going to need to catch a lot of pokemon,"

"Is he not going to elaborate on where he came from-"

"Follow me!"

"Okay, so you just going to walk away like a Mr. Magicman and not answer--I swear..."

"Izzy. Stop talking and follow the himbo," Anastasia scolded as she followed Leon into the tall grass. Izziadora groaned as she and Hop followed, with him replying that his brother wasn't a himbo.

The three already knew the foundations and basics of being a Pokemon Trainer. But watching in real life was different than reading or viewing it from a chalkboard. Throughout the demonstration, Leon gave the trio pointers and reminded them to always lower the Pokemon's health first before attempting to throw a Pokeball. After the demonstration, he gave the three extra Pokeballs before heading off. "Huh. Capture is so..unique between Trainers and Rangers," Izziadora commented. Anastasia tossed a Pokeball in her hand as the two followed after the siblings. "Well, yeah, it makes sense to lower the pokemon's health first. It's harder to capture a pokemon at full strength,"

"I..I don't know. I'm not sure I feel comfortable disturbing and ganging up on a wild Pokemon just to make it my friend. It feels...weird...with Rangers, the Capture stylus just conveys the ranger's feelings of friendship to gain the pokemon's trust to assist them and then lets them go. Can't I just do something like that?"

Anastasia frowned, "I mean I don't know if there's something like that. I think there's some Pokeball's that make the pokemon more friendly when you catch it. Are you...still feeling self conscious about battling?"

The brunette turned away. Anastasia's face softened as she put a hand on the brunette's shoulder, "Hey, I get that you feel nervous about battling and all this is probably really scary for you. If you don't want to fight wild pokemon, that's fine, but you have to learn how to battle eventually. Not just for the Gym Challenge, but to protect yourself, so Sobble can grow stronger and protect you."

"I-I know...it's just...a lot to process and I'm scared to mess up and-"

The blonde got in front of the brunette and stopped her. "Izzy. It's okay to mess up, no one's born a perfect trainer. Not Cynthia, your aunt, and hell even Leon. We all started somewhere. Just take your time, we all learn and grow at our own pace,"

"...What if I don't want to take part in the Gym Challenge?"

Anastasia blinked but held a smile. "That's fine! It's just some old contest, you can still travel and be a trainer without a single badge. But...I wish you wouldn't give up without trying...it...it won't be the same without you and I know Hop would say the same thing..."

Izziadora sniffled and wiped her face. The blonde pulled her into a hug as the brunette laughed, "I feel like I've been doing a lot of crying today..."

"I don't mind. I'll always be here to pick you up. Besides, this is scary and you just need time to process. So, take it easy okay?"

"Okay,"

"Good. Now let's hurry so I can catch a Rookidee before Hop gets the same idea,"

The two hurried down the path yelling after the other. Unknown to them a pair of green eyes watched them from within the shrubbery.

"Priii!"